While the two of them continued their habitual bickering, the Capricorn clan had already hauled more than a hundred Red Fish ashore. It had to be said that these demon beasts were truly lacking in intelligence. They were clearly being exploited, yet they continued to charge toward the shore regardless.
Suddenly, a massive surge erupted from the center of the lake. A gigantic Red Fish leapt out of the water, and the moment it appeared, it seized everyone’s attention.
“Damn!” Lan Ge exclaimed.
This Red Fish was more than ten meters long. Nearly its entire back gleamed gold. It opened its mouth and spat out an enormous fireball, more than two meters in diameter. As it flew, it swelled rapidly in the wind. At the same time, countless other Red Fish sprayed flames toward it, causing the fireball to expand in an instant to more than ten meters across. Carrying overwhelming momentum, it shot straight toward the Capricorn clan.
The golden-horned female warrior’s eyes lit up. She stamped her foot on the large Red Fish she had seized earlier and launched herself upward. A dull gray sheen spread across her armor. The pair of golden horns on her head flared brilliantly as she hurled her long spear with lightning speed, the weapon flashing through the air like a streak of golden lightning.
With a muffled crack and a thunderous boom, the spear detonated the fireball midair. Vast waves of flame rolled outward, dyeing the lake a deep red. Enormous amounts of water were vaporized by the heat, rising as dense mist.
“Skree!”
An ear-piercing shriek came from the direction of the giant Red Fish, making even the golden-horned female warrior frown.
In the next instant, the bulging eyes of the massive fish turned icy cold. The Red Fish that had previously been swarming forward like moths to a flame all plunged back into the water at once.
“Did they… give up?”
Lan Ge and Fa Hua were both puzzled.
From what they could tell, the first large Red Fish hauled ashore earlier was likely the offspring of this one. It should have been extremely important to their kind. That was probably why the Red Fish had attacked so desperately.
But after losing more than a hundred of their number, would they really retreat just like that?
At that moment, Fa Hua was suddenly alarmed.
He saw that on the Unravelling The Truth page of his Divine Codex, the golden threads had grown even denser. More importantly, a faint red tint had begun to spread across them.
Through repeated testing, Fa Hua already understood what this meant. On the Unravelling The Truth page, red signified danger. The deeper the red and the thicker the threads, the greater the threat.
Although the red was nowhere near as intense as when facing the Ruby Queen, the sheer number of threads was frightening. Only once before had the entire page turned red.
The Divine Codex was linked directly to its owner. Its assessment of danger was based entirely on the user’s own strength. Clearly, whatever was about to happen could genuinely threaten Fa Hua. That was why the warning had appeared.
“We should prepare to withdraw,” Fa Hua said to Lan Ge.
“Mm.”
“Wooo—wooo—wooo!”
Low, roaring howls suddenly echoed from all directions.
The moment those howls rang out, the golden-horned female warrior by the lake abruptly changed expression. She spun around and stared toward the cliff face they had come from.
Fa Hua and Lan Ge noticed it as well.
Dark yellow figures were appearing across the cliff walls, densely packed. Each one was only about two meters long, but their speed was astonishing.
They had lean bodies and powerful limbs. Most striking of all were the half-foot-long claw blades on each of their four paws, allowing them to traverse sheer cliff faces as if they were level ground.
Mountain Leopards.
These were demon beasts exceptionally skilled at fighting in mountainous terrain.
They resembled leopards in build, though they were not as fast as leopard demons. However, in the mountains, they were unmatched hunters.
Information about demon beasts surfaced rapidly in Fa Hua’s mind. Mountain Leopards were not rare. In fact, they were quite common. Yet he had never seen them gathered in such numbers.
According to what he had learned in the Law Domain, although Mountain Leopards were pack demon beasts, a group of seven or eight was already considered large. They were powerful predators, capable of navigating any terrain without obstruction. They had no need for massive numbers.
But now, the Mountain Leopards pouring down from all sides of the cliffs numbered close to three thousand.
When had Mountain Leopards ever gathered in such overwhelming numbers? Had every Mountain Leopard in the entire Tiansheng Mountain Range converged here?
“Don’t tell me the Red Fish called in reinforcements,” Lan Ge said in shock.
“This time, you might actually be right,” Fa Hua replied with a frown. The Mountain Leopards had appeared immediately after the giant Red Fish let out that shriek. It was hard to believe there was no connection.
It seemed that the ten-meter Red Fish possessed a certain level of intelligence. The Capricorn clan had likely hunted its kind more than once. How it managed to contact the Mountain Leopard packs was unclear, but these mountain predators had obviously been lying in wait nearby, biding their time.
Five hundred Capricorn clan warriors were more than enough to feed three thousand Mountain Leopards.
This was a battle between hunter and hunted—Demon Race against Demon Beasts.
The problem was that Fa Hua and Lan Ge were hiding behind a massive rock. The Capricorn clan could not see them, but the Mountain Leopards descending from all sides certainly could. And beasts that excelled at ambush and assault would never simply let them go.
“Somebody really had a great idea,” Lan Ge sneered.
Despite that, he was not anxious at all. For them, the simplest solution was to retreat into the Peerless Pearl’s space and watch from the sidelines. Capricorn clan, Mountain Leopards, Red Fish. There was no way they would fight for twelve straight hours.
As long as they had the Peerless Pearl, and as long as they were not deliberately courting death or facing an existence like the Ruby Queen, it was hard for them to die.
“Wait. Don’t rush to leave,” Fa Hua said.
“Hm?” Lan Ge looked at him in confusion. “You’re not itching to fight, are you? We’re stuck in the middle here. Demon beasts and the Capricorn clan would both be our enemies.”
Fa Hua shook his head. “Ignorance is dangerous. You don’t understand the Capricorn clan. Among the demon race, the Capricorn clan is known as the Law-Enforcing Clan. They symbolize justice. All matters of judgment are handled by them. They’re famous for their impartiality and have never enslaved other races. If their population weren’t so small, they might well be the rulers of the demon race today.”
He continued evenly, “They’re also one of the demon clans most friendly toward Humans. They’re known as the ninth great clan of the Tianyu Empire, second only to the Eight Great Demon Clans that guard the eight seats.”
“There’s something like that?” Lan Ge said, stunned. “So you’re thinking of getting on good terms with them?”
He felt a growing sense of regret about skipping school so often in the past. He had always believed his intelligence was no worse than Fa Hua’s, but when the other party started citing knowledge, there was nothing he could do.
Knowledge really was power. Especially when it came to putting someone in their place.
“Mm. We’ll give it a try,” Fa Hua said. “We can disengage at any time. Consider it combat practice against demon beasts. Gaining experience isn’t a bad thing.”
“All right.”
By then, the Capricorn clan had already responded.
They clearly hadn’t anticipated so many enemies appearing at once, but they reacted immediately.
The golden-horned female warrior’s spear rose and fell, piercing straight through the head of the Red Fish she had captured earlier. Someone quickly stored the corpse away.
The previously scattered Capricorn warriors rapidly regrouped, forming a circular formation.
The formation itself was distinctive. The outer ring alternated between silver-horned warriors and ordinary warriors. The remaining ordinary warriors filled the interior. The golden-horned female warrior leapt up and stood on the shoulder of a tall Capricorn warrior in the inner ring, long spear in hand, watching the Mountain Leopards charging in from all sides.
Once the formation locked into place, the entire circle shifted outward, away from the lake. It was clearly meant to prevent being attacked simultaneously by Red Fish and Mountain Leopards.
The Mountain Leopards were astonishingly fast. The first few dozen reached the front almost instantly.
Each Mountain Leopard was more than two meters long. They did not appear especially massive, but up close, the claw blades on their limbs gleamed with a cold, metallic sheen. Wherever they passed, deep claw marks were gouged into the ground, a clear sign of their sharpness.
When they were still about a hundred meters from the Capricorn clan’s formation, the vanguard abruptly halted. They did not charge recklessly, showing that they possessed a certain degree of intelligence.
That hesitation spared the Capricorn clan, but it left Fa Hua and Lan Ge in immediate danger.
The Mountain Leopards descending from their side spotted the two of them almost at once and attacked without hesitation.
Three Mountain Leopards lunged straight toward Fa Hua and Lan Ge.
At that point, concealment was no longer an option.
Fa Hua stepped forward, and the Wisdom Shield manifested. Intending to test their attacks, he met the first Mountain Leopard head-on.
Clang, clang, clang!
A rapid series of impacts rang out as the Mountain Leopard was knocked aside by the Wisdom Shield. Clear streaks of light were left behind on the shield, a testament to the terrifying sharpness of its claws.
Behind Fa Hua, Wind Blades blossomed and swept toward the three Mountain Leopards.
Yet a surprising scene followed.
Despite the Wind Blades’ speed, they missed.
The Mountain Leopards’ perception was extraordinarily sharp. The instant they sensed the Wind Blades, they sprang into the air. Not only did they retreat at high speed, they also performed agile evasive maneuvers midair.
Only one Mountain Leopard was grazed across the back by a Wind Blade. The other two were completely unharmed.
“What incredible speed,” Lan Ge said in shock. “The Capricorn clan is really in trouble.”