The beasts were trying to attack the tents and the tribe members who were outside their tents. There were many of those creatures—the same kind Sol had struggled to kill just one of.
"Those damned creatures... They attack us after the hunters leave."
Arisu said angrily, his eyebrows furrowed in rage.
"Fighting just one was a problem. What about this many?"
Sol thought to himself, cold and calm, without tension or worry.
[Was one of them the reason the system activated?]
The system's voice asked.
"Yeah."
One of the scale-beasts spotted Arisu and Sol standing before the large tent. It changed direction and ran at full speed toward them, the loud thuds of its clawed legs hitting the ground—no roaring, no growling.
[It's getting closer... You two need to do something.]
The system's voice was slightly tense. But suddenly, Sol felt a strange warm pulse inside him.
Arisu stood without tension or fear, his eyes fixed forward with confidence, as if waiting for something. And indeed, what he was waiting for happened.
A fast blue flash shot out from behind Sol like lightning, passing right between him and Arisu, leaving an azure afterimage in a straight line.
"What was that?"
Sol was slightly surprised.
The azure light struck the beast's face hard. It stopped moving and fell to the ground, sliding across the black soil, stopping before Sol and Arisu—lifeless. Embedded deep in the center of its forehead, between its four eyes, was a long black arrow.
Suddenly, that strange warm feeling inside Sol faded.
"Arisu... your weapon."
Sol heard a somewhat rough feminine voice calling to Arisu from behind, from where the blue light had come. When he turned, he saw a long, decorated black wooden bow—held by Rusar, her braided hair pulled back, wearing light dark-colored clothes and no ornaments.
"Here's your weapon, Arisu."
Siraria said in her soft, expensive-silk-like feminine voice, holding a long, wide sword with both hands with difficulty. Its blade was made of obsidian stone with glowing azure veins.
She was different from Rusar. Her soft, long hair fell with ornaments over her shoulders and back. She wore lighter, more feminine colors with beautiful ornaments. She was puffing one of her cheeks, which had turned red, straining to carry that heavy sword.
Arisu grabbed the wide sword's hilt and lifted it, easily removing the burden from Siraria as if he were holding a kitchen knife. Then he said:
"Rusar, secure the tent and protect Siraria and the kids. Make sure those creatures don't get near you... Don't worry about the village ."
Arisu ordered Rusar. She nodded and said in her somewhat rough feminine voice:
"Be careful."
"For you, Mister Sky Dweller."
The children were holding two long daggers, which they handed to Sol.
"Sol, let's go now."
Sol simply nodded.
"I didn't want to fight."
Sol thought to himself in a cold, tired tone.
[Stop whining now... You know what? This will save me a lot of explaining. Just try it. Kill one of those creatures.]
"Try? The way you say it makes it sound easy."
Sol glanced at Arisu, who was carrying the wide sword over his shoulder, running quickly and easily. It was strange—as if he were carrying a light stick.
The two encountered a beast waving its thick tail in the air, about to bring it down on the guards before it. When Sol spotted it, that hot feeling inside him returned.
Arisu's speed increased so much that he passed Sol by many steps. Suddenly, Arisu's irises glowed with an intense azure light, and the azure parts of the great sword glowed as well, before a blue aura like smoke surrounded the blade.
When Arisu got behind the beast, he gritted his teeth and tightened his grip, then spun with the sword, swinging and using the momentum of his rotation—the blue smoky aura and glow intensifying—and aimed at the beast.
The sword cut through the beast's thick, heavy, scale-covered tail as if it were a hot knife through butter. The tail fell to the ground with a loud thud. It was very heavy and thick.
Before the beast could even roar or react, Arisu used the sword's full momentum to cut off the other two tails before they could move. Another swing severed the beast's entire hind limb from its body.
The second swing cut off the right side of the beast's midsection and belly. By the third and fourth swings, the front limb, neck, and head were already on the ground, leaking azure blood, before the rest of the body followed. Then that hot feeling disappeared again.
[Wow... He's really strong. Not what i'd expect from his slender build.]
Arisu's body wasn't that slender—it was average, well-proportioned—but not the kind of body that could carry such a sword and swing it so easily.
"Not just him. Those guards are strong too."
Sol said, looking at several scale-beast corpses around them, then turned his gaze to Arisu.
Sol wasn't focused on Arisu and his body—he was staring with some interest at the stone sword that had glowed moments ago and easily cut through that armored creature.
"Are there any wounded among you?"
Arisu shouted to the soldiers before him. One of them replied respectfully:
"No, we're fine, Chief."
They were actually wounded, bleeding azure blood. It wasn't hard to spot the blood against their blue skin, but the injuries weren't severe.
"Good... Did you send someone to inform the hunters?"
"Yes, Chief. Someone went to tell them what's happening."
"Well done. Where are the rest of the guards?"
Arisu said, looking at the guard who had just answered.
"They're handling the north, others the west. We were heading east before we encountered a group of Treotil."
"And the south? What about the south?"
A guard stepped forward from the back. He had sharp eyes and a piercing gaze. He said coldly:
"Elder Yous took a group of his best guards with him. He ordered them to split from us and head there. There aren't many people there, so their numbers should be enough."
When Arisu heard the guard's answer, his expression shifted to one of concern, but it faded when he turned and looked at Sol.
"Sol, you're good at fighting. Please, lend us your strength. Go south and help the guards."
The guard who had answered first spoke:
"But Chief, the number of guards who went is sufficient. Besides, this is the south. Treotil don't come from the south. We need His Holiness—"
Before the guard could finish, Arisu cut him off sharply:
"You don't know anything. There could already be many Treotil there, or one of the guards might be injured."
Arisu turned to Sol with a worried expression and said in a low tone:
"Please... go south."
Sol stared for a few seconds with his dark, cold eyes, then agreed with a small nod and headed in the direction Arisu had indicated.
There was a strange look on Arisu's face as he watched Sol walk away, then he left with the soldiers toward the eastern part of the village.
As Sol ran toward the southern parts of the village, he passed by scale-beast corpses.
[Look at all these bodies lying around... I don't think they're struggling against these creatures. So why did he send you there?]
Sol remained silent as he ran, his tied-back hair fluttering slightly in the air. After a few seconds, he finally reached the village's southern border. There he found a group of guards holding their weapons, protecting one of the tents from an attack by several of those creatures—but they already had the situation under control.
[I was right. They're handling these creatures easily. I guess Arisu was wrong. No big deal—everyone makes mistakes sometimes.]
Sol's expression darkened when he heard a very familiar scream. He headed toward the sound and found its source.
Azure. Before her stood a scale-beast trying to attack her. She was already injured in her arm, but in her other hand she held her old, worn-out dagger, pointing it at the beast with eyes blazing with anger and pain.
[Look, there are the guards. But wait—why are they just standing there?]
Sol glanced at the three guards standing close to the beast and Azure. They were whispering and laughing quietly, as were the tribe members standing behind them—laughing as if watching something entertaining and funny.
[Wait... They're laughing. They're laughing while this little girl is about to die!]
Her voice was harsh.
They were watching the brutal spectacle of a disgusting creature about to devour an injured, helpless girl pretending to be brave, holding a small worn-out dagger, tears streaming down her blue cheeks.
She opened her mouth trembling—like the dagger in her hand—then closed it and opened it again. She was trying to ask for help, but it seemed she already knew what would happen, so she decided to drop the false brave mask.
She let her tears flow freely, closed her eyes slowly, raised her head to the sky with a sad, painful smile, then lowered the worn-out dagger to the ground. She had surrendered to her fate.
"Die already, you wretched Disaster Prophecy!"
One of the people behind the guards shouted at her, followed by others repeating his words or simply shouting "Die!" The laughter grew louder, their voices rising. Azure's features trembled slightly.
[Those wretched, disgusting people! Damn them! The little girl is going to die!]
Sol looked at the beast preparing to pounce on Azure, then at the long dagger in his hand.
"I won't make it in time."
Sol tightened his grip on the dagger's hilt and, with all his remaining strength, threw the dagger at the beast as fast as he could. It embedded itself in the beast's eye just before it could jump on the girl.
The beast jumped back in pain. Sol sprinted at full speed toward Azure, who looked at him in astonishment with wide eyes for a few seconds—then the gleam of hope returned to her, and she burst into heavy sobbing, abandoning all pretense of bravery and clinging to Sol.
[Poor girl... Damn them. How could they leave her like that?]
Sol found a wound on the girl's thigh—a strange wound. When he touched it, he realized it was an arrow wound. It seemed the little girl had broken the arrow so it wouldn't hinder her, but the other half was still lodged inside.
What was strange was how a little girl knew to break an arrow while it was still embedded in her leg.
[If you run with her like this, she'll bleed heavily and might die.]
Sol knew this. He picked up the girl and headed to the nearest tent, placing Azure inside and giving her the white coat he had received the day before.
He turned to find the beast ready for him, eager for revenge. Sol felt that strange heat inside him again—not painful, but annoying. He tightened his grip on the dagger and took a fighting stance.
"Come."