Chương 153: Conflict within the alliance
"No wonder the system did not try to turn this into a trial. It was directed by another player. That dungeon master is already eyeing my dungeon..."
"Master. All the Undead monsters, the beasts, and the Nosferatu have arrived. Shall I summon skeletons again to act as cannon fodder?" asked Dreidus.
Five shook his head. "The situation has changed. It looks like they are about to fight each other. The Musclewood Tribe might no longer need assistance but we need to be ready to attack."
"I am very interested in the relics they use to summon the totem spirits. Will it unlock the beasts in the dungeon shop if we bring them back to the dungeon? Tell the Defacers to get near the Shamans but remain hidden in the shadows."
...
As soon as the Flame Commander started speaking to Harriet, Five had been hearing their conversation. The Harpy Queen initially only wanted to keep Five informed but when she heard the truth, she decided to diffuse the conversation across the entire battlefield.
Now, everyone was aware of the move of the Bramble Deer Tribe. The ten tribes became anxious. In particular the Blue Eagle Tribe, the Pronghorn Tribe, and the Brown Bat Tribe. They were the three closest tribes to the Bramble Deer Tribe and were the most likely to be attacked.
"You f*ckers! You dare to take advantage of the absence of our men to attack our defenseless village! We are not fighting anymore!" shouted the Shaman of the Blue Eagle Tribe.
He was visibly anxious and enraged. He was staring at the Flame Commander who barely avoided Harriet's storm. Unfortunately, the rest of the Flame Riders were not as lucky and all perished under her violent attack.
The battlefield became silent. All the barbarians have heard Flint's words and stopped attacking. The Musclewood Tribe did not take advantage of the situation. Instead, they also retreated, welcoming the few moments of peace to catch their breath.
"Xena! We are no longer fighting! Retreat! We need to quickly check on our village," shouted the Shaman of the Blue Eagle Tribe. Xena was the female leader of the tribe. With a swift movement of her hand, she commanded the two hundred barbarians of her tribe to retreat. The rest of the barbarians silently observed the Blue Eagle Tribe. They did not know what to do and looked at their chiefs for instructions.
"Wait a moment. This might just be a trick by the dungeon to get us to move away. We don't even know if these monsters really come from the Bramble Deer Tribe's dungeon!" exclaimed Joyah in an attempt to calm the situation.
Unfortunately, the barbarians did not believe his words.
"My friend from the Blue Eagle Tribe. I think you need to wait a moment," said Donpur, the Shaman of the Brown Bat Tribe.
"What do you want, Donpur? Don't tell me you believe him. Your tribe is also in danger," answered the Shaman of the Blue Eagle Tribe with a frustrated expression.
Donpur shook his head. "I am not stopping you from leaving but I just thought of something interesting. Doesn't the Vicious Rhino Tribe have a Diviner? How come you did not inform us of something like that, Vellen? Are you going to say that you did not see this?"
The Shamans fell silent as they all turned toward Vellen. All the barbarians who heard Donpur focused their gaze on the old Diviner as they furrowed their brows. Vellen's silence was the loudest answer he could give.
"You f*cker! You used the Blue Eagle Tribe! How dare you? You knew very well that my tribe will be destroyed! That was your plan from the very beginning! You used us to conquer the dungeon and then after we would realize that our tribe was destroyed, you would have offered a helping hand and absorbed us into your tribe! You f*cker!" shouted the Shaman of the Blue Eagle Tribe.
A commotion rose across the battlefield. The person at the center, Vellen did not speak at all. He looked down, avoiding the gaze of the barbarians but he remained calm.
The Shaman of the Blue Eagle Tribe snorted and spat at Vellen. "F*cker! From now on, the Blue Eagle Tribe will not have any more deals with the Vicious Rhino Tribe! We have nothing else to do here."
He turned to leave but at that moment, the ground under his feet broke apart as thorny roots grabbed his legs. "You! Who?" But before he could speak properly, another thorn pierced his throat.
Donpur froze. "Joyah! What are you doing? Do you really want all our tribes to turn against your Vicious Rhino Tribe?"
Joyah laughed lightly. "What are you talking about? I am helping the Blue Eagle Tribe. If I let him go, he would have broken his part of the deal and would have suffered from the punishment for breaking our oath."
The Shamans were alarmed. "But. You clearly attacked one of us. How is lightning not striking you? You tricked us!"
"I did not. The Vicious Rhino Tribe did swear the pledge. Don't you remember? A Shaman from each Tribe swore that they would not harm each other and would always act in the best interest of the tribes. However, compared to your tiny tribes, the Vicious Rhino Tribe has more than one Shaman!" He pointed at Vellen who still hasn't made a single move. The Shamans were the strongest member of each tribe. As long as they did not attack each other, the tribes would be considered safe but they did not take into consideration the second Shaman of the Vicious Rhino Tribe.
"As he was the one to swear the oath, I am free to do as I wish as long as I act in the best interest of the ten tribes. I believe that sacrificing one tribe to conquer a dungeon is indeed something our tribes will collectively benefit from. Now, my friends, if you do not mind, please ask your men to resume the attack unless you want to join our friend in the heavens." Joyah smiled coldly.
The thorns moved and wrapped around the Shaman's throat, choking him. They then grabbed an Eagle Claw from the dead Shaman's body. "I don't want the Blue Eagle Tribe to not have any contribution. How about that? I will allow the Cobalt Eagle to become the food of our Three-Horned Rhinoceros. This way, we can say that the Blue Eagle Tribe made the greatest sacrifice."
He let out an evil laughed as he brought the Eagle Claw next to a small statue of a Rhinoceros.
"What are you doing? Stop!" shouted Xena as she rushed toward Joyah but thorns appeared blocking her way.
"Stupid woman. You better stay where you are if you don't want your Blue Eagle Tribe to disappear completely."
In the sky, the Cobalt Eagle shrieked. It was about to attack the Flame Commander when suddenly, it felt all its strength being drained. It stopped in its track and looked at his relic. Its energy was being absorbed at an alarming rate by the Three-Horned Rhinoceros.
It decisively turned around and attack Joyah but a defensive barrier appeared, protecting the Shaman. It was Vellen, the Diviner. Although he could not deal with a totem spirit, he could keep it away for a few seconds which was all the Three-Horned Rhinoceros needed to absorb its energy.
The Cobalt Eagle in the sky was only a projection; its real body was the relic. As its energy was absorbed, it gradually became hazy until it completely faded away.
The Shamans stared at Joyah in fear. It was not that they were unwilling to help the Blue Eagle Tribe but rather, they could not. The Shamans could not harm other Shamans or the barbarians. Only Joyah was able to.
The Three-Horned Rhinoceros roared! It felt its strength soar to the roof. The energy the Cobalt Eagle accumulated over several decades was directly absorbed by it but it could not digest it all at once.
All the energy was currently roaming free in his body but when it would absorb it properly, more than 50% would be wasted. However, at the moment, the Three-Horned Rhinoceros had enough energy to be considered as a level 55 Spirit.
It sent a portion of the energy to Joyah, allowing the Shaman to temporarily raise his strength to level 45, towering above all the other Shamans.
"Now... What is your choice? Are you going to attack them or are you going to become food for our totem spirit?" wickedly declared Joyah as he turned toward the remaining Shamans.
Donpur frowned and said: "You think we will help you after what you did? Feel free to attack us. I know we cannot fight back or attack the regular barbarians, but that does not mean we cannot defend ourselves. Furthermore, even though you are strong right now, this is only temporary. Do you really want to waste all that energy on us?"
Behind the Shamans, the totem spirits had already stopped channeling their powers and returned to their relics to protect them. The battle against the Musclewood Tribe could be said to have come to a pause.
"You think so?" Joyah eyes lit up as he activated his skills but to his surprise, they all failed. "What? What happened?"
Donpur laughed. "You want to use force against us? This is the skill of my totem spirit: [Audio Disturbance]. It emits inaudible sound waves that affect the flow of Mana. With that, you will be unable to cast any spells for a while. It does not matter how strong you are, without your magic, you are just an old man!"
"We cannot attack you but if you want to mess with us, we won't make your life easy either!" exclaimed the Shaman of the Gopher Tribe.
Joyah briefly stared at the Shamans. He underestimated these old men. Their perfect plan fell apart and even their back up plan failed. "Fine! Then get out of the way. The contract is still in effect. After my tribe deals with the Musclewood Tribe alone, I believe it would not be too much to ask for 80% of the dungeon!"
"Vellen, what do you think? Our chances of winning should have increased significantly."
The old Diviner did not answer immediately. He had been constantly peeking into the future and as Joyah said, the chances of winning did indeed increase as he absorbed the power of the Cobalt Eagle. However, it all suddenly plummeted down.
"No. The chances of winning did not increase. Instead, they have never been this low."
Joyah frowned. "What? What do you mean by that? Are you not supposed to be able to see everything?"
"No... There are two things I cannot see through. The dungeon and the merchants..."
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