Chapter 1271: Rethinking

Chapter 1271: Rethinking

Things were not meant to have gone this way.

Zluth compressed himself a little as he slid to the side, carefully not looking at the gruesome scene taking place nearby. Though, try as he might, there was nothing he could do about the sound.

CRUNCH. CRUNCH. SLURP.

All Zluth really cared about in the moment was that it wasn't him who'd been on the chopping block. When the Krath'lath was done with her grisly task, she gurgled grotesquely as she absorbed the flesh of her consumed tribesmates.

"Failure is not acceptable," she said when she had finished. Then turned her stalks toward Zluth, who froze in place for a moment.

"Of course not, Krath'lath. The three urudesh who proposed this assault were clearly inferior, a blight upon our tribe."

"We are indeed stronger for having removed such weakness," the Krath'lath agreed, her eyes burning into his. "As the one responsible for the health of our tribe, I only wonder if I have removed all of the failures."

She was still hungry? Zluth fought with himself to maintain his calm.

"In what way have I failed?" he declared confidently. "I was the one who found the intruders. I was the one who escaped their notice and brought word of their impure mana back to the tribe."

Burning red eyes atop dozens of stalks turned toward the Krath'lath, who visibly gnashed her teeth. Her body was visibly shuddering in pain as she digested those she had consumed, absorbing their potent acid and using it to refine her own. Punishing weakness was accepted, welcomed, celebrated, within the tribe. Wanton slaughter was... at times forgivable, but not when it would impact the tribe.

A weak tribe would become food for their rivals. Literally.

"Very well," she declared finally, before she released a particularly noxious cloud of gas. The very air seemed to sizzle with the potency of it, and Zluth felt his own guts roil at the scent.

The current Krath'lath had been in her post for some time, and feasted on many of her fellow Krath. She had clearly refined a powerful acid indeed, and he hungered to add it to his own.

But this was not the time; his position was not strong enough to warrant a challenge.Nnêw n0vel chapters are published at novelhall.com

"We must come to a decision on how to best torture these invaders," the Krath'lath declared, grinding her jagged teeth. "Speak, and I shall decide our path."

"A tier seven or eight..." she muttered.

Zluth paused for a beat to be sure she didn't intend to speak any more before he continued.

"Who is possibly a mythic. I wasn't able to get a precise reading of the monster's core, but it was very strong."

"A tier seven, possibly mythic, ant," Goszi said. "Something odd is happening here."

The other present Krath agreed. Too many unexpected occurrences were taking place. An invasion, by monsters, ant monsters at that, and such highly evolved ones? They'd even designed pets to refine the fifth's mana.

"We must observe and learn more," the Krath'lath declared. "We will continue to hound them by directing natural spawns in their direction as we scout."

A sensible decision, but Zluth knew exactly what was going to come next.

"Zluth, you have had some success scouting these creatures. You will take the lead."

Her eyes bulged red once again as they rotated on their stalks to face him. He did not flinch.

"Of course," he burbled. "I will not fail the tribe. How many Krath will come with me?"

The tribe leader considered for a moment.

"I will give you four scouts. Use them well. Ensure you return before the breeding season. I wish to have further discussions with you at that time."

Zluth's eyes wilted on his stalks for a moment as he realised what she was saying. That was a dangerous experience for a male Krath, and not one he felt the Krath'lath intended to let him survive.

He would have to make sure he 'missed' this appointment.

"Of course, Krath'lath. I will depart shortly."