Beastmaster of the Ages

Lin Xiong’s deafening roar rang throughout the place. ”Changkong, keep an eye on Lin Jie! There seems to be some changes at Brother Tiger’s side!”

”What changes?” Lin Changkong asked, looking away from the Judgment.

”The attack power of the ancestral world monster seems to have increased. We lost hundreds of clan members in an instant. Brother Tiger seemed to have planned to fight that creature to the death, but as the deaths racked up, he had no choice but to change his strategy! So far, we’re doing really great in the battle as a whole. If the ebons and the monster are to win, they’ll have no choice but to get their hands on the person who’s most important to Feng’er! That’s why we basically don’t have to fight any longer. All we have to do is to escort Brother Tiger and his wife into the Phantavoid. After that, we’ll seal it shut to stop the monster from achieving its goals!”

Back then, there had been far too many people in the Phantavoid, giving the monster a chance to sneak in. It had used Lin Jianxing’s body, which allowed it to be recognized as a member of the Lin Clan by some of its formations. However, the Phantavoid was now completely empty.

”Would the second patriarch really agree to that?” Lin Changkong asked, feeling a headache welling up. He knew how Lin Xiao was; it would be all too vexing for him to hide with his wife while others continued to suffer.

”How can he not? The monster is far too powerful. It’s almost unkillable. The longer we fight, the more people will die! But once he’s safe, the others can leave. We’re out here in the vast astralscape—how many can the monster possibly kill if we scatter?”

The current situation was different from before. The monster had launched a sudden attack after sneaking into the Phantavoid, forcing the clan to send many people to hold it back. However, the Lin Clan was fully mobilized in this battle, pushing back against enemy astral gods and their ships. The location of the ancestral world monster was also clearly noted. Given that there was nothing that the clan could do against it, the best option was to get Lin Xiao and Dongshen Yue to safety so that losses could be minimized.

The monster within the demonic clouds had expanded the size of its astral body to enhance its combat capabilities to an extent. It had turned into something resembling an astral giant of more than two hundred meters in height. There was no way anyone would be able to miss it, even from a distance. Even though there were more than three thousand cosmic cartographers fighting it, it kept its focus solely on pursuing Lin Xiao and Dongshen Yue. Its intentions were all too clear.

”Brother Tiger agreed!” Lin Xiong said, breathing a sigh of relief. Getting someone like Lin Xiao to accept protection was a truly herculean task. ”He returned to the Phantavoid with his wife and locked the ship down! Right now, he’s heading your way. The monster’s still outside, and the clan members that were trying to stop it have begun to scatter!”

With Lin Xiao inside the Phantavoid, the ship could continue to contribute its ether-class combat capabilities to support the battle. Unlike before, the monster was exposed and clear for everyone to target. Not to mention, it couldn’t travel through the astralscape as fast as an astralship could. The Phantavoid immediately slipped out of its range, turning into a black sword-shaped flash. It headed straight toward Lin Changkong and Lin Jie, striking an ebon sanctuary-class ship in the process. Its sharp edge cut through the enemy ship and almost instantly blew it up. The explosion signaled that Lin Xiao and Dongshen Yue had finally escaped danger.

”Don’t fight the monster! Ignore it!”

”Scatter!”

”Keep a close eye on it!”

The enemy’s strategy was to capture the king, whereas the Lin Clan was focused on protecting Lin Xiao and holding off the monster while they continued hammering away at the forces of the Second Exterminatus Army. With the prize that it had fought for being snatched away by the cosmic cartographers of the Lin Clan, the monster was frustrated like never before. It’d had the most opportune chance back when it’d revealed itself inside the Phantavoid, but the Sword in the Forest had detected the malice coming from it. Even after losing that chance, it hadn’t thought that it would still eventually fail. The thousands of cosmic cartographers that charged to their deaths to save Lin Xiao were like moths to a fire, and that was something that the monster had never predicted. How could an old man that didn’t have much time left in this world have so many people volunteering to throw their lives away for his sake? The reason for that was that they weren’t defending Lin Xiao himself, but rather the future of the Swordgod Lin Clan that he represented!

The Lin Clan had been squeezed by the neck by the ebons for so many years, and if Lin Xiao were to fall in this battle, they would return to their former dire straits! That was something none of them wanted, so they sacrificed everything they had to to ensure his survival. With that having succeeded, they immediately began scattering. While the monster was strong, the billion members of the Lin Clan were scattered far and wide throughout the astralscape. If they didn’t fear divine astralships in the first place, why would they fear a single powerful monster? Even if the monster could continue taking down the Lin Clan’s ships, the clan would be able to wipe out the ships of the Exterminatus Army even faster. It was a battle of attrition, but one they were destined to win.

”If the Second Exterminatus Army’s forced to retreat, the monster will be nothing now that the second patriarch is safe from its grasp!” Lin Changkong realized that point and doubled down on his commands to nudge the situation in that direction. He told all swordpupils to ignore everything and focus on wreaking havoc on the Second Exterminatus Army. That was all they needed to do to win.

”Die!” The swordpupils could tell how angry the monster was after it had lost its prey. It went on a blind rampage, but soon discovered that the rate of its carnage couldn’t keep up to the Lin Clan’s. Thus it decided to vanish, which made it even more terrifying.

”That creature’s really a lot of trouble to deal with, with how it can just hide in our midst like that. But at the very least, it won’t be able to get close to Second Patriarch. Our attention can be solely focused on wiping out the ebons without having to screen for its presence in our ranks!”

”That’s right!”

”The second patriarch must be careful! Once anyone enters the Phantavoid, make sure he tells us right away! We can’t let that monster have another chance!”

”Everyone, stop wasting time and keep pushing!”

”Changkong, Second Patriarch, Lin Jie is killing our comrades near you! Don’t let him escape!”

The disappearance of the monster had only further motivated the Lin Clan to ramp up their slaughter of the enemy. Lin Changkong and Lin Xiao, on the other hand, focused on fighting Lin Jie in their ships. The three gigantic sword-ships met at a central intersection, storms of sword light and nova source forming around them. The cries of battle echoed throughout the astralscape as blood, flesh, dreams, and souls spilled all over. The billion members of the Lin Clan were fighting for their future, an act that would no doubt leave a mark in the annals of their history whether they triumphed or failed. It would be written in the clan registry with the thickest brushstrokes ever. Many young names within the registry would dim after the battle, but the ones that were still alive would pass down their spirit! Every living thing was but a temporary guest in the universe, after all. No matter how much people wanted to live up till the promised end, the laws of the universe didn’t care for such sentimentality and the loss of so much life would be mourned only by humans. Either way, there was only one thing either side had to do: fight with all they had. The crumbling Second Exterminatus Army was the main witness to the unfolding events, and so were Lin Jie, Lin Xiao, and Lin Changkong. The three top elites of the clan in their respective ships felt all kinds of turbulent emotions, resulting in bloodshot eyes, flowing tears, and gripped fists.

Within the Judgment was a tall, white-browed man with a nose as sharp as a sword, his face filled with boundless rage. He looked at the battlefield and used his ship’s formation to amplify his voice. ”Members of the Lin Clan, I’m Lin Jie!”