Chapter 406: Shiras Crisis (2/2)

Shira felt like she was completely out of her depth, with monsters all around her that were a danger to her life. Sadly, she didn't realize the irony in that thought. After all, Silva had had the same feelings towards her before he consulted Gravis.

Shira couldn't find any solution to her current predicament. Without assets or power, her craftiness was nearly useless. She had relied on her craftiness for her entire life, and today was the first time when it had failed her.

She stood before a crossroad. Flee or stay? If she fled, she would need to either establish her own Tribe or join the Tribe of another beast. Both options had problems. If she established her own Tribe, she would need to completely rely on her own power. After all, there would be no other Lord inside her new Tribe. This meant that she needed to kill the enemy Lords personally.

If she joined the Tribe of another beast, she would first need to search for a Tribe that had, at least, a level two Lord as a leader. Level one Lords wouldn't allow such a dangerous snake into their midst. On top of that, she would need to join as Prey, and that was hard. She would need to fight several brutal battles.

The issue with finding such a powerful Tribe was that these Tribes didn't reside on the outside of the continent. She would need to travel a considerable distance into the continent. Of course, that meant that she had to go through the territories of other Tribes. Like this, she would need to fight these Tribes either way.

Additionally, there was a massive issue with both of these choices, and that issue was the River Tribe's insane growth. The growth of the River Tribe completely shocked Shira. In just over a week, the Tribe went from having no Lord to having over a dozen. If she left for another Tribe, she would sooner or later become food or Prey for the River Tribe.

When that happened, enough time would have already passed for the River Tribe to be many times more powerful than now. At that point, she could probably only join as Prey, and if she survived, her strength would only allow her to become a mere soldier.

In order to counteract this possibility, she would need to travel such a vast distance that it would probably take over a year of travel via the ocean. Yet, if she did that, she would still have to deal with the other issues.

Shira felt like there was no way out. In her mind, it didn't matter what she chose. Only death remained.

After hours of dealing with her despair, Shira finally remembered something. She remembered that Silva had been completely suppressed by her. Yet, as soon as he invaded the Hyena Tribe, he had completely transformed.

'No,' Shira thought as she narrowed her eyes. 'He had already changed before that. After he passed by me, I felt the difference in his mindset. All of this happened just after he had gone to the Spire. What happened in the Spire that it changed him that much?' she thought.

As she thought about this, a realization slowly dawned on her. 'That viper had already known Morn for a long time. Morn wouldn't be able to change his mind to such a degree. On top of that, the Oracle had stayed at the border to wait for the invasion. There was only one powerful beast remaining at the Spire during that time.'

'The Leader!' she thought with narrowed eyes. 'That viper has probably realized that his death was around the corner. Not finding a way out, he probably went to consult the Leader. After their talk, his whole mindset had changed.'

Shira was currently at the bottom of the Abyss and looked upwards at the Spire with narrowed eyes. 'That viper had no way out, so he simply followed the Leader. After all, his naïve methods hadn't worked against me.'

Suddenly, Shira's eyes widened as she realized something else. 'Doesn't that sound just like my situation?' she thought in frustration. As she continued thinking, her frustration grew. 'No, I can't! If I consult the Leader, I would have only proven that my way is wrong! Then, all my efforts over these years would have been for nothing!'

Yet, Shira's grimace slowly changed into a frown as she looked at the ground. 'Prove that I was wrong?' she thought and then looked at the Spire again. Now, she only had an unsure expression. 'Haven't I already proven that my path is wrong by ending up in such a situation with no way out?'

Then, Shira's body shook in anger and refusal. After that, she shook her heads in violent frustration and released a shout as her tail destroyed the wall to her side.

After calming down, she looked upwards at the Spire with motivation. 'So what if I lose the battle!?' she thought with anger. 'I'll accept this loss to win the war!'

Then, she shot at the Spire from the Abyss.

It was time to consult the Leader.