Chapter 434: The Sigil Stirs the Mountain
The commotion below instantly drew everyone’s attention on the mountaintop.
The arrivals were none other than Black Qilin and Julian. Black Qilin’s body was wreathed in surging elemental power, the four forces intertwining like living flames around it. Without slowing, the beast charged straight up the slope toward the peak.
Any guards foolish enough to block its path were hurled aside by violent bursts of lightning, fire, and wind. These were just ordinary faction guards—how could they compare to someone like Ethan? When Black Qilin had first displayed this technique, Ethan hadn’t even bothered to raise his defenses. The chaotic elemental blasts, though devastating to others, had been little more than a tickle to him.
The guards, however, weren’t so fortunate. Whenever lightning mixed with fire or water clashed with wind, it triggered violent explosions, tossing them like rag dolls.
Black Qilin carried Julian on its back, cutting through the defensive line as if nothing stood in its way, heading straight for the summit. Of course, this was only possible because all of the true experts of the factions were gathered at the peak—no one had expected anyone to charge the mountain at such a critical moment.
---
WHOOSH!
"Central Dominion Guard of Beastfall City—Julian requests aid!
City Lord Ethan of Beastfall City bears the Sigil of the Wild Legion and comes to participate in the Sacred Assembly! The beast clans are plotting treachery, blocking our path and seeking to stop the Assembly from opening! City Lord Ethan is currently battling them in Rumination Gorge.
You who obstruct me—are you working with the beasts? Do you also wish to halt the Assembly?"
Julian’s voice rang out like a thunderclap as he charged forward. His words sent a ripple of shock through the gathered faction members.
That was a serious accusation.
After his voice faded, the four factions standing on the mountaintop all turned their gazes toward Regis.
"Heh, that’s my son, Julian, down there," Regis said with a low chuckle. "The three city lord seals are resonating this strongly because the Sigil of the Wild Legion is near! There’s less than an hour left before the trial begins, isn’t there?"
Regis’s tone carried an unspoken warning: time was running short, and they had better act fast.
"Damn it all! You lot, go down there and kill those beasts!"
The first to break the silence was Shaw Zilo, the City Lord of Forgotten City.
WHOOSH! In a blur, over forty fighters leapt from the mountaintop, rushing southwest.
Regis hadn’t expected that the first to respond would be that brute Shaw Zilo. The man’s thickset body looked comically crammed into his chair, yet he radiated fury.
"Beastfall City really is useless," Shaw Zilo muttered under his breath. "If these beasts were in my northern territory, they’d have been wiped out long ago."
Regis ignored the insult and smiled faintly. "Master Auren, time is short. You understand."
Among the southern faction stood Auren Galewright, their leader. His face was dark with frustration. Inwardly, he cursed the beast clans for their incompetence. Half a month ago, he had heard that several beast tribes had been wiped out. They had sent dozens of War God-ranked experts to hunt the culprit, but Auren hadn’t known that the culprit was the new City Lord of Beastfall City—nor that this man possessed the Sigil of the Wild Legion itself.
These beast clans were truly worthless, failing to report such a crucial matter.
Auren’s eyes hardened as he gave a sharp look to his followers. At once, more than a dozen of his men charged down the mountain.
"You should go as well! And remember—bring that new City Lord back safely and before the time limit!" The City Lord of Clearspring City issued orders to his own people, his voice firm.
Another group surged forward, even larger than Forgotten City’s.
Auren Galewright’s eyes narrowed slightly at this. Regis exchanged a knowing glance with Baelor Wane, who smiled and gave a small nod.
---
"Father..." Julian called out as three groups of fighters sped past him. None of them tried to stop him; he reached the summit unhindered and approached Regis.
When Regis saw him and Black Qilin, he raised an eyebrow. So the beast had revealed its true form?
"Julian, come here!" Hank called warmly, motioning for him to sit.
"Uncle Hank, Uncle Quinn..." Julian greeted them, but his eyes flicked toward the southwest, worry creasing his brow.
"Don’t worry. Tell us exactly what happened," Hank said, taking a long swig from his wine cup and waving for him to speak.
---
"Ha! I’ll take the Sigil of the Wild Legion first!"
The Void-Rending Bull let out a furious roar and grew in size, charging at the floating sigil with unstoppable force. It intended to knock the sigil away and seize it for itself.
BOOM!
The bull’s massive body slammed forward, tearing the air apart. Space itself seemed to crack under the brute force of its charge. But then—
CRACK!
A sharp, splintering sound echoed as its single remaining horn shattered.
CRACK, CRACK, CRACK...
Piece by piece, the horn crumbled, unable to withstand the force it unleashed. The bull’s head struck the sigil head-on.
SPLURT!
Its skull caved in. The beast’s entire neck snapped, and its head was driven halfway into its own chest cavity.
Even so, the Void-Rending Bull still clung to life, its vitality monstrous.
"ROAR!" it bellowed in agony, tumbling from the sky.
Yet the Sigil of the Wild Legion remained floating, completely unmoved.
The surrounding beasts froze in shock. What had just happened?
Ethan gritted his teeth, his face pale. That single counter had drained more than half of the Source Energy water in his Mindscape.
Silence hung in the air. Then a voice hissed:
"You worm, you’ve slaughtered several branches of my clan. Who gave you such audacity?"
The beasts had taken on twisted humanoid forms, and among them, a hunched old crone shouted viciously at Ethan.
Ethan’s frown slowly curved into a smirk.
"Old hag, when I, Ethan, want to do something, do I need anyone’s permission? Go on—tell me which clan you’re from. When I get back, I’ll completely wipe your kind out too."
"You—"
"You what? Sigil of the Wild Legion, Anti-Flight Field—drop them all!"
Long before he had fired his signal flare, Ethan had already ordered Ormund to land. The beasts hadn’t bothered stopping him, confident they had him surrounded. They wanted to toy with their prey before finishing him, a mistake Ethan fully intended to exploit.
The Sigil of the Wild Legion glowed overhead, its power spreading wide. As Ethan activated the Anti-Flight Field, every beast in the air plummeted like stones, smashing into the ground.
The old crone near him screeched in shock as she fell.
"You dare—!"
SLAP!
Before she could finish, Ethan blurred forward. His palm whipped across her face with brutal force.
HISS!
The early-stage War God expert was sent flying, half her cheekbone shattered. Ethan blinked in mild surprise. That slap had been powered by his force synchronization technique—every muscle in his body flashing with silver light, all that energy funneling into his palm. On top of that, his Bear Form was active, boosting his strength and defenses.
He hadn’t expected one slap to nearly remodel her face. Her kidney-shaped visage was now crushed into something like a figure-eight—wide on top and bottom, pinched in the middle.
"Ethan..."
Behind him, Ormund had shrunk back, trembling. Surrounded by dozens of War God-ranked beasts, the sight of Ethan casually striking first left him speechless.
BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!
The atmosphere shifted violently. Suppressed by the Sigil’s Anti-Flight Field, the beasts unleashed their auras in a collective roar of fury. To them, Ethan was no more than a lowly worm—yet here he was, bold enough to strike first and injure one of them.
He had crossed the line.