Help! I transmigrated to a Beast World-Chapter 101: The Army Has Arrived (And They Have Pants!)

Xin Yi was deep in the best dream she had had in a long time.

In her dream, there were no beastmen. No systems. No drama. Just a giant, endless buffet of glazed meat. She was just reaching for a drumstick, mouth watering, ready to take that first, glorious bite—

BRAAAAAAAAM!

Xin Yi jumped so hard she nearly fell out of the bed.

"Wh-what? Chicken?" She blinked, disoriented, her heart hammering against her ribs.

The sound came again.

BRAAAAAAAAM!

It wasn’t a roar. It wasn’t a growl. It was.....a horn?

A distinctly deep, resonant, manufactured sound.

[DING! (⊙_⊙)]

[WARNING! WARNING!]

[Host! Wake up! This is not a drill!]

[High-Level Threat Detected at the Main Gate!]

[Panic Level: CRITICAL ☆]

Xin Yi scrambled up, grabbing her fur cloak. "What is it? Did the Wolves attack someone?"

[System: No, Host. Someone is attacking the Wolves. And they look....surprisingly fashionable.]

"Fashionable?" Xin Yi frowned, rushing out of the room. "What are you talking about?"

She sprinted through the stone corridors, the sound of commotion getting louder. Wolf warriors were running past her, grabbing their spears, their faces pale with fear.

"Get to the wall!" someone shouted. "They are here!"

Xin Yi pushed past a guard and burst onto the overlook of the main wall.

The cold wind whipped her hair back. She gripped the rough stone edge, looking down into the valley below.

And her jaw hit the floor.

There was an army.

A massive, sprawling army. Made up of tigers, snakes....and panthers!

But that wasn’t what made her gasp.

It was what they were wearing.

Rows upon rows of beastmen stood in formation. Not in ragged furs. Not in loincloths.

They were wearing tunic tops. Leather armor dyed in deep blues and vibrant oranges.

And on their feet?

"Are those..." Xin Yi squinted. "Are those boots?"

[Genuine leather boots, Host! With arch support! Impressive craftsmanship!]

At the front of the army stood three figures.

In the center, looking like a deity descended from the heavens, was Qing Lin.

The Snake King.

He wore a long, flowing robe of shimmering scales, stitched together with what looked like actual thread. A dark cloak draped over his shoulders, pinned with a silver brooch. His hair was tied back neatly. He looked.....regal. Cold. Terrifyingly civilized.

Brooch?! Just how quickly had they learnt from the wolf people?

To his left was Feng Huang, the Tiger. He was decked out in flashy, gold-trimmed leather armor that showed off his chest, of course, holding a spear that didn’t look like bone. It glinted in the light.

Metal? Or polished stone?

And to his right...

Xin Yi’s breath hitched.

Hei Yan.

The Panther.

The male who had banished her. Who had looked at her with such betrayal the last time she saw him. How come he was here?!

He looked different. Harder. He wore simple, dark leather gear. His eyes were fixed on the wall. Fixed on her.

What were they doing here?! A part of Xin Yi was glad they had come back to get her...but at such a critical moment!

Her and Qing Lin had eye contact, and warmth bloomed in his eyes. He looked as though he would shed tears.

"So," a voice rasped beside her.

Xin Yi jumped.

Sha Chen was standing there.

But the softness from the library was gone.

His face was a mask of ice. His eyes were burning with a hurt so deep it looked like rage.

"Sha Chen, I—"

"Did you think I was stupid?" His voice was low, dangerous. "Or did you just think I was easy?"

"What?" Xin Yi stepped toward him. "I don’t understand what you are saying."

He laughed, a harsh, barking sound.

"That is why you told me to send men to teach them," he hissed, stepping closer, forcing her back against the cold stone of the parapet. And because I was....foolishly intrigued by your manners, I listened to you. I sent my own scholars to their borders. And look!" He pointed violently at the army below. "Look at what they did with that knowledge! Look at their clothes! Their weapons! Their shoes! Who taught them that? Who gave them the knowledge to make iron tips and leather soles?"

Xin Yi stared, her heart sinking. "I.....I thought it would help them live better... I didn’t think they would use it for war! I swear it!"

"You prepared them," Sha Chen snarled. "You distracted me. You played the sweet, forgiving female in my library. You smiled at me. You let me think I could be better. All while you knew you were arming them to slaughter us. I knew I was foolish to let down my guard."

[DING! (T_T)]

[Misunderstanding Alert!]

[Sha Chen’s Heartbreak Level: 100%]

[He thinks his kindness was weaponized against him! He is regressing! Do something Host! Fix it!]

"No!" Xin Yi grabbed his arm. "Sha Chen, listen to me! I didn’t know! I swear on my life, I didn’t know they were coming!"

He looked down at her hand on his arm. Then he gently, firmly, removed it.

"Don’t," he whispered. "Do not lie to me anymore, Xin Yi. It pains me less if you just admit you hate me."

"I don’t hate you anymore!" 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"You should."

He turned away from her, walking to the edge of the wall. He looked down at the army, at the soldiers wearing the armor he had helped them create.

"You want a monster?" He shouted down, his voice booming over the valley. "I will give them a monster!"

Down below, Qing Lin looked up. His expression didn’t change. He simply raised his hand. The army behind him thumped their spears on the ground in unison.

BOOM.

"Sha Chen! You evil wolf!" Qing Lin’s voice carried up, smooth and deadly. "We are not here to negotiate. Open the gates. Return my female. And perhaps I will leave your tribe with enough survivors to bury the dead."

Sha Chen gripped the stone wall until it cracked under his fingers. "You talk too much, Snake king! You think because you put on some good clothes and some shoes you are stronger than me?"

"I think," Qing Lin replied calmly, "that I have fire arrows. And I will use them to burn this ’civilization’ to the ground!"

He snapped his fingers.

Instantly, a hundred archers stepped forward. They didn’t have clumsy wooden bows. They had recurved bows. And the tips of their arrows were wrapped in cloth.....and set aflame.

Xin Yi screamed. "NO! STOP!"

She scrambled up onto the ledge, waving her arms.

"QING LIN! HEI YAN! FENG HUANG! DON’T SHOOT!"

The archers hesitated.

Hei Yan took a step forward. His voice was rough, carrying the pain of days of separation. "Xin Yi! Get down! Jump! I will catch you!"

"I am not jumping!" she yelled back. "You have to leave! We were.....we were fixing things! He’s changing! He did not touch me or do anything! I am safe!"

"Changing?" Feng Huang laughed bitterly, his eyebrows furrowed. "He kidnapped you! He forced you to stay in his harem! He is a beast who needs to be put down!"

"I swore I would come back to get you, Xin Yi! I swore to my people! I swore to Xiao Long!" Qing Lin roared. "And now you defend him?" Oh...Xiao Long...but...

"Enough!" Sha Chen growled.

He didn’t wait.

He didn’t strategize.

Fueled by heartbreak and the certainty that he was about to die, Sha Chen leaped.

He jumped straight from the high wall, transforming in mid-air. Bones cracked, fur sprouted, and a massive, silver-furred Wolf slammed into the ground in front of the gate.

ROAAAAAR!

The sound shook the earth.

"YOU ARE WELCOME TO TRY!" He roared in his wolf form just as other wolves materialized behind him, including Bai Feng.

[DING! (OxO)]

[Sha Chen has entered Berserk Mode!]

[Suicide Mission Detected!]

[He’s trying to die, Host! He wants to die fighting!]

"Sha Chen, NO!" Xin Yi turned to the stairs, hitching up her skirts to run down. "I have to stop them! They are going to kill each other!"

She sprinted down the winding stone steps, nearly tripping over her own feet.

BOOM.

Another explosion of sound from outside. The clash of metal on bone.

By the time she reached the courtyard and shoved the heavy wooden gates open, with the help of two terrified guards, the battle had begun.

But it wasn’t a battle.

It was a massacre waiting to happen.

Sha Chen was fighting like a demon, swiping at three Tigers at once. Other wolves tackled both panthers and snakes, making growling sounds. But Qing Lin was just standing there, watching, his staff glowing with a strange, ominous light.

"Get back my Xin Yi. Afterwards we will burn this entire place down," Qing Lin ordered Kuan Tie who stood besides him.

"NO!" Xin Yi ran into the middle of the clearing. "STOP IT! ALL OF YOU!"

She threw herself between them, despite knowing it was a very stupid idea.

Sha Chen froze, his massive claws inches from her head. He snarled, trying to push her away with his snout. Move, you idiot female!

"I am not moving!" She spread her arms wide, facing Qing Lin. "If you want to kill him, you have to shoot through me!"

"What are you doing, Xin Yi?" Qing Lin snarled, his eyes narrowing. "Step aside. He does not deserve mercy."

"I know he took me, and held me hostage, but he kept his word!" She yelled. "He did not touch me! He was even ready to release me to go back to Azure scale! I was the one that wasn’t ready to!"

Silence.

Sha Chen behind her whined low in his throat.

Qing Lin’s eyes widened in shock as Xin Yi’s words settled in his mind. She was the one that wasn’t ready to come back? Even though they had rushed to get back to her? After knocking out the wolves that had taught them and quickened their civilization?

"So even after—"

He was interrupted by the sky breaking.

Not thunder. Not lightning.

It was a sound like a giant, cosmic zipper being pulled down.

ZZZZZZZZZIP!

Everyone looked up. Wolves, Snakes, Tigers, and one very confused human.

The clouds swirled violently, turning a bruised, unnatural purple.

[DING! (¬_¬)]

[Uh oh.]

[Host...]

[I think she is coming here.]

"Eh?" Xin Yi wiped her eyes, looking up. "What is that?"

Something was falling from the sky.

It looked like a golden speck.

Then a golden ball.

Then a golden.....throne?

It plummeted toward the earth with terrifying speed.

"MOVE!" Hei Yan screamed.

Everyone scattered. The Wolf grabbed Xin Yi by the back of her clothes and flung her to safety just as—

KA-BOOOOOOOM!