Chapter 432 - Where's Your Chief?
"An abomination? What kind of abomination? I've never heard of such a thing." Chief Valencia furrowed her brows, unable to recall anything being called an Abomination.
Leon shook his head and said, "It's not a name, but what I am calling it. That thing is very huge, ugly, grotesque, fleshly, and slimly with a lot of tentacles."
"I'm guessing that it was one of its tentacles that touched you, right? Was it cold, fleshly, slimy, or gross?" Leon asked the Early-rank Great Warrior, who previously cried in alarm.
The Early-rank Great Warrior immediately widened his eyes in shock, not comprehending how Leonhardt knew when he did not even see a trace of what it was. However, the description was stated precisely.
"Yes, that was exactly what I felt!"
"A fleshly giant with many tentacles? Can anyone think of anything by this description?" Chief Valencia asked the crowd, only to receive shaking heads.
She turned to Leon and asked, "How did you find out there's such thing underneath the Black Swamp, Little Nephew Leonhardt?"
"It's another ability of mine, something I was born with. I call it Divine Sense. This ability grants me something akin to the omnipotent vision of my surroundings." Leon came clean and explained his ability.
"Something you were born with? A bloodline ability?" Chief Valencia started to feel a little dizzy, considering how many abilities Leon had revealed. "Are you the son of heaven? How can you have such an envious ability?"
Leon smiled without commenting.
He did not know how to answer that question.
But if he thinks about it, with the advantages he had coming to this world, in addition to his heaven-defying luck and fortuitous encounters, he might as well be the son of heaven.
Meanwhile, Darlene unknowingly smiled with glee. The more amazing Leon was, the happier and luckier she felt.
"Is it strong?" Chief Valencia asked.
"I'm not sure. I cannot tell just by looking at it, but my instinct tells me that we best leave it alone and not provoke it."
Leon shook his head.
He had only managed to catch a glimpse of its entire being. However, it was enough to shivers down his spine. He had simply never seen such a grisly thing. Even demons look pretty compared to this thing.
"Of all the past Bone Calamities, no one had ever come this close to ever explore the Black Swamp during its eruption. There is a lot of secrets and history buried here…" Chief Valencia mentioned.
There was a part of history that seemed to have been erased or best forgotten.
At the very least, the ancestors had never mentioned how the Black Swamp came to be when humans first migrated to the Infertile Plains from the cold north.
Leon furrowed slightly.
The area he scanned around here was different from the spot he checked when he first arrived in the Black Swamp.
Over there, the soil underneath was more solid without bones. Only some occasion spots would have bones buried slightly deeper with the earth.
However, over here, there were still numerous bones of various races buried and intermixed with the wet soil, even all the way down to the 80ft range where he spotted the huge abomination.
It was like a giant pit that had been patched up with countless corpses and soil.
Rather than an ancient battlefield, it was more like a burial ground!
"What's the history of this place? Do you know about it?" Leon asked.
Chief Valencia shook her head and said, "I'm not clear. I only know that a great battle once happened here, whether humans were fighting the demonic beasts, the demons, or something else. Only the ancestors know the exact details that transpired during that time."
"Apparently, there was a time when the Seven Tribe Alliance boasted the most Battle Kings and lead all the human tribes of the plains… However, this is only hearsay. No can confirm it. Never mind. Let us move on."
After Chief Valencia spoke, Leon and the group nodded.
Shortly after, the group began heading towards the location of the Teleportation Array. Along the way, Leon continued to send out his divine sense to sweep the area underneath.
As he suspected, the area underneath the soil was different. Some places were just filled with wet dirt, while some contained bones as far as 30ft underground, but nothing as deep as 80ft.
Leon was unsure whether they were just lucky or unlucky that they discovered such an abomination deep under the Black Swamp upon their arrival in that area.
Even so, this was only the very perimeters of the Black Swamp's outer region.
If more bones were revealed to be buried deeper, the further they venture into the Black Swamp, the estimated total bone count would reach an astronomical number compared to what Leon previously predicted.
It would at least be in the billions!
That equates to billions of lives, regardless of race! All were buried in one place, the Black Swamp. How big would the pit in the central region have been if all these buried bones and corpses were removed? Was it truly a battle of enormous proportion? Or did something else killed them all?
The thought chilled Leon's heart.
Nevertheless, he was filled with a curiosity towards the Black Swamp's inner region that was still veiled in darkness.
What sort of secrets lies within?
He did not know the answer to this question, but one thing for sure; it is a dangerous place.
The most dangerous places in the Divine Realm were not referred to as Perilous Lands like the Human Domain—No, they were called the Burial Grounds.
It was because despite knowing full well of the extreme danger that lies within, Divine Practitioners still venture into these Burial Grounds to seek its fortunes.
If Leon recalled, the mortality rate of the Burial Grounds was 95%. Only 5% make it out alive, and only because they explore the outermost parts of the Burial Grounds.
"What are you thinking?" Darlene asked curiously.
Leon smiled lightly and casually said, "It's nothing much. I was just wondering what lies within the Black Swamp's central region."
He was not sure whether the Black Swamp's danger could be classified as a Burial Ground, but the death count in this place had indeed reached the threshold of one.
Sometime later, the group arrived not too far from where Leon last remembered the location of the Teleportation Array.
However, at that moment, Leon, who was walking in the lead with Chief Valencia, suddenly halted his steps.
"Why did you stop?" Chief Valencia asked.
Leon furrowed his brows and activated [Spirit Eyes] to gaze into the distance with a sharp look. After a moment, he said, "There seem to be some people hanging around the Teleportation Array."
"Oh? Must be people from the Clearwater Tribe. How many people are there?"
Chief Valencia narrowed her eyes.
She could vaguely see people in the distance, but she could not guess their exact numbers. Once more, she was surprised by Leon's abilities. It was like he had no weakness.
"Not many. Only 10 people near the Teleportation Array. There doesn't seem to be anyone else nearby either." Leon answered calmly after surveying the surrounding area ahead.
Darlene was surprised.
She strained her eyes to peer into the distance, but she failed to determine anything from that distance and pouted silently.
"Is that so?" Chief Valence glanced back at their group of 50 people before she said, "Let's go and greet them."
"What if they don't let us take away the Teleportation Array?"
"Then we will take it by force." Chief Valencia answered the question straightforwardly.
"Even if they are allies?"
"Even if they are allies."
Leon curved his lips into a smile and nodded, "Understood."
Shortly after, they traversed a few miles through the muddy Black Swamp and confronted the Clearwater Tribe's people guarding the Teleportation Array.
"Stop! What are you people doing here?"
The Clearwater Tribesmen were alarmed by their presence.
"Oh?"
Chief Valencia wrinkled her brows.
When was the last time someone dared to yell at her like this?
Still, she put on a devious smile after a moment and said, "I could be asking you the same thing. Move aside before someone gets hurt!"
The Clearwater Tribesmen immediately drew their Soul Weapons after seeing Chief Valencia continue to approach them.
"Do you know who we are?! You don't want to mess with us!"
"No, you don't want to mess with US!"
Chief Valencia talked back, drawing her Soul Weapon and letting her vigorous Mid-rank Battle Master aura billowed outwards with an awe-inspiring flair.
'A Battle Master!'
The Clearwater Tribesmen were immediately deterred as they retreated several steps while staring at Chief Valencia in shock.
Who was this person? How could there be such a strong Battle Master this young? Was this person a chief from one of the tribes? They are not that unlucky, are they?
"Well, are you all reasonable people are, after all?" Chief Valencia said, sheathing her Soul Weapon back in the Interspatial Pouch before walking over.
Shortly after, she glanced down at the thick stone slab filled with runic carvings and crystallized energy circuits before crouching over to pick it up with one hand.
The Clearwater Tribesmen simply watch her do as she pleases with helpless expressions filled with indecisiveness. The strongest of them were only High-rank Great Warriors.
They were clearly outmatched.
"Oh, right.. Where is the rest of your tribe? Where's your chief?" Chief Valencia casually asked like she was just having a chat with her neighbor despite robbing them.