The sound of the explosion was so loud. A moment later, the fighters who were locked in the prison cell started to come out one by one. Then, I saw a half-beast that had the form of a human except on the back where wings could be seen growing from his back. He approached the arena and swung his arms slowly. Suddenly, the fence of the arena was destroyed.
Me and the crocodile man, Kroko looked at him with a scared look. What the hell is that? He must be much stronger than Kroko. With this kind of power, was he an Exor?
"Stop your fighting, now war has broken out. You, as the subjects of Miss Zwein are required to join the war. Rejection means death." After saying that, the winged man turned around. His power horrified me, so I decided to follow him.
Kroko also followed my steps, it seems that even this crocodile man was afraid of the winged man. We walked out of the arena. In front of the arena entrance, I saw other fighters also gathered. It's not just the fighters in our room. But other fighters from higher leagues were also gathered together.
There were three half beasts standing in front of the crowd, the first was a winged man, the second was a half horse man, his appearance was similar to the legend of the Centaur, he had the lower body of a horse, while the upper body of a human. He also wore iron armor that covers his entire body. Don't forget the great sword hanging from his back.
The last figure was the most intimidating person. He stood tall in the midst of the winged man as well as the horse man. The figure has no animal body parts, though I'm sure he could control his body shape perfectly, just like Zwein did.
"Why are you all silent?! As long as we kill the three of them, we'll be free! Do you want to miss this opportunity, huh?!" The screams startled everyone. I saw that the person screaming was from a higher battle league. His scream made everyone whisper.
Many people agreed to him.
"Let's attack the three of them!"
"I want freedom!"
"I'm tired of fighting all the time! Let's end this all!"
Half of the group of fighters immediately dashed forward. They tried to approach the three people in front. None of the three people panicked. Instead, they calmly stared at the fighters trying to attack them.
The half-horse man took his sword. As he raised his sword, I saw a strange purple light coating the sword. The half-horse man swung his sword. The purple light formed a crescent moon and spread out towards the invaders.
A sight immediately startled me. All the attackers were cut in half just like that. No one survived, everything was cut, so neatly it made me scared. Blood flooded, the body of the half beast made me feel disgusted and nauseous.
"Every rejection means death. Don't hold yourself in high esteem. The only reason we're taking you to war is that we need cannon fodder to take care of other cannon fodder."
This time all the survivors listened quietly. No one was stupid enough to oppose these three. Seeing that the fighters were listening to his orders, the half horse man nodded happily.
"In that case, now you guys follow us."
It's my first time seeing a half-beast settlement. The architecture was similar to a human house, with some modifications to the size of the door and other stuff. I guess that's normal considering that they were once humans. There were a lot of empty housing, the streets were also very quiet. It seems that all the half beasts had gone.
Derold once said that the situation here was very tense, however, I never thought that war would break out like that. I'm really grateful, the outbreak of war means chaos. I hope in the chaos I could find a way to escape from here.
After a while, we finally got out of the settlement under Zwein's rule, if I'm not mistaken. According to Derold's story as well as part of Leon's story, I suspect the five pillars will fight against the Black Rat. Of course, it was possible that one of the five pillars had moved sides to the Black Rat.
A moment later, I saw a fortress from a distance. Several hundred and a half beasts guarded the fort. Apart from the troops guarding the fort, there were also several batches of half beasts waiting from a distance. Apparently, they were the group that was about to attack the fortress. Just like our group.
Seeing our arrival, the group of people also approached. After getting close enough, they stopped approaching. I saw that each group was led by three strong people, just like our group was led by a winged man, a half horse man, and a mysterious man. There were about four groups, so that in total there were 12 people leading the four groups.
"Are these all raid teams? What about the other battlefields?"
"I feel another battlefield is safe. Master Tenbu and Master Chereby have surrounded Master Elzard's territory. It is Master Elzard's fatal mistake to betray the alliance of the five pillars."
"With Mr. Tenbu and Mr. Chereby there, we should win on the another battlefield. What about Miss Zwein and Mr. Ritsu? Are they going to attack the fort with us?"
"The two of them have been fighting for a long time, have your instincts dulled? They should be fighting over there."
The mysterious man leading our group pointed at a point in the forest far away. Hearing his words, I tried to observe something. What he said was right, I saw some very tall trees just fall. There seems to be a high-level battle over there.
"Then are we going there too?"
"No, we are tasked with capturing this fort. Order the others to prepare, we will attack in a moment."
"Okay."
"I will inform him."
The leaders of the various groups went in different directions. It seems that there are still main forces that have not arrived. While I was observing the situation, I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around and saw Kroko and Steve, who were together.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me you want to fight at a time like this?" I no longer feel afraid when facing this crocodile man.
"Neither of us wants to go to war, however, I'm sure the two of you also don't dare to run away considering the high risk of death. Rather than going to war alone, I think it's better if we form a small group to look after each other's backs."
Steve said to me in an even tone. Kroko nodded, hearing Derold's words, "The two of us have agreed to form a small group. How about you little human, although you are quite weak, but you are quite agile."
"What do you mean weak? I almost beat you just now. Hmm, I guess I'll join too."
Once again, I remembered that they were once human. Half beasts that could maintain their wits were certainly not as stupid as I imagined. The formation of this group was definitely something that benefits the individual, because in a war, anyone can suddenly be stabbed in the back.