“Domain of Wrath!”
Eren said softly. In the next moment, a mini-domain was formed taking him and Kilaba under its dominion. Kilaba’s body started changing.
Eren had also executed his Life Drain ability on the monster using the gaping wound left behind by the twisting of the knife. Kilaba’s Adept ranked mana defense layer that was made non-existent because of him falling under the illusion was just about to kick in when the butcher did that. As a result, the monster’s stamina was drained from him as well as his life essence.
In the moments following the robbery of Kilaba’s life essence, the effects of Sin of Wrath could be seen on his body. His body started changing into a creature of wrath.
‘Time to move.’
Eren said to himself as he watched his hit on Kilaba was executed just the way he wanted it to be. He didn’t even give the monster a chance to fight back. For the most part, Kilaba wasn’t even aware of what had happened to him, who had done it, or what he was doing.
He looked out at his demon beast who was fearlessly rampaging through the mana miasma while having a feast. Being a demon beast, he had enough intelligence in him to understand that only he was immune to the Miasma around him. And no matter how many mana signatures are gathered around him, they couldn’t close in on him.
So Argo was having his fill. Turning into a lion, he devoured the completely dead monsters and half-dead Orc Leaders who were around the perimeter of the Miasma domain.
Some Orc Leaders who were present outside the miasma’s area of effect could feel that something had happened to their leader. He wasn’t giving any orders. The Orc Leaders that were trapped in the illusion spell’s area of effect had gone silent too. They had only seen a red lightning bolt strike him followed by the creation of miasma domain and something huge entering it right afterward.
Mana sense wouldn’t work in the miasma domain because it infringed on its operability. In a way, the potion created a domain of its own when it was used.
‘That’s enough, bud. Let’s go.’
Eren said to Argo’s consciousness. The demon beast was about to let out a lion’s roar to register his complaint but his master stopped him.
‘Don’t. I’d feed you something else after this gets over. Let’s go now.’
Argo growled at his master in dissatisfaction before changing into his eagle form seamlessly. He lowered his back for Eren before gripping the creature of wrath in one of its talons.
Before anybody could figure out what it was, a distinct cluster of red lightning was seen flying away from the mana Miasma. This red cluster was packed into a spherical domain of wrath that flew in the sky.
The miasma domain started dispersing into thin air right after the cluster of red lightning flew away.
Eren wanted to digest Kilaba without interruption. He wanted to take everything that he had to offer to him. This wasn’t possible when he was under the threat of interruption and attack from Kilaba’s tribe. So he just took him away to a different place where he wouldn’t be bothered by anyone.
Meanwhile, mayhem ensued in Kilaba’s tribe after the Orc Leaders found out that their chieftain was missing. After calling back the pursuers who were chasing Baran, they decided to focus first on their chieftain.
Monsters didn’t have historians. But they did have shamans. The shamans began searching for clues and discovered that their chieftain had been abducted alive. If only barely.
Two parties were created as a direct response by the Orc Leaders. Each party had a shaman in it. The parties started zeroing in on their chieftain in the same direction Erenhad had moved. Using two different routes.
It was clear that the abductor had ridden a flying beast. Sadly, the tribe didn’t have a mount of its own. Otherwise, the search and rescue operation would have been much smoother.
Meanwhile, Baran and his team had managed to escape safely. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they found out that Kilaba’s tribe had prioritized their chieftain’s safety. A predictable move. It was them that had done something unpredictable for Orcs.
Shilson, who was reprimanded by Eren, sighed when the group stopped to take a rest. His voice was a mixture of vigilance and doubt.
“Did…, Did we do this right, Baran? It feels so wrong in my heart. This way of killing is totally against our…”
Baran snorted before replying to him.
“Didn’t you hear what the chieftain said? We need to forget about our old customs and move forward with a more progressive mindset. And don’t ask me if it’s right or wrong. I’m not your chieftain anymore.
Why don’t you go ahead and ask this question to the real chieftain and hear his answer? I’m sure he’d be happy to answer you if you asked him nicely.”
Shilson gulped before coming up with a revised response.
“I… I am fine. On second thought, we Orcs do need to change our ways. It’s a fortunate thing that we have a visionary chieftain watching over us. He’d surely lead us to greater heights than before.”
Baran chuckled when he heard Shilson’s response. He then started planning for his next steps. As per Eren’s logic, they should leave Kilaba’s tribe. He had said that since he would kill Kilaba and almost all of his Orc Leaders that were his staunch supporters, it would only be the neutral faction and faction that supported Baran that would be contesting for the position of chieftain. None of them would try to mess with Baran.
Baran agreed with Eren’s logic. But he was unsatisfied with this outcome. For the most part, the guy was only thinking about his benefits. Although he had not made his tribe come into the crosshairs of other tribes, he had also not done something that the tribe could benefit from.
That’s why Baran decided to step in and do a few things for the new chieftain on his own initiative. Plus, he cared about his previous tribe. So he had decided to approach the tribe again so that it could be assimilated into Eren’s tribe.
Of course, he would face opposition from a few Orc Leaders. They weren’t stupid. The Orcs were not unaffected by his act of running away from the battle ring just before their chieftain was attacked. So this time, bringing a group of Orcs to initiate talks wasn’t enough. Baran needed to launch a campaign to assimilate his previous tribe into Eren’s.
‘I… I need to talk to him.’
Baran thought to himself before looking in the direction the red cloud of lightning had moved in. The monster Orc Lord had started thinking like a true commander of the monster army.
