Prime Originator

On the left tower of the southern wall, Leon was deployed here together with Lumi and a small group of Shamans, whom he had already met the night before.

They were Old Tailor, Master Woodrow, and Old Hammer.

He was the most familiar with Old Tailor and Master Woodrow amongst all the Venerable Shamans in the tribe.

Perhaps, they were placed together because Chief Valencia was aware of this.

The rest of the Venerable Shamans were placed in the right tower next to the central southern tower.

"How do you feel, Lumi? Do you think your soul attack will be effective against them?" Leon asked as he watches the enemy approaching.

The 100 thousand-odd Fleshies were like tireless machines.

When the Darkmoon Tribe came into their view, their momentum neither slowed down nor sped up.

They had been moving at maximum speed.

It was the reason they managed to catch up so quickly despite the survivors getting several hours of a head start.

An ordinary person would not be able to gauge the enemy's strength across such distance, but Lumi was not an ordinary person.

She was a spirit, and spirit sees the world differently from living entities.

They had a particular set of eyes that allow them to gaze directly into a person's source and see their soul form.

To Lumi, the form of Leon's soul was no different from what he usually looks to others on the outside.

They were the spitting image of each other. This is because the body contains one part of the soul.

However, the Bone Kings were different. They were dead, and the body they possess are not their own.

When Lumi looks at their soul, all she sees is a ball of grey fire, much larger than her own.

As for the mindless army, only a tiny wisp that did not even belong to themselves could be seen.

"There are several strong presences that my soul attack will not work on, but the rest will be at my mercy."

"That is good enough—No, it's perfect. Those strong presences must be the Bone Kings. If the rest can be immobilized, we will have a better fighting chance." Leon said.

Having Master Woodrow to fill him in on the demon classifications of the Bone Calamity, Leon knew where the problem lies.

The evolved Behemoth-class Bone Demons might be strong, but they were nothing if they cannot move.

It was the evolved Bone Kings that they had to worry about.

"It has been a long time since I've stretched these old bones of mine. Who knew that I would still have to fight after retiring from the battlefield?" Old Tailor mildly complained.

A huge bone saber was rested on his shoulders with an awe-inspiring aura, and vigor Leon had not felt before was emitted by Old Tailor.

"You can complain all you want after we survive this battle."

Master Woodrow laughed lightly.

As the army of Fleshies entered a certain range, Leon immediately cried, "Lumi!"

Without hesitation, Lumi knew what she had to do. She leaped off the tower and soared forward away from the humans on the wall.

"Hm? A Banshee?"

The Bone Kings immediately took notice of her, but before they could think further, Lumi blew hard on her bone whistle and sent out a formless sound attack to sweep across the field.

"Fire!"

Chief Valencia roared at the top of her lungs.

With her weapon pointed at the enemy in the distance, two dozen large enchanted bolts and boulders were fired from the heavy ballista and catapults mounted on the wall.

The largest of the Behemoth-class demons were the easiest to fall prey to the first round of fire as large bolts directly pierce through their hardened bone and onto the next, while boulders exploded on impact and burst into a sea of flames.

These boulders contained the fat and oil extracts of demonic beasts inside them.

Despite the damage taken, none of the enemies died. Chief Valencia narrowed her eyes and began issuing a string of commands.

New bolts and boulders were loaded before they were fired at will. The people wanted nothing more than to continue rain hell on these evil creatures.

Suddenly, Chief Valencia felt a looming sense of danger and immediately barked, "Deploy the barrier!"

The tribesmen worked quickly to activate the city's formations as a dome-shaped barrier of semi-transparent red light encompassed the city.

Boom!

A bone arrow struck the barrier and sent ripples along its surface like the ocean waves battering against the sandy shores.

The barrier shook considerably, but it withstood the attack while the bone attack was ground to dust against the barrier.

Leon studied the defensive barrier seriously and thought how many lives could have been saved if the Darkmoon Tribe had fought defensively in the first battle.

But then again, the activation of such a large and strong barrier would have consumed a large number of resources, something that is scarce, and the Darkmoon Tribe would refrain from using if given a choice.

"Is that a bone arrow?"

A warrior widened his eyes with great shock, fear, and cold sweat. If not for the chief's timely warning, he would not have seen the attack coming.

A section of the wall would have been destroyed if not for the barrier's protection.

Even so, the Darkmoon Tribe did not know how many times they can continue to withstand such attacks.

Their demonic beast cores were not unlimited, and a gargantuan amount of energy was consumed continuously just to uphold the barrier.

"There's only one in this region of the Infertile Plains who uses bow and arrow. That shot must have been from Chief Blackarrow!"

"Well, it is not Chief Blackarrow anymore, but a demon-possessed Blackarrow!"

"That's true!"

"Buckle up, everyone! We're in it for a tough one!" Sabertooth shouted.

What will happen, will happen.

There was only so much the ballista and catapults can do.

The enemy's advance was slowed but not stopped. Both sides eventually collided as the flesh demons rammed into the protective barrier.

The earth shook, the city walls shook, and the barrier popped like a broken bubble.

"Attack!!!"

With her weapons drawn, Chief Valencia fearlessly dived straight into the enemy's ranks.

The Great Warriors followed suit under her lead while the non-combatants stayed behind and sling bottles of flammable liquid over the walls.

Some reached far while some fell short, yet strangely, none of the Great Warriors at the front was hit by their own people.

The fiery bottles all found their way to the enemy as if guided by a mysterious force.

"Do you know what the most defining trait of a Shaman is?" Old Tailor suddenly asked amid battle.

Leon shook his head.

To date, he had yet to understand what it means to be a Shaman.

He only knew they were people that wield special abilities like Awakening powers and had in-depth knowledge of runes.

Nevertheless, for Old Tailor to bring this up now, he could guess that it had something to do with the mysterious force he had sensed.

It felt the same as his Divine Will, but he did not say anything and allowed Old Tailor to explain despite knowing this.

Old Tailor smirked at Leon's response.

He had expected this and began to put on a wise front as he lectured, "Listen up, boy. The history of mankind can be traced back to several thousand years to tens of thousands of years, but the truth is, we have existed much longer than this—"

Swoosh—!

Old Tailor was interrupted by a wild bone arrow.

In that instance, the old man's seemingly fragile arms exploded with 500-thousands jin worth of strength and swept the arrow away with his heavy saber as if he was swinging a light feather.

Old Tailor realized he did not have the time to give a lengthy explanation and decided to jump straight to the point.

"Ahem, the point is—the most defining trait of a Shaman is to manifest their Will. Although there are rare cases of Shamans awakening specialized abilities like you, this is not actually a good thing."

"This is like learning how to walk before you can even crawl. You might know how to use them, but it will be difficult to improve your ability if you do not understand the process. I must admit that you are a very talented young lad, so I would hate to see your talents buried."

"This is why I am teaching you to work on your Will. Once you can freely manifest your Will, it will be easier for you to improve your special ability."

Old Tailor had high hopes for Leon.

If his ability grows stronger, he could treat more people with Demon Possession symptoms without being so easily worn out after the treatment.

"I see, thanks. I will keep that in mind, Old Tailor." Leon said with gratitude.

He truly meant it.

Although the Old Tailor knew nothing about Awakening cultivation, what he said was not without reason and logic.

There was truth behind it.

It seems logical that one should learn how to manifest their Will before one awakens their elemental abilities.

Why do the denizens of the Divine Realm not have these awakening abilities that are apparent in humans of Gaia?

In the end, what is awakening, really—and why do people have it?

Leon had pondered these questions before, but this time, he felt like he was on the verge of discovering a big secret.

Unfortunately, the situation had given him no time to ponder further.

Lumi gave her best efforts to keep the enemies at bay with her soul attacks, but it also placed her in a dangerous position.

"Lumi, you are too deep behind enemy lines! Retreat immediately!"

Leon warned.