Divine Emperor of Death

Normally, Magical Beast tides wouldn't happen unless they were maddened or being commanded by a higher stage magical beast.

If both of the above weren't true, then there must be a reason for the slaughter they conducted.

The Five-Clawed Rat Elder glanced at a direction causing Davis's head to turn. There, he saw a few rat corpses and half-bitten human corpses.

The rats, one of them being bigger than a horse, while the other the size of a normal horse like the other Five-Clawed Rats. There were also four baby rat corpses beside the former corpses.

Davis's eyes narrowed into two slits. He was astonished to see the six claws on the body of the rat which was bigger than a horse, 'A Six-Clawed Rat! An Earth Rank Magical Beast!' 

Different from the Mortal Rank Magical Beasts which were shackled by their bloodlines, the Earth Rank Magical Beasts can take demi-human form once they step into the Spirit Beast Stage.

Not only that but their strength was higher than ordinary Mortal Rank Magical Beasts.

Davis sucked in a cold breath of air.

It was his first time seeing one yet it was already dead. 

He glanced at the baby rats and also found six claws on them.

Looking at the sword marks on their lifeless bodies, he understood what had happened.

'That Town Lord sure was the perpetrator!' Davis cursed in his mind.

His mind made an assumption and was subjectively recreating the scene that happened here with the shreds of evidence left here.

Some men waved their swords at the Six-Clawed Rat and its mate, managing to kill them off with heavy injuries while running off with one or two Six-Clawed Rat babies or even none.

Davis closed his eyes, he had a vague idea about what caused this tragedy.

The sad part about this was that this might not even seem like a tragedy to the eyes of the Empire which governed this town.

An Earth Rank Magical Beast child can grow up into an adult, being able to challenge Sixth Stage Cultivators when fully matured.

And to the Empire, it was undoubtedly an accumulation on their part, gaining two Earth Grade Magical Beasts that will eventually grow up to the Sixth Stage.

Two Earth Grade Magical Beasts for a single town? From their viewpoint, although it would be a pity, it would unquestionably be worth it.

The old rat's flashed a gaze of grievance at him before it hatefully charged at him, its eyes clouded with vengeance.

Davis said nothing but took out his spear.

'Humans and you could no longer under the same sky...' Davis let out a sigh as he thought and used an explosive step to near it.

He activated Absolute Enhancement and Tyrant Aura Amplification before engaging in a battle that would undoubtedly end in the death of one or the other.

Spear and the claws clashed, giving off a metal piercing sound that echoed throughout the underground cave.

Davis gritted his teeth as he fought. Each one of its attacks was heavily suppressive and made him fall back. He could see that he was unmistakably outclassed by its Peak-Level Spirit Beast Stage strength.

It frenziedly attacked him, making him use all of his strength to keep it from shredding his body to pieces.

'Berserk Change!'

His aura immediately underwent a qualitative change, making him able to struggle equally without being pushed back.

He didn't try any nimble maneuvers or underhanded attacks as he simply put out with it using his brute force.

Clashing sounds echoed out for a while before the cave was filled with the Five-Clawed Rat Elder's shrieks of despair.

Its claws were utterly ruined and its body was trembling from being stabbed at its throat, held at high ground.

The cries stopped a few moments later, prompting him to remove the spear that was lodged in its throat, its blood leaking as if a tap had been opened.

His eyes narrowed when he caught the chipped yet bloodied spear. It was partially broken but it seemed that it can be still used against Sky Beast Stage Magical Beasts.

'Sigh... I have to get a new weapon.' Thinking of his spear, he collected the remains present in the cave, including the Five-Clawed Rat Elder's Soul Essence.

He once more released his Soul Sense, afraid that he might have missed some Five-Clawed Rats.

'Hmm? Another Cloud Spring Mercenary group is on their way to this place...' He observed before deciding to go back without using his concealing technique.

He flew above the cave surface and went back into the tunnel hole, starting to walk simply in a carefree manner.

He popped an energy recovering pill in his mouth, gradually circulating the contents of the pill in his body. He could feel his diminished energy recovering back at a rather normal pace.

'I'll have to increase my Body Tempering Cultivation. The time I used to remain at this level should be enough and besides, I can feel that my foundation is almost perfect with no or fewer defects...' He closed and opened his palm, relieving the feeling of numbing sensation from his palms.

It was a difficult battle that left his hands numb and his body sore. He certainly didn't want to experience another battle in this short period of time.

Soon, he could hear hurried footsteps coming from the tunnel pathway in front of him.

Not long after, the group arrived before him and scrutinizingly gazed at him.

"You... are also a member of our Cloud Spring Mercenaries? Who are you? We have never seen you before..." Vass calmly questioned.

Davis glanced at the group consisting of twenty people. His eyes calmly swept over them before he glanced at the peculiar man, Kron.

Kron was the only man who reacted to his soul sense twice. The first time he swept his Soul Sense, he only thought it off as a coincidence but after the second time, he thought otherwise.

The reason he didn't use his concealing technique was because of this man.

He only glanced at him for a second before a shout echoed out which felt jarring to his ears, "Hey! Are you deaf!? My Boss is speaking to you!" 

The lackey promptly stood out, eager to lick his boss's ass.

Davis turned his gaze to Vass before throwing a badge to him.

Vass caught it and checked it while a voice echoed out, "Davis, new recruit..."

"A warrior already? At this age? Certainly rare..." Vass muttered and his eyes glowed with the fervor of wanting to recruit this talent.

"Davis, is it? Become my subordinate, and you'll have access to even greater cultivation resources..." Vass casually spoke, confident that he could recruit him.

After all, he was the son of Vice-Leader Jawan; secretly.