Chapter 358: Initiation into a Healer (13)

The Meka Clan Chief pointed his scimitar forward; the radiance he unleashed coursed through it, condensing into the hooved beast thrice the size of others. The hooved beast stood in its place, its eyes glistening with wisdom, the intelligence surpassing that of a beast. Its body was also significantly more condensed, the weight it possessed caused the sand to spill out from under as it landed.

The hooved beast gazed at the Shield Beast, snorting as it exhaled a powerful gust of air. The Meka Clan Chief boarded its back, watching the Odatha Clan chief land behind him. The Mosali Clan Chief boarded a massive clawed beast he had created while the Raga Clan Chief accompanied him on its back.

The two beasts immediately began to sprint towards the Shield Beast as the Meka Clan Chief bellowed, "Warriors, charge!"

All the warriors stationed behind geared themselves, bellowing in return as they charged like the tidal wave. They brandished their weapons that ranged from swords and spears to nets and spikes.

The Meka Clan Chief looked at the Mosali Clan Chief, "I'll lead the charge."

Saying so, he grunted, causing his hooved beast to accelerate further, building up momentum at an exponential pace. Its spring-like legs caused it to traverse the length of four grown men with each stomp, its massive figure brimming with power.

A Sand-Weaving Scorpion that came in its way was rammed, sent flying for quite the distance as the hooved beast continued with unabated momentum, making up for the reduction in speed with a single stomp. It possessed tremendous acceleration, the perfect spear to drill out a path in war.

The Meka Clan Chief's imposing momentum alerted the Shield Beast as it turned around, looking alert as it gazed his approach. It poised its stinger high up in the air, aiming forward as it spewed out a sand cloud, the force skin to an erupting geyser.

The sand cloud swiftly blanketed the area around it, creating a domain advantageous to the Sand-Weaving Scorpions. At the next instant, the screech of a bird resounded as a massive shadow was cast on the sand cloud before the sounds of flapping wings resounded.

Power gusts of wind were unleashed that parted the dust cloud, clearing the area. The Shield Beast looked at the clawed beast flying high above, beyond its reach. It screeched, aiming its stinger at the air before unleashing another torrent of dust.

The winged beast flapped its wings faster, creating stronger gales that pushed back the dust cloud. In the confrontation, the winged beast was slowly losing its ground, the gales it unleashed were getting drowned by the sand cloud that was increasing in density as time passed.

Followed by a smoky trail, the hooved beast arrived, crouching its head as Meka Clan Chief and the Odatha Clan Chief jumped off its back. Immediately, the hooved beast further accelerated, raising its speeds until it was a blur.

The dust cloud moved aside as it penetrated through them, accelerating further and further, treading beyond its limits, causing starlight specks to radiate from its body as it slammed into the Shield Beast, pushing it a long distance over the sand.

A wide gaping wound was left on the pincer it had used to defend against the charge attack, leaking out blood, the armour plates around it were broken, falling off with the slightest movement. The Shield Beast pierced the hooved beast with its stinger, attacking repeatedly to kill it off.

The Meka Clan Chief arrived before its face, brandishing his scimitar, emitting deadly killing intent. The Shield Beast used its right pincer to defend against his hit, watching a massive gash appear on its shell, even causing a trace of blood to seep out. The force of the attack even caused shockwaves to course through its arm, rattling its insides.

The Shield Beast stomped with its legs, transferring the power behind moving its body into its right pincer, hitting the Meka Clan Chief. The Meka Clan Chief attacked with all his might, making contact with the brandished right pincer, staying in the stalemate for only an instant before he was overpowered, the resultant force sending him flying away.

The shockwave rattled his internals, causing him to spew out blood. He saw the Shield Beast finish off his hooved beast while he was in the air when a pale blue hand seeped into him from behind, swiftly rejuvenating him while healing his injuries. The pale blue hand restored his condition to the peak.

The Chief laughed, summoning his hooved beast under him, landing on its back. The moment the hooved beast landed on the ground, it kicked with its hooves as it sped forward, accelerating to its peak within 10 steps as it slammed into the Shield Beast, toppling it.

A massive serpentine beast drilled out from the sand, targeting its stinger while the clawed beast had arrived by now, joining in the attacks. The Raga Clan Chief used the help of the winged beast to drop down from above, unleashing the hulled beast while mid-air, using its massive stature to drop down on the Shield Beast.

The power behind the impact slammed it deep into the sand, constricting its movements. The bladed sides caused screeching sounds as they scratched the Shield Beast's shell, trying to cut it open. The serpentine beast coiled around the stinger, pulling it into the sand.

The Shield Beast clamped with its mandibles, severing the blades on the hulled beast near its face. Its legs drilled kicked at the sand as it drilled into the ground instantly, as if it were a worm. The Odatha Clan Chief cursed, "Dammit, it killed my tattoo beast with a single hit."

He was just about to move when a stinger emerged from the sand and pierced through his left thigh, severing the leg. The Shield Beast drilled out from under him, clamping with its pincer on his head. The clawed beast grabbed him just in time and evaded the attack while the hooved beast grabbed hold of his severed leg, jumping away immediately.

The two beasts dropped the Odatha Clan Chief and his severed leg a fair distance away before joining the battle. Three pale blue hands arrived at the scene; two of them grabbed hold of the Odatha Clan Chief's severed leg and attached them back while the remainder seeped into it.

Pale blue light shone on his leg for three breaths before the Odatha Clan Chief could feel his leg once again. He grunted and stood up, feeling that he could use his left leg, albeit with difficulty. Of the remaining two pale blue hands, one more seeped into his leg, swiftly healing him to his peak condition.

The Odatha Clan Chief laughed as he sprinted, as if his left leg hadn't been severed in the first place. He unleashed the serpentine beast and joined in on the attacks.

The Shield Beast had witnessed everything that had transpired, its eyes darting to the source of the pale blue hands, noticing a human figure standing at the periphery of the battlefield, emitting pale blue radiance like a tidal wave.

The clawed beast slammed its head with its claws, redirecting the Shield Beast's line of sight. It growled in anger and shook its body, pushing away the attacker.

Followed by a large bellow, all the warriors joined in the battlefield. They ganged up on the Sand-Weaving Scorpions, taking turns to attack while keeping evasion as their priority. A team of warriors threw a net made from beast tendons, constricting a Sand-Weaving Scorpion's movement.

They attacked it through the gaps in the net, using their spears to stack up damage over time. A leader from the Meka Clan arrived, heaving a deep breath as he calmed his beating heart. Red radiance shone from his back as it coursed through his sword, condensing into a Fire-Tailed Snail.

He was the one who had recently become a leader. The Fire-Tailed Snail he unleashed possessed an intelligence of its own, jumping on a nearby Sand-Weaving Scorpion as it began to attack it.

Fire-Tailed Snails were the natural predators of the Sand-Weaving Scorpions, so it quickly gained the upper hand, deftly attacking the weaknesses of the Sand-Weaving Scorpion. Its advantages were geared for such, as it burned off the joints in the Sand-Weaving Scorpion, severing its limbs one by one.

The other leaders possessing tattoos of beasts other than their Clan's guardian beast took action, engaging in a melee against the Sand-Weaving Scorpions. The Shield Beast witnessed everything, swiping its pincer to draw a gash on the clawed beast as it emitted sound in a frequency the humans couldn't hear.

…

Standing on the rock platform, the Divya Vaidya was panting, the number of pale blue hands around her had decreased by half. Through the entire night, she had rested, replenished her energy, and condensed her tattoo's beast one after another. But, if she had chosen to condense it whole, then three was her limit, irrespective of how long she rested.

Moreover, it wasn't possible to summon it a second time while the first tattoo beast still existed. So, instead of that, she summoned only the pale blue hands, accumulating them around her. Whenever someone was injured—she primarily focused on healing the Chiefs, followed by the leaders—she sent a pale blue hand towards them, recovering their battle strength to the peak.

At the start of the battle, she had condensed 30 pale blue hands. Just partway into the battle, and she had already used up 15 of them, even though all she did was heal the Chiefs. This showed the intensity of battle they were waging.

Four leaders stood around her as protection while the Shishya stood behind her, slightly positioned to the right. Suddenly, she sensed something amiss as her heart thumped faster. But, before she could react, a stinger emerged from the sand behind her, flashing past as it severed her left hand and pierced into the back of the Divya Vaidya.

"Guh," The Divya Vaidya gazed at the stinger peaking out of her stomach, turning her head with difficulty to gaze at her Shishya, moving her mouth to utter something. But, her voice failed to form, the strength in her body abating.

The leaders had only now reacted, trying to swiftly summon their tattoo beasts while they rushed towards the Divya Vaidya. The scene seemed to have slowed down in time as the Shishya looked at the face of the Divya Vaidya, watching the stinger sever her body into two, retracting in a fluid motion before piercing into her forehead.

Everything happened before the Shishya had taken two steps, her right hand just on the verge of grabbing hold of the tail connected to the stinger. The stinger immediately unleashed a dust cloud, blanketing their vision.

The changes at the back terrified the warriors battling on the battlefield. The Meka Clan Chief looked at the formation of the dust cloud as he sent his hooved beast running towards it, "Please make it on time."