Chapter 727 - The Cost Of Divided Attention
"Let us head down and help them clear out the pesty spiders."
"Yes, Chief!"
Shortly after learning the group's identity, Chief Darkwind made his decision to assist Chief Baskara's group.
"Chief Darkwind from the Revered Wind Tribe is here to assist the Crimsonfog Tribe!" Chief Darkwind announced as he descended into the sea of spiders.
With his Tier-5 bone whip in hand, Chief Darkwind immediately lacerated the surrounding Hellbiters were into pieces.
Each lash of the bone whip generated a small gust of sharp wind that created splash damage to the surrounding Hellbiters.
Although the attack power wasn't great, they were more than enough to slay the Hellbiters.
In mere moments, Chief Darkwind cleared the area for his tribesmen.
Shortly after, the Revered Wind Tribesmen descended one by one before joining the fray as they diverted some of the Hellbiters' attention and slaughtered the spiders.
"The Revered Wind Tribe… from the Central Region?" One-Eyed Venerable Shaman narrowed his eye.
A tribe hailing from the chaotic lands of the Central Region was not easy to trust.
"Precisely," Chief Darkwind admitted openly.
Given the distrust between tribes of different regions, the two groups worked separately to slay the Hellbiters in their own designated zones.
Half a day quickly passed before mountains of spider carcasses filled the central forest area. The army of Hellbiters was eventually exterminated, but not without a price.
The Crimsonfog Tribe lost three people, and the Revered Wind Tribe lost two people, totaling a loss of five Battle Masters.
Both groups could do nothing but watch their fellow tribesmen wail in agony before getting overwhelmed and killed by the Hellbiters.
Normally, such a situation should not have happened.
If anything, the Extremity-rank Great Warriors were expected to die first. However, it was not one of those situations where the odds were against them.
With perfect coordination and focus, either group could have slaughtered the Hellbiters without casualties.
Unfortunately, neither of the two groups could completely trust the other and remained wary with divided attention, resulting in carelessness and accidents.
"To think we would lose a High-rank Battle Master like this," Chief Baskara solemnly stated as he stared at the five corpses lined up on the ground in front of him.
Although they managed to retrieve the five corpses after the battle, none were intact. Some were missing limbs, while one even had an entire head missing.
"Make the preparation to send them off," Chief Baskara ordered before muttering, "I shouldn't let them have their eternal rest in this accursed place."
"Understood, Chief Baskara!"
Instead of burying the bodies, both the Crimsonfog Tribe and Revered Wind Tribe decided to cremate the fallen warriors and scatter their ashes to the wind in hopes of releasing their spirits to find their way back home.
After completing the ceremony in two hours, the mourning period ended right there and then.
No matter what, they still had to continue to explore the secret realm and stop the demons from becoming strong.
"I, One-Eyed Venerable Shaman Galdro, thank Chief Darkwind and Revered Wind Tribesmen for your assistance," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman sought Chief Darkwind and expressed his gratitude.
"Senior Galdro is too polite. It is natural for all humans to work together in this accursed place full of demons," Chief Darkwind shook the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman's hand before his expression suddenly stiffened.
"One-Eyed Venerable Shaman… One-Eyed Venerable Shaman… You mean 'the' One-Eyed Venerable Shaman?"
"You've heard of me?" One-Eyed Venerable Shaman Galdro glanced at Chief Darkwind.
"Of course! You're an old legend! Who hasn't heard the name of the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman when Senior Galdro was still running wild in the Central Region?" Chief Darkwind replied enthusiastically.
His expression became more respectful.
All Battle Kings had their name etched into the history of the Infertiles Plains. Extremity-rank Battle Masters were one step short, but their names weren't easily forgotten either.
"Hahaha, I was just a hot-headed youth back in those days. I'm just a decrepit old man now," One-Eyed Venerable Shaman Galdro chuckled softly.
Aria and Darlene stayed near the tomb entrance and watched over it as the rest of the group grew familiar with each other and engaged in idle talks.
Through the Revered Wind Tribesmen, Chief Baskara's group learned that the demon's forces had been gathering towards a particular direction in the east.
Because the demon's forces in that area were too great, the scattered human forces were forced to look for opportunities elsewhere, which led the Revered Wind Tribesmen to the forest of the Abyssal Wood Demon King.
"Thousands of Greater Demons and potential Arch Demons are gathering in the east? There must be something special over there," One-Eyed Venerable Shaman Galdro frowned thoughtfully.
A Demon King-level Tomb only managed to attract a hundred or so demons.
For another place to attract a few dozen times over that amount, it would imply that the tomb of inheritance in that location was at an even higher level than the Demon King.
'A Demon Emperor-level Tomb? Or something beyond that?' Chief Baskara pondered quietly as he listened in on the conversation.
As the Revered Wind Tribe interacted with the group, they gradually realized Chief Baskara's group had no intention of leaving the forest.
In addition to the two beautiful girls waiting by the tomb entrance, their interest grew over time.
"If I may be so bold to ask, who are you all waiting for? Judging by the danger level of this place, this shouldn't be a low-level tomb, right?" the Revered Wind Tribe's Venerable Shaman inquired.
One-Eyed Venerable Shaman Galdro and the group immediately fell silent as they carefully pondered their choice of words.
Nevertheless, the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman decided it was fine to inform the Revered Wind Tribe after considering Leon's prestige.
"We are waiting for Young Master Leonhardt to return safely. This Demon King-level Tomb was a trap. The Abyssal Wood Demon King had no intention of passing on his inheritance to the future generations.."
A flash of greed immediately flicked in the eyes of the Revered Wind Tribesmen at the mention of Demon King-level Tomb.
However, their greed quickly disappeared as they waited for Leon's return. Even after a full day had passed, the tomb entrance did not show any signs of the person exiting.
Chief Darkwind and the rest of his tribesmen quickly lost their patience as they concluded that the person had died inside the tomb.