Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

"What you all can't smell it?!" he asked loud enough for them all to hear.     

All of them took a moment to sniff the air and someone revealed a grin.      

"Blood, your blood, seems like your job is more fun than we thought."     

They all looked at the dragon-kin with interest, each stare was enough to scare a normal beast. But with over a hundred of them, even some of the most dangerous beasts would feel threatened. But with Ao Qin, he was used to it, talking to them casually.      

"Yeah, yeah, how's it out there? Anything interesting?" he asked.      

One by one, they voiced out their thoughts.      

"A few strong ones but that's about it."      

"There is a lot of them though, if you're not careful, they might just tear you to pieces."      

"It is a bit strange. We killed a few but they just ignored us and kept running."     

"Whatever, it just makes it easier! We should just go and kill until we're satisfied!"     

"Pft, like you're one to talk, you almost tripped and nearly got trampled over!"     

There was chuckling and smirking across many of the faces as one of the Reclamation Seekers pointed this out about their own. As for the one being laughed at, she looked at them all and snarled.      

"So what?! I killed more than most of you all!"     

Her retort was only met with more laughter as Ao Qin took out his saber.      

"Doesn't matter, I'm sure you'll show them all soon enough."     

He said to her, half-smiling before turning to look at the coming hordes. The others followed, watching as the beasts came closer and closer.      

Along with the Reclamation Seekers were those from Preservation and Expedition, all waiting with their weapons ready. Many were on the walls and others were on the ground, grouped within the city. Among them were the Four Claws, who stood at the front of the group.      

As they waited quietly, there was a humming sound as Zhu Xie's ship hovered and ascended over the city. The boar-kin steered the ship forward before pulling a lever at the side of the wheel. The hull shuddered before several compartments opened up, revealing four small cannons.      

"Ready!"      

A voice echoed out from one of the spires as those manning the defenses began to load them. One could hear cranking and grinding as the cannons were aimed towards them.      

The hordes came ever so closer to the tribes, charging forward, snarling and howling, not knowing what exactly awaited them. The fastest of them were these red hyenas, whose legs had bones jutting out of their elbows like spikes. Reaching the outer regions, they leaped up and over the wooden barricades only to fall into a pit, impaled by a dozen spikes.      

They yelped and cried out, a signal that it would begin.      

"Fire!"     

The voice from the spires echoed out once more and the cannons roared to life! Several dozen iron balls arced over the sky, smashing into the hordes and exploding into hundreds of pieces of shrapnel!     

Blood spewed and flowed as the beasts died by the tens, some bled to death while others were shredded to pieces.      

"Keep firing! Kill as many as you can before they reach the walls!"     

The voice shouted continuously, barking orders every second.      

Ao Qin looked up, half-smiling as he turned towards the beasts.      

"Hah, Qiuyu Bi, to think the old leader of Preservation is still so energetic" he chuckled.      

At the point, all those except for the Reclamation Seekers were busily attacking from the walls, firing off arrows and bolts at any beasts that were getting close. And aside from that was Zhu Xie's ship, which fired off rays of lightning from its own little cannons.      

With all this, the hordes found it could not come touch or even come close to the walls.      

But this was just the beginning.      

Hundreds of them were killed and there were thousands more to replace them, and these were only the weaker ones. The sheer number was overwhelming in every sense. Tens of thousands of beasts flooded towards this one city that contained what remained of the beast-kin, a number that was close to maybe ten thousand in total, less than half were the seekers.      

Second by second, the beasts slowly closed in as the traps lost their use. Spiked pits were filled to the brim with bodies, barricades were being broken through, snares could only be used once, and the homes of the beast-kin would explode into a fiery blaze should it be trampled.      

"Keep firing! Don't let them break through!"     

Qiuyu Bi's voice continued to shout as everyone used up whatever they had left, down to the last arrow. The walls grew quiet and that was when the gates opened.      

There was no shouting or yelling, just a quiet snarl as every one of the seekers revealed their fangs and glared at the beasts. And Ruishi Lei, who had been quiet for most of this time finally made himself known.      

The lion-kin raised his head to the sky and roared out, echoing throughout the city! All of the other seekers followed, howling together to show that they were not afraid of the beasts!     

"Kill them! Don't let them reach the city walls!"     

Niu Hong's voice boomed as he raised his axe to the sky and charged out, followed by those from Expedition.      

As for the seekers from Reclamation, all of them smiled and snarled as they brandished their weapons and looked down at the charging force.      

"Hah, time for a second round. Let's see if there's anything interesting", one of them said.      

"If not, we can just enjoy the killing", said another.      

"Shut it you two, let's just get to hunting already. If anything this a harvest unlike any we've seen!"     

All of them except for Ao Qin and Ruishi Lei vanished without another sound, joining the battle with glee. With just the two of them at the front of the walls, they watched as the beasts of the Savage Lands clashed with their own.      

Blades glinted under the growing sunlight as both sides fought ferociously against each other. It wasn't like a normal battle with techniques and skills but a combination of instinct and carnage as they fought wildly and madly against each other.      

Limbs were torn apart, those with sharp fangs and a strong jaw used it to their advantage, biting into the enemy and ripping the flesh off. It was a level of brutality that caused even seasoned warriors to shudder at the sight but this was how the beast-kin truly fought.      

"Not joining yet?" Ao Qin asked.      

Ruishi Lei crossed his arms and stared out.      

"Not yet", he replied.      

"Waiting for something, aren't you? Perhaps one of the Beast Gods? Or just one of the stronger Savage Beasts?"      

Ao Qin narrowed his eyes, looking at the lion-kin with interest. Despite him asking this, Ruishi Lei did not confirm nor deny it. Rather, he just looked forward, past the hordes and towards the direction they came from, the North.     

Seeing this, the dragon-kin quickly changed the topic.      

"I saw that you went back to your father, no doubt sharing what was found. Is there perhaps anything you've found that you have yet to tell us?" he asked.      

Ruishi Lei was quiet once again but gave an answer. He also uncrossed his arms and moved to join the fight.      

"Everything I've told him is what is known to us all. Though I'm starting to believe in my father, something is there... Something that caused this to happen. We have to find out what that is."     

The lion-kin looked intently in that direction while Ao Qin followed as well. He revealed a somewhat strange look.      

"I wonder if it's connected to her..." he thought.