'Huh?! What was that?!' Zukah thought as his eyes snapped open and Rion, who had just punched away the jackal-like three-horned kareth from existence, fell into his vision.

His body quivered as his eyes met Rion's and he mumbled in a shaky tone, "W-What are you d-doing here?"

Rion lowered his fist and stepped towards him.

Frightened, Zukah stepped back and fell on his butt while panic marred his face.

Rion heaved an annoyed sigh and muttered in an icy tone, "Stop acting like a wet cat. Tell me what the hell happened here?"

Zukah trembled under his biting voice and answered with quivering lips, "T-those bastards suddenly a-attacked us as if they were p-planning for it!"

'It's just as I thought,' he remarked inwardly and clenched his fist to the point his knuckles paled.

Even though Tarek's group was not as strong as Haria's group, they were not so weak as to fall so easily.

"Where's Tarek?"

Zukah bit his lip and pointed his finger to the right.

Rion's eyes followed his finger and mumbled, "Blasted hell..." as they fell on a mound of kareths that he had failed to see before.

"He is inside that...?" He mumbled in disbelief, and Zukah nodded gravely.

"Yes... for the past hour."

Rion didn't know if he should be frightened or impressed.

"Get up and help your group members," he muttered and dashed towards the mound.

Zukah blinked a few times and murmured with a puzzled expression, "Why is his tribal mark golden?"

Before he could conclude anything, another two-horned kareth appeared before him. He rose from the ground, and dark blue flames appeared around his battle axe as he swung it at the hateful creature before him.

BOOM—!

BOOM—!

BOOM—!

The sound of short explosions echoed throughout the campsite as Rion swung his blazing fist at the kareth with all of his might. Each punch cried, and the kareth exploded into bits of dark flesh before he either crushed or stored their cores.

[You have stored a (Tainted Null Core)!]

[You have stored a (Tainted Null Core)!]

[You have stored a (Tainted Null Core)!]

[You have stored a (Tainted Null Core)!]

[You have stored a (Tainted Null Core)!]

One after another blue screen flickered before his eyes, and he ignored all of them while one half of his mind focused on crushing the kareth and the other focused on the four-horned kareths that had yet to reach the campsite.

'Should I have reported this to Haria instead?' He thought worriedly.

He could fight as well as kill the four-horned kareths, but he would have needed to burn a lot of his aura, and seeing the current condition of the western campsite, he wasn't sure if they could survive after he finished all of his aura.

"It would've been much better if this stupid body also increased my aura regeneration," he stated bitterly.

Aura regenerated naturally over time, and there was no method to hasten that process.

'Let's get him out first,' he remarked and scanned the mound with Predator's Eyes.

'Oh?' His brows rose in pleasant surprise as, instead of showing the weak and critical points of the kareth, it displayed the ones of the mound itself.

He grinned and pulled out his spear, only to frown right after as he found nothing on his back.

'Ah... I forgot to take my spear.'

He clicked his tongue and poured his aura into both of his fists. He reached the mound and punched at it with all of his might.

BOOM—!

The air burst apart under the impact of his fist. He moved to the next weak point and punched again.

BOOM—!

The weaker kareths died just from the impact, while the stronger ones fell under his fiery aura.

He continued to punch like a madman and mumbled in thought, 'It would have been much easier with my spear...'

A few moments later, one half of the mound disappeared, and Tarek came into his vision.

Dull coral aura flames swirled around Tarek as he defended himself from the restless attacks of Kareths with his fatigued body.

Fwoosh!

A wide burst of golden flames left Rion, and the weaker kareths fell into dark dust while the remaining few were thrown a few meters away.

Tarek looked around in confusion before his eyes landed on Rion, and he mumbled in an exhausted tone, "...Rion?"

Rion held him by the waist and threw his arm over his head to support him. At the same time, his aura spread around to block or outright kill any incoming kareth.

Tarek looked at him with his fatigued eyes and asked, "...what are you doing here?"

"Haria sent me," Rion answered softly and walked towards a nearby boulder.

"I see..." Tarek breathed heavily and mumbled, "They weren't supposed to return so early..."

Rion raised an eyebrow and made him sit by the boulder. He grasped both of his shoulders and asked while frowning, "What are you talking about?"

Tarek slowly lifted his hand and pointed toward the forest before he said, "The Remnant... They're back..."

Rion's confusion deepened even further, and he asked, "The Remnant? What is that?"

Tarek smiled and slowly parted his lips. Seeing that, a vein throbbed at Rion's forehead, and he spat, "Spit it out! The four-horned kareths are about to reach. Dammit!"

"Ha... ha..." a weak chuckle left him, and he jabbed a finger at Rion's heart before answering,

"They are the one who rule the purple...

They are the one cursed beyond death...

They are our sworn enemy,

and the chain that shackles us..."

A wide, bitter smile split his face like a cracked mirror, and he added in a frightened tone, "They are... The Remnant."

Rion's expression turned grave, but there was one question plaguing his mind.

"Why didn't the tribe tell us about this Remnant before?"

Tarek shook his head and answered, "The Remnant can only control two beings... the ones that are born from it and the ones that...KNOW...OF...US."

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