Chapter 22: Chapter 22 – The Dark Vunamian Horde

Somewhere in the Still Hollow Forest...

Dozens of trees were clustered together, with their long and wide branches with very thick laves connected. Forming a natural cave-like dwelling, not even one speck of light can penetrate this dark tree cave.

Dozens of Dark Vunamian Mandrill were gathered in a big circle. At one glance, one could easily tell that the Mandrills who were at the very foremost row of the circle are bigger, wider, and look more dignified.

"Hassa, what happened? What did you see after following the death call?", the biggest and maybe the oldest of the Mandrills spoke, looking at another Mandrill who was also sitting in the front row. However, this particular Mandrill looked young, of course only through looking at his facial features one could tell. Otherwise, he's no different from the other big Mandrills when it comes to size and presence.

No! One might argue that he has an even fiercer kind of vibe about him...

The Mandrill called Hassa spoke, "It's him again."

The moment the elder Mandrill heard him, his face couldn't help but go through a multitude of expressions. Shock, disbelief, anger, and fear...

He slammed two burly hands against the ground with all his strength

*BANGG*

And he shouted angrily, "This is the biggest calamity we've encountered so far, not even The White Bat reduced us to this sorry state!"

The second he said those said words, a heavy silence descended on everyone big or small. Every one of them could feel that this is an unprecedented calamity.

Only Hassa was calm and collected.

The elder noticing Hassa's calm reaction, also calmed down a bit. After all, Hassa is the son of their king. However, it wasn't only that. The king had many sons and daughters, yet Hassa was exceptional since day one. He could do everything his older peers do but do it even more perfectly, coupled with his mature mental state and intelligence. He was the only one worthy of inheriting the throne of the fallen king.

After a couple of moments in that suffocating silence, the elder started noticing the morale of his horde falling, he turned to Hassa for hope.

"Are we sure he's the son of the eastern eagle?", The elder spoke a question even though he felt like it was utter nonsense.

One of the other big Mandrills spoke, this one has a giant scar across his face leaving him with only one eye and one ear. He looked terrifying!

"Yes... I'm sure of it.", he touched the scar on his face and spoke with a sound filled with unmasked hostility, "When we got the news that her nest was hidden this close, I only sent a couple of my weaker troops for fear that they might get discovered to kill her hatchlings, but none of them ever came back"

The elder looked at the scarred Mandrill and spoke with obvious disagreement and disappointment, "Uzis, Uzis... The king advised you to forget about her, do you need me to remind you what he said?", "Hatred with no strength to back it up is foolish, pointless and most of all it would only bring all of us down, and he was right." The more the elder spoke the angrier he and everyone became.

All of them looked at the scar-faced Mandrill with resentment in their eyes, especially Hassa.

"But how could I know that the king would die?", scar-faced couldn't bear the disgust and obvious enmity in their eyes and defended himself, "The king always fought her with they were always on par with each other?"

*BANG!*

Hassa stood and kicked the scar-faced elder in the face and spoke, "You still dare to talk back, if we didn't kill or exile you it's only because of the memory of the late king."

Scarface rolled a couple of times before stopping, he stood up shocked and furious "Stupid brat you dare hit your elders? Do you want me to teach you a lesson?"

Hassa took a step forward and looked at him with killing intent in his eye, "I would like to see you try."

"Youu!!", scar-faced was shocked at how brazen this fucking brat has become.

"Stop!", The elder stood up and looked at Hassa disapprovingly, but he could understand when it came to his father he loses his judgment. "This isn't the time for us to be fighting among ourselves"

Hassa noticing his disapproving gaze sat down and stopped looking at the scar-faced elder.

After a while, Hassa spoke, "The last time the king and the eastern eagle fought, he had the upper hand, if we don't know what changed suddenly we can't make a move."

Everyone agreed with him, after all, it was just too strange.

An ordinary-looking Mandrill spoke this time, even though he looked ordinary he was sitting in the front row, a testament to his strength, "The only thing that changed in the forest is the birth of the devil child, what if he was the factor that finally tilted the scales?"

Another thin and lanky Mandrill spoke, "As much as we would like some humor to lighten the mood this isn't the best time for it Mellak. Or could it be that you are seriously considering that a chick born a couple of days ago is capable of making a difference in a battle between Foundation Establishment?"

Everyone looked at Mellak as if they were looking at a clown, a monster born a couple of days ago not even a Peak Body Refinement can tilt the tide of a Foundation Establishment battle? Only when Hell freezes would they believe this nonsense, even the elder shook his head. Just as he was trying to say something he noticed Hassa's peculiar gaze...

"Hassa, if you have something in your mind say it this isn't the time for holding back say what you have."

Everyone stopped their laughter and focused on what Hassa had to say, after all, he's the future uncrowned king.

Hassa stood up and went to the middle of the circle, after a moment of silence to make everyone listen carefully to what he was about to say, he spoke "I agree with Mellak."

The crowd was in an uproar! Did he go insane from all the stress and his father's death?

The elder also has the same idea as them, but he felt like Hassa wasn't one to speak nonsense, and he said "What do you have to say Hassa get straight to the point."

Hassa felt a bit guilty for being talked to like that but he knew this wasn't the time to be mysterious, "Of all the people here, I am the only one who had any real interaction with the Devil child. We always arrive too late, because he's too fast and can sense us from afar", Hassa stopped for a while to let what he said sink in and he saw that everyone was starting to agree with him. He continued, "When I heard the death call earlier, I happened to be very near where the battle happened. After I arrived I saw him with my own two eyes, carrying one Mandrill in his claws, and was going to grab the other one. The moment I saw that I was furious and I threw at him my strongest and deadliest long-range attack. Do you know what happened after that?"

The Mandrills listening were already on the verge of losing their mind, they had no idea Hassa encountered him before thus solidifying the existence of their horde's calamity.

Hassa didn't wait for them to answer, it was purely rhetorical. He continued speaking, "He didn't even glance in my direction but merely formed a dark shield and my strongest attack was rendered useless. The dark shield didn't even break, I felt like I needed two more attacks of the same caliber to break it. Then, he carried another body and we chased after him only for us to lose him in less than five seconds"

Everyone stood up looking at Hassa angrily! The elder also stood up but he wasn't angry, he was afraid. He knew Hassa wasn't one to speak nonsense. Everyone knew but it was easier to be angry at Hassa than face their bitter reality.

The elder roared, "Sit Down! If any of you dares to say anything they would be exiled."

The crowd could only swallow their words and sit, even though sitting down felt like torture now.

Nobody spoke after a while, each one of them had their thoughts, but the theme is shared between all of them, disbelieve and fear.

Seeing the atmosphere turning for the worst once again the elder spoke, "I don't doubt your words Hassa, but you must understand how difficult all of this is to believe right? Only a Foundation Establishment is capable of such speed and defense, are you saying that he woke up cultivated for a couple of days and broke through to a large realm? Even divine beasts from the legends aren't probably capable of that..."

Hassa spoke once again, "No, actually he's just at the Mid Body Refinement."

As everyone was about to stand up and shout once again they saw the elder looking at them as if he'd skin them alive and they shut their mouths.

"Do you have any evidence of all of this crazy miracle you're shouting?", the elder spoke with an angry yet terrified voice.

Hassa sighed and said, "Yes, I was with Nadeh" you can ask him...

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Everyone turned to look at a Mandrill who had his eyes closed cultivating the whole time, he was the elder's son.

The elder turned to look at his son and asked, "Is this true?"

Naddeh opened his eyes nodded, and closed them back once again.

The crowd was truly shocked this time and they couldn't control themselves everyone stood up!

"By god! What are we going to do?"

"The eastern side now has two potential Foundation Establishment but we have nothing"

"Is this the end of our horde?"

"But how can a Mid Body Refinement monster have this shocking amount of ability???"

"This doesn't make sense"

The silent ones were already thinking of deserting, there is no shortage of Mandrill Hordes in this forest, if they couldn't be protected against the might of monsters beyond their levels then what is the point?

Hassa and the elder were both aware of this, they noticed the despair in each other's eyes and couldn't help but sigh.

The elder spoke after seeing that the noise was starting to die down, "Everyone gathers your things, this area is no longer safe. We'll head together to the western side and join the chief Vuror!"

The moment they heard him everyone despaired, Vuror was a ruthless leader. Everything he does is for himself and only protects people as long as his sick benefits are intact and he's a greedy sick bastard. But they all knew it was either that or death.

The scar-faced elder was shocked when he heard that, he especially couldn't go back. When the king was alive he once killed a son of Vuror because he had the protection of the king, their relationship was already irreconcilable. His mind started running at full speed thinking of ways to keep them here otherwise he'd definitely die, as long as there were other people his chance of death would be low he could use them and meat shields.

He immediately thought of a brilliant idea that everyone missed, even though he was surprised at this spontaneous moment of genius. But it's only natural everybody was scared but they had the last option, only he was at the edge of the precipice.

He calmed down and spoke, "Everyone knows that what awaits us in Vuror's horde is only death, it'd be temporary but death nonetheless. He was basically the nemesis of the previous king and he treats his horde worse than worms, how about us? All the grievances and humiliation he suffered at the hand of the king would be directed at us tenfold."

Everyone agreed with him even Hassa and the elder.

"If you have anything to say, say it Horbac.", the elder spoke angrily he hates these roundabout ways of speaking the most.

Horbac knowing his personality hurriedly added more, "The Devil child is outstanding no one can deny that in the history of this dark forest he is an unprecedented existence. His future spills the doom of all of us, however, this is the best opportunity to get rid of him. He has already the capability to fight in Foundation Establishment battles, but there is one thing he doesn't have. Strong Vitality and defense that comes as a result of years of training cultivating and physical growth, his weakness is his body."

A High Mandrill interjected and spoke, "But Hassa already said that even his defense is nothing short of outstanding for his level. Aren't you just spouting nonsense?"

Horbac looked at this weak Mandrill that dared to speak to him like that and remembered his face, he knew why he had the guts, he was one of the elder's disciples. "Hassa mentioned Dark Shield, it's a magical defense, but I was talking about his body, at the end of the day he's still a fucking brat of four days old or god knows how long, plus he should be stupid without any battle experience," Horbac spoke and looked mockingly at the brat who dared to humiliate him. 'Just wait' he thought.

The crowd finally found the slightest bit of hope they needed and they started agreeing readily with him, which made him feel especially smug. He even started feeling like he was a good leader material.

Only Hassa was not that upbeat about this new idea, and mentioned another issue "Let's say we kill The Devil child, what about his mother? She's still a Foundation Establishment lord monster. It's not something we can afford to offend."

The favor of the crowd was once again tilted towards Hassa, their newfound hope evaporated as fast as it came into being, how unlucky they thought.

Horbac stopped for a while then said with a heavy tone, "Everyone, I don't think you realize the weight and severity of the situation we're currently in. Offend this, offend that we couldn't care less. There is a literal evil demon growing stronger by the day as our neighbor, the moment he grows and with the speed at which he's growing, I give us no more than a week before we're completely wiped out. We shouldn't care less about his mother."

Now everybody couldn't help but look at Horbac in a new light, when did this petty bastard become so intelligent? They turned to wait for Hassa to make any counterargument. But shockingly, he didn't say anything. Even Hassa agreed!

Seeing all of their reactions Horbac was over the moon! He was just going to continue and tell them about his plan but suddenly he had an even brighter idea, due to the crowd's reaction his ego reached an all-time high altitude. The previous ambition he said jokingly with himself, started to take root, and the flames of desire burned wildly in his heart.

He even felt righteous about it, 'Should we let this snot-nosed brat become the king just because his father was one and because he's a bit stronger? Heck, just me and some other Elder are capable of beating him to death. Only I am capable of leading us to greater heights, after all, when only when calamity strikes do you truly see what people are made of' He thought, his conviction getting stronger by the second!

Due to how highly everyone regards him right now, he decided to use this momentum to his advantage.

'When did I become so smart? I was always focused on fighting I never knew I was good at talking.'

He looked at everyone with a benevolent expression on his face, and said "Everyone please calm down, now that we know what our situation is like, we'll easily know what to do." Then, he looked at Hassa and spoke, "Future king, your people are in an unprecedented calamity and they need you, and do you propose that we do?"

Everyone looked at Hassa with hope in their eyes, after all everyone regarded him highly, and that's exactly what Horbac hated! He didn't deserve it!

Looking at their hopeful expressions Hassa's tongue stuck in his throat because he had no idea what to do.

Seeing Hassa's silence, the atmosphere turned strange and uncomfortable.

Seizing this opportunity, Horbac continued, "Oh my, I'm sorry Hassa I didn't mean to put you in this difficult position, after all, you are one of our promising young warriors. Your potential in combat is undeniable, I just didn't know you still lacked experience in leading people. But this is a life or death matter concerning the lives of our horde. We can't take it lightly."

Everyone agreed with him and the looks with which they were looking at Hassa changed. Before it was the look one might give someone they respect and value now it became just like how one would look at a kid. Not hate, just not someone you couldn't depend on.

The elder seeing all of this frowned not just him but many others who could tell what was happening, but deep down they agreed with him. Hassa's performance was disappointing. A kid is still a kid after all.

Seeing all of this, everyone's expression turned solemn.

Horbac loved all of this, everything was going so perfectly that he was awed by his brilliance, he was more and more convinced of his ability to lead and become the next king! Then, he continued "Brothers and sisters, fear not for I have a plan that'd save us all."

The horde looked at him approvingly, it was very easy to leave a deep impression and impact on people in their most vulnerable state.

One of Horbac's loyal subordinates seeing all of this understood what was happening! He immediately bowed and asked in a worshiping tone, "Esteemed Lord Horbac, please save our horde! Our lives depend on you!"

Horbac was at first stunned, then joyous! 'Good, Good, Good!! Zoerv I underestimated you, you're smart' he thought. He stopped for a while and his expression kept changing as if making a very difficult decision. Then, he sighed and said, "I have discovered a very large underground tunnel left by a very strong Pangolin, We'll split the horde. The majority will go hide in the tunnel so that we can run away from the eastern Eagle after killing her child, and a second-team made up of elite fighters will prepare an ambush for the devil child."

The elder suddenly spoke after a long silence, "The Devil child also has terrifying sensing abilities, one on par with the previous king or even greater. How do you think we would be able to ambush him?"

Hearing this Horbac smirked, he already thought of a brilliant plan but he wanted to also take this chance and lower the standing of the opposite faction in the heart of the people. He laughed as if hearing a joke and said, "Elder surely you're not serious, but normal fear can indeed hinder our ability to think so it's alright. It's simple, we need to find a way to be able to directly hit him while also being outside of his spirit range."

Everyone was puzzled why was Horbac asking a difficult question and acting as if everyone knew it?

Horbac faked surprise and humility then said, "We'll set up ambush below the highest trees in our territory. Then we'll set up bait and wait for the devil child to come, when he takes the bait we'll be able to see him with our eyes from the tree top and we'll make it rain on him. Sure our aim won't be very accurate but as long as there are enough rocks to throw he'll be hit by one, two, three rocks or whatever it takes, which will most certainly break his wings then he'd be a sitting duck for us to kill and disappear"

The elder, the other elders, Hassa, and every other Mandrill were shocked when they heard the plan, it sounded plausible, after all the highest trees in their regions can reach up to 1 mile in height, and even the old king only had a range of around 250 meters in his spirit sense.

After talking some more and consolidating their plan everyone dispersed and went to fulfill their roles. Some gathered food to be taken into the tunnel, others went to scout, the strongest Mandrills climbed the trees, and a team was organized as bait the one leading it was Hassa and it just so happens that the one who chose the members was Horbac.

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