NOVEL NEXT Chapter 88 – The Role of a Vanguard
Three days later, nearly a thousand kilometers away from Elestra city.
“We’ve almost reached Kashada Lightning Lake. Master Katsuki, the lizardman tribe is there as you expected.” Tomoe reported. Although there are several people who are qualified as [Specialist], the one who actually took the role of scout was Tomoe.
The role of a [Specialist] can be summarized with those who are specialized in stealth, movement, or other narrow skill sets which might not be possessed by most combatants. Thus, scout, thief, or other related occupations fit this role the most. Since Tomoe has four red mark qualifications as a [Specialist] and [Support], it was the best decision to leave the right woman for the right job.
Katsuki nodded, she instantly made a decision. “The Lightning Horn Tribe consists of lizardmen who have been exposed to the lightning lake’s environment for a few centuries. It isn’t wise for us to have a conflict with them because I heard their chieftain is a rank 2 Lord. I’ve brought something to appease the chieftain, but my clan’s compensation might not be able to satiate the lizardmen’s greed. Don’t drop your guard.”
The team disembarked from Katsuki’s wolf mount which seemed to be made out of a lump of darkness. Their riders gone, the shadowy beasts seemed to melt into a dark mist that returned back towards Katsuki’s shadow.
‘As I’ve thought. She truly has a group of Deopir slaves. In the Great Elemental Plane of Darkness, a clan of Deopirs fetch quite a high price, I wonder what kind of Deopir breed that she has...’ Larissa Agatha has such thoughts as she dropped down from Lupusrazor.
“Larissa, would you be able to store your Soul Armament?” Katsuki asked.
“No, my dimensional storage isn’t that good.” Larissa lied as naturally as she breathed. Unless it was treated with special methods, most dimensional storage rings aren’t capable of storing things with souls (living beings). That’s why not everyone can be an enslavement-path cultivator. Dimensional storage rings that could store lifeform en masse are typically called [Life Storage Ring] or [Life Ring] in short and they aren’t something that circulated freely in the market.
After all, such commodities are literal strategic weapons. An enslavement-path cultivator could use it to smuggle an army.
Naturally, the dimensional storage ring that Larissa Agatha had is capable of accommodating life, however it wasn’t hers but Mordred’s. He has turned the dimensional storage into a factory with a .25 timerate compared to the main world. Although the small micro-plane can accommodate life, the environment is extremely toxic due to the refinement activities that he did, it was best if no life were stored within.
“You don’t need to worry about Lupusrazor. The two of us will be the vanguard.” Larissa Agatha smiled at the team.
Katsuki replied with a smile, “Okay. We’ll be waiting for your signal. Don’t forget about the backup plan. In case they don’t accept the proposal…”
“I’ll take care of the lizardman tribe while all of you will make a run for the minor inheritance’s entrance.” Larissa reassured Katsuki once more. “I’ve memorized the plan thoroughly. Although killing a rank 2 lord is impossible, delaying it with my ice is possible.”
Everyone else nodded. They quickly made preparations for possible combat with the lizardman tribe. Then, the hunter-priestess walks towards the lizardman tribe.
The environment here is typical of the Land of Autumn Rain. The current location is no longer the forested area of Azaria nor the nuclear wasteland of Ruined Wood Palace. Instead, the moist dirt ground is decorated with a hint of weed and there are sparse trees growing here and there. From a glance, it was evident that heavy rain often fell, triggering earth-path minor elemental waves once in a while.
As for the lizadman’s tribe, they are located at the feet of a mountain similar to Thunderpeak Mountain, which was a lightning-path resource point. The said mountain was Mount Kashada, it is considered as a rank 3 lightning-path resource point. Mount Kashada looks like a mountain made out of black rock tinged with blue hue. Every single gram of soil of the mountain is precious resources that could be used as lightning-path spell catalysts, and the higher the elevation, the higher the lightning elemental particle concentration in the soil, which means even more precious resources are grown there.
However, they are not free for anyone to take. There are signs indicating a rank 3 giant-class beast lived on the peak of Mount Kashada which means nobody can carelessly thread upon the said location.
That being said, Mount Kashada possessed several rivers that flowed down to its feet. One of them has been accumulating into a lake and due to the high concentration of lightning elemental particles within the water, the lake water has become an environment that could accommodate aquatic lightning-path lifeforms such as electric plant species, shrimp and others.
“The lizardmen tribe are nobodies, they merely occupy a small location on the edge of the Kashada Lightning Lake, yet they act like they own the whole place… Shouldn’t the Hunter Association commission hunters to slaughter them? What the fuck is Hartina Kingdom doing, letting the entrance of a precious rank 3 resource point being occupied by a bunch of inferior race?” Larissa complained as they reached the sweet spot outside of Night Raid‘s and the lizardman tribe’s detection range.
“The Hunter Association is a neutral organization. In most cases, its Hunters are dispatched on a large scale for beast subjugation but the organization has always tried to take a neutral stance and get away from political issues. The Hunter Association is fundamentally not a mercenary organization, nor an assassin organization despite its near ‘all-encompassing’ job description. Otherwise, it couldn’t grow to it’s current size in merely two centuries.” Lupusrazor replied telepathically.
“Yet, they allow an inferior race to occupy a good place?”
“Not really.” Lupusrazor shook its head. “There are orders in priorities. The Hartina Kingdom is governed under the Ten Master Clans, but after I took the Murasaki clan to the Extreme South, they lost a big chunk of their manpower. Though, I compensated them sufficiently with a copy of one of my Seven True Inheritances, which is why they have an amicable relationship with Galatreon. That being said, the Murasaki clan is the one who possessed lightning-path bloodline. With their departure, the domestic lightning-path resource consumption is reduced significantly.”
Lupusrazor added, “Since demand is lower, their price fell. Rather than fighting for lightning-path resource points, it would be better if the Nine Master clans funnel their manpower in more meaningful locations, such as resource points that fit their bloodline or elemental inheritances the most. If we want to talk about the country as a whole, there are numerous other giant-class beasts that need to be taken care of as soon as possible, so lightning-path resource points aren't a priority.”
It added, “Besides, we humans have less greed than you Demon Kings. Well… most of us.”
“I see…” Larissa touched the dimensional storage ring on her fingers, taking out two weapons.
One of them is a 1.5 meter long chainsword, the blade parts are covered with countless small blades akin to shark teeth connected by a chain. The moment the chainsword is taken out, the temperature of the local area is lowered noticeably as the chain teeth are all engraved with pale blue runes consisting of [Frostheim Aqua] combined with other precious materials.
The other one is a blade-staff with 60% of the length of a blade as big as a thin greatsword while having a pale blue white crystal on the edge of its handle. Just as you’d expect, it is an artifact for snow and ice-path divine caster-type jobs to cast their blessings. It was more of a blade than a staff, but the main function of this blade-staff which was almost as tall as Larissa is to aid her in chanting and blessings and also as a secondary melee weapon.
Then, she unequipped the dimensional storage ring on her finger and swallowed it.
“Are you going to take an active role in this?” With both arms holding weapons, the hunter-priestess began praying while asking Lupusrazor telepathically.
“I want to collect as many lightning-path resources as possible. It’s about time I awakened my own lightning because the Lightning Lake can support the process.” Lupusrazor began oscillating as it slowly got swallowed by the ground which was slowly turning into fine sand.
“You’re not going to fight with me on the surface?”
“Vibrations are transmitted better in solids than liquids or gasses. I have an omnidirectional perception and absolute movement advantage compared to surface dwellers and without proper countermeasures, most cannot defend against sudden ambushes that come from the ground. It’s better this way.” Lupusrazor replied as its body completely submerged underground. The soil around it has become sand so fine that it was extremely soft to the touch.
After Lupusrazor reached a certain depth, the fine sand slowly reverted back into soil as if the flow of time was reversing.
‘Oh, he has incorporated time-path artifacts into Lupusrazor’s inner parts. It seems like the two years timeframe he set to kill Lord Erebus was not based on simple deduction. The longer time progresses, the more modules he adds to Lupusrazor. Yet, how is he handling the conflict of paths? I need to keep my calm and slowly unravel his depth. He is a penta-transcendent Sovereign, I need to slowly dig deeper if I want to break free from his grasp.’
The hunter-priestess blinked her eyes to recollect her attention to the task at hand. After praying the necessary syllables and mantra, her method is now ready for activation. “Rank 1 faith-path blessing, [Hunting Pulse]!”
A pulse of divine energy spread from the crystal of her blade-staff. Like a wave produced by dropping a stone into the surface of still water, her senses are now spreading into the surrounding. Since Pale Hunter’s divine concept includes hunting, it was inevitable that an excellent investigative method specialized for hunting was amongst her blessings.
The pulse brought back a significant amount of information. The range was greater than most rank 1 investigative methods and it became even more so under the amplification of the blade-staff. She instantly understood how many lizardmen are staying in the tribe, their relative strength, the presence of the beasts in Lightning Lake, and even the lifeforms which lived underground.
Yet, for some reason, Lupusrazor is still undetectable. The moment it dived underground, not a single trace of its existence remained.
‘The plan is split into several stages and branches out to several end-conditions. If I cannot convince the lizardmen to let Night Raid enter the Lightning Lake, I’ll be the bait that’ll hold back the lizardmen, but to convince these minor races, I’ll have to show my ability.’
Larissa stood still, the two weapons tightly gripped in her hands. She stood with her back straight like a pole, but there’s no opening in her posture. From a distance, most martial artists would infer that her body is like a stretched string ready for sudden explosive movement.
Ten seconds later, a group of lizardmen made an appearance. They approached the hunter-priestess on high alert.
These lizardmen are literally what you’d expect: a mix of human and lizard. Their bodies are covered by dark blue colored scales of lizards while their front sides have brighter hues, they are draped under primitive leather clothing that protect their vitals. Since they’ve lived near the Lightning Lake for a long time, their bodies have adapted to the lightning-path environment, thus, their scales have electric blue color of various hues.
The leader of the group had a late-stage rank 1 martial cultivation foundation. Its strong body exhibits lightning-path radiation that would kill mortals, but in Larissa’s perspective, the reptile’s aura seemed to be exerted forcefully beyond its original power level to give off a strong expression. Still, they exhibit stronger radiation than typical human cultivators due to their powerful genes.
However, unlike the human race from the Hartina Kingdom, these lizardmen are lacking.
Yes, they might have significantly stronger bloodline abilities due to their genes, but one’s combat might is not merely about racial traits. Humans or other intellectual lifeforms from the Hartina Kingdom possessed powerful body runes, martial techniques, and artifacts which were incomparable to an inferior race’s tribes who lacked inheritances.
In other words, any non-mage member of Night Raid might be worth a dozen or so lizardmen of the same rank despite the lizardmen’s advantage in physical body.
The leader of the lizardman group exhibited the traits of a horned snake species as he had a small horn on top of his head, he is using a spear made out of bones to point at Larissa. “Ssstate your businesssss, outsssssider. What are you doing so clossssse to our village?” He spoke in a broken human tongue. He also had a funny accent, but that’s probably because of his snake bloodline.
Larissa squinted her eyes as she analyzed the strength of the lizardman party.
Compared to the rest of Night Raid, she has zero body runes. Also, because she’s originally an enslavement-path expert which was forced to convert into a command-path soul cultivator by Mordred, she’s lacking in terms of direct combat potential. However, that’s not a problem due to her high attainments and experience (age).
The hunter-priestess finished her calculations in a blink of an eye. “I am a Hunter of the Association, I represent my team, Night Raid, to discuss something with your tribe leader. A trade, so to speak. Will that be possible?”
The lizardman glanced at each other, their attention split between themselves and the intruder, seemingly trying to converse with their eyes. Larissa had expected for the civilization level of the lizardman tribe to be so low that they were unaware of the existence of the Hunter Association. That’s why she had taken out her weapons in advance. Also, [Hunting Pulse] was supposed to be stealthy. She had purposely altered it to ensure that sufficiently strong individuals were able to detect her probing to make it a form of ‘announcement’ of her presence.
In case of the lizardman being too primitive to understand words, there wouldn’t be any hesitation to slaughter them all. After all, she is always looking for more souls. If not for Mordred’s contract, she would be the next otherworldly invader equivalent to Demon King Maximilian or even greater.
Thankfully, the lizardman seemed to have some sort of civilization.
“You ssssssaid a team? Where are they?” The lizardman leader inquired.
“Somewhere nearby. In case I don’t make it back…” Larissa chuckled as if that could ever happen.
The lizardman leader squinted his eyes, but he couldn't take the words of this woman as nothing. The security of the village is his responsibility, but he can't just simply take her towards the chieftain. What if she’s an assassin sent to weaken the tribe’s defenses? “What kind of trade do you want from ussssss, outsssider?”
“Why so much nonsense. You’re unqualified to…” The aggressive hunter-priestess stopped her words when she noticed Mordred had used an information-path method to block the area around her from prying eyes. Her lips curved upward as she thought of a good follow-up plan. “You will bring me to your leader…” Her voice was soft, yet containing the unique charm of a succubus.
At this instant, she unleashes a bit of her enslavement-path aura.
A cultivator’s ‘aura’ is actually their radiation, it has all sorts of effects when used properly.
If snow and ice-path or fire-path radiation typically have effects that alter the temperature of the natural world, then enslavement-path radiation is capable of eroding lesser minds. In this case, due to her superior genes, soul, and sea of consciousness engineered for this particular endeavor, even most humans would be considered as ‘lesser minds’. Thus, there was no need for Larissa to use enslavement-path methods to enslave lizardmen; her mere presence enslaved others.
The lizardmen were about to kneel in servitude as their mind had been utterly subjugated by the former Demon King, but she ordered otherwise through her eyes. A telepathic link soon formed amongst the lizardmen and Larissa.
“Are you sure about this?” Larissa muttered in a low voice.
“I will support you to the best of my abilities. This place is a gateway to a treasure trove of lightning-path resources, it would be beneficial for me if the lizardmen suddenly have a civil war.” A telepathic message reached her mind. Mordred added, “An unfortunate coup d'etat, so to speak.”
The hunter-priestess reveals a smirk. ‘Heh. It seems like you’re no longer on autopilot. This is the Devil King that I know.’ “Then the plans need to change. Instead of being the bait to delay the lizardmen tribe, I’ll subjugate them. Would that be a problem?” She asked.
“I’ve investigated the lizardmen’s chieftain. From his weight, movement pattern, and soul undulation, he ain’t much. It just so happens that I am in absolute advantage against lightning-path cultivators, I can easily dispatch them. Perhaps, I can even use his body as a material to awaken my own lightning.”
“Hehehe.” Larissa releases a chuckle that came from the depth of her heart. “Finally, you’ve allowed me to do my thing. I'm so excited that I’ve just wet myself.” Her eyes are slowly descending into a manic obsession. And, as she had just said it herself, her nether region is dripping wet with fluid that is not urine or sweat. With the ‘limiter’ of her soul having been released, her true nature as a sadist naturally leaks out to the world. Her mind has already been occupied in the fantasy of torturing the lizardmen with various methods. She was eager to try her new findings, courtesy of Mordred who taught her personally.
“Just… don’t use the lizardman to perform demonic rituals to terraform or summon anything from Lemegeton… or other demon worlds for that matter.” Mordred’s message contained an exhausted tone. “I’ve been straining my information-path resources to apply stealth methods periodically on you, you shouldn’t attract the attention of the World’s Will. We can use the lizardman to build a base of operation if things go well, this location is far enough from the influence of any church.”
Unfortunately, Mordred’s warning fell to deaf ears. She already marched towards the lizardmen village under the lead of the subjugated lizardmen. Her eyes gleamed with endless desire and distorted hunger mixed with insanity.
