The Out-tribals settled in the outskirts of Lochuir. Not directly by the borders of the inner and outer circles, but about an hour or two Alleigh-ride away compared to native Earthlochian villages.

"Can’t they live any closer to the township?” Elrhain Asked. He pointed at the few lake-side cliff-hanging villages. They were strewn about unplanned, and he couldn’t see where one village ended and another began.

But the village centres were easy to spot. Bustling cores of areas in that mess of dhionne huts, where children from various groups of out-tribals and freemen tribes played.

The womenfolk looked after the young while weaving clothes or carving shells. The Elderly scoured the nearby mountains for edible plants and roots.

Most mortal men gathered by the lakes, fishing poles in hand. They hunted gheists from crabs to fish. Every so often, Elrhain could hear cheers.

Today, only captain Anouk accompanied the two. Ysbail had an awful toothache, and Cati couldn’t bear to leave her best friend alone.

“The nobles won’t allow it, especially Palaikt Sonora’s people.” Captain Anouk replied with a sigh.

He raised a hand and Alleigh trotted to a stop near the cliff trail heading to the nearest village entrance.

Two shadows materialized before them, casting a dark silhouette on the ground.

“Halt!” The left one shouted, a midget of a man with purple skin. “Who are you? Why do you bring a gheist to our village?”

The second man remained silent. But Elrhain could see him perspiring.

Anouk went forward and introduced himself. He then pressed with a stern expression, “The prince and princess want to visit your village, and under the three leaders’ orders, their wants will be met. Where are the Out-tribal leaders of the settlements by the Seven Pearl Lakes? Bring them to me with haste!”

A heavy aura enveloped captain Anouk, demonstrating his Oceanic cultivation. The mild-mannered man transformed into a beast who only took yes for answers.

The two men shuddered. They may have similar shadow powers like Cadfael, but their mastery paled in comparison judging by how their form kept flickering under Anouk’s stare.

The out-tribal guards stammered a few words and left as quickly as they came, agreeing to relay the matter to their leaders.

Agwyn tugged Elrhain’s sleeves. 「Uncle Anouk looks funny.」

「He has to act tough as our bodyguard. Don’t make fun of him… But I agree, it’s like forcing an e-sports gamer to dance on TV.」

Agwyn giggled. She put a tiny floral crown on Elrhain’s head. The princess had learnt this craft from Eluned recently. It was a fun pastime.

Agwyn said it was more meditative than actual meditation, and she didn’t get sore butts from perching on glowing rocks all day.

Anouk who kept vigil as he awaited the return of the Out-tribal men, all of a sudden looked up. He lurched his gaze across the few settlements by the smaller lakes, muttering, “Something’s not right.”

Elrhain cocked his head, and the floral crown almost slipped off. “What isn’t?”

“The air. There’s…. something familiar in the flow of manna here that reminds me of a—"

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by a deafening roar akin to an explosion.

All the sounds of nature stopped in unison, including the crick of critters and chirps of the birds. Replacing it was a cacophony of howls and screeches.

“W-What?” Agwyn hugged Elrhain’s arms for balance as Alleigh jolted up. The red Pengyte growled, spooked by the abrupt incursion of the threat.

“This is bad,” Anouk yelled, “It’s a gheistrum outbreak. A manna-riogh must’ve overflowed!”

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No sooner had he finished, part of the Seven Pearl Lakes blasted up into water sprouts by the shoreline. The serene picture of the lake-side villages shattered in the blink of an eye.

A legion of gheistrums, vengeful and malicious, stormed out of the lake before pouncing on the dhionne like hungry scourges.

The villagers were first shocked. But the men soon fought their fear away and evacuated the shore in a practised motion. Amidst the roars and the cries of both gheist and dhionne, a battle for life commenced.

Mortals filled their bodies with manna, more frenzied than the gheistrums themselves. They may not be qualified cultivators, but their zeal to protect their family more than made up for it.

Elrhain and Agwyn watched the carnage unfold with mouths agape. The prince’s eyes ached as he shared his vision, not even knowing how to respond to such a sudden shift in the situation.

But what flustered them more than the army of gheists was how quickly the Out-tribals reacted to death.

It was as if fighting to stay alive was a daily matter.

“Why so suddenly…?” Agwyn muttered, her face pale. Elrhain couldn’t answer. He took out an amulet and pressed the blue gem etched in the middle.

A barrier of blue light materialized around Alleigh, tinting the clash outside in an indigo hue.

Alleigh growled, turning his snout towards East where the closest shoreline met the lake water.

“There’s more.” Said Anouk, readying his Totem daggers. “Prince Elrhain, if I am to fall, order Alleigh to retreat immediately?”

Elrhain gulped, then nodded. His superhuman ears picked up the hidden tremors this time.

The water quaked; the air thumped.

“CHIIIIIIIITTTTTTT!!!!!”

A blast of mist and a second swarm of gheistrums crawled out from below the sandy lake beach. This time, Elrhain’s group was the target of the many bloodshot eyes.

The gheists looked like a cross between a crab and a centipede. Long bodies slithering on the shore, leaving trails of fist-sized holes from their insectoid legs with multiple claws jutting out beneath their serrated mandibles.

“Chitttt!!!!!!!!”

Anouk clicked his tongue, relaxing. “Earthen Kiklas. Good.”

His daggers shone blue and crimson. He dropped into a sprinter’s stance, then bolted up. Gripping the bone daggers backhand, Anouk pierced the Kikla leading the swarm right in the middle of its eight eyes.

“Chitt—!”

His right hand bore into the gheist’s exoskeleton like a pile-driver. But it didn’t stop there. A ray of crimson light went out the other end of the gheist like an arrow and pierced three more Kiklas crawling behind.

Anouk kicked the dead gheist’s forehead and dodged the tail swipe of another. He threw the blue dagger behind him. The shooting star of death took out four other Kiklas that had somehow crept near Alleigh.

When the blue dagger pierced through its last victim, Anouk’s hand was already holding its grip again as if the man had teleported to the weapon.

“H-Help him!” Said Agwyn. “Awweigh! We gotta end the battle here fast and help the Out-tribals!”

Elrhain didn’t refute her. He pushed the gem in the middle of the amulet two more times, then patted Alleigh’s head.

The barrier retracted until it contoured the two kids like clothes. This was the battle mode, where it wouldn’t hinder the Red Pengyte’s movements.

Alleigh growled, baring his shard-like fangs. The giant husky rushed forwards in a storm of red and black.

“Prince?” Anouk cleaved another Kikla apart. Elrhain yelled their intentions to the man while Alleigh bulldozer’d through the Kiklas like a boulder crushing all in its path rolling down a cliff.

The watch captain muttered, “It can’t be helped.” He held the two daggers in front of his body in a cross shape as he squatted down.

“[Gore-break Fangs]!”

One second, there was only one man. A hundred afterimages leapt forward the next, leaving behind palm-sized stabs in half the remaining Kiklas’ heads, ending their miserable existences instantly.

“Arf!” Alleigh crushed another Kikla with red glowing mandibles as it tried to chomp down from above.

The Pengyte raised his head towards the midday sun. Particles of manna gathered in his mouth, concentrating to the extreme.

“Hoooowl!” A line of manna like a laser beam careened out, ripping apart a row of Kiklas in half.

“A death ray!” Agwyn cheered with pumped fists.

Elrhain joined her too. But out of the edge of his vision, his hyper-sight glimpsed a trailblazing shadow shaped like a spear streaking their way faster than his thoughts could register the danger.

“Watch out!”

His warning came too slow. The object hit Alleigh’s side like a mortar.

“Kyaa!” Agwyn screamed as the spear impact blasted Alleigh tens of meters, dragging a long line in the sand.

Elrhain held onto Agwyn’s waist from behind. He felt the floral crown dropping as they both tumbled, but the barrier absorbed all the aftershock. They were dazed but uninjured.

According to Cyra, this was a talisman crafted with the power of three Sky realm elites. Any attack below the full-powered strike of a mid-sky realmer could not destroy it instantly.

“Who dares?!” Through the screen of dust and Alleigh’s pained whimpers, Elrhain heard the angry voice of Anouk.

The boy grappled, his hand touching sand when he tried to support his body.

“E-Ellie, it hurts.” Agwyn cried from above. Elrhain had cushioned her fall, but all the rolling around left them both disoriented. “A-Alleigh, is Alleigh okay?”

Elrhain stood up, ignoring his throbbing legs. But before he could step towards the prone form of the Red Pengyte, Alleigh hollered in fury as if to drown out his pain.

“ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAR!”

The massive red form vaulted out of the sand-filled cloud like a missile, blowing away the screen of dust.

When Elrhain opened his eyes again, he saw Alleigh’s massive red paw smash a woman clad in archaic full-body armour with a sickening crunch.