Kargan roared, tightening his fists as they immediately blazed with flames.
Blazing mana wrapped around his hands like molten gauntlets as he activated his skill, his punches turning into living fire.
He smashed aside incoming weapons with raw force, letting several needles pierce his skin without concern.
As for Ash... He stood relaxed with the little dragon still in his arms.
Harold positioned himself slightly forward, intercepting most of the incoming attacks with precise movements.
The few that slipped through were crushed midair by Vakra, whose fists hardened like steel as he used his skill, making the needles snapped upon contact.
Subsequently, Old Ni moved as he charged forward in a straight line with an overwhelming speed.
In an instant, he was in front of the Varkesh Tribe Lord.
Slash!
Blood sprayed as Old Ni’s blade severed one of the Tribe Lord’s arms cleanly at the shoulder.
The Tribe Lord screamed, staggering backward.
Three 3rd Rank Warriors rushed in to intercept, daggers flashing as they attacked Old Ni from multiple angles.
Old Ni exhaled slowly, then swept his sword outward, using his (Sever the line) skill.
The arc of the slash expanded violently, but it was actually still a restrained one since he didn’t want to accidentally kill them.
The three warriors raised their weapons together, barely managing to block the strike. The force smashed into them like a tidal wave, sending them flying backward and slamming them hard into the ground.
"Why did you massacre them back then?" Old Ni asked with a furious expression.
Instead of answering Old Ni’s question, the Varkesh Tribe Lord’s eyes flashed with malice. He suddenly leaped backward, his body twisting midair as his hand flicked forward, throwing a small black ball toward Old Ni.
Old Ni slashed reflexively.
However, the moment the blade made contact—
Puff!
The object burst apart, exploding into a thick cloud of pitch-black smoke. The air itself hissed as the poisonous mist expanded violently, swallowing Old Ni’s figure in an instant.
"Hahahaha!"
The Tribe Lord threw his head back and laughed madly. "That’s the strongest poison we possess! Even a 4th Rank Warrior won’t last long inside that smoke!"
His laughter echoed through the forest.
"You’re dead now! Dead!"
Inside the smoke, Old Ni retreated immediately, leaping backward and bursting out from the edge of the cloud.
The moment he got out of the pitch-black smoke, he frowned slightly.
His skin had already begun to change.
Where the poison had touched, flesh blackened, then softened before rotting visibly, strips of muscle dissolving as if eaten alive.
The corrosive poison worked terrifyingly fast, gnawing through skin in mere breaths.
Old Ni clicked his tongue. "So this is your trump card..."
Without hesitation, he reached into his belt and pulled out a vial glowing with a deeper color than before.
He instantly drank it in one gulp.
The effect was immediate as the spreading decay halted instantly, the blackened flesh stopping mid-corrosion as if time itself had been frozen. The poison’s presence was violently expelled from his body.
Next, he pulled out another vial—A 4th Rank Healing Potion.
He drank it just as calmly.
Warmth flooded through his body. The rotten flesh knit itself back together at a terrifying speed as muscle regrew, skin reformed, and within seconds, there wasn’t even a scar left behind.
The Tribe Lord’s laughter choked off abruptly.
Old Ni lifted his head and a vicious smile spread across his face.
"...Is that all?"
He stepped forward. Straight through the lingering poisonous smoke.
The black mist parted around him as he walked, his figure emerging completely unharmed, sword resting loosely at his side.
Every Varkesh warrior froze.
"Now..." Old Ni said with a calm expression. "Tell me the reason you did that back then."
He stopped a few steps away from the Tribe Lord.
"That’s the least you can do." He added softly. "If you don’t want anything to happen to the others."
The Tribe Lord stared at him in disbelief and only after a few moments, he sighed softly as his shoulders slumped.
"...Stop." He raised his remaining hand weakly.
The surrounding Varkesh warriors hesitated, then slowly lowered their weapons.
The Tribe Lord exhaled deeply and finally spoke.
"It wasn’t anything personal," He said hoarsely. "Someone from your tribe discovered a 3rd Rank Crystal Mine."
Old Ni’s eyes narrowed.
"Later, a stronger tribe found out about it." The Tribe Lord continued with a bitter smile. "They had two 4th Rank Warriors. They didn’t want any witnesses... so they commissioned us to silence everyone who knew."
Old Ni raised an eyebrow slightly. "Which tribe?"
The Tribe Lord swallowed hard.
"Druvak—"
Slash!
In the blink of an eye, Old Ni vanished and appeared behind the Tribe Lord. He slashed his sword with precision.
The Tribe Lord’s head lifted from his shoulders, eyes still wide with shock as it spun through the air. A fountain of blood erupted upward from his neck, splashing across the roots beneath him.
Thud.
The head hit the ground with a soft thud.
Old Ni calmly flicked his sword once, shaking the blood from the blade with a cold expression.
Silence!
After a moment of silence, Ash broke the silence with a chuckle when he heard the notifications from the system. "Now that we have settled down the problem, let’s talk inside since we have something to discuss."
[Ding! Congratulations to the host! You have completed the mission by helping Nirgos to take revenge on the Tribe Lord of Varkesh Tribe.]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 5,000 Tribal Points!]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 50,000 System Points!]
"What do you mean by that?" an old man asked with a frown. His long white hair draped over his shoulders, and half of his face was concealed behind a black mask.
"Well, there’s no harm in it." Ash waved his hand dismissively.
Then, without another word, he began walking casually toward the Varkesh Stronghold.