CHAPTER 389: CHAPTER 389: TRIBUTE

A few moments later.

"Where are they, we have just ten minutes left," A little boy with fiery-red hair and matching eyes said as he stood near the entrance of a big elevator.

The boy looked to be three or four years old by human standards, having orange-red lion ears on the sides of his head and a lion tail.

Beside him was another boy who looked almost just like him. This boy had the same style of well-combed hair and an elegant posture.

His hair was pink, same with his eyes. There was a trace of wildness in his eyes that was barely masked by the calm expression he put on.

He also had lion ears and a tail, indicating his racial origins.

"Once five minutes are remaining, I’m going without them. I can’t be punished for their tardiness," The boy with pink hair said.

"The others have already headed up," The boy with red hair commented.

"If they get Father angry, he could demote them to Lion Lords," The pink-haired boy said.

"Raymond, I know," The red-haired boy said to his look-alike half-brother.

"What do you think Father wants us to feast with him anyway. We’ve already been crowned and the party is just getting started," Raymond, the pink-haired boy, said with a bit of impatience.

"I dunno," The red-haired boy shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe he wants to give us something," He said as he suddenly avoided eye contact with his brother.

Raymond’s eyes narrowed, "Victor?" He asked, "What did you know?"

Victor, the red-haired boy, continued avoiding Raymond’s gaze.

"I don’t know, mother mentioned something about the lion system before leaving me," Victor said truthfully.

By mother, he was referring to Eidel. Victor and Raymond did not share the same mother, even though they looked like twins.

Raymond was a twin, he had a twin sister, but both of them were children of Ruda. Victor also had a twin sister, who was the child of Eidel.

Coincidentally, Eidel and Ruda, who also looked alike, had given birth on the same day. They both gave birth to twins who also looked like each other.

It was a strange phenomenon that had gotten everyone’s attention.

Victor and Raymond only shared the same father, not the same mother. Perhaps, it was because their mothers also looked very much alike.

It was a coincidence that wasn’t likely to happen again.

"The system? Is father giving us something from the system? Come on, tell me!" Raymond demanded.

Victor rolled his red eyes and was about to speak when his eyes caught sight of four little figures speeding over to him.

The four figures were Ozia, Jeremiah, Silas, and Kratos. They rushed toward the elevator with panicked expressions.

"Where have you guys been?" Victor asked with blazing flames spewing out from his eyes. His aura was leaked, revealing a tier 4 power level.

"Humph," Ozia simply scoffed but did not answer. There was a bruise mark on the left side of his face that was slowly healing. It was clear that someone had beaten him badly before they came here.

Raymond and Victor noticed the fading bruise mark and subconsciously looked at Kratos. As expected, Kratos had a bruised eye, but he was smiling.

Jeremiah also seemed to have been in a fight but his vitality was strong, it was hard to tell if he was even hurt.

The only person who looked unscathed was Silas who maintained a calm and stern expression. If a fight had broken out, he probably wouldn’t have involved himself.

"Let’s just go," Silas said as he walked quickly into the elevator. Just less than eight minutes remaining.

They were currently on the command level, the level that housed all the pillars and control runes of the whole Iron Blood Pyramid and its pocket dimension.

This place was empty, no one was here, like usual.

Just above this place was the throne level.

Ozia did not say anything, he couldn’t. He had been beaten hard by all of them. Silas was just too good at avoiding hits that was why it looked like he had not been in a fight.

But he was the one who delivered the most devastating emotional damage.

Well, Ozia was the one who attacked first after receiving a few insults. Luckily, the fight didn’t last long and the brothers kept the brawl low, preventing anyone from noticing.

If not, with their power level, they could have caused quite a scene.

"Ozia, why do you smell like a fox?" Raymond asked as he perceived a strong stench from Ozia as the latter stood next to him.

"You smell something?" Ozia asked, his eyes opening wide as he realized something.

Victor nodded, "Yeah, you reek of fox. Did you bathe with a fox or something?" He asked.

Silas shook his head, "Why did you tell him?" He said, looking disappointed.

"What! You knew?" Ozia raged, he wondered why all his brothers were annoying today.

He quickly constructed a magic rune to clean his whole body. Instantly, the smell was gone.

"It would have been nice to see your face when Father asks what you’ve been doing," Kratos said.

"What was he doing?" Victor leaned closer and asked, curious.

"NOT A WORD," Ozia baked.

"Ozia was trying to get down with a fox lady," Jeremiah blurted, clearly not having respect for his brother’s wishes.

Victor and Raymond started snickering as they looked at Ozia.

Ozia started hyperventilating, taking in deep breaths that nearly sucked all the air from the elevator.

However, before he could act on his impulses, the elevator finally reached the throne level.

Victor patted him on his shoulder, "We’re Lion Princes now, who cares if you want to bone a fox lady. But don’t you think you’re too young?" He said before walking forward.

The elevator door opened and the six brothers all walked out with elegant smiles on their faces, acting as if nothing happened.

As they entered the throne hall, they were greeted by a luxurious sight. At least, it was considered luxurious to them.

There was a round table that circled the ends of the room, and on this table was a variety of ’food’.

Today was also tribute day, the day when all the vassals sent their tributes to the Ol-mytee Clan.

These tributes were...quite lively.

The throne room had a few guests wandering about as they had something in their mouths. The smell of blood was very strong here.

"Victor, Raymond, you’re finally here." A voice came from their side. It was a pink-haired girl who stood beside a red-haired girl.

These girls were Raychel and Victoria, twin sisters to Raymond and Victor respectively. They also looked like they were twin sisters despite not coming from the same mother.

"Yeah," Raymond replied as he looked around, "Something held us up,"

"Okay," Victoria nodded, "Aunt Katari was just about to go looking for you," She added.

The six brothers froze, sweat dropped down their backs even though there was no heat. They had escaped a calamity.

At the center of the throne hall, the black pillow throne remained as it had always been. On the throne sat their father, Kael, the King of the world.

It had taken some compromise but he ended up achieving world domination.

Currently, Kael was looking at something at the side. Following his gaze, anyone could see that he was looking at Alyrat who was standing by one of the compartments of the round table.

These tables were not filled with ready-made food. Instead, it had actual living creatures chained to the tables.

The tables were strong and wide, being able to carry living buffalo, zebras, pigs, rabbits, and even some predators like foxes and bears were among them.

Most of these animals struggled against their bindings with some like the doves and some bears staying calm, already accepting their fate.

Alyrat looked around, indifferent to the struggles and pleas of the bound creatures. She walked by until she arrived at a particular table that had a tier 3 female goat in her true form, chained to the table.

This female goat wasn’t alone, there was a baby goat also chained to the table beside it. This was a mother and her child.

Both mother and child screamed for help but nothing could be heard as the tables had been fitted with runes to cancel the noise.

"I want that one," Alyrat heard the voice of her father, and turned around to see Kael pointing at the baby goat.

Not far away, Katari stood silently, watching all this unfold with an unreadable face.

Alyrat nodded then turned back to the table. She stretched out her hand and as soon as she was able to touch the soft body of the baby goat, she also heard the cries of the mother.

"Please, help me, I’m sorry," The mother goat begged, "I don’t know anything, I don’t know why I was selected. Please...

No! What are you doing? leave him alone, he’s just a kid!" Seeing Alyrat taking hold of her child, the mother goat struggled harder than before.

Alyrat ignored all this with a cold gaze. She quietly picked up the baby goat, unbinding it from the table and holding it firm to prevent it from escaping her grasp.

Then, under the gaze of those who were watching her, she walked away from the mother to deliver the baby goat to the king.