It was amazing how time could pass differently for people regardless of their distance from each other.
It was almost like the human mind was replicating reality, as if every mind was a different cosmos that ran on a different law of time.
Just because two people spent their entire day together didn't mean they perceived time the same.
For one, the day could pass so fast it was like it never happened, and for the other, it could've been the longest day of their life.
The situation in the Gehenna Tribe was like this.
The battle Tiamat and Darius fought was fast-paced. An hour passed before they even realized it, because they were far too busy fighting to ever care about the time.
By the time Darius even realized how much time had passed, only ten minutes remained until day turned to night.
However, for the people fighting at the tribe, the hour that passed felt like an eternity.
Their numbers were already small, but they somehow managed to fight.
No matter how much they pushed, their enemies just kept coming.
The beautiful pure white glow that surrounded the Gehenna people as they fought was dwindling.
Their numbers were doing the same.
At the end of the day, they were indeed the advantaged side.
At a certain point, they stopped fighting head-on.
After losing over a hundred people, almost half of their battle strength, they began to fight in a more guerilla manner like they were used to.
The jungle was their home. Unlike the people from outside, they could use this environment as a weapon.
That was how they turned a one thousand-man army into one with the same numbers as them.
But how could there be such a convenient future?
The Gehenna Tribe had a lot of advantages.
But those advantages could only equalize their situation.
They were too disadvantaged for anything to save them other than a legitimate miracle.
One by one, the Gehenna warriors died.
From the hunters to the average men who picked up arms for their families, those who defended Gehenna became cold corpses on the ground.
There were only fifty of them left.
The fifty of them who were hunters from the start.
They fought with their lives on the line in a fashion that was practically suicidal.
They charged in, using every ounce of their power to kill.
It was a moment of hope and despair.
Every second spent fighting felt like hours. Every enemy that fell was replaced by another one, and it was only natural for the hunters to get weary.
Still, they persevered.
They were the last line of defense.
Plus, the Saintess was watching them fight.
They knew she couldn't help. Her role in the village had nothing to do with battle.
But her presence here, her decision to stay here instead of retreating with the rest, was enough to motivate them to push through.
And they did it.
Eventually, they managed to kill all of the enemies who came their way, leaving the battlefield stained in rivers of blood and sunken corpses.
It was only at this juncture when the hunters almost found relief that they remembered the presence of the Count.
Because Count Verex was clapping happily, ruining the silence that had fallen upon the jungle.
"Very nice!"
He grinned as he spoke.
He didn't care about the troops that died. He was happy enough with the show of slaughter that had been put on for him.
"Now, where is Cairo…?"
The Count barely paid attention to those who survived.
After all, Count Verex never killed weak beings with his own hands.
It wasn't something like morality that held him back.
Rather, he was a germaphobe in the most twisted definition of the word.
The Count believed that killing lesser beings with his own hands would stain them and ruin his purity.
Caissa and Cairo existed purely to take care of those he deemed too weak for him to kill personally.
With them gone, the Count wasn't going to touch the Gehenna people.
However, he would still make sure they died.
"Dear Saintess, are you happy?"
The Saintess stepped out of his vehicle.
A layer of malakh separated him from the bloodied ground as he walked towards the Saintess.
"You know what I desire. You have known for very many years. You could have just given it to me, but instead, you let your people die. Why is that? Do you truly hate them so much?"
He smilingly spoke. With every step he took, the surrounding blood was pushed away, revealing a clean path in the midst of madness.
"Saintess, why don't you speak?"
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A massive explosion suddenly rang out from behind the Count.
A ground worm with scales that resembled those of the strongest beasts burst out of the ground. Its size was massive, taller than the tallest skyscrapers on Earth.
Its entrance was random, unexpected by all. However, luckily for the Gehenna Tribe, it wasn't aiming for them.
The worm didn't have eyes, but its senses were locked on the Count.
It was one of the many Ancients of the jungle. Sensing the presence of a rogue God who did not belong to the jungle, it arrived here.
The jungle had its own hierarchy.
There was no such thing as a God who could come here and flaunt his presence without being confronted by those who truly belonged here.
The Count turned around, an irked look on his face.
"And what might you be?"
He sneered at the worm, more than just annoyed that his fun had been interrupted.
"Leave this jungle."
The worm projected its voice through malakh. It was gruff and tremor-like, as if it was the voice of the earth itself.
"Who are you to command me?"
"Leave this jungle."
The worm didn't speak many words. It instead chose to flare its aura, attempting to scare the Count off.
But, of course, the Count wasn't such an easy target.
"Leave…? You wish for me to leave…?"
The Count's eyes were taunting, as if the notion was hilarious.
"Then prove you have the ability to remove me."
OOOOOOOOOOOOH!
The worm immediately charged.
It opened its massive mouth, lined with tens of rows of teeth, and slammed towards the Count.
It was a God itself.
It was a True Ancient, unlike the Uruk.
When it moved, the entire earth responded.
The Count was entrapped in a cage of rock, and as the massive beast approached, the remnants of the Gehenna Tribe behind him froze in fear.
That worm…they had never seen it before, but they knew its identity.
It was called the Sentinel, and it managed the safety of a large portion of the jungle.
It was said that the Sentinel never showed itself unless it was absolutely necessary, and anyone who had seen it was already dead.
Such a being was credited with the deaths of several powerful Ancients.
Since it was here, didn't that mean everyone was going to die?
The Gehenna Tribe was forced to watch without any ability to do anything as their greatest enemy became the only wall that saved them from death.
They were forced to realize that they were going to die no matter what happened.
But, truly, they'd rather die to an Ancient than the Count.
The scene of two great beings colliding was meant to be a grand one.
It was meant to cause great damage and be a battle among battles, a tale that would be passed down for generations.
Such a thing never took place.
The instant the Sentinel approached the Count, he put his hand out.
It was tiny compared to the beast, like a grain of sand in front of the ocean.
But that single grain of sand…
The instant the Sentinel came close enough to devour the Count, that single hand became its nightmare.
The Gehenna people didn't even see what happened.
In one second the two Gods created a scene that could be immortalized in history.
And in the next…
The Sentinel's body was a collection of meat chunks flying through the air.
Like a car hitting a wall at three hundred miles per hour, the Sentinel splattered in three directions, leaving everything behind the Count untouched.
Once again, his germaphobia showed itself.
And as he turned around, his image in the eyes of the Gehenna people became far more terrifying.
"Now then…"
He smiled as if nothing happened, looking at the Saintess.
"...shall we return to our conversation?"
