Mutagen

Day 154 - 9:39 PM - Tamawo Ancestral Tribe, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu

The Ancestral Trees at the center of the realm of Tamawos were quite old. It had been there even before their race was created by the Visayan Goddess of the Sea, Maguayan. Their appearance was close to Acacia Trees but grew in a cluster similar to a Birch Tree. The bark was as hard stone, and the wood was as hard as steel. Spears and arrowheads that the Tamawos used were mainly made from their peeled-off bark.

While the Ancestral Trees were not Spirit Trees, it was blessed to have the ability to choose the shamans of the tribe. Those shamans were the only ones capable of moving the trees that created the Castle with the trunks and the Dungeons with the roots.

But even with the manipulation of the shamans, the process was not easy because of the trees' hardness. While moving the small roots was easier, controlling the other parts was done slowly.

And yet, Pefile was here, holding the roots of the Ancestral Tree. He was controlling the gigantic branches of the tree as if it was an extension of his hands.

Those stone-like bark and metal-like wood...

They were all moving like elastic rubber whips as they displayed their hardness to smash the Tamawo Warriors into pieces.

The symbol of the Royal Family of their tribe was being used to kill their own people.

Such a scene was something everyone deemed impossible. Even the shaman in all their history was incapable of doing such feat.

At this moment, some of them could not help but think that Pefile was doing a miracle of a god.

"STOP HIM!"

Artile roared as he slowly retreated back.

The current king was confident that he could eliminate the only obstacle left in his life this time around.

With his loyal warriors, they surrounded the only place where Pefile could escape.

He managed to use their Ancestral Scepter and used the dead bodies to create wood golems. These undying minions should be enough to capture Pefile for their final showdown.

In there was no need to say anything about the warriors. Even the supposedly undying wood golems would stop moving after being smashed to pieces.

The worst thing, there were no dead bodies left to create more wood golems as every single warrior that died was literally turned into clumps of meat paste.

Nonetheless, at the command of their king and to avenge the deaths of their comrade, the warriors attacked. Because of Berrak's magical barrier blocking the arrows, the only thing they could do was to charge forward. They roared with bravery with their spears pointed towards their opponent.

They were not afraid to throw away their lives. Dying in battle was more feasible to them than losing their lives from the curse of their race.

These warriors charged, evading the branches smashing towards them from above. Some got hit and died, but many of them survived, still charged towards Pefile.

Unfortunately for these brave warriors, Pefile had no desire to hold back. If the pair of thick branches above was not enough, then just make more.

This afternoon when Mark arrived to brief them of the plan. Pefile said that his new ability felt like he gained new limbs. It felt natural, yet not.

Later on, after telling them the plan, Mark told Pefile that his [Blood Whips] had a similar sensation. And since Pefile had just acquired it, the ability would feel strange.

It was not surprising. Even Pefile's race only had four limbs. Suddenly getting new limbs would feel awkward, strange, and uncomfortable.

That was why it was better not to treat them as new limbs at the start. Instead, it should be like holding a controller while playing a video game, align the actions of the ability to the movements of his hands and fingers.

Mark's advice sounded absurd. However, it did give Pefile a sudden breakthrough.

From a single wooden whip that he could control, it turned into eight "limbs" soon after. Unfortunately, the size varied. He could not turn all into similar sizes if he wanted all to become larger. Two "limbs" could grow big like the two thick branches, but the rest remained as thick as whips.

That was why while the Tamawo Warriors were charging at Pefile, three pairs of pointed roots shot out of the ground. The Tamawos in front immediately died with their hearts impaled.

Moreover, Pefile would not let them turn into Artile's golems as he used the [Root Whips] to tear the dead bodies into pieces.

Pefile's brutal act made some of the Tamawos waver. The ones most affected by the gruesome death of their comrades were the younger Tamawos. They began to hesitate on advancing against Pefile's brutal attacks.

Moreover, the smashing of the thick branches of the Ancestral Tree did not only affect the warriors. The heavy attacks also damaged the surroundings, causing other trees and structures nearby to collapse.

And the worst case. Since the castle was made of the Ancestral Tree itself, its unprecedented movements caused parts of the structure to be destroyed. Even the dungeon underneath began to collapse.

"PEFILE! ARE YOU TRYING TO DESTROY OUR TRIBE?!!!"

Artile roared, witnessing the collapse of his royal abode.

The destruction of the castle was not something that would be repaired shortly. It would take ages for the shaman to return it to its previous state.

But to Artile's question, Pefile stared with contempt.

"Our tribe, you say. Are you surely saying that? I already cut off my ties from this place. If not for Celine, there is no reason for me to return here. You should remember that you're the one who intruded in our life. If I destroyed this place, it's all your fault."

"You!!!"

Artille was at a loss for words. Whether he would accept it or not, it was true. Everyone present also knew that.

Nonetheless, Pefile already said his intention. He did not care if this tribe was destroyed. It was something that they would not let happen, even at the price of sacrificing their lives.

"HA!"

This time, someone attacked Pefile. The Tamawo threw away his bow and grabbed a spear. He then charged. Dancing away from Pefile's attacks, the Tamawo closed in swiftly.

CLANG!

The spear and a pair of whips clashed against each other. Pefile stared at the Warrior, and the Warrior also stared at Pefile.

"Urille."

Pefile called the Tamawo's name.

"I'm sorry, Pefile. I know that the tribe did you badly, but I can't just let you destroy it."

The warrior, Urille, replied.

Urille was someone that both Pefile and Artile knew since their childhood. Among the Tamawos of this generation, he was considered to be the most talented warrior. He was too talented that even Artile kept him around even if Urille's father was already exiled for being loyal to Pefile.

CLANG!

Pefile controlled another root to attack Urille but the latter dodged.

"I can't believe that you're still working under Artile. You're even risking your life."

"I'm just doing my best. I want my father to receive a pardon and return from being exiled from the tribe".

Urille replied with a serious expression.

However, those words made Pefile sigh.

"Oi, Artile," Pefile called out with a frown. "Are you really going to honor that promise? Is there a point in giving a dead person a pardon?"

Those words caused Urille's heart to be enveloped in turmoil.

"W-what are you saying?!"

Urille questioned Pefile.

However, instead of explaining, Pefile replied.

"Enter the dungeon, the furthest cell near the dump hole."

Pefile replied, retracting the roots in front of Urille. With a nod from Pefile, Berrak and the two soldiers also stepped aside, allowing Urille to pass through.

Suddenly having the path opened in front of him made Urille extremely anxious. It was as if a horrible truth was being laid before him. Giving the speechless king one last look, Urille rushed into the dungeons, even passing by Celine and Alineart, but he could not care.

Losing their greatest warrior made the morale of the Tamawos even lower.

However, Pefile was already done with the farce. Manipulating the Ancestral Tree, Pefile swept all the warriors away. Artile tribed to flee, only to find out that he and Pefile were now enclosed by a [Physical Barrier] created by Berrak.

It was one of Mark's suggestions in the plan he made. It was for Berrak to secure a barrier where there was only Pefile and his brother inside.

This would be where the duel between the two brothers would happen. A duel to decide and end things.

"Now, Artile. It's only the two of us in here." Pefile stepped forwards. "It is time for our sacred duel, my brother."

Pefile's voice sounded cruel. His pent-up anger and helplessness when Celine was taken away from him flowed through his voice.

"Y-YOU!"

Sure enough, Artile had already lost the will to fight.

Since the start, he was only relying on numbers to try and overwhelm Pefile. It was the same back then when he took away Celine. It was the same now when he blocked Pefile's escape.

But now that the others could not interfere, Artille was nothing but a cowardly king.

In the first place, Pefile was considered a prodigy in their tribe. On the other hand, he was not. It was not something without basis as Pefile did excel in many fields, especially fighting.

There was not a single time that Artile managed to win against Pefile in a one-on-one fight.

Ignoring those facts, Pefile picked up a spear from a dead Tamawo from the ground. Then, he threw it to Artile.

CLANG!

"Pick that up. A Sacred Duel is always done with spears."

Pefile said.

At this time, Pefile revealed a rather rare expression for him. It was contempt. He was looking at Artille with eyes filled with ridicule.

And to Artile, that kind of look was infuriating. It was the eyes of people that looked down on him after being compared to his older brother.

With shaking hands, Artile threw the Ancestral Scepter away and grabbed the spear.

Filled with fury, Artile roared and charged towards Pefile.

"RAAAAAHHH!!!"

CLANG!

The spears of the two brothers clashed.

Artile stabbed his spear multiple times, roaring in fury. Each attack was fast and deadly. On the other hand, Pefile only kept defending.

And here, the disparity between the two was clear to everyone.

While Artile was desperately attacking, Pefile was effortlessly blocking the attack. The worst for their king, Pefile had yet to take a step backward or forwards after their king started attacking.

Finally, Pefile was full of Artile's disappointing display.

BAM!

"GAHAK!"

Artile wailed as Pefile's spear mercilessly bashed to his side.

"Is this all you can do?"

Pefile asked as he rotated his spear and stabbed its non-pointed end unto Artile's forehead.

BAM!

"ACK!"

Artile fell from the attack, sitting on the ground with eyes filled with fury.

"It seems that after all these years, the only thing that grew is your ego. What a useless thing."

Pefile said, glaring at Artile like he was looking at an insect.

Those words, however, echoed loudly inside Artile's ears. "What a useless thing..." It was something that he heard a few times while other tribe members were discreetly gossiping about him and his brother.

It was the set of words that Artile hated the most.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

Driven by craze, Artile grabbed brandished his spear at Pefile like a mad man. All his arrogance as the king was gone. Now, what was left was the pure anger of a wild beast that wanted to tear Pefile apart.

But, of course, it was nothing but a futile attempt.

BOOM!

Pefile also brandished his spear. Putting all his emotions in this strike, Pefile widely swung his spear towards Artile's face.

The attack connected. Artile did not even utter a sound as he was sent flying to the other side of the barrier and fainted with blood on his head.

With this, Pefile was without a doubt the winner of this duel. No, rather than a duel, it was nothing but a one-sided fight.

"Berrak, we should go."

Pefile said, telling Berrak to finally summon something that they would ride away.

"You're not going to destroy this place?"

Berrak asked. After all, it was something that Pefile could possibly do in his current strength.

Unexpectedly, Pefile shook his head.

"This tribe is already done for. I just don't want it to be by my hands."

"If that's what you decided, then I won't say anything."

Berrak nodded. It was the same for Geronimo and Padua.

Finally, Pefile escorted Celine out of the dungeon. Now, that their king was defeated, the will to fight the Tamawos plummeted to zero.

And when Berrak summoned Trua, the Thunderbird, the Tamawos were frozen still. Some of them recognized the bird and felt it was unbelievable.

Riding on the back of Trua, the work of Pefile's group here was done. As they finally left, the place was enveloped by an unsettling silence. The only sound they could hear was the wailing sadness coming from inside the dungeons.