Tribe Conquest: Harem starts in a tribe!-Chapter 8: Survive Until Dawn(7)

"Wait, Daulk. Let’s answer the dying man’s last question."

Daulk didn’t say anything and just went back to grabbing Eric’s shoulders.

"Hmm, so you want to know how I could be so brazen about kidnapping you, right?" Rokan asked, clearly entertained by Eric’s desperation.

Eric nodded profusely, dying to know if there was something he could have done differently.

"Well, I thought your stepsister or mother would have informed you, but it appears you are really clueless."

Rokan chuckled.

"I’ll tell you. I could be so brazen because there was no one in the tribe to stop me."

Eric tilted his head slightly, eyes shining with a hint of confusion and surprise.

"Village Patriarch, the elders, my father, Xira Nile, Warrior Shokan, and all the individuals who wielded enough power to threaten me are out of the tribe and will return around dawn." Rokan revealed with a confident smile.

Eric’s eyes widened in realization. ’So that’s why the spell wanted me to survive till dawn... Because at dawn the ones who can protect me will return.’

’But where have they gone? And why didn’t Buan’s memories have any information about this?’

He could only find these answers from Rokan, and so he asked, "Where have they gone? And why the need to take everyone?"

His voice sounded inquisitive and a little hurried at the same time.

"Today you’re really acting different." Rokan said, his gaze a bit interested when looking down at Buan. "Maybe it’s because you are about to die."

"Well, whatever," he shrugged. "Not that I care."

"They have gone to the Shuan Tribe to discuss the details of the upcoming tournament in two months," he explained.

"They took everyone to show the strength of the tribe. You can never go unprepared when going to another tribe’s territory. If they had less warriors attending, their words would have less weightage. Moreover, if they appeared weak, they might be attacked by the other tribes."

He looked at Buan and smiled menacingly, "Even your mother and stepsister have gone, accompanying the grand elder. So there was no one to save you from me tonight, and I took this once in a decade opportunity to get rid of you."

The tournament was held once every decade between the four tribes of the southern half of the forest.

’So that means even if I screamed for help, no one would have come. Even if I had reached the Village Patriarch’s residence, nothing would have saved me. Then how was I supposed to survive?? Isn’t this simply a death sentence?’

Eric understood that there wasn’t a way for him to escape from the start.

Maybe he was just reincarnated to die again in a more hellish manner... or

Maybe this was some twisted god’s sick ploy to make him suffer.

He didn’t know, and he couldn’t care. The only thing left for him was pain and despair.

Rokan’s gaze went to Daulk, the order of execution escaping his lips: "You can begin."

Immediately turning excited, Daulk left Eric’s shoulders and moved towards his legs.

Eric had a hollow smile on his face, despairing over the lack of hope.

He looked at Rokan with a hopeless gaze and asked in a low voice, "Is there any way I can be spared?"

This was his last try, deciding to give up immediately with no hope of escaping the upcoming torturous death.

Rokan shook his head in response.

Getting his answer, Eric tried — tried his best to let go of his will to live and leave himself to fate. He even thought that he succeeded.

However.

As soon as Daulk punched his right leg below his knee, all his pretense was exposed.

"AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!"

He screamed like never before, his leg just crushed by that blow.

Daulk was a 2-star strength type spirit tattoo warrior. He had activated the spirit tattoo before striking his right leg, enhancing the strength in his arms.

Eric felt as if a huge sledgehammer had attacked his leg instead of a human.

Hearing his screams, Daulk revealed an evil smile. "Finally, Buan, I can make you pay for making me run!"

At this moment, Rokan’s hurried voice came, "Daulk, hurry up and break his other leg. We don’t have time to waste. His scream must have awakened the beast god."

Daulk shuddered at the mention of the beast god and hurriedly punched Eric’s left leg, crushing it in a similar manner.

Eric tried.

Tried hard not to scream; however, the pain of getting your leg crushed by a hammer-like fist wasn’t something you could swallow and endure.

"AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!"

Eric squirmed on the ground, writhing in pain as he grabbed his thigh, trying to ease the pain. His legs had crushed bones protruding out of his flesh, a sight horrifying enough to make him want to puke, and so he did, not from the sight of his crushed legs, but from the pain his mind couldn’t process anymore.

Rokan ignored him, instructing the others in a hurried tone, "We need to run. Let’s leave!"

Daulk and the others nodded, following after Rokan as they vanished soon after from Eric’s sight.

As Eric began to get used to the pain a little, his mind returned to reality, realizing where he was currently.

"Ah... Ah... I need to... get out of here," he groaned.

However, just as he said that, the ground quaked.

Eric felt the earth beneath him tremble, and then, the earth quaked again.

Then again in a rhythmic interval, almost like from someone’s footsteps.

And indeed, they were footsteps.

Eric paled, almost feeling enough fear to faint on the spot. A beast god was coming towards him.

Losing the strength to even speak, he spoke in his mind,

’No! I need to get out of here! What if my legs are broken? I can crawl, right?’

His hands trembled as he tried to turn his body to crawl on the ground with the strength of his hands; however, even that was a chore too hard for him.

The earth constantly quaked, reminding him of the approaching beast god.

He bit his lower lip and turned his body just from sheer will; however, as soon as he turned to lie on his stomach, the bones protruding out of his crushed legs bumped into the ground, poking them back into his battered legs.

The pain was unimaginable.

"AAAMMMFFF!" He pressed his hands against his mouth to stifle the scream trying to escape.

He then began to drag his body forward using his arms, his legs scraping against the ground.

However, the crushed bones in his legs constantly dragged through the wet earth, sometimes even getting stuck in the soil, sending unbearable, excruciating pain through his body and mind.

The stinging sensation in his legs was enough to make him dizzy, however, he kept on crawling, albeit slowly.

However, no matter how hard he tried, the quaking of the earth constantly got louder and more clear, signalling to him the despair he was in.

And even though he hanged on despite the harrowing pain, he wasn’t rewarded for his efforts.

After the earth trembled close by, he couldn’t help but steal a glance behind, and that was the biggest mistake he could make.

He caught a glimpse of the dark, towering shadow, taking heavy steps towards him in the dark, its large, monstrous maw secreting long trails of saliva, its long, dark claws ready to rip even iron apart.

His crawling had been leaving trails of blood, which that harrowing figure followed. Its four slit golden eyes looked directly at Eric, making him cower in fear, its scaly skin shining in the moonlight.

He was instantly overcome by fear and despair, losing all the courage and will to escape.

Thump! Thump!

Lying on the ground in despair, he listened to the closing footsteps, waiting for his imminent death.

’It’s over.’