203: Chapter 203 You are mine now

Chapter 203: "You belong to me now"

Saloyan Dan's expression changed repeatedly, and then he threw the Soldier he was holding in his hand onto the ground, turned around, and strode toward the temple of the sacrificial ceremony.

The temple was located in the northern area of the encampment, occupying nearly one-third of the land, and was the most sacred and inviolable place of the Shadow Leopard Tribe.

The temple gates, made of refined stone, were covered with mysterious flowing light patterns, and two tall and solemn humanoid Shadow Leopard statues holding spears stood on both sides of the entrance, closely watching everyone who entered the temple.

Saloyan Dan passed through the gates unhindered, walking quickly into the temple along the floor paved with fine black crystal rock.

Every five meters on both sides of the path, a pair of spear-holding Totem Warriors stood guard, which was a high-level military defense measure only present during sacrificial ceremonies.

After sweeping past the sharp gazes of dozens of pairs of Totem Warriors and walking quickly for more than two hundred meters, Saloyan Dan finally arrived outside the gates of the core area of the temple.

After a thorough inspection and removing his weapons, Saloyan Dan was permitted to enter the core area.

Passing through the quaint mithril gates, a huge square came into Saloyan Dan's view, with a wide cone-shaped dome carved with a large number of unknown creatures at the top.

Below, in the center, a giant refined-stone humanoid Shadow Leopard statue sat upright upon a throne, its majestic and profound gaze seeming to be able to see through everything.

At this moment, the area around the sacrificial altar, which was a few meters high at the feet of the stone statue, was bustling with people, numbering around five or six hundred.

These people were very clearly divided into three factions, with the faction standing closest to the altar and having the fewest people, numbering around thirty or forty, acting as the leaders.

Every single one of them was dressed in exquisite animal-skin robes, with a few wearing animal-skin cloaks on their backs, exuding a daunting and oppressive aura from inside and out; they were none other than Poras, the leader of the Shadow Leopard Tribe, and a few high-ranking personnel.

Another faction, the largest with about three to four hundred people, had extremely young faces, and most of them looked at the last group of people not far away with curious, excited, and expectant eyes.

That was the purpose of their trip to the temple sacrificial ceremony, and also the prey they were about to kill — the Green Pig Tribe captives.

Expressions of despair, pain, and numbness now surfaced one by one on the faces of the tattered Green Pig Tribe captives.

As a tribe not far from the Shadow Leopard Tribe, all of their people, from top to bottom, had long heard of the cruel sacrificial rituals of the Shadow Leopard Tribe.

Now that they had been brought here as captives, the consequences they would face next could be imagined.

Previously, because the Flame Tiger Tribe was eyeing them covetously, coupled with the fact that several tribes separated the Green Pig Tribe and the Shadow Leopard Tribe,

and there was a decent-strength tribe in the middle with whom various parties could form a joint front to barely resist,

their tribe didn't worry too much about the Shadow Leopard Tribe's invasion, but all of this had vanished not long ago.

First, the Flame Tiger Tribe went to war with the Frost Lion Tribe, causing the Flame Tiger Tribe to focus almost all of its attention on the Frost Lion Tribe.

Even if the Shadow Leopard Tribe made any unusual moves, the Flame Tiger Tribe could not easily intervene in time.

This led to the Shadow Leopard Tribe suddenly launching a sneak attack on that decent-strength tribe some time ago, completely annihilating them.

With no tribe in between to distract or hold them back, the Green Pig Tribe had undoubtedly turned into a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

After discovering this huge hidden danger, the Green Pig Tribe leader immediately organized everyone in the tribe to migrate to avoid potential disasters.

But who would have thought that just as they were about to set off, the Giant Elephant Tribe in the west suddenly launched an attack on them.

Although the Giant Elephant Tribe was not as powerful as the Shadow Leopard Tribe, it was still incomparable to a weak agricultural tribe like the Green Pig Tribe.

Without the deterrence of the Flame Tiger Tribe, the Giant Elephant Tribe mobilized most of its military forces and destroyed the Green Pig Tribe with crushing momentum.

Meanwhile, because of the fine iron mine matter, the Shadow Leopard Tribe attacked the Giant Elephant Tribe.

This caused a small portion of the large number of captives, who should have been transported to the Giant Elephant Tribe encampment, to be intercepted by the Shadow Leopard Tribe.

Although neither tribe was anything good, compared to the utterly evil Shadow Leopard Tribe, these captives would still rather go to the Giant Elephant Tribe to be humble beasts of burden, so that they could at least survive.

But it was too late to say anything now; what they would face next was only inhumane abuse and slaughter.

Perhaps only the gods could save them — — — —

Saloyan Dan had seen too many such desperate expressions from the Green Pig Tribe captives, and had long since become physically and psychologically immune to them.

Without the slightest pause in his running footsteps, he accelerated and hurried toward the leader Poras.

Noticing his arrival and anxious look, the fierce-eyed and lean Poras asked with slight confusion: "Saloyan Dan, what happened outside, why is there such a big commotion?"

"Reporting to Lord Leader, this subordinate has come precisely to report this matter to you." Saloyan Dan had no time to salute and quickly reported: "Two Soldiers reported one after another that a powerful magic beast and a beast tide have invaded the eastern area of the tribe's encampment."

"What!" Poras's body trembled, and the aura invisibly emitted suppressed many people around him, making it difficult for them to breathe.

Saloyan Dan was secretly startled: "Lord Leader's aura is so strong, could it be that he has already taken that step — — — —"

Before he could think much, a shocked and angry Poras immediately ordered: "Leave a few junior Totem Warriors here to guard, and the rest follow me to resist the beast tide."

He did not question the content of Saloyan Dan's report. First, he knew Saloyan Dan didn't have the guts to lie to him; second, he had vaguely heard some commotion from outside the temple just now, which served as confirmation.

Watching the people who decided their life and death leave so resolutely and suddenly, the negative emotions in the eyes of the Green Pig Tribe captives fluctuated slightly.

Saloyan Dan's words just now had not been lowered in volume, and they had heard them clearly.

They were not strangers to beast tides at all; they were major calamities that could determine the life and death of a tribe, with an extremely high level of danger.

It was just that they were currently detained here and unable to witness the beast tide with their own eyes, making it impossible to judge the level of the beast tide invading the Shadow Leopard Tribe encampment.

If it was just a small-scale beast tide, it naturally wouldn't cause much disaster to a tribe like the Shadow Leopard Tribe.

But if it was a medium or large-scale beast tide — — — —

Thinking of this, they all began to look forward to it in secret, hoping that the scale of this beast tide invasion would be as large as possible.

Even if they might also be devastated by the beast tide because of this, compared to the devastation of the Shadow Leopard Tribe, they would rather everyone die together.

While they were indulging in their thoughts, Poras, taking Saloyan Dan and others, had already left the temple gates and rode horses toward the eastern area invaded by the beast tide.

Currently, there were not many strong individuals left in the Shadow Leopard Tribe. Aside from the leader Poras, there was only one Intermediate Totem Warrior of Silver Mid-Tier strength, and three of Silver Initial-Tier strength.

Of the remaining batch of junior Totem Warriors, less than half were left in the tribe, and those who were absent had all been sent to the front line fighting the Giant Elephant Tribe.

Under the galloping horses, the eastern area quickly appeared before the eyes of Poras and the others.

As the area where the most tribal civilians lived, the housing and architectural structures in the eastern area were relatively dense and narrow.

Once disasters like fires broke out, they would spread very easily, thereby causing massive casualties, let alone now when it was suffering a beast tide invasion.

At this moment, the eastern area no longer possessed its past ease and tranquility. Everywhere there were tragic scenes of magic beasts and wild beasts fighting against tribal Totem Warriors and Soldiers, as well as slaughtering civilians.

Amidst the messy ruins covered in firelight and smoke, thick crimson blood spread in patches, and the entire ground resembled a river infused with blood.

Scene after scene instantly impacted Poras's eyes, and the anger in his heart surged out all at once.

But anger was anger; he had not lost his reason. It was true that those who died were the tribal civilians he ruled over, but they were just some commoners after all.

As long as the foundation of the tribe was not harmed, he wouldn't care particularly. The anger in his heart was only because the beast tide's invasion had damaged his dignity as a leader.

If he let it alone, how would he, the leader, command obedience in the future?

Even if he suppressed them by relying on his powerful strength, it still couldn't offset the resistance in the hearts of the people, and sooner or later, huge hidden dangers would arise.

This was not only disadvantageous to his future rule of the tribe, but would also affect the current struggle with the Giant Elephant Tribe.

However, he knew very well that a beast tide was incomparable to ordinary attacks. If he acted rashly without judging the situation clearly, it would easily cause irreversible negative consequences.

His leopard-sharp eyes quickly swept across the chaotic area before him that could not be completely observed, and he immediately had a calculation in his heart.

"Saloyan Dan, you immediately lead a team of men to figure out the source of the beast tide attack, and Taft, you take men to reinforce — — — —"

Following his rapid commands, Saloyan Dan and other Totem Warriors led their men to quickly rush to various parts of the eastern area for reinforcements.

Watching the figures of everyone completely disappear, he also immediately led the remaining people to roam the eastern area, preparing to figure out all the forces invading in the beast tide.

As the horses galloped rapidly, tragic scenes continuously caught his eyes, making the look of suspicion in his eyes grow increasingly intense.

Ever since he heard Saloyan Dan report to him about the beast tide invasion, he had already sensed that something was wrong with it.

A beast tide could not be formed simply by a word or two; the reasons behind it were basically just a few points.

Either a powerful magic beast was leading it from behind, and Saloyan Dan mentioned a powerful magic beast when reporting just now, showing that this probability was not small.

Or it was to escape the hunting of powerful magic beasts or other ethnic groups, but under his observation for this brief moment, he found that this was not the case at all.

The last point was that they were stimulated by something huge, causing them to gather and riot spontaneously.

Through observing the states of those magic beasts and wild beasts, he found this possibility to be the greatest.

Normally, magic beasts were much wiser than wild beasts, and wild beasts were even harder to compare in terms of rational control.

But now, everywhere within his line of sight, the magic beasts he saw all had eyes like red balls, resembling manic patients who had lost their minds.

Any civilians touched by them would be torn to pieces alive, with not a shred of opportunity to escape with their lives.

Under this seemingly mindless indiscriminate attack, he acutely discovered that they were actually searching for something, and this point happened to coincide with the stimulation theory he had thought of earlier.

"But what on earth are they looking for?" Poras couldn't help muttering to himself.

Amidst his flying thoughts, a strong scent that stimulated his nerves suddenly wafted to the tip of his nose, causing his expression to change drastically: "High-level Magic Beast — — — — No, that's not right, the death aura in this scent is extremely rich, and the essence of the remaining power is still somewhat lacking."

"Since it's not a living High-level Magic Beast — — — —" After pondering for a few seconds, he suddenly realized the essence of the stimulation: "This is the essence blood of a high-bloodline magic beast, no wonder it triggered a beast tide."

"However, such precious magic beast essence blood couldn't just appear out of thin air, yet now it has appeared in the tribe I rule."

Thinking of this, his sharp eyes narrowed slightly, emitting a freezing, bone-chilling intent to kill: "Using the hands of a beast tide to deal with me? What a grand gesture indeed."

"Could it be the Giant Elephant Tribe? Or the Flame Tiger Tribe? Or perhaps — — — —"

For a moment, several tribe names popped into his mind, but the ones he felt had the greatest possibility were still the Giant Elephant Tribe and the Flame Tiger Tribe.

The former was competing with their tribe for the ownership of the fine iron mine, and while the latter was also fighting powerful enemies, it was hard to guarantee they wouldn't do this to weaken them.

Just as he was pondering and analyzing, on the other side, Lister and the others had already silently arrived outside the northern area.

The beast tide invasion made the already loophole-ridden defense measures on the outer perimeter of the northern area even more rudimentary. Normally, with the Shadow Leopard Tribe's military strength, it wouldn't be like this.

But the struggle with the Giant Elephant Tribe forced Poras to dispatch a large number of troops, leaving not many troops remaining within the tribe's encampment.

Exactly because he learned this intelligence from Sejin, coupled with the blizzard still being in its lull period, Lister chose to launch the beast tide attack tonight.

Looking at the countless flashes of fire in the east, and the faint shrill screams coming to his ears, there was not a trace of sympathy on his face.

After briefly observing the location of the temple and the remaining Soldiers, he did not make any extra tactical arrangements.

Shortly after receiving Raymond's message earlier, he knew that the high-ranking personnel of the Shadow Leopard Tribe, such as the leader who should have been in the temple, had all left to support the eastern area.

Now he just needed to lead everyone, charge straight in from the northern side, and rescue those Green Pig Tribe captives.

Without any hesitation, he immediately ordered: "Target the Shadow Leopard Tribe temple, everyone charge in with me."

Although they didn't understand why Lister had already completed the launch of the beast tide, yet still wanted to assault the other party's temple,

as Lister's most loyal knights, they would not have the slightest doubt and would only strictly execute all commands.

Besides, going on a mission to just launch a beast tide without personally killing the enemy lacked a certain feeling after all.

Now attacking the tribe's most important temple made them start to get excited again.

Without saying another word, everyone tightened their reins and abruptly rushed out of the gloomy woods.

Before the remaining Soldiers could react, dozens of cold, gleaming arrows precisely pierced the fatal parts of their bodies.

Following closely after were terrifying skill slashes of formidable momentum, and the remaining few Soldiers along with the guard towers instantly turned into ruins.

The party entered like no one was there, leaving no survivors in their wake, and soon charged and killed their way outside the temple.

Looking at the temple without doors, Lister on horseback gripped the spear in his hand and, without another word, swung it fiercely toward the temple's refined-stone wall.

Boom —!

The terrifying tornado storm formed by the Storm Spear Technique blasted open a large hole in the temple in the blink of an eye.

The sudden explosive scene caused the expressions of the few Totem Warriors left behind inside the temple to change drastically, and the Green Pig Tribe captives who were honestly guarded in place dropped their jaws in shock.

Before everyone could react, several slashes of Dou Qi Energy roared out from the dust and flying dirt, and all the Totem Warriors fell to the ground and died to the sound.

Lister, showing a heroic figure while riding on horseback, coldly swept his gaze across the entire grand hall, and then fell upon that group of people who looked like beggars.

"Are you people of the Green Pig Tribe?"

Swallowing hard, a young man among the captives stammered: "Y-Yes, Lord Transcendent."

"Very well, you belong to me now, follow me all of you!"