After Preston and Ismael left the building, the first thing Preston did was yell out and summon all the Mana Wielders and guards of Mayor's Manor to the large courtyard.
It only took a few moments for all the guards to gather in front of Preston. They looked at the solemn and grim expression of the town's mayor with confusion. They knew it was an emergency, but they couldn't understand what could be so severe for the town's mayor to carry such a grave face.
Preston didn't bother explaining in much detail and rapidly gave orders to spread the news of the Mana Beast attack and help the town's folk escape in haste from all other safe directions.
The guards finally understood the severity of the situation. They were horrified and also hesitant. They and the town's folk had never faced such a life-threatening situation where they had to flee while leaving everything behind—not to mention, there was no time to prepare. Perhaps many people would be left behind, and there could be a stampede, with many heartbreaking casualties arising.
All that made them hesitate, but they all understood the current danger, so they didn't waste time and dashed toward the various gates of the manor.
However, just as they were about to leave the compound, their hearts suddenly pounded heavily inside their chests. Despite not seeing anything right in front of them, their expressions rapidly changed to utter horror.
This was the spiritual pressure of a powerful beast! They knew it, yet that didn't mean they could resist it.
They all slowly turned their heads back and noticed both the town's mayor, Preston, and Guard Captain Ismael staring toward the sky with pale faces. Both these great warriors, who were at the late-stage Rank 3, were currently shaking in terror.
Before they could even glance upward to see what was there, suddenly, a massive 'something' landed right in the middle of the open field.
BOOM!
The weight of whatever had landed was so heavy that the whole town trembled. Everything nearby was blown away; many of the guards and lower-rank Mana Wielders were killed with just the shockwave and debris that shot toward them. Even the Manor was half destroyed. The walls and the weaker houses nearby all collapsed.
When the dust finally settled, from everywhere in the town, they all saw what could be their biggest nightmare.
A massive beast, slowly standing up to its two legs right in the heart of the town, over the destroyed courtyard of the Town's Manor. After standing up, the beast was as tall as 20 or 25 meters! It was so huge that when it stood up straight, the beast's massive figure was visible from all corners of the town.
The beast was humanoid, perhaps a species of ape, fully covered with deep brown hairs all over its body. Its arms were long, and it had a very robust body.
"Haha. This town is so filled with life. This will be troublesome for my plans. Kill them all!"
Suddenly, there was wild laughter followed by a shocking command coming from the giant ape.
People who were nearby and had survived quickly noticed a tall man dressed in a colorful robe standing over the shoulder of the massive ape beast.
The man looked young and handsome, with orange-red hair, clean-shaven, and had two thick golden bangles on each wrist.
What was even more shocking was the man's terrifying presence, which was even more horrifying than the beast itself!
Mana Wielders, whether they had ever experienced this level of presence or not, all clearly understood what kind of entity this man was, and their faces all turned to complete despair.
Mortals or Mana Wielders, whether they heard the man's dreadful declaration or not, all turned and ran at their fastest speed, away from the beast and the man.
They knew their town was finished. This was a Master Rank Mana Wielder! And the beast was at least Rank 2, perhaps even above young stage. This kind of power was enough to flatten an entire city if it was not properly guarded, and their town had nothing that could take on that beast—much less a Master Rank who could command such a terrifying beast.
The whole town fell into complete madness and chaos. People ran whichever direction they could, pushing and trampling over others to flee as far as possible.
Those who ran toward the west quickly regretted their decision when they noticed that many Mana Beasts had broken through the western walls and were currently ramming over the houses while killing countless people in passing.
All the beasts that had penetrated inside the town were speeding toward all directions as if they were trying to cover the whole town as fast as possible.
Not only the beast, but numerous unknown Mana Wielders had also infiltrated. They were massacring people as if they were mowing down grass. Mortals or not, none were spared; they were all slaughtered. There was no hesitation in their actions, as if they had long planned to wipe out the entire town.
Screams of pain and despair were heard from every corner of the town. Countless people were brutally killed.
Back in the courtyard, two individuals shoved away the broken wall over them and stood up while gasping for breath.
Preston and Ismael were injured but not dead. Both were at the late stage of Rank 3 and were warriors; their constitution was high enough not to be killed by just shockwaves or debris. However, their expressions were nothing pleasant—they were filled with hopelessness and despair. They didn't know what the current situation of the town was, but they knew that just this Rank 2 Beast was enough to completely reduce their town to ruins.
"L-Lord, c-can you still fight?" Ismael asked while taking deep breaths. His gaze was locked onto the giant ape some fifty meters in front of them.
He was trying to figure out a way to cripple it. He had fought many Mana Beasts in the western wilderness, though they were only from Newborn to adult stage of Rank 1. The current ape was way beyond his limits. However, with his experience, he knew how to deal with such oversized beasts. As long as he could cripple one of its legs, he could earn more time for the town's people to escape.
Preston's expression was grim as he voiced his agreement. He wasn't much experienced in fighting beasts and was a fist fighter. Though their current opponent was way beyond them to worry about having a weapon or not.
Both had already recognized the beast—Toross Ape, a pure physical-type Mana Beast—and seeing its size and presence, it was undoubtedly an Adult-stage Rank 2 Mana Beast!
This beast was something that would require 30 peak-stage Rank 3s to defeat! And they were just two of them. Even the entire town only had one more peak Rank 3, and he was summoned to the battlefield against Lochwheel Kingdom. Even if he were present, it would still be hopeless. In fact, even if the City Lord of Mossphere, Lord Rainor, were present, it would still be useless, as the man standing over the shoulder of the Toross Ape was also an early-stage Rank 4 Mana Wielder! With both beast and man together, they were powerful enough to defeat any lone early-stage Rank 4.
Even though City Lord Rainor was a capable early-stage Rank 4 Warrior, he was still not an opponent for these two together. He would need countless other Rank 3 Mana Wielders from the city to defend against such a combination of enemies.
Both Preston and Ismael ignored the Rank 4 Mana Wielder and only focused on the beast. They knew that in terms of large-scale destruction, a beast was to be feared most—unless that man was a Mage. Even if the man were a capable Mage and had mastered Tier 2 or higher advanced spells, he still wouldn't be able to kill so many people all alone, especially when every townsfolk was running in different directions. No Master Rank was foolish enough to deplete their mana pointlessly to kill mere mortals.
Thus, as long as they could cripple the beast, the number of casualties would greatly reduce. This was something both Preston and Ismael could understand; however, it was easier said than done.
"Where do you think we should attack?" Preston asked in a whisper.
Ismael took a deep breath and answered with one word: "Knee!"
*Knee?* Preston was stunned. But he quickly understood. The Toross Ape was completely covered with dense body hairs, and those were tough enough to withstand any sword slash or blunt attack. However, the hairs were a lot lesser on the areas with bones. As long as they could execute a powerful attack on the beast's kneecap, they could fracture it! It would be considered half a success, as it would definitely slow down the destruction the beast could do afterward. Also, Preston, who lacked a weapon, had no means to deal high damage to the beast's fleshy body—so he could only attack bones.
He gave a quick nod, then both dashed toward the beast at their fastest speed.
Alvin Vasco, the Master Rank, who was standing on Toross Ape's shoulder, watched with amusement at the two ants' decision. He knew exactly what those two were trying. They were blissfully unaware that his Toross Ape's bone constitution was actually almost at the level of Elder-stage Rank 2 Mana Beast! Even he wouldn't be able to cripple his Toross Ape with one or two hits! That was why he had chosen this beast as his companion and shield.
Preston arrived first and jumped straight at the kneecap. As he neared, he didn't hesitate and used his full strength, with his Mana imbued onto his full arm, as he punched with his strongest power.
THUD!
A dull vibration went through the knee. However, Preston's expression changed. He knew he wasn't able to do as much damage to the bone as he intended.
Before he could warn, Ismael had already unleashed his powerful attack with his sword.
Ismael had a ferocious look on his face as he used everything on this sword strike. He targeted the exact spot where Preston had punched.
He was certain that his sword strike would penetrate the knee—his current strike could even puncture through a mid-grade Tier 2 heavy armor!
THUD!
Another dull vibration went through the bone, as if a blunt object hit another.
To their despair, the punch and sword didn't even put a dent in the bone. It was almost like a stone being thrown at an iron wall—not a single ripple or damage was seen.
As they were both falling while being completely stunned, in lightning speed, an attack landed on them.
The Toross Ape, in rage at feeling some pain, had struck with its left palm.
It knocked Preston down with enough force that he was nearly dug into the ground, and at the same time, it grabbed Ismael within its fist.
"Ah... Let go of me!" Ismael screamed while gritting his teeth in pain. He tried to escape from the clenched fist, but it was holding onto him too tightly. The hold was so strong that he felt his chest below was being completely crushed.
The beast slowly raised Ismael, while he continued to scream in pain, toward its mouth, then threw him inside and chewed on him like crunchy food.
"Ismael!" Preston cried out with sorrow and grief. He coughed out blood as he watched the beast chew Ismael—which was even audible to him—including Ismael's last painful wail from inside the beast's mouth.
After getting slammed by the beast, Preston felt his bones had shattered. He wouldn't be able to gather enough strength to do anything for a short while.
At this moment, he heard laughter coming from the man standing on the beast.
Alvin Vasco glanced toward the lying-flat Preston and laughed wildly. To think that two mere Rank 3 Warriors would dare to attack his Toross Ape in such a straightforward way. They should have tried some more creative ways, like targeting its eyes—though with him there, they had no such hope.
Meanwhile, Toross Ape wasn't satisfied with just one snack. It was promised to have its fill of humans today, and it planned to go through it thoroughly.
It leaned forward and grabbed the paralyzed Preston with the same left hand, then dragged him up.
It didn't exert any pressure like with Ismael, as it was unnecessary, and Alvin had just informed it not to kill Preston yet.
After reaching head level, Preston coughed out blood, then glared at Alvin Vasco with utmost hate and rage.
"Why?! Why, you bastard, are you attacking my town? What harm has it done to you?!" he roared. He knew his town was going to die, so he didn't show an iota of the respect that usually all Apprentice Ranks would show toward a Master Rank.
Alvin's eye flashed, yet he didn't act out and just chuckled.
"You must be the Town Mayor of this town, Preston Craig, right?"
Seeing Preston didn't even bother answering and was just glaring daggers at him, he didn't mind and continued, "Long time ago, I once heard of a legendary Rank 6 Beast Tamer, Glynmar Craig. He was your ancestor, right?"
Seeing Preston Craig finally showing a reaction and panicking, Alvin smirked.
"It took me a long time to track his dependents down… During usual times, I wouldn't dare attack a town which was not far from a city, protected by another Rank 4, but he is not present at this moment while you are all alone, waiting for me to hand over what you, unless descendants are incapable of possessing."
"I won't give you anything!" Preston spat.
Alvin didn't mind and continued, "I heard you have a beautiful wife and two children. How nice. I almost want to see them now."
Preston trembled inside the clenched fist of Toross Ape. He shut his eyes painfully.
After a while, he took a deep breath and suddenly turned serene.
He spoke lightly, "I can tell you this. There is nothing here that you can obtain." He paused and then started laughing, "Go ahead and kill me. All your hard work of slaughtering my town's people will eventually get you hunted and killed!" He gritted his teeth as he spat the last few words.
Alvin narrowed his eyes. He calmly responded, "I will personally see through if I can obtain anything or not, even if I have to dig up the whole town upside down." He stopped holding back his Toross Ape and ordered, "Tear him apart!" He had already checked Preston's possessions with his spiritual sense and didn't find anything worthwhile—thus, there was no worth keeping the man alive.
Toross Ape didn't hesitate. It raised Preston high, grabbed both his sides with its two long arms, and tore him in half, then threw the two halves into its mouth and enjoyed the flesh and bones of another peak Rank 3 Warrior.