The Boss King actually disguised himself as a novice village chief?!
Chapter 528 - 428: On the Other Side of the Mountain, There is a Group of Terrifying Undead

Chapter 528: Chapter 428: On the Other Side of the Mountain, There is a Group of Terrifying Undead

Lavee clasped his sword with both hands, his eyes fixed ahead, taking a deep breath.

A black, massive shadow circled in the sky.

Both regarded each other as prey, the only difference being that Lavee was cautious enough.

His gaze followed the shadow as it moved rapidly and, when it dived, Lavee raised his Longsword high.

The Scorpion Flea had long since fled. As the most primitive means of transport in the desert, it had many advantages besides being cheap, but its disadvantages were also clear—it had almost thrown Lavee to the ground just a moment ago.

Enveloped in fierce flames, the black shadow dove towards him, and Lavee forced himself to discard all distractions.

The colossal creature, twirling a storm of death, crossed the skies, but Flowing Fire was quicker.

Boom!

Flames plunged into the desert, quickly swallowed by the sand, then the ground began to bulge, swelling in an instant to its limit before exploding.

The heatwave singed Lavee’s cheeks and his beast hair curled, yet his sight remained unaffected.

The black shadow skimmed the ground, its wings slicing the air, until its form completely occupied Lavee’s vision, leaving him seeing nothing but black and flames, not even the sand.

He did not retreat a step, swiftly slashing downwards with his swords.

The blade stood as a knife fixed in place, while the Soul Beak Criminal opened its weakest point—the stomach—to Lavee’s sword.

He pierced and sliced through the adversary’s belly.

The blood of the Soul Beak Criminal, capable of releasing Flowing Fire, was chillingly cold. It was seriously injured and flapped its wings, flying away into the distance.

It was a perfect opportunity—it absolutely couldn’t be allowed to escape!

Lavee believed he was just a step away from earning the title of "Sword Saint."

Either he would kill his opponent and become a "Sword Saint," or he would be killed by his opponent, who would then earn the title of "Lavee-killer," if an obscure Lavee was even worthy of bestowing a title with his death.

He ran frantically through the desert on his legs, but what awaited Lavee was not the severely wounded Soul Beak Criminal but dozens of its companions, which, though slightly smaller, were equally gigantic to Lavee.

Standing before a mountain, looking up, you can’t tell which one is taller.

"Is it luring me over here?" Lavee revealed a smile.

Beastmen’s obsession with titles far surpasses their attachment to life.

Nearby, the area wasn’t just endless sand; there were also cliffs which gave Lavee the possibility to continue the fight, sparing him from continuous diving bombings by the shadow in the sky, leaving it only able to close in and peck with its foul beak.

Getting closer gave him the chance to use his sword.

"Come on!" Lavee was exhilarated.

...

Lavee took a long detour, and by the time he reached the Main City of the Beastmen, he realized it was the Beast Sacrificial Ground.

"Perhaps Dominus noticed me."

He felt somewhat dazed, emerging from that terrifying sharp-mouthed hell wasn’t pleasant; he sat down on the ground, feeling the coolness of his buttocks touching a "King’s" statue head.

Looking down at the charred and shattered city below, the nightmare-like scene brought back memories of the legends about the Beast Sacrificial Ground.

Once noble and loyally served Dominus, the Beast Sacrificial Ground was abandoned for some unknown reason. Although the Beastmen still gathered here, the place felt intentionally forgotten.

For those of lesser strength, this place might not differ from any other Beast King’s territory.

He could faintly hear the sounds of slaughter in his ears, like a musical score playing one twisted, bloody note after another.

Lavee remembered he had exhausted his strength after killing the fifth criminal; the huge corpses and nauseating stench blocking his sight meant he had to climb atop the bodies to continue swinging his sword at the skies.

Kill one, climb up, then kill another.

What allowed him to endure to the end wasn’t the potential of his body, it surely had to do with Dominus.

Unfortunately, by then, Lavee had been numb, his consciousness a blur.

Never to surrender might indeed be the will of the Beastmaster; that he was alive and came to the Beast Sacrificial Ground might indeed be Dominus’s guidance!

Thus, Lavee decided to follow the guidance forward.

The aura emanating from him and the terrifying appearance covered in blood crust earned him awe-filled looks from the Beastmen.

The law of the jungle among beasts was the fundamental rule; beyond that, all other rules were merely constraints the Beastmen imposed on themselves out of envy for civilization.

"What’s wrong with the people here?" Lavee wondered, knowing the situation at the Beast Sacrificial Ground was not good—desolate and poor, but the sadness in their appearance, it appeared as if they had suffered several defeats?

Lavee stopped a Beastman who must have been... definitely a warrior. He wasn’t so sure since he saw a hammer, Longsword, and the badge of a junior Beast Tamer on him.

"The Lionheart endures; what happened here?"

"The Beasts roar," the warrior replied, "we’ve encountered a group of terrifying enemies that gradually sapped our courage to fight."

"Terrible enemy?"

"Yes, right over the mountain, they’ve harnessed the terrifying Abyssal Power, defeated our teams one by one, captured us, enslaved us..." The Beastman was trembling.

Lavee’s first thought was disbelief. Even if the Beast Sacrificial Ground wasn’t as renowned as it used to be, it wasn’t lacking strong figures of the second and third rings.

"They are Undead." The Beastman took a deep breath with a serious expression, "You can never kill them all!"

Undead, wielding the power of the Abyss. Even Lavee couldn’t help but draw a cold breath, but he wasn’t afraid; he was excited. If he could fight such enemies, perhaps he could earn a new title.

But seeing the reactions of these Beastmen, he knew they definitely lacked the courage to organize another attack.

If all the beasts in the Beast Sacrificial Ground were of this caliber, it was indeed disappointing.

But the Beastman seemed to have opened a valve and couldn’t stop talking: "They require us to clock in for work every day, and I—a great warrior—am forced to earn titles like Blacksmith and Beast Tamer. It’s a disgrace!"

"Clock in for work, what is that?"

"Worse than the Abyssal slavery! To work for them."

Lavee puzzled, "You’re a warrior, they enslave you but let you..."

Warriors aren’t incapable of earning those related titles, but it’s far more fitting for a Beast Tamer to achieve titles like "Beast Handler" or "Beast Tamer" for more efficiency.

"Warriors aren’t respected." The Beastman lowered his head in shame, "I didn’t want to starve, so I had no choice but to work obediently, and their work is piece-rate."

"Piece-rate?" Another term Lavee couldn’t understand.

The Beastman nodded, "Yes, piece-rate, constantly repeating the same task, we work on an assembly line."

"Piece-rate? Assembly line? Forget it, continue."

"...I, I have betrayed the honor of warriors, to make myself more skillful, I strived to earn the titles of Blacksmith and Beast Handler so I could earn more during overtime."

Overtime?

Lavee didn’t ask anymore, there were too many words he didn’t understand. Knowing the Beastmen were enslaved to work was enough, although the term "earn" puzzled him.

There was another thing he didn’t understand: if it was enslavement, the Beastmen should receive a disgraceful title of "Slave," not unrelated titles like those.

"I escaped." The Beastman lifted his head, eyes misty, big watery eyes making it hard for Lavee to remain unaffected.

He looked too pitiful.

"You are free now." Lavee patted his shoulder then quickly left, lest he be sprayed with snot.

A Beastman approached Lavee: "The High Priest is aware of your arrival, great one, and she would like to invite you to meet."

"High Priest?"

Lavee nodded and followed up the archway, eventually reaching an open platform.

There stood a figure entirely enveloped in a long robe.

"How should I address you, mighty one?" the High Priest’s voice was like a chant.

"Lavee the Sword Saint!"

Having successfully earned his title, Lavee’s strength had reached between the third and fourth rings, and he could proudly announce his name.

"Do you need my help? To attack those Undead?" Lavee asked.

He admitted feeling somewhat swollen with pride, as powerful forces and the Beastmaster’s gaze filled him with confidence.

The Beastmen of the Beast Sacrificial Ground, stripped of their fighting and killing spirit, were like beasts denuded of teeth and claws. If they truly needed his help, Lavee wouldn’t be stingy.

He could also use this opportunity to spread the name of the Beast even further.

"It is indeed related to the Undead, but it’s not an attack." The High Priest shook her head gently.

Ull the Beast possessed the terrifying strength of a fifth-ring, a mighty figure from legends, capable of fighting on their own.

Yet they knew well how difficult the Undead were to deal with.

Lavee’s strength was decent, but just decent.

News of the fourth-ring strongman, Black Blood, being captured had already spread; the terror of the Undead was far beyond what one might imagine, and she didn’t believe Lavee’s power would be of much use.

"I heard you come from Lionheart Fort, I wish to hire you to protect a trading caravan, you just have to ensure they get to the next territory."

Just to protect a trading caravan.

"Lionheart Fort is in the opposite direction of the desert, and those cursed Undead are in the opposite direction."

It wasn’t that Lavee thought the High Priest was making a fuss over nothing, but the route from the Beast Sacrificial Ground to Lionheart Fort was straightforward. If those Abyssal Undead could circle back to intercept, why wouldn’t they just attack the Beast Sacrificial Ground directly?

Considering the condition of the Beast Sacrificial Ground, these people had clearly lost their will; this place although high-grounded, the mental barrier of resistance had collapsed. If, as the previous Beastman said, those terrifying Undead planned to conquer this place, it wouldn’t be too difficult.

Since they hadn’t attacked, it indicated their power was still insufficient for such a feat.

"You don’t understand!" The High Priest’s voice was heavy, mournfully saying, "They are reveling in it."