Beastmen: She Tames the Land-Chapter 54: Fighting A Corrupted Beast

"Something is here," Uri hissed.

A low growl rumbled in Xeno’s chest.

No one needed to receive a command. The females were placed in the centre while the males formed a circle. They moved as one unit. Visha had the stone knife with her this time.

Her heart hammered as she listened to whatever was drawing closer. The louder the sound, the more she smelled that cloying smell.

It wasn’t long before the things came from the shadows of the trees. When they emerged, the pack could see them for what they were, wolves. Like the manthrill they looked sick.

Their fur was matted and patchy with discoloured skin underneath. Their movements were unnatural. Their limbs bent at odd angles. Their eyes glowed a sickly yellow light. Drool fell from their jaws, and a subtle sizzling sound could be heard when it fell.

Everyone except Krag shifted.

Xeno was a force of destruction. He was able to tear the head off one wolf, but another lunged towards him almost immediately. Its jaw sank into his shoulder. Xeno roared in pain, shaking it off. It refused to move, latching on to him.

Xeno fell heavily on his shoulder to dislodge the wolf. As soon as he felt it loosen, he used his teeth to rip the wolf’s head from its shoulders.

Uri’s serpent form moved with deadly grace. He constricted a wolf, his powerful muscles crushing it. However, the creature didn’t seem to feel the pain. Its jaw kept snapping as it clawed at Uri’s scales. Uri coiled tighter until the bones of the wolf made a sickening crunch.

Another wolf ran over, sinking its teeth into Uri’s tail. He hissed while whipping his body around, intending to slam it into a tree. The wolf hit the tree, but instead of staying down, it lunged towards Uri again.

Cato’s massive paw swung, sending a wolf flying into a tree. Its spine broke, its jerky movements never stopped. Fil disemboweled a wolf. It kept coming back, snapping at Fil, trying to attack.

Krag moved efficiently, lengthening his claws to disembowel and slash the neck of a wolf. The wolf yelped, a high-pitched sound.

They all kept fighting through their injuries. It seemed that for every one they killed, more would take their place.

Fil cried out as a wolf bit into his leg. Cato moved to help Fil, but was overwhelmed as two wolves jumped in front to block him.

Visha watched it all happen and felt helpless. They were losing, and she couldn’t do anything about it. Her hands were clenched at her side, her breathing heavy, and her eyes glowed.

She saw Xeno, his movements getting slower. She saw Uri bleeding from deep bite marks.

She didn’t even realize what was happening until she heard the voice.

Let me out. Let me help them.

The pressure built behind her eyes, and the world narrowed. Visha struggled to keep her mind. She wanted to help, but she couldn’t control it now. A snarl came from her throat, full of rage and predatory intent.

And then, there was movement. A blur.

Chi, who had been standing with the females, rushed forward.

The moment of confusion was exactly what Visha needed to take back control. She watched as Chi moved among the wolves, a pair of blades she had never seen dancing in her hands.

One wolf lunged at her, and she sidestepped. One came to her back. Before she even turned around, Krag came up to her rear, using his claws to slash at the wolf’s throat.

The two moved in tandem; one would defend and the other attacked. Any blindspot the other wasn’t able to see, their partner would cover. It was the exact thing Visha saw when they were in the grotto together. They moved as one. They didn’t need fancy gestures; one look and the other would know.

Their coordination gave Xeno and the other just the opening they needed. Xeno tore into the neck of a wolf he was fighting. Uri’s coiled form snapped the neck of another wolf. Fil and Cato killed the wolves they had been battling.

The sound of their heavy breathing was the only thing that could be heard where they stood. The ground was full of mangled bodies, their black blood splattered everywhere.

Fil was on the ground, still in tiger form, his leg was mangled. Willa came up to him, her face a mask of concern. Xeno was bleeding from the shoulder, and Uri’s tail was a mess.

Krag and chi were the only ones unharmed. Chi had tucked the blades away at some point, and Krag stood beside her as if he hadn’t killed any of the wolves to begin with.

Visha was able to get herself under control when she saw that Chi was able to handle the wolves. With her help, everyone was able to get some breathing room to kill the rest of the wolves.

"What are these things? Even when you kill them, they don’t know they’re dead," Xeno remarked.

Xeno shifted, holding his shoulder that looked inflamed. Uri also shifted, his legs full of gashes and bite marks. Fil kept his tiger form, whimpering as Willa tried to calm him down. His leg would have to be cut off, much like Uri, who only has one arm.

Cato had a claw mark running from his collar to his chest. He was leaning against a tree.

Visha’s gaze scanned the group. She saw their injuries, and her heart hurt. Especially for Xeno and Uri, she wanted to take the pain away immediately.

Tears stung her eyes as she walked towards the two men. She didn’t let them fall; she learned once that tears were the most useless thing. Plus, she didn’t want them to see her cry. It was hard enough for them without her adding to the burden.

She walked up to them, taking the water pouch from the space.

She cleaned their wounds carefully. Or at least she tried to.

Her brows furrowed as she cleaned both men. She looked at the wounds. They should have been red. The wound was fresh. Instead, what she saw was black. Same as those things they just fought.

The wounds were black. She could see their veins and the black seeping into their skin.