CHAPTER 256: SAVANNAH IN CHAOS

"H-Hal..."

Liora, unlike Hal, felt a bit uneasy.

There were more than two hundred fifty creatures in the area, and sh*t was about to go down.

To make things a bit spicier, a tribe of forty-five battle-ready Leonids was on the way, eager to fight for a spot in the resource-rich central region.

While she also liked the thought of earning a lot of money from the monster parts Hal didn’t need, Liora was unsure whether they would even survive, and she was worried for Loki.

What eased her uncertain heart a bit was the borderline mad smile on her comrade’s face.

It even seemed as though Hal was enjoying the tense build-up.

As usual, his unreadable yet casually confident temperament charmed her, making the maiden wonder what was going on in his mind.

"Oh? They’re talking!" Hal murmured with his eyes closed, remaining focused on the [Spirit Sparrow]’s vision.

From what it seemed, the Leonids were striking a deal, and the Pantherans and Crothars weren’t liking it.

The reason revealed itself soon enough as one Leonid tribe rushed at the Pantherans while the other charged at the Crothars.

There was no hesitation in their eyes as opposed to their opponents.

The Pantherans wanted to retreat, but they knew this wasn’t the time to. The speedy race had a plan.

And so, although the odds were against them, they dove right into battle, warring against the Leonids.

The Crothars were relieved.

If the Pantherans retreated, then they would have to retreat as well.

While there was a chance the Leonids would fight each other to the death and they could swoop in to steal the rewards, the Pantherans wouldn’t allow them to succeed that easily.

It was almost certain they would have to scrap with the speedy bastards in such a scenario, and if they did, what remained of the Leonid forces might not be as easy to defeat.

This was the best situation for them.

The Crothars might not have too strong an offense, but the toughness of their bodies isn’t to be scoffed at.

They could outlast the Pantherans and then retreat.

The two Leonid tribes would be lost in bloodlust by then and wouldn’t be able to think of doing the worst-case scenario for the Crothars: dividing the heaps of meat equally among their two dominant tribes.

In fact, the Pantherans are already starting to lose ground.

It wouldn’t be long before they retreated with their battered forces.

The Crothars would temporarily fall back, too, when that happens.

The Leonids would then fight each other, then they would destroy the Pantherans, and then they would destroy what remained of the Leonids, ultimately ending up as the big winner!

That was the Crothar Matriarch’s plan.

What they didn’t notice was that the Pantherans were simply fighting defensively and weren’t even trying to damage the Leonids at all.

Worse, they were retreating in a way that the tribe of humanoid lions was encircling the Crothars.

By the time the latter noticed, the Pantherans were already madly dashing away with nothing but minor injuries, and two tribes of Leonids were upon them—one from the front and one from the back.

There was nowhere for them to retreat!

The matriarch of the Crothar tribe seethed as she watched the leader of the Pantherans laughing in the distance, watching every moment of their downfall from the sidelines.

Her anger flared, and she went berserk at the Leonids.

Unfortunately, her tribe members were quickly overwhelmed, and she, too, fell under the coordinated assault of the two Leonid tribes.

Her limbs and spine were broken and torn apart.

Around five minutes later, the Crothars were wiped out, and their dream of being the victorious force was crushed to mere dust by the crafty Pantherans.

The matriarch’s empty eyes gazed upon the two Leonid tribes now lunging at each other’s throats, pride and bloodlust too strong to control.

Meanwhile, the instigator of the Chaos was going insane as notifications appeared one after the other in front of him:

[Congratulations! You’ve earned 50 Chaos Points!]

[Congratulations! You’ve earned 150 Chaos Points!]

[Congratulations! You’ve earned 100 Chaos Points!]

[Congratulations! You’ve earned 50 Chaos Points!]

[Congratulations!...]

Hal would’ve laughed uproariously like a madman had Liora not been here.

Still, he struggled to contain his emotions, his heart pounding at the huge success of his devious plan.

He didn’t even notice a fleeting notification that was different from the rest.

[Primordial Chaos smiles in satisfaction.]

...The Leonids clawed, punched, kicked, and chomped on each other, tearing huge chunks of flesh from their enemies, who surprisingly refused to fall despite such harrowing damage done to their bodies.

Their pride didn’t allow them to fall first.

The battle between the two Leonid tribes was utterly brutal, and it lasted far longer than Hal and the Pantherans expected.

Only now did the tribe realize how huge the gap between them and the Leonids was, both in offensive capabilities and ferocity in combat.

They were clearly far outmatched.

However, the Pantherans weren’t too worried. Why would they be when the once massive Leonid tribes had now suffered heavy casualties beyond recovery?

It didn’t even seem like they remembered why they were fighting in the first place and simply wished to wipe the other party out in sheer, prideful fury.

There were now roughly only twelve to thirteen members remaining in each Leonid tribe after a bloody and brutal fifteen-minute battle, while the Pantherans numbered at a minorly spent ninety, and the war was still ongoing.

In the end, their simple yet effective scheme granted them victory.

They would probably rule the savannah’s center for a considerable amount of time after today.

The Hawkins desperately wanted to swoop in and steal a few corpses, but the fresh force of the Pantherans deterred them from doing so, as they would be a part of the heap if they dared get too close to the ground with them around.

Why?! Why did it have to be these bastards who emerged victorious?! And how?!

These were the lamentations of the winged monsters who could only stare from afar.

A few of them lost their patience and dared try, but as expected, they were easily caught by the Pantherans mid-flight, ending up contributing to the pile instead.

The Leonids were down to less than ten members each at this point, and it was at this time that the speedy feline monsters chose to reap their rewards, roaring warcries as they rushed at the wounded and spent kings of the savannah.

But then, just a moment later, another batch of warcries resounded in the distance, and the roars certainly weren’t that of Pantherans.