Chapter 61 First Clash: Horned Vs Blight

"Xuna, what do you wish to do?" Yihan asked, only expressing a mild frown at the war. After all, war was plenty common in their world. And as an engineer from the Fornol Empire, he had witnessed his fair share of war.

It was only because he was fed up with it did he accompany his dad to escape from the Fornol Empire to live a life of peace at the Galtori Village that was now the West Guardian Village.

"That's a Stage 2 Blight Human." Xuna said as she noticed the green hair of the other party parted in two. "Aren't you curious about how you'll fare against him? He seems strong even among Blight Humans."

"Besides, as long as he's killed, this war might stop."

"Hmm…" Yihan didn't simply rush out at her words as he first observed the battle. The invading side had around two thousand soldiers while the defending side had less than three hundred.

So, even among the grunt soldiers, they were overwhelmed. This was not to mention the Lord of the Fort had been killed. He was the Stage 1 Horned Human whose horn now ended up as the Blight Human's collection.

So, the defending side's morale had already reached rock bottom. It was only moments before their defeat was signalled. 'But, if they are being invaded, it means this territory has some significance of the Fornol Empire's expansion.'

And, that wasn't something he wished to see. He had already taken his side by becoming a Horned Human. Therefore, he didn't like seeing the Blight Humans win. This was not to mention an innate sense of hatred he felt while staring at the Blight Human, understanding that this originated from his Nacre that hated the corruption.

"Xuna, you remain on the fort and prevent further casualties." Yihan said as he slowly walked out, taking in a deep breath before rushing straight at the enemy, "As for the Blight Human, he's mine."

"Ahh!" Five soldiers screamed in pain as they collapsed to the ground, their limbs cut by a long scythe blade that moved like the flapping of an insect wing, thin, light weight, and sharp to the extreme.

"Commander Goss! There's a Horned Human flanking us!" A soldier rushed into the vine hut, shouting in a fluster, "He already killed ten of us in a matter of seconds."

"Hmph!" The vine hut expanded in height, growing like a tree as from within its safety, the Blight Human, Commander Goss stared at the figure of Yihan casually killing his soldiers. His blades glinted in the sun and severed through the armour worn by the soldiers.

"Even though this is a cheap armour meant for the grunts among the foot soldiers, he's still slicing through them like paper." Commanded Goss muttered as he focused, causing more of his vines to begin growing underground, planning to bring them up when he needs them.

"So, his ability are those blades." He waved his hand upon noticing that Yihan was at Stage 2, intending to probe through the other party's strength first.

At his command, a group of archers faced Yihan, unleashing a string of arrows at him. Yihan jumped back, picking up two soldier corpses that he hoisted up, defending against the arrows.

He then threw it at a soldier that intended to trust a spear through his defensive stance, leaping to the side as his scythe blades flashed, severing the heads of three soldiers in proximity.

Their blood splashed as Yihan rushed through the army, slowly making his way towards Commander Goss like a grass cutter that was mowing down a lawn.

The acting Commander on the fort noticed Yihan, observing him for a second before feeling hope, shouting in response, "We have reinforcements! Lord is a Stage 2 Horned Human. Assist him!"

"Let him deal with the Blight Human!"

"Reinforcements?" The soldiers blinked in a daze before their hope was rekindled. The archers quickly hurled their arrows at the soldiers approaching Yihan to ensure they didn't exhaust him.

"Hmm…" A soldier stared from behind a pile of corpses on the wall. He was from the enemy side that had climbed up during the chaos, hiding behind the corpses of comrades that fell victim to the desperate resistance of the defending side.

And now, he was biding his time, lying in wait until the opportune moment to kill the acting commander. He was the last with authority over the troops. With his death, the defending side would have no other choice but to surrender.

It was his plan to take the acting commander's head, for that contribution would allow him to climb the ranks faster and gain more authority, including the chance to become a Blight Human.

Upon seeing the acting commander riling up the morale of the troops, the soldier took in a deep breath, clenching his sword tighter to see the acting commander approaching the pile of corpses, and soon…

'Now!' The soldier leapt out of his hiding spot under the pile of corpses, thrusting his sword forth as he aimed at the acting commander's neck, smiling upon seeing his blade reach the targeted spot.

Clang!

Suddenly, a projectile of sorts slammed into the sword, shattering the blade completely as he missed the target, allowing the acting commander to react and guard against the tiny blade attached to the hilt.

"Argh!" The soldier screamed when the claws of a crow pierced his eye, causing him to reach slower as the acting commander unsheathed a knife and slit his throat.

Caww! Caww!

The crow cawed as it landed on the acting commander's head, opening its beak to unleash a human woman's voice, "The lot of you focus on defending your walls. Let that Horned Human handle the rest. He's strong."

"W-Wait, a talking crow?" The acting commander was shocked to see the crow talk, so did the rest of the soldiers that heard the crow's voice.

"I'm a Horned Human that's controlling this crow." The crow said as it opened its beak and unleash a projectile that splattered the head of a enemy soldier that climbed up the wall, "I'll help you maintain formation here. Focus on mitigating the casualties as much as possible."

"You heard the Lord!" The acting commander was quick on the uptake as he shouted at his soldiers, "Focus all your attention on those climbing up the walls. Ignore everything else."

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The crow was Xuna, having turned into a Klock that was hiding in its beak and controlling its body. And when the crow opened its beak, one of the Klock heads shot out a projectile.

That was how she was attacking from within the crow.

The reason she arrived like this was to prevent information regarding her power from leaking to the enemies. After all, the general notion was of Horned Humans barely having a couple at Stage 3.

So, if she were to reveal herself, everyone would be able to see her horn, revealing the fact that she was at Stage 5. Information regarding her would quickly circulate, unless she planned to kill everyone here, which wouldn't happen.

And once the information became known, the Fornol Empire would take steps to trail her, causing the chances of her plans failing to increase. It has to be noted that she still had three Guardian Beasts to create.

So, if the Fornol Empire were to interfere with all their power, she would fail. Hence, she acted like she was controlling the crow from afar, a power similar to Luncress.

With her arrival, the defending side was able to stabilise their situation better, preventing any enemies from setting foot on the wall.

This allowed Yihan to rampage freely through the ranks of the enemies without having to worry about arrows from the fort injuring him.

With only having to focus on the enemy, he had an easier time.

Swoosh!

Yihan dodged a spear thrush and lashed with his scythe blade, cutting the spear before he thrust it into the chest of the soldier, killing him. But right at this time, a vine jutted out of the ground, its edges filled with thorns, stabbing into his stomach.

The impact sent him flying a few metres into the air, drawing out blood as Yihan grunted, 'That's a heavy attack.'

He then noticed the vines emerge from the gaps between the soldiers, slamming into him one after another. His eyes focused on Commander Goss, noticing the other party remaining within his vine hut high up in the air, enjoying the vantage point to target better.

'It seems I cannot hold back any longer.' Yihan thought, observing five vines approach him as immediately, the injuries covering him healed rapidly before an armour covered him, beaming with a bright yellowish-white light.

The soldiers stared in shock, laying witness to a humanoid insect that appeared in the air, emitting a scuttling sound signature to insects, one that caused their skins to crawl as its bloodthirsty sent chills down their spine.

The knees of the soldiers turned weak as Yihan's wings flapped, allowing him to rotate in the air as he slashed apart all the vines approaching him before making a beeline towards Commander Goss.

West Guardian!

"Tch!" Commander Goss was alarmed at the transformation as he leaped out of his vine hut, watching it be slashed into two by Yihan.

A vine coiled around him as Commander Goss landed on the ground, quickly running into the small vine forest that formed. With that, he hid in a domain advantageous to him as the dozens of vines acted as a protective shield, some of them lashing out at Yihan.

Boom!

One of the vines slammed into a boulder nearby, shattering it into pieces, displaying its sheer destructive might.