If there were any doubts who was the leader of the spirit beast tribes, it was definitely laid to rest as Reine battled the red spider. The four other spirit beasts have morphed into their spirit beast forms and the three leonine figures were performing a cordon action preventing any spiders from coming to the aid of the King class beast. Ara was flying in the air and landing sonic blows on the red spider whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Reine and her lance flashed in black arcs as she repelled the leg attacks of the demon spider. The red spider changed tactics to shooting a sonic blast at Reine. Reine conjured a spirit blast and negated it. The demon spider shot red beams of light against Reine but they were all repelled by Reine and her six limbs. The red spider's movements grew increasingly erratic the further the fight drew on.
The red spider tried going after Ara by shooting its webs and red beams into the air but Reine countered them in succession by cutting the web and blocking the beams. The red spider's eyes grew dimmer and dimmer as the fight stretched as if it foresaw its doom in the female figure fluttering in the wind before it.
At this point in time, Edward and the mages approached having finished off the black spider. They opted to not join in the main fight and proceeding to strengthen the cordon around Reine and the red spider instead.
The red spider led out a high-pitched scream as it launched a full body attack onto Reine. Ruby colored energy condensed around the spider as it sped towards Reine. Reine gave a wicked grin and brandished her spear. As dark emerald energy coalesced around Reine, she launched her spear seeming to form a black shadow that pierced through the chest of the red spider.
As the red spider's legs lost all signs of life, Reine extracted her spear with an outpouring of blood and clenched the handle tightly as she raised it towards the skies.
The mages exchanged an impressed looks between each other as they looked on the aftermath of the fight while Ara sang in victory. The three leonine figures morphed back into human forms and chased down the remnants of the demon spiders with the human forces.
—
Edward moved up to the red demon spider and after exchanging eye contact with Reine, he started to butcher the spider to reach the core. Caine was hovering at the side as Edward worked. Not disappointing anyone, the core turned out to be a grade 5 monster core. However, after a brief examination it had the ability myriad beams instead of spirit strands.
Caine simply shrugged his shoulders and laughed before moving to the monarch class spider to dissect it. Tiffany had a morose look as she looked at Caine moving off but instead of following him, she opted to incinerate the surrounding dead spiders to collect their cores instead. Edward's glance followed Caine as he moved off before he nodded and proceeded to toss the grade 5 monster core to Reine with no hesitation.
"This is the portion of the spirit beast tribes spoil. We were hunting for one with the ability of spirit strands," said Edward. "As it stands now, it has no value to us."
Reine accepted the core without demurring, "This will be valuable to me when I attempt to bring my core's level to grade 5 hence I shall not be polite. Shall we move on to the demon spider treasury?"
Edward nodded and ordered the scouts to search for where the demon spiders stashed their treasures.
—
As the leaders of both parties entered the area the treasury, their eyes glittered as they looked through the collection.
All the usual of a demon beast hoard were there. From artifacts to elemental ores.
Edward proposed a sixty-forty split with the first pick going to the spirit beasts due to them being the ones bringing down the king class beast.
Seeing an olive branch being presented, Reine agreed but insisted that the first pick went to the human party.
Edward accepted and proceeded with the mages to the deeper part of the hoard.
The mages had a disinterested expression as they viewed the hoard as there was simply nothing that could hold their interest.
Edward had his officers pick out various part of the hoard while leaving the instruction to not take all the most valuable parts of it.
Soon, troops streamed in and out of the treasury carting off the demon spider's hoard with raucous cheers as any one party exited the cave.
—
Back at the camp, as the various cooks busied around the cookfire, Edward and the officers were gathered in the officer tent discussing the spoils of this hunting trip. As per army law, all participants are entitled to a cut of the spoils with officers and enlisted having a different rate. Outstanding soldiers that performed well will be given more in recognition of their merits.
The officers were all in debate with regards to the last part by predictably stating how great their own troops performed. (Ahh, the usual I did better than everyone stretches across armies even from different worlds it seems) Edward thought as a wry smile crooked his face.
Edward coughed a few times and silence fell in the tent. Edward proceeded to query how well they have done on the front of eliminating demon beasts in the Rolger Forests and mentioned that prince Aureus gave an express order to thin out the demon beasts as best they could.
Several officers appeared to get the hint while the rest reported the extermination rate. Some officers followed up with suggestions of how outstanding performances in the field by soldiers should be gauged by the number of demon beasts one has slain on the field. As this suggestion sounded out, many officers eyes blinked and while some were slow on the uptake, many agreed that such an assessment was fair with little room for argument.
Edward had to suppress a smile as the officers than redid the calculations for meritorious achievements in the expedition and worked through their candidates with a new set of parameters.
As the list of loot was finally tallied and sent to the officers tent, Edward announced the final loot tally to the officers. The officers raised their cups in acknowledgment and toasted once more to prince Aureus's health.
—
The next day, the spirit beast tribe leaders approached the camp and requested a meeting with Edward. They wanted to go through details of traveling to the Mulberry forest near Everdawn and to coordinate logistics with the human party. In addition, Reine wanted more details on their duties and responsibilities should the tribes swear fealty to prince Aureus.
Edward had no issues clearing the matter with regards to logistics however he stated in a firm tone that the latter should and must be discussed with prince Aureus and his council. He can give his report and recommendations but the final decision will be made by prince Aureus.
Reine did not appear offended by what Edward's firm stance and instead gave an appreciative nod and expressed her interest in meeting a man like prince Aureus.
The tribe leaders then excused themselves stating that they had duties to oversee especially when they will be traveling across open lands soon.
Edward asked if they would be interested in a meal before leaving but the leaders all declined with a smile before leaving the camp.
—
As Edward's company of troops left the Rolger Forests, it was trailed by a horde of spirit beasts at its tail.
All the way back to Everdawn's territory, there were no demon beasts that disturbed their passage.
During the evenings when both parties would break camp, some spirit beast leaders and their elite guards would venture over to the human encampment and seek out Edward and dine with the officers.
When the company neared one day's ride from Everdawn, Edward sent out a rider with two escorts that carried a sound orb that contained his report on the hunting expedition as well as details regarding the pledging of fealty by the spirit beast tribes. Edward wanted to send out the report earlier to give Aureus a greater time period to frame his response, but he judged it too risky to allow three riders to report back to Everdawn by themselves from Rolger Forests.
As Edward watched the riders speeding off into the distance, he mused to himself that Aureus will handle it fine even though the entire matter may be abrupt.
(One does not rise in the battlefield by not being adaptable)
