Outside the stone house, the Leopard Clan's village, which had just begun to recover, was now in ruins.
Crude shelters had been overturned, and dried meat and animal hides lay scattered on the ground. Wounded Leopard Clan warriors groaned where they had fallen, while other Beastmen formed a human wall, desperately shielding the terrified females and trembling cubs as they retreated toward the safer rear of the village.
The Beastmen controlled by the Dark Energy were now like Fierce Beasts that had been completely unshackled. Their eyes were crimson, their strength and speed had surged far beyond their usual limits, and they felt no pain, fighting with no fear of death.
The Leopard Clan males were holding back. Knowing their kinsmen were merely being controlled, they hesitated to use lethal force, aiming only to subdue rather than kill. But this gave their opponents an opening, and they were wounded one after another, leaving them on the defensive.
