The chief’s chamber was silent. Even all breathing seemed to have stopped in fear of breaking the silence.

Eight people and one beast sat around a table in silence, everyone seemingly thinking. Chief Hakim sat between two people, one man and one woman, while the five were Bahamut and his team.

"Well, let’s start with introductions before we go to the crux of the matter," Hakim said with a slight smile, and turned to the man.

"I am Forta Anur, the head of the warriors of Senkeht," the man said. Unlike Hakim, who had removed his head cloth, he still wore his, so no one could see his face well, but those blue eyes held a strength only born from experience.

Hakim then turned towards the woman. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"I am Risa Senkeht, the wife of the chief of Senkeht." She said with a smile. Just like her husband, she wore no head cloth, revealing her beautiful face.

Bahamut and the rest also introduced themselves, and the meeting kicked off.

"I am sure we all saw what happened... I am truly stamped here. I don’t understand what is going on anymore. The Solar Wyrm’s sudden appearance wasn’t in my expectations," Hakim said in a grim tone. Everyone could feel a bit of what he was feeling. The beast’s appearance had taken them off guard, and they all knew that there would have been casualties. A lot of casualties. Who would have known that the beast could make them all freeze up like that?

"At least it is confirmed that we are dealing with two beasts, and one seems to be the true leader. But what can control a beast like the solar wyrm? It has to be more than just strong. The solar wyrm is an ancient beast. If it weren’t for certain conditions of this region, the beast would have been at least a Tier 4 by now. Even at Tier 2, it’s stronger than almost all Tier 2 beasts we’ve encountered..." Forta added.

"Meaning that the other beast is at the very least, a Tier 3, Elemental Extension monster..." Risa completed Forta’s statement, causing the chamber to plunge into silence again.

"I think that should be the least of your worries," Bahamut suddenly spoke, making all eyes turn to him.

"What do you mean?" Forta inquired, his eyes glinting with interest. Initially, he wouldn’t have attended the meeting. He thought they were inexperienced kids and would only be dead weight for them, but learning that they came from the Shadow Fang Sect piqued his interest. He wanted to find out just who they’d sent. As the younger brother of Hakim and the head of the warriors, he could decline his brother’s requests, but attending the meeting had been worth it at least from what he’d observed so far.

His first reaction when seeing them was, ’They are strong!’ He was inwardly shocked, especially towards the three boys and the bunny, and most especially the blind boy who seemed to be their leader. He could feel it... None of them was inexperienced. They’d all played with death more than once. As a matter of fact, he felt that when it came to near-death experiences, he would lose to Bahamut... and he was right. Bahamut was in a whole different league. Seeing him speak up made him want to learn more about the boy. Forta could feel it; the boy was watching everywhere.

’Such powerful senses!’

"If those beasts are strong, then you needn’t worry much. At the very least, the casualty rate would be minimal since there are three Tier 3s in the town."

’What?!’ The three leaders’ eyes widened in shock. Bahamut had figured out their strengths, and they hadn’t even done anything. Just what sort of freak was he?!

Well, sad for them, he had a system. Bahamut ignored their shocked expressions and continued speaking.

"The first roar wasn’t from the solar wyrm. It was from the supposed Tier 3 beast. I know you are all confused, but I can understand beasts. As you can see..." Bahamut pointed towards Ren, who lay on his head, his marks glowing slightly. "The first roar... was a greeting and a warning, and it wasn’t directed at the town. It was directed at the solar wyrm.

The solar wyrm’s first roars were acts of defiance. Just these should tell you that these beasts are more intelligent than we all take them for. I saw it in the wyrm’s eyes. It is highly intelligent, even more than some people. This also exposes the possibility of a hierarchy and the probability of the other beast not being as powerful as you think. From the roars... I am very sure they are in some kind of alliance."

Bahamut thought back to how the wyrm stared at him, as if it had recognized him... It was strange, but he had his suspicions as to why the beast looked at him like that, though he didn’t tell them about that. He wouldn’t. People could change from good to worse in seconds. And he wasn’t there to sacrifice himself for strangers, even if he was immortal.

"If there was an actual hierarchy, the wyrm wouldn’t have shown an act of defiance."

"The possibility of an alliance is higher. If your takes are true, then the other beast has another agenda apart from destroying the town," Forta deduced with a sharp glint in his eyes.

"It’s in search of something... In the town," Risa added, causing everyone to go silent.

"But what could it possibly be looking for?" Hakim asked the question on everyone’s mind. A question Bahamut possibly had an answer to, but that wasn’t part of the mission objectives.

"An old man spoke of a tomb of some sort beneath the eastern dunes, wherever that is," Sel spoke, causing Hakim to smile wryly.

"That is the cause of the war we are currently in. There were some artifacts in the place that we needed, but someone foolishly took the wyrm’s egg. The culprit was killed by the wyrm, but we never found where the egg went."