Chapter 44 - Three Way Battle (2)

The Beastmen of Rhodnius are a rather peculiar race, a mixture of the Human Race and high-ranking Magical Beasts, who are the only ones who can transform into people. They have been around for millennia, when, legend has it, a Rank 9 Golden Bull of the Deep transformed into a man and, falling in love with a maiden, impregnated her. She gave birth to the first Beastman, a boy with horns on his head. Although the child was initially mistreated for his appearance, the young boy showed majestic talent, becoming a Legend level Warrior and forming a Great Tribe, which still exists today, the Great Tribe of Taurus.

Since then several Magical Beasts have had various relationships with humans, and they gave birth to several Beastmen with various characteristics that they inherited from their parents. It must be said that it is not usually easy for a relationship between a Magical Beast and a human being to cause progeny, but over time the numbers have grown to the current values. These first generations are usually the most talented and their characteristics used to be almost human, with some of the characteristics of their Beast parent, however, as time went on and the Beastmen reproduced with each other and other men, these natural characteristics became more and more diluted.

Eventually the Beastmen grew so large as a race that a significant part of the billions living on the Indomitable Prairie of Rhodnius are precisely Beastmen. While they may also exist in the other territories, they tend to have migrated from the Prairie, and are much less frequent. There was a time when various people wanted to treat Beastmen as slaves, but the retaliation they suffered at the hands of the Beastmen of Rhodnius, as well as the Overlords of the Magical Beasts, meant that slavery of this race never proliferated on the continent. Still, there are some territories that are largely xenophobic towards them, and still hold some as slaves, albeit secretly so as not to attract too many enemies.

Beastmen have several characteristics and advantages over their human counterpart. The traits they inherit from their bestial side make them quite talented, and they often have natural talents inherited in their DNA, which allow them to be much stronger than other Warriors of the same level. However, this talent fades as the generations progress. In addition, many Beastmen can suffer from some of the effects associated with their mixed blood, namely that in some, beastly instincts can overwhelm and take over, causing them to lose their minds under certain high-stress circumstances.

The latter situation was precisely what was happening to Malo during the infiltration of Sagat's cave.

Malo emerged from the wall, with wounds on his arms, but little else, his battle prowess certainly not weakened. Staring at Elijah and Ocelot with bloodshot eyes, he made a great roar that forced Elijah to cover his ears. Ocelot also felt some discomfort but the damage was much less than Elijah.

Malo then quickly moved towards Elijah who was the closest at the moment and attacked him with a vicious blow. Elijah didn't lose his cool and quickly recovered and launched a full force kick against Malo's blow, but this time it was Elijah's turn to be thrown away, due to the great difference in brute strength between the two. However, Elijah took advantage of the attack to use both legs to lean against the wall and once again use <Flash Walk>.

With a speed far superior to Malo's, he appeared at Malo's side and attacked him with his sword, to which the Beastman could only defend himself with his other arm, and although Elijah gave him a deep wound with his sword, it closed quickly. Malo's towering defence was part of his natural talents as a Beastman.

Ocelot, likewise, did not wait long and with his Tonfas appeared behind Elijah and attacked him with ferocity, to which Elijah could only respond with his sword and kicks, using his martial art in passing. The two exchanged dozens of blows in mere seconds. Ocelot suddenly used one of his Tonfa to attack ferociously towards his back, where Malo again threw a vicious blow, and could barely defend himself.

The three fighters separated momentarily and Ocelot began to say, "When I saw the Beastman, I thought you two were together. Who would have thought that bastard Roland would betray us. But apparently two different groups have infiltrated us. I wonder. If I decide to give you the treasures Sagat has hidden, who should I give them to?"

This he did in an attempt to create discord between Malo and Elijah and thus prevent them from working together. On the other hand Malo when he listened to Ocelot began to view Elijah with greater ferocity. While, he was influenced by the combat and the carnage he had caused earlier, it's not as if he had lost his intelligence, he was just letting himself go with his instincts.

"So it was you who got caught, and thanks to that our infiltration plan went down the drain. Good, very good. Maybe I should kill you first," said Malo with a sardonic grimace.

Ocelot fell silent after hearing Malo's words. No one knew what was going through his head. Elijah was silent as well, as he studied his two opponents and decided his next course of action. Things seemed to be rapidly spiralling out of control.

...

Sagat returned with supersonic speed to his lair and made his way to the main area in the central part of the cave, but not before warning his guards of the Rhodnian invasion and preparing various traps. As he entered the lair and passed through several of the corridors, his face couldn't help but grow grim as he noted the barbarity and slaughter that had befallen several of his mercenaries. Cursing inwardly, he made his way with increased speed to the central part of the cave.

When he reached the central part of the cave he found several of his subordinates. He was about to give them orders, when he began to hear explosions coming from right where he had been previously, and knew at once that the other mercenaries were setting off the traps and bombs they had bought in case they were overrun.

Sagat knew that he had little time remaining and that Roland would soon catch up with him, so he decided to head in the direction of where he had hidden some of his hidden resources and then flee, but not before giving Roland a surprise.

However, as Sagat was about to leave through one of the corridors, he stopped, every hair on his body standing on end, and a cold sweat began to break out on his back. In front of him, unnoticed by him was a homeless-looking old man, smiling at him with a few missing teeth. Sagat normally wouldn't look at such an old man again if he saw him on the street, but right now, Sagat felt like he was being watched by a beast capable of devouring him, even with his Qi General power. So he stopped and stood still, fearful that any move he made would bring him to the edge of the abyss.

Several tense minutes passed, when suddenly a voice was heard coming from the corridor through which Sagat had entered the main hall of the lair.

"Hahahahahahaha. Sagat, dear Sagat, I must admit you have good taste. Luminous pearls and many other treasures are all over the cave. It is also true that several of your mercenaries have been very brave and made me spend several magic shields to defend myself from the bombs. But don't worry, I assure you that all this debt will be repaid in full," said Roland with a smile that was not a smile on his face. Of his two companions, one was badly wounded in the ambush by Sagat, and the other had also been wounded during the process of forced infiltration. Although they were much stronger than their adversaries, the mercenaries threw bombs at them and set off multiple traps that put them in various predicaments. Roland had to use his great power as a Qi Monarch, but the cave itself limited his action, and although he was able to kill the mercenaries, he lost a lot of time.

As soon as Roland saw Sagat, he wanted to attack him at once, however, he was surprised why Sagat kept turning his back on him and had not run away with all the time he had gained by using his mercenaries as cannon fodder. At that moment Roland turned his gaze to where Sagat was looking and also saw the old wanderer. When the latter turned to look at Roland, Roland felt naked, as if he were out in the open in the worst of winters, with nothing to defend himself with.

'How many people has this person killed, for his killing instinct to have materialised in this way. Apart from the fact that I feel strongly that his power can restrain mine, as if I have no hope of overcoming him. That means that his Will has imposed itself on the environment. A "Will Domain". A Qi Emperor' thought Roland as his pupils shrank to the size of a pin.

Roland then began to circulate his Qi, while trying to materialise his Will around him. If he was overpowered by his opponent's Will, then he would not even have the ability to move and his life would be completely in the hands of the old stranger. Finally he was able to surround a small surface around his body with his own Will, and was able to move, albeit with difficulty.

"Greetings Senior. I do not know how I may have offended Senior, but I beg you not to surround this junior with your Domain. Perhaps this is a misunderstanding, I am not on Sagat's side. If you have a problem with this mercenary, allow Junior to help you resolve it." Roland said obsequiously, as he bowed to Maikal. Inwardly he found himself cursing. He didn't understand how he could possibly find a Qi Emperor in this Sagat cave just as they were infiltrating him. In these moments he felt great remorse for having been so impulsive, and not waiting for his Tribe's arrangements for the operation. In the end his lust for merit had put him in grave danger.

Maikal stared at the two of them, and said in his characteristic raspy voice. "Young men, I'm going to have to ask you a favour. I need you both to stand still for a few minutes. Right now this is all I require of you. If everything happens as I expect, then no one needs to get hurt."

Maikal looked at them with a grimace on his face, yet inwardly he felt some discomfort. The truth was that he was practically nothing different from a "paper tiger". His Qi still had many deficiencies, and if it wasn't for his vast experience as a Warrior, as well as the drop of Millennium Stone Milk, he wouldn't even be able to extend his Will Domain. This was one of the most powerful weapons of high-ranked Warriors, and if Maikal had access to its full power, then with his Domain alone he could manage to suffocate both Sagat and Roland, even if they were both Qi Monarchs. This was one of the great differences between a Monarch and a Qi Emperor.

...

Nerun carefully approached the cage where the beautiful woman was tied up. While when he first saw her, he couldn't help but feel some instinctive fear, which he didn't quite understand where it came from, Nerun also felt the inherent weakness her body exuded. He looked into her eyes, with his peculiar innocence and smiling at her he said, " Pretty Big Sister, are you alright?"

"Don't go near her Nerun. Don't be fooled by that viper, she has already killed several of the mercenaries who approached her. She is very, very dangerous," Roxanne said as she grabbed his arm and stopped him from approaching the cage.

Nerun looked at Roxanne and then at the beautiful woman, who remained silent as she watched the band of children rescuing Eliana. It was finally Eliana who said to Nerun and the others. "Please, if you can help her, do so. One of the reasons I'm still alive and unscratched is because of her. She threatened the guards to leave me alone. She is getting weaker and weaker and the chief of the evil men who kidnapped me is waiting for her to lose all her powers so he can do with her as he pleases."

"We have to help her then," said Ailan, eager to help the person who cared for his sister's life and integrity. Roxanne wanted to warn them one more time, but she noticed that she herself and her original companions, have long gone apart, and they had indeed captured and sequestered that beautiful lady.

The woman, however, remained silent. Nerun again decided to approach, but as he was about to enter the range near the cage, he stopped and turned to face the doorway to the dungeon. When the others saw Nerun's reaction, they could not help but also turn their eyes and to their horror at the entrance to the dungeon stood a tall man, with markedly long upper limbs, with a great deal of body hair extending down to his face. Ren the Ape Beastman had found the entrance to the dungeon after wandering through the cave.