Chapter 969

C969

Patlok, the third city of the Red Legend Tribe.

“Damn it! I can’t believe that compatriot Gaila and Usrok’s stronghold were destroyed so easily…!”

Rakiman Hog roared.

Usrok’s fourth city was under attack, so it was natural that the remaining cities of the Red Legend Tribe were also on high alert.

While Usrok’s communication with them occurred occasionally, the news that was transmitted was grim.

They heard the voices of their compatriots being massacred by magic and fire, and even the Great King of Battle Gaila couldn’t hide her bewilderment as she screamed. They couldn’t hear what Gaila and the others were saying precisely due to communication interference.

But it was certain that it was filled with screams and death. And there was only one figure on the screens of the Red Legend Tribe commanders: Elona Zipple.

Shimat fixed his gaze on the image that appeared on the bracelet, and his face filled with despair. Gaila’s last transmission was replaying on the screen.

 -{I thought you were already consumed by the Holy Crown, but you resist more fiercely than I expected. Gaila Tun, these meaningless actions will only tire you.}

 -{Ugh…}

 -{Well, I guess you can’t hear me anyway.}

The blurry image showed fragmented scenes along with the voice of the situation at that time.

Gaila lunged at Elona and attacked randomly for a while. Her Light Heart was broken, and she had lost her reason.

Such attacks posed no threat to Elona. She calmly defended against Gaila’s attacks, buying time until the Holy Crown completely consumed Gaila. She intentionally didn’t kill her.

 -{Finally, you’re quiet now. Hmm… yes, you originally planned to use a fortress transformation to allow your subordinates to escape. And this castle was once an air fortress that destroyed the first-class tower of the Lisslit Autonomous District in the past, right?}

 -{Kahak, ugh.}

 -{Ah, it seems there wasn’t enough blood to use the air fortress. But it would make a fine trophy.}

The remaining video on the bracelet was all they had. There might have been more to the situation, but they couldn’t discern the rest due to communication interference.

‘Elona Zipple seems to possess the ability to interfere with communication and spatial jumps, just like the great forces of the pre-seal era. She probably learned this ability during the recent battles in the True Demon World. And this communication was probably transmitted when Elona Zipple temporarily couldn’t fully control the interference while dealing with compatriot Gaila and the others.’

Shimat focused more on the abilities displayed by Elona than on Gaila’s death and the destruction of Usrok.

While lamenting the deaths of their compatriots was incomparably painful, if they didn’t respond quickly, other tribe members would suffer the same fate.

“….. Compatriot Rakiman, we must fight.”

Rakiman flinched and looked surprised.

“Compatriot Shimat, what are you talking about? You were the one who argued during the emergency meeting after the incident broke out, saying that we shouldn’t send reinforcements to Usrok!”

Rakiman shouted with a look as if he could tear Shimat apart at any moment.

As Rakiman stated, during the emergency meeting that followed the incident, Shimat had vehemently opposed the opinions of other Great Kings of Battle who suggested sending reinforcements to Usrok.

The Great Kings of Battle believed that, no matter how powerful Elona was, it was unreasonable to simply stand idly by and let one person break into their stronghold. They argued that if the air fortresses moved simultaneously, they would not only stop Elona but might also kill her.

But Bakarun, the current supreme commander of the Red Legend Tribe, supported Shimat’s opinion. Therefore, it was natural that Rakiman wanted to kill him after seeing Shimat suddenly advocating for a fight.

“That’s right. But I still believe we shouldn’t fight Elona now. In fact, I became more convinced after seeing the video left by compatriot Gaila. I don’t know what happened in the True Demon World, but Elona Zipple is currently far stronger than we’ve known until now. Furthermore, it seems she’s acquired an extremely potent ability to control minds.”

“Hah! Then what do you mean we should fight *against*?”

“It’s the Imperial Family. In my opinion, our Red Legend Tribe should immediately attack the Imperial Family with all air fortresses and troops.”

“What…!? What nonsense are you saying? Compatriot Gaila and the others couldn’t even activate the air fortresses immediately because they lacked blood.”

“We will turn the second-class and lower-ranking Kings of Battle into sacrifices and add the blood of the remaining Blue Legend Tribe members in Patlok. This will allow us to activate the air fortresses immediately.”

“You’re crazy! Our Red Legend Tribe always refrained from such actions even during the Great Seal!”

In the past, the Red Legend Tribe had a total of six air fortresses. These consisted of the five fortresses controlled by the Great Kings of Battle and one fortress exclusively for the God of Battle.

However, the God of Battle’s air fortresses had disappeared, and Gaila’s Usrok had recently become a war trophy for Zipple.

Shimat was convinced that if things continued as they were, all the remaining air fortresses would fall into the hands of Zipple or the Imperial Family, and the Red Legend Tribe would be destroyed.

“So we have to use the four air fortresses to change our relationship with the Imperial Family first. Afterward, we will somehow find the compatriot God of Battle while Zipple and Runcandel keep each other at bay.”

“This is mind-boggling. Alright, let’s say we’ll do it your way. But what exactly are we placing our faith in? Why do we believe in such a gamble, turning our healthy compatriots into sacrifices, consuming the blood of the saved members of the Blue Legend Tribe? There’s no confirmation that there are Blue Legend Tribe members buried in the Imperial Family’s fortresses, right?”

“Hah, compatriot Rakiman.”

Shimat sighed and looked Rakiman in the eyes. At that moment, Rakiman felt intimidated and almost took a step back, as if he were facing the eyes of the enraged God of Battle of the past.

“It’s just a choice between dying slowly or taking a risk when there’s still hope. Do you think I want to turn my compatriots into sacrifices? We made the decision to attack the Imperial Family immediately after compatriot Bakarun awakened, and we moved immediately, but our enemies are moving faster than that.”

The Vamel Alliance’s strength increased with Jin’s ascension to Genesis Knight and the returning expedition team, and Zipple even grew stronger thanks to Elona’s awakening. Kelliark’s sudden return was bad news for the Red Legend Tribe.

Although Kinzelo hadn’t shown any striking qualities since conquering the True Demon World, their strength was shown simply by the fact that the aforementioned forces didn’t carelessly mess with them.

On the other hand, the Red Legend Tribe had lost everything in a sudden attack, including Gaila, their fleet, all their forces, and even the Usu air fortress. And this happened during their preparations to betray the Imperial Family.

“You said there might not be blood of Blue Legend Tribe members in the Imperial Family’s fortresses? That may be true. However, in that case, we can simply take the blood of the Imperial Family members themselves. We must somehow suppress the Imperial Family and find the whereabouts of the compatriot God of Battle for our future. Do you think it will be easy to defeat the Imperial Family, the Vamel Alliance, or Zipple and Kinzelo with our current strength?”

Rakiman couldn’t express his anger any further.

Even without the illusion of sensing the God of Battle’s majesty in Shimat, his argument held some validity.

“Perhaps Elona is already on the move. It’s been more than an hour since this communication arrived, so it wouldn’t be strange if the same situation as in Usrok is happening right here in Patlok Fortress. Besides, we are the closest to Usrok.”

“…Hah! Alright, compatriot Shimat. Let’s contact compatriot Bakarun for now.”

The red light spread from Rakiman’s bracelet, and a window appeared.

{Compatriot Rakiman. Did another communication from Usrok arrive, by any chance?}

“Compatriot Bakarun, compatriot Shimat has something to say.”

{Tell me.}

Shimat calmly transmitted his opinion to Bakarun.

Bakarun showed signs of discomfort during the part about turning their compatriots into sacrifices. However, as soon as the conversation ended, he decided to accept Shimat’s proposal.

{It’s probably best to implement it immediately. The situation is so dangerous that even discussing the details feels risky. So, what initial invasion areas have you chosen?}

“Pirol and Maysil. The Imperial Family has been mostly observed delivering blood from Blue Legend Tribe members through Pirol when they provide it to us. And according to the information I’ve separately gathered, Maysil is very likely to be the Emperor’s residence.”

Both Pirol and Maysil were ancient cities inhabited by small beastmen.

Among them, Pirol was the area where Orgal once came to meet with the Red Legend Tribe in the past and encountered Manoff and his Demon Men.

At that time, the Demon Men were completed based on the information remaining in Temar’s body, and Orgal hadn’t yet properly shared that information with Jin.

{I understand. The First Fortress, Pibilok, will head to Maysil immediately. It will take approximately an hour to activate the fortress.}

“Phase 1 will succeed as long as Elona Zipple doesn’t attack Patlok. We will also begin preparations.”

Rakiman had no objection to the two making decisions without him, the master of Patlok. He had warned Shimat that such a display of majesty was inappropriate.

Except in peculiar and special cases like Shimat, the Red Legend Tribe was a society where subordinates must obey the orders of their superiors.

There was no one who resisted being turned into a sacrifice for Patlok’s activation. The Red Legend Tribe members willingly sacrificed blood and lives and chanted.

“For the Red Legend Tribe!”

“May the red sky return!”

Pibilok and Patlok, the two air fortresses, began to rise into the lower sky.

The Imperial Family, still unaware of Elona’s invasion, was simply transferring Blue Legend Tribe members to Pirol. They planned to offer carrots and sticks to the Red Legend Tribe.