Rank 2 Water Hounds were sent to the very front, serving as bait. They rushed forward without hesitation, their fangs snapping wildly. The instant a Somacula sank its teeth into a lower-ranked hound, Yang Zhai's orders came into play—at that precise moment, the stronger rank 4 hounds surged in. They lunged without pause, sinking their fangs deep into the Somacula's flesh before pulling back just as swiftly, never lingering within reach for more than a heartbeat.
Even though countless hounds were attacking and retreating all at once, their movements never turned into chaos. They did not crash into each other, nor did they block one another's paths. Yang Zhai had already arranged everything beforehand. He gave them carefully arranged routes for advancing and separate routes for retreating, and those paths rotated slowly in shifting patterns, making the battlefield flow like an endless tide.
As for why they had to keep on striking and retreating without pause and also keep on shifting their routes…
"I need to keep the Somaculas disoriented," Yang Zhai thought coldly. "To many others it may look like nothing, but for these beasts, locking onto one enemy and then suddenly losing sight of it creates delays. Even if it delays them for just a second, that second builds into another, and then another. In time, all those small delays will stack together and save the lives of countless hounds."
His strategy was firm. He had planned for this moment long before stepping into the fight.
Yang Zhai himself stood beside the rank 5 Water Hound, hiding a little deeper inside the gate at the very bottom. His mind was ready to close the gate at the first sign of danger. He did not move recklessly, but his calm eyes missed nothing.
"Confusion will only grow worse for them," he continued in thought. "The longer it goes on, the more anger will boil inside their minds. Once they break formation, once they scatter in frustration, they will no longer be a mighty group but only lost prey surrounded by an endless army, waiting for the slaughter."
The rank 6 Somaculas still held tight in their formation, weaving together in defense, protecting each other's sides and backs and striking down hounds that tried to sneak behind.
At the very center swam the rank 7 Somacula, a towering presence, steady and commanding. It was more than a rank 7; it was the mind keeping the rank 6 somaculas together. Without it, there would be no such discipline.
Hounds fell one after another. They were dying fast, yet the Somaculas still swallowed very few. Even when they could, they did not gorge themselves, for each gulp consumed precious seconds. Instead, most of the bodies simply sank into the deep. But Yang Zhai had already prepared for that. Mamy groups of hounds caught the corpses and dragged them back into the inheritance space.
"These bodies will not be wasted," Yang Zhai told himself. "The dead will feed the living. Their flesh will become strength for the others. Nothing must go to waste in this war. As for these Somaculas…"
The hounds circled and struck the same points again and again, tearing at the tough hides with patience and persistence.
"My hounds may be low in rank, their teeth may be small compared to these giants, but numbers and focus will turn tides for me in this battle. The hides of rank 6 and rank 7 Somaculas are like stones, but stone too can break if struck at the same place without rest. I must create wounds vulnerable enough for even the lowest rank to tear apart."
The underwater war raged on, growing more savage with every passing breath.
Yang Zhai's side suffered greatly. Hounds perished in great numbers, but he pressed on without faltering.
The rank 5 Water Hound, his most valuable beast, remained hidden under heavy guard by rank 4 hounds, concealed well from the eyes of the enemy.
All of Yang Zhai's commands were not passed directly to the hounds. Instead, every order flowed through the rank 5 Water Hound, which acted as the link between him and the army. It was this beast that carried his will, transmitting his instructions to the countless hounds under its command. As such, its protection was extremely necessary.
Yang Zhai broke to the surface for air, pulling in a sharp breath, before diving back into the battlefield, his body cutting the water as he returned to command.
The Somaculas' tails lashed through the water like whips, spearing hounds with brutal force. But Yang Zhai found use even in that. He gave orders for the dying hounds to cling to those tails, letting their bodies tangle for even a single heartbeat of delay. Each delay meant more chances for another hound to bite.
Though he slowed the rate of losses, the bodies kept piling up. The Somaculas, on the other hand, had yet to lose even a single one.
"Now," Yang Zhai murmured, his eyes gleaming, "the time has come…"
At his command, more hounds surged out of the gate. This time, they carried the corpses of fallen companions clenched in their jaws.
"I have gathered enough dead bodies. It is time to begin the next stage of this war."
The corpse-bearers advanced fearlessly. Whenever a Somacula lunged with jaws wide open or swung its tail to crush them, the hounds raised the bodies like shields. They let the dead take the blow, then slipped away into the swarm. Those behind them immediately stepped forward, repeating the cycle. Meanwhile, the attack units burst out between them, struck hard and fast, and vanished back into the tide.
The number of losses fell sharply. Though hounds still died, they no longer perished as recklessly as before.
Frustration began to spread among the Somaculas. Their strikes met with corpses instead of living flesh, their time and effort wasted again and again. The rank 7 Somacula trembled with rage, its massive fins stirring the water violently.
At last, one Somacula snapped. Out of sheer fury, it abandoned the safety of the group and charged straight into the sea of hounds. The others, stirred by its madness, followed one by one. Even the rank 7, once calm and commanding, finally lost its patience and hurled itself into the chaos.
Yang Zhai's eyes narrowed. His moment had come.
He plunged into the army of hounds, found one Somacula drifting too far from the rest, and rushed from below. His fist struck with a crushing force, splitting the water and tearing flesh. Blood gushed into the ocean like a cloud of red mist. However, he still held his strength back.
"Even if they are still mortal beasts, their strength isn't that weak," Yang Zhai thought coldly.
But he did not kill it outright. Instead, he left it crippled, letting his hounds swarm and drag it trembling into the inheritance space.
He then locked onto another one, a Somacula that had strayed too far from the others. This time he struck to kill, ripping it apart and leaving its body broken in the water.
The others were still locked in battle. Though the hounds could no longer move with the perfect order they once had, they fought on with wild determination. Yang Zhai's commands were still stuck into heir minds and they did as best as they could, but in the mess of chaos, many situations spun beyond control.
As they had scattered and didn't attack in waves like before, his command over them weakened.
Still, even disorder had its use. The hounds surged from all sides, scattering and swarming. The Somaculas could no longer hold their ground as before.
Their thick flesh, once unbreakable, was slowly torn bit by bit. The swarm of hounds chewed through scale and muscle, piece by piece, bleeding them dry in the endless tide.
The swarm of hounds was tearing them alive.
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