Chapter 374: Take war to them.

By the time the refugees opened their eyes, they were outside the wall of a city that had not been there before. Their last memory was gulping down food in a hurry to fill their empty stomachs.

Panic started to travel through them. Clearly, they had been invited inside a shelter by the Divine maiden, so why had they been thrown out?

Zyra’s voice came over a speaker, before tears and accusations and other reactions could firmly take hold.

"Welcome to Beast Valley City. This is Zyra Scorpion, the city lord, boss, whatever you want to call me. I understand that you are confused about where you find yourselves now, but don’t be. You will all be welcomed into the city, but you must register and go through proper procedure. You will be given one day to familiarize yourselves with the rules governing Beast Valley City. If you feel like you cannot follow them, you can exit."

The gates opened. There was a moment of silence, and then refugees flooded through the gates, wide-eyed and tripping over their own feet.

At the entrance, Hunter cleared his throat so hard it sounded like a dying motor.

"Alright, listen up!" He roared. "If you know how to shoot a gun, throw a punch, hold a knife, or at least swing a heavy stick without knocking yourself out, step to the left gate! Everyone else, move to the right gate. If you have a criminal record, write down the information voluntarily when registering. We won’t arrest you, but we have to make sure that we are not bringing in serial killers and rapists. You can also choose to hide this information, but we will find it because we have connections in law enforcement. Now, line up and have your half-life beasts or transport beasts at your sides. They must be registered as well."

Surprisingly, almost every man moved to the left gate, puffing their chests to look tough. A handful of women stepped forward too_ former soldiers, guard captains, and a few scary-looking aunties who looked like they could beat up a beast with a rolling pin.

It was not because they wanted to join an army, rather, they knew entry would be guaranteed if they were useful. Perhaps, they would even get other benefits.

By the time they finished sorting everyone out, the valley didn’t just have a defense force; it had a whole army of fifty-two thousand soldiers.

Nero ran around like a panicked shopkeeper, tossing guns, swords, noise bangs, plasma whips, and crossbows into eager hands. "You get a blade! You get a gun! Please that knife is too sharp so be careful!"

In the new, larger courtyard of the main house, Zyra was sweating buckets on beast-strengthening duty. She slapped evolution pills into the mouths of beasts that belonged to the old fighters, shoving resonance stones into the paws of others.

"Eat this, grow bigger, take the enemy down," Zyra instructed a two-headed lion. The lion let out a deep burp that blew Zyra’s hair back, but its fur instantly hardened like steel.

"Good boy. Now go stand over there."

Nero was on information duty, in contact with someone in law enforcement. Only those with clean records got to have their half-life beasts strengthened.

By mid-day, the process finally came to an end. Zyra went straight to the security room. She sat hunched over a floating blue map projection of the wildlands.

Hunter stomped in, covered in dust, along with a few others soon.

"How bad is it?" Hunter asked, wiping his forehead.

"Look for yourself," Zyra grunted, pointing at the glowing screen.

The wild lands were being destroyed. Red lights blinked furiously across the display, showing smoke, fires, and crushed forests. The Sanctum troops were carving through the landscape like a hot knife through butter, already hitting the central zones.

Hunter stared at a specific dot on the map, his jaw tightening. "Wait_ what about the people back in Twigs Blue Crossing?"

He swallowed hard. Part of him felt a heavy knot of guilt in his stomach. They were the ones who pushed those refugees over there in the first place.

Zyra didn’t even look up from her screen. "We have our own house to worry about right now, Hunter. We can’t babysit the whole wildlands."

Crispus shook his head, his eyes soft. "The adults might be bad people, ma’am, but the kids over there are completely innocent."

[And don’t forget the beasts,] the system’s smooth, mechanical voice suddenly chimed in inside Zyra’s head. [This city is to protect innocent beasts host, remember that]

"I can go with a soul maiden and bring the kids," Crispus muttered.

Hunter looked at his leg. "Do not even think about it. You cannot even run."

"No one leaves, It is a bad idea." Malia said. "The more we rescue, the more we stand out."

Bianca leaned against the wall, cracking her knuckles with a loud pop. "Sitting here like ducks waiting for them to show up is stupid I am telling you. Why don’t we go out there and break their legs before they even reach our front door?"

"She actually has a point." Zyra squinted at the map, tracing a finger toward the East. "We have not heard anything from the people living in Twigs Blue crossing. None of them are among the refugees. I think the sanctum army has already flattened the town. I do not think there are survivors at all, or Lucian would have begged for help already."

Bianca leaned in, taking a closer look. "We can’t be sure yet. What if we just take a look and drop off some weapons for the locals? At least give them a fighting chance?"

Zyra winced, rubbing her temples. Her brain was screaming at her to just lock the gates and stay safe. She really, really didn’t want to play hero for Twigs Blue Crossing. But, sitting around waiting to be hit felt even worse. Stopping the Sanctum bastards before they reached her doorstep just made better tactical sense.

She looked up at Hunter, a dangerous little spark in her eyes. "How about we take the war to them instead like Bianca says?"

Bianca pulled her head back, a massive, scary grin spreading across her face. "Now that is the Zyra I actually like."

Hunter nodded slowly, a dark smile tugging at his lips. "It’s a smart move. Every time the Sanctum takes a town, they leave a garrison behind to guard their territory. If we hit their supply lines and camps, we choke them out from behind."

"Right," Zyra said, slapping the control desk. "We start right where those jerks started." System! Map out the exact trail of destruction these Sanctum guards left behind.

[Calculating path of maximum damage...] the system beeped cheerfully. [Ding! Following the trail of fire and broken dreams, the very first town the Sanctum guards captured seems to be Hollomgad.]

Zyra tapped the glowing red marker over Hollomgad. "We start there. We smash their base, kill their guards and get information too."

"I’ll gear up the squad and grab the heavy artillery," Hunter said, turning on his heel. "When are we moving?"

Zyra glanced at the digital clock on the wall. "Tonight, when they least expect to be attacked."