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Chapter 129: Anuma's Sword (3)
Chapter 129: Anuma's Sword (3)
Chapter 129: Anuma's Sword (3)
In the center of the southwestern plain.
I was waiting at a slight distance from where the Great Tribal Council was being held with Al Fahri. (+)[1]TLN: Decided to use Great Tribal Council for now instead of Grand Tribes council. Sorry for changing names again.
In fact, the Great Tribal Council itself was supposed to be held yesterday. Al Fahri did not attend.
It was to deliberately delay the timing. The people’s reactions were as expected.
-When is Al Fahri coming?
-Sir, he definitely said he would come today!
-So when is he coming?
-I’m afraid I… As I said yesterday, he only mentioned that he had an urgent matter to attend to for a short while.
-What is this urgent matter anyway?
Unlike Al Fahri, the warriors of the tribes were sent to the Great Tribal Council in advance. It was for staging.About 100 warriors per tribe. Nearly a thousand warriors and nine tribal chiefs were waiting for Al Fahri.
The atmosphere was not good. The tribal chiefs continued to vent their frustrations at Al Fahri’s warriors.
It was only natural.
Al Fahri was not as outrageous as the Arwali tribe, and he was the one who proposed holding this council.
It was noon. Since they had gathered yesterday afternoon, they had been waiting for a full day.
“Isn’t this enough?”
“Wait a bit longer.”
Al Fahri asked with an impatient expression. Of course, we had rehearsed beforehand as necessary.
Despite scaling it down, he seemed extremely excited.
“But isn’t this too obvious?”
“What is?”
“Making them wait for a day.”
Of course, from a position of knowing the intention, one could think that way. I gently shook my head.
“The fact that you think it’s obvious is because it’s a classical technique that has been used extensively. The more it’s used, the more effective it is.”
“Hmm. That makes sense.”
Al Fahri nodded his head.
“And when people are filled with annoyance and anger, any mystical phenomena that occur will be deeply imprinted in their minds.”
“Perhaps.”
Of course, the reason for making them wait a day was more to create the situation itself rather than for such effects.
“Do you remember well how you should explain it?”
“Yes. The reason for requesting the Great Tribal Council was that I saw Lu Anuma in a dream… And the reason for being late was that I received a revelation from Lu Anuma on my way here.”
“Good. You remember it well.”
I checked the time. 2:20 PM. It would soon be close to 3 PM, the hottest time of the day.
For these people, the time between 2 and 3 PM is called Lu Anuma’s time. A device to lend credibility to the reenactment of the prophecy.
“This should be enough. Get ready.”
“Alright.”
Al Fahri nodded his head with an unusually serious expression and mounted the white horse he had prepared.
The horse was selected with a focus on appearance rather than performance.
The sand was slowly rising into the sky, carried by the winds. Then, I felt an urge that was hard to resist.
The urge to make the sandstorm as large as possible. It was the effect of Eccentric Actions.
As always, there was no reason. I just wanted to do it. Damn, although it had been fine for a while, suddenly became a hindrance at an important moment.
It was different from the agreed-upon plan, but the reason this is a penalty trait is that it is practically impossible to ignore.
Sigh.
Sighing inwardly, I gave up and fully utilized the Winds. The sand began to blow fiercely.
***
“Is this guy really crazy……”
Hardin Arwali, the chief of the Arwali tribe, was fuming in his tent.
Traditionally, the Arwali tribe was the last to arrive at the Great Tribal Council. But that unwritten rule had been broken.
The Great Tribal Council held for the first time in 30 years.
He arrived just before 2 PM when Anuma’s time approached, to start the council.
But Al Fahri did not arrive. It didn’t matter that the warriors of the tribe had come.
The chief was the important one.
What made him even angrier was that Al Fahri, who was a day late, was the one who hosted this Great Tribal Council.
Harta felt his blood boiling. He also didn’t like the reason for holding the Great Tribal Council.
It was because he had taken up arms despite being branded a false prophet.
‘The crazy bastard. How can they claim to ride a horse in the sky?’
Despite being called a false prophet, the pressure and persuasion regarding shamans continued.
They liked the miracles he had gained fame for, apart from that prophecy.
The branding was not important. It was not uncommon to treat a shaman’s prophecy as a metaphor. All they had to do was announce that it actually meant something else.
Hardin Arwali was in the process of demanding that Ines claim Anuma’s Sword as his if she wanted to live.
“A-a sandstorm!”
Then, suddenly, there was a commotion outside. At the mention of a sandstorm, Hardin quickly rushed out of the tent.
As soon as he went out, the distant sky appeared yellow. At noon, a sandstorm was approaching over the dry plain.
The sandstorm, filling the horizon, looked like a yellow cloud connecting the sky and the ground.
Hardin could not believe what was in front of his eyes.
‘How did no one know about this?’
For a sandstorm of that size, information should have been relayed in advance. One of the tribes that came for the council must have seen it on their way.
It didn’t make sense that they didn’t say anything to play a prank.They would have to face the sandstorm together.
Could it be Al Fahri?
Hardin shook his head as he thought about it. Although there was anger, the possibility was low.
Escaping while sending the warriors of the tribe into the sandstorm would be an act that would tarnish his own honor.
In other words, the sandstorm must have started somewhere nearby since last night. For it to start at that size……
“What the hell is going on all of a sudden?”
“To only discover a sandstorm of that size now?”
The other natives were equally bewildered. The subsequent reasoning was similar to Hardin’s.
Yet, they didn’t try to flee.
Initially, it was difficult to escape a sandstorm at human speed. Moreover, since they came as tribes, they couldn’t just run away alone.
Furthermore, since it had come this close, the best option was to stay inside the tents.
“Get inside the tents!”
A few tribal chiefs who regained their senses shouted loudly. Inside the tents, they would protect themselves with mana. That was the safest option.
Not only does breathing become difficult, but strange magical phenomena also occur within sandstorms.
This was not limited to sandstorms but was common in major natural phenomena.
Natural phenomena like earthquakes, tsunamis, and storms cause disturbances in the surrounding mana, leading to strange effects.
There have been cases of people freezing to death or burning to death within sandstorms.
People were about to move hurriedly when lightning struck within the sandstorm.
Flash! The light extending at noon was not that bright.
However, the lightning illuminating the sandstorm from behind was enough to catch the eyes of the onlookers. A rumbling thunder followed – boom!
“Wait! Over there, in front! Isn’t that a person?”
Then, a native warrior shouted. At the mention of it not being a person, those heading into the tents turned their heads.
The approaching sandstorm.
At the edge of the sandstorm, a white speck flickered in and out of sight.
The natives of the west with good eyesight realized that the speck was gradually growing larger.
Those with exceptionally good eyesight noticed it was the shape of a person on horseback.
“I-it seems to be a real person?”
“Isn’t the white color a horse?”
As they murmured, another flash of light appeared.
It was lightning extending from the white speck. The lightning branched out dozens of times within the sandstorm. It was a display of lightning.
‘…Huh?’
And the phenomenon was beyond what Carlyn had anticipated. The lightning branches were much larger and more numerous than in the testing phase.
Was it a magical phenomenon?
As Carlyn, he could only think so. He had also increased the size of the sandstorm.
It was half right and half wrong. The lightning magic had reacted to the mana within the sandstorm.
However, it was also a somewhat scientific phenomenon.
The friction between the sand particles causes a separation of charges within the storm.
The magical lightning induced simultaneous natural lightning within the negatively charged area.
Due to various factors, what they were seeing now exceeded what Carlyn intended.
Dozens of thick bundles of lightning spread out in all directions from within the sandstorm.
Despite being wider than the intended range, they had become natural lightning, leaving no trace of magic.
Watching the scene from a distance, Aron and Osten exclaimed in succession.
“Wow! Wow! Wow! Brother! This is insane. Wow! Wow!”
“I knew it would work, but to this extent……”
Even the usually calm Mary was speechless, simply staring in a daze. Carlyn did not respond.
He had no spare energy as he was focused on the Winds. Due to increasing the size of the sandstorm, he was really putting in a lot of effort.
“Boss, but is this okay? The lightning seems more powerful than we expected.”
“It’s fine. Fahri has also noticed.”
Carlyn gave a quick answer and then focused on the Winds again. It felt like he might break out in a cold sweat.
He was suffering needlessly because of Eccentric Actions. Of course, he was satisfied with the overall effect.
‘Even I feel overwhelmed just by watching.’
It would have an even greater impact on the western natives who worshipped Lu Anuma and believed in shamans and prophecies.
Carlyn felt satisfied. Of course, the person at the center, Al Fahri, had a different state of mind.
‘This is crazy! It’s different from what was discussed!’
He knew it would be different from the rehearsal. Initially, increasing the size would make it too obvious.
But even accounting for that, he never imagined the lightning would strike to this extent.
Even the sandstorm itself was so massive that it filled the horizon. It exceeded what was planned.
The crackling lightning around him was ominous.
From the moment the lightning exceeded the expected range, Al Fahri had been protecting himself with mana.
In fact, lightning extending from the saddle had almost electrocuted him.
‘It should be fine, right?’
After that incident, he stopped infusing the saddle with mana, but lightning was still occurring sporadically within the storm.
Damn it. Al Fahri gritted his teeth. Anyway, the die was cast. He put on a solemn expression.
The distance was getting closer.
All the natives could see Al Fahri riding a horse in the sky, spewing lightning branches in all directions from within the sandstorm.
“By, by the gods.”
The natives’ eyes were filled with shock. Faced with an unbelievable phenomenon, their minds could only go blank.
For a brief moment, the natives simply stared at Al Fahri in a daze.
Even amid that, the white horse was still galloping in the sky. It was the result of dedicated training.
They had reduced the horse’s fear of the sky and practiced stepping on the Winds.
If it didn’t go as intended, Carlyn was prepared to move the horse’s legs with the Winds as well.
The sandstorm that had reached the natives’ doorstep gradually began to subside.
The white horse also slowly descended to the ground while galloping in the sky. Remnant lightning and the subsiding sandstorm trailed behind.
It was only then that people began to find their faith.
“Oh, divine one……”
“This, this is the will of Lu Anuma!”
In front of the sandstorm, people knelt and called out the name of the sun god.
Some closed their eyes and prayed in reverence, while others, overwhelmed with emotion, kept chanting Lu Anuma’s name. A few even fainted from the overwhelming sight.
‘Oh dear.’
However, Carlyn had an issue with controlling his power. Even without the Eccentric Actions, he had already maximized the storm.
Despite his full concentration, perfect control was difficult.
The trailing edge of the sandstorm, which should have subsided right in front of them, engulfed the people.
The sporadic lightning within was also uncontrolled.
The lightning, enhanced by the magical phenomenon, seemed to crave spreading its branches everywhere.
Some of them struck the natives.
“Ugh, argh!”
Those electrocuted let out grunts of pain. Still, it was not enough to kill them.
As the fierce storm was now subsiding, the power of the lightning had also weakened.
The Arwali tribe suffered the most damage, as they were at the forefront of the approaching storm.
Hardin Arwali was also struck by lightning. Before he could regain his senses, a warrior shouted:
“It’s a judgment! Lu Anuma has punished the non-believers with lightning!”
- 1. TLN: Decided to use Great Tribal Council for now instead of Grand Tribes council. Sorry for changing names again.
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