FREE USE in Primitive World

Sol didn’t give it a chance to recover. He raised the Dreadwing Blade with both hands, his eyes gleaming as he channeled the essence straight into the sapphire hilt. The blade didn’t flash with light, but the high-frequency chainsaw effect intensified until the air around the edge began to warp with a quiet, lethal ZIIING.

He drove the blade straight down.

The vibrating sapphire edge cut through the alpha’s thick bone-plated neck armor like a hot wire through fat. It didn’t crunch or splinter; the high-frequency vacuum effect liquefied the dense bone and muscle tissue instantly, severing the massive head completely from the shoulders in a single, smooth motion.

The alpha’s body gave one final, violent shudder before going completely limp in the mud, green and dark red fluids spraying across Sol’s boots.

The silver pool in his chest gave a massive, hungry roar. The core soul of a Layer 3 beast was incomparably denser than the smaller ones. The vacuum inside his chest violently pulled the alpha’s entire spiritual residue inward, absorbing the thick essence into the silver pool.

The internal disturbance exploded with an icy clarity. The silver liquid inside him stabilized completely, its volume doubling as it settled deep into his chest.

Sol stood up slowly, letting the severed head drop into the moss. He looked back at the small clearing.

Except for a few ones, the entire pack of thirty-plus Blood-Hounds lay sprawled in the mud in unnatural, broken positions.

Not a single whine had left the hollow; the slaughter had been executed in absolute, terrifying silence.

The remaining few hounds, seeing their alpha decapitated in seconds without ever letting out a roar, completely lost their predatory drive. They turned their backs, trying to scramble back into the deep jungle to escape, but Kira, Zeyra, Tala and the three leopard boys were already waiting for them, and went full wild.

Kira used her bow to aim at eyes, Tala also did the same but with her spikes, Torin and Bran cut their hamstrings from behind, while Kael and Zeyra drove their knives straight into their spines, sealing the vault in total silence.

Thanks to their perfect coordination, within just a breaths, the final remaining hounds were completely mopped up.

The clearing went dead silent again. The morning mist rolled back over the trench, burying the red carcasses under a quiet, white shroud.

Torin, Bran, and Kael dropped to their knees on the wet grass, their bodies drenched in sweat and green fluid, their hands shaking violently as they gripped their bloody bone-daggers.

They stared at the massive, headless alpha beast at Sol’s feet, and then up at his completely calm face. He wasn’t even breathing heavy. His armor was covered in white claw marks and red stains, but his posture was as relaxed as if he had just taken a short walk through the tribe square.

”The... the alpha is down,” Torin whispered, his voice hoarse with raw awe

”Forty...” Bran whispered, his voice hoarse with pure, unrefined reverence. ”We just cleared an entire pack of blood hounds... and not a single one managed to bark.”

”That’s because you gave your all and followed the instructions,” Sol said, his voice flat as he casually slid the sapphire blade back into its leather scabbard. ”If you had fought them like traditional warriors, five of them would have climbed the trees and alerted the whole valley by now.”

”Don’t waste your breath staring,” Sol said, his tone rough and entirely casual as he shook the green-red fluid off his sleeve. ”Torin, get your chisel out. Carve the Veynar war crests and clean your blades. We’re done playing with dogs.”

Kira lowered her bow, wiping a splash of green fluid from her cheek with her sleeve. Her blue cat-pupils were still wide, but she offered a sharp, confident smirk. ”The perimeter is completely open now. There isn’t a single nose left to smell our approach.”

Zeyra stepped up to Sol’s side, her long fingers reaching out to lightly trace the fresh scratches on his chest plate, her eyes shining with that intense, obsessive heat.”You were magnificent, Sol.”

”Okay, okay I understand, but now isn’t the time for this, let’s continue moving, we have already wasted quite a bit of precious time.”

With that they started moving again, when suddenly, ”Sol,” Tala whispered, as she looked through the white veil of the fog. ”Look at the noise to the left and right. The other squads are arriving.”

Even though he had detected them earlier than her, he still nodded and looked through the dense mist.

Through the white, rolling vapor, small, silent silhouettes were beginning to emerge from the surrounding ravines.

The other fast-attack teams had been moving through their own separate sectors to avoid creating a massive, single disturbance in the deep jungle that would alert the enemies, and not to not attract unwanted beast’s attraction.

Moving an army of one hundred and eighty spirit warriors through the Great Orrath in the deep dark was incredibly dangerous; a single loud step or a stray beast encounter could trigger a premature chain reaction that would ruin the whole rotation strategy.

But now, as the grey light of dawn finally began to crack the high leaves of the ironwood canopy, the nine teams were cleanly converging onto the outer perimeter of the primary Zerith settlement.

The one hundred and eighty elite spirit warriors of the Veynar lay hidden deep inside the thick fern trenches, bodies pressed low against the damp earth.

Their clothes were in rough shape... torn leather armor, ripped tunics, and blood-soaked cloaks clinging to their bodies.

Many had fresh gashes and claw marks across their arms and shoulders, crudely bandaged with strips of cloth during the night march.

A few had broken arrows still sticking out of their sides or thighs, but no one complained. They were veterans. Pain was just part of the job.

Their weapons... spears, blades, axes, and bows... were all stained dark with dried blood.

Some still had chunks of Zerith flesh or beast meat stuck to the edges.