Chapter 396: The Master Bluffer [Part 1]

Hagen’s instincts told him that he must put a stop to whatever Leone was doing.

Without warning, he maneuvered his flying carpet and dove from the sky, poised to cut the pole of Leone’s banner in half.

Targeting Leone directly in front of everyone gathered in the plaza wouldn’t do him well, so he focused his attention on the banner glowing faintly in the dark.

But before his blade could reach his target, Ulric swung his axe and clashed with him directly.

Sparks flew as the two warriors exchanged blows. A grunt escaped Hagen’s lips as he was pushed back by Ulric, who didn’t hesitate to activate his Berserk skill.

"What are you all doing?!" Hagen shouted. "Destroy the banner in the hand of the Chieftain of the Aslan Tribe!"

At his order, the warriors and shamans of the Grimhowl Tribe moved to attack.

Leone seemed calm as he looked on, but deep inside, his anxiety shot up. The downside of planting his banner was that he could neither move from the spot nor could he do anything except talk or move his head.

The only saving grace was that Hagen’s order was to destroy the banner, not hurt the young man, who was currently a sitting duck.

"Warriors of the Warclaw Tribe, destroy the banner," Godwin ordered. "But don’t harm the Chieftain of the Aslan Tribe!"

Godwin also sensed something off with the banner, so he also ordered his people to take it away from the young chieftain’s hand.

"Warriors of the Aslan Tribe, don’t kill anyone!" Leone ordered. "Just defend and hold your ground!"

Leone knew that if anyone were to die during this incident, the situation would likely spiral outside of their control.

He didn’t think the other chieftains had given the wrong order. If he were in their position, he would have done the same.

So, the only thing he could do was make sure his people didn’t accidentally kill anyone.

Fury stood on its hind legs and roared loudly.

The Drakes did the same as they unleashed roars alongside Fury, creating an intimidating aura that slowed the movements of the warriors charging at them.

However, there was one problem.

They were completely outnumbered.

Fortunately, the Drakes and the Pteranodons were Rank 3 monsters.

Even then, this battle was impossible to win.

But Leone didn’t plan to win.

His plan was only to endure!

Suddenly, Leone heard the whistling of the wind and understood that Godwin had joined the fray.

Just like Hagen, the Chieftain of the Warclaw Tribe targeted the banner in Leone’s hands.

But at that moment, someone blocked his path.

Jason had transformed into his White Wolf Sovereign form and didn’t hesitate to clash against the chieftain of the strongest tribe in the Borderlands.

At first, Godwin thought he could overpower Jason, believing he was stronger and faster than him.

However, the young man held his ground, preventing Godwin from reaching his chieftain.

"You’re stronger than you look," Godwin said. "But you’ve made a big mistake. You can’t defeat me."

Soon, the sound of crackling electricity surged from Godwin’s hand as he channeled it into his sword. He planned to electrocute Jason and knock him unconscious.

"Grrrr!"

Jason growled as the electric discharge began to wash over his body. Yet, he refused to take a step back or retreat because doing so would leave his Great Chieftain vulnerable to attacks.

Seeing that his opponent was still conscious, Godwin raised the voltage in his attacks.

"Stand aside!" Godwin roared. "I don’t want to kill you!"

"You can’t..." Jason muttered as he dug his feet into the ground and held the blade of the sword firmly with his claws. "You shall not pass!"

The two didn’t know that Tianna had also arrived at the scene.

She flew from her residence and landed on the rooftop near the plaza.

Seeing her father and the person she loved fighting against each other, the young lady couldn’t help but cover her lips with both hands, doing her best not to cry out loud and ask the two of them to stop fighting.

"Guh..."

Kael took a few steps back as the spells of the shamans managed to bypass his defenses.

Just like Jason, he refused to dodge. If he did, the spells would hit Leone, who was a few meters behind him.

His familiar, the Blood River Serpent, Russel, used its body to tank the other spells its Master could no longer defend against.

Blood spurted from its body as it was pushed back slightly.

It was at a complete disadvantage since its specialty lay in ambushing and killing its target. Moreover, Leone had ordered them not to kill anyone, restricting them from using their killing blows.

Russel wasn’t the only one struggling to uphold Leone’s orders.

The Drakes and the Pteranodons were also getting injured because they were only blocking or deflecting attacks with their claws and bodies.

"I got you now!"

One of the mages of the Grimhowl Tribe managed to send an Aslan Tribe warrior flying using his wind magic.

This left Leone wide open.

Truth be told, this particular shaman didn’t like the young chieftain. So, instead of targeting the fluttering banner, he unleashed a wind blade to target Leone himself!

Just as the wind blade was only a few meters away from Leone, it was met with a dark crescent blade.

Both attacks exploded and dispelled each other.

The mage then glared at the shaman of the Darkmane Tribe, Jafar, who had moved to block his attack.

"Is the Darkmane Tribe planning to rebel?!" the mage shouted in anger.

"Rebel?" Jafar sneered at those words. "Rebel against who? You? You’re not qualified to spout such nonsense!"

Jafar then thumped his staff on the ground. A few seconds later, two hands made from dark magic jutted out of the ground, appearing right behind the mage of the Grimhowl Tribe.

The two hands then grabbed the mage’s feet, pulling him from behind, making him fall to the ground face-first.

Seeing this scene, Hagen and Godwin glared in Troy’s direction.

"What’s the meaning of this, Troy?!" Hagen asked.

"What do you mean?" Troy asked calmly. "Have you forgotten? Jafar is now part of the Aslan Tribe. He doesn’t follow my orders."

Hearing his reply, Hagen and Godwin remembered that this was indeed the case.

They had been there when Jafar swore loyalty to Leone in exchange for the safety of Troy’s three sons.

Although he was still serving as a shaman by Troy’s side, his allegiance was now to the Aslan Tribe.

Faced with this difficult situation, Hagen finally turned to the great shaman of his tribe.

"Gundar!" Hagen shouted. "How long do you plan to watch from the side?! Take that banner away from Leone!"

Gundar frowned.

He hadn’t made a move so far, feeling conflicted.

As a Spirit Shaman, he had a vague idea of what Leone was doing.

But in the end, his loyalty was to the Grimhowl Tribe and the barbarians of the Borderlands.

If his guess was right, then Leone was trying to convert the City of Eden into his own personal domain.

And he couldn’t turn a blind eye to that.

With a heavy heart, he took a step forward.

The only thing Leone could do in response was look at his Great Uncle with a face filled with injustice, fully knowing they wouldn’t stand a chance against the strongest shaman in the Borderlands.