The battle did not begin with a shout but with the silent and suffocating pressure of killing intent.

  The Black Pass was a narrow choke point and was flanked by towering cliffs of jagged obsidian. Cultivators could fly above it all but it still narrowed down the battlefields that could be taken by each side.

  The 42nd Company stood at the very front of the Beast Army’s formation. Because they were a newly formed mercenary unit of mixed races, they had been placed in the "Death Box.” The vanguard intended to soak up the enemy’s initial wave of spiritual arts.

  Across the field a signal flare exploded. It was a ball of purple fire. The 7th Legion charged.

  It was a swarm of cultivators of all races but mostly demons. Thousands of figures surged forward. Some on flying swords and others using movement techniques to blur across the ground or sky. A volley of flying daggers, poisoned needles and explosive talismans painted the sky in a shimmering wave of death.

  "Kill!" Gnash roared. He began swinging his battle axe rapidly to defect incoming projectiles and flesh.

  The two forces collided with a sound like a mountain shattering.

  The impact was immediate and chaotic. Li Yu found himself in the center of a storm of blood and spiritual energy. A squad of Demon Wolves leaped at him. They were cultivators who had grafted beast limbs onto their bodies and refined their bones with demonic marrow.

  Li Yu didn't panic at the incoming attack. He had been on battlefields before and knew what to expect. He moved with an efficient economy. Keeping his power reserved to what he needed it to be to avoid drawing the eyes of the high level experts in the back. Li Yu was planning to hold his own but not draw the attention of the power houses of the opposing army.

  He side stepped a claw swipe and drove the butt of his staff into a wolf cultivator's throat.

  CRACK.

  He spun around and used the momentum to sweep the legs of a second attacker. As the demon fell, Li Yu stepped on his chest and unleashed a tiny and focused burst of Opalescent Qi that stopped the cultivator's heart instantly.

  Around him the battlefield was a mess of races and shifting allegiances. To his left, a Minotaur mercenary fighting for the Beast Army was locked in combat with a Minotaur from the 7th Legion.

  "Traitor!" The Legion Minotaur roared. His axe began glowing with earth elemental Qi.

  "Pauper!" The Mercenary Minotaur laughed as he headbutted his kin with enough force to shatter stone. "General Krog pays double! Why die poor for a Lord who doesn't know your name?"

  Li Yu blocked a flying needle with his bare hand. Then came another five that were all stopped by him. Saving his team from some injuries.

  'No true loyalty to any side,' Li Yu noted. He then saw a Goblin stab an Orc in the back over a fallen storage pouch. 'In this realm, it truly is just about who promises more resources. Only the top brass seem to care for the flag; the rest are just here for the loot. Makes sense though, I am here for the loot as well.'

  His 42nd Company was holding well even though it had been at the front of the army. This was largely because Li Yu was acting as an anchor for this team. He wasn't flying around destroying armies; he stayed low and relatively unnoticed.

  He was crushing anyone who threatened his unit's formation. He made sure the Core Formation experts among his troops didn't get overwhelmed but he remained inconspicuous. A "competent captain" rather than a "hidden powerhouse."

  It wasn’t because he wanted to act this way. He was afraid of the true powerhouses of the opposing army. Li Yu knew he wasn’t the strongest one here. He was here to do damage and obtain loot. This can only be done by staying alive.

  An early Soul Formation demon officer from the Legion tried to break their line. He was wielding a banner that unleashed waves of black flame with every swing.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Li Yu saw him. He waited until the officer was distracted by Gnash, then threw a nearly invisible void javelin at him. He had tried his best to hide the javelin from sight and detection.

  THWACK.

  It hit the officer in the temple. The officer dropped like a sack of potatoes and someone else from Li Yu’s team grabbed his banner. They roared with excitement and greed. They had just obtained a powerful treasure. They began swinging it around themselves, causing all kinds of devastation.

  "Captain!" Gnash yelled. He too was grinning as he snatched the fallen officer's storage ring. "Nice throw!"

  "Keep moving!" Li Yu ordered.

  Li Yu and his team were doing well but he knew the real danger was coming. As if a prophet, the battlefield escalated.

  A roar echoed from the rear of the Beast Army. It wasn't a command; it was a savage and vibrating laugh that rattled the soul.

  "HAHAHAHA!"

  A figure launched itself from the main camp. He ran on the air itself and his every movement was making the area tremble. Nearly everyone stopped what they were doing for a brief moment to see what it was.

  It was General Skarr.

  The Hyena-Kin was in his hybrid form, the typical state for high level beast cultivators who had mastered their transformation. He stood twelve feet tall and was a humanoid nightmare. He had a hunched back and a massive bristling mane. He wore armor made of shiny gold and bone but his head remained that of a hyena. Skarr had jaws dripping with green corrosive saliva.

  3rd Stage Divine Transformation.

  He crashed into the center of the 7th Legion’s line like a falling star.

  KABOOM

  He landed on a squad of heavily armored demon knights. Their defensive artifacts didn't even have time to flare and protect. The impact turned them into a crater of red paste and twisted metal.

  "MEAT!" Skarr howled.

  He began to carve his way through the other army. He didn't use a sword or any other crafted weapon; his claws were his weapons. They were glowing with a sickly green light, the Law of Decay. He swiped at a defensive array or armor and the barrier rotted away in seconds. He grabbed a Soul Formation cultivator by the head and crushed the skull like a grape.

  "Forward!" Skarr laughed loudly while kicking a mangled corpse into the enemy ranks. "Feed until you're full! Fresh meat is back on the menu boys!"

  His own troops were emboldened by the slaughter and surged behind him. Li Yu watched from where he was and was keeping his company away from the General’s path. He didn’t want to get caught up in that kind of action and more importantly the reaction it would draw from the 7th Legion.

  'That is a true beast,' Li Yu thought. 'Brutal, mastery of his law and completely lacking in restraint.'

  But the 7th Legion had their own champion.

  From the enemy flagship a beam of pure silence descended. A figure floated down and was robed in midnight silk that seemed to absorb the ambient light. He held a staff topped with a purple orb. It was a Shadow Daoist.

  General Vrox.

  "You are noisy, dog," Vrox stated. His voice was a cold vibration that cut through the chaos. He waved his staff and the shadows of the canyon floor erupted into thousands of spikes. All of them aiming to skewer Skarr.

  Skarr twisted in mid air with unnatural flexibility. He landed on a shadow spike, balancing on one foot, before lunging at the Daoist.

  The two Generals clashed and the sheer pressure of their meeting cleared a circle around them. Ordinary cultivators were vaporized just by being too close to the collision of their laws. Skarr was a blur of green motion with his claws tearing at the air itself. Vrox was a phantom, teleporting through shadows and unleashing bursts of soul burning purple fire.

  Li Yu shepherded his 42nd Company away from the shockwaves. He watched as Skarr finally pinned Vrox against a canyon wall. The Hyena took a blast of shadow fire to the face but didn't flinch. It had quickly turned into a brutal slugfest. Both sides not giving an inch and seemed to have agreed on mutual destruction. Skarr bit down on Vrox’s shoulder.

  TEAR.

  Vrox screamed out in pain. A sound that sent chills through the army. Skarr ripped a chunk of spiritual essence and armor away with that bite.

  The Shadow Daoist panicked. He detonated a massive shadow explosion to create space between them. He then turned into a streak of purple light and fled the battlefield.

  General Skarr stood in the crater and was panting heavily. He had won but he was a mess. One ear was missing, his golden armor was melted slag and he was bleeding heavily from the deep necrotic shadow wounds.

  His injuries didn’t seem to affect his mood however. He threw his head back and let out a victorious, blood soaked howl that signaled the end of the legion's resistance.

  Li Yu watched the wounded General. He respected the mastery and the bravery. Or was it just stupidity. He wasn’t quite sure what it was. But he also noted the vulnerability.

  'He won!' Li Yu thought. His eyes narrowed as he watched the Hyena sway. 'But he bled for it. This realm... the top brass are just as brutal as the fodder. Everyone seems just a bit too crazy.’'