404 Secret Rune Implan

"Congratulations on your victorious return, chief!" 

A group of sentries greeted upon chief Baskara's return to the tribe with 5000 warriors. Not a single warrior's life was lost on the trip, or rather, they seemed to be returning with more than 5000 warriors?

"What victorious return? There was no battle." Chief Baskara calmly corrected before turning back to face the 5000 Warriors following behind him. 

"Send these three to cell and have someone watch over them." Chief Baskara ordered a warrior to take away the three captive Extremity-ranked Great Warriors.

"Yes, chief."

The three captive warriors did not try to resist. Resistance was futile and might even result in them being put to death on the spot. 

After the warrior complied and left with the three captives, Chief Baskara began issuing orders to the rest of the tribe, "Alert the rest of the tribe and have every abled-warrior man the defenses to prepare for battle." 

"Yes, chief."

The warriors complied.

However, shortly after, a higher-ranking sentry walked over and asked, "What are we preparing against, chief?"

"Undead Battle Kings."

"...Un-Undead Battle Kings?" 

The higher-ranking sentry spouted alarmingly with wide eyes. The surrounding sentries overheard the words and became shocked by what they might be fighting. 

"Undead Battle Kings?! Can we even fight against such a thing?!"

"How can there be any Undead Battle Kings?! Whose Battle Kings do they belong to?!"

"Dammit, it must be the Blackwind Tribe! They didn't burn their ancestor's corpses after the civil war two years ago!"

"F*ck! Now, we have to clean up after their mess!"

The 5000 warriors watched the sentries become a chaotic mess due to the news, smugly. They, too, have been shocked silly when they first learned the news. It was enjoyable to see others suffer the same shock as them.

"Burn the ancestor's corpses, huh?" Chief Baskara repeated with amusement. Humans were irrational creatures. 

Burning the corpses of the dead was the wise thing to do, but no one would do it if they were told to burn their ancestor's corpse. Such an act was sacrilegious, and the person would be condemned by everyone else.

Between rational decisions and morals, these two had always been at odds with each other, no matter the ages.

The higher-ranking sentry gulped and asked, "Do we need to wake up for ancestors for this, chief? I don't think we have anyone in the tribe who can compete with a Half-step Archdemon."

"Waking up the ancestors should be the last resort. Nevertheless, we should prepare for the worse. I will arrange for someone to be on standby, should we fail to hold the Undead Battle Kings back." Chief Baskara said.

Suddenly, the voice transmission stone lit up.

Chief Baskara brought the stone to his ears and listened to the message being delivered from the other side, "The Liches and Undead Battle Kings is true, chief. They are currently heading towards our tribe."

"I understand. That's all I need to know. Return to the tribe at once, Swiftwind." Chief Baskara said.

"I'm sorry, chief, but that won't be possible." Swiftwind chuckled bitterly and coughed heavily on the other side. "Please take care of my family for me." 

The voice transmission ended shortly after. Sometime later, the voice transmission resumed but with a ghastly voice, "Oh? What do we have here? Kekeke, quite an interesting tool. Guess I'll take this back to study when I'm bored."

Chief Baskara sighed despondently. 

It seems Swiftwind was detected by the enemy in the end. However, he made sure to deliver the news back to the tribe before he was killed.

'Don't worry, Swiftwind. You're sacrificed was not made in vain. I will make sure your family does not suffer the slightest grievance. You have my word." 

Chief Baskara silently swore.

His eyes glazed over with firm conviction. 

"Notify the Venerable Shamans. We will need their strengths in the upcoming battle. It has been confirmed; the Liches and Undead Battle Kings are heading our way."

"Yes, chief!"

After issuing a few more instructions to the warriors, Chief Baskara entered the tribe and headed to the cell where the prisoners were kept. 

Ironfist and the other two Extremity-rank Great Warriors were not thrown into the prison cell for long before they heard the guards outside greeting loudly, "Chief Baskara!"

Chief Baskara entered the prison shortly after and ordered, "Open them, and free their binds."

"Chief Baskara?" Ironfist asked with uncertainty while rubbing his wrists with his hands.

"Your words have been proven true, and I have seen your sincerity. As such, I am now giving you the option to join our tribe. You won't blame me for the way I treated you, right?" 

"Not at all. It is normal for you to be doubtful of the words of outsiders. This proves that you are a wise leader who does not listen to others blindly and places great importance on your tribesmen's lives. And for that, I respect you greatly." Ironfist said truthfully.

In this aspect, Chief Baskara was better than the Great Ironhawk Tribe's chief.

Chief Baskara smiled calmly and studied the appearance of the three Extremity-rank Great Warriors; their lips were parched, and their bodies were riddled with dirt and scratches. It was clear that they were dehydrated and unclean.

"Come, let us get you all cleaned and hydrated. We can talk later." Chief Baskara said and brought the three warriors outside. He found a servant and ordered, "Give these three men a jug of water and take them to the bathhouse to be cleansed. After they are done, bring them back to meet me."

"Yes, chief."

The male servant complied and respectfully asked the three warriors to follow him. After the servant left, Chief Baskara summoned the tribe's scouts. He ordered them to scout the area and notify him as soon as they discover the enemy enter their borders.

Fifteen minutes later, the three Extremity-rank Great Warriors finished their bath, and the servants brought them to the Great Hall where Chief Baskara waited for them over a dining table filled with food and drinks.

"Sit." The chief gestured and said, "I will not be biased and will treat you all how I treat the other Extremity-rank Great Warriors of my tribe. However, before that, there are some questions I want answers to. I hope you all will be able to give me a satisfying answer."

Chief Baskara wanted to learn what the Great Ironhawk Tribe's goal for sending such a large force to the territory of the Seven Tribe Alliance. It could not be as simple as making use of the chaos to take some spoils.

"Of course. Please ask away, chief." Ironfist said while the three of them took a seat at the dining table with the chief.

Chief Baskara nodded before his eyes turned sharp and asked, "What does the Great Ironhawk Tribe want to achieve by sending such a large force here? Such a big loss is not easy, even for a strong tribe like theirs."

"This…"

"What is it? Is it something you can't say?"

Ironfist and the other two warrior's expression became slightly forced and shook their heads, "It's not that we cannot say it exactly… but can we trouble the chief to find an expert that can remove the rune in our heads first?"

…

Darkmoon Tribe, Great Hall.

"Chief Valencia." A warrior entered and immediately saluted before asking, "You called for me?"

"That's right." 

Chief Valencia sat on her throne and glanced down at the warrior. Her face was slightly flushed like she had just recently engaged in an intense and intimate session. 

"I've sent a spy to the interrogation room and requested for the Venerable Shaman, Master Woodrow, to personally interrogate the person. What were the results of the interrogation?" She asked.

The warrior immediately knelt down with a slight change in expression and said, "My apologies, chief. The interrogation failed."

"What?"

Chief Valencia briefly froze, thinking she had misheard before she gazed at the warrior solemnly before asking, "What did you say?"

"The interrogation failed."

"I know that. I'm asking how?" Chief Valencia demanded.

"When the Venerable Shaman used his hypnotic mysticism on the person, the person had indeed fallen under a trance. However, after the Venerable Shaman asked his first question, the person's head suddenly exploded when they tried to answer."

Chief Valencia immediately knitted her brows together tightly after hearing the warrior's explanation. After pondering for a moment, she raised an eyebrow. 

"Someone planted an Exploding Secret Rune to keep the spy's mouth shut on the secrets of their mission? Who is capable of planting such a thing?" She guessed but also doubted herself.

"The Venerable Shaman also guessed as such but was not too certain if it was truly the case. The Venerable Shaman said the person capable of planting such a rune had to be someone well known if they had such an extraordinary ability." The warrior explained.

Chief Valencia frowned.

She could not think of any well-known Shamans in the Infertile Plains that would have such a strange and extraordinary ability to plant such a rune inside a person's mind. 

Exploding Secret Runes were not well known, but exactly a closed secret either. They were usually carved on the foreheads and easily discovered with a brief inspection. 

Thus, it cannot be a simple matter if the Great Ironhawk Tribe hired an expert to hide the runes. What exactly was the Great Ironhawk Tribe after?