Chapter 280

Chaos spread through this region—fire, screams, attacks, and blood turned it into a true hell on earth.

This was the underground city and territory of the cultists, yet they still lacked sufficient lighting; all sources of illumination along the paths had been cleared away at once.

If they were rational enough, they would know the attackers' absolute numbers were few.

"Where? Where exactly?"

"The war beasts have gone berserk!! Get out of the way!"

"Many of the elders have lost control too—we must avoid them!"

The Beast Cult's base here contained a great many hazardous materials.

Li En's group exploited the "Path" to launch a surprise attack, completely shattering their planned strategy.

Just one more day—no, merely twelve hours—and a large number of hostages and captives would have been fully transformed.

The Beast Cult members who had fought on the ground all day would have completed their "cool-down" and regained most of their combat strength.

The Beast ability is powerful and effective, but the more it is used, the more prone it is to "overheating," especially when one still retains some humanity.

The more "mongrel" the Beast, the less control it has over itself and the lower its ability ceiling.

A day of bloody combat had pushed most cultists into overload; awakened suddenly from sleep, their physical and mental exhaustion was amplified by the life-or-death crisis, causing many to rapidly "lose control."

Especially here, in these cultists' own base—most people possess an almost instinctive sense of safety toward "home."

When that sense of safety shatters, fear explodes severalfold, uncontrollable terror and unease triggering an even stronger "defensive instinct."

"Damn it, calm down! We haven't seen the attackers, yet so many have died for no reason!"

"Something's wrong, something's wrong—I feel so agitated."

In fact, this was partly tied to Li En's preparations.

Among the spilled potions was one called "Dragon's Dignity (Aura)."

It was a distilled substance from dragonkind, capable of producing a "repellent" or "beast-repelling" effect.

But these vials were Victoria's special formulation, distilled from Li En himself.

"The aura of the True Dragon causes Beasts to rage and even lose control."

It was a fear and hatred ingrained in their genes; Li En's draconic nature was the purest, thus producing the most potent effect.

Li En even had a traveling mage use "Wind Creation" to disperse the evaporating potion into the surrounding area.

For "mongrel" Beasts with impure bloodlines, the Dragon aura's effect was less obvious—they couldn't even recognize it.

But within an already unstable beast population, this predator's scent easily accelerated the rate of loss of control.

Time was always the foundation of tactical planning; Li En's group's surprise attack disrupted all their arrangements, and the advantage of the ambush was gradually manifesting.

This was also because Li En's "Path" ability had bypassed several traps and hidden sentries that should have triggered alarms.

Even so, the attackers' tactical intent remained clear.

"Don't be greedy—rescue first."

Though all were elites, they were vastly outnumbered and still prioritized rescuing lives.

"Die, evil."

As time passed, amid the chaos, Li En finally found his target.

He simply swung his sword calmly, slaying the few low-grade Beast Cultists blocking his path.

The prison guards, only slightly bestialized, were weaker than even one-tenth of a Horned Acolyte.

To Li En, they were nothing more than mediocre targets.

They never even had time to roar and charge—they fell easily beneath his longsword in a single glance.

Li En turned his gaze toward the cages behind him and exhaled in relief.

"Good—we're not too late." Most hostages, though listless, were still alive and unharmed.

This was deep within the ruins; having fought his way here, Li En had progressed relatively smoothly.

Inside the cages were some unfortunate individuals dressed in relatively decent attire—they were likely higher-value hostages and, so far, had not been subjected to cruel treatment.

It made sense: these people were either bargaining chips or future infiltrators; turning them into Beasts outright would render them useless.

"Lord Li En! Lord Li En!"

As Li En approached the cage, he was called out by name.

"I'm Lante Solna, second son of the Solna family—I had the honor of witnessing your glory during your investiture ceremony."

This fellow seemed quite skilled with words; behind him, the gray "dog-man" looked utterly ordinary.

He wore high-quality enchanted leather armor; his weapons had clearly been confiscated. Had Wu Gu not mentioned him, Li En likely would have overlooked him. Several other similar guards were in the cage—apparently all bodyguards for these high-value individuals.

Li En glanced sideways at Wu Gu, who still kept his head down, silently picking the lock.

Li En knew he saw everything around him; this silent, unchallenged "acknowledgment" was enough.

Li En grew even more fond of this quiet child; when he learned the boy was only sixteen, he was genuinely surprised.

At sixteen, he himself had been just a slightly precocious ordinary child; this boy displayed exceptional maturity in every aspect.

"Oh, the young lord of the Solna viscount's family—I'm coming to rescue you."

The second son of the Solna count opened his mouth but said nothing.

Being rescued was enough; not becoming a beast or a meat lump was already a miracle.