In a mountain hollow.
The Mirror Water Beast swayed, its jelly-like body riddled with two hollows, silently gazing at the towering mountain ahead.
The mountain was pitch black, and you couldn't see much, but occasionally you could see figures moving about above before quickly disappearing.
"Lord Mirror Water Beast." The Sky-Skimming Harrier flapped its wings and flew down.
The Mirror Water Beast swayed slightly, its gaze falling and then rising again.
The Hard-Armored Salamander glanced at the Mirror Water Beast, and seeing that it didn't seem inclined to ask any questions, it turned its gaze away.
"You've already found out everything about the humans up there, right?"
"Yes, according to our intelligence, there are about 1,600 of those kinds of humans up there!" The Sky-Skimming Harrier puffed out its chest, seemingly regaining the face it had lost due to the lack of intelligence.
However, somewhat to its surprise, the Hard-Armored Salamander in front of it did not seem happy.
"Sixteen hundred? Are you sure?" the Hard-Armored Salamander frowned.
The Mirror Water Beast beside it lowered its gaze slightly before looking up again.
"Yes, it might be a little more, or it might be a little less, but that's about it!" The Sky-Skimming Harrier puffed out its chest and confirmed.
The Hard-Armored Salamander glanced at the Mirror Water Beast beside it, then turned its gaze to the Sky-Skimming Harrier.
Are all 1,600-plus people strong among those humans?
"No, most of them aren't strong, they're not even as strong as me!" the Sky-Skimming Harrier replied.
"How many are stronger than you?" the Hard-Armored Salamander asked.
"This..." The Sky-Skimming Harrier hesitated.
"What? You don't know?" the Hard-Armored Salamander asked in a deep voice.
"Hmm... Reporting to Hard-Armored Salamander, those humans have been on guard against us, so we dare not get too close and cannot fully ascertain their situation. However, from what we have seen, most of them are weaker than us, and there are very few stronger than us!" Sky-Skimming Harrier replied.
There was no blame, but the Hard-Armored Salamander's brow furrowed even deeper.
"Is there... a problem, Lord Hard-Armored Salamander?" the Sky-Skimming Harrier asked cautiously.
The Hard-Armored Salamander glanced at the Sky-Skimming Harrier and said, "There are only a little over 1,600 humans on it, and not many strong human warriors. So you think it was these 1,600 or so relatively weak humans who defeated the more than 10,000 Calamity Beast led by the Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni?"
"Huh? This..."
The Sky-Skimming Harrier, opened its beak.
It wanted to say yes, but swallowed the words back.
More than a thousand people defeated a beast horde of over ten thousand, including three Fifth Tier Calamity Beast?
This is just absurd!
But if it's not like that, then what is it?
The Sky-Skimming Harrier felt a little dizzy.
Reason tells it's unlikely, but reality tells it that since it's already happened, nothing is impossible!
"Then... Hard-Armored Salamander," the Sky-Skimming Harrier abandoned its thought and carefully raised its gaze, "You said it's because of what?"
The Hard-Armored Salamander raised its eyes and looked upwards, also pondering this question.
There are actually many powerful humans up there, but they're just hiding?
No, how many beasts would it take to defeat the 10,000-strong herd led by the Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni in such a short time?
Based on its understanding of humans, their current strength shouldn't be at that level yet!
Does that mean a higher-level human has arrived?
But if a higher-level human were to come, there would be no need to guard it like this!
Why is that...?
"Perhaps it was because those humans brought too many of their weapons that they won..." the Hard-Armored Salamander suddenly murmured, seemingly expressing its own opinion, or perhaps talking to itself.
Beside him, the Sky-Skimming Harrier instinctively widened its eyes.
It was about to retort, but then it thought again that it might not be impossible.
After all, as all the beasts know, the strongest thing humans possess is their weapons. If they have enough of those weapons, it's not entirely impossible for them to defeat a beast tide that far outnumbers them.
They had besieged that human city for so long, and yet the other side had brought so many weapons—it was really too careless!
Lord Hard-Armored Salamander continued speaking in my ear,
"Hmm... If that's the case, it would still be quite difficult for those humans to fight against more than ten thousand with just over a thousand. There should be some reason for this as well, including the Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni."
"This... is it also because of that Gou Wang?" The Sky-Skimming Harrier paused for a moment, then looked up and asked.
The Hard-Armored Salamander glanced at it and said, "Of course, it didn't think about how to fight back when faced with the humans' sneak attack, and even though it had just been ambushed once, it still didn't pay attention to that aspect, which led to the beast tide being attacked by those humans. These are all its reasons!"
"But wasn't Lord Gou Wang praised by Lord Lion King for his good performance?" Sky-Skimming Harrier asked with some doubt.
"Even among the weakest of the Calamity Beast, there are always some strong ones. It's just that it happened to be slightly stronger than the weaker Calamity Beast and thus got noticed!" said the Hard-Armored Salamander.
The Sky-Skimming Harrier nodded as if suddenly understanding, "I knew it! I was wondering how that Hook -Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni lost, but was still praised!"
"Laugh--"
The Hard-Armored Salamander chuckled disdainfully. Just as it was about to say something, it heard a muffled laugh coming from beside it, as if it were coming through the water.
The two Calamity Beast immediately looked over.
"Lord Mirror Water Beast!" the Hard-Armored Salamander called out, followed closely by the Sky-Skimming Harrier.
Ignoring the Sky-Skimming Harrier, the Mirror Water Beast turned its attention to the Hard-Armored Salamander.
"You mean... His Majesty the Lion King is mistaken?"
"No, that's not what I meant! I just meant that the Lion King might have been tricked by it!" The Hard-Armored Salamander froze, hurriedly explaining.
The Sky-Skimming Harrier immediately dropped to the ground.
The Mirror Water Beast chuckled softly twice, then turned its gaze back to the mountaintop.
Hmm... It's heard about the deeds of the Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni, first the Anchor Point, then the ambush a while ago, and now...
It did indeed lose all three battles!
Once is fine, twice is possible, three times...
So... was the Lion King really deceived?
"Lord Mirror Water Beast, what do you think?" the Hard-Armored Salamander asked cautiously.
There was no reply, Mirror Water Beast's body swayed.
"Let's start fighting!"
The Hard-Armored Salamander was slightly taken aback, but quickly realized that this meant Lord Mirror Water Beast had not taken the conversation to heart.
It breathed a sigh of relief, then remembered what Lord Mirror Water Beast had just said.
Start fighting!
Yes, who cares how these humans won just now? Now that their exact location is known, there's no way they can win again!
After stretching its body, the Hard-Armored Salamander was about to go and inform the others when it heard Lord Mirror Water Beast's voice again.
"Oh, right, leave some of the lower-level Calamity Beast behind," the Mirror Water Beast said calmly. "And... move some of the Fourth Tier ones first, but the rest... stay down there."
The Hard-Armored Salamander was stunned, its eyes filled with confusion. "Lord Mirror Water Beast, why...?"
The Mirror Water Beast offered no explanation.
The jelly-like body swayed slightly, as if it were smiling.
"Go."
The Hard-Armored Salamander opened its mouth as if to ask something, but ultimately nodded.
"Roar--"
A rough, hoarse roar echoed through the mountains and forests.
Then, as if it were contagious, roars echoed through the forest.