Chapter 629 - Dejected Darlene
Inside the Desolate Crow Clan, Lilith and Uncle Jorn walked together down the streets filled with rubbles from the damaged buildings nearby.
The clansmen did their best to clear out the rubbles and clean up the clan before proceeding with repairs to make it habitable again.
Despite Leon's efforts to move out the rat carcasses with his earthen ability, quite a few were missed and remained inside the clan.
Uncle Jorn quietly observed the clansmen carry the bodies outside before he suddenly furrowed his brows.
"Strange…"
"What is, Uncle Jorn?"
Lilith glanced at her Uncle Jorn, who appeared to be puzzled by some sudden discovery, and waited patiently for him to start explaining.
After a slight delay, Uncle Jorn said, "The rat carcasses are still pungent as you would expect them to be, but their smell hasn't pervaded the entire clan. Air does not seem to be as stuffy as before…"
"No, the air is getting…cleaner by the moment?" Uncle Jorn's eyes flickered with surprise upon his discovery.
However, Lilith did not share the same sentiments.
After listening to her Uncle Jorn's words, she pondered for a moment before she said, "This is probably Leon's doing."
"I see…" Uncle Jorn uttered.
At this point, he should not be surprised by anything the human prince does—for everything the person does is either shocking or surprising.
In other words, he should get used to it.
"Right, Uncle Jorn." Lilith suddenly recalled the berserk humans before she inquired, "Has any of our clansmen experience frenzied behaviors and loss of mental faculty, becoming extremely aggressive since the Cataclysm occurred?"
"Frenzied behaviors and loss of mental faculty? Becoming extremely aggressive?" Uncle Jorn frowned in thought before replying with doubt, "Not that I am aware of…?"
"Is this a big problem worthy of our concerns, Little Princess?" Uncle Jorn inquired.
"There haven't been any cases?" Lilith thought for a moment before she nodded, "That's good then. Most likely, extended exposure to the sunlight will cause it."
"However, the clan has been hidden under the mountain of carcasses, thus, avoiding this problem unwittingly. Since there haven't been any cases, then there's a need for us to worry about," Lilith stated.
Since Leon was helping her cleanse the Wrathful Demonic Energy within the Desolate Crow Clan, the chances of someone going berserk will become negligible.
"Alright then…"
Without clear explanations from the Desolate Crow Princess, Uncle Jorn was confused by the matter she brought up.
"I will tell you more about this matter later," Lilith stated before asking, "What did you need to talk to me about?"
As they two conversed, they continued to walk down the busy street filled with hard-working clansmen. Before Uncle Jorn could answer Lilith's question, a Transcendent-level warrior suddenly arrived.
"Report!" Uncle Jorn stated.
"Yes, Brother Jorn! We have just recovered the first food bank. However, we have discovered rat blood seepage in the area, spoiling the food stored there. What should be done about it?"
"So the thing I feared happened, huh?" Uncle Jorn rubbed his forehead with stress before stating, "Save what can be saved, and throw away everything that can't. Burn all the spoiled food somewhere away from the clan."
"Understood."
The Transcendent-level warrior nodded.
Shortly after the warrior left, Uncle Jorn returned his attention to Lilith.
"Where were we again?" Uncle Jorn asked before he quickly recalled and said, "Ah, yes. As you can see, the clan is quite a bad state after the damages."
"I've estimated that only roughly three-quarters of the clan will be able to sleep in warm environments tonight. But this is not our biggest problem. Food is our biggest problem. Without sufficient food to sustain ourselves, the clan will eventually starve to death."
"I've already started looking into possible ways we can procure more food, but I will need Little Princess's approval before I send the people out to search…"
Uncle Jorn began listing problems after problems related to the clan before he finally moved onto two other important issues, worthy of concern.
"We also need to think of a plan to save the Clan Leader and the other Clan Elders from the clutches of the Desolate Netherbird Second Prince. At the same time, we also need to prepare measures against the Desolate Netherbird Second Prince's retaliation."
"Now that Lord Bahlzacs is dead, it won't be long before the Desolate Netherbird Second Prince realizes what happens here," Uncle Jorn stated.
"Does Lord Bahlzacs send regular updates to the Desolate Netherbird Second Prince via a messenger? Can we fake it to buy more time?" Lilith wondered.
"From what I know, Lord Bahlzacs writes to the Desolate Netherbird Second Prince in a special-coded message. Unless we understand what that special-coded message is, it will not be possible to fake one."
"I see…" Lilith frowned before asking, "How time do you think we have before the Desolate Netherbird Second Prince notices something wrong and sends his people over, Uncle Jorn?"
"I would say no longer than a week, Little Princess." Uncle Jorn stated with a solemn look.
"A week, huh? I see." Lilith nodded.
"How much we can prepare ourselves within this week could very well determine the fate of our clan. At most, the Desolate Netherbird Second Prince could only pressure us. But now that one of his subordinates is killed, he has a legitimate reason to annihilate our clan."
"Little Princess is right. However, we mustn't forget that the Desolate Netherbird Second Prince needs our clan's power to contest with the Crown Prince for the Desolate Netherbird Tribe's throne."
Uncle Jorn reminded before inputting his own opinion, "The Desolate Netherbird Second Prince wouldn't annihilate us, but he can still make our lives more miserable than he previously intended."
"Still, none of us have the means to defend against Rank 2 Transcendents. If there a remote chance of victory, it will depend on the group of friends you brought, Little Princess."
"Will they be willing to help us all the way? If not, I can make some arrangements to guarantee that they will," Uncle Jorn stated.
"What kind of arrangements?" Lilith glanced at Uncle Jorn with suspicions.
"Well, it's like this…"
Uncle Jorn began whispering in Lilith's ears about the details of his idea. Lilith quickly blushed before it quickly turned into a frown shortly after.
"You want to tie them to the clan by sending pretty women and handsome men after them? Don't even think about it. They are friends who have already helped us greatly. How we think about scheming against them?" Lilith rejected the idea.
"You must put aside personal feelings, Little Princess. This matter involves the survival of the entire clan." Uncle Jorn stated solemnly before asking, "Are you prepared to shoulder the consequences in order to uphold your values?"
What he said made him appear as the bad guy, but some things must be mentioned. Furthermore, what he spoke was the truth.
At the same time, he was trying to instill into Lilith the values of a leader—to put the lives of her people above the lives of outsiders.
"Enough. This matter rests here." Lilith ended the discussion with a frown.
"Focus on the problem of food shortage problem first. Uncle Jorn wants to send people out to scavenge for food, right? I permit it." Lilith said shortly after.
"I understand, Little Princess."
Uncle Jorn shook his head with a helpless smile.
She can avoid the matter for now, but not forever. There will come a time when she will be forced to make a choice.
Shortly after, Uncle Jorn left to continue assisting the clan's restoration process.
Lilith looked up at the clear stars in the skies and sighed as her Uncle Jorn's words resounded in her head.
Would she still be firm in her decision once she sees her clansmen dying? She did not know.
The answer can only be left in the future.
…
Meanwhile, Leon absorbed a substantial amount of Wrathful Demonic Energy in the sky above the Desolate Crow Clan.
After he refined all the energy, he descended onto a nearby hill situated outside the Desolate Crow Clan.
At the same time, Soft Feather quickly flew over with Darlene and Aria on her back before they curiously observed Leon's action.
"What are you doing?" Soft Feather failed to keep silent and finally popped the question to satisfied her curiosity.
"I'm crafting a few Demon Gathering Arrays," Leon explained while fiddling with a few ancient bones and other materials he could find in his Worldspace.
"Demon Gathering Arrays?" Aria muttered thoughtfully.
She sensed the similarity with Spirit Gathering Arrays in name before she asked, "These Demon Gathering Arrays are used to gather Demonic Energy?"
"That's right." Leon nodded.
Sometime later, he completed four Demon Gathering Arrays and condensed four Artificial Demon Cores with the Demonic Energy stored in his Black Vortex Space before socketing them into the arrays.
"Can I trouble you to place these around the clan? You should know how to activate them, right?" Leon made the request to Aria, who was knowledgeable about Spirit Gathering Arrays.
The Demon Gathering Array was not only similar in name but also in design—at least to the most commonly used and widespread type of Spirit Gathering Array in the Divine Realm.
"Mmm." Aria nodded.
She accepted the four Demon Gathering Arrays and took off from the hill without questioning its purpose. She was happy to do things for Leon.
Shortly after watching Aria leave, Leon shifted his attention to Darlene, whom he had neglected since returning to the Human Domain.
The person could be seen seated in meditation on Soft Feather's back with a frown on her face. After a moment, she opened her eyes with a sigh.
The atmosphere was too densely packed with various other elements for Darlene to absorb spatial elements and cultivate effectively.
She began to wonder why Leon brought her along when she could not do anything to contribute. She felt very useless. If she cannot keep up, she will be left behind and forgotten.
The thought made Darlene feel dejected.