The ground trembled like a living being beneath the weight of the advancing horde. Each thunderous step of chimeras pounded the earth with a deep, guttural rhythm, as if drums of war were being struck by titanic fists.
The tremors rolled in waves, rattling stones and snapping branches, sending the strange Nightmare creatures that seemed to resemble birds, shrieking from trees. Dust leapt from the soil in tiny bursts, dancing in the air like smoke from a coming storm.
It wasn't just noise, it was presence. The earth groaned under their collective mass, a low, vibrating growl that echoed through the bones. Trees swayed not from wind but from impact, leaves shivering as though fearing the colossal might that moved beneath them. It was not a march, it was a statement. A warning. A living earthquake forged of muscle, purpose, and unstoppable force.
The cause was an Army of 50 Chimeras. All with a unified uncontested burning fury in their eyes. The target of their hatred? The much smaller army of 30 Primates whose march emitted a much weaker earthquake.
But their determination was not shaken, as they continued on towards their chosen battlefield. The carrion forest, where the corpses of their dead allies and enemies continued to rot.
Once the two forces crossed into that domain, it didn't take long for hell to reign.
The destruction of the battle was one fitting for barbaric Nightmare creatures. The moment they clashed, fists were sent flying, smashing into each other as blood poured, while teeth were knocked out.
Both sides were relentless, but one was far more ferocious than the other.
The Primates fought hard, but a lethal blow to the Chimeras wasn't enough to put them down permanently. Even once they crushed their skull, or beat on their body so badly that their bones shattered, it was as if they were undead. They just kept moving.
For every 1 chimera they took down, 2 Primates died. That combined with the weaker numbers, the results of this battle was obvious.
They were going to lose, the Chimeras would harvest more soul shards from their kin, and grow even stronger. The balance of power in this place would be broken, and the clan of Primates here would go extinct.
A Primate that seemed just a tad bit bigger than the rest, was ganged up on by two Chimeras. Before it could be struck, a white streak zipped past him, and flew into the mouth of a chimera. A few moments later, its head exploded. It didn't just happen once though, but several times even with a delay each time.
The strangeness didn't end there, sudden cuts began to appear all over the Chimeras body that caused them to bleed profusely. Although it didn't look like it would kill them anytime soon, it did slow them down significantly, and the wounds even seemed to be getting worse.
For just a brief second, the leading Primate swore that it caught the glimpse a human.
The Primate roared, as it pushed forwards one last time, and the rest of its comrades followed in suite. In a few moments the tables had turned, now for every 2 chimeras that were defeated, only 1 Primate was lost.
Very quickly, the numbers of both sides evened out until only 5 was left on each side. They were all wounded, tired and exhausted. It was another draw...
The Primates growled and roared, trying to intimidate their opponents. If they spoke the human language, then it would probably sound something like,
"See! You had the superior numbers, and yet you've taken even more damage than us! Leave this place at once!"
The chimeras hissed,
"We've taken more damage? We could keep fighting even if you crushed our hearts, while your wincing in pain from just a few broken bones.. who are you to mock our injuries? You should be the ones to leave!"
The exchange of primal language continued, until in the end, they both turned around and left. Continuing this any further would be meaningless, and their deaths would actually benefit the Chimeras even more.
Once both parties left the battlefield though, a hidden third party revealed themselves. They were swift, like thieves in the night. Two humans quickly ran to the field of fresh corpses, as they started to butcher them with haste.
Their identities were concealed as they wore thick black masks over their head, but were each armed with a sharp sword. Quickly they got to work, as they butchered the corpses of the fallen Nightmare creatures, and harvested the Soul Shards inside them. Each and every single one was an Awakened Monster, and there were lots of them too. They had their work cut out for them.
A little while later though, one of the thieves sent a signal alerting her companion. It was time to go.
**
Epsilon collapsed on the floor of the treehouse, with a thick rucksack that was filled to the brim with soul shards, spilling out right beside him. Seeing the sight, his currently foul mood immediately corrected.
'So much money...'
Ki Song walked over to her bed, and gradually took the shards she had collected out. She harvested even more than Epsilon, and it had been that way for a long while now. Even gaining a proper sword didn't let him do any better.
"How are you able to work so fast in that stench?"
The smell of rotting corpses wasn't an ideal work environment. Anyone would be put of just by being in it, even an awakened would suffer in that amount.
"I have an attribute that makes corpses smell like nothing to me, so it isn't a big problem. You should just man up."
"..."
It had been a week since Epsilon met up with Ki Song in this place. Since then, they had developed a bit of a routine. For starters, she was kind enough to lone Epsilon one of her spare memories until he was able to get his own. It was a light blue tunic that was obviously meant for a more casual environment, rather than battle.
At around midday, they would go out to the Carrion forest where the usual battle between the Chimeras and Primates took place. The two would watch silently, until both sides were too injured to continue, which was when they retreated. In that brief period of time, the two would commence their operation to steal their soul shards.
Usually the fight would be equal, but sometimes one side may overpower the other just like today, and so all the Soul Shards would go to them. Before that could happen, Epsilon and Ki Song would silently intervene.
From a distance, Epsilon would use his Aspect and attack the dominate side from the back. Ki Song on the other hand, had a hair pin memory that made it difficult for anyone to spot her. It wasn't invisibility, but more akin to hiding just in the corner of their eye.
In direct combat it wasn't very helpful, but in the middle of a battlefield where everyone was too busy fighting for their lives, it was easy for her to remain hidden. Using it, she attacked the dominating force secretly.
With this combination, whatever advantage the superior side had was drastically reduced, until both sides were equal once more.
Counting each soul shard, Epsilon gleamed,
"40... this is our biggest profit yet."
They weren't able to steal all of the Soul shards in time. There were around 70 corpses, but they were only able to harvest from around 20 of them. Even then, they had much more time than usual.
Ki Song said,
"We still shouldn't get carried away with this small victory. One mistake will get us killed."
Epsilon sighed, crushing a fragment in his grip,
"Small?"
"Haven't you noticed? The number of Chimeras and Primates being sent to battle has been increasing. We still don't know how many of them there even are, but they look to be endless. And further more..."
Ki Song looked outside of a small opening she carved in the trees trunk, and caught sight of several Chimera scouts quickly running through the area.
"They're starting to notice us, those chimeras especially. They've been sending more and more of their scouts through this area. It will only be a matter of time until they find out what we're doing here."
They were now on a timer. They've thoroughly enjoyed the benefits of being a leech, but now it seems that time was over.
Ki Song shattered a soul shard in her grip, as she continued,
"Still, don't you find it strange?"
Epsilon shook his head,
"Low class Nightmare creatures aren't that intelligent, and although they may be the same species, they should be nowhere near smart enough to make use of scouts to explore the environment, and use strategies such as a feint to weaken the enemy forces."
Epsilons eyes widened. Although they were monsters, those Nightmare creatures shouldn't be capable of teamwork of that scale. And even then, they were capable of understanding when to retreat, and when to keep fighting for an objective. It was almost as if, they were receiving orders from elsewhere.
There was a certain class of Nightmare creature that granted this ability, the power to take charge of large groups, and the intelligence to make use of them for a certain goal.
Epsilon muttered, "So there's a tyrant here..."
And it was even more likely that there were two of them. One for the chimeras, and one for the primates.
Sighing, Epsilon shattered another Soul Shard in his grip.
"We need to get out of here."
The exit was right there. Ki Song had already checked if it was suspicious or not, and thankfully there didn't seem to be booby traps, or something else lurking near it. So they were free to go whenever they liked. They would leave this place, either tomorrow, or the day after.
A little while later when Ki Song and Epsilon finished absorbing all the soul shards, so Song went back to fiddling with the pile of sticks as per usual. To this day, Epsilon still had no clue what they really were.
"What are those sticks anyway? You keep messing with them."
"They're bombs."
"Oh I see... wait what?!"