As the beast got closer to the base, they triggered an early warning system the settlement set up. The system activated a siren.
The loud noise echoed through the settlement and woke up Joe and Leo. Running outside, they heard on the intercom, "A pack of Coyote beasts. Defense team battle stations. Warriors pick off the stragglers."
Joe and Leo looked at each other, wondering what to do.
A man with a blaster ran up to the two of them, "You two follow me."
The guard station was across from the gas station. On the roof of the building, they walked up a manufactured bridge to get on top. The three were two stories high, looking at the surrounding area.
"The name is Austin. Point out the coyote, and I will blast them."
The man talking had to be in his mid-twenties and sported a mohawk. Leo couldn't tell much as it was dark, and the camp's lights didn't give them much to see.
He staged Leo and Joe on opposite ends to be his eyes. Austin knew if they left an opening, the beast would take advantage of it. He checked over his weapon and looked towards the south, where the warning system went off.
Looking out, Leo could tell others were stationed on roofs. Some paced back and forth, and some never moved.
Leo whispered into his wrist, "Sprite, please scan the area for threats."
"Sir, there are currently twenty-one beasts surrounding the settlement."
Before Sprite could finish, the radio interrupted them.
~All members should be alert. The coyotes are no longer in the south end~ after the transmission, Austin's radio went silent.
Everything went eerily silent, and shadows ran around the buildings.
At a nearby position, the guards yelled and opened fire. Blaster fire was humming in the air. Leo could tell the shooters only hit a few of the coyotes, focusing his eyesight. Once the blaster fire died out, everything went silent again.
Another silence spread over, and Sprite said, "Sir, they're here. Leave now."
Ignoring Sprite, Leo turned to see two coyotes leap toward Joe and Austin. Gathering yang energy into his soles, Leo blasted forward using Yang Step.
"Joe, move," yelled Leo as he used an Ascending Sun on the coyote. The uppercut caught the beast in its ribs, knocking it off the roof. "Get off the roof quick."
Joe started to climb down as a scream rang out. The painful cry caused Leo to look over at Austin's position. The beast caught the trained sentinel off guard, and Austin's weapon slid across the roof. The coyote crunched down on Austin.
"Get off him!" Leo charged the beast and shoulder-tackled him off the roof.
Austin began convulsing and bleeding out. Leo looked down, not knowing what to do. The fear in Austin's eyes as he died would be something Leo would never forget. He knelt to put pressure on his neck to stop the bleeding, as Sprite had taught him in the past. Blood poured everywhere and covered him.
"Sir, the human male has died."
Leo ignored his AI and kept trying to save the man. He cursed himself under his breath. He should've been able to save them both.
"Sir, a late Qi Fighter beast is staring at you."
Leo looked over to another roof. With its glowing yellow eyes, the alpha coyote beast locked on Leo.
Sprite and Leo learned that most beast packs tend to have an alpha—the strongest beast amongst them. Alphas also tend to have the most remarkable mutation since mana returned and generally have additional special abilities.
"Sir, run now," warned Sprite. The AI knew this beast was as strong as the draconian from prison.
Leo looked down at Austin and closed his eyes. "I know, Sprite. Rule number 2: Fast feet are better than a strong fist."
In this instance, Leo knew why Sprite made him practice his movement arts more than his attacks. This training is also why Leo almost thoroughly mastered the Yang Step and Yin Steps. In the face of actual power, the only option is to run.
The alpha beast leaped across the small building towards Leo's, seeing his prey try to escape. Leo ran and slid off the roof. The alpha lept to chase the boy, only to not see him.
Hanging on the side of the roof, Leo pulled himself up only to see Joe coming over to help him up.
"Thank you, Joe."
"No, thank you, Leo. You saved my life."
"Sir, no time for chit-chat."
Joe walked over and picked up the blaster.
"Arwooo.." Several coyotes were attacking all the roofs at this point.
Leo and Joe heard blaster fire, and painful screams were heard all over.
"Joe, I will try and knock them off, and you assist by shooting them."
"Sir, all of the coyotes are at the Tempered Body level. Your fist won't inflict much damage."
"But the fall will," replied Leo.
Not wanting to argue with a human child, Sprite called out," To your left, Sir. One is coming up."
A coyote beast jumped up, and Joe landed a blaster shot directly to its face. Leo launched an Ascending Sun fist into the first beast's jaw, having it fall backward off the building.
"Behind Human Joe."
Joe spun around and knelt, firing into the beast's leg.
Leo executed his Yang Step and tackled the beast to the edge, pushing it off the roof. Leo tried to catch his breath when Sprite's voice rang out again.
"Sir, the alpha is jumping towards you!"
Joe pushed the boy out of the way as the alpha returned. The beast swatted Joe off the roof.
"Joe!!"
Distracted by the alpha, a coyote jumped Leo from behind. The beast pinned him to the roof. The beast tried biting at Leo, not allowing him to get up.
"Shadow Strike!" A human shadow jumped over and killed the coyote, causing a massive hole in its side.
"Boy, get up or die."
Leo got up and looked at the feline variant. She was a beautiful warrior, even with blood trickling down her claws.
A second shadow tackled the alpha off the building.
Shadow, the feline variant, attacked a second coyote that jumped up on the roof. Her speed and attacks made it look like she was dancing around the coyote. Each move used by Shadow was executed flawlessly.
Leo ran over to the edge of the building to look down to see where Joe was thrown.
"Sprite, where is Joe..." Leo asked before a voice below yelled.
"Beast, I'm going to have to put you down." Staring the alpha down, Lycan executed a movement technique. He was moving so fast Leo could barely keep his eyes on him. "Iron Reaper." Lycan's claws grew three times longer and shined with moonlight.
Claw strike after claw strike, the alpha was becoming immobilized. The beastman was so quick the alpha couldn't move.
"Rawooooo." The alpha's howl attracted the rest of the pack. Many coyotes dove at Lycan to slow him down. Each one died with a strike of his claws, but they distracted him long enough for Lycan not to see the alpha charge him.
"Sir, don't jump off this roof."
"Descending Moon!"
Using the yin mana from the moon, Leo kicked off the roof and performed a leg drop. The move crashed into the alpha's skull, driving it into the dirt. The force dislocated Leo's leg. The drop kick didn't crack the skull but caused the beast to be a bit concussed.
Lycan walked over and plunged his claw into the massive beast, killing it. Lycan looked over at Leo in pain, lying on the ground.
"Good job, boy," complemented Lycan.
"ARRWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....."
Lycan looked over and knew that what they thought was the alpha was just the pack leader's female mate. That howl just now was as loud as the intercom. A giant black coyote jumped over the building Leo was just on.
Leo and Lycan looked up and saw an absolute horror. It was a beast unlike any other, with an aura of death.
"Sir, that is a Core Building beast. Your survival rate is 6%."
"Sprite, my leg is broken; I can't move."
The wolf swiped Lycan away like the alpha did Joe. The wolf then tried to bite Leo. Shadow appeared with her fast movement technique and rescued him in time. She picked up the boy princess style and began running again.
The beast tried to follow, but Lycan grabbed its tail. "You're going nowhere." Using all his strength, Lycan slammed the beast using its tail into the building.
Deep in all beast DNA resides abilities locked away when the world lost energy. With the reintroduction of energy, many beasts began regaining these abilities.
The coyote used a fire art ability to spray flames out its mouth.
"Oh, so you have an inkling of the law of fire. Well, I train in the law of metal. Beastman art: Silver Fur!"
Metal Qi started to build on the beastman's fur. The beastman slowly turned his fur, fingers, and nails into solid steel.
Lycan flashed through the flames and slashed the canine. With just a brush of the beast's tail, though, Lycan was sent flying. Lycan slammed into the adjacent building, knocking the wind out of him. Luckily, his metal fur protected him.
The coyote conjured up another fire breath and blasted Lycan. The metal fur started to heat up and burn Lycan. The flames didn't stop his resolve. He kicked off the building, launching himself through the fire, and slashed the beast's eye.
The wolf howled in pain. It started to spray fire in all directions to burn this insect that kept hurting him. Fire tunneled down the alleyway.
"Damn it." Crawling out of the way, Joe almost was burned alive. Being thrown off the building and slamming against the corner building, Joe broke his back. He couldn't even feel his legs. Dragging his body into a corner, Joe spotted a coyote running towards him.
The coyote started to bite at his leg. "No, get off of me." No matter how Joe punched, the coyote kept at it. His fist began to bleed from the tough-skinned beast. Joe was crying as he watched his leg being eaten before him. He wasn't even strong enough to save himself. He pitied himself.
Joe heard a rumbling and looked up to see the corner building fall on him. The large chunk of concrete fell and crushed the coyote and Joe's legs. The pain caused Joe to pass out.
The building fell apart because Lycan tackled the massive beast into it. The giant wolf head-butted Lycan away but lost its ear in the process.
Gripping the coyote's bloody ear, Lycan threw it on the ground.
The beast launched a barrage of flames but missed the beastman every time. Panting heavily, the wolf looked around with its only healthy eye.
Taking advantage of the beast's poor eyesight, Lycan attacked from above.
"Iron reaper!"
Lycan steel claw drilled into its skull. Lycan's arm was buried into the beast's head up to his armpit.
Slowly pulling out his arm, Shadow walked up to Lycan and said, "It looks like we are going to survive the night."
"This time. I'm going to need a long rest. Shadow, please, tends to the human survivors. Also, how is the human boy?"
"He will live," responded Shadow.
"He's interesting. First human cultivator, I've seen."
"I'll be off." Shadow took off to tend to the wounded.
Looking at all the dead beast bodies. "Tonight was a night from hell." Lycan slumped to the ground to catch his breath.