Valin ran through trees and bushes without a care in the world.

His eyes turned to those of a snake and took on a golden hue.

With it, he was able to pinpoint the location of all the missionaries and, more importantly, a Master-rank at the foot of the mountain.

Without further ado, he sped in their direction, ignoring the man who stood beside Grenald\'s body.

And of course, such a commotion could never go unnoticed.

—----------------------------------

"What is that?!"

"Something\'s heading this way!"

\'Not something, someone. As expected\'

Cavarl could only sigh when he saw someone speedily heading in their direction. With the thick killing intent the person was emitting, it didn\'t take a sage to know that whoever was coming wasn\'t coming with good intentions.

He had predicted something of this nature happening, though he would\'ve never imagined that the king would come himself.

He even sent the message to the Emperor instead of his guild master in an attempt to score some merits and diminish the chance of an attack. The Emperor was the fastest Grandmaster in Niton.

How did he know? Simple, he had seen it in person.

Alas, it seemed the Emperor hadn\'t seen the message.

Even with such negative thoughts, Cavarl wasn\'t about to just lie down and die.

He stood up as his subordinates gathered around him with their weapons at the ready while Winston and his men stood at the side.

He didn\'t want to be a burden to such a group of loyal men.

Alas, he could only be.

*BLERGH!*

With a heavy discomfort, Cavarl spat blood out of his mouth like a running tap.

The ultrasound wave Kurt released was imbued with a frequency that scrambled one\'s innards, which eventually led to Grenald\'s death and left Cavarl, who was already tired, a mess.

Alarmed, his men urgently sat him back down.

They too were hurt, but were far enough away that it wasn\'t that impactful.

"Sir, you can\'t move around with those wounds. Let us handle this"

"Yes sir, we\'ll protect you this time. Isn\'t that right guys?!"

"Of course, that\'s what we\'ll do"

The rest answered the same, with their eyes holding warm smiles even in the face of imminent death.

They could feel the pressure Valin was emitting, so they clearly knew that they didn\'t stand a chance against him.

Nevertheless, they stood their ground.

For their leader, their helper and, of course, their senior comrade.

With their faces dark and grave, they stomped hard into the soil and steadied themselves.

If they were to die, it would be beside their comrades.

And because of such an act, the missionaries that were scrambling away came to their senses and stood by their sides.

Like ants to a swarm, others followed. Even Loreta, who had been exploring the mountain\'s insides, came out to join such a force.

Quickly, they amounted to more than two hundred fighters.

Cavarl could only smile.

Surely, all hope was not lost for humans.

Riding the current momentum, Cavarl began an impactful speech.

"Men, steady your legs and your heart! Let it be known that at the eve of a grave battle, we stood as steady as mountains! FOR THE EMPIRE!"

"FOR THE EMPIRE!" they hailed at once.

At this point, Valin arrived and was just thirty meters away from the small force.

Right now, his body had grown to three times what it was when he left the outpost.

It had stretched his attire thin in the process, eventually tearing it. Now his bulging yet refined chest and biceps were bare for all to see.

His body was covered in a silver shin and he had snake-like golden eyes, sharp and long claws protruding out of his hands that had now turned into large paws, and his legs were inverted like that of a quadruped.

The glorious form of Valin Arbana came clear for all to see.

And at that sight, someone whispered…

"Shifter"

To all they had said, Valin mocked.

"Heh, weaklings. Trying to make your existence seem as something of any worth. You shouldn\'t have killed my generals. But well, rejoice. It is an honor to die by my hands"

None gave any reply as they calmed themselves for their inevitable deaths, and Arbana wasn\'t one to dilly dally.

Immediately, he moved.

Those below Advanced-rank could only see that he had vanished.

Those at Advance and Expert rank could only see a blur.

Even Cavarl could barely make out his figure, and had to completely concentrate his aching head to follow his speed.

All this happened within a moment.

The next instant.

*SHAAA!*

Arbana attacked the sides filled with intermediates and below with his claw and tore them apart like butter.

In a situation where they suddenly found the guy in front of them missing half of his body while his blood splattered all over their faces before they could even react, they were bound to be startled.

Unbelievably so.

Their startled reactions quickly turned into confusion and fear for the faint hearted.

That caused a chain reaction of disturbance right in the middle of the formation.

And in an instant, the formation plunged into chaos.

"I don\'t want to die!"

Cowards, who\'s fears had been suppressed by the chivalrous atmosphere, immediately began to look for ways to flee.

And all this while, Valin never stopped attacking.

From the left flank to the right he killed without stopping.

Cavarls frowned gravely, because Valin\'s strategy was that effective.

\'He\'s cutting the weak links\'

Given that the army was formed on the spot, there was no way they would have a formation as decent as that of a real army.

And it showed right from the start.

Valin showed his experience by ignoring those of Expert and Advance rank and focusing solely on those below.

He would even avoid the Experts that came at him, intending on killing them last.

With his golden snake eyes, he was able to easily keep track of everyone present and, because he didn\'t want a drawn out battle, he was intent on making the formation collapse entirely from the inside out.

Only then he would move to pick up the fairly strong combatants one by one.

Of course, he didn\'t miss chances to kill those same combatants if they showed an opportunity.

Cavarl could only watch on as he was virtually powerless to do anything about it.

In less than a minute, more than a hundred were dead, torn and ripped apart to pieces, with three Experts being among them.

Their flesh laid all over the ground that was now filled with thick blood, almost forming a pool.

It couldn\'t be said to have been a battle, but a massacre.

Heads holding horrible expressions were stomped into paste as those still alive tried to survive the attacks of an enemy they couldn\'t even see.

They didn\'t have the leisure to care for their comrades.

In such a moment when all hope seemed lost.

A loud booming sound resounded above their heads.

*BOOM*

Bright white lightning descended thereafter, illuminating the surroundings, pushing out the darkness and also blinding those close by, while those really unlucky were slightly burnt.

The surroundings suddenly became silent as everyone looked to the culprit of such a display.

But before they even turn their heads…

*VOOM*

Something was thrown at a speed they could not follow, and it spun vertically like a disk, before smashing into something, or someone.

*BAM*

An instant later, the weapon was punched away, and the figure of Valin who was blasted meters away from the rebound of the collision could be seen.

Like others, he expressed surprise, but for a different reason, as he raised his quivering finger and pointed upwards.

He could only stutter as he took in the visage in front of him.

"You…h(huán)ow?"