Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 224 Primal Fear

"What are you saying, Maha!? Why would I be anyone else's Bond, much less a human!? I am a mighty hunter of the Abulan! I am not going to—"

"This is not a discussion, Edissa."

It wasn't only Edissa who was shocked at the sudden news his father gave her. The other cenleons were also confused as to why their Chief would even utter such a disgraceful and humiliating order.

"Chief Maha, but you promised me Edissa as my bond!"

"Muran, you dare contest my words!?"

One of the male cenleons, Muran, quickly stepped forward, the largest and most muscular of them all; his limbs as he moved, contracting with each step. But of course, even with the domineering presence of Muran's physicality, Maha did not back down at all as he stomped his paw on the floor and hissed, and Muran did the same,

"I will not accept this, Issa and I are in love!" Muran confessed as he stood beside Edissa.

"No, we're not!" Edissa quickly pushed Muran away, "And Maha, why am I only hearing of this now!? You also promised me to Muran, of all people!?"

"Muran is the strongest hunter of our tribe," Maha grunted as he looked Muran in the eyes as the two of them were still not backing down from each other, "But unfortunately, I owe this human the life of 14. And when he only asked for one, I can only give Edissa to him."

"This human…" And as soon as Muran heard their chief's words, his hostility quickly strayed away from Maha as he walked toward Rhys; almost letting out a growl as he literally looked down on him, "...Retract your price before I retract your face, human. I am only giving you a chance because you did help us escape, even though we were fully capable of surviving our predicament without your help."

"That's not going to happen," Rhys only smiled as he completely ignored Muran's feeble attempts to show dominance. He then turned to look at Edissa's face blood-painted face, "I have taken a liking to her, she's very beautiful."

"Wh…" Edissa was too flustered to say anything. And right when she was actually about to say something, Muran suddenly stepped between her and Rhys; hissing as his claws started to show themselves.

"I warned you — but what can I expect from someone of inferior mind," Muran let out a small scoff as formed his arms into a cross, "Even with my claws shattered, you are no match for me. I challenge you for the right to claim Edissa as my Bond."

"No."

"You have no right to refuse, that is the law."

"Hm…" Rhys let out a small but very deep sigh as he glanced at Maha, who had a small smirk on his face. It was obvious what was happening here — the reason why Maha easily gave up his daughter without even batting an eye was not because he honored his words, but because he knew full well Muran was going to challenge him,

"...Are you going to back down on your words, Muran?"

"I will honor my words — but it is true that once challenged, one must accept. That is the law," the smile on Muran's face faded away as he looked at Rhys.

"Hm…" Rhys looked down and let out a small hum.

"Heh…" And as soon as Muran saw this, he could not help but also smirk as he glanced at Edissa, "...Do not worry, Issa. I will not let this human lay even a single finger on you."

"A little too late for that," Rhys whispered before sighing, "I've already placed my hands on her waist for more than a couple of minutes."

"That—" Edissa wanted to refute Rhys's words, but couldn't as it was the truth.

"It's true!?" Muran noticed Edissa's hesitation; his voice rising as he quickly rushed in front of Rhys and swung his broken claws at him, but did not really let them touch his head just yet, "Accept the challenge, human. Or forfeit and kill yourself!"

"He is your strongest warrior, is that right?" Rhys looked at Maha, "Are you sure you're going to let this happen?"

"It is the law," Maha sighed and shook his head, once again trying to hide the growing smirk on his face.

"Okay then. Just so we are clear, you wanted this," Rhys also let out a sigh as he glanced at the claws in front of him before looking up at Muran, "I accept."

"Die!"

And as soon as Rhys uttered those words, Muran immediately retracted his hand, only to swing it toward Rhys again. This time, however, he did not target his head at all but crouched down to take a swing at Rhys's right leg.

Rhys, however, did not move at all.

"I pity you, human! You can't even move from your fear!" Muran roared as his claws went right through Rhys's leg; not even offering a slight resistance.

"Fear…"

The wide smirk on Muran's face instantly faded away. His claws did go through, but not because they sliced and shredded Rhys's leg like it was melting butter… but because whatever was left of his already shattered claws were now completely gone; flung away and tearing parts of his paw. It was painful, yes — but Muran couldn't really process what just happened.

He looked at Rhys's leg, only for him to see hints of silver from the shredded parts of Rhys's pants.

"Tell me, beast…" Rhys let out a small groan as he looked Muran in the eyes,

"...What fear, exactly, do you smell from me?"

And as soon as Rhys said that, Maha, Edissa, and the others finally realized something. They have always thought of humans as just prey, any other thought was absent from their mind — but from all of the situations they have encountered so far, has the human ever shown any signs of being a prey?

Their meeting was already weird enough… but now as he said it, even though he was surrounded by them with hostility, Rhys truly has never shown any signs of fear at all.

"Do any of you actually know…" Rhys looked at his hand, not even bothering to attack Muran even though he was vulnerable, "...how many of your kind, other humanoid races, I have killed during my time as a soldier? And I didn't just kill them, that was not the only order I received…

…I had to scare them, scare them enough that they would never attempt to smuggle themselves to the Surface ever again, to show them that the Surface is a dangerous place. And I do that by hurting them in ways they have never been hurt before."

"!!!"

And before anyone could even react, Rhys swung his foot toward one of Muran's front legs, completely shattering his bones as the cenleon found himself tumbling forward — perhaps a mistake, as Rhys leaped up and flipped back in the air, kicking Muran straight on the chin and completely knocking him down.

But Rhys was not done, however, as he caught Muran's human body before he could drop to the floor; not to prevent him from dropping, however, but to lift his entire body that was probably thrice the size of Rhys with a single hand.

Rhys then turned to look at Maha and the other cenleons, and as soon as he met Edissa's eyes, he threw Muran up before grabbing one of his hind legs and then slamming him violently on the hard floor… again and again.

Muran probably woke up once, only to be knocked out unconscious as his head was the first to hit the floor several times.

"Enough…" Maha could really only grit his teeth, "...That is enough!"

And as Maha roared, the other cenleons started to surround Rhys; their shattered claws, all protruded as they started growling.

Rhys stopped slamming Muran on the floor as he looked at Maha.

"That is enough, human — you have won."

"No," Rhys shook his head as he tightened his grip on Muran's leg, "If I let him live, he will come after me — and if I don't show you the difference between us, all of you will come after me. I have warned you, Chief Maha, what is about to happen now is your fault."

"You have my word, human! None of us will seek revenge!" Maha raised his voice.

"I had your word earlier, that's not really turning out well, is it?" Rhys sighed, "Well then…

…Let's get to it."

And without even caring about the hostile cenleons surrounding him, Rhys twisted Muran's leg, which immediately woke him up from unconsciousness — perhaps a mistake, as he woke up only to see and feel his leg turning in a way that it shouldn't; his flesh, being torn by his own bones before finally being completely torn away by Rhys.

"Y—"

And before Muran could even let out a scream or say anything, Rhys used his torn leg like a bat and started hitting him on the head with it; his own bones, tearing away his face.

"Stop… stop it! That's enough!"

Once again, Rhys was asked to stop. This time, however, he did so… as the one who pleaded with him to stop was Edissa.

"I get it, I am your Bond now. Just please…

…please stop this."

"Hm…

…No."