The end of the beast tide will be sung by bards.
"I can give you the power to drive away the birds and beasts and save the dawn."
Freya watched as the little chirp burst through the wooden hut, squawking as it ran in, and said in a rapid-fire voice, "But your body will undergo some changes as it tries to adapt to my power. This means you will become a new kind of bird, no longer possessing your own kind, and unable to reproduce."
"Are you willing?" it asked.
If it weren't worried about the Ze Lan inside the house, it would have asked Xiao Qiu to take it directly to Chao Xia.
Little Chick folded its wings and agreed without hesitation, promising the ice and snow nature that it would protect the sunrise forever.
That was a cub that it had watched grow up little by little.
"In Freya's name, I grant you permission to use the power of ice and snow. From this day forward, you shall be the guardian of 'Dawn.' Swear to me that you will never use the power of ice and snow to harm any other spirits born of nature. If you break your oath, I will take back your power and kill you with my own hands."
"Gah!"
Little Chirp swore an oath to Freya.
A beam of blue light enveloped the pale blue bird, Xiaojiu, causing it to undergo subtle changes.
"My power is insufficient; you only have five chances to use the power of ice and snow. You will need to acquire the power of ice and snow yourself from now on, and your body will undergo a true transformation on the day you are able to use the power of ice and snow proficiently."
As Little Chirp listened to Freya's voice, she instantly understood how to use the power of nature.
It left its thanks, spread its wings, and flew away from Lan's dwelling at top speed, letting out a loud cry.
"Gah—"
Don't be afraid, rosy dawn, I'm coming!
Unbeknownst to it, after it left, the light surrounding Freya dimmed considerably. Allowing living beings to communicate with nature is a significant drain on every elf.
The ability to communicate naturally is something that can never be given away casually.
But for the sake of Chaoxia and the Xia clan beastmen who stayed with Chaoxia, it ultimately gave its blessing to Xiaoqiu.
Freya still hates orcs today. However, Xia is from Lan's clan, and Xia's orcs are Lan's people. She will offer them some protection.
It has said that Xia is the clan it protects.
Little Chirp returned to where it had left and immediately saw Yan Dahe fighting with birds and beasts despite his wounds, while its beloved cub remained safely inside the house. It immediately unleashed a blast of ice blades, charging straight at the birds and beasts.
The bird and beast's gaze was fixed on the stubborn golden leopard, unaware of the sudden appearance of the ice blade, which had created a piercing wound on its wing.
The bird, having lost a wing, fell from mid-air, took a blow from an ice blade, and was then fatally wounded by a sharp claw.
It fell heavily to the ground, on the verge of death, when suddenly its lost consciousness returned to its body. It recalled the scene before it lost consciousness, and with difficulty turned its head to look at Zelan, whom it cared about.
Was that creature, that tiny creature, harmed by it?
As dawn broke, he saw the birds and beasts looking into his eyes—eyes completely different from before, now lively yet filled with weariness. The emotions conveyed in those eyes made him instinctively get up and run to the birds and beasts.
“You…” Chaoxia raised a hand to touch the bird or beast, but her palm was gently brushed by the bird or beast’s head, which was not soft.
It cried out, looking apologetically at the creature it was supposed to protect, before its head slammed to the ground.
It is about to return to the embrace of the sky.
Hearing its apology, Chaoxia stood frozen in place, her raised hand remaining motionless, the question she wanted to ask gone unspoken.
"Zhaoxia! How could you suddenly run up to it? What if this bird or beast hurts you when you're not paying attention?... Wait, wait a minute?! Don't cry, Zhaoxia, don't cry. I didn't mean to blame you."
The golden leopard looked at her cub, tears streaming down its face, completely at a loss. She crouched beside the cub, her tail whipping around in a spiral, utterly forgetting to tend to the wound on her side.
"It's saying, 'I'm sorry.' It's apologizing to me."
The tiny rosy dawn seemed to weep for the birds and beasts who belonged to the sky but could not soar freely. He sensed all the pain emanating from them.
Why treat it this way, treat them this way?
Yan Dahe paused, glancing out of the corner of her eye at the strangely behaving birds and beasts in the battle, and vaguely sensed that she understood why Chaoxia was sad. She raised a paw to wipe Chaoxia's tears, and heard Chaoxia say...
"You need your wound treated."
"The next wave of beasts will be here soon. Wolfflame, get up and heal your wounds." Rockflower, holding the wolf-beastman by the scruff of his neck, struggled to carry the fallen wolf-beastman back to the rear.
Hearing the voices around her, Lang Yan regained some consciousness, but her body remained immobile. Sensing life draining from her body, she struggled to open her eyes, gazing at the bright sky with regret in them: "It seems... I can't participate... in the next... campfire party."
"I really want to go again."
Seeing that Yan Hua was having difficulty walking, Hati ran over to carry the wounded. Hearing this from afar, he immediately ran even faster, rushing to Lang Yan in a few steps. "What did you say...!"
He saw that Wolf Flame had stopped breathing.
Time seemed to freeze; Hati and Yanhua simultaneously lost their voices and their bodies stiffened.
“…Leave her to me. You go and bandage your wounds.” Hati took his kin from the wounded leopard beastman and calmly led her back to the clan.
She protected her people well and is a wolf-orc warrior that all her people can be proud of.
Yan Hua let go of his mouth, watching Hati, whose forelimbs were wrapped in bandages, carry Wolf Flame back to his home. He then gathered his strength and ran back to the watchtower, where he stood still and had his tribesmen bandage his wounds.
He subconsciously glanced at Feng Hong, who was also bandaging her wounds. Feng Hong had already treated her not-so-serious injuries herself and was carrying her large iron hammer back to guard the clan's gate.
It felt like a long time had passed since the beast tide arrived, yet it also felt like not long at all.
After the birds and beasts entered the clan, the orcs repelled another wave of wild beasts and continued to guard the watchtower.
The grassland beastmen, who had survived the last beast tide, were still full of hope.
Fewer and fewer new beasts are appearing, and they can protect the clan. The orcs thought to themselves, and even their wounds couldn't stop their burning fighting spirit.
Victory is ours in the end!
As Hati, Fenghong, and other orcs were thinking this, they received support from Yanduoyu and other orcs.
"The wild beasts that appeared on our side, as well as the birds and beasts in the clan, have all been wiped out!" Yan Duoyu brought news of the victory on the second battlefield, sword in hand.
"Oh, oh, oh! That's great!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
The orcs shouted.
Grey Honey beckoned, signaling the orcs carrying medicine, food, and weapons to put their things away and follow her outside to repair the traps.
Hei Tu looked left and right but couldn't see Lan. He asked worriedly, "Where's Lan?"
Hearing her question, Iwahana, who was howling in pain, looked up and gestured for her to look up at the top of the watchtower. She gasped for breath and said, "Lan has been forbidden from drawing her bow by 022 because of overuse of her arms. She is currently observing wild beasts with binoculars. She and 022 will analyze the beasts' weaknesses from up there and then call Abai down to tell us."
"Thanks to Lan and 022's analysis, dealing with this unfamiliar beast was much easier!"
On the watchtower, Jiang Yunlan listened to the news Ah Bai brought back from below, a slight smile playing on her lips. She adjusted the binoculars in front of her with both hands, her gaze fixed on the herd of beasts approaching the watchtower.
This wave of beasts is half the number of the previous wave, so it seems to be the last wave.
As she pondered this, she noticed the strangest beast among the herd. A bird's head, a wolf's body, a scaly tail, and triangular scaly wings—a bizarre creature that seemed to be composed of beings from the sky, the earth, and the sea.
Suddenly, the strange bird-wolf-scaled beast locked its gaze on Jiang Yunlan through the telescope.
An intense killing intent and hatred, almost so strong it seemed to crawl out of the binoculars, assaulted her. She instinctively took a half-step back, then steeled herself and moved back to the binoculars, holding her breath to observe the strange beast.
It opened its mouth and let out a roar, leading the last of its kind to charge at the orcs.
"Beast...King?" Jiang Yunlan slowly exhaled, belatedly realizing that the reason why the beast tide was appearing in batches was because of the Beast King's command.
They attacked the Xia clan from both sides because of the Beast King's command.
Ah Bai asked blankly, "What does 'Your Majesty' mean?"
Lan never taught me the word "king". What does "Beast King" refer to?
Hearing the voice beside her, Jiang Yunlan realized that she had inadvertently used the title "King". She had always avoided using words like "King", "Emperor", and "Royal" because she didn't want to explain their meanings.
But as expected, the past had a profound influence on her, and she subconsciously used the name that she felt best suited the bird-wolf-scaled beast.
"I'll explain after the beast tide ends," Jiang Yunlan said, making way for 022 to observe the Beast King and telling Ah Bai about her discovery.
"That bird-wolf scale-tailed beast gives me a very bad feeling. When Hati, Yan Duoyu, and Feng Hong deal with it, be sure to tell the three of them to be extra careful and pay attention to safety."
She shared her observations with 022, and the message reached the ears of the three orcs.
The sound of wild beasts rushing towards them gradually became clearer.
Maple Red, wielding an iron hammer, Yan Duoyu, with swords in both hands, and Hati, in his beast form, faced the Bird-Wolf Scale-Tailed Beast head-on.
Lan said that its wings are the same as those of birds and beasts. They are not soft feathers, but the part connecting the wings and the body is only hair, which is a very suitable place to attack.
"Yan Duoyu, go!" Feng Hong put down the iron hammer in his hand and threw out a Yan Duoyu.
The bird-wolf-scaled beast flapped its wings to dodge the orc that was about to collide with it.
Seeing that his first attack had failed, Yan Duoyu adjusted his posture, turned his back to the ground, and forcefully swung his longsword, wounding one of its wings.
"bump."
Yan Duoyu landed on the ground, but Hati caught her on his back. She heard Hati say to her, "The plan succeeded. Your sword is still on that beast's wing; go and retrieve it."
She smiled and transformed her hands into beasts, then went back with Hati to support Maple Red, who was facing the beasts alone.
The bird-wolf-scaled beast, having lost its ability to fly, was helpless on the ground, where it was held back and toyed with by three powerful orcs. Finally, it was struck and killed, falling to the ground on the grassland.
It was unwilling to die like this, staring fiercely at the orc in front of it, letting out a howl similar to a wolf, trying to strike again, but its tail fell off in mid-air.
It died.
Hati heard its cries, raised its injured paw, and turned the dead creature over, puzzled.
It's not a wolf-like beast, so why can it make a wolf-like howl?
"Hati, let's go back and get healed. We won this beast tide!" Yan Duoyu smiled and retrieved his beloved longsword.
"Hahaha! I'm going to take this beast to show Lan!" Feng Hong laughed, grabbing the tail of the bird-wolf scale-tailed beast with her free hand and dragging it into the clan.
Hati snapped out of his daze and belatedly realized that his tribesmen around him were cheering. He couldn't help but laugh too, throwing his head back and howling to express his joy.
“Let’s go! Let’s go back and celebrate with Lan!” he said happily.
Hearing the cheers from below, Jiang Yunlan dared not relax. She continued to carefully observe all the places she could see, and ordered a team of lightly wounded orcs to patrol the surroundings.
She finally relaxed and smiled after confirming that no new beasts had appeared.
The beast tide is over.
-----------------------
Author's Note: In Chapter 22, Freya referred to herself as an elf. Although nature elves are more accustomed to calling themselves "nature" (which they learned from the beastmen), they would use "elf" to distinguish themselves from true nature (of course, "elf" is a translation into Chinese).
Once Lan helps the beastmen distinguish between the two terms, the God's perspective in the later text will gradually differentiate between nature and nature spirits.
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