Into the woods...

With trembling hearts, the half that was left of the mob looked upon the seven great sacred stones arranged in a seemingly mystic way around the dais.

The few rather foolish brave youth who had tried to resist Prince Min's order to explore the stones were silenced by the fierce warriors' overwhelming bloodthirstiness.

They were ordered to separate into groups and search for the way inside the supposed underground chambers.

The Chamber was supposedly filled with both priceless treasures and deadly creatures.

As the horde searched aimlessly, the warriors divided themselves to search sweep through the woods around.

Meanwhile, Prince Min was reanalysing the reports he had received from his loyal subordinates regarding the willow woods, a deceitful place which was worthy of its rumors... for where there were dangers there were rewards to reap.

The spirit energy seemingly condensed around the mystic place had attracted a hoard of spiritual beasts. Yet these beasts did not near the sacred stones, for in the beast world, hierarchy is supreme and undisputed.

Beasts' survival instincts prevented them from nearing the ancient meeting place for the legendary seven guardian beasts, namely, the majestic azure dragon Gideon, the nine-tailed fox Gumiho, the hummingbird Azia, the white tiger Dakshi, the monkey Akeera, the pegasus Eira, and the tortoise Saka.

Each and every one of them enough to shake the land, collapse a mountain and let run a bloodstream when they wanted to... proud and arrogant in their own ways, they had vanished since the Beast War against a traitor of their kind, the Black Python.

Legend said that the heinous Black Python's greed for power to subdue others was unstoppable. Absorbing his weaker comrades to enhance himself was seen as justified in his slanted sinister eyes.

Being the second powerful wasn't nearly powerful enough. His vicious nature had lead to a series of actions nearly crippling the great lord tortoise, the pegasus, and even the aloof hummingbird.

Mountains crushed, both the sky and earth trembled under the Beast War.

Together with the almighty azure dragon and cooperation from other beasts, especially Gumiho who had been a human back then, they finally defeated the treacherous python.

Though he was weakened to the extreme, killing a guardian beast is an herculean task.

Over the course of their revenge for their comrade, the Black Python was confined in ancient dome elsewhere near a mysterious Island of unknowns whereabouts.

As for now, the hummingbird, the second most powerful of the guardian beasts, the right hand of the azure dragon, was assumed to be in deep slumber beneath these stones.

It was only a matter of time before Min bonded with Azia and wreaked havoc on his adopted father's kingdom.

The last they saw of Prince Min was him leaving behind an afterimage of his departure.