Way of the Knights

Chapter 325 - Tailed Oracles

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"Allow me to take the Tailed Siblings, and I will leave without harming anyone any further. I will also promise that our tribe will never invade yours for a 100 years if you agree to this. What do you say?" 

Harry's declaration caused the whole tribe to become silent. 

All focus was then directed at the Tailed Brothers: Ronald, Allan, and Dennis. Some were confused about why would the tribe leader of the enemy tribe would want these brothers, while the others had a faint clue about what's up. 

Ronald's face become somber, he then stepped up once more and hid his brothers behind him while casting a side a glance towards their tribe leader. Seeing Charles facial expression caused Ronald to sigh inwardly. Though he might not show it, Ronald knew that Charles was definitely considering the offer. 

He then started thinking about what's going to happen to them at the instance that Charles took up Harry's offer. Ronald asked himself if he's going to resent Charles or not. 

Of course he is aware that Charles is in a difficult position. Harry's schemes ran deeper than what it looked like in the surface. 

Sure, he is aware that Harry is after their bloodline, but this is not just that. Harry's offer is also a blatant threat to the peace and security of the tribe. 

If Charles refused his offer, then a fight would be inevitable. And looking at the Harry's troops, it is clear that tribe will suffer an immense damage since most of their citizens aren't used to combat.

Winning the fight won't matter since the tribe will lose a lot of its citizens, this will not only dampen their spirits into celebrating the Monkey King's Festival, it will also make the citizens treat the Tailed Brothers unfairly since they will certainly blame them for losing their loved ones. If they lose, then not only will they be taken away, the tribe will still instantly going to be undermined by the enemy tribe and its citizens will suffer being treated as slaves. 

On the other hand, agreeing to Harry's offer might be the safest way but that's not it either. Ronald knows that Charles and Harry knew what their bloodline is capable of. Charles never took advantage of it but who's to say that Harry won't? Plus, no one could guarantee that they would honor the 100 year truce, Harry could just say that he changed his mind and no one could do anything about it. 

Ronald knew all of this, which is why that he could only do what he promised to do. And that is to keep his brothers' safety as a priority.

"He brought this many troops and deal this much chaos just to…take us away? Why?" Dennis asked in a confused tone, completely clueless about why would the enemy camp want them. "What's going on? What does he we want with us?"

Allan didn't say a words since he too, is similarly clueless about this whole matter, but he knew that Ronald knew something. 

"He wants your bloodline." 

Raven's voice echoed on their ears, making Dennis look up to him and ask: "I don't follow."

On the other hand, Raven didn't explain but instead looked at Ronald. He then asked: "Do you want to tell them or me?"

Dennis and Allan looked at Ronald with expecting gazes, making the latter sigh in defeat and relent. He knew that there was no escaping it anymore. This was bound to happen anyway, he just delayed the inevitable.

"I didn't want to tell you guys this because of fear." Ronald stated, he sighed before continuing, "But it seems that we could no longer hide it from everyone."

He then faced his brothers and placed his arms on their shoulders. He then looked at them intently and said:

"Our blood contains something special. You might think of us as just some regular Demonic Beast who happens to speak human tongue but we are much more than that." 

Ronald shut his eyes and paused for a bit, when he opened them, there is a strange look on his face as he finally revealed their origins. 

"We are the descendants of Centennial Tailed Beast Oracles." 

"W-what…" Dennis and Allan physically reeled in from shock upon the revelation. In fact, it wasn't only them. Those who were listening were stunned speechless too. 

How could they not be? The fact that these brothers contained the blood of a Centennial Tailed Beast Oracle explains why the enemy camp wanted them! And not just that, it also explained why their tribe was able to remain peaceful!

Centennial Tailed Beast Oracles are a special kind of beasts that is respected and protected by their race. It is said that once a tailed beast oracle finally achieve the Nine-tailed Stage, then they would metamorphose and become the Beast Emperor! This information is not passed by tongue, this is something that is written to their very existence, from the moment that a demonic beast is born they will know about this tale, and if they ever meet a descendant of a tailed beast oracle, they would treat them with respect. 

The tailed beast oracles inherently possessed an immense talent. It was as if they were blessed by the heavens themselves. One unique thing about them is that the bloodline awakens at different races every century. 

For example, if the bloodline will be awakened at a certain individual from primate race, then it and its descendants will have the bloodline awakened as well. This will go on for 100 years. After that, the bloodline will be awakened by someone from a different race. This cycle continues until someone finally achieved the nine-tailed stage and become Beast Emperor

Of course, this bloodline is different from the regular tailed beast bloodlines. The Centennial Tailed Beast Oracles are of a higher status than them since they have the highest potential. 

Unfortunately, it has been too long since the last emergence of a Beast Emperor. So much so that the faith of Demonic Beasts toward the Centennial Tailed Beast Oracles had faded already. So much time has passed that the information about them, which should be possessed by every beasts, are gradually fading away. Back then, it will only take a glance and beasts will recognize who has the bloodline. Now, there has to be a trigger to remind them of this.

A great example would be what Ronald did just now. Telling his brothers that they possessed this bloodline acted as trigger for them to recall this information. Which also answers the reason why their tribe remained somewhat peaceful all these years. 

As for why Harry wanted them, that's simple. 

He wanted to extract their blood and infuse to himself. Harry's ambition, is to become the next Beast Emperor.

"So that's why you're overprotective." Allan commented on the side. 

"Of course not you idiot!" Ronald smacked his head, "Why would you think that way? I didn't become overprotective just because I didn't want our bloodline to end up in the wrong hands. I did because you guys are the only ones I have left! Our parents died a long time ago. I did not want to lose you two as well."

"Hoho." A mocking tone suddenly echoed on their ears. 

It came from Harry who's watching everything unfold. He was even faked wiping his tears away as he said:

"I'm so moved." Harry chuckled and said: "Why don't you come with me instead? You know that this tribe can't protect you all right?"

The tailed brothers remained silent and looked at him intently. Harry then continued:

"Look. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. If you guys come to me voluntarily, I won't raise a ruckus. Resist and I will take you by force. You guys are smart, this is not a difficult choice at all!"

Harry's words definitely placed them on the spot. Ronald gritted his teeth and glanced at his brothers and his tribemates. He didn't like this position at all. 

"This is so dramatic, it's creeping me out." 

A bored and lazy sounding voice suddenly echoed behind them. Everyone's eyes instantly focused on who spoke. They then saw Raven with an unnatural expression on his face. Compared to the intense atmosphere of the tribe, he looked so out of place. 

"What's a puny Human doing here?" A random troop suddenly asked out loud. "Ah! That must be the one that Gil was talking about. But he doesn't look all that impressive to me."

"Did I give you any permission to speak?"

*Boom!!!*

As soon as Raven cold voice echoed, a massive suppression suddenly descended onto that Ape. As if the world suddenly came crashing down, the Ape suddenly prostrated on the ground while shaking fiercely. Everyone's fur stood up in horror, they didn't see Raven lift a single finger yet he disabled an Ape that could cause so much destruction on their tribe. 

"On your next life, learn how to mind your manners around your betters. Remember that you died because of your carelessness." Raven said in a harrowing tone. 

"Die." 

And as if the Raven's words were the Heavenly Will themselves, the prostrating Ape suddenly exploded like a watermelon, causing a harrowing silence to drown the tribe.