Chapter 681: Breaking the banners before dawn
The song the Savage Beastmen sang was the most common folk song of their people in the Western Grasslands. Though tribes large and small differed and each had its own customs, this song was so widely known that every Savage Beastman, adult or child, could sing it.
Hearing that familiar song thunder through Rusbella in the night, all the Savage Beastmen inside the city grew fearful and uneasy.
Even those infected by Corruption understood the danger they were in.
Many of the Savage Beastmen who had not been infected by Corruption were outright panicking. Some junior officers could not even calm themselves down, let alone reassure the soldiers under them.
And now, many rank-and-file Savage Beastmen were convinced that the allied army really did recruit their people.
In a corner beneath the city wall, a group of Savage Beastmen huddled around a campfire for warmth, listening anxiously to the singing outside until its thunderous roar gradually faded.
"The Soma People's allied army really does accept Savage Beastmen. The rumors were true!"
"How many troops are out there? Five hundred thousand? A million?"
Every one of the Savage Beastmen had long since lost the fierce spirit they once possessed as warriors. Their faces were listless and fearful.
"Why were they singing?"
One Savage Beastman warrior asked, while a junior officer among them looked toward the city wall.
"Besides frightening us, they probably wanted the Savage Beastmen inside the city to consider defecting, so we'd collapse without a fight!"
His words silenced everyone for a moment. Then a timid voice spoke up.
"If we join them now, will they let us live? Will they let us go home?"
No one answered this time. The junior officer merely took out his flask and drank some water.