The City Falls, the Four Demon Gods
"All Soul Masters, follow me and hold the square! Women, children, and the elderly, fall back!"
The city had already descended into chaos.
After the beast tide poured in, it scattered through the streets, pouncing on any living thing it saw.
The garrison and the few local Soul Masters fought desperately to hold them back, but they could not form a proper defensive line.
Without a large number of city-defense weapons and with pitifully few Soul Masters, they held out for less than the time it took an incense stick to burn before being driven steadily back.
Xi Er walked through the middle of the beast tide, watching the panicked crowds flee blindly around him. He could not help sneering.
"That's all? Humans without formations and magic cannons really are weak."
He raised his hand, a layer of dark light shining over his green-scaled arm. Just as he was about to sweep it toward a group of civilians, Hagenti reached out to stop him.
"His Majesty gave an order."
Xi Er clicked his tongue and lowered his hand. "I know, I know."
The demon gods did not make a move, but the beast tide did not stop.
The Soul Beasts did not care about any "order from His Majesty."
Whenever they saw humans, they charged up and tore into them.
Screams and cries mingled throughout Treasure Sword City's streets and alleys. People were dying everywhere.
An Luoxian stood on a rooftop, his nostrils twitching twice as he looked around.
"Hmm?"
Saigong landed beside him. "What is it?"
"Where are those little bugs?" An Luoxian narrowed his eyes and scanned the chaotic crowd several times.
"That bear and those little brats were on the city wall just now."
Saigong shrugged. "They ran, obviously. They're just a few bugs. Why care about them?"
An Luoxian searched twice more, but he really could not find those faces. A little bored, he curled his lip.
"Forget it. The king will deal with them next time."
Before long, Treasure Sword City's resistance was crushed.
The remaining soldiers, Soul Masters, and civilians were driven by the beast tide into the square at the city center, where they huddled together. Tables, chairs, and handcarts had been hastily piled into a barricade around them.
The Soul Beasts surrounded them, watching hungrily, but did not charge in again.
The four demon gods hovered in midair, looking down at the defeated remnants huddled below.
Hagenti folded his arms, his expression showing little change.
Saigong yawned.
Xi Er folded his arms and watched the show.
An Luoxian tilted his head, feeling a little bored.
"How dull."
One day later.
Treasure Sword City had become a living hell.
The city walls had collapsed in many places, and blood and severed limbs covered the ground.
The air was thick with the smell of blood and the rank stench of Soul Beasts.
The bodies of soldiers and Soul Beasts covered nearly the entire city.
The few dozen soldiers and Soul Masters still alive were all wounded, their Soul Power exhausted and their eyes numb, as they leaned in despair against the walls of a ruined alley.
The city lord, a Soul Emperor, had also lost an arm, and his face was as pale as paper.
He barely managed to remain standing with the help of his broken sword.
"City lord... reinforcements... haven't the reinforcements arrived yet?" a dying soldier with a hole through his abdomen struggled to ask.
The city lord's bloodshot eyes turned toward the empire's interior, but there was nothing there.
If Zhao Wuji had stayed to resist the beast tide, Treasure Sword City would surely have held out until reinforcements arrived.
But...
His lips trembled.
At last, a despairing, hoarse growl rose from deep in his throat.
"Heaven... wants to destroy my Treasure Sword City!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the Soul Beasts outside the city, after a brief period of chaos and feeding on their companions' corpses,
launched another attack!
"Immovable Wisdom King Zhao Wuji! I despise you!!!"
One hour later.
Treasure Sword City fell completely silent.
The last soldier was torn apart by several Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, and after slaying a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, the city lord was swallowed by the beast tide.
The city walls had collapsed, the gates were shattered, and the few civilians who had survived in the city had not escaped the calamity either.
The Soul Beasts' roars gradually died down.
Treasure Sword City had become a ruin and a paradise for Soul Beasts.
Spirit City, Pope's Palace.
Bibi Dong sat on the papal throne, holding the plea for help sent from Treasure Sword City. After reading it, she curled her lips in a cold sneer.
"These Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest really can't behave themselves."
"It seems my Spirit Hall needs to make these beasts settle down!"
Several elders stood in the hall, with Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan and Ghost Douluo Gui Mei at the front.
Bibi Dong glanced at them.
"Elder Ju, Ghost Elder, take three thousand elite Soul Masters and investigate. If there is a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, bring its Soul Bone back!"
"As you command, Your Holiness the Pope."
"As you command, Your Holiness the Pope."
The two accepted their orders and left the Pope's Palace.
As Yue Guan walked, he felt something was amiss.
"The Soul Beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest haven't dared unleash a beast tide in decades. Could a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast really be directing them from the shadows this time?"
Gui Mei replied dismissively.
"We'll know when we get there. Even if it is a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, the two of us can still take it down together."
"True." Yue Guan sighed.
"Let's hope we don't run into a tough opponent."
Heaven Dou Empire, imperial palace.
Emperor Xue Ye sat in the great hall, his frown growing deeper.
"The beast tide is rampaging, and Treasure Sword City is in danger..."
"The Soul Beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest have been quiet in recent years. Why would they suddenly attack a city?"
Prince Xue Xing sat nearby. Hearing this, he spoke unhurriedly.
"Your Majesty, a rampaging beast tide poses too great a threat to our Heaven Dou Empire. Treasure Sword City may be small, but it is the closest city to the Star Dou Great Forest. If we don't drive these Soul Beasts back into the forest, there may well be a next time."
Xue Ye glanced at him. "What are you suggesting?"
"Why not have His Highness the Crown Prince lead the imperial army to investigate?" Prince Xue Xing spoke casually, a smile on his face.
"First, he could drive back the beast tide. Second, he could show how much the Heaven Dou Empire's crown prince cares for his people. What does Your Majesty think?"
Xue Ye considered it, then turned to Xue Qinghe, who stood nearby.
"Qinghe, what do you think?"
Xue Qinghe, or rather Qian Renxue, wore a gentle, refined smile, but in her heart she had already cursed Prince Xue Xing eight hundred times.
You old fox, you want to use this chance to get rid of me, don't you?
In a place like a beast tide, swords and blades have no eyes. Any "accident" would be enough to make His Highness the Crown Prince die for his country.
A mere beast tide won't find it easy to get rid of me. Elder Pufferfish and Elder Snake Lance are following me from the shadows. If something really happens, who deals with whom remains to be seen.
She stepped forward and bowed slightly. "Father, I am willing to go."
The smile on Prince Xue Xing's face stiffened for an instant. This was unexpected.
He had thought the crown prince would refuse, but he had not expected her to agree so readily.
Xue Ye nodded, somewhat gratified.
"Good. You have a sense of responsibility. I'll assign you twenty thousand imperial guards and send two royal consecrators with you."
"Thank you, Father."
Qian Renxue straightened.
"I will drive the beast tide back into the Star Dou Great Forest."
Prince Xue Xing gave a couple of strained chuckles beside them.
"Your Highness is valiant, as befits the empire's heir."
Qian Renxue turned to him, smiling even more sincerely than he was.
"That's all thanks to you recommending me, Uncle Xue Xing. Otherwise, how would Qinghe have had this opportunity?"
Prince Xue Xing's lips twitched, and he said nothing more.