Green Monster Epic

Chapter 434: Bickering

Allen arrived as agreed. As the western sun set and the crimson light of the red moon enveloped the earth, he knocked on the wooden door of the oak church's backyard where Demigod Kirill was staying.

“Yo, our brave goblin nouveau riche! It's rare to see you around here!!”

As he entered, a somewhat familiar, hoarse voice rang out, laced with sarcasm. While not necessarily malicious, it wasn't particularly friendly either.

Allen looked up and saw that the speaker was none other than Maggot Eye, a Legendary High-Rank Gnoll with a mouth full of jagged, sharp teeth, sitting on a wooden chair, squinting at Allen as he walked in.

In the past few months, Allen had rarely visited the front lines. Perhaps it was because the emissary of the Church of Nature had made contact with the Drow, or perhaps the Drow were busy relocating the remaining members of their city-state from the Underdark. Therefore, in recent months, apart from the occasional small-scale Drow patrols, other Drow experts had rarely come out to fight the wilderness experts.

With fewer opportunities to fight, Allen naturally didn't visit the front lines as often. For the gnoll Maggot Eye and the troll Arielle, the two leaders who were wholeheartedly seeking a counterattack, this was definitely not a pleasant situation.

Coincidentally, among the so-called friends invited by Kirill, the two legendary figures, Maggot Eye and Arielle, were present in the house. When Allen arrived, the atmosphere immediately became somewhat subtle.

Fortunately, besides these two legendary figures, the reception room where Kirill was receiving guests also contained Ivini, the High Priestess of the Oak Church stationed at Fort Nasier, Yogg, the legendary Dragon Blood Warlock of the Uruk tribe, and others. Their interjections quickly restored the subtle atmosphere to normal.

"…Your Excellency, I still suggest that you come forward and ask Chieftain Bileaire to open the exit of Fort Muir in the south, allowing the believers in the canyon to move south."

As the conversation progressed and Priestess Ivini steered the topic towards the exiled natives, the atmosphere shifted once again. Allen and Maggot Eye exchanged glances, their eyes flickering. The believers Ivini spoke of were, in fact, the flesh and bones in the eyes of their several families. Therefore, they found it difficult to interject at this time.

Ivini clearly felt that the higher-ups of the Agina Goblins, below Bileaire, were consciously distancing themselves from their Oak Church. Every time she wanted to discuss the resettlement of the believers in the canyon with Bileaire, she couldn't even get past the gatekeeper, who would make excuses to avoid meeting her. This was a rare occurrence in the past.

Even if Ivini managed to intercept the goblin high-ranking officials outside, they would mostly give her a bad look, perfunctorily dismissing her after a few words.

“Well, I know.”

Kirill did not directly respond to Ivini's request. In the eyes of this demigod who had lived for hundreds of years, the ant-like existences in the canyon, unless he personally witnessed them, he really didn't care much about their life or death.

There was no way around it. After reaching the Legendary rank and above, with their physique and spirit gradually transcending the ordinary, coupled with the dulling effect of countless years on their minds, they developed a sense of estrangement from ordinary intelligent species, as if they were no longer on the same level.

Moreover, Kirill was also aware that the tribal leaders present were also taking a share of the refugees. He had finally managed to bring Maggot Eye and Arielle into his camp. If he were to ruin their interests for this small matter, it didn't seem worthwhile now.

Anyway, with the clergy of the temple watching over the refugee believers, they couldn't go too far. As long as it didn't endanger their collective lives, it didn't really matter which tribe the wilderness natives lived in.

This was also an objective fact that had been occurring in the wilderness for tens of thousands of years. The temple had been unable to change this situation for a long time. How could Kirill change it with his own power now!

“Actually, you've approached the wrong person on this matter. These few here are actually more effective than me.”

Kirill smiled slightly, raised his eyes towards Ivini, and then shifted them towards Allen and Maggot Eye.

“The most powerful and prestigious force in the northern wilderness now is the Thorns Ring formed by Chieftain Arielle and Chieftain Maggot Eye. Winnie, if you can convince Chieftain Arielle to help you, wouldn't the problem be easily solved?”

“Allen, you agree, right?”

Seeing Kirill's sly gaze, Allen's expression froze slightly.

“……”

Having received Kirill's reminder, Ivini immediately turned her eager gaze to the legendary leaders present: “Please, leaders, help these poor lambs to regain their lives.”

“Being locked in that dark and sunless canyon every day is simply a torture more cruel than being in prison.”

Kirill didn't want to make demands of Allen and Arielle, but Ivini's words didn't require too much consideration. Arielle, Maggot Eye, and Allen exchanged glances, and a tacit understanding that only they knew was reached in those few glances.

“No problem. The next time we all meet, I will bring up this issue and ask Bileaire for a definite answer.”

The nearly three-hundred-year-old Chieftain Arielle took the lead in expressing his position. Then, Maggot Eye, the gnoll who had been exuding a sense of restlessness, said in a rough voice: “I will vote with Arielle to let those guys leave.”

“I will support the statements of the two.”

Since the other two families had expressed their positions, Allen couldn't say anything else. After exchanging a glance with another acquaintance, the ogre Nicol, he shrugged his shoulders and replied.

Anyway, the Green Field and Wildheart tribes could only eat the leftovers that the large tribes had left over in this matter. Moreover, there were only the old, weak, women, and children in the canyon, so there was not much loss in giving up on it.

“Then it's settled. May the glory of the Father of Oaks be with you all!”

Ivini quickly finalized the matter, and her mood immediately improved a lot, with a few more smiles on her face.

“In the future, you can all communicate more within the Thorns Ring, and take care of each other.”

“Chieftain Arielle and Chieftain Maggot Eye will listen to the teachings of the Goddess in the future. Chieftain Allen and Elder Yogg, if you have time, you should also communicate with the two chieftains more.”

“I also know that there have been many misunderstandings between Chieftain Arielle and Allen before, so the purpose of this gathering is to help everyone resolve the misunderstandings. In the future, everyone should get along well and support each other!!”

“You agree, right?”

Following the request put forward by Ivini as a thread, Kirill also took the opportunity to point out the real reason for Maggot Eye and Arielle's presence at this gathering. Hearing this, a flash of light appeared in Allen's eyes, and then it faded away, leaving only a glance exchanged with the mountain of flesh ogre diagonally opposite.

“Then we should communicate more.”

The kobold warlock Yogg had a few more expressions of joy on his face. The implication of Kirill's words was that Arielle and Maggot Eye's tribes had turned from the embrace of the Church of Nature to the Church of Rangers. Although he didn't know what kind of deal was behind this, it was definitely good news to have two more powerful teammates in the Thorns Ring team.

The two Lizardfolk tribes, Amansha and Algon, seemed to advance and retreat together. Because their geographical environment was relatively harsh compared to other races, they were rarely coveted by other tribes. Therefore, they didn't need to lean too much towards a certain temple force or a certain camp like other tribes.

Perhaps because of their neutral stance, they always seemed to lean towards interests in many issues. Whoever could give them more and better conditions, they would be in sync with the other party.

Clearly, in this new "Ring of Thorns" team, Bileir, as the initiator and contributor of benefits, ultimately held the advantage, leading the representatives of the two lizardfolk tribes to lean more towards him.

Allen didn't show much change on the surface, but his heart was churning. This time, Kirill held a gathering on the territory of the Ajinaga tribe, but there was no representative from the Ajinaga tribe present. The hidden meaning behind this was intriguing!

As early as decades ago, after Lord Sylvanas fell into slumber, the goblins of Ajinaga had already begun to separate their interests from the Oak Church. Allen had also paid attention to these matters. In the following decades, the Ajinaga tribe continuously exerted pressure on the Oak Church, diluting the church's interests in the two fortresses, and gradually distancing themselves from the church in silence.

However, even so, Allen didn't believe that they would really part ways with the Oak Church at this time. After all, before Allen came to participate in this gathering, the Natural Church still considered the Snowmane tribe and the Raven's Claw tribe as their strongest allies.

But why were Yareal and Maggot Eye present at today's Ranger Church gathering?

What did Lord Kirill rely on to persuade these two, who should have been staunch members of the Natural Church, to switch to the Oak Church?

Does this mean that the Ajinaga tribe has decided to part ways with the Oak Church? Which temple will they lean towards then?

Too many doubts surged in Allen's mind, causing him to gradually frown.

In recent years, Allen had stepped up his investment of resources to build his own intelligence system. The increasingly numerous 'Allen's Noodle Shops' were not only a source of economic income that the tribe gradually relied on, but also served as strongholds for the tribe to collect information from all over the wilderness. However, for core intelligence concerning several powerful tribes and temples, intelligence systems like 'Allen's Noodle Shop' basically had no access.

The changes in the situation had a great impact on Allen and his tribe.

In terms of closeness, the Ajinaga tribe was definitely closer to the Green Field tribe. Not to mention that Allen married Lena, a descendant of Bileir, the chieftain of the Ajinaga tribe, the division of profits that the Green Field tribe obtained from the Cathol Gorge alone made it difficult for Allen to give up.

The Green Field tribe's noodle shop business was growing bigger and bigger, and the funds collected each year were also increasing, but the income from the Cathol Fortress Gorge still accounted for a large proportion of the tribe's revenue.

However, the Ranger Church and the Oak Church in front of him were also Allen's greatest allies. Legendary figures such as Oscar and Noding in the upper echelons of the Oak Church had a close relationship with Allen and usually took good care of him and the Green Field tribe. And the Oak Church itself had always been supporting the development of the Green Field tribe. Various useful knowledge and tasks with reduced difficulty allowed the Green Field tribe members to gain various equipment, books, and so on during their travels and adventures.

Moreover, with Eric's exposure to the world, Allen would have to prepare to join the Mansa Alliance in the next few decades.

Only by joining the Mansa Alliance could Allen and his tribe become players on the chessboard. The tribe's people would not need to die innocently, nor would they be like they are now, sacrificing the most each time but gaining the least benefit.

And if he wanted to join the Mansa Alliance, then the Ajinaga tribe would not be able to provide much help. Allen even suspected that in secret, they might create obstacles for Allen, making it more difficult for him to join the alliance.

After all, each additional formal member in the alliance meant one more powerful competitor, which other members of the alliance might not be willing to see. Especially for tribes like the Ajinaga tribe, which were both of the same race as Allen and located extremely close to each other, the possibility of competition was even greater.

The Oak Church was happy to see Allen's tribe join, because the more members the alliance had, the stronger the alliance would be. In this chaotic world, the shepherds of the natural temples did hope that their indigenous allies could provide more power.

Allen was in a complicated mood. He didn't say much during the following dinner and after-dinner salon, but instead cast various cautious glances at Kirill, Maggot Eye, and others. And the other drinking buddies were in the same state of mind. Beneath the seemingly harmonious gathering, various thoughts were constantly churning in each other's hearts.

As for the demigod Kirill, who organized this gathering, he didn't have much of a purpose. The only purpose was probably to help the Maggot Eye and Yareal tribes reconcile with the Oak Church's allies, and to solidify the fact that Maggot Eye and Yareal had joined the Oak Church's side.

The reason why Kirill believed that the two tribal leaders, Maggot Eye and Yareal, had indeed sided with his side was actually due to a shocking piece of news they told him.

The Natural Church was, after all, a latecomer. Before the Oak Church declined, the God of Nature, Oghma, was just a subordinate god under the Father of Oak. Therefore, in terms of the strength between the material world temple forces, how could the Natural Church be compared to the Oak Church, a force that had been in charge of the natural pantheon for tens of thousands of years.

There was very little information transmission between the Underdark and the Feywild. Before the Drow invasion of the wilderness, middle-level temple forces like the Natural Church rarely focused on it, so they naturally lacked a lot of understanding of the Drow.

The deities behind the Drow were not monolithic. Although the Spider Queen Rose dominated the Drow city-states, there were also deities such as the God of Gray Dwarves and the Dark Maiden who resisted her.

For example, the Drow city-state that wanted to settle in the wilderness this time was mainly composed of followers of the Dark Maiden.

Although the Dark Maiden was the daughter of the Spider Queen Rose, her nature was completely different from the cruel Rose. She did not advocate unreasonable killing and sadism. It was precisely because of the conflict in their philosophies that the followers of the Dark Maiden had always been at war and fighting with the Spider Queen's city-state followers in the Underdark.

This time, the Dwarf Kingdom opened the Underdark passage and hired the Drow and Gray Dwarves to come out of the Underdark. The followers of the Dark Maiden and the followers of the Spider Queen rarely joined forces to act together. And the Dark Maiden's purpose from the beginning was to lead her followers out of the Underdark and completely break away from the battle with the Spider Queen.

This was not the first time the Dark Maiden had planned to leave the Underdark. Because her philosophy overlapped with the natural pantheon in many ways, the Dark Maiden's envoys had always been in contact with the Oak Church. Therefore, compared to the Natural Church's temporary search for ways to contact the Drow, the Oak Church had actually already grasped the general situation of the Drow invasion.

The core content of the secret talks between the emissaries sent by the Natural Church and the Drow matriarchs of Coldwind Hold, many of them flowed into the hands of the Oak Church. The most important one was: as long as the Spider Queen Rose and her affiliated deities were willing to join the natural pantheon, the Drow city-state was willing to join the Mansa Alliance as a tribe, then the Natural Church would promise a thousand miles of wide land from Coldwind Hold to Bonn City, which would become the Drow's place of survival in the Feywild.

If the Natural Church's plan succeeded, it would mean that the homeland where the Raven's Claw and Snowmane tribes had lived for hundreds of years would never be returned to.

After hearing this news confirmed by the Oak Church and the Ranger Church, even an old guy as resilient and forbearing as Yareal would definitely not be able to gain a foothold in the Natural Church camp, let alone the already irritable Gnolls.

Surprise?