Governor's Office

Martin was sure that Robert Hill was dead. If he were alive, he would have come back by now.

There was no chance of a Tier-8 Beast Tamer going to other zones without informing the governor; it was standard procedure.

So, he thought that person was likely dead. He didn't think of going into the wilderness to investigate.

Right now, the next beast tide was imminent. He needed to focus on the current situation.

…

Wilderness

Governors Leon and Orion were helping the nearby human settlements to clear out. Governor Leon was staying at one of the settlements, located half a mile from the city.

There were corrupted beasts nearing the place. Leon sensed them coming close. If he were not there, the beasts would have reached the human settlement.

Leon then found the beast count was more than a hundred. He decided to attack.

Boom!

A powerful coercion was released from his body. The presence of the Tier-8 Beast Tamer was immediately felt by the corrupted beasts moving toward the settlement.

Puchak!

In a flash, the powerful coercion struck the bodies of the corrupted beasts. Upon contact, they blasted into pieces like watermelons.

Blood-slicked parts scattered across the ground. All the beasts were dead without a doubt. The ground was dyed with blood. No other beasts were in the vicinity.

Leon checked the surroundings. He wanted to know whether any other beasts were nearby.

Seeing that there were none, he quickened the process of helping the people leave the settlement.

At the same time, the Tier-9 Black Centipede felt the disappearance of a large number of kin. The beast was intelligent. It immediately felt the aura of the Tier-8 Beast Tamer.

Not long ago, it had killed a Tier-8 Beast Tamer. It had eliminated one threat; now, it was time to eliminate one more.

The Tier-9 Black Centipede reduced its presence and started moving toward the human settlement.

The beast was intelligent. Its size was huge, if it entered the open wilderness, its size would attract attention.

Thus, the beast started using the path through the unexplored region.

It moved around to reach the human settlement.

While it headed toward its destination, the nearby corrupted beasts all fled. If they got near the Tier-9 corrupted beast, they would die under the pressure.

Time passed

The Tier-9 Black Centipede reached the human settlement. The beast spotted the Tier-8 human Beast Tamer and the humans leaving. The beast was enraged.

Right then, the Governor's lifeline beast screamed at him. Governor Leon's face changed drastically. He turned around and looked toward the wilderness.

How could he have forgotten its presence? He immediately felt the presence of the Tier-9 Black Centipede.

"F@ck," he uttered.

He thought of fleeing. He immediately forgot about the people; his job had been to help them move out, but it was too late.

Swoosh!

He encountered a series of fast-moving black poison arrows all of a sudden. There were hundreds of poison arrows shot at them by the Tier-9 Black Centipede.

Boom!

The Tier-9 corrupted beast targeted the humans as well. Leon tried to flee, but his body was hit by a series of arrows.

The black arrows were pure poison. They immediately corroded his physical defense and started destroying his organs. Governor Leon was shocked to the core. He was badly injured.

Swoosh!

He tried to flee the next moment.

Boom!

One after another, the black arrows landed on the ground. The poison arrows attacked the people who were fleeing.

Upon a single attack, people died. A single contact poisoned them to death. The old, the young, and the children were all under attack.

They screamed while running, but the poison arrows met them accurately.

As time passed, the people died in large numbers.

The Tier-9 Black Centipede saw the attack was successful. It didn't hold back and released more attacks.

Boom!

The coercion of the Tier-9 beast was released. It was immediately felt by the corrupted beasts near the wilderness and the local Beast Tamers.

The pressure was so terrifying that everyone felt it. They fell to the ground, unable to stand.

Their bodies couldn't withstand the pressure. The Tier-3 and Tier-4 beasts were most affected; they collapsed on the spot and lost consciousness.

The Tier-5 and Tier-6 Beast Taming teams doing missions in the wilderness were hurt as well. With great difficulty, some of them escaped and reached the city wall.

They quickly informed the guards and the captains. They needed to get the news to the governors, but they didn't know that two of the governors were already outside.

Meanwhile,

Governor Leon was dying along with his lifeline beast. His lifeline beast couldn't come out because his mental zone was cracked.

He couldn't summon it. Not only that, but his organs were poisoned and failing.

On the other hand, hundreds of corpses lay on the ground. They were the people of the settlement who had failed to escape the poison arrows.

The population of this settlement was less than a hundred thousand.

Ever since the clearing out started, almost half of them had left, but the rest were not so fortunate. The Tier-9 beast had arrived before they could leave.

The Tier-9 Black Centipede immediately retreated. It confirmed the death of the Tier-8 human Beast Tamer.

Not only had it killed the governor, but it had wiped out the human groups as well.

If it stayed long, help would arrive. The beast tide had not started yet, but the Tier-9 Black Centipede had already ordered the corrupted beasts to spread around the wilderness.

Now they were stationed in all areas. The beasts could attack the city wall at any time. The centipede quickly left the area, heading back toward the unexplored region.

It didn't take long for the Black Centipede to return to the previous area. It quickly disappeared into the unexplored region.

​On the other hand, the survivors were fleeing towards the city, while the terrified corrupted beasts were fleeing towards the border of the wilderness.

​They were being affected by the pressure as well. The Tier-4 and Tier-5 corrupted beasts were injured in great numbers.

​When the Tier-9 Black Centipede went into the unexplored region, only then did they feel relief.