Above The Sky
Chapter 76 - 76 71 Spirit of the Mountain Tide_2

76: Chapter 71: Spirit of the Mountain Tide_2 76: Chapter 71: Spirit of the Mountain Tide_2 “It shouldn’t be…”

The Blackbeard Captain felt puzzled, such a robust native should only have the physique that belonged to the warriors of the chieftain’s bloodline; although natives with good natural talents were taken care of by shamans from a young age and nurtured with special food, which could result in such strong bodies.

But each of them was a warrior guarding their ancestral land, who would not leave Ivorybone Mountain easily.

How could they possibly come to attack the city, to be consumed by the barrage of crossbows?

And their weapons…

“Are they knives and grappling hooks?

Are they planning to storm the city through sheer brute force?!”

Only when they got closer did Blackbeard finally see clearly what they were holding in their hands—plain climbing hooks.

Using such tools to assault the over ten-meter-high walls of Harrison Port was not just laughable, but pitiful.

Yet for some reason, he felt a sudden tightness in his chest.

An extremely intense sense of unease made him immediately order, “Draw the bows!

Shoot them through!”

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

The ready City Defense Force drew their bows and fired in volleys; because of the heavy rain and wind, most of the haphazard arrows missed the target, but the few that were most accurate pierced through the chests, shoulders, and thighs of the leading native warriors.

They were supposed to die.

However, something horrifying happened.

The speed of the natives struck by arrows did not slow down in the slightest; on the contrary, they let out roars of varying volumes and then accelerated with a charge.

Despite being wounded, they moved even faster!

“The life of our ancestors…

flows in our blood…

battle is our destiny…

destiny is death…”

Boom!

A lightning bolt struck down, and the sudden flash of light illuminated the faces of the natives—Blackbeard could see their eyes filled with bloodshot veins, their eyeballs abnormally spinning in chaos, while their bodies bulged with twisted muscles, blood vessels, and tendons thumping violently.

These native warriors, to say they were strong would be an understatement; it was more like there was some terrifying magical beast trying to break free from within their bodies!

The leading natives who were shot with arrows even started to sing, their voices ancient and primitive, carrying an inexplicable desolation and tragic nobility: “Death is blood…

Blood is life…”

“It’s the Sumo Fruit Core…

They’re already dead!”

The horror stories that circulated among all the people of the Southern Ridge Empire flashed through Blackbeard’s mind—those relentless beasts that fought without fear of death, using fists when their swords broke, teeth when their hands were lost—he couldn’t help trembling instinctively and shouted in horror, “They are the native berserkers!”

He moaned in despair, “We’re finished…”

—Regardless of the situation, when the natives sent out these berserkers who were on a suicide mission, the ultimate outcome was always mutual destruction.

“Life is fury…

Fury is battle!”

Having already ingested the Sumo Tree fruit core, the extremely high concentration of stimulants and toxins circulated to every corner of their body, the brain almost completely intoxicated, nearly losing all functions, the berserkers barely retained a trace of lucidity due to their training from a young age and a special diet for adaptation.

The lucidity for battle.

They instinctively chanted their war songs, seemingly oblivious to the multiple arrows lodged in their bodies, the leaders already threw their grappling hooks and, the moment the hooks caught onto the city walls, they burst upward with ferocious strength, charging into the ranks of the City Defense Force with knives in hand.

The berserkers were originally of great stature, and now, bereft of all restraint in their intoxicated state, they completely overpowered these city guards.

They didn’t even need the knives in their hands, merely using their fists and brute force to punch and shove, tearing through the imperial soldiers, and within moments, they cleared a safe area on the city walls, allowing the continuous stream of berserkers to keep climbing.

Facing these monsters, even the city defenders with shields paired with long spears proved useless, as the highly frenzied native warriors, even when impaled by long spears, moved without hindrance.

They even roared angrily, using their muscles to clamp down on the spearheads embedded in their bodies, then grabbing the shafts to hoist the caught-off-guard city guards into the air, slamming them down before them, and crushing their skulls with a foot.

“Ahh!!!”

At the brink of despair, Blackbeard Captain raised his long spear with the intention to pierce through the skull of the Berserker before him, the only way to immediately kill them.

But the Berserker only laughed manically and lunged at him, biting down on the spearhead.

Even though Blackbeard’s spear penetrated the mouth and skewered the enemy’s skull, blood gushing from the opened wound at the back of the head, the already-dead Berserker’s body was still alive.

He clenched his teeth, despite many coming loose and breaking, and forcibly shattered the spear shaft.

Then, he reached out with his hand, swollen with bulging veins turning blue-black, and grasped Blackbeard by the neck.

——Crack.

The sound of bones being crushed echoed at the city gate.

In less than ten breaths’ time, the northwest gate had been breached, and the defenders were all annihilated.

At the southwest city gate, facing Ivoke River and Redwood Forest, was Harrison Port, the most heavily guarded place.

“Enemy attack!”

The soldiers guarding this spot barely heard the war songs and death wails carried by the wind, but they had not a bit of energy to spare for their comrades.

“Where are the cannons?!

Fire the Alchemical Cannons quickly!”

The commanding captain issued his orders hoarsely, but all of it drowned in a deathly silence, with only the clatter of their teeth chattering in fear to be heard.

For the monster they faced was even more terrifying than the Berserker.

It was now completely night, the afterglow above the rainclouds on the horizon had disappeared entirely, with the storm and lightning weaving through the darkness, filling the heavens and earth with the noise of a thunderstorm.

Yet, in such darkness, an even more immense and inscrutable shadow was gradually drawing near, its deep footsteps caused the ground to tremble.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Three pairs of crimson eyes twinkled ominously in the rainy night, trailing streaks of red as they moved through the sky.

Boom!

Thunder roared and a lightning bolt tore through the sky, revealing the true form of the shadow.

What a majestic and terrifying Beast it was…

Six pupils, six legs, scales and armor-covered body, with sharp and sturdy stone spikes growing all over.

Its long tail struck the ground, causing the surrounding rocks and soil to tremor.

And that long crocodilian snout truly exposed its identity.

——The Chieftain worshiped for 150 years, the Totem known as the Spirit of the Mountain Tide, the nightmare in the hearts of the First Generation Harrison Port residents, a Behemoth rumored to be only a step away from being a Differently-Named Demon…

The Mountain Master, Swamp Crocodile Dragon’s merciless crimson eyes fixed on the low city gate.

It stood before the gate, even taller than the gate itself!

Immediately after, the huge crocodile opened its mouth, full of sharp teeth, and thick saliva with a nauseatingly corrosive stench came at them.

The cries of horror from the defenders of Harrison Port southwest gate spread as despair took hold.

All because the Crocodragon had opened its mouth, only to slowly close it again.

“Crunch——”

The sound of rocks being crushed was heard, followed by the thunderous rumble of the city wall collapsing!

After crushing the gatehouse and pushing it down, the majestic Behemoth lifted its head, its six eyes peering through the wind and rain at the prosperous city, as if it could see the lush forest that thrived here a hundred years ago.

“Hmm…”

With a low groan, the Spirit of the Mountain Tide, revived after decades, finally returned to its long-missed homeland.

The Sovereign of Mountains and Swamps, once again set foot on the land it had ruled for a century.