The shattered walls rose high into the sky, some sections still retained their once magnificent facade, yet even more now remained as nothing more than a collapsed monument to what once remained. One such fully collapsed section was being approached by four individuals.

They carefully crossed the now nature reclaimed land that surrounded the once mighty city. Gazing up at the grey walls of stone. Shattered sections of stone littered the ground all around them, the remnants of a cataclysmic clash that resulted in the walls collapse.

As they got closer Violet's nose seemed to twitch as she tried to analyse that faintly familiar scent that pervaded the surrounding mana. She was struggling to place where she had felt something similar, but was sure that she would remember soon enough.

Before long the group arrived at the wall, they were forced to climb a small hill of the broken stone. They carefully picked their way up, being mindful to not step on any of the looser stones and risk a further collapse.

When they did finally arrive at the top of the pile of rubble they could finally see inside of the city. Before them lay what could once have been a main road, suggesting that the part of the wall they just climbed had once been a gatehouse of sorts.

The broken flagstones that the road was made from now had grasses and weeds shooting yo through their gaps. Shrubbery grew in every available spot, fighting to reclaime this environment. The road was lined with buildings, most collapsed, yet some still mostly remained intact.

The buildings were also made of the same grey stone that the walls were constructed with. Based on the ones still standing, the buildings were on average 2 stories high, with a black stone tile to cover the slanted roofs.

Violet, who was fascinated with this strange sight before her, eagerly observed everything that she could. Absorbing every detail like a sponge, trying to make sense of this city and trying to figure out how exactly it worked.

For Luna it was an equally impressive sight, she had naturally heard of city's before from her parents and other clan elders. Supposedly their ancestors ruled one such city in the past, at least until they were forced to flee from the hordes of undead. So to see what exactly a city looked like was quite impactful, even if said city was in ruins.

After taking in the initial scenery more details became apparent to the group.

Firstly was that this city was not quite as abandoned as it may look, their were clear signs of recent activity. From fresh trails and signs of recent battles.

Secondly that all of the signs of battle seemed to be heading in a singular direction. Towards the centre of the city.

It was as if the local beasts had been assaulted by something, in a twisted facsimile of how this once grand city fell all those years ago. And these track were quite recent, looking to be only a few days old. As the group considered this they stood in silence, trying to identify what kind of beast could have caused the fresh battle scars lining the street and its surrounding buildings.

It was then that Violet heard the sounds of a distant battle, or more accurately the battle cry of a beast, originating from further into the city.

Sharing a glance with the rest of the party, Violet began to decend from the rubble pile they were currently atop of, and began to advance into the city itself.

Moving through the overgrown streets and collapsed buildings, the group moved between the shadows. Staying off the Main Street and sticking to the less obvious back streets, when they had to cross one of the main roads that crisscrossed the ancient city they moved swiftly and carefully. None present eager to be spotted by the occupants of this domain.

As the advanced deeper, both Violet and Luna paid special attention to the presences that they could feel residing towards the city centre.

These was an eclectic mix of presences, some clearly that of 'normal' beast lords. But there were two other presences that could be felt, these being noticeably stronger than the other lords. One was of that strangely familiar mana which Violet felt before, the second however, the second one did concern both girls. For it was twisted and corrupted.

When their own subdued presence brushed against it they instantly recoiled in horror, it felt like something was clawing at them. It was a disturbing feeling that left the two slightly rattled and hesitant in their decision to advance further.

Saddly though it seemed like their decision was to be made for them. For just as they were processing this information and telling both Susan and Rhyana, who lacked the advanced senses of a presence. A new presence made itself known, from the same location that they entered the city from. And it too was of a similar twisted and corrupted nature as the one that they sensed from deeper into the city.

Seeing the two evolved girls tense in shared worry Rhyana spoke up. "What is it? What have you felt?"

"There is another corrupted 4th tier creature, and it's arriving from where we just entered the city. It's moving in our direction. And it feels strong." Explained Luna with a worried expression on her face.

Silence settled over the group as they processed this fact. They were now being boxed into unfamiliar teritory, whilst surrounded in all sides by powerful beings. Two powerful corrupted creatures inculded, one before them and one behind. It was not a great situation to have found themselves in.

"Could we not just fight our way through the one behind us?" Asked Susan.

"No. It feels far too powerful for us to fight it ourselves, we might be able to escape from it… but I don't feel confident in battling it as we currently are." Violet's tone was subdued. "I think we should advance, I wouldn't be surprised if the normal beast lords are currently battling against the corrupted ones, maybe we can join them and fight together?"

She sounded slightly hesitant when she suggested that last part, but what choice did they truly have at this point?

Seeing as no one else had an alternative, and despite the danger that they would inevitably face by advancing. The group pushed forward.

They did not know what they would face further into this strange city, but Violet had a strong suspicion that it would involve quite a lot of fighting. And fighting was something that Violet knew quite a lot about.

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