“What? Kill him? What are you saying, Riha?” Stella frowned, stepping in front of Levi almost defensively. It would’ve been a heartwarming gesture if it weren’t for her next words. “He’s worth more alive. We can probably get an entire chest full of iridium coins if we play this right.”

  “Perhaps if Ironwood junior here was still the heir,” Riha said. “But he’s disinherited now, don’t you know? Disgraced, as well. I hear he’s quite the failure…”

  Levi suppressed a wince. Holy shit, the news of his counterpart’s reputation had even reached the bandits all the way out here?!

  Stella blinked. “I knew he was disinherited, but I wasn’t aware he was disgraced.”

  Riha let out a tinkling laugh. “Oh, yes. I have a cousin who knows someone who knows someone in the Institute. They say he’s the laughingstock of the entire place, infamous for not even reaching level 20 yet.”

  Next to her, Roland did a double take, whipping his head over to stare at Levi incredulously. “Level 20? Say it ain’t so, boy.”

  “I’m level 14…”

  Stella reared back in shock, and even Riha blinked. A wave of gasps, followed by disbelieving snorts and mocking laughter, rippled through the crowd around them.

  Roland physically staggered back. “Holy mother of gods,” he breathed. “How do you survive being so pathetic? How do you stand such weakness within you?”

  “How were you even in the Viritilan Forest then?” Stella asked. “That’s a platinum-tier region…” She slowly trailed off in realization. “Oh. You were getting boosted by those two adventurers, weren’t you? That’s why the girl looked so tired while you’re fresh as a daisy. And why the man left you behind so easily.”

  Riha broke out into a fit of harsh, raucous laughter. “There you have it. You think his father would cough up even an ounce of gold for payment? To us of all people? Let’s just gut him right now and be done with it. I call dibs.”

  “You don’t know that for certain, though,” Stella shot back. “If there’s even a slight chance he’ll pay up, then it’s worth it to try. You know the precarious state the tribe has been in recently. With the increased monster activity as of late, we need the money for medicine and supplies.”

  At this, Levi tensed up. Increased monster activity? He’d been following their conversation with vague amusement so far, but this piece of information was important.

  Was it related to the Crucible? First the Elder Wyvern trap, then the Hollow summoning ritual with Hawke, and now this…

  Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but the timing of it…

  “If we need money for that, we’ll just raid more villages,” Riha said dismissively. Roland nodded along, and there was a noise of assent in the surrounding crowd.

  Stella bristled. “We of the Lenida Tribe pride ourselves on being strong and taking from the strong. There is no honor in stealing from small villages–”

  “But we still do it,” Riha drawled. “You can keep prattling on about all that stuff all you want, but I’ve seen you participate in the raids. We’re bandits, Stella. Thieves, rogues, murderers, whatever you want to call us. I know you’re the daughter of the former chieftain so you believe in the stories she told you and the values she espoused, but…” She shrugged. “Well, there’s a reason she’s no longer chieftain now.”

  Stella flinched back. It was a minute movement, barely perceptible, but Levi caught it all the same. She recovered quickly, glaring at Riha. “Perhaps so, but as her daughter, I still have the good of the tribe to consider. It’d be better to at least try ransoming him off first. If we can get even some gold from him, then it’d be worth it.”

  “As her daughter,” Riha echoed, stepping close into Stella’s personal space, “you don’t have the final say anymore. It’s a democracy now, haven’t you heard?”

  Roland coughed. “Representative democracy.”

  Riha rolled her eyes. “Same thing.”

  “No, not really…”

  “Fine, then!” Stella snarled. “Call a council meeting. I assume everyone is back from their hunting missions by now? Let’s settle this with a vote.”

  Riha’s eyes closed in a satisfied smile, looking as though Stella had done exactly what she’d wanted. “Fine by me.”

  Levi, for his part, was observing the ongoings with the utmost fascination. He didn’t even want to make a move now. He needed to see how this would end up first.

  The Lenida tribe council was composed of five people gathered inside the largest tent. A large tiger rug lay sprawled out across the ground and a pitcher of wine rested in the middle of a finely-crafted rosewood table. The council members sat around it, drinking from metal goblets, while Levi stood at the end of the desk. Two guards stood behind him, their spears at the ready, and Levi could feel their glares drilling holes into his back.

  The council members were all of different types of beastfolk; there didn’t seem to be any specific hierarchy there. Roland and Riha were both members; as Levi had thought, they ranked highly in the tribe. Stella was present as well as the daughter of the former chieftain. The fourth member was a tiger beastfolk named Arlan with stripes across his face.

  Levi was distinctly curious how Arlan felt about the tiger rug he presently stood upon.

  The current chieftain, Tansil, sat at the front of the desk. He cut a large imposing figure, his arms corded with steel-cut muscles and a scowl adorning his chiseled face, which contrasted nicely with the twin pair of brown bunny ears atop his head. Levi had stared at it for several seconds when he entered.

  Well, he supposed rabbits had fearsome hindquarters power that probably translated to deadly kicks…

  Even still, it took some willpower to restrain his smile.

  It quickly became obvious why Riha had reacted with such pleasure at Stella calling for a council meeting. It took the assorted members approximately five minutes to reach a conclusion.

  “I vote we string up his corpse decorated with his entrails at his father’s city border to send a message,” Riha said. “All in favor?”

  “Aye.”

  “Aye.”

  “Aye.”

  Stella stared at them all, aghast. “If we do this, then how will the cities ever trust us again in hostage situations?”

  “Those are two entirely different things,” Tansil said, his voice gravelly. “We’re not holding him as a hostage. We’re holding him up as a… a…”

  “A pig for the slaughter?” Riha supplied helpfully.

  “Yes, exactly,” Tansil nodded. “We have made no demands yet, and we will make no demands.”

  “Still, isn’t this a little too extreme?” Stella looked around for support. She found none – the opposite, in fact.

  “Marquis Ironwood sent troops who brutalized half my home village because he suspected that we were harboring enemies of the state,” Arlan said quietly. “My village had done nothing of the sort.”

  “Marquis Ironwood ordered several captured members of our tribe to be subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques over the span of years,” Tansil said, his voice pained. “By the time we were finally able to rescue them, they were shells of their former selves.” He paused, his voice hardening. “They never betrayed us, though. They remained loyal no matter how much blood or tears were squeezed out of them.”

  “The best and strongest of us,” Riha said solemnly. The sentiment was echoed by not only the other council members but the guards behind Levi as well.

  Well. It appeared that Levi’s father had made more than a few enemies over the years…

  Stella seemed to realize that she wouldn’t be able to sway them. She swallowed whatever protests she had left and nodded. “Very well. I understand.”

  Tansil smiled. “Excellent. Time is gold – we shall execute him and deliver him to his father’s city tonight. It’s only several hours away from here; we should have plenty of time to make it back by dawn. Any objections?” He looked around. Stella didn’t say anything this time.

  Levi did, though.

  He let out a soft cough. “I object.”

  Slowly, they all turned to stare at him.

  Riha was the first to respond. She let out a cruel, derisive laugh. “Nobody was asking you, Ironwood. Pipe down.”

  “The boy objects to his own slaughter!” Roland laughed uproariously. “Who would’ve thunk?”

  “You do realize the situation you’re in, do you not?” Tansil asked as he leaned forward, his eyes narrowed and a dangerous edge to his voice. The effect was ruined by how his bunny ears quivered above his head.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Levi’s lips twitched. Okay, this had gone on long enough. He needed to end this before he said anything really offensive.

  “Two things,” Levi said. “First off…” He turned to Arlan. “You’re a tiger beastfolk, are you not?”

  Arlan nodded. “That I am.”

  “And we’re currently on top of a tiger skin rug…”

  “That we are.”

  Levi stared at him. “You don’t care?”

  Arlan looked offended. “Why would I? I’m not a tiger.”

  “Yeah, but…”

  “But what? You think that just because I’m a beastfolk, that I’m part animal? That I would feel camaraderie with a mere beast because I share elements of its appearance?” Arlan scoffed. “Spoken like a true human. You were raised in Luxanne, weren’t you? Of course you were, you wouldn’t be so ignorant otherwise.”

  “I apologize, I meant no offense,” Levi said mildly. “I was just curious.”

  The comment about Luxanne was curious, though Levi did indeed not see any non-human races while he was in the city. Which was actually somewhat surprising. He’d initially assumed it was because Luminarche was more of a human country, but with the way Arlan said Luxanne’s name… Perhaps the capital was just discriminatory against non-humans.

  He’d have to ask Liliya about it later. For now…

  Levi then turned to address the table as a whole.

  “Second… I do understand some of you may hold a grudge against my father, and they might even be justified,” he said. “Unfortunately, I am rather attached to keeping my entrails where they belong. I’m only going to say this once. If you surrender now, I’ll forget you guys ever planned on doing such a thing to me. I’ll even ensure you all get fair trials. If you don’t, though… I might just take your threats personally.”

  There was a long moment of silence.

  Then, the council members broke out in laughter.

  “He’ll take it personally, he says!” Roland slapped the table forcefully. “What are you going to do to us, boy?”

  “Threaten us with his father, no doubt,” Riha snickered. “I’m betting that’s the only thing he knows. That’s probably how he got those two adventurers to boost him in the forest as well.”

  Tansil smiled at Levi. “I am adamantium-tier, Ironwood. The other four are all orichalcum-tier. What are you, level 30? 40?”

  “He’s… he’s level 14!” Riha laughed.

  Tansil blinked. “He – what?” He snorted. “Incredible…” He stared at Levi with undisguised contempt. “So, let’s say I don’t surrender. Let’s say I continue our plans. As a matter of fact, let’s say I decide to gut you like a pig right now. Who’s going to stop me? You?”

  “Yes,” Levi said simply.

  This brought another wave of jeering laughter, though Stella seemed to sense that something was off; a hint of wariness entered her eyes as she watched Levi carefully. Perhaps it was his poised calm that tipped her off, or perhaps she just had better instincts than most–

  The entrance to the tent burst open and another bandit rushed in, saving the members of the council sans Stella from a painful evisceration. “There’s trouble!” he gasped. The council turned over to look.

  “What’s wrong, Finnel?” Tansil asked.

  “We’re under attack!” Finnel cried. Levi straightened at this; had Qorbin and Liliya tracked him down and made their move? His theory was disproved a moment later. “Three giant scorpions appeared out of nowhere – we think they tunneled their way through the ground. And their levels… we think they’re level 400 at the very least.”

  Tansil swore. “Are you certain?”

  “Our beast tamers all agree. Our mages are distracting them right now with illusionary spells, but we have only a few minutes before they break free and attack the camp.” Finnel hesitated. “Chief, do we… can we fight them?”

  Tansil exchanged a look with the other council members. Their expressions were grim. “If they’re truly that high-leveled, then we cannot,” he said. “Prepare to evacuate the camp–”

  The sound of an explosion sounded outside, followed by frantic screaming.

  Finnel cursed. “They must’ve broken free already–”

  “Men and women of the Lenida Tribe!” Tansil roared, leaping to his feet. “To arms!”

  The battle lasted for around eight minutes before it became clear that the Lenida Tribe was utterly doomed.

  Stella groaned as blood trickled down her side from gash in her abdomen. The giant scorpions – scorpios, the beast tamers called them – had no doubt been attracted by the dense leyline nodes they’d set their camp on top of. The Lenida Tribe both relied on the dense ambient mana to cloak them from being discovered and also to absorb the ambient mana themselves; as beastfolk, their mana absorption wasn’t as potent as full-fledged monsters, but they still possessed the passive skill.

  However, every day being situated atop one of the nodes was gambling that no strong monsters would arrive to feast on the ambient magic. Up until now, it’d worked out; occasionally, monsters would arrive, but they’d always been able to fight them off. They’d even joked that the ambient mana attracting monsters was a perk because they could gain free XP and loot without having to venture out.

  But today, they finally lost the toss of the dice.

  And what a heavy loss it was.

  The camp around them burned as dozens of bodies lay strewn around on the ground. The scorpios were immensely strong. Perhaps if there’d only been one of them, the Tribe could’ve taken it down. Two would’ve required a miracle.

  But killing all three? That required an act of the Goddess herself. And after the sins they’d committed as bandits, the Goddess had undoubtedly forsaken them.

  Once, the Lenida Tribe hadn’t just been a band of roaming bandits that pillaged helpless villages and ransomed innocent merchants. Once, they’d had a principle of only targeting those who deserved it, back when her mother had been chieftain. Villages that discriminated against beastfolk, corrupt merchants, wealthy minor nobles who stole and plundered the land through taxes and tithes…

  Then her mother had died attempting to protect a town from a dungeon break. The reinforcement adventurers that were supposed to protect the village had been nowhere to be seen. The tribe had lost many members that day. Since then, things had changed.

  She herself still hunted down adventurers, albeit adventurers lower-leveled than herself, because at least then she could pretend that it was an honorable fight. But the rest of the tribe…

  Stella didn’t think her mother would’ve approved.

  It was too late for reflections now. She clutched her wound as she fought to catch her breath. The council had fought hard for the tribe to evacuate, but the scorpios had pincered them, surrounding them on all sides. They were accompanied by hundreds of smaller scorpions as well – well, she said smaller, but even the smallest was the size of a housecat. The scorpios themselves were bigger than a house, bigger than the hill next to them, even.

  Surrounded and outmatched, the Lenida Tribe had been forced to retreat to the center of their camp, frantically fighting off the smaller scorpions while the council members engaged against the scorpios, trying to hold them back. There were maybe sixty, seventy people left alive.

  Arlan had already been killed, a pincer larger than his body stabbing him through the ground and causing his body to go splat, for lack of a better term. There was probably some irony in there somewhere, but Stella was too hurt and scared to try and find it.

  They had perhaps mere minutes before the rest of the council members were overwhelmed. Then once that happened, the lower-leveled members of the tribe stood no chance. It would be a massacre.

  Perhaps it’d be better to just give up. It wasn’t as though they deserved any other fate, after what they’d done. Stella leaned back against the wooden supporting pole of a tent, her hope leaving her as despair began to creep up at the edges of her consciousness–

  “Need any help?” a voice asked.

  Stella whipped her head over to stare at the person who’d spoken. Levi Ironwood stood there, his hands still bound behind his back. Amazingly, he looked positively unscathed; not a hint of dirt or soot marred his appearance. Despite the heavy smog filling the air and the clouds of dust being sent billowing around by explosions, he didn’t seem to have even a speck of dust on his clothes.

  The two guards that were supposed to guard him were nowhere to be seen. Well, Stella didn’t blame them for abandoning their posts; when it had become apparent the battle was doomed, the guards had probably made their way to defend and say goodbye to their families.

  Stella chuckled hollowly. “Help would be nice,” she said. She looked up at the night sky. As always, a luminous full moon stared back at her. “The moon and stars are beautiful tonight…”

  “The stars, I’d agree,” Levi said, “but the moon feels somewhat off – though that may just be me. You can engage in your astronomy endeavors later, though; for now, do you need any help?”

  Stella looked at him. “What, are you offering?”

  Levi looked back at her, fully serious.

  She scoffed. “You weren’t even able to fight us off when we kidnapped you. What could you possibly hope to do against these scorpios? As a level 14, no less?”

  “That isn’t what I asked,” Levi said. “Do you need any help?”

  Stella hesitated for a long moment. Then, she shrugged.

  They were already doomed. There was no harm in being honest at the end.

  “Yes,” she said quietly, almost in a whisper. “I need help. I… I don’t want to die.”

  Levi nodded. He brought his hands together in a strange hand sign – wait, his hands? Stella’s eyes widened when she saw the enchanted cuffs lying on the ground behind him, neatly shattered as though they’d been made of glass instead of constructed of special reinforced metal to hold a mithril-tier opponent.

  She stared at him, feeling an odd feeling in her chest as he stepped forward, as though her heart was doing an acrobatic routine. A moment later, she realized it wasn’t her imagination; her body was physiologically responding to the sudden dense pressure that’d settled over the entire camp, suffocating and terrifying in its sheer power.

  The scorpios stilled and the smaller scorpions froze before skittering backward in panicked retreat. A faint unnatural wind began to blow through the camp as dark angry storm clouds gathered above.

  And Levi smiled. “That’s all you had to say.”

  It took eight minutes for the scopios to ravage the camp.

  It took Levi eight seconds to kill the scorpios.

  Lightning blasted down from the storm clouds above, three of them in rapid succession, striking the three scorpios. Three pillars of pure golden light slammed down, and three scorpios collapsed, their legs twitching and their exoskeleton covered with scorch marks. The scent of ozone filled the air, a buzzing sensation, as all the hairs on Stella’s arms stood up, a deep instinctive part of her screaming at her in alarm.

  Before the scorpios could react, Levi rose into the air. Stella’s eyes widened in shock. He knew [Flight]? That was a skill reserved only to the highest tier of mages.

  Then, around thirty meters up, Levi brought his hands down. Massive rippling translucent blades of magic exploded forth, carving into the scorpios. Stella half-expected the attack to fail; they’d tried stronger attacks earlier, all of which had failed to pierce the extraordinarily tough exoskeleton.

  Instead, the scorpios instantly collapsed, and Stella froze. Her innate beast self, the part of her that was more animal than human, roared out in panic and fright. In that moment, she was more attuned with her beast side than she had ever been before – and she felt it.

  Death.

  The man – no. The thing that hovered in the air was death itself. She could sense it; some sort of unnatural, unearthly, otherworldly connection to the end of all things. She broke out in cold sweat, her entire body shivering with fright.

  She almost didn’t see how he languidly swept his hand across the air, sending out more blades of magic to cut apart the hordes of scorpions like they were mere wheat to be harvested. She barely noticed the white-hot scorching flames that roared into existence, hunting down the remaining monsters as though it had a mind of its own.

  It was all she could do to prevent herself from fainting. Because if she did, she didn’t know if she’d wake up again.

  Eight seconds later, it was all over. Levi fell to the ground next to her, landing lightly on his feet as though he’d hopped off a small stone instead of plummeting over thirty meters.

  “So,” he said. “I just had an idea. If you voted no, and I kill everyone who voted yes… that means your voice will be the only one that counts, right?”