Once again, the city was cleared of all arcane beasts, but once again, more beasts outside of the city walls charged in.
Lost looks appeared in the eyes of Redbud cultivators when they looked outside their home. It was a similar look to when the beasts first encountered the Nineturns Sky Curtain Formation.
The mighty enforcers had continuously waded into battle and killed hordes of beasts—hordes that numbered in the hundreds of millions. Why was there still an unending tide of them outside, why were there still so many to be killed?
So many… too many… much too many. So many that it made one forget how hope felt!
A lethargy crept up on all of the cultivators—not of the body, but of the heart.
However, the little fox didn’t give up. She knew that Lu Yun had found a way to handle the tide of beasts. All would be over if that drum was taken out of commission.
……
“Mi, milord!” Jian Wenhe surreptitiously sought out Zhuo Bufan and smiled fawningly. “The two black-robed enforcers have displayed your might. Is it your turn now?”
In the eyes of the public, black robed enforcers were the strongest group among the Enforcer Alliance. Only the executives ranked above them, and those almost possessed the battle strength of superiors.
Sadly, Zhuo Bufan had become an executive simply due to his father being a king within the alliance. He himself was a blockhead, made evident by the fact that the son of a king was just in the common realm.
“Hmph!” Zhuo Bufan snorted. “Two black robes are enough for a mere tide of beasts. There’s no need for this seat to personally take action.”
“U-understood!” Jian Wenhe tucked his head in, looking like he’d been released from a grave burden.
Zhuo Bufan flicked a glance at the city lord, frowning slightly behind his mask. He perceptively picked up on a feeling that there was something wrong with the man.
“Ah, yes!” Jian Wenhe suddenly shoved his face in front of Zhuo Bufan and asked merrily, “Master Enforcer, is the black robed enforcer married?”
He smiled the knowing smile of a man, whereas a Justice token appeared in Zhuo Bufan’s hands and flashed warningly.
“If you dare have any thoughts about her, I can kill you without having to report it to the Enforcer Alliance.” His voice sounded like a devil crawled out of the Hadal Hell.
The city lord shuddered with dread and fell to his knees to whine for mercy.
Deep disgust flashed through Zhuo Bufan’s eyes and he sent the man flying with a kick. After landing, Jian Wenhe raised his head and looked at the little fox in the air, then ducked his head, not daring to chance a second look. He was indeed afraid of death.
……
Though Oddmoon didn’t require the little fox’s personal strength, the illusory realm did, and it was far too taxing on her mind. She didn’t know how long had passed either, she’d sunk into a deep fatigue a while ago.
Hummm.
A loud buzz rang through the air as fearsome drumming broke through her illusion. The countless beasts tearing at each other came to an abrupt halt, awakening to the true situation. Under further deployment from the war drum, they about-faced and pounced on the city cultivators.
The little fox sighed softly and directed the moonlight to take solid form again, cutting down the ferocious beasts.
However, they seemed to be acting under certain directions this time and tangled themselves with the Redbud defenders. If the keen moonlight descended, it would churn the cultivators to bits along with the beasts.
The little fox didn’t know what to do.
“Kill!” Eighteen superior realm beasts hidden in the shadows suddenly took to the air and charged the little fox.
Her thirty-six beads exploded with scintillating purple light and sent them flying.
“Eh, though I’m not as strong as you all, I have a filial son.” She raised the beads high to show purple brilliance circulating through them. The splendor covered her body and ensured that she wouldn’t come to any harm.
However, Redbud City teetered on the edge of destruction. Previously the size of a sun star, half of it had collapsed and the beasts had torn apart a great number of cultivators. The little fox would remain whole and unharmed if Redbud was overrun, but plainly the same couldn’t be said about the city.
Cultivators wailed and screamed, children sobbed in the mouths of the beasts. The city had become a living hell. Many of the beasts discovered where Lu Yun was residing and furiously attacked the defensive formations outside of it.
“It’s been three days, why isn’t he out yet?” Panic began to lick at the little fox. Not only were there cultivators inside Redbud City, but there were also ordinary beings. They couldn’t resist the beasts at all; the slightest ripple from a nearby battle was sufficient to kill them outright.
She couldn’t bear the situation any more and mustered the final dregs of her mental power, about to set up another illusion formation.
Boom!
Rumble—
An enormous drum beat suddenly traveled out of Lu Yun’s residence. Wind and rain howled in the sky while clouds as dark as ink gathered from all directions, shadowing the entire city. Thunder roared and lightning crashed together with the sound of a battle drum, punching through the war drum outside that manipulated the tide of beasts.
Thonk!
Thonk!
Thonk!
Each crisp and urgent drum beat brought with it a strange fluctuation that reverberated through the premises, slowly growing in volume. Wind and lightning condensed in the air, forming jagged bolts of pure annihilation that careened down on the beasts in Redbud City.
The war drum outside the city had ceased its pounding and the assembled beasts shuddered in unison, their frenetic battle frenzy fading away to be replaced by thick fear.
High up in the sky, Oddmoon threw off a terrifying presence that elicited distress from deep within their souls. The wind and rain overhead also possessed a strange sort of magic that continued to disperse their battle intent.
Many of the beasts outside the city had already turned tail to run away, and the boundless tide of them showed signs of dispersing. The war drum in the plains started up again, but the king-level treasure failed to contend with the drumming within the city and the elements in the sky above.
……
“What marvelous methods! To think that there’d be crouching tigers and hidden dragons within a tiny Redbud City, that there are two grandmasters here!” A low woman’s voice sounded from the depths of the plains as a figure of pale purple walked through the air, stopping on the outskirts of the city.
Lu Yun held an oddly shaped battle drum and a stick that looked to be made of bone. He emerged to take a position next to the little fox’s side.
“This lady must be the Redbud King of the Redbud Region.” Lu Yun bowed slightly at the young woman in purple. “Black robe enforcer Lu Yun greets the Redbud King. As a vaunted king, why do you take up such arms against an insignificant city?” he asked of the king close at hand, not understanding her actions.
Alright, ya’ll might hate the “king” title due to gender but… just roll with it. I view it as a gender-neutral term, much like zombie king. I really don’t want to use “queen” here because I feel the natural inclination with that is to look around for their king. As we’ve seen from the various kings in NECRO, all of them are extremely powerful and distinct characters in their own right.
