CRRRRR!
The earth moved in front of the Earth Movers, and the ground around them heightened until it was around a kilometer higher than the sea level. The water was pushed to the side and flooded the landscape. Yet, to the beasts, this flood of water didn't even reach their knees. This was no hindrance.
CRRRRK!
The beasts immediately jumped back to the shore after their bridge crumbled. A Water Maker had destroyed the foundation of their bridge, making it collapse. When the viper saw that, its eyes became bloodshot.
"We need to stay near the water," it said, creating fear inside its army's ranks. "We have no other choice. We need to confront them directly. If we can't get to our Lord, we will become prey to these shrimps, and even if we manage to survive, the surrounding tribes will also see us as prey. We have carved our territory here, and if we can't defend it, we will die!"
The beasts were still fearful, but an incredible amount of motivation appeared in their eyes. It was now or never! If they couldn't defend against this Horde, they would die. There was no way out!
"Charge!" the viper shouted, and the Earth Movers lifted the land so that it was just a couple meters above the sea level. The beasts charged forward, and an army of sea beasts greeted them.
Fish started springing from one end of the bridge to the other, biting anything they could find and pulling it into the river. Crabs and shrimp stood vertically at the bridge, using their shears and claws to attack. Beasts with the water element started shooting water from the side, pushing the beasts into the water.
The opposition was powerful, and a massive amount of beasts fell into the water. Yet, they were Spirit Beasts. Even if they fell into the water, they weren't helpless. They were still powerful and could defend themselves.
The remaining sea beasts waited in the water, attacking everything that fell into the river. Yet, the fighting was brutal. There were a lot more ground beasts than sea beasts, making this fight incredibly difficult.
The viper's narrowed eyes shone. "There are not that many!" it shouted. "Continue going forward but go slower. We can exhaust them!"
The beasts roared and continued going. The sea beasts were threatening their home, and they had to defend it! Their lives were on the line!
After some minutes, the assault of the sea beasts became less relentless. By now, the beasts only fired at them occasionally. The crabs also retreated back into the river.
When the viper saw that, it hissed angrily. "They are gathering their forces to kill our lost tribesmen! We can't save them, but we can use this opportunity to assault the front! Follow me!" the viper shouted as it charged to the front, where it used its tail to throw away the few sea beasts in its path.
Meanwhile, down in the water, a pair of eyes narrowed. 'This viper is a problem,' the owner of the eyes thought. 'He motivates the army and leads them. If I can stop him, I can secure a more secure position in the Horde and demonstrate my power. Time to go in!'
The viper continued pushing beasts away from the center of the army, and it had already received several injuries. Yet, it continued forward with courage, motivating all the beasts behind it.
Splash!
Suddenly, a snake-tail shot at the viper's head. The viper didn't panic and simply opened its mouth and showed its venomous fangs.
PSH! PSH!
It bit the tail and injected its venom, but it also felt a searing pain from its own tail. It noticed that it had bit the tail of another snake, while that snake bit the viper's tail. Additionally, due to the power of Shira's jump, they both tumbled over the edge of the bridge, falling into the river again.
PENG! PENG!
The owners immediately severed both their tails. Usually, only lizards had this ability, but both snakes had seen the effectiveness in that and had modified their bodies accordingly. As it reached the water, the viper could finally see what was happening.
All the ground beasts that had fallen in the water were fighting other beasts. Yet, even though there were still more sea beasts in the water than land beasts, every fight was a duel. The sea beasts that didn't have an opponent just watched the fighting with bloodlust in their eyes.
When a sea beast died, another one would take its place and attack the land beast. Yet, that attack was never made as a sneak attack. They always came straight at the opponent.
When the viper saw that, its eyes narrowed further. 'They are using this opportunity to gain combat experience. This would also solve the issue of food distribution. Yet, why are they bothering to temper themselves when the war hasn't even been won?'
Yet, the viper quickly looked at its opponent. Noticing that Shira had also abandoned her tail to get rid of the venom, the viper knew immediately that this opponent wasn't stupid. Snakes were crafty creatures, and the viper knew that very well. This fight wouldn't be easy.
Meanwhile, the beasts stopped moving as their commander had fallen into the water. What were they supposed to do now?
"Continue onward!" a mighty roar resounded seemingly throughout the heavens. The beasts looked at the Spire. There, they saw the pangolin standing tall. "Kill these beasts and gain their power!" it roared into the heavens.
The beasts roared in rage as they continued their charge. The Elder had ordered that they attack, and even the Lord listened to the Elder. As long as they trusted in the Elder, they would survive!
The charge continued, and the battle became more bloody. A lot of sea beasts that hadn't had an opponent yet started going for one. After several minutes, every sea beast was fighting with their opponents.
Lives were lost left and right. Land beasts and sea beasts all died in swathes. Yet, due to the terrain advantage, the sea beasts lost way fewer lives than the land beasts. Some sea beasts that had already decimated their opponents grabbed another one.
The mass of creatures on the land grew fewer until only the ten Earth Movers remained. All their guards were gone.
Yet, surprisingly, no sea beasts attacked them. Some of the sea beasts that had won their battles only looked at them without attacking. The Earth Movers were unsure of what was happening, but they still continued their charge.
Without any opposition, they reached the other side of the river and charged up the Spire. They had to protect their Lord! Their Lord was powerful, but numbers could overwhelm him! On top of that, such an invasion always had another Lord leading them. If that Lord used the other beasts to wear their own Lord down, the enemy would have an advantage.
The Earth Movers quickly reached the top of the Spire. "Lord!" they transmitted with worry and fighting spirit. Yet…
They only saw some kind of weird, black snake-like creature with massive arms sitting on their Lord's corpse. The creature had some meat in its hands as it took a bite off it.
"How many remain?" Gravis asked, not looking at the new arrivals.
The gigantic pangolin stood humbly to the side. "I have instructed our tribesmen to continue fighting. The defenders at the border have also already noticed the commotion and entered the fight. A little over half of the Tribe has died," it explained calmly.
The Earth Movers were shocked and weren't able to process what was happening right now. Their Lord was dead, and the Elder was talking to this creature like it was their Lord. A nightmare had descended. They knew that their lives were over.
Gravis nodded. "That should be enough. I'll keep my promise to you. Don't worry," he said as he slithered forward. He passed the shocked Earth Movers and looked down from the Spire.
"Everyone that is not currently fighting an opponent will immediately come to the bottom of the Spire!" Gravis shouted.
"Free beasts, to the bottom of the Spire," the pangolin also shouted.
The land beasts, who were not fighting right now, were shocked. Their Elder was standing beside this weird creature? What was going on?
In comparison to the land beasts, the sea beasts immediately swam to the Spire and sprang on land. The remaining duels were still happening while all of this was going on.
After a while, two camps have gathered before the Spire. One camp was filled with ground beasts, while the other was filled with sea beasts.
Over the next several minutes, the fighting calmed down. By now, the river had a lot of visible, red splotched dotted all over it.
Gravis looked over them but still felt two beasts fighting. He also noted the absence of Shira. Gravis started scratching his chin as he fell into thought. 'Shira is very smart, and therefore also powerful in fights. The fact that she is still fighting her opponent shows that they are rather powerful. I think it would be a waste to lose such a talent,' he thought.
Whooom!
Gravis leaped off the Spire and used his Spirit to accelerate his fall. Of course, he also used it to protect himself from the impact.
BANG!
An explosion thundered throughout the surroundings as Gravis hit the ground. Sadly, he was too heavy to fly. Then, he shot at the river, which he quickly entered. In nearly no time at all, the two combatants appeared in his Spirit's range. 'Another snake. Who would've thought…'
Shira and the viper were both entangled in some kind of knot as their heads dueled. The knot was continually moving around so that the other snake wasn't able to bite their body.
Whooom!
Suddenly, both of them couldn't move anymore.
"The war is already over," Gravis transmitted to them.
Shira was unhappy, while the viper had a horrified expression on its face.
"Don't worry. Everyone that is still alive will survive," Gravis said.
"Survive?" the viper asked incredulously.
"Yes," Gravis answered. "We are not annexing this territory for the sea. I will create a tribe with both sea and land beasts."
"The Tribe's name will be the River Tribe."
