Chapter 540 - Strength Of The Beast-kin

She stared at it, this giant furry elephant with a body burly enough to tear through trees and stone. And those tusks, they seemed especially deadly, pure white and sharp. It glared at the trio before trumpeting in rage. 

Wrapping its trunk around a nearby tree, the beast ripped it out of the trunk and swung it down, aiming to smash them all to a pulp. 

But Ming Yue wasn't going to let it happen. Her sword lashed out, cutting the tree in half before leaping through. The other two beasts followed, flanking from both sides with attacks of their own. 

As their encounter began, another battle elsewhere was reaching its conclusion. 

On the eastern side of the continent, there was a slew of bodies piled throughout this lush jungle. Some of which were of the beast people but most were of the beasts themselves. It was far from silent as figures came through, marching quietly with their weapons gripped tightly in their hands. 

Coming across this scene, they stopped to look at the carnage. revealing both surprise and a bit of fear. That was until the one leading them stepped forward and turned around to face them all. 

"Alright! Let's do our part and bring them back! Do not get in the way of the Zodiacs! Do not forget, we are the Eastern Preservation Force. Survival is key! Teamwork is everything! Let's go!" they shouted out. 

Looking back at their leader, these warriors all nodded, steeling their hearts and moving to bring these beasts back. They worked swiftly but certainly not without a bit of noise. 

"The Zodiacs? When did we have such a group?" 

"Killing all of these beasts, whoever they are, they're strong. The horde that was coming would've taken at least the Eastern and one other to deal with, probably the Northern or Southern."

"Even then, we wouldn't have won with such a result. There were barely any losses on our side." 

"But if it's like this, do you think they can do it? Free us from this?"

"We don't even know who's part of it. Now shut up, let's go move these back to the base.

With quiet conversations everywhere, the appearance of the Zodiacs was one that many viewed with hope and uncertainty. And for these twelve individuals, they were further east, dealing with the rest of this stampede. 

There were several tens of beasts left, each one was a Savage Beast, no doubt, apex predators of their own right. 

And facing them head-on was the two strongest, Ruishi Lei and Ao Qin, both members of the Reclamation Division. Behind them was a line of five, four of which were the Four Claws and the fifth was the boar-kin. And then there was the third line with the other seven individuals, all of which were hidden and further away from the fight. 

One offensive line, a support line, and a third for non-combatants, that was their formation. 

The seven in battle slowly marched forward with their weapons out, bloodied from killing. The remaining beasts growled and roared in defiance but backed away. None could bear to withstand the combined killing intent of both the Red Dragon and the White Lion. 

As they continued to walk forward, Ao Qing suddenly shouted behind him. 

"The rest of you go back with the others! Ruishi Lei and I will take care of this!"

Suddenly stopping, the Four Claws shared a look with the boar-kin, who shrugged. He then put away his weapon, a heavy spear with a blade wider than his arm. 

"If that's the case, then I, Zhu Xie, will not complain."

He then backed off, returning to the other. As for the Four Claws, they looked at him go before giving a look at the two in front of them. After a moment, Niu Hong put his weapon away and turned to leave as well. 

"They're going to revert for this", he muttered to the others. 

Hearing this, they all seemingly understood what this meant and followed his actions, leaving the area. Once it was just those two against these great beasts, the pair gave each other a look. 

"Are you really going to revert? It's a bit wasteful, don't you think?" 

Ruishi Lei gave Ao Qin a strange look to which the dragon-kin chuckled. 

"Hahaha, all those beasts from before weren't enough to satisfy either of us. Even if the two of us weren't there, the rest could've done the job. At the very least, I still need a warm-up, don't I?" he replied. 

At that point, he turned towards the beasts and spin his jagged saber around. Closing his eyes for a moment, he took in a deep breath before they opened wide. His black pupils dilated before sharpening, taking on a silvery glow. 

Ruishi Lei sighed but revealed a small smile as he did the same as well. 

The moment, both of them did this, the Savage Beasts all felt something, the feeling of doom. 

As the pair walked forward, their figures suddenly vanished before reappearing in the middle of this group. The instant they did, both of them each killed a beast. The jagged saber sliced through the neck of one while the clawed gauntlets smashed through the skull of another. 

None of the beasts could react in time, not after being taken by surprise like this. Ao Qin and Ruishi Lei were quick and decisive, moving from one beast to the next. It wouldn't be long before they were finished killing the rest. 

While this happened the others all watched in awe. 

"So this is the strength of someone from the Reclamation Division, incredible! If only I could find a better place to see it" one of them, a much smaller mouse-kin said. 

The little mouse-kin had mouse ears and a tail but looked quite human. Still, they seemed quite young, perhaps the youngest out of everyone. And with such a small size, he could not see well standing on the ground and looked around for a better place to watch from. 

It didn't take long for him to find someone as Niu Hong arrived. 

Quickly, he scurried towards the ox-kin, climbing up onto his shoulder to watch. As for the one being stood on, Niu Hong didn't seem to mind. Like the mouse-kin, he was watching as well. 

"How are they so fast? I've never seen anyone move so quickly before! They weren't like this when we were fighting those other beasts before", he pointed out. 

It was then that the ox-kin answered. 

"They reverted, Shu Yi, that's how. But it seems that they only went to the first stage."

"Reverted? It's possible?! I thought that it was a lost ability?" Shu Yi asked. 

And then another answered that inquiry, an old beast-kin with two curled horns and a small beard, resembling that of a goat. Certainly not a fighter but perhaps a person with a great mind. 

"No, it was not lost. But to be able to do it requires an enormous amount of strength or else the recoil would end up breaking your mind and body. I'm pretty certain that apart from those of the Reclamation Division, we are the only ones that can revert too, well, most of us anyway."

"Oh, really? Lao Yang, who are the others?" Shu Yi asked. 

"Well for one, two of the Four Claws can do it and the one you're standing on is one of them", Lao Yang responded, pointing at Niu Hong. 

The mouse-kin turned to look at him in shock. 

"You can do such a thing?" he asked. 

Niu Hong sighed and nodded.

"I can only go up to the first stage but I won't use it unless I have to. I've done it once before but trying to maintain that state and the recoil were excruciating. I couldn't move for a week.. And that was just the first stage, the one those two are at right now, Primal Instinct."