Central Region.
In the land that used to belong to the Mid-rank Tribe, Valiant Steelhorn Tribe, not a trace of it remained on the surface. Only a giant hole—No, an enormous crater with a seemingly bottomless and giant hole at its center had replaced it.
However, the high hills that rose on the enormous crater's perimeters during the formation of the impact had also hidden the giant hole from being seen on flat land.
The entrance to the dark abyss was only visible from high grounds in the region.
At that moment, the entire region was crawling with Whitebone Fiends, both large and small ones. The sounds of ongoing battle continued on the north, east, and south sides of the crater.
Rows of Battle Masters and Battle Kings fought hard to hold their defensive line and stand their ground, but they were pushed back further and further as the Whitebone Fiends grew in strength and numbers.
Only the western side's defensive line had completely collapsed—or rather, there wasn't really one, to begin with.
Each battlefront was led by one of the King-rank tribes; the Mighty Whitewolf Tribe led the north, the Black Warbear Tribe led the south, while the Battle God Palace and Holy Sunfire Tribe jointly led the east.
Only the Divine Tortoise Tribe was not present to guard the west side. As such, the weaker tribes guarding the west side easily collapsed under the Whitebone Fiends' relentless onslaught.
Nevertheless, at that moment, Chief Ironshield arrived at the top of a steep hill on the western side with Leon and the rest of the group. They immediately had a clear view of the situation ahead.
"No wonder the hunting team's leader advised me to bring the tribe's full army with me... A few hundred elites wouldn't be enough to hold back these monsters, let alone a few monsters..." Chief Ironshield commented with surprise.
The Whitebone Fiends' numbers were startling, and their strength was worrying.
However...
Chief Ironshield slowly shifted his gaze to Goldenstride before he added, "But it doesn't matter how many men I bring. Lord Goldenstride is enough to deal with this situation."
A Divine Beast-level Golden Suanni with its awakened bloodline was no different from a god to mortals – at least, that was what Chief Ironshield believed.
After all, the immense strength that Divine Beasts wielded was far beyond his understanding.
"Goldenstride, Nightingale, the both of you go and help out with the north and south sides. Their defensive lines are about to collapse under the Whitebone Fiends' relentless assault,"
"Yes, my Lord!"
Goldenstride and Nightingale quickly complied after receiving Leon's order. With a single glance, Leon had seen through the battle situation.
Out of the four battlefronts, the west had long collapsed, which applied extra pressure on the north and south sides, which were already struggling to fend off the Whitebone Fiends.
Only the eastern side was doing very well as they had the combined strength of the Battle God Palace and the Holy Sunfire Tribe.
However, the force contributing the most in the battle clearly belonged to the Holy Sunfire Tribe.
With the unique fire abilities of the Holy Sunfire Tribe, their warriors didn't just successfully defend the eastern side; they dominated it and laid waste to the Whitebone Fiends before they could grow strong enough to pose a problem.
"Fire! We need to fire to destroy these monsters! Physical damage is far from enough! Why haven't we received support from the rear team yet?! Why need firewood and oil to start a big fire!" a High-rank Battle King from the Black Warbear Tribe barked.
"The other tribes aren't that close from here, my Lord! It would take time to gather the resources from the tribes and transport them here!" an Extremity-rank Battle Master of the same tribe replied.
"Time! We don't have time! Our defensive line is about to collapse!" the High-rank Battle King's pupils shrank with a grim look at the situation.
"My Lord, something is coming from the western sky!" another warrior alerted.
"Hm?"
At that moment, Nightingale had already taken flight into the sky and soared over to the southern side as Goldenstride had chosen the northern side.
Many people were quickly surprised to see someone—or rather, something was flying over their sky.
However, their surprises quickly turned into horror.
They witnessed Nightingale's body rapidly expand during her transformation back into her Earth Dragon form. Her huge body cast a massive shadow over the dark land, darkening it further.
"Oh my god, what is that thing?! T-that... is that a dragon?!" a warrior exclaimed with shock and horror.
They already had enough trouble dealing with the Whitebone Fiends. If they were also attacked by the dragon, their defensive line would immediately collapse, and sooner or later, they would be wiped out!
Before long, Nightingale spewed dark flames from her mouth and rained black hellfire on the Whitebone Fiends below.
Lesser Demons, Greater Demons, Arch Demons – It didn't matter how strong the Whitebone Fiends were; they all fell under Nightingale's powerful dark flames.
"T-t-t-this...! Lord Nightingale was a dragon?! No, more importantly, she an earth dragon that could fly?!"
Chief Ironshield and the two chiefs from the western tribe stared at Nightingale's shadow in the distance with sheer disbelief.
Even after they witnessed Nightingale's transformation with their own eyes, they still couldn't believe what they saw.
They found it somewhat strange that someone human-like was also considered a Divine Beast, but they never imagined Nightingale to actually be one!
"What kind of power is this? How can Lord Nightingale levitate in the sky with her immense body? No, where did all that mass even come from? Is it even possible for living beings to undergo such drastic physical transformations?" Chief Sul-Dahki uttered with wide eyes.
...
Meanwhile, Goldenstride decimated the sea of Whitebone Fiends on the northern side with True Samadhi Golden Flames.
However, his efforts were only noticed and admired by the Mighty Whitewolf Tribe and its subordinate tribes on the northern side.
Everyone else's attention was on Nightingale on the southern side.
Even though they were both Divine Beasts capable of flight, Nightingale garnered more attention and respect from the warriors on the battlefield.
Goldenstride was the king of the jungle, but the Nightingale was the true ruler of the sky!