The moment the two sides made contact, a deafening roar erupted.
"Kill..."
The commander of the city guard, though not having experienced such a battle, was no ordinary person to hold such a position.
"Shields!"
The shouts rose in succession.
Clang...
The city guard lived up to their reputation as the elite force of Myriad Beast City.
Although it was their first time on the battlefield, their training was exceptionally rigorous.
When their commander shouted for shields, the legion commanders, centurions, and decurions below reacted almost instantly. Those in command directed their subordinates to raise the round shields on their left arms.
Before the west city gate, two hundred thousand city guards formed a shield wall.
Shields overlapped each other in a scale-like formation, transforming the entire city gate into something resembling a tortoise shell.
They protected the civilians beneath them.
This formation was practiced countless times daily.
The remaining hundred thousand city guards tucked their swords into their waists.
They unslung their spears from their backs. Some even took the spears from those holding shields and thrust them out between the shields.
Boom...
They met the fierce charge of the Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers.
The impact of a million beasts running was indeed something no mortal power could withstand.
Upon initial contact, countless Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers were pierced by the spears.
However, their purpose was served.
The immense impact force instantly scattered the city guard's shield formation.
The following Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers surged into their ranks.
"Reinforce!"
Clang...
Those city guards who could still stand, at the command, raised their shields again. They ignored the monsters that had already passed behind them, entrusting their backs to their trusted comrades.
"Encircle..."
Swish swish swish...
The Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers that had broken into the shield circle were annihilated within seconds.
In the process, the city guard lost several hundred lives.
By this time, most of the civilians had entered Myriad Beast City.
A small tail-end remained outside.
"Open four!"
Clang...
A portion of the shield-bearing soldiers lowered their shields and moved aside, creating four clear passages.
The Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers outside the shield formation entered in an orderly fashion.
Swish swish swish... Waiting for them were the spears and short swords of the city guard.
Chu Tian, less than five kilometers away from the city guard, observed their actions, their combat methods, their formations, and their coordination. He was greatly impressed.
Though it was evident that each of them was terrified to death, their execution and discipline were extraordinary. How had they trained to this level? He had previously spoken of attacking the city! Witnessing these soldiers had dealt a blow to his confidence.
On the city gate tower, the old City Lord Wei Du had kept his gaze fixed on Chu Tian.
At the west city gate, only two people had ventured out to fight: Chu Tian and Old Yang.
At the other three city gates, apart from the city guard, no one else had left.
In his eyes, this young man, who had first leaped so far from the thousand-meter city wall, was now trapped in a siege yet fought with increasing ferocity. Most bizarrely, after killing the monsters, he would cut off the tip of the Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers' tails and put them into his spatial bag. This scene made the old City Lord chuckle inwardly. A treasure hunter, indeed...
Before descending, Chu Tian had clearly understood from Hao that the monster cores of the Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers were located in the tips of their tails. He currently had no time to cut open each monster individually. This was the only way. He would store them for now and examine them one by one when he had time.
As for Old Yang, after rejoining Chu Tian, he had been assigned the role of a logistics soldier, responsible for clearing the battlefield, as his monster-killing speed was not as fast as Chu Tian's.
"Say, Little Dog, do you want to go down?"
Suddenly, Hao on the city wall looked down intently and asked Inugoro, tilting his head.
The latter was staring at the heroic figure below. Chu Tian's movement speed was so fast that only a blur was visible. Amidst millions of Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers, he had carved out a four-meter circle with Old Yang at its center. Old Yang, however, felt frustrated, having not touched a single monster. He held a leather bag, picking up the severed tails from the ground. Moreover, his pace of collection was struggling to keep up with Chu Tian's monster-killing speed.
"Huh?" Inugoro was startled by Hao's sudden question. Before he could react, he felt Hao grab his shoulder and ascend into the clouds.
"Ah..." Inugoro's question turned into a gasp.
A giant white tiger, over thirty meters long, with teeth as long as twenty feet. Even more strangely, this tiger possessed a pair of enormous wings. From the walls of Myriad Beast City, it traversed the void and arrived above Chu Tian.
"Ah..." A scream. A figure fell from its claws, landing right beside Old Yang.
"Holy crap... it's you? You scared me to death!" Old Yang pointed the tip of his spear at Inugoro's throat.
The latter's eyes were teary.
"Uncle Yang... Brother Hao is too much of a bastard, throwing me down from over a hundred meters! I was so scared!"
Old Yang burst into laughter and extended his hand to pull him up.
"He's not human to begin with; he's a tiger. Don't take it personally... Since you're here, let's get to work!"
Saying that, he tossed him an empty spatial bag. Hearing Old Yang's words, Inugoro flinched. He wouldn't dare say such a thing. If Hao heard it, he would skin him alive.
With Inugoro's help, Old Yang's workload eased considerably. He even had time to show off with his spear and pick up some dropped items.
"A Saber-toothed Tiger tribe? With wings... Interesting!" The old City Lord Wei Du murmured as he saw the massive thirty-meter-plus body. Hao struck down with his paw, pulverizing a group of Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers. A tiger's roar scattered another group of Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers into pieces. His monster-killing speed was several times faster than Chu Tian's. Seeing Hao's strength, Chu Tian's competitive spirit was ignited. He couldn't possibly be weaker than a mount, could he? However, if he killed them this way, he wouldn't be able to collect the treasures. Chu Tian glanced around, gritted his teeth. Forget it, he'd collect them after driving away these beasts. Whoever dared to snatch from him, he would beat them to a pulp.
"Old Yang, Wu Lang, with me!" As Chu Tian spoke, his figure flickered, and he charged towards Hao.
"Hao... catch!" Chu Tian reached back, grabbing Old Yang's shoulder with one hand. With the other, he casually reached out. Unexpectedly, that brat Inugoro was quite greedy. He was bent over, digging for the monster cores of the Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers. Chu Tian's grab missed his shoulder and caught him by the waist.
"Go!" Chu Tian threw them with force!
Rrrrip... Old Yang flew, landing steadily on Hao's back. The other thing that flew out with Old Yang was a pair of torn pants, dancing like a butterfly in the wind, struggling in the storm, and finally meeting its inevitable fate of being battered and falling to the ground. This scene stunned Chu Tian. He looked back... Inugoro, frozen in the posture of bending over to pick up items, also stood there stunned.
"You... you... you turned human, but you still have a tail?" Chu Tian was dumbfounded by this sight. He stammered, pointing behind Inugoro's buttocks, where a dark dog's tail was wagging.
"Uh... well, there was a slight issue during my transformation..." Inugoro cupped his hands to protect his private parts and remained frozen on the ground, not daring to get up.
"...Go!" Chu Tian grabbed his tail.
Swoosh...
"Ow ow... ow..." Inugoro tumbled in the air, tears nearly streaming from his eyes from the pain. On the city wall, thousands of spectators burst into laughter.
"Hahaha..."
"That's hilarious! Is he from the Underworld Dog tribe?"
"Yes... I know this kid, his name is Inugoro!"
"Too funny, he's practically streaking, and flying in the sky!"
"Tsk tsk, that big white butt looks pretty good..." The last person to speak was a man who looked like a pale scholar. As he spoke, he eyed Inugoro, who was tumbling in the air, with a lecherous gaze, practically drooling. His words caused the surrounding people to get goosebumps. They looked at him with wary eyes and took several steps back.
"Hmph... a bunch of brutes!" The man took out a pink handkerchief and wiped his mouth. All of this was heard by Inugoro, whose hearing was exceptionally sharp.
"Brother Tian... I hate you!" He covered his face with one hand and protected his private parts with the other. Tears of sorrow welled up in his eyes.
Plop... Inugoro landed on Hao's back. He hid himself beneath the tiger's fur, not wanting to get up.
"Hey... I say, kid, how long are you going to be naked?" Old Yang called out to him. Inugoro had no intention of answering, thinking: Do you think I want to? That's my only pair of pants!
"Are you stupid? Can't you change back to your original form?" Old Yang added. This sentence made Inugoro's eyes light up.
[Author's Note]
An extra chapter added to celebrate the book's total votes exceeding ten thousand.