The Ultimate Litter: A Beast World System Tale novel Chapter 174

Chapter 174 Begin The Blood Rite!

The second he finished speaking, one of the beastfolk shot to his fees and jabbed a finger at Marcus.

Finishe

“Exactly, My lord! If Marcus had fought, we never would’ve lost. Everyone in Grimstone knows you’re a Level 3 warrior, and that bizarre beast form of yours is one of the strongest around! He’s nothing but a coward!”

“Yeah! That’s right! A coward!”

As others began chiming in, the beastfolk who’d spoken up looked ever more pleased with himself, squaring his shoulders and puffing out his chest.

Finlay lifted a hand, his expression heavy with regret.

“Marcus is blind. Leave him out of this, and don’t take your anger out on him. As for this defeat, I’ll take responsibility on Hector’s behalf. I’ll clean up the mess he left behind. As the city lord of Grimstone, I’ll do everything I can to see us through this. Trust me-sending tribute to Valorhenge is only a temporary measure. It buys us time. Once we’ve rebuilt our strength, we’ll make them pay. One day, we’ll defeat Valorhenge.”

As he spoke, he raised an arm high, his powerful muscles on full display. The show of strength was hard to ignore, and before long, the crowd was hanging on every word.

A city lord like this was exactly what Grimstone needed.

“Roar! Roar! Roar!”

Three thunderous roars rolled across the gathering, rattling the crowd.

Just as the noise began to die down, a voice suddenly cut through the silence.

“My lord, I trust you. I do. But please… please give me back my daughter! She’s my only child. She has just come of age. She hasn’t even found a mate yet. You can’t send her to Valorhenge to die!”

The plea came from an elderly female beastfolk standing in the corner. Tears streaming down her face. Her eyes were filled with grief, and her thin, hunched frame looked painfully frail. Fighting through her sobs, she begged over and over, each word heavy with desperation.

Even the most cold-hearted beastfolk felt a pang of sympathy watching her.

So her Level 2 daughter had been taken away too?

Wasn’t that going a little too far?

And she wasn’t the only one. After she spoke, several more beastfolk rose to their feet, pleading with Finlay to give their loved ones back.

The loved ones who’d been taken from them included females who had only recently become pregnant, females with nursing young still depending on them, and even middle-aged females.

But they all had one thing in common. Every one of them was a rare Level 2 female, rounded up by force

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Chapter 174 Begin The Blood Rite!

from different places and locked away in wooden cages.

Finished

As more and more people stepped forward to plead their case, the mood of the crowd began to shift.

When the issue hadn’t affected them personally, most of them hadn’t given much thought to the fate of the captured females. But now, hearing the grief and desperation of those who had lost daughters, mates, and family members, they couldn’t help putting themselves in their place.

No one understood the value of females better than beastfolk did. And these weren’t just any females. They were rare Level 2 females, prized for their exceptional fertility.

Male beastfolk outnumbered females by an overwhelming margin in Grimstone. Females made up less than one percent of the population. Even if every female took as many mates as possible, countless males would remain alone.

Without females to keep them grounded, the males’ hot tempers often got the better of them. Fights broke out somewhere in the city almost every day.

And when beastfolk lost control and shifted into their beast forms, the damage only got worse. Streets and stone buildings were torn up so often that parts of the city seemed to be under constant repair.

With females already so scarce, was it really the right choice to send them away to Valorhenge?

Hidden among the crowd, Rufus raised an eyebrow. The beastfolk Zane had arranged hadn’t disappointed him. Finding all these beastfolk whose female relatives had been taken away had taken quite a bit of effort.

Fortunately, all that effort was starting to pay off.

Rufus folded his arms and watched Finlay’s expression darken by the second. The worse Finlay looked, the better Rufus felt.

You hurt Claire. This is just the beginning. The real reckoning is still to come.

Seeing the crowd starting to waver under the pleas of the grieving beastfolk, Finlay’s face darkened. He cast a subtle look toward several of his men standing nearby.\

Before long, those beastfolk were quietly pulled from the crowd.

Though they continued shouting and protesting that they didn’t want to leave, the city guards dragged them off regardless.

Only after every troublesome beastfolk had been removed did Finlay speak again.

“Every great cause demands sacrifice. That’s the way it’s always been. If giving up ten females can buy us a year of peace, why wouldn’t we make that trade?”

The beastfolk below exchanged uncertain looks. If sacrificing a handful of females meant they could avoid risking their own lives on the battlefield, then what reason was there to fight in some deadly warzone?

The more they thought about it, the more appealing the deal seemed.

Only a small number of beastfolk looked down on such a trade.

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Chapter 174 Begin The Blood Rite!

Finished

To them, there was nothing honorable about trading away females for peace. If anything, it was shameful. But with Finlay taking such a hard stance-and the burly city guards standing nearby, watching the crowd with hard, warning eyes none of threm had the nerve to speak their minds. So they kept their mouths.

shut.

Worried that someone else might stand up and stir the crowd, Finlay quickly waved toward the deer beastfolk.

“Begin the blood rite!”

The deer beastfolk nodded. At his cue, the drums started up again. More than a dozen muscular male beastfolk stepped onto the platform, their bare chests gleaming with sweat. Moving in perfect time with the driving beat, they launched into the ritual dance.

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The Ultimate Liter A Beast World System Tale