Lord: Starting with Biological Modification

「Three days later, at Withered Tree Shoal.」

Sixteen Worker Ants dragged a heavy, iron-caged flatbed cart and, under Kael’s guidance, moved it into a pre-dug hollow at the center of the basin.

The iron cage was forged from black iron bars as thick as a man’s arm. Inside lay a giant beast, its body over five meters long.

This was the bait Caroline had purchased for a fortune—a Level 4 Magical Beast, the "Horn-Crowned Crystal Armored Rhinoceros."

The great rhinoceros’s single horn was broken, and the crystalline shell covering its body was riddled with cracks. Each breath it took was weaker than the last.

It was on the verge of death, but the vast life energy lingering within its body still served as a conspicuous beacon.

A freshly cut wound on its hind leg’s artery was gushing blood, which flowed down through an opening in the ground beneath the cage, spreading deep into the earth.

Roland stood on a high cliff face, watching the dying beast, his heart stirred once more.

The value of a single live Level 4 Magical Beast like this was enough to financially cripple a Baron.

And yet, Velin was using it as a disposable item without a second thought.

Just then, a clear and cold female voice spoke directly in Roland’s mind.

[All units, attention. "Mind Matrix" connection test. Nodes are stable.]

Roland froze. Spiritual Qi instantly flooded his body as his eyes swept his surroundings.

"Don’t be alarmed, Sir Roland."

Velin’s voice came from beside him as he placed a hand on Roland’s arm, stopping him from drawing his sword.

"That little thing on the back of your neck, the ’Mind Terminal,’ has connected your consciousness to a wide-area psychic link constructed by Sarah. You can think of it as a temporary communications network. All connected individuals can receive orders and provide simple feedback."

Velin gestured for him to give it a try.

"This... How do I use it?"

"Just think it."

Skeptical, Roland thought to himself, ’What’s the weather like today?’

[The weather is clear with a light breeze. Temperature is twenty-seven degrees, humidity is forty-two percent. Suitable for an outdoor hunt.] Sarah’s voice responded immediately.

Roland was surprised. He had experienced similar effects before, but always through expensive magical rituals, and never with so many people connected at once.

But this time, it clearly wasn’t magical communication; there were no elemental fluctuations whatsoever.

He looked toward the distant, half-human, half-insect Magical Beast standing on a high platform, and his assessment of Velin rose to a whole new level.

[Countdown beginning.]

Velin’s commands flowed through the Mind Matrix, pouring into everyone’s consciousness as streams of information.

[Ryo, Mia, begin preheating the Magic Array’s power source. Maintain output at thirty percent.]

[Barrett, Ola, ballista teams to Alert Level One. Confirm winch lubrication and cable tension.]

[Kael, release ’Tracer Dust’ Number One. Monitor subterranean energy readings.]

On the cliff walls at the basin’s edge, three "Eyes of the Storm" had their tarps removed. Four thick bow arms extended from each base, and two sets of crossed, cable-like steel strings were pulled taut, glinting coldly in the sunlight.

Ola stood personally beside the central ballista. He patted the giant, nearly two-meter-long bolt in front of him, which had spiral stabilizing fins on its tail, his eyes filled with Dwarven pride.

The entire Withered Tree Shoal seemed to have become a single entity. Everyone was a part of its body, poised and ready, driven by a single will.

Time passed, second by second.

The first to react was the Crystal Armored Rhinoceros in the cage.

The dying behemoth suddenly began to struggle, ramming its broken horn frantically against the iron cage and letting out a mournful cry filled with terror.

It sensed the approach of a threat.

Immediately after, the ground began to tremble slightly.

[Target has appeared.] Kael’s voice traveled through the underground tunnels and into the "Hive Matrix." [Depth eighty-five meters. Energy readings climbing. It’s moving up fast.]

The tremors grew from faint, to distinct, to violent.

A web of fine cracks began to spread across the ground in the center of the basin.

RUMBLE—!

A tremendous noise erupted as the ground in the center of Withered Tree Shoal bulged upwards, then exploded!

Rubble and dirt were blasted skyward by a colossal force. A head covered in grayish-black, keratinous scales rose slowly from the subterranean chasm.

Two vertical pupils, like molten gold, were exceptionally clear even amidst the dust and smoke.

It revealed only half of its body, yet its shadow completely engulfed the iron cage and the Crystal Armored Rhinoceros within.

The Lord of the Gray Swamp!

It opened its massive maw and snatched up the iron cage.

Then, its giant jaws snapped shut!

CRUNCH—!

The refined steel cage was crushed and pierced like a tin can!

The Crystal Armored Rhinoceros inside didn’t even have time to cry out before it was reduced to a mangled pulp of flesh and blood.

A crimson mixture of blood and organ fragments gushed from the gaps between its scales, dripping to the ground below.

[Now!] Velin’s voice boomed through the matrix.

[Activate!]

"Gravity Well!"

Ryo slammed his Magic Staff onto the ground. The massive, pre-inscribed Magic Array flared to life, and an ethereal blue light flooded along the carved lines, spreading across the entire basin.

An invisible weight suddenly pressed down on every inch of the basin!

The Lord of the Gray Swamp’s swallowing motion froze. Its immense body sank uncontrollably, crashing to the ground with a boom that kicked up a cloud of dust.

It let out a roar, confused as to why this familiar geothermal vent had suddenly become so heavy.

[Ballistas, fire in sequence!] Barrett roared into his squad’s channel.

VWOOM—!

VWOOM—!

VWOOM—!

Three air-tearing shrieks sounded in sequence from different directions.

Three custom-made Dwarven bolts, trailing long, barbed steel cables, slammed viciously into the body of the Lord of the Gray Swamp.

PSHHHT!

Its lava-like Scale Armor, tough enough to withstand a heavy battering ram, was pierced directly by the terrifying kinetic energy of the Dwarven ballistas.

The bolts embedded themselves deep in the serpent’s body. The barbed mechanisms inside the arrowheads sprang open, sinking deep and catching firmly in its flesh and sinew.

[Winches! Pull tight!]

Behind the cliff walls, dozens of elite soldiers, already on standby, worked in teams of three to heave at the massive winches.

The specially tempered steel cables groaned as they were pulled taut, one by one.

The intense pain and restraint sent the Lord of the Gray Swamp into a rage.

It roared, its enormous body beginning to thrash wildly. Every exertion of its strength made the ground tremble violently.

Suppressed by the "Gravity Well," its movements were sluggish, but its strength remained terrifyingly immense.

[Siege crossbow team, fire the nets! Restrict its movement!]

Barrett commanded the garrison. Hundreds of crossbow bolts, trailing smaller steel cables, were launched, blanketing the giant serpent in layer after layer of netting.

From the very beginning, the battle had reached a fever pitch.

Roland watched all of this, stunned.

There was no glorious charge of Knights, no desperate struggle of Warriors.

Only cold machinery, perfect coordination, and a series of procedures that treated warfare as an engineering problem.

But just as everyone was about to relax, the flesh around the giant serpent’s wounds began to writhe, and the bleeding stopped within seconds. The massive bolts embedded deep in its body were being squeezed out, inch by inch, by its powerful muscles.

The advantage Velin’s team had established was being rapidly eroded by the monster’s absurd regenerative abilities.

The three main cables connecting to the Eyes of the Storm were pulled taut, and the winch axles began to smoke from the strain of the power struggle.

Around the basin, Ryo and Mia were directing the Mages to replace the Demon Crystals that had already grown dim.

The battle had reached a stalemate.

The great beast was using its endless vitality to slowly wear down the war machine Velin had so meticulously arranged.

Roland tightened his grip on his sword hilt.

He knew that the collapse of any single part of the plan—a snapped cable or a failing Magic Array—would lead to catastrophic consequences.