Chapter 968
Episode 240: The Red-Eyed Tribe in Crisis (Part 1)

The Fourth City of the Red-Eyed Tribe—Usrok.

Great War King Gaila clenched his teeth in fury as he received relentless reports from his people.

“Fortress No. 3 has been completely wiped out. Communication with Fortresses No. 5 and 7 has also been lost. We estimate they’ve been annihilated!”

“Comrade Gaila! You must make a decision. At this rate, the enemy will soon advance all the way to Usrok…!”

The bracelets worn by the messengers continuously updated with new footage—video transmissions sent by those barely escaping the invasion.

{Hah, haak! Fellow Usrok citizens, you must flee!}

{Our location in Usrok has been compromised. Unless the Divine Warrior returns, resistance is impossible…!}

Crackle! Static!

The screen on the bracelet shattered, cutting off the survivors’ images and voices.

The last thing Gaila and his advisors saw was one of their comrades suddenly engulfed in flames during the transmission.

That fire was now turning every fortress under Usrok’s jurisdiction to ash.

The enemy was burning down every fortress, every passageway, every troop the Red-Eyed Tribe had prepared to strike the royal family.

It was Elona’s fire. She was single-handedly descending underground, wiping out the Red-Eyed Tribe.

“Comrades, comrades! Damn it, what the hell is this…! Could they have mapped the underground?!” Gaila shouted, clutching his head as if trying to tear it apart.

Though he hadn’t yet engaged in battle himself, his eyes were bloodshot from shock. He struggled to control his confusion and rage, unsure what decision to make.

“Comrade Simat… Have we still not established proper contact with Simat and the other Great War Kings?”

The messengers nodded gravely. Communications were still disrupted.

Whatever method Elona had used, she had nearly completely isolated Usrok and its fortresses.

Communication with Cities 1, 2, 3, and 5 was intermittent at best, and even then, the connection was too poor for effective coordination.

‘She’s doing this deliberately… Allowing perfect communication only between the fortresses connected to Usrok, and even then, only to show us our surviving comrades being hunted down and killed as they flee. She wants to terrify us…!’

Gaila ground his teeth and glared at the now-black screen.

Since their release from the seal and return to the surface, the Red-Eyed Tribe had suffered countless humiliations. The first to awaken, Simat and his group, had the misfortune of immediately encountering Jin and suffering disgrace. Later, the Great War Kings Laki, Hog, and Drek Hon all faced bitter defeats at the hands of the Balmel Alliance.

The greatest humiliation was the death of Drek Hon, who supplied the tribe with vast amounts of blood. Because of that loss, the Red-Eyed Tribe lost their dominance in the alliance with the royal family and were forced to rely solely on nutrients from Lutero, abandoning Huepester.

Even that was no easy task. Suddenly, the addition of the Changsung Magician to Ziphl blocked the tribe’s path forward.

None of this was imaginable in ancient times. The great Red-Eyed Tribe being pushed around by humans and the Melka Tribe—creatures considered less than insects—was unthinkable. Back then, even the Jinma Clan had to tread carefully around the Red-Eyed and Cheongmyeong Tribes to survive.

‘No, this can’t continue. I can’t let pride and anger cloud my judgment and cause another mistake. Whether Elona and Ziphl are mocking us, terrifying us, or killing us like insects, I must remain as cold and rational as Comrade Simat.’

Gaila made his decision.

“All comrades below Second-Class War King rank, prepare to retreat immediately!”

“Great War King, then do you intend for the Great War Kings and those above Second-Class to stand and fight?”

“Perhaps it would be better if those below Second-Class stayed behind to buy time.”

“No, we will retreat as well. But simply falling back without resistance is meaningless. If we form a solid battle line, including myself, those capable of holding the enemy off to gather intelligence should confront them directly before retreating. Some losses are inevitable, but with me leading, at least seventy percent of our comrades should return alive.”

Gaila believed he had made a wise decision. Surely, even if Comrade Simat were here, he would have made the same call.

“…Understood, Great War King. Then we strategists will remain by the dimensional gate after the comrades’ retreat to await your return.”

“Very well.”

With the order given, the designated personnel hurriedly began preparations to withdraw. It would take roughly three hours for the fleet to reach the dimensional gate connecting to other cities. The protocol when abandoning a city was to destroy the gate last.

“Bring me the best blood reserves left in the city. Distribute it among all combatants according to their rank.”

The remaining Red-Eyed Tribe members brought out the blood stored in the warehouses.

Originally reserved for future battles against the royal family, this blood would now be used in the current crisis. The tribe’s plan to loosen the royal family’s grip would inevitably be delayed.

“Good luck, Great War King.”

“Apologies for leaving first. As soon as the communication interference clears, I will immediately request support from the other Great War Kings.”

The fleet began to depart.

The sight of hundreds of ships rising was a spectacle in itself. Without figures like Elona or Jin, this force could have easily overwhelmed most regions of Inse in an instant.

“…Now, we must find out exactly how the enemy discovered our location, and whether it’s connected to the completion of the Demon God Stone.”

Just as the fleet disappeared from view beyond Usrok’s fortress, Gaila’s bracelet suddenly received a communication request. Hastily, he accepted and opened a window.

{Gaila…}

“Comrade Ozen!”

Ozen Kam was a Second-Class War King of the Red-Eyed Tribe, one of the first to awaken from the seal alongside Simat.

Unlike the other messengers, Ozen spoke slowly but wore a calm expression. However, his eyes were glazed over, as if drugged or mentally absent.

“Comrade, what’s the situation on your end? Is Fortress No. 7 still intact?”

{Gaila Tun…}

Ozen’s voice was mechanical and stiff, unsettling Gaila. Something that looked like wooden vines was wrapped around Ozen’s head.

{Do you think I can escape…?}

“Ozen, what are you saying all of a sudden?”

{There’s a lot of information inside my head… Thanks to this thing, it’s become very easy to find and eliminate you all.}

A chill ran down Gaila’s neck.

“You… you can’t be Elona Ziphl…!”

Suddenly—

Boom!

The moment Gaila spoke, Ozen’s body exploded, scattering ashes across the screen. Immediately after, Elona’s expressionless face appeared.

“You wretched bastard, what kind of nonsense is this?!”

{Gaila Tun, Great War King ruling the Fourth City of the Red-Eyed Tribe, Usrok. What do you think happened to the fleet you just ordered to flee?}

Gaila’s eyes widened.

The fleet should have already passed beyond his sight and sensory range, safely reaching the dimensional gate.

Yet Elona, who was much farther away, already knew about their retreat.

Reflexively, Gaila opened another window on his bracelet and tried to contact the retreating fleet. There was no response.

“You’ve… already destroyed the fleet…?”

Elona nodded.

{Like this bracelet, the fleet had some useful parts, so I didn’t destroy everything. But the lower-ranked Red-Eyed soldiers aren’t valuable as bio-golems anymore, so I eliminated them all.}

From the moment she began the invasion of Usrok, Elona had used her infinite magic to cut off all communications in the city. She had purely replicated the ‘Power of Blocking’ possessed by the Jinma Clan’s Biceps family using only magic.

Then, using the Holy Water Pavilion, she infiltrated the minds of the captured Red-Eyed Tribe members held by Ziphl.

The pavilion’s powerful mind control wasn’t limited to herself; Elona could use it on others.

Based on the information she gathered, she launched the attack on the Red-Eyed Tribe. From the lower-ranked prisoners held by Ziphl, she confirmed the approximate locations of each city and some passageways. From the Red-Eyed soldiers she encountered in Usrok, she obtained detailed information.

Now, only the Usrok fortress itself remained for Elona to eliminate in this area.

“You… you…!”

Gaila glared at Elona, tears of blood streaming down his face.

Then, suddenly, he realized something—the scenery behind Elona was eerily familiar.

She was already inside the Usrok fortress, having slaughtered every War King stationed at the watchtowers and outer walls.

Gaila had been completely unable to sense her presence as she infiltrated this far.

Crash!

The fortress lord’s chamber door shattered. Gaila sprang to his feet, ready to strike, but Elona’s staff unleashed a beam of radiant magic faster than he could move.

“Ugh!”

The spear of light pierced through Gaila’s crimson heart. The nearby War Kings all aimed at Elona, but the explosion from the light spear embedded in Gaila’s chest sent them crashing to the ground helplessly.

Gaila had planned to activate the fortress’s defensive transformation and resist once he received word that Elona had arrived.

But that calculation had been wrong from the start. Even fully prepared and transformed, Gaila was no match for Elona.

“Gaila Tun, now you will tell me everything. The information on the other Great War Kings and their strongholds.”

Clutching his shattered radiant heart, he fought desperately to rise, but the newly formed spears of light were already piercing Gaila’s entire body like stakes.

Through bloodied eyes, Gaila saw dozens of root-like tendrils pouring out from the holy crown Elona wore. They were the same vines that had wrapped around Ozen’s head.

In an instant, those roots engulfed Gaila completely.

That was the last memory of Gaila, the Great Battle King.