Beasts were everywhere on top of the walls. Wails and screams started to sound out together with a metallic scent of blood.
No one had time to look out for their comrades; it was everyone on their own. Even Xue Wei was surrounded by a large group of beasts, all of them trying their best to kill him.
An epiphany then struck Xue Wei. Was the reason that these beasts had feared him not because of the Primordial Beast, the Ice Harpy? Had she made these beasts act up, and if she had, what was her purpose in making it seem as if the beasts were scared of him?
These beasts around him were at least not the slightest bit scared; They attacked with unmatched fierceness, and they swarmed all of the martial arts cultivators on the walls and those outside the wall.
The flying beasts were all of a strength ranging from Ordinary Warriors to Earth Warriors; not only did they innately have superior strength, they also had the advantage in numbers. At every moment someone died or was crippled in the fight, their careers as a soldier ended right then and there in their first real battle.
But although the beasts had been like an avalanche that had come crashing down onto them, the humans were slowly starting to show just why they were able to overtake the beasts in the first place.
The coordinated attacks of the five-man groups ensured that they could stay alive once they rallied together, and although they were besieged from all sides, they were able to withstand it for the time being. Sometimes even killing a beast.
Xue Wei had been separated from his group. He had been standing a bit away from them, and this small distance alone was enough to force them apart when the beast horde arrived. At least Song Yuyan, Xiao Jie, Gu Dixing, and Tie Haolong were together and had their backs facing one another; this way, they too were able to sustain themselves.
While they were busy surviving, Xue Wei was feeling more and more energetic; the smile on his face grew more and more brilliant as his armor, which was already red, became black from the coagulating blood as he slew one beast after another.
Xue Wei did not care at all. Blood soaked his clothes, and rivers of blood were blossoming beneath him.
Beasts were flooding towards him like a massive wave, but all the other humans had wisely withdrawn. Everyone who saw him only saw a butcher who killed a beast with every attack, none of them containing any profound skills or magnificent weapons. Simple palm-strikes and kicks were all that were necessary for him to cause the beasts to suffer such devastating fates.
It had to be said that the beasts that besieged Xue Wei were all beneath him in rank and thus did not pose any serious threat to either him or his friends, but even so he was not going to let them go. Anything and anyone who came within reach of Xue Wei had a pitiful end.
Xue Wei ripped the wings of a flying beast that had descended from a higher altitude, and a cry resounded past the throat of this beast.
Another one was kicked in the head, causing the skull to fracture and the beast to die on the spot. A third was struck by a palm right on the chest, causing the ribcage to explode and puncture the heart, resulting in the beast's instant death.
"Bring it on!" Xue Wei's eyes were blazing, his body was soaked in blood, and even his face had blood drops dripping down the cheeks.
A laughter erupted from deep within Xue Wei, which reverberated through the entire battlefield. The joy Xue Wei felt when he was fighting could not be explained; the feeling of having fresh blood on his hand was liberating.
It was as if he could die at any moment, that when he took someone's life, he also acknowledged that others could take him. It was in these moments that he was feeling the most alive. When flirting with death, he was no longer feeling dull or cautious. He let it all go and could fight with a ferociousness befit only for madmen, exuding a bloodlust that made him seem inhuman.
There were a lot of experts on the city walls. Although the beasts were everywhere, a few of them caught a glimpse of Xue Wei. When their eyes landed on this person who stood on a mountain of corpses, laughing like a madman as the blood gushed down from beneath his feet, they all felt their bones grow cold and a shiver that ran down their spines. All of them were feeling relieved that this man was on their side, and not a foe to battle.
Stronger and stronger beasts appeared on the battlefield. The weakest had been sent first to overwhelm their side, and to waste their energy, but the beasts with strength equivalent to Ordinary Warriors had all be slain. At this point, Xue Wei had still not used any of his Qi.
Beasts with strength similar to those of the Earth Warriors arrived at the top of the wall. Xue Wei's eyes glowed with excitement at the sight. Amongst the surviving experts, many of them also understood that the brief calm they experienced right now was but the eye of the storm. They had fought against some of the beasts, but the most dangerous was still ahead of them.
In this pause where no wind blew, no beasts appeared, and no sound could be heard. All of the experts on the wall noticed Xue Wei and the mountain of corpses that was laying slain around him, the fact that his clothes were soaked with blood, the blood that had run down his cheek, and the homicidal grin on his face.
It was at this point that many realized that Xue Wei was indeed a Crimson Devil. It was a nickname fitting for him; he was a true devil. He was simply inhuman, and even more bloodthirsty than even the beasts. He was exactly like the old legends of the devils and demons.
Xue Wei snickered and suddenly started transforming his arms. He had found that he was enjoying the feeling of ripping apart his opponents. He had enjoyed seeing the blood spray everywhere, as well as disfiguring and killing creatures with his hands alone.
A barely sane part of him also wished to test his dragon arms. This was a method he had been taught by Lan, but it was a method specialized to his Azure Dragon Scripture.
The eyes almost popped out of the eyes of the experts on the wall when they saw the azure scales that started to break through the skin on Xue Wei's arms.
They stared when they saw how the fingers turned to claws, how the nails became razor sharp and frightfully long.
The entirety of his lower and upper arms shimmered with an azure gleam, the scales similar to the clear blue sky.
These beautiful scales made everyone hold their breath. They all knew what it meant to be able to transform into a beast; only Wayfarers and Primordial Beasts had this ability, but now Xue Wei was capable of doing it too.
He was no Wayfarer, that much was certain, but he was not a Primordial Beast either. So what could he be?
Xue Wei completely ignored the many strange gazes that he was being given, and he snorted in contempt when he saw a few people's eyes light up with malicious thoughts. It was clear that they were ready to make him out to be a Primordial Beast, ready to do all in their power to get rid of him.
Xue Wei knew that the ability he controlled came from his Azure Dragon Scripture, but he was not willing to tell anyone about this. Instead he lifted his head and looked at the many beasts that were coming towards them.
Seeing how Xue Wei’s face changed from having just released a snort to reverting into that manic smile of his, and how the disdain in his eyes turned into excitement, the rest of them followed suit and looked at the sky, taking a deep breath. The next wave was upon them!
The flying beasts were all equivalent to Ordinary and Earth Warriors. There were no Sky Warriors amongst the flying beasts, something that puzzled Xue Wei, but he did not bother too much with it right now. All he wanted was to kill, kill as many as he possibly could.
Xue Wei's arms were eye-catching and domineering. They ripped even the Earth Warrior beasts to shreds. Some of them were clawed to death, others were ripped apart. Some were crushed under the weight of his fist, and yet others were struck down.
Xue Wei was using the Forbidden Rush movement technique to the fullest, and he was displaying his ability to kill one beast after another, easing the pressure on many of the other experts. Although many had seeds of doubt growing in their minds after seeing the scaled arms, none of them said anything as they felt grateful for the breather.
Xue Wei glanced into the air and noticed that the Ice Harpy was hovering in the air, not participating in the battle, which was something that relieved him.
If she decided to take part in the battle, the tables would be turned on the humans, and their main Heavenly Warrior experts would be slain in a heartbeat.
The Sky Warriors and the Heavenly Warriors were all engaged in a deadly battle against various beasts of similar strength.
Xue Wei was puzzled as to what was the Ice Harpy’s plan. She could not possibly be leading a beast horde to its death for nothing, could she? There had to be some sort of ulterior motive behind it, right?
A part of Xue Wei was worried for the human side of the war, but he was not capable of much else than pushing this worry to the back of his head and instead focusing on killing the beasts that came at him.
"We are almost there, hang on a little longer!" the commander's voice boomed on the battlefield, and Xue Wei finally looked around to see that it was not only beast corpses that littered the ground – human remains were also aplenty.
There were also many wounded beasts and humans on the grounds, who had slim chances to survive whenever the shockwaves from some of the battles reached them, with the occasional human or beast smashing into them after an exchange with someone from the other side, and so on.
Xue Wei was wondering what had happened. The beasts that had landed on the wall were at most of the fourth layer of the Earth Warrior rank, all of them the same strength as him.
The battles slowly died out on the wall, but Xue Wei continued to flutter like a leaf in the wind, ripping more beasts apart. He was relieved to find that the transformation of his arms required little to no Qi for some reason, even less than he used to sustain his Forbidden Rush movement technique, which also used barely any energy.
Xue Wei then noticed that many were looking at him with doubt. Not only the ones on the wall, but also the ones on the ground. The higher ranked experts looked at him with worry and uncertainty.
Suddenly, just as everyone looked at Xue Wei, the Ice Harpy gave a snicker, descending from the heavens at a rapid speed.
She was so fast that no one was capable of reacting in time. When she was right in front of Xue Wei, her talons locked around his shoulders, and she flew into the air with him before he had the time to answer.
Intense pain shot through his body as the talons dug into his flesh. Blood started seeping out through where the claws were embedded on his shoulders.
"We have to flee, brother! It is no longer safe here!" The Ice Harpy yelled out just as she flew away, ensuring that her voice was by no means suppressed and that everyone present would hear her words.