Alex started getting worried more and more. He ran around inside the formation wondering if there was any special place, hoping even that there was one. However, no matter what he did, the feeling just wouldn't go away.
Instead, it grew more and more, and soon the beasts would come here. He had an hour or two at most, maybe even less.
"No, no, no, no. I have to do something. I need to run away from here, or this place will turn to hell," Alex thought.
His masters, his senior brother and sister, his friends, and everyone else he ever cared about in this game, in this world, they were all here. If the reason they were hurt ever turned out to be him, he would never forgive himself.
"What should I do?" he started thinking. The only thing he could think of was to go ask the Royal Alchemist for help.
However, the best he could do was keep away the other beasts. The Saint beast would still be a problem. Given the aura he felt from the Royal Alchemist today, he wouldn't even be a match for him.
The man wasn't that high even in the True realm, and so none of the pills he could make would ever do anything to the Saint beast.
The next thing he thought of was flying away on his boat as far away from the city as he could.
The beasts were coming from the south, so that was a no-go. The east and the west too wasn't far away from the beast horde attack and he would be found within minutes.
As for the north, that was where he had flown last time to get away from the beasts and it had worked. However, this time, going north meant going towards the forbidden field, and there was no way for him to run away there.
Even if he did, he would maybe escape from the saint beast, but the thousands upon thousands of other beasts would surely destroy the entire city, killing everyone there.
Neither of the 2 ideas he had could save the ones he cared about in this place. There was only a single thing that he could think of that could save them.
He started deliberating on whether to do that or not.
* * * * *
Wen Cheng was in a meeting and hadn't had time to check the talisman that kept on buzzing in his storage bag.
He would be done with the meeting in just a few minutes so he decided to check it later.
"When do we go back to a normal schedule, sect leader? We've been doing this for a week now," an elder said.
"Just a few more days. There should be a beast attack happening soon. As soon as that takes place, we will go back to our normal schedule. The routines will go back to normal too," Wen Cheng said.
"Is there really a beast attac—"
SLAM
A door suddenly opened surprising everyone. Wen Cheng was about to scold the person coming in so rudely when he saw that it was his own disciple.
Luo Mei rushed inside, amidst the eyes of the many elders, who were dissatisfied with her behavior.
"Master, did you get the message?" she asked.
"What message? Why did you barge in like that? We have a meeting going on in here," Wen Cheng said.
"The Beast Horde, it's coming. You should have gotten a message," Luo Mei said.
"What?" Wen Cheng said in surprise and took out the talisman to read it. As she had said, there indeed was a message from Alex letting him know the beast horde was coming.
"Elders, the time is here. Get everyone ready; we will be going to battle with the beasts," Wen Cheng said.
The elders looked around in surprise.
"Hurry!" Wen Cheng shouted.
The elders didn't dare delay anymore. As everyone was walking out, Wen Cheng called out to an elder.
"Get me the communication talisman to the capital," he said. The elder nodded and quickly ran away to get the communication talisman.
"Where's your junior brother?" he asked.
"He just left my house, saying he had something to do," Luo Mei said.
"Alright. Go to him, and see if you can get any more information from him. Any little information can help us a lot," Wen Cheng said.
"Yes master," Luo Mei said and ran away.
The elder returned with the communication talisman which Wen Cheng immediately used.
"Warning! I am Wen Cheng, sect leader of The first grade Tiger sect. The Beast Horde is coming. Please transfer the messages to all cities in the empire," Wen Cheng said.
He repeated the message two more times before stopping. If they didn't get the message by then, there was nothing else he could do.
He then left the building and went up to the mountain to find Alex, but he wasn't there. He found Luo Mei close by and asked, "Where's Yu Ming?"
"I don't know master. He isn't here and isn't responding to my messages either," Luo Mei said.
"What?" Wen Cheng said. "Where did he go?"
* * * * *
Ma Rong had returned back to the sect and started giving out orders. Every one of the elders was to fight in the upcoming battle.
"Sect leader, how do we know the beast horde is coming? Was there some message?" the Second Elder asked.
"Not yet, but it's coming. Believe me," Ma Rong said.
"I do, but…" the Second Elder said, " but if what you said is true then, my wife will be in danger. I don't know where she is right now, but I don't think she will be able to handle the beasts if they ever come her way."
"She's always been an alchemist and was never a fighter. I-I'm worried, sect leader," the Second Elder said.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine. Even if she's not a fighter, the Third Elder is pretty capable of saving herself," the Grand Elder said. "However, I do understand your worry. My disciple is out too, and I have no way of contacting him."
"Alright, that's enough time wasted. We should go to the city wall now and prepare for the beasts," Ma Rong said.
"Yes, sect leader," Everyone said in unison.
"Alright, you guys go ahead. I will go and see if we can get a little help," Ma Rong said and flew away.
She flew until she reached the place she had left from just a few minutes ago, the City Lord's house.
She went in, barging even until she found the royal alchemist who was still sitting and talking with the city lord.
"Little Ma, did you return for something?" he asked.
"Yes, senior Lai. The beast horde is coming, and I was hoping you could help us," she said.
"The… the beast horde?" the City lord asked in surprise. "How do y—" suddenly his storage bag started buzzing.
Fu Wen reached into his bag and took out a talisman before reading the message. "She's right, senior Lai. A beast horde is indeed coming. I just got the message too," he said. "Can you help us?"
"Beast horde? Hmm… I should be able to control the beasts a bit, but that's the most I could do. I don't have the means to fight them," the Royal alchemist said.
"I'm pretty sure the Saint beast is coming too," Ma Rong said. "Can you help us with that?"
"The saint beast?" a trace of fear appeared in the Royal Alchemist's face. "I'm afraid I can't help with that at all little Ma. Anything in the Saint realm is out of my league."
"Then please help us the most you can, senior," Ma Rong said and left them there to do anything they wanted.
"Get the men and guards to prepare for battle," the City lord said to his wife, lady Mo who was sitting right by.
"Right away," she said and walked away to give orders to the leaders of the guards and soldiers.
"Senior Lai, please come with me," he said. "Even if you can stay there as just a healer, that would be a lot of help."
"Yes, I shall do that," Lai Qing, the Royal Alchemist stood up to leave for this battle against the beasts. He did not know how useful he would be, but he would try his best.
Ma Rong flew towards the Tiger sect. Given that the City lord got a message, the talisman back at their sect should also have gotten a similar message.
She landed outside of the Tiger Sect and called out to Alex using her communication talisman. She was worried for him since the beasts would always come for him, so she wanted to do something to hide him.
She didn't know what, but she had to start with him anyway, so she came to get him.
However, no matter how many times she messaged him, he wouldn't respond to her messages at all.
"What's going on?" she wondered and walked into the Tiger sect.
The entire sect was mostly empty. Even the front of the Tiger sect was kept open with only a few guards keeping watch.
They didn't dare stop Ma Rong after recognizing who she was, especially in this time of crisis.
Ma Rong flew towards the top of the mountain to find Wen Cheng and see if he knew anything about where Alex was.
Just as she was thinking of it, she noticed Wen Cheng walking along with Luo Mei, as if he was in a hurry to go somewhere.
"Wen Cheng," she said while coming down. "Where's Yu Ming? He's not answering my messages."
"Ma Rong?" Wen Cheng said in surprise. "Yu Ming, he… he's not answering my messages either, and I can't find him anywhere in the sect. It's like… he's gone."
