Several of the demonic cultivators attempted to break out, only for my King Crabs and Emperor Crab to seize them with their pincers and crush them. A few succeeded in escaping, but they were shot down by my Grim Owl's deadly ghost feather arrows, which were supported by a volley of azure arrows from me.
The moment the last of them were shot down or slaughtered by my summoned spirit beasts (and Jun Hai's as well), we relaxed slightly and surveyed the scene of massacre. There were no survivors left, which was stupid now that I thought about it. We had gotten so carried away that we forgot to apprehend at least one guy to squeeze out information from him.
Oh, well. at least the mission was accomplished. I saw the usual notification window from my system telling me that the objective had been achieved, and my summoned spirit beasts picked through the demonic cultivators' corpses, piling them up and burning them with Xiao Huo and Xiao Huo Long's flamethrower attacks. If there were any still alive, they were finished off quickly, but my spirit beasts were nothing if thorough.
On the other hand, it meant that any hopes I had of finding a survivor for interrogation were quickly snuffed out. At least none of them were playing dead, only to escape later to report back to their leaders about what had transpired here. It also meant that the were-beasts had some breathing room.
"Thank you very much."
Lionel Jonson himself had come forward to thank us, his head bowed low. I was so occupied by the battle earlier that I hadn't noticed, but I saw blood on him. Closing my eyes briefly, I recalled his majestic figure when he transformed into his werelion form. A humanoid lion with a thick mane of hair, he moved like a comet, streaking across the battlefield and slicing demonic cultivators into shreds. Even before the geysers of blood could descend back to earth because of gravity, he was already gone, tearing into his next target. His claws were massive and looked as if they were capable of rending steel. Not only that, they were long and flexible, and I swore I saw them stretch to punch through a body tempering expert, perforating his figure.
The Silver Eyed Lion King, Lionel Jonson. I knew I had heard of his name somewhere before. And no, it had nothing to do with the First Legion. The Dark Angels belonged to another universe.
It wasn't just him, though. Tiger and Tia had transformed back to their human forms, equally bloodstained, before they knelt next to their liege. All over the region, weary werewolves, weretigers, werelions, werebears and other were-beasts bent their knees, their heads lowered humbly as they paid their respects to Jun Hai, Sylvie, Silvia and me.
"Please get up," I said hurriedly, moving over to pull Lionel to his feet.
"Yes, this makes us uncomfortable," Silvia added, also trying to stop them from prostrating themselves before us. "Please stop."
"Ha ha ha ha ha!" In contrast, Silvia was laughing smugly, her hands on her hips. "Worship me, my followers! My fans! We are glorious! We are invincible!"
"Hey, Silvia! Stop that! You're embarrassing us!"
"How's everyone?" I asked, ignoring the bickering fairy sisters. "Any casualties? Any wounded?"
"Thanks to you all, no. It appears that you've taken on the brunt of the attack. We had little to do, and I'm ashamed to admit that we simply took advantage of the enemy being thrown into turmoil while they were fighting your summoned spirit beasts and dishonorably slaughtered them when they were distracted and outnumbered."
"Who cares about honor?" Jun Hai snorted. "What matters is that you survived. And that you didn't suffer any more casualties. They are the dishonorable ones who attacked you and tried to capture you for their horrific experiments. They are the ones who killed so many of your brethren and tried to enslave you into fighting their wars…wars waged because of their greed and ambition."
"Yeah!" One of the werewolves howled from the back, throwing up a hand with long-nailed fingers. "Why should we care about honor when facing such shameless foes? It's not like they will show us the same courtesy!"
"This is a battle for survival!" A werebear agreed, having transformed into a massive, almost bear-like human form. Werebears were already enormous, towering over five meters when standing on two legs, and their human forms were similarly gigantic in stature when compared to us normal people. "We can't be choosy about our methods! Not against this sort of enemy!"
"That's right! We can't forgive them!" A female weretiger agreed heatedly, her eyes blazing.
I could feel intense glares on the corpses of the enemy. Though my spirit beasts had cremated the bodies, I could still remember vividly the hideously mutated and altered carcasses of former were-beasts among them. They had been included in the fodder that the demonic cultivators threw at us in their first wave, only to be annihilated in short order by Sylvie and Silvia's spirit arrays.
How pitiful. The were-beasts were right. This was unforgivable. It didn't matter if the demonic cultivators did it to humans, were-beasts or spirit beasts…this was a horrifying crime against nature, pure evil for the sake of it. It wasn't done for technological advancement or medical benefits, or even to improve the lives of others. It was carried out in pure malice, to unleash horrors upon their victims and possibly to deal a psychological blow to morale. Not to mention, a twisted sadism that most demonic cultivators were imbued with.
They had shown callous disregard for the lives of others…including their own comrades. They had to be stopped at all costs.
"What will you do now?" Jun Hai asked, looking past the now rising were-beasts and toward their wounded. They were recovering swiftly and would heal completely within the next couple of days, but for now it was difficult for them to move. "Will you stay here and continue to defend this place?"
"No. This was always meant to be a temporary outpost for our injured to recuperate and heal." Lionel shook his head. "We were going to move sooner or later. And the enemy most certainly know we are here. Even though we've wiped out their initial conquest force, once they find out that their first wave has been annihilated, they will definitely send out another army. And I'm sure they will come down harder than before, wanting revenge for this 'humiliation' or 'disgrace.' It'll be too dangerous to stay here. We will move tomorrow morning. By then, even the most injured of us should be able to recover to an acceptable degree and walk as long as they receive assistance."
"We can provide assistance," I said, nodding toward my spirit beasts, who were congregating around our positions. Jun Hai's spirit beasts joined as well, and they all looked really massive when compared to the human forms of the were-beasts. Many of them were staring up in awe, feeling intimidated by the sheer number of Mystic and Earth ranked spirit beasts among their number.
"That will be very much appreciated." Lionel brightened up.
"Where do you want to move to?" I asked. "Do you have any place in mind for a more permanent home?"
"Not at the moment," Lionel confessed, a tired glint in his eyes. "We've been living a nomadic lifestyle ever since…never mind. It's only recently that our many packs have come together, but it's largely because we're forced to unite against a common enemy. Normally, all the different tribes of were-beasts keep to themselves, rather than gather like this."
"If we are to be honest, we'll most likely split up and return to our individual packs after this current crisis is over," Tiger agreed. "But I personally would like to stay with sir. He has proven to be the best leader for the were-beasts."
"Not at all." Lionel chuckled in a self-deprecating manner and waved at me and my siblings. "If it weren't for these human and fairy youngsters, we would have been in deep trouble. I honestly would have no way of getting us out of that battle unscathed."
"Certainly, we would have suffered huge casualties, but you would lead us to victory somehow," Tia insisted. "We believe in you."
"Yeah. I saw you fight. Even without us, you would have singlehandedly driven off the enemy by yourself." I nodded in agreement. I was being sincere here, having firsthand witnessed his speed and skill. During the skirmish earlier, he had showed no age at all. Sure, I could only recall brief flashbacks of him slaughtering demonic cultivators here and there, and he was too fast for me to follow, but from whatever short glimpses I remembered, I knew for sure that I didn't want him as my enemy.
"If you haven't decided, maybe you can stay in big bro's dungeon. If he's all right with it?" Jun Hai shot me an inquisitive look, and I shrugged.
"I'm fine with it if they are, but I doubted they can settle down in my dungeon unless I make a spirit contract with them."
Speaking of spirit contracts, I saw that the system didn't reward me with any. Instead, upon completing the Defense of the Were-beasts mission, I had an option that allowed me to extend my territory. I called up the window again.
-Mission completed. Congratulations! The user has been rewarded with extra territory for your dungeon. A new forested space has been opened up next to the user's dungeon, and you can lease it to Celestial Labyrinth inhabitants. –
"Lease?" I raised an eyebrow at the word. Earlier, I had dismissed the window because I was more concerned with cleaning up the area after the fight and checking the wellbeing of the were-beasts, but now that I faintly recalled that there might be something useful in the reward when my brother raised that particular proposal, I reread it to make sure I wasn't mistaken.
-In other words, the user can rent your space out to the were-beasts. They will sign a contract with the user, permitting them to live in the forested space as if it is their own home, and in return they will pay the user back in whatever currency you deem appropriate. It can be in the form of spirit stones, grain, food (such as meat), or other services. –
"Oh, interesting. That's a good idea."
"Huh? What is?" Lionel couldn't see the system window – that was visible only to me, so he was puzzled when I began muttering to myself. I turned to him apologetically.
"It just so happens that I have an empty available space right outside my dungeon where you and your packs can live in. If you don't mind, that is."
"Of course we don't mind!" Lionel said without any hesitation. "You're our savior! We trust you!"
"But we can't just simply take up space in your territory," Tiger said. "We already deep in your debt. We have to repay you somehow."
"That's right! Unlike those shameless demonic cultivators, for someone like you who is our savior, our code of honor still stands." Tia nodded. "Please, allow us to pay you back!"
"It's not just me. My brother, Sylvie and Silvia too…"
"Paying you back is the same as paying me back," Sylvie said. "And I believe I speak for my sister too."
"No!" Silvia protested. "I want a reward!"
"We can discuss that later," I said with a sigh. "But for now, let's go to the place. I'll lease the forest outside my dungeon to you, and you guys will be considered within my territory so I will protect you and offer you sanctuary. But since you're not contracted to me, you'll have full autonomy – you're not beholden to me or anything."
It also meant I couldn't summon them. Not that I minded. As much as I liked the were-beasts, they weren't my type when it came to summon options. They were powerful, though, and would certainly serve as an amazing buffer between my dungeon and other forces. And I was pretty sure that they would be more than willing to come to my aid when it came to defending my dungeon, since this would technically be their home as well.
"But what can we do for you in return?" Lionel asked, his brow furrowed. "Tiger and Tia are right. If you do not stand to benefit from this arrangement, then we cannot agree to this. We're already indebted to you. Don't get me wrong, we're deeply grateful to you for what you've done for us, but we cannot take further advantage of you."
"Oh, don't worry." I smiled. "I won't be leasing my land to you for free. Of course, I will be asking for payment."
Lionel stiffened. "What sort of payment?"
"Um…that depends. What exactly can you pay me with? It can be spirit stones. Or perhaps there are services you can offer me? I don't know, maybe share some of the food from your hunting?" I scratched my head. "It's negotiable, really. So don't worry about it. We can discuss the finer details later, but if you want to move there, we should go sooner rather than later."
"True," Lionel agreed, glancing around. "We don't want to still be here when the demonic cultivators arrive for round two. And I'm sure we can come to an arrangement. I'm confident that my people, as well as the other packs, will have something that we can offer in return for your kindness."