Chapter 390: Truth of the World (1/2)
”Rivals? Enemies? ”Silva asked with shock. This came entirely out of the left field for him. When had he ever heard of a Tribe that was enemies with itself? This seemed absolutely insane and stupid.
”Exactly,” Gravis said.
Silva waited for an explanation, but apparently, Gravis was done talking.
”Why?” Silva asked, ”By not being united, our whole Tribe will suffer. If we get involved, there will be cases where we specifically send weaker beasts with an advantage against stronger beasts to weaken the other side. Isn't this exactly what we don't want to see? This is against the interests of the Tribe!”
Gravis only looked at Silva. ”Because you have no other choice,” Gravis said.
”What do you mean? Are you forcing me to become enemies with Shira?” Silva asked with narrowed eyes.
”No, I'm not forcing you,” Gravis said and then pointed at Shira. ”She's forcing you.”
Silva looked at Shira while Shira looked with narrowed eyes at Gravis.
”I chose her as my commander because her goal is power and authority above anything else,” Gravis explained. ”This greed and ambition will drive her to increase the power of her camp as quickly as possible to stomp out all other competition. You are in her way to power. She wants to be the sole ruler of the whole Tribe, bar none.”
Shira was deeply enraged inside. To her, it felt like Gravis was unveiling all her plots and secrets. This would make it much harder to become the ruler.
”But then, aren't you also one of her enemies? Why would you choose someone like this as your second in command if you know that she will try to usurp you as soon as possible?” Silva asked.
Gravis just laughed. ”Her ambition will drive her camp to power. The more powerful the camp, the more powerful the Tribe. Her greed is putting pressure on all of us. If we don't become more powerful, we will die. She will force all of you to become powerful if you don't want to die.”
Gravis rose from his sitting position. ”Without a constant enemy at your throat, you will become complacent. Only by constantly fearing for your life will your power increase with ridiculous speed. Our goal is not to survive, but to become the most powerful Tribe, Kingdom, and Empire.”
Gravis slithered forward until he was in the middle of everyone. His smirk intensified as he gestured grandly to the surroundings with opened arms.
”We are burning our bridges of retreat. It's either power or death. If you can't keep up with the others, you will become food. This is the truth of the world. Our Tribe will be the most dangerous one to live in, but also the one with the best environment to become powerful.”
”If you aren't prepared to put your life on the line for power, you don't belong in my Tribe,” Gravis said while looking into the eyes of Shira, Silva, and Morn. ”I won't force you to stay here. Any beast can leave this Tribe if they want.”
Silva and Morn felt incredibly shocked and even afraid. This was insane! Wasn't a home a place where one felt safe? Why would anyone want to put themselves in constant danger? Wasn't the goal of everyone to be happy? How could anyone be happy in this environment?
”This is insane!” Silva said as he rose and glared at Gravis. ”You're mad! How many beasts will live to see the next year? You are dooming all of us to die to our own tribesmen!”
Gravis only smirked at Silva with narrowed eyes. ”I'm dooming no one. You can always leave the Tribe. If you manage to convince others as well, you can take them with you. I won't stop anyone from leaving. I'm sure that with a large enough following, you can even join another Tribe.”
”You're driving everyone away with that!” Silva shouted at Gravis. ”You will weaken the Tribe until it completely collapses! This is insanity, and I won't be part of this! You can go kill yourself without me!”
Then, Silva turned around to leave the Spire. No one stopped him from leaving, and Shira even smirked coldly. Her biggest rival had left. This was the best-case scenario for her.
”I will stay,” Morn said after he had remained silent for a while.
Silva's eyes widened in shock as he heard that. Then, he turned around and looked at Morn in shock and anger. ”Elder!” he shouted aggressively. ”How can you condone this insanity!? Have we not stayed in the Sand Tribe for many years together? Have you given up on life and want to commit suicide with everyone else!?”
Morn looked at Silva. ”What our Lord has said goes against all tradition and previous experience. Yet, I see clearly now,” he said with a severe voice. Silva could hear the battle-intent inside Morn's voice and his brain completely stopped working.
The Elder had always talked emotionlessly and wisely. Silva had never heard the Elder speak in this way. It was almost like the Elder was in the middle of a battle.
”Why has our Sand Kingdom declined to such a state?” Morn asked as he looked at Silva. ”We have always been united, thinking that it makes us stronger. And yes, it does make us stronger but only for the moment. It promotes temporary strength over future growth.”
Morn stood up with burning eyes. ”We have not lived to become powerful but to survive. We haven't fought to win but to not lose. We only defended but didn't attack. We were bound to be reduced to this weak state! Oh, how naïve I have been. I have dreamt of returning to our glory days, yet, I wasn't ready to put my life on the line.”
”The world isn't a kind place. If you aren't powerful, you will die. Creating a safe place will only let us live in peace until we are inevitably consumed by beasts that are willing to risk everything for power.”
Morn looked deeply into Silva's eyes. ”In my opinion, trying to live in peace in a world full of death and war is more akin to suicide than fighting for your life. By accepting peace, you have decided to die.”
Gravis smirked from the side. Surely enough, Morn was similar to Orthar. He had seen enough of the world to see its true face. Yet, he had been blinded by the bright colors of peace and complacency. Creating peace and happiness in such a world was accepting your death.