Chapter 402: The Matriarch

The war raged on for many minutes. Typically, such a battle would take longer, but the Land Camp was only interested in blood right now. They attacked with reckless abandon, overwhelming the defensive hyenas.

By now, around 25 of the 60 beasts from the Land Camp had died. Yet, the losses on the side of the hyenas were way more devastating. They fell from around 100 beasts to just 30. The hyenas' morale had utterly vanished by now. They were killing their enemies, but, in turn, they were completely slaughtered.

"RAAAAAA!"

And that was the straw that broke the camel's back. The panther that had ambushed the general had triumphed. The panther was injured all over its body, and even a leg was missing, but it stood triumphantly over the general's corpse.

The hyenas grew panicked and started to concentrate more on defending than attacking. This only made their situation even worse. On top of that, around a third of them had started scattering in all directions.

Another third realized what was happening and started laying down in submission. It was better to join a new Tribe than to die.

"Kill them," Silva ordered atop another two corpses.

The beasts were all shocked for a bit. This was unlike Silva. He usually accepted the surrender and included the enemy into their Tribe to strengthen it. Yet, on this day, he decided against that.

The beasts immediately continued the slaughter crazily. They hadn't expected such a command from their commander, but that didn't mean that they didn't like it. In actuality, they preferred killing their enemy.

In nearly no time at all, nearly every hyena was dead. Only a number in the single digits managed to flee. After that, silence fell upon the land. The beasts were exhausted and laid down to treat their injuries.

Meanwhile, Silva looked at the remaining beasts of his Land Camp. "33," he said as he finished counting. Together with the 14 hyenas still in the River Tribe and the couple of land beasts keeping watch over the other borders, the land camp only had a total of about 55 beasts left.

Silva sighed as he realized that a lot of his companions had died. Yet, this was what everyone wanted. He was giving his camp the freedom to decide their own future. Most of the relatively weak beasts had died, while most of the stronger beasts survived. The Land Camp's total strength had been reduced, but the average strength of the members had increased.

Yet, Silva had other things on his mind as he looked deeper into the territory of the Hyena Tribe. The powerful Matriarch hadn't shown up, even though her entire Tribe had been killed. This made Silva feel uneasy.

"Congratulations on the victory," Orthar said as he walked to Silva's side. "Including our own dead tribesmen, we have over 120 corpses to distribute. This means that, on average, every beast will receive about four corpses."

Silva sighed as he looked at the resting Land Camp. "The members of the Land Camp keep track of how many equally powerful beasts they had consumed. The Land Camp will gain more than one Lord."

"Why did you sigh? Isn't that a good thing?" Orthar asked.

Silva sighed again. "I didn't sigh because it's a bad thing. I have won several battles and wars in the past. We always gained new companions, and the Tribe grew bigger. Yet, my army had never produced a Lord before."

"I have always put the value of a new member over the value of a corpse. Yet, that might not always be the correct path. I have followed our Leader's advice one time, and my camp has become as powerful as never before," Silva said. "I don't know what to think about that. Have I truly been wrong?"

Orthar chuckled a bit. "That is the difference between mindsets. By accepting new recruits, you increase the quantity of your army, but not the quality. In a fight with equal sides, quantity is incredibly important."

"Yet," Orthar said. "By only focusing on quantity, you will never take a step forward. Your old way had stability in mind. Your goal was to not lose because winning can cost a lot. This time, you fought to win. Your camp has paid the price, but it also received its rewards."

Silva just absentmindedly looked at his resting camp, but he was listening to Orthar. "You know," he said. "I could have created a distraction at the front. Then, all their firepower would concentrate there. After that, I would have had three fast beasts assault the general, destroying their morale."

"I could have won this battle with less than ten casualties while integrating over 50% of the enemy's army into our ranks. In theory, this result sounds way better. Instead of having 33 remaining members, we would have over 80."

"That's because you have the wrong goal," Orthar said. "You consider Lords as leaders, not as soldiers. Yet, if the commanders are level two Lords, why wouldn't it be possible to have level one Lord soldiers?"

Suddenly, Silva's eyes widened in realization. He had tried so hard to understand Gravis' mindset. Yet, he somehow wasn't able to completely agree to it. That was because he hadn't considered Lords as soldiers. Lords had always been powerful Leaders in his mind.

Silva hadn't had the luck to see the Sand Kingdom. He was still rather young, and the Sand Tribe had already deteriorated before he joined the army. Yet, after listening to Orthar's words, his whole thinking had changed. Yes, why couldn't Lords be soldiers?

Silva released another sigh. "Thank you for your guidance, Oracle," he said.

Orthar laughed a bit. "No problem. After all, that's my job." Then, Orthar looked deeper into the hyenas' territory. "Now, to do my other job."

Silva looked at Orthar with determined eyes. "I wish you luck, Oracle."

Orthar chuckled a bit. "Don't let Gravis hear that," he commented.

Silva wasn't sure what Orthar meant, but Orthar continued speaking before he could ask. "In the case that I don't return, I will transmit the contributions of each soldier to you. You should reward them appropriately."

Silva narrowed his eyes. A beast that was able to keep another Lord in check couldn't be simple. There was a real chance that Orthar wouldn't return.

Then, Orthar transmitted the contributions to Silva. After that, he started hovering and shot towards the core of the hyenas' territory. This fight wouldn't be easy.

After flying for about a minute, Orthar arrived at his destination. In front of him was a high-rank Spirit Plant. This was the tree that the Matriarch always used as a resting place. Below the tree, as usual, laid the Matriarch.

As Orthar approached, she slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. When Orthar felt her gaze, his whole body shivered suddenly. He felt that her physical power was not that of a level-two Lord, but she somehow felt like one to him. The passive pressure that she gave off felt nearly unreal to Orthar.

"I assume my Tribe has been killed?" she asked calmly.

Orthar took a deep breath. "14 are part of our Tribe while around six or seven have fled the battle."

The Matriarch looked into the distance. "A little over 20, huh? Their numbers had never been that low after they lost an invasion. I assume you have decided to prioritize quality over quantity."

Orthar realized that something wasn't right. She had said that the numbers hadn't been so low in the past. This meant that her whole Tribe had been killed more than once before. At that point, the Lord of the attacking party would try to kill her with everything they got, including weakening her with their army. Yet, the Matriarch was still alive.

Slowly, the Matriarch stood up. Orthar felt the pressure increase as he watched her.

"The number of survivors actually doesn't matter," she commented calmly. "I have never bothered to increase the power or territory of my Tribe in the first place. My children always wanted to do this, but I didn't care."

Then, she stretched a bit. "As long as I stay alive, I can always make a new one."

"Additionally," she said as she started walking towards Orthar. "Their real use is to lure a powerful army with a Lord into attacking me. After all.."

The Matriarch lifted her right front leg, and a violent blizzard gathered on it.

"No level one Lord poses even a slight challenge to me."

BANG!