The starting town, which was usually peaceful, was bustling with numerous players from other islands who had come to the starting island in search of the discovered Pirate King's Tomb, which the system announced was located in the territory of the Southern Sea Abyss.

In front of the player service building, many new players walked in and out constantly to request essentials for their first play, and there were many players who used the teleportation scroll to come here, including Chang Long. But she did not come alone!

Players in the starting town were stunned and their jaws dropped at the sight of a huge beast appearing out of nowhere in front of the player service building. Female players screamed loudly, causing many of the stunned players to run away in different directions, plunging the town into chaos within a few seconds.

"A level 80 Avian Humanoid Beast King appears"

The system's voice boomed over the heads of all players in the starting town. Even though it was called an avian humanoid, its body was gigantic, taller than a five-story building, with grey and black feathers all over its body, not excluding its face. It had the head of a bird with a sharp yellow beak, and large wings, each not less than five, possibly six meters long. It had hands, a torso, arms, and legs like a human, but its feet were taloned like a hawk's. Importantly, in one of its claws, a player was struggling to find a way to escape.

"Oh my God, it's huge! It's going to eat me! Good thing I used the teleportation scroll first,"

Chang Long said while trying to stab the sovereign sword into the hard scales on its foot.

This time, the sovereign sword worked so well that Chang Long wished it would be as dull as when she used it to fight the stone lizard beast king. Because the moment the sword cut into the skin of the avian humanoid, it screamed loudly and lost its balance, falling down, causing Chang Long's body to be thrown out and fly up into the air several tens of meters.

"Mommyyy.... heeelp....."

Chang Long screamed out loud in mid-air, watching as the player service building and nearby buildings were crushed by the falling avian humanoid, turning them into ruins. Low-level players who aimed to run into the player service building to log off were crushed to death by the dozens, while high-level players who had gathered to fight the avian humanoid scattered in all directions upon seeing its body lose balance and fall without knowing why.

"M... Mystic Gust,"

Chang Long quickly used a secret skill that allowed her to float in the air, enabling her to safely move away from the area.

The avian humanoid got up angrily, roaring so loudly that it nearly shattered eardrums, then began attacking players and various buildings within the starting town immediately.

An alarm sounded from the warning tower at the south gate of the town. Players who turned to look saw dozens of avian humanoid beasts, the size of ordinary humans, flying towards the starting town, causing players who planned to fight to lose their courage completely and run towards other gates to escape the town as quickly as possible.

Screams and the roaring of the avian humanoid beasts approaching the scattered group of players echoed throughout the town. Chang Long, standing hidden away from the scene, could only pray that no one would find out that all that had happened was caused by her.

Soon, the avian humanoid beasts that joined their king began joyously slaughtering players in the starting town. Members of the Pendragon Guild and other high-level players, both affiliated and unaffiliated, struggled together to fight against the avian humanoid beasts. Yet, no one dared to confront the avian humanoid beast king.

"Is that Peach Blossom and the others over there? Are they planning to fight?"

Chang Long caught a glimpse of Peach Blossom, Rafael, Draco, Aden, and members of the Pendragon Guild fighting against nearly ten of the avian humanoid beasts that the system announced were level 48. Because everyone was well-coordinated in the fight, they had a significant advantage in this battle.

'What now, missy? You're the cause of all this. Are you planning just to watch?'

Davy-chan, who had been silent for a while, spoke up upon seeing Chang Long indecisive between fleeing or helping.

'Do I have a choice!?' Chang Long asked back, annoyed, knowing Davy-chan wanted her to do something.

'Of course! The first path is that of the coward, which most people down there have chosen. The second path is that of the brave, which only a few are showing you right now!'

Davy-chan said with a meaningful smile.

'Tch! That sounds noble. I can fight, but not in this state. Otherwise, I won't have a hope of playing this game again,' Chang Long spoke to Davy-chan, who was smiling contentedly.

Chang Long found a suitable spot away from prying eyes, unsealed Kitsune, and ordered him to use a transformation skill on himself to turn into human. Then, she used his transformation skill on herself and Kitsune, turning them into hooded figures in black outfits, and even transformed the sovereign sword into an ordinary-looking high-level sword to hide their identities as best as possible.

"Let's go,"

Chang Long turned to Kitsune, now in human form. He nodded, and they walked away from there with their hearts pounding.

Siegfried, having been informed by Rafael about the beast invasion, was hurrying back to the starting town at maximum speed. Many players with high levels were also rushing back, as encountering an avian humanoid beast king was not an easy opportunity, and it was known to drop high-level items upon defeat.

On his way, he encountered numerous players fleeing the town. Some, after getting a safe distance, stopped to excitedly watch the avian humanoid beast king invade the town. Around each town gate, low-level players were fleeing for their lives without a second thought. Some groups ran out without realizing they were heading towards the western gate, leading them into the Thousand Serpents fields, bustling with snakes of various sizes and species ready to welcome them.

"Is that the avian humanoid beast king?"

Siegfried exclaimed softly as he saw the gigantic beast, as tall as a five-story building, angrily rampaging and demolishing buildings within the town.

Beep beep.

"Brother, where are you now? The big one has called nearly 50 more of its minions. We are really stretched thin here,"

Peach Blossom urgently reported the latest situation as soon as her brother answered the call.

"I'm close, 10 minutes away from the town gate. Where are you guys?"

Siegfried replied while still running at full speed, causing Peach Blossom to barely hear him. But being a sibling, she could understand the gist of her brother's words without much difficulty.

"We are near our guild's headquarters. Hurry up, brother. I've already used half a jar of my mana crystals,"

Peach Blossom urged.

"Understood,"

Siegfried ended the call as soon as he finished speaking and ran towards the town, undeterred by the screaming players fleeing the town non-stop.

Chang Long and Kitsune, who had used a transformation skill to disguise themselves as masked figures in black, were standing, bracing themselves as they looked at the opponent, they knew from the start they could not escape from. Chang Long sighed deeply before leaping to confront the avian humanoid beast king, which seemed momentarily startled by her sudden appearance.

The two stared at each other for nearly thirty seconds before the avian humanoid beast king swung its huge hand at Chang Long, as if swatting an annoying fly.

"Geez, how can I fight something so huge? Davy-chan, Spirit Possession!"

Chang Long shouted, using the shaman skill, then charged at the avian humanoid beast king through the gaps between its fingers.

"Kitsune, block its minions. Go all out,"

Chang Long mentally instructed her pet in human form to intercept the minions of the avian humanoid beast king that were coming to assist their master.

'Right away, Master!'

Kitsune responded and quickly moved to block three avian humanoid beasts that were heading towards their king and Chang Long.

Kitsune, still frustrated from being outmatched by the stone lizard beast king at the Royal Cliff, acted immediately upon Chang Long's command and ferociously attacked the avian humanoid beasts.

Claaacckkk!

With a loud thud, Kitsune's knee connected perfectly with the stomach of one avian humanoid beast, sending it uncontrollably crashing down to the ground, where dozens of players were waiting to pounce on it. The remaining two, angered at Kitsune for daring to harm their comrade, turned to him with fury and charged to attack immediately.

The young fox Kitsune landed lightly on the roof of a three-story building and looked challengingly at the remaining two avian humanoid beasts. They did not let the silent challenge hang in the air for long, as they split and attacked Kitsune from both sides with high speed.

"Pathetic!"

Kitsune muttered to himself, then moved towards one of the avian humanoids attacking from the left with superior speed.

Whack!

His right fist countered the sharp claws meant to tear his body into pieces. The face of the avian humanoid beast was forcefully jerked to the side, sending it stumbling several meters away. The other avian humanoid beast jeered, seeing Kitsune momentarily suspended in mid-air, seemingly falling to the ground.

Both avian humanoids dove after Kitsune's falling body, their claws ready to strike the moment he hit the ground. However, instead of crashing, Kitsune smoothly landed and immediately sprang back into the air with as much speed as he had fallen. He extended his sharp, long claws on both hands and grabbed onto the ankles of both avian humanoid beasts, causing them to shriek in pain. He then yanked them down with all his strength.

Bang!

Both avian humanoid beasts crashed into the ground with such force that the well-paved street shattered, sending dust flying everywhere. Players nearby were shocked and hastily retreated from the area. As the dust settled, two large craters were revealed, each with an avian humanoid beast writhing in pain inside. Because their levels were closely matched, Kitsune's attack did not kill them.

"Everyone, attack!"

One of the players watching the two avian humanoid beasts in the craters shouted. Following this, the players swarmed the two helpless beasts, completely overpowering them until their spirits were forcefully sucked into Kitsune's body.

"Huh? Why aren't the spirits ascending to the sky like always!?"

A player exclaimed when they saw that the spirits of the slain avian humanoid beasts did not float up to the sky as usual but instead were absorbed into Kitsune's body.

"That!"

A man pointed at Kitsune, who was standing on the roof of a nearby building, in shock.

"He's definitely a master, to handle them so easily,"

Another player nearby commented.

"Soul Eater,"

the first player declared confidently.

"What?"

Dozens of players standing there exclaimed in unison, looking back and forth between the speaker and Kitsune.

"I'm not mistaken, you all saw it, didn't you? The spirits of the beasts we killed were absorbed by that person,"

the player continued as they watched Kitsune swiftly disappear from view.

"Is there really such a profession?!"

Another player gasped in astonishment.

"Don't know, but there are definitely beasts that consume the spirits of other beasts to strengthen themselves. That's for sure. But they're rare, extremely hard to find, and nobody in this game has ever owned one," another person joining in the conversation added.

"But that clearly looks like a person, not a beast. I think if beasts can consume spirits, there must be players who can do it too!"

The first player argued.

"We can only guess. It would be great if that person would reveal themselves. Oh!"

The conversation was cut short as another avian humanoid beast launched an attack on them, scattering the players in all directions to regroup and counter the new threat.

Seeing Kitsune easily deal with the minions of the avian humanoid beast king, Chang Long refused to be outdone. Her sword remained as sharp and magnificent as ever, making the avian humanoid beast king bleed with every strike. Although the wounds were not severe, they caused pain and annoyance to it effectively.

'When will this thing die? It will be problematic if you end up hurting your muscles and unable to fight before it does,"

Davy-chan, who was a faint shadow overlaid within Chang Long's form, warned with concern.

"What should I do then? Using special skills would just give us away to Peach Blossom and the others,"

Chang Long mentally replied.

'Use the Eye of Earth! Hurry up and combine it with your sword. You'll be able to use the skills that come with the Eye,"

Davy-chan suggested urgently, remembering that Chang Long had acquired the Eye of Earth from the stone lizard beast king at the Royal Cliff.

'Right!'

Chang Long exclaimed with delight. She distanced herself from the avian humanoid beast king, which was aggressively pursuing her, without even attempting to spread its wings and fly.

Chang Long searched for the Eye of Earth in her bag in a rush. As she was in a hurry and ducking to avoid the avian humanoid beast's hand lunging at her, the Eye of Earth, a sand-colored glass orbs the size of a ten-baht coin, fell to the ground amidst her shock.

Crack!

The Eye of Earth shattered on the ground at the feet of the avian humanoid beast king. Chang Long watched in astonishment as a vast amount of sand spilled out, making it hard to believe it had been contained within a small glass orb.

The sand spread out widely as if creating an enormous sandbox and continued to expand. The body of the avian humanoid beast king's body slowly sank into this sand pit, struggling in vain as it sank deeper the more it struggled. It tried to find something to hold onto, but whatever it grasped seemed to sink into the sand pit that had grown nearly half the size of the town.

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