Mountains, temples.
A dark figure stood trembling on the platform beneath the temple, recounting the story.
"... led by the scout Calamity Beast, we moved forward..."
"... Suddenly, a very loud explosion rang out, the kind of explosions we'd heard before involving those humans..."
"... The Molten-Fire Lizard Lord commands us..."
"... After that, I..."
After a long while, the story was finished.
The Shadow Wolf lay prone on the ground.
It didn't know what posture it should maintain, but instinctively pressed its entire body to the ground as a sign of respect.
However, because its eyes are located on the side of its head, it can see what's in front of it even when it's lying on the ground, but...
Shadow Wolf cautiously raised his eyes and glanced upwards.
A dark shadow several times larger than itself sat calmly above, its beard and hair fluttering slightly around its face.
Even though it was just sitting normally and hadn't even looked at it, the Shadow Wolf still felt an indescribable pressure, and its body trembled involuntarily.
"To be honest, it feels better if it doesn't see this person!"
Not daring to close his eyes, nor to look directly at the figure, Shadow Wolf could only lower his gaze, looking down at the area beneath the figure, and concluded:
"So, the first thing I did upon returning was to report the news!"
There was a moment of silence in front of the temple before a soft question was heard.
"That's all?"
"Yes... yes, that's it!" Shadow Wolf replied, sounding slightly nervous.
"So, you didn't see the Molten-Fire Lizard when you heard the sound?" the voice asked again.
"Uh... is there a problem, Lion King?" Shadow Wolf cautiously looked up again.
Because it was the first to send back a message, it was summoned, and then, as we just discussed, it was asked to recount the entire incident.
But now that the explanation is finished, is there anything you still don't understand?
Didn't it just clearly state that it heard Lord Molten-Fire Lizard's words and immediately returned to report?
Upon hearing Shadow Wolf's question, the figure above finally turned its gaze.
Are you asking me?
The voice was faint, seemingly unreadable, but Shadow Wolf immediately averted his gaze, saying in terror:
"I'm so sorry, Lion King! I'm so sorry!! I'll get back to you right away. When I heard the voice, I definitely didn't see Lord Molten-Fire Lizard."
"However, if I'm not mistaken, that voice definitely belongs to Lord Molten-Fire Lizard, which is why I returned immediately upon hearing the news!"
"Furthermore, when we headed that way, we were suddenly attacked by those humans. Those humans must have known we were going there beforehand, which is why..."
Shadow Wolf frantically explained, seemingly trying to reveal all his thoughts, or perhaps trying to explain that he had acted unintentionally.
In short, it offered a wildly insane explanation.
However, the Lion King above seemed to have no intention of paying attention to it, and just looked at it indifferently.
After a long while, seemingly feeling that what he had said might be useless, or perhaps that he had said everything he could, the Shadow Wolf lay down again, trembling.
The area in front of the temple fell silent for a moment, leaving only the two Calamity Beast.
The Shadow Wolf lay on the ground, trembling incessantly.
It wanted to control it, but it couldn't control it at all.
The sudden increase in pressure on his shoulders, the possibility that his death could occur at any moment due to a single, unconscious remark...
A cold wind blew between the two beasts...
Finally, the indifferent voice rang out again before the temple.
"Alright, you can go now!"
First... get down? Does this mean you're letting me go?... The Shadow Wolf raised its eyes, looking at the figure above in disbelief, but it quickly realized what was happening and slammed its head on the ground, saying:
"Thank you, Your Majesty the Lion King! Thank you, Your Majesty the Lion King!"
Having said that, it immediately stood up, but just as it was about to retreat down the mountain, it stopped again.
Wait, are we not going to ignore the betrayal of those two Sky-Sundering Kamaitachi?
Somewhat puzzled, but the scene he had just witnessed made Shadow Wolf hesitate for a moment, and in the end, he did not dare to ask and hurriedly retreated down the mountain.
Before the temple, the Lion King still sat there, watching the Shadow Wolf retreat with indifferent eyes.
It wasn't angry at the other party's rhetorical question.
It's just a Calamity Beast with no real talent; even if you offend it, it's not worth getting angry about.
Of course, some caution is still necessary, which is why it waited until the other party was about to reach their breaking point before speaking.
As for the news they brought back...
The Lion King slowly raised his gaze, looking down at the distant mountains.
From the moment it heard about the betrayal of the Sky-Sundering Kamaitachi, it had never believed it.
It's not that I think such a thing could never happen.
However, this is the current stage and this situation.
From the perspective of the two Sky-Sundering Kamaitachi that were transferred here, or from the perspective of the Sky-Sundering Kamaitachi race as a whole, there is no reason for them to do such a thing.
If they had been caught, that would have been one thing, but clearly, they weren't.
Therefore, upon hearing this news, it automatically dismissed this possibility.
As for summoning Shadow Wolf now, it's merely to understand the whole story and see if we can discover anything.
After all, this wave of Calamity Beast was practically useless; this was the first time they had appeared since the beasts set foot in this Erosion Zone.
Thinking of what Shadow Wolf had just said, Lion King's eyes flickered, and the image of the beast tide that had suddenly gone berserk more than a year ago flashed before his eyes again.
"Human, voice, is that it...?"
The Lion King sat there, silently gazing at the distant mountains.
"Have Feather Owl others keep an eye out for this, and take care of it while they're at it. This human has caused trouble a few times already..."
"However, the most important things to face now are two: one is the clearly prepared attack that suddenly appeared during the march, and the other is how to deal with the current tactics of those humans..."
"City, Anchor Point, attack..."
The Lion King sat there, his eyes gleaming.
Suddenly, it raised its head and roared.
After the sound traveled downwards, it ignored it and turned its attention back to pondering the question that had just come up.
How do we deal with the current tactics humans employ?
Replace the large number of low-level Calamity Beast stationed there with 5th Tier Calamity Beast?
Even if you replace several thousand Calamity Beast with fourth or fifth tier beasts, there would only be three or four hundred at most. Could you hold them off? Besides, this migration will take time...
So, should the Court Council completely change the arrangement to Sixth Tier system, with each Sixth Tier Calamity Beast responsible for a separate Anchor Point?
No, that might work at first, but later those humans will definitely target each Anchor Point specifically, acting alone to kill them!
What should we do in this situation...? Lion Shadow sat in front of the temple, deep in thought.
Suddenly, a figure staggered down from below.
" Lion King!" The Sky-Skimming Harrier respectfully lay down on the ground.
The Lion King raised his eyes and said:
"Go and inform Mirror Water that those humans might appear in its path, and warn it to be careful..."