Chapter 22: The West Wind Warriors’ Battle

The two dark cultists transformed into fierce bearmen worked as efficiently as 20 strong adult male slaves. Violence and destruction clearly suited their lack of intelligence. After a loud clamor, the task was completed beyond expectations—not only were the two upper floors aboveNeo’s hiding place reduced to rubble, but the two adjacent buildings also suffered severe damage. Dust filled the air, and the smell of earth was overwhelming.

The leader of the dark cultists frowned—not because the bearmen failed to understand his true intentions, but because he himself often forgot that these subordinates, or rather his former childhood playmates, no longer resembled who they used to be after gaining the ability to transform freely. Their intelligence was comparable to that of ordinary 6-year-olds—a truly regrettable situation, especially since they were two powerful 6-year-olds.

“Clean it up!” The leader had no choice but to issue another order, pointing at the ruins.

The two bearmen obeyed their leader without hesitation. Of course, their method of cleaning was casual and arbitrary, like children playing water fights. They spread their legs wide, lifted their buttocks, and used their massive claws to shove the debris in front of them backward, as if monsters were exhaling—sand and stones flying everywhere, with loud crashing sounds.

Undoubtedly, in terms of attracting attention, the bearmen’s actions were astonishingly effective. A squad from the West Wind Warriors’ regiment, which had invaded from the southwest side of the city wall to attack the Devil Army’s flank in the south, noticed the excessive noise over there.

“Yuri, take your men and see what’s going on.” The squad’s commander, Mikhail, was a werewolf standing 2.9 meters tall—this was his height when he was in his normal stance, with legs bent and back hunched. His voice was like the sound of a sledgehammer hitting the ground, carrying an unusually heavy tone that made it impossible to refuse.

As his name suggested, Yuri’s father had intended for him to learn human farming skills and become a farmer, so that he wouldn’t have to go hungry. It was a simple wish. However, for various reasons, Yuri never picked up a hoe or fork; instead, he took up a battle axe. At around 30 years old, this werewolf was relatively intelligent compared to his kind—at least he could deduce that someone important, or someone holding something valuable, must be surrounded by dark cultists at such a time.

Although Yuri disliked cunning humans, he knew well that saving someone of status could earn him gold coins—a practical and useful currency. So…

“Follow me!” Without wasting words, Yuri waved his arm and led over twenty werewolves toward whereNeo and his group were hiding.

“Kill those uglies and pretty faces!” Yuri’s battle cry was full of momentum. In his mind, all intelligent beast races other than werewolves were ugly, with the abnormally evolved intelligent beast creatures created by the devils being the worst. As for “pretty faces,” humans and elves all fell into that category.

The West Wind Berserkers – West Wind Fury and Berserk Ruthlessness. Combining these names alone reveals the combat style of this army: all are werewolves in their wolf form, with even the weakest being near-level 4 berserkers.

The berserkers’ armor serves more to assist in attack than defense. Their elbows, knees, shoulders, and head—all armored areas—are equipped with spikes. Headbutts, shoulder charges, knee strikes, and elbow blows are all facilitated by this armor. Aside from that, they wield two battle axes: black iron berserk axes with a short blade curve but an extremely long length. The blades are even longer than the short swords used by ordinary soldiers. At first glance, they resemble bone-chopping butcher’s knives.

Carrying these dozens of pounds of black iron berserk axes, the werewolves can still move swiftly between the ground and buildings. Like this time, they attacked from the rooftops in a semi-encircling formation. Yuri took the lead, swinging his axe. With a somersault in the air, his two axes became streaks of glowing light, slashing down with tremendous force. One of the bearmen raised his head in confusion, saw the axes coming, and tried to block them with his thick arms. But not only was his arm severed by Yuri, who was at level 5, but two massive wounds were also carved across his chest and abdomen, killing him with a deafening roar.

When dealing with bloodthirsty, battle-loving creatures like werewolves who prefer to fight first, words are unnecessary. The leader of the Dark Cult gave a whistle, then quickly transformed into a monster. His magic was the most advanced among them. In a flash of smoke, a fully transformed monster rushed out.

Red-skinned, with horns on their heads and tails on their backs, sharp teeth and claws, this type of transformed monster is quite famous, known as “demons” or “pseudo-demons.” The gods recreate humans based on their own models, while demons transform humans into ghosts using their own models. Of course, true demons are far more impressive than demons.

Besides these relatively common but powerful pseudo-demons, there’s also fusion enhancement. For example, that Dark Cult member with two Terrestrian hounds transformed together with the hounds, becoming three hellhounds—also pseudo, but capable of spewing lava (though not true magma) and possessing thick, tough skin along with agility and strength. These are the main combat forces in the demons’ transformation series.

Finally, there are the various other monstrous creatures. The transformation system has a cyclical pattern from low to high, starting from free transformation to fixed transformation, then back to free transformation. Both the lowest and highest levels involve monster forms shaped by their own Dark Hearts, or “Corrupted Desires.” These elite Dark Cult members are vastly different from the weakest ones, but far stronger than the amateurs killed by Nio. They are generally at level 4. Although they number only one-third of the enemy, it’s clearly not easy for the werewolves to defeat these eight guys.

Just now, a bearman discovered the entrance to the cellar while “digging” in the ground. He tore apart the wooden door with a single grab, and Neo fought against this bearman with two swords at the entrance. Now, Neo is essentially just a spectator—fighting between levels 4 and even 5 makes it extremely difficult for a warrior like Neo, who has just reached level 3, to get involved; acting on his own would only cause trouble. Moreover, Neo knew his own limitations well and kept his curiosity in check, standing quietly behind Gorton. The Dark Cultists clearly wanted to capture him, but to outsiders, it seemed easy to mistake them for targeting Gorton, who clearly had the air of a leader.

Gorton and the others had no intention of joining the fight. For them, the battle outside was already at a god-like level. The city guards, put nicely, were there to defend the city; put bluntly, they were like police or military police tasked with maintaining order and punishing petty thieves. The real combat forces were guys like the West Wind Berserkers, who trained every day as long as they had food and drink. Professional soldiers—this term already existed in this world—and compared to them, those lowly, demonized Dark Cultists were nothing but ordinary people who could wield swords.

Neo seemed to be attracted by the fight between the West Wind Berserkers and the demonized Dark Cultists, but in reality, he was concentrating hard, assessing the situation to decide whether to take the chance to leave now or rely on the victory of these Vidennis wolves.

In the end, reason overcame worry. Since he had chosen to use others as cover for his identity, he had to be prepared for such situations. No matter how you looked at it, leaving now wasn’t a wise choice.

The West Wind wolves were now slightly ahead, not only because their leader Yuri was powerful but also because these wolves were ruthless, experienced in battle, and had the innate ability of the wolf race to heal wounds quickly. On the other hand, the Dark Cultists, though empowered by demonization, were mentally just ordinary people blinded by desire and their inflated strength. This mental gap meant the demonized Dark Cultists were good at taking advantage of favorable situations but lacked resolve, easily becoming panicked and discouraged. Their fighting relied more on instinct than skill. So, despite having level 4 strength, in a direct one-on-one fight, a level 3 wolf could still hold their own. Now, with more enemies, the situation for the demonized Dark Cultists was quite precarious.

“Pah!” Yuri pushed back the evil spirits, took the chance to glance at the battlefield, then spat viciously. These demonized cultists were unexpectedly tenacious—only three of them left, yet still showing no sign of retreating. In his memory, neither the gamblers nor the pretty boys were this stubborn.

“The Dark Cultists are waiting for reinforcements, and they’re already here!” Yuri heard someone shout in a deep voice. Following the sound, he saw Gorton and the others at the cellar entrance and quickly locked eyes with Neo.

“The Daknis clan, huh? A frail little wretch—rare indeed!” Yuri grinned viciously, his terrifying appearance scaring a little girl who was hiding outside, clinging to her mother’s leg.

Just as humans have whites, yellows, and blacks, werewolves also have different breeds. If forced to compare, the Videnis werewolves correspond to whites—tall, strong, and fierce—while the Daknis clan resembles yellows, often mocked by other werewolves as “little wimps,” “puppies,” “sicklings,” or “dried meat”…

However, every breed has its strengths and weaknesses. The Daknis werewolves are recognized as the kings of the forests and the most intelligent among werewolves. When a mage emerged from the Daknis clan, even Emira was astonished—after all, it was a mage, requiring precision, comprehension, and calculation… which is nothing like the sorcerers who can inherit their powers simply by having good parents. Thus, most werewolves dislike these “intricately minded” creatures. As a result, after suffering natural disasters and human conflicts, the Daknis clan declined. Like the appearance of that werewolf mage, they vanished from sight in an instant. Daknis werewolves wandering in the world of Emira are even rarer than dark elves roaming the surface.

Of course, Yuri would never mistake Nio’s identity, just as humans can easily identify their racial groups.

Believing in Nio’s abilities and relying on his wild intuition as a level 6 Berserker, Yuri also sensed the approach of enemies—enemies far stronger than those they were fighting now—slightly later than Nio.

“Ulyan, blow the horn!” Yuri shouted, waving his double axes as he charged at the demons. “Damn it, it’s all about killing uglies—wherever they are!”

Duuu, duu…

The West Wind Horn is a special type of horn. It lacks the deep and desolate tone of the ox horn but has a strong effect that stirs the blood. Ulyan’s way of playing it signals: “A fierce battle is about to take place—those who want to stretch their muscles should hurry over…”