Chapter 94: All of these Beasts are dead!

For the rest of the journey to the Typhon Village, Jol kept his mouth shut. He didn’t like his loyalty being questioned, but most of all, if he was the reason the mission failed, then his punishment would be a great one.

The six tribesmen traveled down the river path as Helgan directed, over the tall, steep hills, and around the unusually large pond placed in the middle of nowhere.

And though this trip sounded like a simple one, it was anything but.

The summer heat scorched their bodies as if they were inside a furnace, sweat drenching every inch of them. It was so bad that the group had to take more than one rest stop just so they wouldn’t collapse while also refilling their water skins.

Thanks to Zuna, everyone was able to drink clean water, as healing didn’t just mend wounds. It could also act as a detoxifier and purifier. Though its strength relied on the user’s own abilities.

Jol kept their water cold, even Helgan’s own. He was petty, but not that petty. The mission failing was the thing he wished to prevent the most, so he became a team player.

Unfortunately for the group, intense heat was the least of their troubles. During the night, everyone would go to sleep while one person would keep watch over the campsite just in case.

There were predators that lurked in the forest, and sometimes, those predators were other people from tribes far away who happened to be traveling or were simply nomadic.

"Hmm?" It was Mika’s turn for night-watch duties, and she had heard something rustle in the bushes.

She paid attention to its movement patterns, getting up and making sounds to see if whatever was there would run away out of fear.

When it didn’t, she grabbed her bronze sword and took a few cautious steps forward.

There was no need to wake up her associates if this was a false alarm, so she went ahead to see what was up. Besides, an explosion would do wonders to jolt the body awake.

After taking a few more steps, she paused, then quickly blasted a gust of wind into the bush to see what was there.

"Heh, a freaking mouse." She sighed. "I’m getting paranoid because of a damn mouse. Am I losing my touch?" Mika lowered her guard and looked at her blade. It was a freshly crafted bronze sword, its sheen still shiny.

The blade was positioned in her line of sight, allowing her to see her eyes. But most importantly, it allowed Mika to see what lurked behind her.

"Haha, I knew I wasn’t getting rusty." Mika leaned forward, using the spirits of earth to keep her from falling. Then, moving smoothly like water, she spun around and cleanly cut off the head of a Spirit Tiger that had lunged for her head.

"Next time you try to sneak up on someone, make sure your breath is foul." Sheathing her blade, Mika examined the Spirit Tiger. She hoped she could repurpose its coat for a cape or carpet.

"Hm? What’s going on with its body? It’s rotting."

"Mika, what are you doing?" Helgan had woken up and was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Hey, Helgan, take a look at this. Doesn’t this seem odd to you?"

Helgan walked over to where Mika was standing and looked at the tiger.

"What about it? It’s a dead spirit tiger."

"Yes, but it’s rotting."

Helgan didn’t understand. "Yes, that’s what living creatures do when they die. Even plants rot, Mika."

"No! Ugh, listen. I just killed this tiger, like only a minute or two before you woke up. Animals don’t rot in a matter of minutes, Helgan."

"Oh, that is weird."

"Exactly. Something’s not right. As for what it is, I don’t know."

Helgan shuffled through his head to figure out what his next course of action would be. He thought about learning how the tiger could move even after being dead, but he put that thought on pause for the time being.

"The mission comes first, so let’s continue with it. But since this place is compromised, we should leave in case there are any more dead beasts lurking about."

Mika nodded. "I agree."

The two of them woke up the rest of the group and informed them of what they had learned.

"Could something be controlling these beasts?" Jol questioned

"That wouldn’t be out of the ordinary. Witch Anuwat has the ability to reanimate the dead and use them as corpse warriors. The only difference is that spirit energy will be flowing through the eyes of the corpse." Wen explained

"The Spirit Tiger felt different. First, it smelled like a rotting corpse. I thought it was its breath, but it was its body. Second, I couldn’t feel any spirit energy coming from it. Reanimated Warriors still have spirit energy, so you’d be able to sense them."

Mika wasn’t sure if there was some other form of reanimation, but as far as she knew, what was happening to the tiger should be impossible.

"I see. Anything on your end?" Helgan asked Jol.

"Not that I’m aware of. Our abilities are given to us by our god. This is why we only have one ability compared to your tribe, who use the power of nature. No one in our village has the ability to manipulate corpses. Maybe Shaman Kanan, but he wouldn’t do something like this."

Learning that the Nemean Tribe had no ability like this confused Helgan even more. "I see. Then...hold on. Mika, isn’t that the tiger you killed not too long ago?"

"What? How is that possible? I cut off its head."

"It’s already dead." Itha pointed out. "Maybe killing it conventionally won’t do anything to it."

"Then how do you suggest we kill a dead creature?" Wen asked

"If I had to choose a method to get rid of them, then I would suggest burning them."

"A simple but effective method; I like it." Helgan ignited his hands and feet; the light of the flames made the campfire look like small embers.

"Wait! Do you see that?" Zuna pointed off in the distance behind the Spirit Tiger

"Are those..."

"No way, more beasts? That’s a lot of them!"

"It doesn’t matter. It’s just more bodies to burn. Wen, with me. Jol, you cover our backs. Mika, protect Zuna. And Itha, provide support whenever you can."

"Got it."