Be it the pathetically weak Humans, or the mighty Dragons; the energetic Giants or the beautiful Fairies, or even the otherworldly Druids or the hardy Devils- these races are always troubled by something known as the 'Beast Horde'. These beast hordes have innumerable creatures who are eager to expand their homes into new territories and find food. The kingdoms and empires have many times tried to eradicate the source of these beasts, but were met with twice the usual resistance. They would suffer numerous damages, weakening their national strength. Since then, they have maintained a delicate balance with the nature, living in fear for the arrival of the next Beast Horde.

This is a tug-of-war between nature and civilization.

*****

Capital City, Makara Dynasty, Human Continent.

*BOOM*

Ananya and Shur turned their heads and saw the Blue Wind inn, where Zhen Qi was still staying at, on fire. Suddenly some walls blasted and balls of fire flew out, sending another rounds of explosions. The surrounding pedestrians screamed and ran, quickly making the streets empty.

As they reached the ruins which was an expensive inn before, they spotted a few figures fighting with a single person. Five druids surrounded Zhen Qi, who was holding her sword which looked like a rod. The sword was covered in small sized flames, ready to spit fire. The druids were completely ready, holding a crossbow in their hands.

Sura squinted his eyes and looked at the crossbow properly. The arrows fitted over them seemed special and perhaps had some special property to them.

"Finish quick, or she'll extract more energy from the sword."

A druid said and shot an arrow towards Zhen Qi. Zhen Qi simply waved her sword in the incoming arrow's direction, and the arrow exploded vigorously. The other four joined them and shot at Zhen Qi from various angles. Zhen Qi had great agility as she dodged some arrows while burning some away.

A druid secretly smirked while she loaded a special arrow and shot at her adversary. The arrow flew and neared Zhen Qi. Following the same action she waved her sword, aiming for both the arrow and the druid behind it. The arrow immediately exploded and white mist spread out. Zhen Qi's eyes widened as the mist entered her nostrils.

'Poison !'

Sura noticed the irregularity and told Ananya to hide, this fight was on a different level from the usual. The druids were elites, and perhaps there were more hiding somewhere near.

The poison started taking effect as Zhen Qi's speed lowered and she became less responsive. She gritted her teeth and waved the sword around her in a circle while aiming down. The tip of the sword spit out hot fire and blew hot dust in the air. For a moment, Zhen Qi disappeared, only to be seen again with a glowing sword in her hands. The sword which was held in her hands did not have small flames over its body now, rather it glowed bright white like a tube light. She took a stance and like a ballerina dancer rotated her body with her left foot as a pivot. The sword sent out extremely hot flames, and even though the druids surrounding her tried to escape were blown away from the explosion. The buildings near them collapsed, and Zhen Qi collapsed on the ground as well.

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Sura quickly went near her and picked her up and placed her over his shoulder like a sack. He spotted a few druids closing on them and ran like a mad man, with Ananya near him. Zhen Qi's face was pale and was turning blue.

"What happened to her ?" Ananya asked as they went through a few turns in an alley.

"Poison." Sura explained as he sweated. It doesn't look like, but this beauty was surely heavy, he thought.

They soon left the druids behind as they kept changing directions. Soon they entered an area which looked less lawful. Rowdy men and woman wandered the streets and there were occasional swears and curses. These three looked unusual in his place and the people watched them with a shine in their eyes as they appraised their clothes, sword and the two women. The three looked like someone who had looted a treasure and were running away from pursuers.

"Hey bastard, wait !"

Four people, three men and a woman stopped them and glared. Before the leading man could spout some words Sura sighed and looked at Ananya.

"Finish it quickly. They might have a good hideout."

"You...! How dare you ignore us, bastard ! You think this girl can defeat us ?" another hoodlum shouted angrily as he saw Ananya take a fighting stance with her sword. The four hoodlums unsheathed their swords and daggers as well and tried to surround her.

A few minutes later...

The hoodlums wailed as they held their wounds and apologized.

"We are sorry sister !"

"Please forgive us..."

"Have mercy sister... I'm still unmarried !"

Ananya quickly interrogated them, and found out that they were one of them many 'gangs' in the capital of the Makara Dynasty, and went to their hideout. The hideout was a broken down building, which was occupied by this motley bunch.

Ananya and Sura quickly took a room and isolated themselves and examined Zhen Qi. Her face had stopped turning further blue and was returning normal. However, they could smell something pungent from her skin and saw some black liquid seeping from her pores. Sura had an inkling of what it was and furrowed his brows. He left the room, giving privacy to the girl to clean the druid.

When the hoodlums saw Sura come out they immediately gathered around him, and a sly faced man who looked like their leader spoke.

"Is our sister alright, brother ? Do not worry ! Since you guys are here, we will take complete care of sister during her pregnancy ! Anyways, you really are amazing, having two beautiful wives at this age ! And even a druid one at that ! If you wish, you can even have this girl Kanya. Even though she isn't as beautiful as your wives, I can promise that she will definitely satisfy you. You don't have to marry her, she'll be happy to be your slut...."

Sura quickly stopped him from offering any women and asked about a few general things, then fetched someone for some medicine.

There was a vast difference between civilians and military men. The application of Profound Energy heavily strengthened a person, and an ordinary person could absolutely not match someone who knew how to apply Profound Energy. People like the sly faced gang leader understood this, so he decided to 'please' these intruders until they were bored and went away. Anyway, two among the three were humans and did not look like cruel people.

Sura bandaged his wound on his forearm and ignored the woman who was forced to seduce him under the pressure of her gang leader by showing her bust.The truth was, he had a hard time controlling himself.

"Sura !" Ananya's voice traveled to his ears, and he went inside the room.

"She's awake." she said softly.

Zhen Qi looked at the duo who was tired and wounded.

"Are you okay ? The poison in your body..." Sura asked.

"I've suppressed it temporarily." she said softly. At this moment she didn't looked like the mighty 'Teacher Zhen Qi' anymore.

"But isn't it a Profound Energy corrosion type ?..."

"Don't worry." the druid said softly. "I only won't be able to use my Profound Energy for a while, so I'll have to depend on you."

"Don't worry, teacher. We will protect you." Ananya said firmly.

"We will have to go to the coastal village named Varunpura. There we will find a ship to go to the beastmen continent."

The three discussed and made plans for their future travel.

"Big brother !"

The sly faced gang leader shouted and entered with a paper in his hands. There was a portrait in his hands with the face of a beautiful woman- it was Zhen Qi !

"Big brother, these posters are spread in the whole capital, and someone have announced a huge prize !"

The sly faced gang leader had done his own investigation, and the patrols had told him that this was a conflict between the druids, and that they should not get involved. He knew that if he reported, his newly found 'big brother' would not leave him alive. He was sly faced, but was a coward at heart.

Sura scratched his head in irritation as he stared at the portrait. He wasn't worried about the patrols; he was sure the Makara Dynasty wouldn't interfere in the matter of the druids. Instead, they would use this opportunity to extort the otherworldly beauties to the brim, and make some earnings for themselves.

"Let's rest for a while, then we will leave." Sura decided.

They would first heal their wounds and lay low until the commotion subsides. Sura was sure the druids wouldn't be able to exert much power in the capital and easily find them.

So for a few days, the trio enjoyed being 'esteemed guests' at a gang's hideout.