Bella and Tania were waiting in line to enter the Tiger King’s palace at the perimeter of Herman City – the capital of the Weretigers. Many humans in the same line used to be slave traders who had now moved on to other forms of business and no longer bought or sold slaves.
“Isn’t this the Lady? Why, have you come to join in the festivities as well?”
“Er… you are? Right, I remember you now, you’re Toxic Smoke!”
The handsome young man in front of Bella was the one who had asked her for a few Black Robed Witches in exchange for some female Elven slaves back at Nolan City’s slave market. Bella still had a vague impression of him. Of course, she had been more interested in the Elven girls that he had offered.
“Your Excellency, have you sold those goods that you had before? Those cheating Wolfmen had taken our money and refused to sell their goods, how despicable. Fortunately, their Arade City has already…”
“By the way, Your Excellency, have you heard the news? The Beastmen continent seems to be experiencing a bout of the undead scourge. I suggest you return to the Human continent after you’re done with your business here! The Wolfmen’s largest city, Arade, was said to have already perished at the hands of the departed spirits. Who knows which unlucky city would be next?”
During her interactions with “Toxic Smoke,” Bella found out some new information. Words about the aggressive attack on the Beastmen by her demonic coalition had already spread. It meant that the Humans might have already found out that the Beastmen were currently affected by the undead scourge.
It seemed like Bella would have to step up her game and bring forward her plans to attack the Beastmen. Otherwise, it would be extremely messy if other Human empires step in. Bella had been silently planning the entire process of the battle and knew that the war against the Beastmen would never work without a leading party.
A fair was currently being held in the Tiger King’s palace. It was similar to those of Human underground markets. All sorts of antiques that had been dug up within the Beastmen continent were being traded there. The Beastmen’s Priestly Continent had been invaded by Demon Kings more than ten thousand years ago as well.
The ancient Beastmen were much more unfortunate than Humans. Back then, the Beastmen had at least twenty large tribes. However, most of them had been wiped out by the Demon Kings, and only eight tribes remained now. The war back then had killed off two-thirds of the Beastmen population, and what was left of the Beastmen had barely managed to hold on to their best territories even with the help of expeditionary troops from the Human empires.
To support the Beastmen in battle, the Human race had paid a terrible price. None of the expeditionary troops had made it out alive to return to Olsylvia City to participate in the final battle. Based on the estimates, at least five million human soldiers had laid in an eternal slumber on the Beastmen’s land.
This part of history had been sealed for thousands of years. As the Human race and the Beastmen became increasingly distant over the years, the friendship the two races shared back then eventually faded into history. These days, those weapons and belongings that had been buried with corpses of the expeditionary soldiers were being dug up by the Beastmen and sold off to dark Human merchants as antiques.
Those antiques were currently up for auction inside the Tiger King’s palace. With “Toxic Smoke” leading the way, Bella and Tania entered the palace and saw that the Human palaces clearly influenced the decor and layout.
There were various old armors and precious swords all over the palace’s grand hall. Those weapons managed to withstand the test of time and were still as sharp as they were in their youth. The Tiger King’s eldest son, Ezekiel, was seated at the center of the grand hall and was chatting with his aides.
Ezekiel was the one who had arranged for the auction to happen. Even though he already knew that the Wolfmen’s Arade City had already fallen to the departed spirits, but he had blamed it on their bad luck. Ezekiel was confident in Herman City’s strong defenses and its ability to hold off any attack.
The Silver Fox Princess Vanessa sat at Ezekiel’s side. She was dressed in a pure white gown that was probably goods that had been traded from the Humans. Vanessa looked different than the first time that Bella met her. She seemed extremely cold and detached, as though the bustle that was going on within the hall was none of her business.
Bella has had her eye on Vanessa for a long time. Those striking blue and green heterochromatic irises and long silver hair were beautiful, and it was difficult for Bella not to feel any attraction for that fox girl.
There was a reason why Vanessa felt unhappy. Ezekiel had treated her like a concubine. According to the Beastmen’s perception of beauty, Vanessa was an ugly woman. The fact that she was a concubine and not a regular maid was already showing her some favor and out of respect for the Fox tribe.
Although Tania was wearing the assassin’s night stealth suit, Vanessa was her best friend for many years and was able to recognize her figure. Before long, Vanessa realized Tania’s presence. However, she did not make any sudden movements and remained seated to observe the situation quietly.
“Honored guests, this trade fair is organized by Prince Ezekiel. Those who are here for this can…”
Before the host could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a Tiger Warrior who had walked in and whispered something in Ezekiel’s ear. The arrogant Tiger Prince immediately turned ashen. He was so frightened by what he heard that his legs would have buckled under him if he had not been seated.
Large groups of demonic beings were currently attacking Herman City from the outside. Millions of demonic beings were launching their attack on the city, despite the arrows that rained down from the city walls. Although the Tiger Warriors guarding the city had managed to close the gates in time, it was to no avail.
A gigantic demonic spider was leading a vanguard in charging headfirst towards the city walls. It was one of the Abyss Demonic Kings, the Black Widow Empress Ulysses. Following it, was a large group of spider-like demonic beings, prepared to attack.
Elaine’s battalion of demonic beings closely followed behind the Abyss Demonic King Ulysses. This battalion consisted mostly of heavily armored infantry soldiers and was slightly different from Bella’s battalion as her combat power was not dependent on knights. Instead, her battalion’s battle strategies were mainly based on the infantry soldiers.
The city walls were covered with spider webs, and those Tiger warriors guarding the walls had been dragged off the walls and died as they fell onto the ground below. Many skeleton soldiers had made use of the threads of the spider webs and began to climb up the city walls. The arrows used by the weretigers were practically useless against the heavily armored demonic soldiers and bounced off their equipment with just a tiny spark.
The attacking demonic beings were not the only reason why Herman City had descended into panic and confusion. The real reason behind the terror was because unusual things were happening within the city. Bethia, the Root of Pollution, had used small-sized catapults to send projectiles containing all sorts of strange medicines into Herman City.
The Weretigers on the streets had been affected by the medicine. Under its influence, their eyes turned red and began to turn on each other, killing and attacking everyone in sight, and the city plunged into chaos. Those Weretigers who had not yet been infected hastily made their way towards the back of the city in hopes of escaping.
However, since it was wartime, the city gates had been sealed shut, and the back gates could not be opened either. The Weretigers who wanted to leave the city through the back began to argue with the guards stationed there. Before long, the entire situation escalated into a fight.
Inside the palace’s grand hall, Ezekiel, who had just found out about the attack of the undead scourge, was scared out of his wits. Since the city walls were in a precarious situation, his only thought was to escape. Ezekiel had forgotten entirely about the signal flare that the Tiger King had left to be used in such emergencies. Once the signal flare was lit, the Weretiger’s military fortress near the city would immediately send soldiers as reinforcements for Herman City.
There were at least two million Weretiger soldiers stationed at the Hal Fortress, which made up the majority of the Tiger King’s military strength. Initially, Herman City had about a million soldiers stationed there. However, when the Tiger King left to attack the Werelions, he had brought two hundred thousand elite soldiers along with him.
The remaining eight hundred and twenty thousand soldiers were left under Ezekiel’s command. If Ezekiel had the guts to take action, with the reinforcements from Hal Fortress, he might have been able to fend off Elaine’s battalion in a fight to the finish.
However, their commander was a fraud and a coward. All Ezekiel was concerned about was how he could escape the city and seek cover within the Hal Fortress, which was the safest place he knew. There had been many instances recorded in the Human race’s history books about the undead scourge, which stated that no city would be able to withstand those attacks. None of the Beastmen would ever doubt these records.
“Dear guests, the trade fair will go on. Unfortunately, Prince Ezekiel has other matters to attend to and will be leaving first.”
With the host’s aid, Ezekiel managed to sneak off and left the Silver Fox Princess Vanessa in the dust. For those dark human merchants, it was not their first rodeo. Once they detected that something was not right, they quickly began to make their way towards the exit.
“Mistress Witch, Tania, what are you doing here? I don’t recall the Tiger King ever inviting any of Master Kenneth’s subordinates into Herman City.”
“Well, of course, we are here to take you away… so…”
Tania was about to explain the purpose of them being here when a flurry of sounds came from outside the grand hall. Various roars from the demonic beings could be heard as the slave traders who had been moving out the door quickly turned and ran back to where they came from.
“Lady, you should leave. The undead scourge has reached this city. I wondered why that fool, Ezekiel, had run off so quickly. Now we know that it was because the city walls could not hold on much longer.”
At least, the slave trader, “Toxic Smoke,” still had a bit of a conscience and remembered to drag his colleagues along as he tried to escape. At the entrance of the grand hall, the Weretiger guards were currently engaged in a fight with their fellow Weretigers who had lost their minds. In the distance, an enormous amount of heavily armored Skeleton soldiers were flooding into the palace.
The demonic beings had invaded the walls of Herman City, and the main gates had been struck down by the Black Widow Empress Ulysses. The demonic beings constantly swarmed into the city in waves, and they eventually suppressed the Weretiger soldiers who tried to hold them off.
Elaine stood on the city walls and watched Herman City go up in flames with an excited expression on her beautiful face. Behind her, Bethia felt a chill run down her spine as Elaine had personally approved to toss poison into Herman City.
Bella brought Tania and Vanessa along as she followed those slave traders who were trying to escape. There was nothing wrong with going with the flow. As she walked, Bella held on tightly to both girls’ hands. Those two were her biggest trophies. Nothing can go wrong.
Transportation scrolls were not goods that could be obtained easily. The one that “Toxic Smoke” had given them had been used when they were escaping from Nolan City. At the moment, they did not have any new scrolls on hand.
Fortunately, the slave traders were always prepared for an emergency. There was a hidden door in a secluded corner of the palace where the dark merchants had previously spent a fortune to bribe the Weretiger Guards to install.
“It appears that the rumors are true; the Beastmen territory is affected by the undead scourge. Lady, I suppose any future businesses between the two of us will have to be conducted elsewhere if we are ever fated to meet again! I shall take my leave now.”
Once they slipped out of the secret door, the dark merchants immediately scattered and ran in all directions. If they moved as a group, it would be much easier for the enemy to destroy them together. It was much safer to go their separate ways, at least there was a higher chance of having survivors. As long as there was at least one dark merchant alive, the underground trades would not cease to exist.
Herman City had now turned into purgatory, with red-eyed mutant Weretigers and demonic soldiers everywhere. At the back gates, Bella saw Ezekiel, who had tried to escape earlier. This Second Master of the Tiger Tribe was covered in dust. This sudden turn of events had caused him to lose his will to fight altogether.
The back gates were no longer safe now. Large groups of demonic beings had taken over the area as well. The back gates were supposed to be much more secure than the main gates. However, some wilful Weretigers must have forced the door open to make their escape without considering the safety of others within the city.
Once the gates opened, the Skeleton troops waiting outside the city immediately charged in. By this point, it was not possible to leave the city. Ezekiel looked at Bella and did not care if there were anything wrong with having a Black Robed Witch within the city.
“Mistress Witch, please think of something. Master Kenneth, he was the one who sent you to help me, right?”
“Well… you should escape as quickly as you can. This undead scourge… Master Kenneth will provide a suitable explanation for your father.”
Fortunately for Bella, Tania was around to translate for her. Otherwise, she would not have understood anything that Weretiger was saying. At that moment, the escaping Weretigers met with an attack. Hundreds of Flying Spiders descended from the sky and landed amongst the crowd of Weretigers at the back gates.
The Flying Spiders, more accurately known as the Leaping Spiders, were part of the Black Widow Empress Ulysses’ entourage. These demonic beings specialized in long-range jumps. When Ulysses attacked the city on her own, she had made use of them to spring an attack on the unsuspecting city.
“It’s an attack. Quickly, protect the Prince.”
“Bella, be careful!”
In a flash, Tania pushed Bella aside just in time to see a two-meter long Flying Spider land close to where Bella had been standing. Taking advantage of the spider’s temporary disorientation, Tania’s small hand morphed into a wolf’s sharp claws and slashed at the spider.
The skin on Flying Spiders was callous, and Tania’s attack was utterly useless. Seeing that Bella was close, the spider turned and leaped towards the nearby Weretiger soldiers instead.
The unlucky scapegoat was crushed underneath the spider and was stabbed to death by its legs before the poor Weretiger had the chance to retaliate. The Flying Spider’s legs were as sharp as blades. Any prey that it had its legs wrapped around had one foot in their grave.
Realizing that its prey was not completely dead, the Flying Spider opened its mouth and bit off the Were Tiger’s head in its entirety. Right there and then, the spider began to nibble at its prey and did not even bother to use its spider threads at all.
This bloody method of slaughter not only caused the Weretiger warriors to be scared, the White Wolf Princess Tania, who had experienced war before, felt somewhat nauseous at the gory sight. From the beginning, the Spiders already knew who Bella was. During their coordinated “performance,” Bella, Tania, and Vanessa were not the targets of any of their attacks.
Ezekiel and his guards had followed Bella and her group as they headed out of the city to teleport. Along the way, they met with many attacks from the demonic beings, which killed most of Ezekiel’s entourage, and those who remained were grievously injured. In the end, Ezekiel was the only one who managed to escape the city.
Outside the city, it was not safe either. The area outside Herman City was filled with demonic beings and Weretigers that were trying to escape. Before Ezekiel could catch his breath, a large group of Skeleton troops charged over. Since Bella was around, there was no way she would not attract the attention of any nearby demonic beings.
“Tania, Vanessa, hide quickly. I can get away by pretending to be a Departed Spirit Witch.”
Bella gave Tania a hard shove. Tania let her guard down, and out of instinct, she grabbed on to Vanessa, who was right in front of her. The two Beastmen girls immediately rolled right into a nearby ditch, practically unscathed.
Bella had spoken to the other girls in the Human language, and Ezekiel could not understand what they were saying. Before he could ask any questions, a black demonic claw pierced right through his chest. It was Bella’s second time using the Demon God’s claw to kill her enemy, and she was much more skilled than the last time.
Ezekiel stared at Bella, eyes widened in shock. He never thought that the witch who was standing beside him was a traitor. He had always thought that Bella was a witch that Kenneth had sent over to provide support to the Weretigers. As he had been stabbed in the heart, blood flowed steadily, and in no time at all, Ezekiel had turned into a “bloody corpse.”
Bella was afraid that Ezekiel would make a scene and shout incessantly before he died. Thus, she used the other non-demonic hand to unsheath her sword and sliced Ezekiel’s head off. The Second Master of the Tiger Tribe did not even get the chance to glare at his assassin. Instead, he could only gape and face the sky as his head rolled into the ground.
Bella turned and signaled to the nearby Skeleton soldiers. At her command, those soldiers charged right over, pretending that they had not seen Bella. She retracted the Demon God’s claw, looked over at the Tiger Tribe Prince’s already shriveled body, and let out a sigh of relief.
Bella finally managed to do something that an infiltrating assassin would. When she returned, Kriss and the others would no longer be able to mock her for fooling around in the battleground. Since she was unable to capture the Tiger King, killing Ezekiel would technically be considered a partial victory.
“Mistress Witch, Ezekiel… he…”
“Keep it down. There are still many departed spirits roaming around. Vanessa, ignore that fool. Come with me. I will take you away from this place.”
“Vanessa, don’t hesitate anymore. Let’s go. Bella will help us, stop jumping to conclusions.”
Vanessa stared at Ezekiel’s contorted corpse, feeling slightly confused. This was not how the Skeleton soldiers would kill their enemies. However, at Tania’s urging, she shook any doubts about Bella out of her head for now. This cunning Silver Fox Princess would never in a million years think that her best friend was a “traitor” and was inching her little by little into Bella’s trap.
