The Beasts Invade

The group of evolved beasts that Shui and Ragley had spotted, was one comprised of moon hunting dogs who were working under the silver tiger great beast. Their fur was blue like the night sky, and each had a clear crystal horn that curved upwards and silver eyes that glittered in the dark. There was quite a bit of space between Silver City and Malirin Forest, but the great beast ruled the region closest to it, so it was in charge of watching the chimera lord and its shadows. The beast lord didn't want to make a move against the chimera lord, however, he also knew that he couldn't be passive forever. Preparations were underway to address the matter, but for now they needed to be on their guard.

These moon hunting dogs were all beast spirits, but they possessed exceptional talent in pursuit operations. In fact, their race was entrusted with the task of tracking down and killing traitors as well as foolish humans who snuck into deep regions of the forest. Naturally, this led to them having a high sense of pride in their work. On this night, the plan was to go on a quick patrol through the shadows' territory. All of them maintained their vigilance, but ensured that their bodies were loose enough to prevent reducing their reaction times. The insect shadows were a bother for them as well, but only in the sense that they had to be careful when opening their mouths. As beast spirits, the natural toughness of their skin would fully defend against any attack the insect shadows could make.

On their way back to the forest after their patrol, there was excitement in their steps thanks to the bright shine of the moon. As their species name suggested, these beasts would grow stronger from the moon's blessing. They could also feel this blessing in the forest, but it was much better in a wide open space. Unfortunately, shadows also became more dangerous at night so they couldn't relish in the moonlight.

The dogs' moods stayed pleasant, but only until they escaped the wasteland of the shadows. Usually this was the time when they were allowed to be less wary, but their sharp senses immediately warned them of imminent danger. They quickly cut off the joy they felt from being under the moon and growled at their surroundings. One of the moon hunting dogs had a horn which was two inches taller than the rest, this was the leader of the group. In a few barks, he got them organized and ready to face any disaster. There were six of them, so they could easily watch each other's backs.

They didn't know how much time had past before they finally saw what was causing their hairs to stand up. There was a mysterious human figure coming from the right. The cultivation of this figure couldn't be detected, but they would never doubt their instincts. All six dogs turned to face the figure with their hearts boiling with a desire to hunt. However, what followed was better fit to be called a nightmare.

The dogs thought that they heard something, but there was no time to ponder it as six wind spears flew at them. The dogs jumped out of the way of the spears, and appeared to be safe, but the moment the spears touched the ground, they exploded and combined into a powerful vortex that pulled in two dogs into its grasp. The dogs were diced by the sharp winds at the core of the vortex, staining it red before it disappeared. The sight of their last whimpering moments could give humans nightmares, but for the dogs it was the scent that was truly horrifying.

At first the remaining four were frozen in place, but once the leader barked an order, they split up and fled in different directions. They were hunting dogs, but they always placed returning with information as their highest priority in case of a mishap. Only this way could their pack be prepared to avenge them. A couple hours later, one of them was able to return to Malirin Forest and immediately went to report to its superior who was having a meeting with a scarlet tiger high beast, the evolved bloodline of the red tiger which had a stronger berserk characteristic. They were already aware that their team was late, so both became serious once they noticed how disturbed it was.

The moon hunting dog explained what happened to the team, and then about how it went through Vale Hills which was closer than Malirin Forest. It kept running without a single look back, so it couldn't confirm the status of the other members.

After this shocking information, the moon hunting dog high beast that was its superior immediately made a plan to rescue the other dogs. It arranged a team made solely of high beasts, but the enemy's strength was unknown so he sternly warmed them to be careful.

While the high beast team went in search of the beast spirit team, the surviving hunting dog beast spirit stayed with the scarlet tiger high beast. The scarlet tiger high beast tried to draw out other details that the hunting dog might have forgotten, but due to the fear that was still wrapped around its heart, there wasn't much success. However, the scarlet tiger did not blame the hunting dog. It would viciously tear through humans while laughing boisterously, but this scarlet tiger could also play the role of the considerate boss.

When the gentle moon was ousted from its dominant position in the sky and replaced by the shine of daybreak, the high beast team of moon hunting dogs returned with both good and bad news. The good news was that they were able to locate the bodies or evidence of the bodies of all members of the beast spirit team. The bad news was that only one other hunting dog was found barely alive.

The high beast team hadn't encountered the human that did this, but they found the stain of blood where the first two hunting dogs were killed. Along the way, they had spotted the corpse of the leader who had died with a hole through the neck, so the team had low hopes for finding more survivors, and it didn't help that after reaching the bloodstained spot they found another hunting dog split into two not far from that location. Relying on the tracks that remained, the high beast team were able to find this last survivor who fortunately was still breathing by the time they arrived.

Nevertheless, the situation couldn't be considered solved like this.

"Should we postpone the mission?" the moon hunting dogs' superior asked.

The scarlet tiger understood its concerns, but still shook its head.

"No, we don't have the time. I can allow another search for this evil human, but anything else will have to wait until after the mission."

The other moon hunting dogs wanted to argue, but the hierarchy of evolved beasts was strict so they muffled their growls. Their superior acknowledged their powerlessness so it looked at the first survivor of the beast spirit team with concealed sympathy.

"We don't have any spare members so you'll have to join the mission. Sort yourself out by then."

"Yes boss!"

All of the hunting dogs had some level of pity in their eyes as they looked at it, unaware of the eyes looking back at them.