"Sir Taka, were they supposed to be this stupid? Shouldn't tier 3 and above beasts have intelligence similar to humans?"
Looking a the carcass of the monstrous beast, Alex asked. In his mind, he always had this doubt that something was off.
"They are usually smart. But these beasts aren't." Saying that Taka looked at Kalina.
Last time, when the Blue gem city was attacked by the same evil organisation. They were able to acquire the corpses of the beast. And after carefully dissecting them, they realised something.
As if knowing why Taka was looking at her, Kalina answered Alex's question.
"Sigh! These beasts are artificially strengthened. If that was not the case, we would have had to use spirit guardian possession, the exclusive skill of the tier 4 warriors to defeat the beast." The exhausted Kalina said.
Just imagining a real tier 4 beast attacking a city was giving her headaches. Fortunately, that was not the case.
Alex who heard this quickly grasped the situation. The evil organisation was somehow manufacturing powerful beasts. But they couldn't develop the intelligence of these beasts. It might also be a self-imposed limitation to control the beast. After all, there was no assurance that a highly intelligent beast might follow their orders.
And the fact that it might force even powerful tier 4 warriors to use spirit guardian possession to deal with tier 4 beasts was new information to Alex.
This made him reevaluate his own strength carefully.
Tier 4 exclusive ability, spirit guardian possession was a short-duration strength amplification skill. It could suddenly elevate the fighting prowess of the warriors at the cost of a weakened state later.
Even though Alex has never seen anyone use this skill. He knew that tier 4 warriors had it in their arsenal. And it seems like they will only use it when their life was at stake.
"Do you know how they strengthened the beasts? It's better if you would allow me to take this corpse and study it later." Alex inquired while looking at the corpse of the beasts. In his eyes, the value of the beast was immense. He could learn something while also using it as fertiliser. He had no reason to not take it.
"From our observation, the beasts seem to be contaminated by some nefarious energy. And if our prediction is correct, the energy is similar to the energy the sealed demon of the north gives off. So, be careful with what you do with the carcass." Kalina warned Alex.
'That eliminates eating or using it as animal feed from the list of things I could do with the carcass. All that remains are forging weapons and making fertiliser. If only there was a way to eat some.' The greedy Alex thought.
It took a moment for the group to finally remember the prince who was fighting against a giant monkey alone.
"Ah… Shouldn't we help the prince fight the monkey?" Taka asked while Alex was storing the carcasses.
"You do that, Let me go and rest. I am tired." Alex disappeared after saying that.
The thunderstorm was about to reach the city. The rain had already begun drizzling around the city.
Alex reappeared near the collapsed building and took shelter inside it. Laya was also inside the building.
BOOOM! BOOOM!
The thunderous sound of a giant monkey slamming its fist against the space bind used by Taka shook the surroundings.
Kalina froze the ground creating thick ice spikes to decrease the mobility of the monkey.
The prince, Ethan Solarion released beams of fiery light towards the beast. Trying to deal critical damage to it.
And finally, they successfully took down the beast with their combined effort.
—----------
Meanwhile, Alex recovered his strength.
"Do you perhaps know where the blue gem is?" Alex asked Laya.
'If she had seen the first elder colluding with the evil organisation, she might know where the blue gem is.' And it was this thought that led Alex to ask the question.
"The first elder has it. He retrieved it from the black-robed people. He was trying to retrieve it and use it as a tool in the power struggle of the tribe. He was planning to fight for the head of tribe position by showing his contribution in securing the blue gem."
"Aren't you reading into it too much? The first elder might have had other nefarious purposes behind his action. You don't actually believe the world revolves around you and your tribe, right?" Alex asked with a smirk.
"But the first elder does. For as long as I remember, he was always scheming behind the scene to become the head of the tribe." Laya replied in a firm tone. There was no doubt in her voice. It was as if she firmly believed in her words.
"The first elder is a selfish man who is willing to sacrifice his own tribesmen to satiate his hunger for power. I saw that first-hand while he conversed with the leader of the evil organisation. You should always be wary of him." She said with utter disgust.
"I can understand. After all, that sick bastard tried to kill me once. So, where is he? Shouldn't he be here battling against you? I don't think he will let you live after discovering his secret."
"BOOOOM! CRACK…." With sky-shattering sounds, thunder and purple lightning flashed over their head. Unknowingly the thunderstorm had flown over them.
Suddenly, Laya peered into the sky. She gazed deep into the depth of the thunderstorm.
Seeing her peculiar action, Alex followed suit. And among the crackling lightning, Alex saw something horrifying.
He saw a giant shadow moving among the churning clouds.
"Don't friggin tell me…" The awestruck Alex forgot to close his mouth while looking at the clouds.
"Don't tell me the rumbling I heard from the sky was not just thunder. It was the battle taking place above me."
"Yes. You guessed it correctly." An even more ferocious battle was happening inside the clouds that spanned kilometres over the city.
And the answer to the simple question of where the strongest warriors of Thousand headed Serpent tribe went was finally revealed.
They didn't go anywhere. Before Alex came, they were already facing off against a superior enemy. And the thunderstorm he saw when he came to the city was just the aftermath of their action.
"The first elder, is he inside the cloud?" Alex asked while trying to hide his amazement.
"Not just the first elder. The Leader of the Thousand-headed Serpent tribe, a tier 5 warrior and all other tier 4 warriors of his tribe were facing off against an unfathomable existence. They initially moved far away from the city to battle the enemy. But it seems like they are being forced to move towards the city."
"Sigh…If what you say is true, I think the Leader of the Thousand-headed Serpent tribe is losing. Or else, how can he allow the enemy to move closer to the city? The destructive power of unleashing their skills is far above what normal people can tolerate." Alex sighed while pinching his eyebrows. This was a headache with no cure.
Against absolute strength, his schemes were nothing but child's play. He had no way of interfering in that battle.
The situation was direr than he thought.
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