“Their scent goes this way.” one of the apes sniffed the air, hanging upside down from a tree branch as their leader stood on the ground, holding a giant hammer-like weapon.

“Those humans came deep into our forest. They will suffer, just like the others.” He licked his lips while around his furry waist, human skulls were hanging, cleaned down to the bone, and almost looking like they were polished up to shine brightly.

“This group smells strong, Boss.”

“Of course they would! Do you think they sit still while we hunt theirs? They probably sent out some warriors now. Get ready, boys, we finally have some fun, not just butchering weaklings!” The leader laughed as he started to bash his chest, letting out wild screeching, pumping up the others.

…

….

…..

“They are so fucking loud….” Ren murmured. As they were a few kilometers away, the chimpanzees’ voices still traveled far and wide as they rushed through the woods.

“They easily startled the whole area and forsook the element of surprise. Stupid move.” Leinor commented, following at her left.

“They don’t see us as worthy opponents, I guess. Who cares? The stupider they are, the better. We take a detour here, then head back to the valley. The army is ready; we need to leave by the tunnel they made and watch the show from afar. Speed up. We can’t be caught now!”

…

….

…..

“Boss, their scent became weak. They are hurrying back to their base!”

“They are afraid! Do you smell it? They have females amongst them. I can smell their crotches! Keep those alive and kill the rest! After I finish playing with them, you, too, can have a go at them!” The leader grinned.

His words excited them, letting out animalistic growls as they moved through the forest with ease, swinging from tree to tree, sometimes jumping almost a dozen meters, seemingly gliding through the air.

When they arrived at the valley’s entrance and saw what was inside; the raised tents, wooden watchtowers, and people standing there as lookouts, their bloodlust reached the maximum threshold. Without any tactics or words, they just rushed in from all directions. The first to reach it was a wild-eyed chimpanzee demon, reaching over two meters, climbing up the tower, and smashing the guard’s torso into mush with one swing with the club in his hand.

As more and more monkeys rushed in, the soldiers inside seemed panicked, and they were slaughtered by the dozen. The most rampant was their leader, the over three meters tall, bulky chimpanzee, covered in black fur, now soaked in blood as the skulls around his waist made clanking noises every time he smashed one of the soldiers, who turned into a bloody mess of flesh and blood.

“Weak, weak, weak! You are too weak!” He laughed loudly.

“Only one still stands in the perimeter.” Ren whispered, who was by now observing the whole ordeal from one of the hills from afar.

“Not all of them are braindead. He probably sensed something.” Leinor murmured as they watched as one of the monkeys, the smaller ones, only around 1.8 meters tall and wearing a leather bandolier around his waist and torso, still stood there at the precipice of the valley. He scanned the battlefield down there before suddenly turning and leaving as fast as he could.

“Fuck. He knows!” Isha cursed, and Ren immediately made a decision when she saw him turning.

“After him!” She shot out like a lightning bolt, not watching the fight anymore.

Meanwhile, up on the other hills stood Xendar, Anya, and Dermitos overseeing the massacre. Xendar wore black, full-plate armor, leaning on a giant, red spear. At the same time, Anya was dressed in violet, tight-fitting leather armor, without any weapons, as Dermitos wore a golden, decorated armor set with figures of dragons, holding a glittering, giant bow in hand made from material that reflected different colors as light shone on it.

“The kids are after him. Send out Boursat as reinforcement.” Dermitos said as a shadow moved between the trees, only making a sound noticeable only to their ears.

“The clones made from your powers are something else.” Xendar clicked his tongue.

“It's thanks to the help of Anya. Without enough water, I wouldn’t be able to make copies that realistic.” Dermitos answered.

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“Stop the flattering and focus.” she rolled her eyes. “Be happy we got some berserk monkeys who don’t realize all of their prey turns to pools of liquid after killing them. Should we start?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. Start the operation.” Dermitos commanded from there.

Soon rumbling rushed through all of the hills as if something had exploded. When the rumbling stopped, water rushed out, soaking the soil and triggering a giant mudslide from every direction.

The monkeys realized something had gone wrong, but it was too late. The earth, rolling down, blocked their escape route as they were too deep into the valley to escape. The once serene, beautiful landscape was washed with dirt in mere seconds, destroying everything in its way.

The weight of the disappearing sides of the hills crushed the unlucky first ones who got swept away. They found themselves cut down from more than two dozen to at least half of their original numbers… and only those who survived, those who could still fight and had a strong presence, could be counted on one hand.

“Despicable humans!” the apes’ boss roared, pulling himself out of the mud and roaring towards the sky.

“Really? Well… We humans have a saying. All’s fair in Love and War.” came the reply from the now deformed hills. He could see Dermitos showcasing the presence of an Emperor… the ninth ruler of a giant powerhouse. His aura formed a light column up to the skies, holding his bow, fully stretched out with a shimmering arrow made of pure energy, nocked in already. “So go, cry me a river… monkey.” Then, as he let it fly in the air, the arrow split and skewered four other monkeys who were still struggling, trying to climb out from the sea of mud and dirt, going through their skulls like nothing.

“Fire!” came another order in a rumbling voice. More than forty people from the other hills dressed in white armor with golden dragon patterns showed themselves, all in the Harmony Realm, shimmering in different colors of affinity, and let loose arrow after arrow after arrow.

“Shower them with our love. Let none escape.” Dermitos said calmly but coldly, overseeing everything from the vantage point.

As the arrows rained down, the monkeys' boss only let out a roar, as he doubled in size in an instant, shooting upwards where they stood. His speed was fast, but when he was near the top, he collided with Xendar, who blocked its path.

“Out of my way!” the chimpanzee roared, smashing hard into him, sending the general flying, smashing into the ground, leaving a deep hole behind. Still, before he could take another two steps, Anya arrived before him. From under her feet, water soaked the ground, turning it into a slippery slope, making him lose his footing and stumble backward. “You bitch!”

That was when Xendar shot out from the hole, stabbing his spear towards the monkey, piercing its skin in multiple places but not too deep to be fatal as it was as hard as stabbing through a thick, metal wall.

“You already lost.” came the voice of Dermitos, who aimed his bow, letting it shoot out another arrow. The monkey tilted his body at the last minute, letting the yellowish energy only pierce his shoulders.

“You missed!” he laughed while swinging his “hammer,” knocking away the spear of Xendar while trying to get a stable footing.

“No, I didn’t.”

The energy arrow, still stuck inside his body, had a long, shining chain going up, held in the hand of Dermitos. At this moment, the monkey realized his body was being invaded by a foreign, constant flow of lifeforce that started to grow inside him, strangely filling him with overwhelming energy.

“This just gives me more power, you idiots!” he laughed loudly, facing Xendar, starting to assault him with all his newfound strength.

Every swing created sonic booms, but whenever Xendar was pushed back, and a crack appeared on his armor or spear, he quickly countered with fast strikes, hitting his body multiple times and opening new wounds. It seemed like the chimpanzee didn’t even feel any damage he took, completely ignoring it as his blood flowed like rivers.

“Now!” Dermitos shouted, and Anya formed needles out of the water, shooting from the ground, stabbing the spear wounds, and disappearing into its body.

“You can’t beat me; you are all weak!” he roared. “My blood is boiling; I’ll skin you alive and rape your corpses, you hairless bastards!” he laughed, ignoring any damage while going for Anya, seeing her as the weakest piece of the trio. He only took two or three steps before one of his legs exploded into a bloody mess as he fell flat onto the ground, starting to roll back from the hill.

Not knowing what even happened, he reflexively tried to grab onto the ground, but the force of his fingers was so much they shattered, leaving behind a mess. Soon every movement of his resulted in the skin all over his body tearing and blood spurting out…

“What’s… what's going on?!” he roared and tried to push himself up before his other leg shattered. He bloated like a balloon, shedding his skin and exposing his raw muscles and flesh.

“You are so full of energy; what's the matter… your body can’t control it?” Dermitos laughed, still holding onto the energy chain that was now not just stuck in its body; it was like taking root inside him, becoming part of his body.

“You okay?” Xendar arrived next to Anya, who was sweating and panting heavily.

“Yeah, I already boiled his blood to the maximum. It’s only a question of time. He is already burning himself up from the inside. The rest is up to Dermitos.” she smiled triumphantly.

“You fu-” The ape tried to roar, but his voice only came out as a whimper as his jaw swelled and blew up into his face before his bloated body ruptured. The monkey’s organs spilled everywhere on the slope, flying dozens of meters before stopping.

“No, you’re.” Dermitos finished his words, letting go of the chain that slowly disappeared as the mutilated body of the chimpanzee just rolled down to the valley where only some of the monkeys were still alive, being showered by a rain of arrows still.

When everyone was out of arrows, they just waited to see if there was any movement before Dermitos gave the order to go down and check everybody, cut off their heads to be sure then set ablaze the whole valley before leaving.

“Go. I’ll stay with your wife. She needs rest. This operation used her energy up too much, check on the kids and Boursat.” Dermitos said while watching the fire down in the valley.

“Be careful.” Anya said to Xendar, who just nodded before leaving.

“Don’t worry.” Dermitos patted her shoulders. “They are capable kids and also have reinforcement now. They can take care of one stray.”

“I’m not afraid because of the monkey; I’m afraid because of Ren’s bad habits.” she sighed, but her feelings were much more stable, unlike when she felt something was off as the wasps chased them.