"What are you planning to do with the Kitsun Lord's territory?"
Michael's question was answered with silence. The silence lasted too long for his liking. It made him feel that he shouldn't have asked this question. The discomfort within him grew even more when the three Lords looked at each other for a few seconds only to return their attention back to him. Their intense gazes locked on him, leaving him confused and unsure what they wanted.
'They don't expect me to answer my own question, do they?' Michael wondered as awkwardness filled the entire tent.
"Whatever you guys are planning to do... How about you stay out of the Untamed Jungle? I don't really want to fight with the three of you for the Untamed Jungle. That doesn't feel right after we fought together against the Kitsun Lord."
Even though he would have preferred to receive an answer from them, the three Lords looked reluctant to state their opinion. They knew that Michael worked the hardest to kill the Kitsun Lord. Their help was nothing more than a little push and clean-up.
"That's all you wa–..." Zira asked, just to get interrupted by her own mother. She covered Zira's mouth with her hand and smiled thankfully at Michael.
"Forests like the Untamed Jungle are not really one of our most favored environments to be honest with you. We wouldn't want to infiltrate the Untamed Jungle, either way," The Valyr Lordess revealed with a genuine and vibrant smile on her lips.
"We will split the Kitsun Lord's territory in the Savannah region amongst the three of us. You can keep the Untamed Jungle for yourself," The Zynur Lord said before adding, "Of course, I hope we can stay in contact and establish some trading routes. If you want to nurture the Elemental Empress properly, she will have to use her surplus energy to create more Elemental Cores. By then, you should give her a portion of your territory to create her own society. Or merge her society with your people – though that won't be too easy."
"Either way, with the Elemental Empress by your side, your territory will naturally produce elemental crystals and elemental seeds. If you ever want to trade them, send me a message. I will offer you a good price," The Zynur Lord suggested, retrieving a communication crystal from his storage space.
He handed the communication crystal to Michael and smiled lightly – which looked extremely vicious on the Zynur's face. The Valyr Lordess and the Laprix Lord didn't hesitate to retrieve a pair of communication crystals as well. They said something similar to the Zynur Lord and handed Michael one of their communication crystals.
Michael didn't really care about the Savannah region. He was already busy enough with his small settlement in the Untamed Jungle. However, trading with the three Lords sounded rather nice.
Now that the Kitsun Lord was dead, Michael and the three Lords felt much better. Michael didn't have to worry about his territory getting attacked by the sly and treacherous Kitsun, while the three Lords wouldn't have to worry about getting annihilated. The tension the three Lords had felt for the last few years finally subsided, replaced by freedom and the open question about their territories' future development.
They could expand their territory quite a bit as well!
'Didn't I forget to mention something? What did I want to say?' Michael scratched the back of his head while trying to recall the fact..
"Oh, I just thought of another condition," He said when it finally hit him. The three Lords frowned in unison but Michael waved his hand, telling the Lords to calm down a little bit, "It's nothing major. I just want to make sure that we're on the same side about this point. I want to get rid of all Kitsun. So, none of us will be allowed to turn the Kitsun into their Slaves, or anything like that…just kill them!!"
Michael didn't want to give the Kitsun an opportunity to survive, increase their population rapidly, and potentially revolt against the Lords, killing them, and creating their own native territory where Lords and Awakened of the Kitsun race could spawn and grow strong enough to manifest their War Rune.
To make sure that no more Kitsun like Haro Ki ever saw the light of the day again, they would have to eliminate all Kitsun.
But that was not the sole reason Michael wanted to get rid of the Kitsun. It was also for revenge; the Elemental Empress' revenge.
The death of the Kitsun Lord eased the Empress' anger quite a bit. However, there were still remnants of fury burning deep inside her. The remnants would only disperse with the disappearance of the Kitsun from the Untamed Jungle and the Savannah region, wiping out their existence from the planet completely.
The Lords sighed in relief and accepted Michael's condition. Even without him saying anything, the three Lords wouldn't have allowed the Kitsun to stay alive. That race was simply too evil to be offered a second chance at survival. Every single one of them had to die and the problem had to be plucked straight from the root.
Michael was glad that the three Lords thought like him when it came to the Kitsun. He wouldn't have to worry about that anymore.
All that was left for him to do was to remove the Kitsun from the Untamed Jungle and everything would be alright.
After some polite discussion with the three Lords and Zira, Michael received a call from his people back in the base.
-"Tiara and the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team have returned. They brought the Greater Eagles and the Golden Stinger Wasp along. But…somehow they seem battered. My Lord…are you sure that it was a good idea to leave them alone?"-
It was Blaire Tracer who had called him. She knew almost everything that had happened in the last few days because she was the leader of the main scouting team. Blaire required as much information as possible to be prepared for the worst-case scenario – which included the possibility of the Kitsun Lord attacking his base against the odds.
Fortunately, that didn't happen. The Kitsun Lord acted just like Michael had predicted. He followed the Elemental Empress in his blind obsession and moved farther away from Michael's territory with every minute passing.
Now that the Kitsun Lord was dead there shouldn't be many issues, other than the possibility of the Kitsun going crazy in the Untamed Jungle. But that was not something Michael was worried about.
"Tiara was a little injured before, but only Liopham from the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team should have sustained some injuries. Well, and Lilica. But the others should be dead-tired rather than injured. Do you know what happened, Blaire?" Michael asked through the communication crystal.
He stepped away from the three Lords and Zira and focused on the communication crystal.
–"I am not so sure either, but it looks like they sustained some additional injuries. Their faces are filled with smiles though. I doubt that anything bad happened, my Lord!"
Michael couldn't help but frown at that. Tiara and the others looked bruised and battered, but they were happy? What exactly happened in the Untamed Jungle to make them happy?
Confused, Michael was just about to tell the Lords that he would return to his territory when Zira approached him.
"It looks like you have to get going. If your work is done here, how about I take you back to the Untamed Jungle? I have a fast companion, who can take you to the Untamed Jungle faster than you think!" She offered, just before she let out a low whistle.
Nothing happened in the first few seconds.
However, Michael heard something outside the tent less than ten seconds after Zira whistled. Zira walked outside and Michael followed suit, just to feel a presence that caused chills to erupt all over his body. A monster with an ebony coat and an otherworldly bright sheen appeared in front of Michael. It was a horse…or so Michael presumed. The monster looked like it was made out of obsidian forged in the fiery depths of the abyss.
It had a muscular frame and looked like shadows from the pits of the darkness clung to its very existence.
The horse's mane was a cascade of hellfire, a blazing torrent of crimson and orange flames that danced and flickered in an infernal life on their own.
Just looking at the horse made it difficult to breathe as the heavy malevolent aura of the monster swept through the surroundings.
"That…is your companion? Is that a Nightmare Horse?" Michael asked, not quite believing what he was seeing in front of him.
"Yup. The one and only Nightmare Horse raised by none other than me!" Zira said pridefully.
Michael could only acknowledge her capabilities. Nightmare Horses were known for rejecting riders. Even those who could ignore their malevolent aura would either be burned to a crisp, or the Nightmare Horse would attack them with violent kicks and torrents of hellfire if they dared to approach it.
Yet, Zira patted the Nightmare Horse without a worry in her heart, almost as if it was a tamed pet.
'You can definitely be proud of yourself.' Michael thought to himself, but said something else, "You want to take me back…on this? Are you sure that it will allow me on its back?"
Michael didn't really want to be burned to death by a Nightmare Horse shortly after he survived fighting against the Kitsun Lord. However, Zira didn't seem to be too worried about Michael's doubts.
"The Nightmare Horse likes the Elemental Empress, and the Elemental Empress told her that you are a good guy. The Empress told my little girl a lot about you, so my girl made the offer. I wouldn't have offered to take you back if my girl hadn't given permission first," Zira said in a tone that suggested she was dead-serious.
"Okay…" Michael could only respond, "Let's go then."
There was no need to waste anymore time in the Savannah region. The Kitsun Lord was dead, Michael obtained hundreds of Awakened corpses, tens of thousands of Kitsun corpses, and he was given a pretty expensive gift for killing the Kitsun Lord.
Now it was time to return to the Untamed Jungle; home where a few troublesome days awaited him.
After all, he had yet to tell his subjects about the death of the 1,500 Combatants, and how all of it happened.
'That will be troublesome… I have a really bad feeling…' Michael thought as he swung his leg on the Nightmare Horse's back and jumped up, sitting right behind Zira.
Riding the Nightmare Horse seemed a lot less dangerous at the thought of going back home, where he would have to stand his ground against his own subjects.
'That will be fun…or a disaster.'
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