“It has become more complicated than I expected,” Lily rubbed her forehead after hearing Ethan’s report.
“To think that aside from ensuring that one of the members of the Kendall Tribe becomes the next Great Overlord, we also have to deal with the Great Tribes who plan to use the Overlord’s death to expand their territories.”
The young lady sighed as she looked at the handsome teenager in front of her.
“I just hope we don’t have to choose between survival and finding our way back home,” Lily said softly.
Ethan had also been feeling down ever since he heard this news from Marco. Even so, he believed that as long as there was a chance for them to return to their own time, he would be willing to go above and beyond to make it happen.
In order to change the topic, Ethan told Lily that Great Chieftain Adrian had decided that they would start traveling in the next two days. Now that the threat of war was upon their alliance, they had no choice but to speed up the building of the wagons.
They needed to arrive at their destination before the Great Tribes’ invasion started.
In the end, the two decided to rest early, so they could wake up early tomorrow.
They were not aware that while the two of them were sleeping, Great Chieftain Adrian was sharing the news about the Great Tribes to his people.
Just like he expected, all of them were surprised at this sudden turn of events.
“Is war inevitable?” a warrior, who seemed to be in his mid-thirties asked. “Is there no room for compromise?”
This particular warrior had a scar across his left eye, and was one of the bravest warriors of the Kendall Tribe who went by the name, Otis.
Otis was brave, but he was also a very smart person. With both brains and brawns, his words carried a lot of weight in the Kendall Tribe.
“I’m afraid that the only compromise that the Three Great Tribes have in mind is for us to surrender our Ancestral Lands, and become their vassals,” Great Chieftain Adrian replied. “Since they chose this time to attack when we have just lost our Leader, they will stop at nothing until they get what they want.”
Otis no longer spoke because he shared the same opinion as his Chieftain. The other warriors were feeling indignant due to the high-handedness of the Three Great Tribes.
They had left their territory, bringing everyone with them in order to pay their respects to their deceased leader.
None of them could have anticipated that they might follow him into the afterlife due to the greed of the Three Great Tribes.
“Hasten the construction of the wagons,” Great Chieftain Adrian stated. “We will head to the Lands of Alastor in two days. Do I make myself clear?”
All the warriors nodded before returning to their own homes to rest. They didn’t want to go to war, but since they were duty bound to protect their Ancestral Lands, they would have no choice but to fight.
“I wonder if there will still be a Kendall Tribe after this war,” Great Chieftain Adrian muttered as he gazed at the stars in the sky. “Great Ancestors, please show mercy upon your people.”
Whether the Kendall Tribe’s Great Ancestor heard Adrian’s prayers or not, he had no way of finding out.
However, what he did know was that, in two days’ time, they would march to the Weeping Shrine, bringing every member of their tribe with him.
——————————-
Just past midnight…
Lily opened her eyes, and looked at the sleeping teenage boy beside her.
Her eyes glowed faintly as her body slowly transformed to that of a Demi-Wolf.
‘I knew it,’ Lily thought as her sensitive nose picked up a sweet, and intoxicating scent that was emanating from Ethan’s body. ‘It seems that you’re not as simple as I originally thought you were, Ethan.’
Lily was not the only one who had discovered this peculiar scent coming from the handsome teenager.
Koko, who was also one of the Three Overlords of the Great Eagle Forest, had also noticed that Ethan possessed a powerful bloodline that enticed Magical Beasts like him.
The White Gorilla even said that, aside from Luna, Ethan was the most delicious Human among the members of Dud Manor. 𝒐𝓥𝗅xt.𝒞𝒐𝕞
Perhaps, this was also why he developed a soft spot for the boy, and even helped him a bit when the members of Jaeger Manor tried to ambush him.
“Just a little,” Lily muttered. “I’ll just have a little of your blood.”
The young lady raised her index finger, and made her nail extend a bit. She then lightly poked Ethan’s middle finger, until a bright drop of blood emerged from it.
Due to how deep he was sleeping, Ethan didn’t even react when Lily poked his finger.
The young lady glanced at his face for a few seconds to make sure that he was truly asleep before placing the young man’s middle finger inside her mouth.
Lily’s eyes widened in shock after tasting the blood.
She felt as if her own bloodline had started to react to the richness of Ethan’s blood, making her body heat up in the process.
This was the first time that she had tasted the blood of others, so there was nothing she could compare it to. However, one thing was for sure.
Ethan’s blood was surprisingly rich in magical power, which made Lily feel slightly stronger than her normal state.
It was as if she had drunk a tonic that would help her hit harder, and run faster, without suffering any kind of side effects.
‘I might get addicted to this,’ Lily thought as she reluctantly pulled back to look at the finger which was still glistening with her saliva.
A sigh escaped the young beauty’s lips as she took out a small bottle of medicine from her storage ring and applied a small portion of it to Ethan’s middle finger.
Since this medicine was made by the members of Terra Manor, its effect worked wonders. The small wound on Ethan’s finger disappeared, making it look as if nothing had happened.
After fighting the strong urge to take another taste, Lily canceled her Demi-Wolf form and snuggled beside Ethan, covering him with their blanket.
This time, she was the one that took the initiative to wrap her arms around the handsome young man before closing her eyes to sleep.
She still had a lot of questions in her mind, especially about Ethan’s family. However, she decided to wait until tomorrow before asking him these questions.
For now, she was fine to just use him as her hug pillow, making her feel warm despite the coldness of the night that permeated her skin.