The battlefield had fallen into a strange silence. All eyes were fixed on the two figures standing at the center, everyone waiting to see what would happen next. Something in the air felt off… as if a storm were about to break.
Zyric couldn't figure out what to do. Ralph's strength had now increased by two levels, which meant Zyric couldn't stop him in a direct confrontation. While Zyric was still thinking about what to do, Ralph reached him, and blood suddenly began gushing from his legs.
"Huh? What is this?" Ralph exclaimed before immediately collapsing and clutching his legs.
Blood continued to flow from his wounds. Zyric noticed something—a Fat Insect emerging from Ralph's leg before burrowing into the ground.
"Hmm… now we're talking," Zyric said with a smile.
"Ah, no! My legs! It hurts!" Prince Ralph screamed.
Zyric then stepped forward and placed his foot on Prince Ralph's chest. Meanwhile, the soldiers rushed toward Zyric to stop him. However, the tribespeople had lost their patience. After witnessing everything, they shouted at the soldiers, stopping them in their tracks.
The soldiers realized that if they moved any farther, they would surely be killed. Thus, they were forced to stay back and watch their prince lying beneath the boy's foot.
"Princess Elysia, I want to ask you something. Would you like to marry a lame boy?" Zyric asked with a smile.
She immediately shook her head.
"No!"
"Yes, that's what I expected from you. Anyway, you're not so kind that you'd do someone a favor by marrying them. Forgive me, Prince Ralph—not everyone is as 'kind' as you, willing to take everyone's burden off their shoulders… and since you're such a person, I…"
Before Zyric could finish speaking, the Fat Insect emerged from Ralph's chest. It crawled over Zyric's shoe and even ate half of it before returning to Ralph's chest. With that, Prince Ralph stopped moving.
"Now that's more like it," Zyric said.
Everyone stared at Zyric. Then they noticed Ralph lying beneath his foot, dead and vomiting blood.
"What? How did he die?" everyone exclaimed in shock.
They had thought Zyric was merely humiliating Ralph, but he had actually killed him. The realization left everyone utterly shocked.
The next moment, the soldiers finally lost their restraint and began attacking the tribespeople with their weapons. However, the tribespeople knew there was no point in holding back anymore—Ralph was already dead.
The soldiers charged forward rapidly, with more than ten of them advancing at once. Just as they were about to reach Zyric, their legs were suddenly attacked as well, and blood began flowing from their wounds.
"Great job, Fat Insect!"
After saying this, Zyric turned around to leave.
"How terrifying! Father, is this boy crazy?" Prince Edward asked, rising to his feet and looking at his father.
"Not crazy—brave. He's very brave. Didn't you see? He wasn't even afraid of those Driller Stones. One of them was inside Ralph's chest, yet that boy kept his foot on Ralph as if he had nothing to fear. And truly, he doesn't seem afraid of anything. He's still walking around so casually among those Driller Stones. But they're extremely dangerous. We must do something quickly!"
King Eldric said, looking around at everyone.
"Run! The Driller Stones are here!" people shouted as they began scattering in every direction.
Meanwhile, Zyric continued walking away with a smile.
"Great job, Driller Stone! You really did a good job," Zyric said with a grin.
"Well, Zyric, I don't want to spoil your happiness, but you need to run," the Fat Insect warned him.
"But why?" Zyric asked, turning around.
He had expected to see something else, but the sight before him was completely different. At that moment, the soldiers behind him were being killed, with two or three Driller Stones attached to each of their bodies.
"My God! Is this your swarm?" Zyric asked in shock.
"Yes, yes! Run quickly! Don't worry, since you're alone, they won't come after you. They're looking for more food, so they'll head toward places where there are more people," the Fat Insect explained.
Zyric immediately ran to the side.
Right before his eyes, the Driller Stones devoured everyone, including all the soldiers and Prince Ralph. Just watching the scene gave Zyric goosebumps.
"My God, what was I doing? That Fat Insect… that wasn't you, was it? The one that crawled over my shoe and ate it? My God, if it had accidentally eaten even one of my toes, I would have…" Zyric said fearfully, his heart pounding.
On the other hand…
"Quickly, stop those Driller Stones! They're heading toward our king and the princes. If anything happens to them, the other tribes will attack us, and… what about our daughters-in-law and daughters? Hurry, stop them!" everyone shouted.
Meanwhile, King Eldric, Prince Edward, and Prince Edgar stood ready with their weapons. However, even they were afraid of the Driller Stones.
There were far too many of them. If two or three jumped onto them at once, at least one would attach itself to their bodies—and once that happened, death would be inevitable. They stood with their swords drawn, ready to fight the Driller Stones.
Before the Driller Stones could reach the king and the princes, Zyric stepped in front of them with a torch in his hand. He slammed it onto the ground, setting the area beneath it ablaze.
The Driller Stones immediately stopped, but the next moment, they began burrowing underground.
"Boy, there's no point in stopping them like this. Once they're underground, they can emerge right beneath us and kill us with ease," King Eldric warned.
Zyric began thinking about what to do next.
"Zyric, do as I say," the Fat Insect instructed.
And just as Zyric was about to act… the ground beneath them cracked open.