Divine Beast Ascension

617 One-Sided Battle

Atop the collapsing hill, more than three dozen elder wildebeests were slamming their hooves into the ground. And, at the center of those beasts, Eefran and a newly ascended early-perennial wildebeest shattered the stone beneath them.

RUMBLE, RUMBLE! RUMMMBLE!!

“Move out, with caution!” Eefran shouted the order as soon as the hill shifted down, proving that the collapse had become unstoppable.

All wildebeests gladly began their escape. They carefully hopped from section to section of shifting rocks, focusing on safe leave instead of hurriedly rejoining the beast army.

In the midst of battle, one man kept an eye on the collapsing hill while standing his ground against the mighty Thunder Jaguar. Chuckling, Darett commented, “Not bad for savage beasts. But Commander Ephar saw it coming. I’m sure a messenger already reached the army.”

“So what?” Sarpo scoffed, throwing an electrified claw.

Chrring! Ch-chrring!

Darett’s wind-laced claymore repelled the incoming claws, leaving a slight scraping, humming sound in the air. And Darett spun into a follow-up swing, wielding the heavy sword with finesse and speed thanks to Darett’s control over wind.

CHRRING!

.....

Sarpo swatted that attack also, remaining vigilant but not overwhelmed.

“What will you do when our reinforcements join the battle?” Darett asked with a sly grin. “Can you handle another three hundred troops with so few beasts?”

In response, Sarpo laughed, “Do you want all of our perennials to join the battle?”

Darett’s flinched. His gaze caught wind of two apes standing on either side of the battle.

Commander Ephar also noticed those gorillas, making it Ephar’s mission to finish off his opponent swiftly in order to keep the balance of battle. Only, Ephar was getting flustered since his opponent refused to go down or receive any serious injuries.

Standing across from the commander, Mertin’s arms were starting to ache from constantly repelling Ephar’s battleaxe. But Mertin’s demeanor was getting colder and sharper with every clash.

“As a rebel to humanity, you should die already,” Ephar boldly scoffed.

C-Crunch!

Ephar’s swinging shifted the ground under Mertin’s feet, breaking the swordsman’s stance.

However, Mertin made a hop step while pumping out ice underfoot, steadying his footing immediately.

Ch-chting!

Just like his firm footing, Mertin’s mind was unfazed by the commander’s banter. “You know, my father always taught me that fighting a foe is like reading their playbook in live-action. As long as I’m wary and patient, the path to your demise will become evident.”

Ch-CHTING!!

The ground beneath Ephar’s feet cracked and the ice around Mertin’s feet did the same. Both of their attacks were parried and knocked aside, missing their target.

“So what?” Ephar replied, hiding his dejection behind a cocky grin.

Mertin chuckled, “Well, that’s what I’ll have to do for you to be my stepping stone.”

“HUH? Stepping stone?” Ephar spat in disgust.

“Of course. If we wanted to fight you with our strongest person, she would’ve already killed you,” Mertin laughed and pointed his blade back to the sidelines.

But Ephar didn’t look. Ephar didn’t have to look again in order to understand who Mertin was talking about. As an earth-based cultivator, Ephar could sense how strong that hammer-carrying gorilla was. And with a perennial fox and stallion tearing through Prodson’s mortal troops already, things were looking worse and worse by the moment.

“How can Iron provide so many perennials?” questioned Ephar.

“Why wouldn’t they? We’re going after the capital of all places,” retorted Mertin.

Ch-chting! CHTING!

Ephar continued to question his foe, “But you’re already attacking two other cities. It’s impossible for Iron to have three armies of this size and quality!”

Chting! Frrrip…

Ephar’s enthusiasm died down slightly as he felt blood trickling down his arm.

Shrugging, Mertin stood calmly, now with two swords in hand. “You’re right. But we only need one army like this, because beasts can be just as smart and even smarter than you Prodson folks. Why else would we, the Prodson Family gladly join Iron?”

Ephar blinked. “Prodson? Dual-wielding…”

Swallowing some of his pride, Ephar didn’t need to ask why his foe had been holding back all along. It became clearer than noonday with no clouds covering any of the three suns.

“I’ve already read your playbook,” Mertin continued, rebuilding his stance with both swords at the ready. “You’re already repeating yourself. So either mix things up or become my stepping stone toward mid-perennial!”

Chting! CH-CH-CHTING!!

Ephar quickly went on the defensive against Mertin’s dual, frost-coated swords.

In the meantime, the Prodson Army was facing unprecedented casualties.

Eila, along with other Vanishing-night Foxes were slashing and stabbing Prodson troops with minimal effort and movements. Hollen and his stallions were trampling and tackling every soldier in their path, tilling the ground and breaking bodies wherever Hollen went.

Yeter wasn’t any less brutal. The young, raging stallion didn’t care how many adepts and elders Prodson threw at him. Yeter welcomed them all.

With his thin but incredibly sharp earth essence armor, Yeter charged through anyone and everyone around him. Though Yeter did evade enemy weapons and attacks when able, Yeter’s emphasis was on decimating Prodson as quickly and mercilessly as possible. Half the time, Yeter continued his charge without finishing off his foe, leaving them cut up and broken on the battlefield.

Karos wasn’t any different from Yeter. Karos stayed close to Yeter, zipping through the Prodson troops while pumping out more and more lightning to paralyze the soldiers in metallic armor.

With Karos focusing on paralysis and Yeter charging through every foe, the duo proved to be terrifyingly good at crowd control.

But there was only one beast given the reputation as the most feared, instantly.

While the peak-elder Iron-body Gorillas held the line and kept the Prodson Army from breaking free, one beast was streaking through the Prodson troops all on his own.

With wings flapping, that beast flew high and low to weave in and out of his foes, leaving wakes of purple flames everywhere he went. And he was challenging the enemy while in the heart of the Prodson Army, weakening their core so the beasts attacking from the sides would eventually shatter Prodson’s formation.

It didn’t matter who approached the drake. Or how many drew near. Every Prodson soldier that raised an attack toward the drake, from a distance or up close, was either burned alive, torn apart, or had their soul shattered.

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