I watched on as the Corrupted King Realm's body slowly disintegrated, starting from the source, the corruption was now completely covering him with no skin unturned. His previous brownish skin was now pitch-black as it slowly turned into ashes blown away by the winds.
As I had guessed, when the corruption reaches its completion, the Barbarian's body will collapse. Unless they achieved assimilation, there's no future for them but that.
From that Corrupted King Realm's mouth, we learned that Raiden successfully killed their Chieftain, some of them surrendered and willingly followed the new Chieftain in the form of Raiden.
Most barbarians' way of thinking was this simple, follow the strong. However, there's always some like this guy who was completely loyal to his Chieftain. Seeing the situation, he fled among others who felt the same.
As they were in the process of leaving the area, they met a Dark Beastmaster who stopped them and offered them revenge. Riding on the situation that they're still aggrieved by the death of their Chieftain, all of them willingly get corrupted in the hopes of taking revenge against the Lightning Chieftain.
Why didn't he start his own tribe then? He's strong enough to do that somewhere but no, he chose to be corrupted.
Currently, his army that was previously made to stand by here and the absorbed tribesmen of the opposite tribe were being besieged at their location. The army stationed here were called by Raiden to reinforce them.
He couldn't rely completely on the newly absorbed tribesmen, if he shows any weakness against Dark Beastmasters, they will abandon him just the same since they're originally enemies
That's the reason why they're not here.
The three Dark Beastmasters that were deployed here were ordered to stop and kill every messenger that will pass by. Hence the explanation of why there's no news about them for 2 days.
And this Corrupted Barbarian was sent to supervise and to stop any possible reinforcement. They probably heard about the Old Man and that made them become wary of him.
But they underestimated his strength. Most likely Old Man Reol is the top expert which is the closest to the Emperor Realm in this world. One Corrupted King Realm isn't a threat to him.
It's another story if they could send 10 at once. Otherwise, there's no way they could defeat him. They could stall him, sure, but that's all they can do.
Ah well. I told the Corrupted Barbarian that I'll stop the hastening of his corruption if he told us everything. Sadly, by the time he finished talking about the things we wanted to know, it's already too late for him. Even when I stopped it, he's too far gone that the corruption sped up by itself.
When his body completely disintegrated, the Dark Beastmaster who listened to me looked expectantly.
"W-we can go now, right?"
He almost bit his tongue by talking too nervously.
"Sure. Go on."
Overjoyed, he hurriedly put his unconscious companion at his back and bolted away from us.
However, ten steps later, a Pillar dropped from above them, turning them into a meat paste in an instant.
"You really let them go."
While controlling his bloodied Pillar back to his body, Old Man Reol commented.
"I'm a man of my words. Besides, I know you won't let them go."
It's really that guy's fault for believing me. It's not like I lied to them, anyway.
Besides, I would have died from them earlier if not for the Orb of Concealment. They're enemies who not only have the resources but also the personnel.
Losing three 2-Star Beastmasters was something negligible to them but for us, cutting their numbers even for a bit is a great contribution.
"You sly kid. Let's go."
Well, letting my dark thoughts take over produced results but I feel like that's not as far as I could go. That Beastmaster was too weak-willed that he succumbed to the fear of dying immediately. How was it in their world, I wonder?
Maybe there will come a time when I have to infiltrate their world to learn more. But upgrading my Adaptability comes first as well as enough strength that will allow me to survive without relying on someone stronger.
Why would I want to infiltrate their world? Of course, it's to adapt their higher inherent energy and make it mine. Just that there's a lot of things to do and to consider first.
Now with a destination in mind, we're set off to the location where the opponent tribe was located. Waiting for us there will be another battlefield but this time I won't have any crucial role to play except to become Raiden's Support.
He only told me about that Temporal Acceleration, surely, there's more to it than what he initially told me, right? Like a different use of it, just like how Yuko can predict her opponent's moves or see what will happen a few hours in the future.
Since large tribes often have a conflict with one another, they tend to stay far away. Some weaker large tribes who don't want to be absorbed by their neighbour will move their central area away to avoid conflict.
And this particular tribe was someone who got provoked when Raiden took in a medium tribe that was nearer than them.
The Chieftain interpreted that as Raiden encroaching in his territory so he started raiding the Heavenly Lightning Tribe's subordinates which led to the current situation that they had to go to war.
Knowing Raiden and his plan to unify the plains, he probably really did that to provoke them and have a reason to declare war. In any case, he got caught up in this trouble because of what happened in Yuko's Otherworld. Am I partly responsible? I don't know. Future is always uncertain anyway, even if the Principal predicted that my presence changed the flow of events, it is still bound to change.
After flying for another hour atop Old Man Reol's Pillar, an astonishing scene lay before our eyes after passing a series of rocky hills.
In that wide plain, a huge number of beasts and barbarians alike were in a standstill.
At the right side were the enemies consisting of Dark Beastmasters atop their own beasts that originated from their own world. Corrupted Barbarians and the wild beasts native to this world that they put under their control.
At the left side where there lies a huge tribal area with tents and structures erected, An army consisting of a few thousand barbarians of different realms were lined up there. Standing in front of them was a somewhat muscular young man, in his hand was a huge sledgehammer that's already dyed red with blood.
Takahashi Raiden, the Lightning Chieftain.
A Halo could be seen on top of his head but it's not activated yet. It just gave off a bright light to inspire awe and raise the morale of his army.
Even from afar, I noticed how he was smiling towards this situation as he looked on at the enemies surrounding them.
Looks like my worry was unnecessary. Even in this disadvantageous situation, he's still enjoying it.
There were already a number of corpses scattered on the ground and vulture-like avian species feasting on them.
Due to the Old Man Reol's eye-catching Pillars, everyone noticed our arrival.
Raiden's eyes were not looking at the Old Man though, but to me who's behind him.
Only when I got closer did I notice how fatigued he is right now.
As soon as we landed, I threw two balls of different energies towards him. A Psyche and Physique Boost which immediately took effect.
"What should I say? You're just in time, Daisuke."
He didn't even ask why am I here as if he was sure I would really come.
After saying that, he raised his Sledgehammer and shouted.
As if that shout was a cue, everyone immediately kicked the ground charged forward.
Another bloody and chaotic battle will ensue. I will stay back and observe to learn more. Not only about the enemies but also about this Hero.
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦