Chapter 98: Group Leader [2]

"Hmm? What’s wrong with me?"Rion smiled wryly, and instead of answering her, he pushed his hand towards Granny Nena.

Granny Nena shook her head and pulled him towards Jura.

"Tch," Haria clicked her tongue, and her gaze drifted towards Haden, who was watching her with a silent smile.

Her heart began to beat loudly at the thought of walking over to the man whom she once addressed as her father, but... she didn’t move. She bit her lips and turned her head towards Rion.

Haden didn’t move either and shifted his eyes to Rion.

Rion hugged Jura and whispered in his ear, "Thanks for letting Dora learn your bow."

Jura grinned and said, "Haha! You don’t have to thank me for taking such an exceptional student." He paused for a moment and added playfully, "Shouldn’t we talk about how you stole two of my best aura techniques instead?"

’Blasted hell! I didn’t think of that...’ Rion forced out a cough and stepped back with a sheepish smile.

"Pha-haha!" Jura laughed and muttered while patting his shoulder, "Don’t worry about it. I am glad that they proved useful."

Rion smiled, and Nena pulled him over to Arok.

Arok didn’t hug Rion right away; instead, he studied him with his arms folded across his chest. A few moments later, he said, "Your grandfather would’ve been proud of you."

Rion frowned and asked, "What do you mean...?"

However, Arok didn’t answer and just left after patting his shoulder.

The other gods’ descendants looked at Arok with a frown, and Rion asked, "Why did he say that?"

"Don’t brood over it," Granny Nena responded and pulled him towards Yuura.

Rion looked at her in confusion and thought, ’What are they trying to hide now?’

He pushed his thoughts aside and looked at Yuura, who was kneeling before him. The other gods’ descendants frowned deeply, and Granny Nena asked with a confused expression, "What are you doing, descendant of speed?"

Yuura turned his head towards her and answered as if he couldn’t understand why she was acting so puzzled, "I am kneeling before my liege."

However, his answer only worsened the mood.

Silence descended throughout the area, and Granny Nena shot a glare at Rion before she asked, "What is he talking about?"

Rion’s thoughts spun as he looked for an answer, and suddenly, a familiar voice resounded in his head.

<Accept him.>

<...Are you sure?>

<It’s time for a change.>

He nodded inwardly and took a deep breath before he stepped towards Yuura and placed a hand on his head to declare, "With thee, I shalt stand undefeated; under me, thou shalt stand free."

His words left like a storm in the calm, and everyone began to murmur among themselves.

"What is happening?"

"Is he trying to rebel?"

"Are we going to have another dark—"

Fwoosh!

Granny Nena clenched her cane, and her aura flooded throughout the area.

"Silence." Her words thundered, and groans resounded everywhere as an aura no weaker than Haria’s pressed down on them.

Her grey eyes turned golden as she shifted her head towards Rion and asked in an icy tone, "Do you understand the weight of what you have just done, Rion Del Haden?"

Fwoosh!

Rion’s golden flames clashed against her aura, and he answered in a tone just as sharp as hers, "I will accept your needs and your wants, but — I will do it the way I want to."

At the same time, he spoke in the heads of nine other squad leaders and squad members.

<Do you wish to stand with me?>

Dora, Kahrun and Tarun stepped forward and knelt behind Yuura.

"What?"

"They as well?"

"What are you doing, Tarun?!"

A few moments later, Zukah muttered something under his breath and stepped forward as well.

The remaining five squad leaders of Tarek’s group looked at Nena with hesitation before the memory of Rion bleeding for them resurfaced, and they also followed behind Zukah.

"Honour to the liege."

All of them knelt, and their shared shout rumbled throughout the Redwood Basin. Granny Nena’s cane groaned under her grip as she snapped, "Are you trying to break us apart?!"

He shook his head and spoke as his aura enhanced his voice, making it heard throughout Redwood Basin, "I wish to break nothing but that detestable forest that has taken away my brethren from me."

He pointed at his group members and continued, "I wish nothing but to let them have the revenge for their friend, their brother and their family."

He pointed his finger at the sky and declared, "I wish nothing but freedom for my people."

Granny Nena stepped closer and questioned, "Do you dare stand against the sovereign for that freedom?"

Rion sneered, "Heh. I don’t have to stand against my father. He will be the one to aid me on my path of freedom."

Nena stared into his eyes and her withered lips arched up into a smile as she said, "What if he tries to stop you?"

He glanced at Haden, who was watching him with a prideful smile, and mumbled with a smirk, "He is too old for that."

At the same moment, their aura vanished, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Tre-rerere!" Granny Nena burst out laughing and said after hitting him with her cane, "Good brat—"

Crack!

Her cane fell apart into pieces, and everyone stared at it with an awkward expression.

"Haha!" A chuckle escaped Rion. he turned towards his group members and announced, "Follow me, and you will never taste defeat!"

"Honour to the liege!"

Rion stepped forward and made his way towards the Vice lord’s hut. His group members followed him, leaving only one of them behind.

Granny Nena watched Rion stride through the Redwood Basin with a gentle smile, and a voice reached her.

"Is that what you wanted?"

"Hmm?" Confused, she turned towards the voice and her eyes fell on Dora. She frowned and asked, "What are you talking about?"

Dora took out a fang with blue cracks, and seeing that, Granny Nena muttered in surprise, "Ah... You are that girl!"

Granny Nena’s expression went cold, and she muttered, "What do you want?"

Dora looked in Nena’s eyes and questioned, "How many years do I have?"