Mowry Woods.
A temporary campsite had been created using an earth-element array artifact. It consisted of three tent-like units made of earth element spells.
The bonfire that was lit at a distance from these tents was releasing clouds of smoke. It blurred Eren’s vision while he was looking at the two moons of Gilaahan located not far from each other.
He stopped looking at the two moons when he heard Raina’s voice addressing him.
“So this is one of the big Spiders we have been assigned to kill. His name is Bahlam Dorian.”
Raina used her I-Rune tattoo to project a spectral rendition of Behlam Dorian. He was a mean-looking man who appeared to be in his early 50s. This silvery gray-haired man’s pro-testosterone physique spoke volumes about his class– a berserker.
There was a short description of Bahlam and his battle style. Eren read through the information briefly before asking the question he wanted to ask since the beginning.
“Yeah. I’m down with whatever task you assign me, Raina. But I thought the kingdom-certified guilds didn’t launch assassinations on other rankers from different guilds.”
Raina canceled the spectral representation of Behlam along with the spectral display containing the information. She looked at the dancing flames of the bonfire before speaking up.
“The guild wars in Gilaahan are not good guys vs bad guys, Eren. This is bad guys vs bad guys. Do you think the Stardust guild will let it slide that its members are getting targeted and killed?
At this point, who initiated the aggression is not that significant. What matters is who completely eliminates the other. We are fine with the Spiders disbanding their guild and seeking shelter elsewhere. What we are not fine with is the fact that they are claiming the resource lands we have and possessing the lands that we want.
The winner takes all. Loser’s name disappears from Shaikai kingdom’s history.”
Eren ate the roasted wolf meat as he listened to Raina’s words. And it made sense to him.
It meant that Spiders had a head start in hunting Stardust guild members. The clash was going to take place anyway because of the resources both guilds had in their possession.
The Stardust guild would have initiated aggression through political means anyway when the time was ripe. The guild would have snubbed the Spiders with the three-star organizational rights it possessed. Seeing this, the House of Spiders decided to retaliate violently.
Who attacked whom first wasn’t important when both parties wanted to fight. Those watching and witnessing the showdown from an observer’s perspective might want to pass judgment on who was right and who was wrong in their heads. However, these perspectives didn’t matter to the participants.
‘Heh! No matter which world, profit is the ignition system of any economic engine.’
Eren thought to himself and shook his head. He then pulled out another skewered piece of roasted wolf leg away from the embrace of flames and offered it to Yana.
“Here. Have this.”
Eren said as he ate the other roasted leg with his other hand. Yana looked at the leg with a troubled expression before speaking up.
“You know Eren, I used to have a puppy when I was very young. I don’t think I’ll be able to eat this.”
Yana looked at the leg with conflicting emotions as she said it. Anyone could tell that she was hungry but was preventing herself from having wolf meat.
“That doesn’t even make sense, Yana. But whatever.”
Eren threw the roasted leg to Raina who was sitting on the other side of the bonfire. The night elf caught the leg effortlessly and elegantly took a bite. She looked at Eren appreciatively before continuing from where she had left off.
“The Spiders know that they won’t be able to handle the heat Stardust guild can rain down on it. So they played smart. They struck first and killed or injured as many rankers as they could.
Even captain Kiara Kroft whom you had worked with on the Bulal Blood mission is critically injured and half her teammates were killed.
You know how meticulous Kiara can be. It is no small feat to injure and wipe out half of her party members. The Spiders knew what they were doing.”
Yana threw rocks at Eren’s feet for ignoring her. She was under the impression that he would try to convince her into eating wolf meat by saying things like ‘your pet is different and the wolf I just killed is different.’ However, Eren’s I-don’t-give-a-fuck-ness was now starving her. She had a dry ration on her. But who would want to eat something like that when the smell of roasted meat was assaulting their nostrils?
Eren ignored Yana’s attention-grabbing tactics and pondered a bit. He knew how Kiara operated. She was not only a strong fire-element ranker but she was also sharp and cunning. Plus, the conflict between the two guilds was not hidden.
Dealing with such injuries to Kiara could only mean that she couldn’t predict something the Spiders pulled on her and her team.
“What is it?”
Eren asked, taking another bite out of his roasted leg. He then threw the half-finished leg at Yana, subtly telling her to eat it. The spear-wielding maiden was very angry that Eren had given her something that he had taken a bite of. She was about to throw the roasted leg on the ground when she heard his words.
“You throw that leg away and I’ll not let you have any. Finish that first before asking for another. I’ll not waste an entire roasted leg on your whims.”
A serious-looking Raina started laughing when she saw the bratty Yana freeze in her actions. She looked at Eren and cursed him in her head before starting to eat from his half-finished leg.
She calmed herself and adjusted her demeanor before replying.
“The Spiders don’t want to play by the books anymore. They have accepted that they would be disbanded sooner or later so they have decided to cause us maximum harm before that happens.
They have resorted to hiring demonic rankers to target us.”
