SWNOVELXO Chapter 382: Uninvited
Clara, astride her beast, quickly caught up to Ethan.
"Get on! It's going to rain—we need to get into the city, fast!" she urged, riding alongside him. This time, she didn't call him 'benefactor.' Probably still annoyed about how he'd played her earlier. She assumed Ethan was walking because he didn't have a beast.
In the distance, a city no bigger than a pea shimmered on the horizon. That was Beastfall City.
"What's the rush?" Ethan asked, tilting his head.
Clara opened her mouth, then hesitated and closed it again.
"Let's take a break," Ethan said instead. "Tell me about this Beastfall Festival. What's it all about?"
He waved a hand, conjuring a tent. After a moment's thought, he produced a steel plate and set up the tent on top of it—cleverly avoiding any water pooling beneath. Once it was done, he stepped right inside without another word.
Raindrops were starting to fall more heavily. Clara hesitated a moment, then dismounted, took a deep breath, and followed him inside.
Inside the tent, Clara gave a detailed explanation. Only then did Ethan fully grasp that the Beastfall Festival was far more than some ceremonial sacrifice. Otherwise, the elite talents of the Southwest Region wouldn't be flooding the city. They were here for what came after—the opening of the Blood Rite Sanctum.
This realm only opened once every hundred years. It was the very foundation of Beastfall City's existence. Inside, one could hunt for treasure, undergo brutal trials, and experience tempering. Those who survived and completed the trials earned access to the Blood Rite Pool.
According to Clara, the pool was legendary. For humans, it could temper the body and elevate their strength. But for the beast tribes, it held even greater meaning. It could purify bloodlines, strengthening their very lineage. That's why the beast tribes had always coveted Beastfall City, hoping to seize it for themselves.
But no such attempt had succeeded. The city's lineage of Lords were powerful beyond compare. And more importantly, each Lord wielded the Beastfall Seal—one of the few artifacts in the Sea of Death. Its power against humans was relatively simple: crushing pressure. But against beasts, demons, or anything with "beast" in its name, it could gather souls, absorb and refine their essence.
"Then why doesn't the City Lord just use the Seal to wipe out the beast tribes?" Ethan interrupted.
Clara shook her head. "No one knows. Legend says that ten thousand years ago, Beastfall City did wage a massive campaign and decimated the beast tribes. Otherwise, their numbers would be far greater today. But after that... something changed. The two sides stopped fighting and began coexisting—more or less."
In truth, the beast tribes were anything but united. Avian, quadruped, centipede, and scaled races constantly clashed. And the four cities of the Dead Sea didn't get along either. If Beastfall and the beast tribes ever went to war again, the other three cities would surely rush in to exploit the chaos.
It was said that during that war ten thousand years ago, only Hurricane City sent people to the Southwest Region—and only to stir up trouble. The sudden peace that followed? Likely their doing.
"I killed a beast today," Ethan said suddenly. "Is that going to cause a problem?"
Clara shook her head. "Not here. In the Southwest Region, private killings are mostly ignored. As long as it doesn't escalate into a large-scale conflict, neither Beastfall City nor the tribes will interfere."
She went on, "Bloodshed is everywhere. Outsiders think the Sea of Death or Forgotten City is the most dangerous place. But here? Humans kill beasts, beasts enslave humans. For the tribes, collecting powerful human slaves is a mark of prestige. That's why I used to travel in a group, always carrying a distress signal. If we ran into rival tribes, we might be eliminated without a trace. And if we found a weaker group? We'd do the same.
But there was one rule: within a three-thousand-mile radius of Beastfall City, no one above the Sovereign Rank was allowed to appear. Anyone who did would be hunted down by the city's top experts."
"Sovereign Rank?" Ethan echoed, picking up on the name. It sounded like the benchmark for a true powerhouse.
"Yes," Clara said. "The four major ranks: Awakened, Ascended, Exalted, and Sovereign. Sovereign stands at the top." She added, "That ape-like guy you fought was only Ascended."
Despite her youth, Clara was sharp. She had already guessed that Ethan wasn't from this region, so she answered the question before he could ask.
"Only Ascended?" Ethan muttered, lying on the cot. "That's it?" If all the so-called experts were like that, then Beastfall City was practically safe for him. What was there to worry about?
Still... he wondered. Were there true monsters hidden within Beastfall?
"Oh, right." He turned his head. "What rank do you think I'm in?"
Clara studied him for a moment. "You've concealed your aura. I can't tell."
'I haven't concealed anything, Ethan thought to himself.'
"So?" he pressed. "Just take a guess."
Clara frowned, a little embarrassed. "You... seem like a very strong ordinary person."
Ethan chuckled. The truth was, he didn't know what level he was either.
Clara turned away, walking to the small tent window. Outside, the rain had only grown heavier. The sky was thick and gray, without a single break in the clouds. The air was heavy—unnaturally still.
Ethan, meanwhile, was already snoring. But he wasn't really asleep. He was monitoring everything through his Soul Sense. The only one actually sleeping was Little Empty.
Then—
Clang!
The steel plate beneath them suddenly vibrated. Clara snapped upright. At the same time, Ethan sat up.
"What was that?" he asked.
Through Soul Sense, Ethan saw it: a creature lurking beneath the plate. It looked like a dog, but with a scorpion's tail—and on the tip of that tail was a large pincer with a glaring eyeball at its center. Its mouth, where its head should have been, resembled a flower's bloom—filled with rows of needle-like teeth. Anyone with trypophobia would've passed out on the spot.
Clara's voice was tight. "The most troublesome creature in the Sea of Death: Pincer-tailed Sand Badgers. They sleep underground and only surface when it rains. They're fearless—even dragons don't scare them. And once they mark a target... they won't stop. Either they die, or their prey does."
"Damn it... and you didn't think to mention this earlier?"
"I told you we needed to reach Beastfall City fast!" Clara snapped, locking eyes with him.
Ethan stared at her, dumbfounded. 'You call that telling me?' But now wasn't the time for arguing.
He quickly expanded his Soul Sense and felt them—within a five-kilometer radius, tens of thousands of those periscope-like tails were rising from the sand, all zeroing in on their location.
"Run!" Ethan shouted. He grabbed Clara's arm. Little Empty instantly scrambled onto his back. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the tent and steel plate. Then, activating Travel Form, he shot forward at blinding speed.
The tails snapped to attention and rotated toward him instantly.
Then came the scream.
Clara's beast had been left behind, torn apart by the badgers in an instant.
Ethan skidded to a stop. Ahead of them, the path was blocked—an endless field of periscope-tails rising from the ground. There were so many, one every few feet. Escape was no longer an option.
They had to fight their way through.
"Stay close!" Ethan tossed Clara a curved blade. He remembered she had one strapped to her beast's saddle, but there hadn't been time to retrieve it. Clara caught the weapon, nodding grimly. Her hand trembled just slightly.
"Let's go!" Ethan surged forward, spear in hand. The sand badgers were the size of golden retrievers, with no thick shells or exoskeletons. They were fast and vicious—but fragile.
Ethan's spear danced through the air like a storm wind. Every strike shattered bones and left badgers sprawled in the sand. Clara stayed close behind, slashing at any that flanked them. Though outnumbered, they carved their way forward, step by brutal step.