Emperor of Soul Pets

Chapter 40: Go Wild!

Pilate Yeshua, Captain of the 25th Beast Extermination Squadron, coldly watched the battle from atop his steed. The forty-seven-year-old man was no stranger to the horrors of war, having been steeped in bloodshed since he was twelve. Due to his upbringing, Yeshua watched with an apathetic gaze as the beastkin bitterly fought the contracted hybrids.

Yeshua's gaze narrowed as he watched a lycan crush a soul pet's head with his bare hands. The captain hated and envied the beastkin's supernatural strength that allowed some of their members to go toe-to-toe with the strongest soul monsters. Once upon a time, humans cowered in the face of that overwhelming power. However, the situation had long since changed. Humans didn't need to fear that power. They had created an overwhelming strength of their own!

As Yeshua expected, several soul monsters immediately surrounded and slaughtered that beastkin. That was right. Quantity could beat Quality!

Since the battle was going as expected, Yeshua took the time to inspect his troops. Roughly one hundred humans stood in the backline, leaving about ninety-some hybrids to confront the beastkin head-on. Of the hundred humans, only the sixty-or-so Soul Students could be considered battle-ready. He brought the remaining Soul Apprentices so they could remain in proximity to their hybrid contractees.

The slave contract forced on the suicide squad had one glaring weakness: Proximity. Unlike a regular contract, the contractee could unilaterally break the slave contract if they escaped far enough. Unfortunately, the slave contract also gave the contractor to induce a cardiac arrest at any time on the contractee. So, fleeing was usually not an option. Soul Apprentices needed to stay within one kilometer of their contractees while Soul Students must remain within five kilometers for the contract to stay effective. Soul Soldiers like Yeshua could push that boundary to fifty kilometers before it began to lose its effects.

To avoid splitting the squadron and ensure the hybrids were battling right, Yeshua kept his soldiers just behind the frontlines. Now and then, a beastkin would try to attack them, but the drilled soldiers' soul pets made short work of them.

Despite the battle's smoothness, Yeshua's brows grew increasingly furrowed with each passing second. He surreptitiously glanced at the walkie-talkie in his right hand, wondering what was taking Denuchi so long. The lycan was always prompt in his missions. This was the first time he had delayed this long.

Yeshua closed his eyes and 'sensed' Denuchi's location. Sure enough, he sensed the lycan lurking within the mountains, which meant he should be in Lazuli Caverns. Unfortunately, while he could feel Denuchi's location, he could not figure out what the lycan was thinking or doing. For all Yeshua knew, Denuchi could be in the middle of a fight, sleeping or getting thrown in a cell.

Frustrated, Yeshua was about to order the hybrids to increase their aggressiveness when his hairs suddenly stood on end.

Danger!

Years of honed instinct guided Yeshua to duck to the side. Whoosh! The captain paled as an arrow whistled past him arrow fly past. He quickly turned around, and his brows furrowed when he saw a soldier clutching his bleeding throat in shock.

As the soldier collapsed, a hybrid suddenly shouted, "I'm free!" and immediately turned to flee. Unfortunately, he did not make it far before another hybrid drove a sword through his throat. Yeshua had a rule that any escaped hybrid was the squad's responsibility. If that hybrid had successfully run, Yeshua would have executed the remaining members.

Yeshua's collective responsibility rule ensured very few hybrids managed to escape even if their masters died.

Yeshua barely had time to register the hybrid's death when that feeling of danger returned. "Yulik, Bane Shield!"