Chapter 1142: Dust in the Wind

"The only thing more terrifying than a natural disaster, is one that’s a alive...and hellbent on eating your face."

-An observation made by an elder of the Crawling Moon sect, a day before their homeland was besieged by the [Living Tsunami].

...

"Huh...it appears the leader is starting to make its move...well then, I guess it’s time we get move on, right Tiny?"

"Grunt!"

...

[Well, I think at this point we won’t have to get involved in the slight...wait a minute...do you sense that?]

[I do, and it’s too early for this to occur.]

[Unless it got bored...]

[That is...very likely.]

[...]

[...]

[We go and assist while the patriarch and the hippo deal with the big one?]

[Yes.]

...

"Woo! We fucking rule!"

"Suck on that, you motherfuckers!"

"Is it just me, or do our fathers sound more or less like reckless teenagers?"

"I think it’s the [Chaos]."

"They didn’t even use any yet..."

"Then why do I sense it?"

When the Zhen Clan released their coordinated [Echoing Frost] attack, they had inadvertently mixed in a bit of [Chaos] into the attack, making it so that it was able to bypass a lot of aether-based defenses. Evidently, this was how they had managed to turn the entire situation around on the battlefield in an instant.

"Holy shit..."

"That was...impressive."

"Oye! Quit your gawking and focus! We got siege engines to fix before those beasties get a second wind!"

"Right!"

With many of the beasts that were assailing the wall now frozen solid as statues, the defenders now had to time to catch their breath, reload and repair any of the busted siege engines.

Evidently, this came at just the right time too.

Because had this little change not occurred, this next part was going to be significantly worse.

At this point in time, the Zhen Clan elders were still reveling in their success, while most of their scions were watching from the parapets of the city walls with embarrassment boiling in their bellies.

These activities came to an end, however, when a rather heavy aura began to press down on them.

"What the fuck?!"

"This aura...it’s like being stranded in the desert during high noon!"

"I either need dunk my head into an oasis or someplace shady to hide away for the next week or so."

"Zhen Long. Does this aura belong to..."

"It does, Xiao Yan. The Whirling Dust Devil Tyrant is coming."

SKKKRRROOOAAAAA!

________________________________________

The following is an excerpt from the [Aether Beast Encyclopedia: Stampeding Bison Volume].

...

The term, [Whirling Dust Devil Tyrant], did not refer to a particular species of aether beast, nor a particular individual aether beast. Rather, the term was only applied to the apex members of a very specific species of aether beast known across the frontier as [Sand Devils].

The frontier was a dangerous place to live for most mortals, but it was also a place where aether beasts and aether phenomenon to thrive. Amongst these unruly monsters was a species known as the [Sand Devils], a type of aether beast that fell into the very rare category of elemental aether beasts.

Unlike normal aether beasts that had corporeal bodies, elemental aether beasts had bodies that were made of the very elements themselves, leading to unusual body plans that didn’t conform with the limitations of flesh.

Some elemental aether beasts did resemble naturally occurring animals, but more often than not they resembled things people only saw in their dreams.

[Sand Devils] in particular regularly took on the form of horned humanoids whose lower halves were nothing more than a whirling sandstorm. Granted, their upper bodies were basically detailed sand sculptures that reformed themselves on a daily basis, so it was hard for regular mortal and aether warriors to know what the true form of these monsters were.

Some [Sand Devils] resembled muscular humanoids with three eyes and arms as thick as pythons, while others resembled seductive embodiments of lust and desire. However, they all had this aura of otherness that made it clear that they weren’t human in the slightest

The features were always a bit too refined, the expression were a little too exaggerated and the eyes were always a touch more lifeless than one would expect.

That wasn’t the case for [Whirling Dust Devil Tyrants] though.

When aether beasts of any species reach the eighth tier, they’re able to take human form, and elemental aether beasts were no different.

However, their journey to reach that particular threshold was nigh impossible due to their ephemeral nature. Kind of hard to refine a body when one doesn’t have a physical body, after all.

A majority of [Sand Devils] will only ever manage to reach the sixth tier in their lifetimes.

Therefore, whenever a [Sand Devil] has managed to breakthrough this limit imposed on their species, they’re given the name of [Whirling Dust Devil Tyrant].

...

Post-Script note:

As far as society knows, there have been no recorded cases of elemental Bloodliners existing, despite elemental Beast Kings being a thing.

However, it had been theorized that the Aetherii can actually trace their ancestries back to these ancient beast kings, but that is dubious at best.

If this was truly the case, than hybridized Aetherii would be significantly more common.

Then again, the world is vast and it was once believed that Bloodliners of different species couldn’t reproduce together, so who could say for certain.

________________________________________

"Well...fuck."

"Those are big bastards..."

At the very back of the Beast Tide horde, beyond Stone Claw’s walls and pass the field of frozen beasts, the warriors could see three distinctive sandstorms beginning to take shape and approach them.

To be more precise, it was one large sandstorm being accompanied by two smaller ones.

However, these weren’t normal sandstorms

"Oh fun...it has an honor guard..."

On the left and right of the large sandstorm, the Zhen Clan elders could make out two distinctive [Sand Devils] that appeared to have modelled themselves after heavily armored Imperial guardians, complete with massive polearms that seemed a touch redundant given their amorphous nature.

Wooo.

Aoooo.

That said, they were still sixth tier aether beasts, meaning they weren’t anything to scoff at.

"You think we can take those two guards?"

"Maybe if we work together, but I don’t think we can take down the [Whirling Dust Devil Tyrant] without father, even with our new [Chaos] abilities."

Skroaa...

Befitting the title of tyrant, the [Whirling Dust Devil Tyrant] looked very similar to those maniacal old kings that plagued certain kingdoms around the world, but with a more monstrous twist.

Instead of a crown to denote royalty, the tyrant had a pair of curved horns.

Instead of a long flowing beard to signify age, the tyrant had several swirling twisters growing out of his face.

Instead of flowing regal robes to signify prosperity, the tyrant was dressed in armor carved from sandstone and shaped with the facisimile of a thousand screaming faces.

And in his hand it as not a scepter to signify authority, but a long jagged sword made of desert glass and stained with the blood of thousands, to signify the right to rule by might.

Skroooaaaa!

Death had come to Stone Claw, and it was going to be brought by sand and-

"CLEAR THE WAY!"

"GRRRROOOAARR!"

"Huh?"

"Whoa!"

Before the feeling of despair and drought could completely fall over the defenders of Stone Claw, a most absurd sight shook them out of their funk.

An absurd sight that filled them with hope.

"Is that...a hippo?"

"Yup...that’s a flying hippo."

"And the Zhen Clan Patriarch appears to be riding on its back... LET’S FUCKING GO!"

BOOM!

Patriarch Zhen Shi had entered the battlefield while riding on the back of Tiny, the Raijin Hippo who had become de facto guardian beast of the Zhen Clan after she had returned with the Fourth Young Master on her back, and the two of them had done so by leaping over the city walls.

But the two of them didn’t stick around the gate for long.

"Let’s go, Tiny! We have a tyrant to slay!"

"GROOOAAAA!"

"Wait, father!"

Zhen Shi and Tiny charged towards the [Whirling Dust Devil Tyrant], ready to slay it and put an end to this entire Beast Tide.

Especially since the two of them had techniques that could easily slay this monster in one go.

They just needed to build up a little...[Chaos].

"Tiny, you ready?"

"GROOAAAA!"

...Meanwhile...

"Wait...Grandaunt, are you sure you can just up and join us in Stone Claw? Don’t you have like...clan leader things to do?"

"Technically yes, but making sure that our branch offshoot doesn’t suffer from a sudden case of deadness is part of that. Besides, if anything, my son can handle the more mundane affairs of the clan."

"Mundane affairs?"

"Budgets, lesson plans, military operations in hostile territories and taking out leaders, you know. The usual."

"Uh...huh..."

"Is...is she supposed to tell us this stuff or-"

"No. No she is not."

"We should leave faster."