Prime Originator

Aria and the rest of the group quickly escaped towards the exit of the Demon King-level Tomb before they were startled by what they saw ahead.

Dim rays of light shined inside the tomb, and the entrance was within sight, but the ahead was obstructed by countless Hellbiters pouring in.

"Why are there so many Hellbiters inside the tomb? Miss Aria's ice wall should have blocked them off when we entered!" a Mid-rank Battle Master exclaimed with shock before muttering, "The ice shouldn't have melted this quickly…"

"The collapsing tomb might have affected the ice and created a gap for the Hellbiters to enter," One-Eyed Venerable Shaman frowned and added, "Or these Hellbiter may have chewed their way through."

Considering how deadly the Hellbiter's venom is on the nerves, they might have overlooked its corrosive properties on other objects.

"Either way, it's good that we found out early. We just need to break past this hurdle before we make it outside. It would have been troublesome if they surrounded us inside the maze," Chief Baskara stated.

Not only was the maze hidden in complete darkness, but the limited space also made it difficult for them to defend, whereas it gave the Hellbiters an advantage.

Screech… Screech…

Suddenly, the group picked up noise from behind before they realized an army of Hellbiters crawled out of the maze and headed their way.

It was a pincer attack, and their numbers were even greater than the group blocking the exit.

"What! The maze had this many Hellbiters hiding in it this whole?" a High-rank Battle Master exclaimed.

Only then did they realize how lucky they were to make it as far as they did inside the tomb. There must have been an enormous nest hidden somewhere in the tomb.

"The big disturbance in the tomb must have stirred them into action. We cannot stay here for long. We need to break out immediately!" One-Eyed Venerable Shaman stated.

The Crimsonfog Tribesmen quickly drew their weapons under Chief Baskara's lead before dashing ahead of Aria, Darlene, and One-Eyed Venerable Shaman.

"Charge with me!" Chief Baskara roared in the lead with his hands firmly gripped onto his Tier-5 bone sword.

His eyes glinted with a crimson hue.

In the next instance, Chief Baskara's body disappeared in a red flash, zipping through the hundreds of Hellbiters in an instance.

Dozens of Hellbiters were bisected with a single flash, and the path ahead was opened.

"Remember to be careful! It's over with a single bite!"

"Yes, Chief Baskara!"

The Crimsonfog Tribesmen heeded the chief's reminder as they cleaned up after Chief Baskara, cutting down the stragglers the chief missed in his attack.

"I'll take care of our rear!" Aria stated.

Even if it wasn't much help, she wanted to cut down as many Hellbiters as she could and leave a path of retreat for Leon.

With that thought in mind, she waved her hand covered in frosty lightning.

A blue-white light immediately flashed through a row of Hellbiters, penetrating through their bodies before ice crystals proliferated from within their wounds like the blossoming of flowers and froze their entire beings.

After the first ray of ice-lightning came the second, the third, the fourth… In mere moments, Aria fired more than three dozen ice-lightning rays and slaughtered several thousand Hellbiters.

However, it was only a small fraction of their numbers.

"Miss Aria, it's time to leave. There's still more Hellbiters pouring in from outside," One-Eyed Venerable Shaman urged.

Aria nodded and bit her lips while looking back at the army of Hellbiters. She wished she could have done more, but she still needed to look out for Darlene's safety.

After sticking close to Darlene and exiting the tomb with the group, they were surrounded on all fronts by several hundred thousand Hellbiters.

Aria immediately conjured a ring of ice pillars and cut off their path of advancement while locking in several hundred Hellbiters with the rest of the group.

"Nicely done, Miss Aria." One-Eyed Venerable Shaman praised Aria's quick wits.

Although it was easier to fight in the open space of the surface, the large number of Hellbiters put great pressure on the group with their lethality.

However, Aria's move quickly eased the pressure weighing down on them.

"Be careful of ambush. Hellbiters might not be our only concern," Chief Baskara warned as he cut down the Hellbiters inside the ice ring with the other Battle Masters.

They had entered the tomb after the demons, but nothing stopped another group from arriving afterward.

If there was a demon group waiting for them, then there was more trouble to deal with. They couldn't be careless if there were humans either.

…

Chief Baskara's caution was right on the mark.

At that moment, another human group had been watching the tomb entrance from the treetop after clearing out the area.

"Chief, there are movements below. They must have succeeded in clearing the tomb's trials, and they appear to be humans," a Revered Wind Tribe's Battle Master reported before inquiring, "Should we help them?"

"Let's just observe them for the time being," Chief Darkwind stated unhurriedly.

The Revered Wind Tribe was one among many tribes within the Infertile Plains' Central Region. The situation had always been chaotic, and their enemies were plenty.

"See if we can find out their affiliation. If they hail from one of our rival tribes, helping them might not be beneficial even if we are all humans."

"Yes, Chief!" the Battle Master complied.

Their group comprised of twenty people, all hailing from the Revered Wind Tribe of the Central Region.

The weakest among them were Extremity-rank Great Warriors, and the strongest was a Venerable Shaman from their tribe, an Extremity-rank Battle Master.

Chief Darkwind, himself, was only a High-rank Battle Master.

While he was not the strongest in the group, the Revered Wind Tribesmen listened to his orders without exception.

…

As Aria and the Crimsonfog Tribesmen slaughtered the Hellbiters in the area, they divided a portion of their focus to survey the area.

"There are slight changes to the area from where we left off," Aria frowned.

"As I suspected, people were lying in wait for us, huh?" Chief Baskara muttered before glaring into the trees, "Whoever is hiding, show yourself! If you don't reveal yourself, the Crimsonfog Tribe will assume you all have ulterior motives and treat you as our enemies!"

"The Crimsonfog Tribe?" Chief Darkwind muttered in the treetop.