Chapter 610: Looming Threat (1/2)
”What are you talking about?” Leviala asked with confusion.
”Nothing, continue. What happened next?” Zac said, not wanting to make any decisions before hearing the whole story.
Seeing the outsiders conspiring with their old enemies the Lunar Clan had, unsurprisingly, agitated the people of Clan Cartava, especially after they had extended an olive branch through the plaque. It was at moment time a man named Yvian stepped out, saying that he and Leviala were betrothed, but had kept it secret as to not distract from the more important matters at hand. He vowed to get his fiancé back, even if he had to battle both the ”insidious outsiders” and the Lunar Tribe.
Apparently, Yvian was the heir of the second branch of the Clan and the second-best candidate for future Clan Leader after Leviala herself. He and his faction quickly turned the clan against Zac's people and immediately rerouted the scouting parties to search in the direction of the Lunar Forest instead. The explosions together with the video made it look like the werewolves kidnapped Leviala before escaping toward the outer world.
As for the fake engagement, it was a way to bridge the gap between the two main branches of the clan now that Leviala was gone. With Leviala gone and the Grand elder being quite old, the Second Branch would eventually become the main branch. Of course, their plans went awry the moment Leviala was accidentally found by one of the scouting parties.
Leviala had returned to her clan with the second-branch scouts even if she had misgivings, but the news she brought back were mostly discarded. They called the news of the Dominators and the Great Redeemer a fabrication meant to trick the clan into staying behind while their enemies got themselves to safety.
Some even insinuated that Leviala had been brainwashed by the enemies.
Even her own grandfather seemed hesitant about what she said, so Leviala eventually saw no other option but to turn to Zac for help. There was no way that she would be able to convince her Datamancer uncle to come along in a situation like this, so she set out alone. She was quickly discovered and she was forced to fight her way out of an encirclement.
The only reason she was still alive was that most of the clan members were in the dark about the coup, simply thinking that Leviala was under some sort of hypnosis or compulsion. So they were afraid to actually attack her too ruthlessly, which allowed her to 'escape'. Of course, that escape might just have been a ploy, a gambit by the second branch to find a secret pathway to the Lunar Forest.
Frowns adorned Zac and his group as they digested the new information. They didn't really care about the coup, even if Zac felt a bit bad for Leviala, but the implications were clear. Clan Cartava were gearing up for a war against Port Atwood at this very moment, both to get back at their old enemies and to seize a chance to escape.
The second branch already had wide support for the attack even before Leviala returned, and it sounded like that support had only increased when Leviala admitted that Zac wouldn't let them out before the Dimensional Seed matured.
”Please, come with me to Clan Cartava,” Leviala entreated. ”I couldn't convince the elders, but if you display your might, I'm sure they will understand that there is no point for you to play those games. We can avoid an unnecessary war, and set our sights on our true enemies instead.”
Zac didn't immediately respond, but he rather went over his options in his mind.
”One thing at a time,” Zac eventually said, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Leviala's idea. Instead, he threw out a large bag of Springroot on the ground. ”Everyone. Eat a piece of this root. Anyone who does will be allowed to return to your clan. Everyone else...”
Hesitation and skepticism were written all over the faces of the cartava soldiers, and many turned their eyes to Leviala who somewhat had taken on the role of an intermediary.
”Please. It's not that I don't trust you, but can you explain what's going on? What's the effect of this Springroot?” Leviala hesitantly asked as she looked down at the bag.
”The outside world is full of dangers,” Ogras said loudly enough so that all the captives could hear. ”One of those dangers is a race of shapeshifters, cultivators who can make themselves look like any race, masquerading as either a friend or a foe. Those you saw in the videos were not our people. We are already at war with the Lunar Tribe, even having killed off all those scouting units who caused trouble for you.”
Ogras gave Zac a look next, but Zac blankly looked back, not sure what the demon wanted him to do.
”Throw out some of the bodies,” Ogras voice whispered in his ear, projected by a small shadow.
Zac understood what the demon was looking for, and he threw out a handful of the werewolf corpses he had collected during his fights.
”That's Hevastes!” one of the ocular cultivators exclaimed, drawing a round of murmurs.
”These shapeshifters have caused a lot of trouble on the outside, and we know they entered this realm long before we did,” Ogras said as he glanced at Leviala.” These roots are our weapon against them. For most people, including you humans, they are harmless. A tasty snack. For those damn shapeshifters, they are deadly poison.”
Zac bent down and ate a root to prove Ogras' words before he turned to the soldiers. Leviala soon followed suit, though a sheen of nervous perspiration covered her face. She was obviously not taking Ogras' words at face value, but rather stepping forward for her clan members.
”Now, your turn. Come forward, one at a time,” Zac said after confirming that Leviala wasn't a shapeshifter.
The soldiers looked at each other hesitantly, until one of the stronger warriors grit his teeth and stepped forward. However, just as he was about to pick a root up, another one stood up with a fierce look.
”This is a trap!” he shouted. ”We saw the young miss returning with all kinds of delusions. Fighting the Collector? The Base actively protecting them? I bet the source are these poisonous roots!”
”Force-feed him,” Zac said without hesitation, and a storm of shadows immediately trapped the raging man.
He didn’t even have a chance to take his life before Ogras appeared right in front of him, cramming a handful of roots down his throat. He struggled for a few seconds before the life left his eyes. His body started to transform a second later, turning into the all-too-familiar lizard-like humanoids. The soldiers around him scrambled out of the way, looking at the transformation with horror.
”Vatos!” one of the soldiers exclaimed with horror.
”Sorry, Vatos is long dead, most likely. Replaced by the shapeshifters. Now eat or you can all join Vatos in the netherworld,” Ogras snorted as his and Zac’s killing intent drenched the squad.
Soon enough everyone had eaten a piece of Springroot, even the unconscious soldiers had some stuffed down their throat. There weren't any more shapeshifters though, which was a relief to Zac. It hopefully meant that Clan Cartava wasn't too infiltrated already. But it also meant that their gearing for war was an idea mostly of their own making, as Zac doubted the cultists were strong enough to take out all the elders without causing a ruckus.
”Who are these aliens?” a soldier muttered as he looked down at the lizardman corpse.