The two tiger-men could no longer hold back the anger in their hearts.
Compared to whether they could win the fight, they hated even more the attitude of being completely looked down on.
The two tiger-men took a deep breath, their stances lowering.
Along with their rising aura, a layer of white dust lifted around them.
Like mist, a hazy airflow rotated around their bodies.
The airflow gathered from their limbs toward their chest, then circled past their back and waist, wrapping around their limbs again.
[Martial stance]
The nobles present noticed that the aura of these two tiger-men was somewhat different from before.
At this moment, their presence was steadier, and their strength more abundant.
Of course, Victor also noticed this.
Once they entered combat state, in his view, the two tiger-men revealed their health bars and levels.
[lv49]
[lv47]
And the professions of both tiger-men were...
"Martial artists."
Victor looked at them and smiled faintly. The windbreaker behind him also began to change.
The originally clear, stream-like blue patterns slowly blended with a pale tone.
The flowing blue that had resembled a stream became even more turbulent after merging with the pale color.
It was like two forces twisting together, constantly colliding in surging waves.
Heavy raindrops poured down, striking Victor's windbreaker.
It felt as if every drop of rain carried a unique power.
Below the health bar, the status panel kept flashing, buffs appearing rapidly one after another.
The buffs of the Calamity of Water stacked his combat power layer by layer.
The rain fell faster and faster, more and more violently.
Suddenly, a gale surged.
A terrifying whirlwind rose around Victor, the wind gradually wrapping around his legs, blurring his indifferent expression.
Within the rain, a sinister smile seemed to slowly appear.
The speed of the Calamity of Wind allowed him to move as swiftly as the wind.
The glowing green natural elements slowly merged into Victor's body under the cover of the storm.
The stamina and regeneration of the Calamity of Wood granted him an extremely powerful physique.
At this moment, he had truly entered the most suitable state for close combat.
The violent wind swept through the vast, ruined hall, stirring even the dark clouds outside the dome.
The dome, already on the verge of collapse, shattered piece by piece and fell.
In the blink of an eye, it was torn apart and swept into the hurricane, completely mixing with the chaotic storm.
The pouring rain continuously struck the golden ground, producing heavy thudding sounds.
Suddenly, the chaotic rain froze once again in midair.
In that suspended rainy night, it was as if everything here was completely under Victor's control.
"Then witness..."
His voice drifted like the wind, light and careless, as if he didn't care about the enemies before him.
"the gap between us."
———
Under the cover of night, thousands of demi-humans rushed along the edges of the royal city like a black flood.
They charged into the deep forest outside the city, weaving through it to hide themselves.
The heavy rain easily soaked all the demi-humans who had left the city.
Countless raindrops fell on each of them, bringing a cold yet slightly heavy sensation.
No one could have imagined that this terrifying rainstorm covered the entire royal city.
Even after leaving the city, the torrential rain still followed them.
The eagle-women flying in the sky flapped their wings in the storm, each beat consuming tremendous strength.
For them, what was once an easy journey had now become extremely long.
The demi-humans didn't dare take the main roads and could only run along muddy paths deep in the forest.
After all, the main roads were too exposed, making it easy for the arriving armies to spot them.
After the exhausting long journey, many demi-humans were already completely worn out, panting heavily, their steps becoming chaotic.
Most of the rescued demi-human slaves leaned against tree trunks and stopped.
Their bodies hunched over as they gasped for breath.
The eagle-women in the sky flapped their wings with difficulty, shouting sharply.
With a tone full of frustration, they yelled at the large group of demi-humans below, "Do you want to be caught? Do you want to go back to those dark rooms and become slaves again?"
"If not, then keep running!"
With that sharp voice echoing, countless demi-humans who had long been imprisoned and starved forced their frail bodies to move, pushing themselves to continue forward.
Suddenly, several leopard-men at the front stopped.
Their ears twitched, as if they had heard something.
From the dense forest ahead came the sound of bone armor and steel armor clashing, rattling toward them.
And the sound grew clearer, closer.
As if it were right in front of them.
'An army!?'
All the demi-humans felt their hearts skip, their pulses racing wildly.
Although there were many demi-humans in the group, most had just been rescued from underground prisons.
They were starving, exhausted, physically weak, and had no combat ability at all.
So only a very small number of demi-humans could actually fight against an army.
Moreover, those who could fight had to protect those who couldn't.
With such numbers, they had no time to escape.
At this moment, they could only hope that this sudden army wasn't large.
The demi-humans' ears trembled slightly, their eyes full of vigilance.
A series of marching footsteps echoed from far to near, ringing in their ears.
Along with the approaching steps, the sound of bone and steel clashing became clearer and more distinct.
Until the crisp footsteps finally stopped right in front of them.
The escaping demi-humans all froze.
They hadn't expected that this army was indeed small, less than a hundred people in total.
Although they wore excellent equipment, the slightly swaying cat ears and dog ears on their heads revealed their identity.
This was a team made up of demi-humans.
"So… they're our kin?"
The eagle-woman in the sky let out a sigh of relief.
At the same time, the leopard-eared demi-humans lowered their bared fangs.
The bull-men who had been pawing at the ground also gradually calmed down.
Although they didn't know where these kin had come from, the demi-humans relaxed.
The eagle-woman flying in the sky couldn't help but look down.
Just as she was about to ask these kin about their origins, a streak of black suddenly flashed across the night sky.
The eagle-woman was slightly startled.
When she looked down again, she saw a jet-black crow silently land on the head of a catgirl.
The appearance of the crow made all the demi-humans feel confused and surprised.
Especially its single eye, which gave off a strange and eerie feeling.
After sweeping its gaze across the demi-humans and roughly sizing them up, Vega slowly spoke, "Only a few thousand?"
"Well, better than nothing."
'???'
'A talking crow?'
The demi-humans looked at each other, at a loss.
'A crow… can talk?'
'Is this some kind of illusion?'
But soon, Vega showed them this crow didn't just talk.
It bowed deeply to the confused demi-humans, elegant like a gentleman.
"Allow me to introduce myself."
"I… should be an evil god."
As those words fell, it felt as if even the surrounding air froze for a moment.
In that instant, the demi-humans suddenly felt their bodies tightly gripped by an invisible giant hand, unable to move.
Their beast-like ears also stopped twitching under this terrifying pressure.
Even the eagle-women in the sky were frozen in midair, completely unable to move.
Yet strangely, their bodies seemed to be supported by something, suspended in the air.
Suddenly, the rain stopped.
A deep black aura flowed out from Vega's body, passed over the catgirl's head, and slowly sank into the muddy ground.
This darkness quickly spread across the ground, weaving together beneath the feet of thousands of demi-humans.
In the next moment, the surrounding world began to distort, as if splashed with ink and violently stirred.
A wave of green smoke rose, swallowing all the demi-humans.
Even the surrounding forest twisted and warped.
In a daze, a vast, deep green space appeared before them.
Strange mist filled the sky, and a dead, oppressive aura swept over the demi-humans.
In the next second, they found themselves standing in a sea of golden wheat.
The tall golden wheat almost swallowed half of their bodies.
An endless field of golden waves swayed with the wind, like a rising tide, rippling with shimmering light.
The glow illuminated the deep eyes of the demi-humans, reflecting specks of golden light.
This golden wheat field felt completely out of place in this chaotic land.
As if in this lifeless place, anything sacred was an absolute sin.
Suddenly, the vast sky was swallowed by black ink, spreading in all directions.
A chill seeped into every demi-human's heart.
At that moment, they all looked up.
In the dark sky, a strange single eye opened.
That enormous eye carried boundless depth. Within its pupil were countless tiny compound eyes.
Densely packed, like something crawling out of rotten mud.
From those compound eyes, countless twisted tentacles slowly emerged.
Like indescribable, grotesque things writhing in midair.
That massive eye reflected the golden waves and all the demi-humans within it.
A deep, chaotic voice surged from all directions, pouring into every demi-human's ears.
"Although Victor agreed to let you leave..."
At that moment, the twisted words seemed to flow through their blood, reaching deep into their minds, "I never said you were allowed to go."