Chương 73: Chapter 62

The bushes rustled. While not all that uncommon in the dark forest, the snarls and low growls that followed were. A sense of familiarity tugged at Hakon's worn-out mind, but he failed to organize his thoughts before a scaled, muddy-brown head popped out of the shrubs. A long neck, covered in the same muddy scales, followed, and attached to it was a massive body. Hakon tensed the moment the creature emerged, with its shoulder height much greater than his own.

While he didn't have to use [Inspection] to understand that the creature was much stronger than he was, Hakon did it instinctively nonetheless. [Mature Drake – Lethal Threat] The Scripture was black, only highlighting what Hakon already knew. The monsters emerging from the forest promised death. Their death. Even worse, there was not only one Mature Drake. More stepped out of the undergrowth, bulldozing through it without a care in the world. Their deaths were already certain from that alone, yet it got worse.

For the Mature Drakes were not mere monsters. They were mounts, saddles slung across their backs, Barbarian men and women seated atop them. Mounts belonging to the greatest warriors of Tribe Pearot. [Barbarian – Lethal Threat (? th Ascension)] [Barbarian – Lethal Threat (? th Ascension)] [Barbarian – Lethal Threat (? th Ascension)] [Barbarian – Lethal Threat (? th Ascension)] … [Inspection Lv. 11 → Lv. 12] Pearot's warriors towered above Hakon and the others from the backs of their massive mounts.

Beast and rider blurred into a single, overwhelming presence, a formidable mixture of muscle, iron, and raw bloodlust fused together. It was terrifying, to say the least. The Mature Drakes shifted beneath the Barbarians with slow, heavy breaths, their desire to rip their prey apart apparent in every movement, yet the Barbarians seated atop them remained unnervingly still. It was almost like moving around was beneath them.

Their height alone forced Hakon to look high up, yet it was their shadows stretching long across the ground and pressing down on everything beneath them that made it increasingly difficult to breathe. Even though the Drakes and riders were still a good distance away, their sheer scale made him feel like they were right there, breathing down his neck. As if a single heartbeat separated him from life and death.

The man, a terrifying presence of raw, unbidden power, asked as the moments of silence stretched long and wide, "Did you have fun?" He leaned forward, his mount letting out a deep, guttural growl.

"Ragna's son, I asked you something." The corners of his lips curled into a broad, toothy smile.

"Did you have fun attacking my Fractures? Conquering them? Killing my people?!" His smile was bright, almost excited, yet his eyes were cold and rational, as though he was always thinking several steps ahead. Is that Pearot's chieftain? What… is he doing here?! Hakon tensed, hair standing on end. Rogarth Pearot sat relaxed in his saddle, weapon resting loosely while the reins sprawled over his lap.

His broad smile shifted into a smug yet savage grin, small and all-knowing, as his eyes drifted over the scene unfolding before him. Disdain marred his face for a fraction of a second. He was fully aware that it was none other than a bunch of young warriors who had tarnished his reputation. They invaded his land, conquered his Fractures, and killed his people. Hunters who should have been stronger than the young warriors of Taskur had been killed.

Taskur's warriors didn't look well, yet they were certain to have earned the Ancestors' approval, and Chieftain Rogarth did not seem to like that at all. But the disdain faded after a moment, and the smug smile tugging at his lips returned.

"Do you want me to be honest?" Hakon asked, ignoring the small voice in the back of his head. He took a small but deliberate step closer to the threat that was certain to kill him if nothing changed.

"Of course." Chieftain Rogarth laughed, yet his eyes remained deadly cold.

"I expect nothing less than the truth from Taskur's Successor." The Drake riders let out low chuckles, their voices laced with ridicule aimed at none other than him. There was no urgency in their behavior, no hint of the slightest doubt. Only the calm certainty of beings who had already decided the outcome. Around them, the air seemed to tighten. Movement slowed, and the voices of the dark forest faded. Even the ground beneath Hakon felt heavier the longer he endured the chieftain's presence. Love this story?

Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work! But it was not just strength that imposed itself upon the dark forest. It was the unshakable belief that nothing before them could overcome what awaited Hakon and the others.

"Did you really think my people wouldn't notice anything?" Chieftain Rogarth asked smugly. Hakon didn't think so. They never believed Pearot would be oblivious to their invasion. Sure, they thought it would take a little longer for the chieftain and his elders to react, but by the looks of it, Tribe Pearot had been prepared for a large-scale battle. The plan had been badly timed, or else they would have conquered a few more Fractures before retreating back into Taskur's land.

After all, they had yet to step out of the forbidden land. Truthfully, they had yet to take a single step into Pearot's territory. The edges of Tribe Pearot's land were far enough away to justify the plan Hakon and his father had come up with. But it failed. They did. Except…

"You conquered Onyr." Rogarth raised an eyebrow at Hakon, but didn't respond. However, the Barbarians behind the chieftain did. Not with words, but with their bodies – the excitement in their eyes, the vibrant smiles that spoke of bloodshed and honorable combat. Tribe Onyr was no more. His father told him Onyr wouldn't fall within the next two cycles, but he had either overestimated Onyr's strength or underestimated Pearot's power. Rogarth, as far as Hakon was concerned, was not all that old.

He was only a handful of cycles older, yet he wielded a legendary power, one that gave him the strength needed to kill Onyr's chieftain. Or suppress him. Regardless, Hakon was confident Chieftain Rogarth wouldn't have allowed his Elders to pummel Onyr's chieftain. He wanted to crush him with his own power, and that was exactly what he did.

"I'm glad we came here so early." Hakon let out a heavy sigh.

"You know, my father likes balance. I never understood it, and I still don't, honestly, but it is what it is." He shrugged lightly, ignoring the furrowed brows coming his way.

"But that changed because of you. My father thought we had another cycle or two before you and your tribe would become a problem. That's not the case any longer." Taking a deep breath, he met the chieftain's eyes with the same coldness Rogarth directed at him.

"He will find out what you did, no matter what you do now. Whether you kill me or not, he will learn about Onyr. And what do you think he will do then?" The corners of his lips curled into a smug smile. A bona-fide copy of the smile the Drake riders had worn this whole time.

"In that case, it does not matter if you survive. If Chieftain Ragna finds out anyway," Rogarth Pearot waved dismissively, looking as calm as a lake on the surface. Deeper down, however, Hakon could see movement. He was thinking, his mind churning, and whatever he was thinking about made him angrier with every heartbeat. Hakon's smile and the calmness he exuded only seemed to irritate him more.

"Did you really think we would invade your tribe without a plan? For someone who kept the Fractures open to create a training ground and resource field for his people, that does not make any sense, does it?" He chuckled in Chieftain Rogarth's face. The legendary warrior was powerful. There was no doubt about that. However, he was also a schemer. In a way, he was not all that different from Hakon, his mind nothing more than a slimy, squishy mass stuck between his ears.

He planned, schemed, and followed a path unlike that of traditional Barbarians.

"I hope you don't think I was overzealous enough to guide the young generation into forbidden land without telling anyone." Hakon snickered.

"I am not the chieftain. Yet." His father was a nuisance at times, and it would take more than the last few nights to forgive him for taking his mother away, but Hakon could trust him with his life nonetheless. A familiar sensation prickled at the edges of his perception. It closed in rapidly, followed by several more sensations prickling against his senses. It worked! Hakon nearly shouted out loud, not at all worried his father's crystal would fail. Fortunately, it did not. [Scent of Lifelight Lv. 3 → Lv. 4] Chieftain Rogarth had been a little irritated before, but he wasn't worried. Even when Hakon spoke, Rogarth was unbothered. But that changed the moment Hakon looked to the right, his lips curling into an excited, victorious smile.

"Thank the Ancestors," Hakon muttered, the relief in his voice barely concealed. One moment, silence flooded the dark forest, and the next, the forest bent to the crescent blade that tore down everything too slow to react. Power unlike anything Hakon had ever felt before rocketed through the forest, familiar yet several magnitudes greater than anything he could have imagined. He saw it one moment, and the next time he blinked, the crimson crescent blade was nowhere to be seen.

In its stead was a path of destruction. Shrubs fell apart and crumbled to the ground, and even the oldest trees collapsed, a single, clean cut marking where the blade had passed through. Hakon recognized it as a structure, yet that was all he could tell through his inexperienced eyes. Oh, and that it was lethal. Chieftain Rogarth and the Elders were no longer seated on their Drakes. They had leaped back, their weapons brandished, Ancient Powers erupting from them.

Rogarth looked more dangerous than ever, his body covered in thick scales and expanded to twice Hakon's size. Yet as dangerous as the legendary warrior felt, the crimson crescent blade had been more terrifying. In a single moment, it not only cleaved through part of the dark forest, it tore through the Mature Drakes as well, removing the Lethal Threats from existence. Creatures, each strong enough to effortlessly kill Hakon and the young warriors in their prime, had been eradicated just like that.

And the perpetrator walked across the path of destruction with the calmness of a man strong enough to split mountains. Chieftain Ragna of Tribe Taskur had arrived, the ground beneath him trembling violently, as if it had waited for him.