At the sight of the Aetheris Barbarians, Ryuk unconsciously exhaled in relief.
When he had decided to get Antares back to his race, he had meant it seriously.
So much so that it had even become one of his unspoken goals, which took as much priority as any of his other ambitions.
He had thought they would need to search the ends of the world to find them.
But in the end, it was the very first thing he was able to do, with the aid of the group, of course, most especially Elder Celine.
But then, when he looked closer at the Aetheris Barbarians... he noticed something strange.
They were... weak?
Each of the Aetheris Barbarians stood at the Eternity stage, with only two among them at the Apocrypha stage.
Yet, the giants whose shoulders they stood on were oozing with the Exignis stage aura.
And strangely, those giants didn’t seem to mind the Aetheris Barbarians riding on them.
’Could they be beast tamers too?’ he wondered, bewildered.
For a beast tamer to be able to tame an Exignis-stage beast while being one or even two major cultivation levels lower?
That was beyond his imagination.
"For what reason have you come to disturb the peace of Manur?"The voice rang out clearly from one of the Apocrypha-stage Aetheris Barbarians, his cold eyes locked on Ryuk’s group.
There was neither warmth nor familiarity, only biting coldness.
But Ryuk didn’t need to reply, as Antares stepped forward, making himself clear.
"Namir Donmut Mel Gorano!" he called out to them, in a language none of Ryuk’s group could understand.
But it caused the eyes of the Aetheris Barbarians to widen in shock.
Of course, they could see Antares and knew he was an Aetheris Barbarian, but that alone wasn’t enough to ease their hearts.
Though rare, it was possible he had been taken captive and may have switched sides, aligning himself with the beastly aliens, thus becoming an enemy.
But the words he had just spoken...
"That language. You speak in Ancient Tharis..." said the second Aetheris Barbarian—the brawniest of the bunch, his voice laced with surprise.
Antares’ brows furrowed before realization dawned on him.
"Ancient? You all no longer speak in Tharis?" he asked, bewildered.
One of them was about to respond, but the brawny one raised his hand, silencing him, and turned his gaze directly to Ryuk.
"What is your aim?" he asked, growling silently.
"He’s a friend of mine, and he comes in peace," Antares answered, but the man scoffed in mockery.
"Comes in peace?"
He turned his gaze toward the massive hovering beasts.
"Every creature in this forest was awakened by the release of his aura. Even the Guardians, who had been in slumber for decades, were unsettled by his predatory presence."
"He disrupted the peace of Manur by merely existing, and you speak to me of peace!?" he snapped.
And truly, it was irrefutable.
King’s Aura was an ability that forcefully took control of a beast’s mind, making them subservient to Ryuk if he willed it.
To anyone with a bond to the beasts, this would be considered an offensive Skill.
One that is not in any way inferior to a meteor falling upon the world.
To call it a sign of peace was far-fetched, no matter how well-intentioned.
Antares tried once more to defend, but Ryuk stepped forward and interrupted.
"My aim..." he began, drawing all eyes toward him.
"...is to fulfill the promise I made to my friend, Antares, of one day bringing him back to his world," Ryuk said, each word loud and clear.
"We’ve traveled more than hundreds of millions of miles, across the upper realms."
"And when we finally reached Manur, using the intel we gathered about where the Aetheris Barbarians were last seen, we spent three days in an aimless search through this endless forestry world."
His tone was calm, and it flowed so smoothly that it was hard for them to doubt that it wasn’t the truth.
"Releasing my aura was a move done to communicate with one of the beasts and ask questions about your whereabouts. Although... it seems it caused a little commotion," he added, a wry smile tugging at his lips.
Their eyebrows twitched.
A little commotion!? He woke up the entire planet!
"I think it’s fair to say that anyone in my position, after everything we endured to reach here, would have done the same," he concluded.
There was silence.
Until the brawny Barbarian spoke again.
"I do not believe a word from your mouth. No matter how convincing," he said, cold and blunt.
Ryuk returned his gaze with a deadpan look.
"But from your words, your singular aim was to return him to us. Right?" the man asked, turning to look at Antares.
"Then fine. He can come with us, and we’ll bring him to our Clan Leader."
"But as for you—all of you—must leave!"
It was an unfavorable conclusion. But it wasn’t only Ryuk who felt that.
"If they won’t be brought along, then I won’t come with you," Antares replied immediately.
The brawny man shrugged, clearly unbothered.
"Fine. Then leave too."
The silence that followed was creeping, thick with pressure that seemed to weigh down the very air.
There were two choices:
One: Antares goes with them, and the group leaves. A hard choice, as they had no way of knowing what might happen to Antares once they left.
Two: They refuse and all leave Manur. But that would mean all of their efforts in searching for the Aetheris Barbarians would be in vain.
Antares’ hands folded tightly into his grasp, his eyes turning cold.
But in the end, he unfurled them, exhaling to calm his anger, then turned his back.
"...Let’s leave, Ryuk."
He said it softly.
But he had not taken his third step when he felt his hair around him stir, ruffled by a sudden breeze.
Turning back, he saw Ryuk’s feet slowly rising from the ground, floating higher and higher into the sky until he matched the gaze of the three giants and the Aetheris Barbarians.
"I made a promise... and I traveled millions of miles for it," Ryuk said, his voice louder now.
"So much time I dedicated, brushing against life and death, to reach this place..."
"And you think I did all that... just to be constrained by two choices which both equal me being thrown out unceremoniously," Saying this, he slowly extended his palm toward them, fingers wide.
"How stupid are you all?"