After Darlene revealed her strength, Lord Rholthos was forced to reassess Leon's strength. Not just him, but the other two slim women besides him as well.
If someone as slim as the tanned woman could be a Battle King, then these three other people with fair skin might not be much weaker—No, they could even be stronger!
Lord Rholthos's expression turned grim.
At the same time, the Battle God Palace's warriors craned their necks to look at their third palace lord with astonishment.
It was the first time seeing their palace lord show such a careful expression in any matter besides the other two palace lords.
"On account that the Seven Tribes Alliance has been relatively peaceful thanks to your protection, I'll allow you to leave. And I won't pursue this matter further," Leon coolly stated. "So, leave now and don't come back."
Nevertheless, Lord Rholthos was unwilling to leave just like that.
Although Lord Rholthos miscalculated the Seven Tribes Alliance's strength, his desire to bring them under his wing intensified.
"Even if I leave today, my first and second palace lords, my elder brothers, will still pay you a visit. However, at that time, their means to subjugate your band of tribes will be even more forceful than mine," Lord Rholthos spoke in a low tone.
"You need to understand that your tribes have no choice but to pick a side, or do you intend to reject all three palace lords and make the entire Battle God Palace your enemy? Even if you're strong, it's not enough to go against the entire—"
"Enough!" Duna thundered.
In that instance, an overwhelming pressure descended on Lord Rholthos and his men. The pressure was so powerful that it suppressed them into the ground and suffocated them.
Not a single person in the Battle God Palace could utter a word under Duna's soul suppression.
"I am tired of listening to your drivels and watching you prance around with your overinflated ego! You might think you are strong, but in reality, you are not! Know your place and piss off, vermin! You're an eyesore!"
Lord Rholthos and the rest of the Battle God Palace took on the brunt of Duna's Great Demon Lord-level soul suppression.
Not only did it shock them, everyone else in the hall besides Leon and Aria was also shocked!
The color was drained from Lord Rholthos's face, making him look pale like the rest of his people.
Duna's overwhelming power shattered whatever confidence they had left and instilled fear into all of them.
"Still not leaving?" Duna uttered with annoyance.
Alas, the Battle God Palace's people felt wronged. Everyone wanted to flee, but they couldn't move—not unless Duna relieved her soul suppression.
"Scram!" Duna yelled.
Her voice carried a powerful wave of invisible mental strength that blew Lord Rholthos and his men out of the hall.
Only the young Zion remained behind. Everyone else was expelled.
After recovering from his initial shock and fear, Zion glanced at Leon with guilt and uttered, "Big Brother Leonhardt… I…"
Zion opened his mouth, but no words came out. Shortly after, he nodded with a sigh and turned around to leave the hall.
Although Leon could guess the boy had kind intentions, he was too naïve.
The Infertile Plains was a land filled with proud warriors. The various tribes all formed their collective powers, and it wasn't easy to subjugate them.
It wasn't easy to get a tribe to submit unless they had overwhelming power or charisma.
He, himself, wouldn't be viewed favorably in the tribe if he hadn't already established his prestige based on his cumulative feats.
The current state of affairs in the Infertile Plains is the way that they are because everyone wants to become the hegemon. But, alas, not everyone can.
Thus, those aware of their lacking qualifications willingly submit to other tribes.
On the other hand, the powerful tribes with qualifications will butt heads. Furthermore, they will do so fiercely until a winner is determined.
Chief Valencia and the other hall members weren't so sure that they could stand toe-to-toe with the Battle God Palace and the other King-rank tribes based on the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman's strength alone.
But after they witnessed Darlene and Duna's strength, they became completely confident in their qualification to participate.
"Now, we've completely fallen out with the Battle God Palace. But, alas, this was bound to happen if we wanted to fight for the hegemon position," Leon casually stated.
Several hall members nodded.
They were aware of what they were getting themselves involved in. If they weren't prepared for this, they would have already submitted to a stronger power.
"However, what concerns me is the Battle God," a Crimsonfog Tribe's Venerable Shaman said.
However, Chief Valencia and several other hall members shook their heads with a wry smile at the person's remark.
Given the overpowering strength that Miss Duna revealed, the Battle God wouldn't be a problem at all.
"The Battle God shouldn't be a problem. After all, we can assume that something happened to the Battle God if the Battle God Palace's palace lords are competing with each other," Leon stated.
"True," the One-Eyed Venerable nodded and added, "The palace lords are the Battle God's children. I doubt he would like to see them going after each other's necks if he was perfectly in good health."
"In other words, something happened to the Battle God, and the palace lords are fighting for the throne?" Chief Skyhawk rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Now it makes sense that the Central Region's King-rank tribes dare to compete for the hegemon position. The Battle God Palace is busy with their internal conflict," Chief Baskara understood.
While the discussion was ongoing, the hall members would sneak some glances at Duna with silent speculations from time to time.
The strength she revealed was simply too shocking and beyond their worldly knowledge.
Nevertheless, the hall quickly quietened after Darlene returned with bloodstains on her face a short while later.
"Did you kill him?" Leon softly asked while wiping the Mid-rank Battle King's blood off her face.
"No," Darlene shook her head before saying, "But I did beat the living crap out of him."