CHAPTER 257: TOO MUCH CHAOS

It wasn’t only the Pantherans who froze at the warcries.

Even Hal was dumbfounded.

Due to the intensity of the earlier battle, he failed to notice that another force—one he didn’t expect—had formed west of the site of carnage.

The plant-eater tribes!

A coalition army of Altairans, Zebranthes, and Rhinaris rallied behind the Pachyds, charging at the Pantherans.

’The damned prey dared join the battle?’ was the thought in the minds of the Pantherans.

There were initially four A-ranked monster lords in the savannah, and with the fall of the Crothar Matriarch, only three were left.

And seemingly not for long, as the two Leonid alphas were also on the brink of death.

The plant-eater tribes didn’t have a mighty A-ranked leader, but the Pachyds were physically stronger than even the Leonids, which was what kept the balance in the savannah.

The meat-eater tribes didn’t dare overhunt as the Pachyds might step in and give them hell.

Even the A-ranked tribe leaders didn’t dare dismiss the might of the giant elephant humanoids standing at three meters tall on average, with the larger ones reaching three and a half.

Their B-ranked matriarch, although a rank lower, was extremely smart in combat and was difficult to take down.

Still, the Pantherans couldn’t accept that the plant-eaters—usually their prey—dared meddle in the battle of savages.

They quickly charged right back at the coalition army, despite being outnumbered.

The Altairans, Zebranthes, and Rhinaris were only D- to C-ranked on average, with only their leaders reaching B.

The Pantherans weren’t scared of going all out against them.

Plus, the alpha of the speedy feline tribe had long been irritated at the presence of the Pachyd Matriarch, planning to bring her down once and for all.

Their numbers might suffer, sure.

However, the power dynamics of the savannah were about to have a drastic shift, and the Pantherans wanted to be on top.

At least for as long as they could.

Soon, the two fresh war parties clashed, blood splattering, flesh torn apart, and bones shattering under Hal’s stupefied gaze.

He couldn’t help but clutch his head, thinking:

’S-Shit...did I overdo it?’

Hal couldn’t even enjoy the steady stream of Chaos Points anymore.

But thinking about it in a logical perspective, he shouldn’t be responsible for the sudden appearance of the coalition war party, as he just wanted to make the four meat-eater tribes clash against each other to give the Leonid tribe from the eastern region a chance to "shake up" the power dynamics.

What happened, however, was far from simply shaking up the balance.

Utter mayhem ensued, and the savannah was now about to enter into a new age.

’Why the hell did the plant-eater tribes join?!’ he complained inwardly, feeling slightly guilty at the chaos he brought upon the area.

They had no reason to fight for the meat heaps!

’So why?!’

What he failed to take into consideration was the pent-up resentment of the plant-eater tribes.

They saw this as a chance to weaken or even end the reign of the meat-eaters, perhaps drive them out of the savannah entirely.

If they succeeded, they could reestablish their camps at more flora-rich locations without the fear of being hunted by any of the carnivorous tribes.

This was their only chance.

However, the Pantherans, although slightly weaker than the Leonids and Crothars, were still far mightier and more used to brutality than the herbivorous tribes.

They fought hard, craftily targeting the weak links first while containing the Pachyds through a defensive battle style.

Hal’s ears were battered by the never-ending influx of Chaos Points.

Just when he thought the battle couldn’t get more brutal, the Hawkins joined in, helping the plant-eaters eliminate the Pantherans for good.

They also paid with their lives, but it was all worth it.

The speedy feline monster tribe was now losing quite decisively.

Then, another warcry sounded...

This time from the east. The Leonid tribe from the outer region had finally arrived.

"H-Hal..." Liora called out as she scooted closer and held on to Hal’s arm, finding the absolute carnage a little difficult to watch.

However, what could they do except either watch or close their eyes?

The scope of the battle had gone far past what Hal intended when he instigated it.

In the next moment, the Leonids rushed in, following their urge to help their fellow meat-eaters.

The Hawkins had also always been on their nerves.

And so, the Pantherans received much-needed help, and the brutality went on.

A few bold beasts added to the chaos by stealing a few chunks of meat from the heaps for themselves.

Time inevitably passed as the battle raged on.

The alphas of the two Leonid tribes fell...

The Matriarch of the Pachyds and the leader of the Pantherans panted in exhaustion as their bodies bathed in their own blood...

Soon, no monster race capable of combat was unscathed; some were even wiped out totally.

It was then that Hal finally couldn’t bear to watch anymore.

"STOP!! THAT’S ENOUGH!!" he roared as loudly as he could, capturing the monsters’ attention.

Behind him was a huge steel golem, an army of conjured puppets and summoned creatures, a fire elemental, and his two comrades.

While his war party wasn’t as grand as it looked on the surface, it proved effective in intimidating the wounded monsters.

They all looked at him warily with a hint of exhaustion and resignation in their eyes.

The spent tribes knew they wouldn’t be able to contend against the human, as they sensed that even the wolf beast beside him would prove to be a tricky opponent in their current state.

Luckily, it didn’t seem like the human was here to purge what remained of them, though they also desperately wished to know what the bastard was up to.

The matriarch of the Pachyds seemed to have an idea.

She slowly urged her allies to back away, maintaining eye contact with Hal as they retreated to their territories.

Hal didn’t stop them and even nodded appreciatively.

The Pantherans and what remained of the other carnivorous tribes, including the Hawkins, finally understood what the humans were up to.

He was here to play fisherman!

Perhaps he was also this bastard who placed the heaps of meat here, pitting them against each other.

They seethed inwardly, but they didn’t dare fight anymore. They’d simply lost far too many members and were utterly spent.

There was no way they could take another fight, angry as they were at being fooled into being slaves of their instincts.

They could only etch the face of the young human in their memories as he began to harvest the corpses of their fallen kin.