The Truth Behind the Beast Tide's Retreat

Two days ago.

A fierce battle broke out in a large tribe in the Ashen Forest.

The tribe was slaughtered by a group of skilled humans; the newly appointed priest was killed, and the tribe's most precious treasure was stolen.

The patriarch of the Winst Family led a group of High-tier Extraordinary out of the forest, followed by a horde of barbarians in a frenzied pursuit.

The two groups chased and fled, racing across the wasteland for thousands of kilometers.

Despite their disheveled state, the Winsters, led by Kipling, could not hide the excitement in their eyes.

"For the Winst Family, who specialize in fire magic, seizing the [Fire Totem] is even more exciting than finding the [Divine Power Crystal]. With this, I can cross that threshold and advance to the Grand Magus realm. Even if I'm not as good as Master Cavo then, I'll be just as good as the other legendary figures."

"Chief, we are in a very bad situation. Judging from our senses, the main force of the pursuing barbarians has formed a large encirclement, cutting off all our escape routes. If we continue running like this, we will inevitably run into the barbarian pursuers sooner or later."

"With a Blue-tailed Hawk hanging in the sky, we can't hide our whereabouts at all. Those guys definitely won't give up until they get their totem back."

"Unless we set up a teleportation array to make a long-distance leap, our situation will be very dangerous."

"Setting up a large teleportation array in the wild would take at least several hours, and those barbarians would never give us that opportunity."

Where is the nearest hunting base?

"Plague Marsh".

"Let's go there. There are Magic Tower in the Mechanical City, which will greatly reduce the time required to set up teleportation arrays. Otherwise, if things continue like this, we'll never be able to get rid of those barbarians."

"."

Then the group headed towards the "Plague Base".

Coincidentally, when they arrived nearby last night, they happened to encounter the priest of that medium-sized tribe controlling Beast Tide to besiege the base.

A group of top experts from the City of Radiance, though at a cost, successfully slaughtered the barbarians of that medium-sized tribe.

This explains why the "Beast Tide" that besieged the sole base inexplicably retreated.

"Lord Kipling has arrived!"

In the Plague Base, everyone who saw this group of mages in crimson robes was quite surprised.

The surviving nobles, in particular, seemed to have found their pillar of support, and they all beamed with joy as they went out of the city to welcome them.

In everyone's eyes, with this group of top-tier Transcendent, there was nothing to fear from any Beast Tide.

To everyone's surprise, these mages didn't linger at the base, not even stopping to exchange pleasantries. Instead, they went straight to a Mechanical City and never showed up again.

On the Mechanical City, in the mage tower that was originally used by the Mage Corps to cast large-scale spells.

Kipling and the group of Red Robe Mage didn't dare to delay and immediately began setting up the teleportation array.

"Lord City Lord, those barbarians have surrounded us. It will take at least another half hour to set up the formation. What should we do?"

"Send all the hunters to the Mechanical City, seal the city gates, and prevent them from entering or leaving. Let them help defend the city! With these two Mechanical City, half an hour should be enough to hold them off."

"But... this magic teleportation array can only transport thirty people at most, what about the people in these two cities?"

"No buts! If we hadn't killed that barbarian priest earlier, these people would have died in the Beast Tide anyway. Buying us a little time is a contribution in itself."

"There are still some members of our Five Great Families on both Mechanical City."

"There's no way to save them all. Select a few core heirs, and abandon the rest."

"Yes."

"."

While the hunters and the powerful were still celebrating the arrival of the Red Robe Mage, they were unaware that they had become "discarded pawns".

They also learned from the Archmage that the Beast Tide last night was indeed dealt with by these High-tier Extraordinary.

They were all overjoyed, deeply grateful, and praised the Winst Family for saving their lives.

However, they also received another piece of news.

The Red Robe Mage said that the Beast Tide was only part of the barbarian attack force, and that the main barbarian army could launch an attack on the Plague Base at any time.

Therefore, we need to rally everyone together in the Mechanical City to launch a powerful defense.

No one doubted the order.

After all, those Red Robe Archmage were all in the city. Even if a battle broke out, it would be a great honor to fight alongside these high-ranking mages.

For the hunters

The Red Robe Mage belong to the small group of people in City of Radiance who issue orders; legally speaking, they are obligated to carry out those orders.

From a human perspective, the fact that they were willing to let these hunters, who originally could only live on the ground, move to the city was already treating them "equally" as the powerful and wealthy, and even made many hunters feel flattered.

The surviving hunters flocked to the Mechanical City.

Even if a few people doubted the timing and motives of those Archmage's appearance, there was no better choice at the moment.

After all, there were more Blue-tailed Hawk in the sky than before yesterday's Beast Tide.

Clearly, the claim that a large barbarian force is pursuing us is true, and leaving the base now is definitely not a good choice.

Thinking that with a fifth-tier mage like this, a super expert, the Mechanical City would definitely not fall. No one thought that they were just "sacrificial pawns" used to buy time for those Archmage.

That's all.

Having just escaped the "Enforcement Team," Rein and his group were now stuck in the base again due to the lockdown order.

Previously, they could force their way out, but now that those Red Robe Archmage have arrived, the injured Bazel might not necessarily gain any advantage in a direct confrontation.

As soon as the lockdown order was issued, they were also driven into the Mechanical City by the Enforcement Team.

Rein had initially thought that Kipling Winster would take advantage of the mysterious murder of his son August to cause trouble, but to his surprise, no one came looking for trouble at all.

Furthermore, after the Red Robe Mage entered the city, they were never seen again.

In a separate cabin in the Mechanical City.

The four members of the Rein gathered together.

Rein also noticed something strange about the appearance of those Red Robe Mages, and asked, "Senior Bazel, is your sense of crisis coming from those guys in the Winst Family?"

Bazel, his face grave with a look of unresolved thought, shook his head. "Although the Five Great Families are becoming increasingly audacious, they don't dare to act recklessly. What I'm worried about isn't them, but..."

He paused, then turned to look at Rein and asked, "Don't you find it strange that those Red Robe Mage suddenly appeared here? The people who entered the city just now were all well-known figures among the High-tier Extraordinary. This may be a concentration of the most elite fighting force of the Winst Family."

Rein had already guessed as much, and said, "Could it be that they went there for that temple?"

The fact that these "big shots" would come in a group suggests they weren't just hunting for ordinary things. And the "Ashen Forest" is probably only attracted to the legendary "Lost Temple."

"I'm afraid they're not going anywhere, but rather they've returned."

Bazel had clearly observed more details, saying, "Although those guys tried to hide it, I also noticed that many of them had injuries, and they all looked extremely tired and weak."

He paused, then continued, "According to them, wiping out the medium-sized tribe that controlled the Beast Tide last night shouldn't have left these people in such a sorry state. Unless..."

"Unless they had experienced another major war before this!"

Rein had a feeling that things had gotten a bit out of hand. Then, a thought crossed his mind, "Perhaps... the Barbarian Tribe has someone even more powerful chasing them? Forcing them to hide in the Mechanical City."

He understood after hearing this.

Those guys have probably returned from the Ashen Forest, and they've brought pursuers with them!

Barbarians have high-altitude magical beasts as "reconnaissance aircraft," and once they are targeted, they really can't escape even if they want to.

"Um."

Bazel nodded, looking out the window at the Blue-tailed Hawk in the sky—several times more numerous than yesterday—and speculated, "Even if those guys didn't find the temple, they must have caused a huge mess in the Ashen Forest, otherwise those barbarians wouldn't be chasing after us so relentlessly."

After some analysis and deduction, the two arrived at this surprising conclusion.

They weren't interested in figuring out what benefits the Winst Family had actually received, but they were very clear about one thing.

If a group of Archmage are being chased and fleeing, the trouble must be considerable, perhaps even catastrophic.

This "Plague Base" will likely face an even worse situation than last night.

At this point, a cold glint flashed in Bazel's eyes as he confirmed one thing. "Those damned bastards not only failed to break the Beast Tide and rescue the people at the base, but they also brought an even bigger disaster upon themselves."

Their situation suddenly became extremely precarious because of these few deductions.

Rein frowned and asked, "Senior, what should we do now?"

Let me think about it.

Bazel squinted, lost in thought.

Clearly, he was also somewhat confused about the situation.

After a moment's thought, he analyzed further, "Judging from the current situation, there are definitely top-tier barbarians chasing after us, and they're near the base. If it's really as I suspect, even if we break out of the wilderness, we'll inevitably encounter a large barbarian force. Although I don't know who these barbarians are, my intuition tells me I'm in a bad situation. And the fact that they've managed to chase the Winst Family so relentlessly suggests that there are probably beings with combat power comparable to 'legends' among them."

"."

Upon hearing this, Rein immediately realized the seriousness of the situation.

He had previously heard the barbarian Wudo mention that the Kohlman Clan's main tribe had extremely powerful priests. From her descriptions of their ability to summon wind and rain, she said they were no weaker than the "Ten Great Legends."

If a powerful being of that caliber were to attack the city, it would be far more despair-inducing than Beast Tide.

"And what's worse than that is..."

Suddenly, Bazel thought of something else and said, "If the top-tier Transcendent of the Winst Family intend to fight to the death, they might have a chance to repel the barbarians with the help of the Mechanical City's defenses, or hold out until other bases come to their aid."

He paused here, then changed the subject, "But if those guys have no intention of fighting to the death, then we—no, everyone in the city—will be in a very bad situation! Yesterday, the Beast Tide still had a chance to break through, but by then, I'm afraid there won't even be that chance."

Hearing this, Rein was puzzled. "We're all trapped here now, what else can they do but fight to the death?"

"Hehe."

Bazel sneered, "And there's a magic teleportation array, huh?"

Having lived for two hundred years, this seasoned veteran had seen it all. His gaze turned cold as he said, "Didn't you see those guys disappear once they entered the city? Setting up a large-scale magic teleportation array in the wild takes a considerable amount of time, but there are Magic Tower in the Mechanical City."

As he spoke, he became increasingly convinced that his deduction was correct, and his eyes gleamed as he said, "In the worst-case scenario, their coming to this base is no coincidence; they're probably here specifically to take over the Magic Tower!"

Upon hearing this, Rein suddenly connected all the clues in his mind and came to a startling conclusion, blurting out, "Those guys are planning to use us as 'sacrificial pawns'! To buy them time to build the magic teleportation array?!"

After their analysis, the situation became quite clear.

The Winst Family couldn't shake off the pursuing barbarians; they simply weren't capable of doing so!

Besides, with Blue-tailed Hawk following them in the sky, they'll be tracked down no matter where they go!

Instead of fleeing to other places, they chose the Mechanical City. There are only two possibilities: either they want to use the Mechanical City's defenses to fight to the death, or they want to use the Magic Tower to teleport away!

Bazel also realized this and finally understood where that "sense of crisis" came from.

This is it!

He suddenly stood up and said urgently, "I have a way to test immediately whether it's the worst-case scenario we've guessed!"

Rein: "What method?"

Bazel: "If I directly identify myself and force my way out of the city, and they try to stop me according to the rules, the Winst Family will definitely send top experts to stop me from causing trouble, which means things aren't that bad. But if top experts don't come to stop me, it means those guys are simply too busy to handle it and are really just setting up Magic Array."

He paused, then squinted and said, "If they stop us, we won't have to leave. Staying in the city will actually be safer than going into the wilderness. If no top-tier expert comes to stop me, that would be the worst-case scenario."

"Everyone in Mechanical City is a 'discarded pawn' used by those guys to escape. Staying in this city will surely mean certain death!"

Upon hearing this, Rein, Karl, Tuster all changed color.

Without further ado, the four of them quickly left the cabin.

Bazel no longer concealed his identity and led Rein, Karl, and Tuster to force their way through the city gates.

At the city gate, a group of guards watched them approach, and the leader shouted, "The city is now closed; no one is allowed to leave!"

But as soon as Bazel unleashed his "legendary" aura, the guards' expressions immediately changed drastically.

After all, he was Top Ten Legendary Demon Hunters," and everyone recognized him as soon as he showed his face.