“What beastmen? What are they talking about?” King Ragnar asked while staring at the crowd who were crying with pitiful faces.
The city head sighed deeply. “There is a hill on the far south side of the island city, a lush green hill that stands in stark contrast to the rest of the desert. The stunted beastmen live there—savage creatures, dwarf-human with beastly character. They frequently raid our city, killing our people and stealing our children. We’ve tried to fight them off, but they are too strong.”
King Ragnar’s face darkened. “Why wasn’t this reported to the Doom family?”
The city head lowered his gaze. “The Doom family never responded to our pleas for help, and we’ve been left to fend for ourselves.”
Kent felt something was wrong. The time was too perfect for the report of beastmen by villagers. To find out the truth, there is only one way.
“Show me this hill.” Kent said in a serious tone.
“My lord, it’s dangerous—” the city head began, but Kent cut him off. “I am your City Lord now. Take me to the hill. I’ll deal with these beastmen myself.”
The city head bowed deeply, his voice filled with gratitude. “As you command, my lord. We will take you there at once.”
As Ragnar prepared to leave, Kent stopped him. He leaned closer and said, “There seems to me something wrong about this place. There is also the chance of the Doom family planning something behind our backs. So, stay here and observe these people very closely. If I don’t come back by tomorrow morning you can call for a backup from the capital.” Kent suggested.
After a deep thought, King Ragnar agreed to his suggestion.
Kent also asked his pets to stay here in support of king Ragnar while he took the baby dragon with him.
The villagers walked behind Kent, their faces filled with excitement. For the first time in years, they saw a chance—a chance to break free from the terror of the beastmen and reclaim what is truly theirs.
As Kent flew on the golden throne, the villages and the City Lord rushed on their pigs in the front.
After traveling for 20 minutes they finally reached a small forest-like place where most of the land is occupied by a big Hill which is covered with greenery. Compared to the desolate and desert land of the dead island city, this green Hill is very lively.
“City Lord, this is the place where those stunted beastmen live. Please kill these Barbaric men and bring peace to this Dead Island City.” The city head requested.
Without a word, Kent soared toward the top of the hill. He could see several openings in the hillside, narrow burrows leading inside. The openings were small, barely large enough for him to crawl through.
He glanced back once at the villagers, their faces filled with excitement, and then he entered the nearest burrow.
The tunnel was cramped, forcing Kent to bend low and move slowly. The air inside was damp, and the walls were slick with moisture. As he descended deeper into the earth, the burrow expanded slightly, turning into a network of interconnected tunnels.
It was a labyrinth, winding and twisting in every direction, but Kent pressed forward, following the faint slope downward.
Suddenly, he froze. Up ahead, the tunnel opened into a small chamber where two beastmen stood guard. They were hunched and muscular, their skin rough and gray, their faces a grotesque blend of human and animal features. Their arms were thick and powerful, their hands tipped with sharp claws, and their eyes glowed faintly in the dim light.
Kent knew better than to engage them now—he needed to gather information, not start a battle. Summoning the Shadow Cloak granted to him by the God of Wind, Kent vanished from sight, his body merging with the shadows of the tunnel. The cloak rendered him completely invisible, allowing him to slip past the guards undetected.
Moving deeper into the tunnels, Kent noticed that the air became thicker, the walls damp with condensation. The tunnels grew wider and more spacious, large enough to fit two fully grown men side by side. He silently marveled at how the stunted beastmen had carved out such an extensive network underground.
As he descended further, Kent’s senses heightened. He could feel the eerie energy in the air, something unnatural pulsing beneath the surface of the hill.
After what felt like an eternity of navigating the dark, winding tunnels, Kent reached a massive underground cavern. The walls were slick with moisture, the air thick with an overpowering stench of blood and decay. But what caught Kent’s attention was the sight at the center of the cavern.
Thousands of beastmen crowded around a tree—an enormous, bushy, black tree with bark the color of blood. Its branches were twisted and gnarled, and the air around it reeked of death. The tree itself seemed to pulse with a malevolent energy, its roots burrowing deep into the earth like the tendrils of some ancient, malevolent entity.
Kent’s breath caught in his throat as he saw human children tied to the tree’s thick branches, their small bodies limp and pale, their faces marked with fear and exhaustion.
At the base of the tree stood a massive beastman in priest-like clothes, easily twice the size of the others. His body was covered in thick, matted fur. He was chanting in a guttural language, his hands raised toward the tree as he performed a dark ritual.
The beastmen surrounding the tree were unlike anything Kent had ever seen. They were short and stocky, with thick muscles that bulged beneath their rough skin. Their faces were a mix of human and beast—flattened noses, sharp fangs, and animalistic eyes that glowed with a faint red hue.
Their arms were unnaturally long, and their legs were short but powerful, giving them a hunched, almost ape-like appearance. Some had patches of fur, while others had scales or rough, leathery skin.
Suddenly, the tree’s branches began overlapping tendrils around the human children.
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“God! It’s a carnivorous Spirit tree!”
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