Isaac let out a slow breath after listening to Catherine’s explanation.
"I get how the Ashfang tribe submitted to Emily. But what about the Eltari race and the Serpent tribe? And how is Celia related to all this?"
"Let’s ask them yourself. We’re here."
Catherine pointed ahead instead of answering.
Isaac followed her gaze.
Jagged mountains rose in the distance, like broken teeth cutting into the sky.
The entire range stretched farther than he could see, and a strange pressure hung in the air around it.
It was heavy, like the world itself was pushing back against anything that tried to move through it unnaturally.
He tested his teleportation instinctively.
The space resisted him.
Teleporting here wouldn’t be impossible, but it would take far more mana and focus than usual.
"Looks like we’re walking," Isaac muttered.
Catherine nodded. "That’s what we did earlier when we came with Celia."
They moved forward on foot, stepping into the mountain range.
The terrain narrowed as they went deeper, the path winding between massive stone walls that rose on both sides.
After a while, the path opened into a wide basin nestled between four towering peaks.
Isaac slowed.
A "village" stood before them, but the word didn’t really fit.
The place was massive, almost the size of his fortified city.
Giant walls surrounded it, built from pale bones and dark, gleaming alloys he didn’t recognize.
The walls were meticulously crafted.
There were drainage channels running along the base, reinforced gates, and lookout towers placed at careful intervals. Whoever designed this place knew what they were doing.
"I used to wonder how monster tribes lived without bothering the fortified cities. I think I get it now."
Catherine gave a small smile. "They don’t need to covet our land or resources. That’s why they stay away."
Two figures stood at the main gate.
They were massive, easily four meters tall, with green skin stretched over bulging muscle.
Each one wore heavy armor that looked like it had been forged specifically for their size, plates layered carefully instead of just slapped together. One hand held a spear. The other carried a broad shield.
They looked less like guards and more like statues of deities brought to life.
Isaac felt his instincts tighten.
’Overlord-rank. Strong ones at that.’
He glanced at the walls again.
’If this is what they use as gate guards, then taking this place by force would be a nightmare. I would have to use the Abyss monsters and the Catastrophe and their copies, and even then, it would be trouble if they have a trump card.’
As Isaac and Catherine walked closer, the two ogres noticed them.
They moved in perfect sync.
Both dropped to one knee, planted their spears into the ground, and placed a hand over their chests.
Their voices boomed across the open space.
"We greet the Great Cārus!"
Isaac stopped mid-step.
He turned to Catherine slowly, eyebrows raised, as if to say, ’Do you want to explain that?’
She just smiled and nodded toward the gate.
The massive doors began to open.
A woman stepped out.
She was almost two meters tall, with lean but defined muscle. She was quite beautiful.
Her green skin was marked with dark tattoos that ran along her arms and shoulders, each one sharp and deliberate.
She wore traditional ogre clothing, which was usually simple and minimal, designed to show their muscles the ogres were proud of.
The Ashfang tribe, if Isaac remembered correctly, took pride in their bodies.
Every tattoo represented a powerful enemy slain.
From where he stood, he could count at least eleven.
And that was just on what he could see.
She didn’t kneel, but she did bow her head slightly.
"O Great Cārus, we welcome you to our city. I am Morga Bonecleaver, daughter of the leader of the Ashfang tribe. We welcome you to our humble home."
Isaac paused for half a second, then inclined his head in return.
"I’m Isaac Hargraves. Thank you for your hospitality."
He didn’t ask why they were treating him so hospitably. Acting confused here would only lower his image.
Morga straightened.
"Please follow us. The Benefactor is waiting for you."
"The Benefactor?" Isaac repeated.
"Your wife, Great Cārus," Catherine said with a smile.
Isaac followed them through the gate.
The moment he crossed the threshold, a sharp pressure hit his mind.
[Heavenly One has noticed you.]
For a brief, terrifying moment, he felt like he was standing under the gaze of something vast and ancient.
The presence was heavy with resentment, and wrath.
His instincts screamed at him to move, to run, to do anything.
Then the presence was gone.
Just like that.
"Great Cārus?" Morga asked, glancing back when she noticed Isaac had stopped. "Is something wrong?"
He shook his head. "It’s nothing. Let’s keep going."
Nobody seemed to have noticed that terrifying presence. Even now, Isaac felt as if he had trouble breathing.
He controlled his nerves, and they walked into the city.
Isaac’s eyes moved immediately, taking in everything around him.
The roads were wide and clean, paved with dark stone reinforced by strips of metal.
There were channels carved along the sides to guide water away, and small runes etched into the ground at regular intervals.
They weren’t active, but he could feel the intent behind them. Stability. Reinforcement. Maybe even defense.
The houses here were similar to human houses, but there were some big differences.
They were built on a massive scale, adjusted for ogre size. Walls were made from polished bone and alloy instead of cement. Roofs were layered with hardened monster hide instead of tiles.
Skins and banners hung from poles and doorways, each one clearly taken from a different species. Some were small and decorative. Others were massive, stretched out like trophies.
Isaac glanced at Morga’s back as they walked.
He’d been right. There were more tattoos there, spiraling across her shoulder blades and down her spine.
’She’s one of their stronger fighters.’
"Do all of you live in the tribe? Or do you have other bases?" Isaac asked, breaking the silence.
"This is the only home of Ashfang Tribe. The warriors and the crafters live closer to the center. The young and the elders stay near the outer rings. It keeps things organized."
"Crafters?" he repeated.
"Our blacksmiths, alchemists, and bone-shapers This city wouldn’t exist without them," she said.
Isaac looked at the walls again. "I can see why you talk about them so respectfully."
They passed groups of ogres moving through the streets. Some stopped to watch them, whispering to each other.
They reached a wider road that led toward the center of the city. The buildings here were larger, and more detailed. The bones used in the construction were darker, thicker, and carried a faint pressure of their own.
’These looks like they came from strong monsters,’ Isaac thought.
....
Far away from the mountains and seas, beyond distance most would even dream of covering.
A woman with otherworldly beauty sat at the edge of a red sea.
Her face was graceful, and her figure was divine.
Her hair fell down her back like a curtain of night, and her eyes, crimson like the Lord of Death, followed the bobbing line in the water.
There was a small smile on her face.
She held a simple fishing rod in one hand and hummed softly.
The waters contained fishes—no, monsters—so terrifyingly powerful that anyone would die from just a glance of theirs.
But the woman was relaxed, if not enjoying herself, in such a treacherous environment.
Then, at the moment Isaac stepped into the Ashfang Tribe, a spark rose in the woman’s mind.
Her gaze snapped into a direction.
"Hus... band?"
She blinked, her expression frozen as if she had forgotten to breathe.
A feeling of immense happiness was about to rise in her heart when suddenly, she noticed something.
"This feeling... his domain of war is too weak to be husband..."
A terrifying pressure erupted around her. The sea began to boil.
"If he is not husband, then is he husband’s child...?"
"Husband took a mistress?"
The air around her shifted.
She locked onto the location where she had detected Isaac, and was about to smite him, intending to tear him apart, both body and soul, when suddenly a screen appeared before her eyes.
[Wait!]
She stopped.
"...What do you want?"
Her voice was terrifyingly cold.
"Now that I think about it, you said you would keep an eye on husband. Why does he suddenly have children? Did you know he took a mistress?"
Her gaze, hollow and chilling, bore into the system screen.
There was silence for a moment, then words appeared on the screen, like it was choosing its words carefully.
[There is a new function in the System.]
"What kind of function?"
[I-It allows a God to bless a person and give them a portion of their domain, so that person can grow it on their own.]
[That man is someone husband blessed. He is not husband’s child, or his descendant either.]
"Are you sure?"
[Look closely. If he were husband’s child, his War God Physique would be much stronger that what it is now.]
The woman narrowed her eyes.
After a moment, the terrifying pressure around her disappeared and a small smile appeared on her face.
The sea slowly began to calm, the boiling surface settling back into heavy, rolling waves.
"So that’s how it is. You should have said that sooner. I almost obliterated that entire Sector."
[Crazy bitch.]
"What?"
[I—I meant to say husband wanted to keep this a surprise.]
The screen’s text shifted quickly, like it was coming up random excuses.
[He is gathering strength and allies so that he can come to meet you as soon as possible. That’s why he didn’t want you to know he was blessing people, and asked me not to tell you.]
"Husband is coming to meet me? When?"
The person behind the status screen was lamenting their luck while the woman with black hair and red eyes was eagerly talking.
At the same time, the topic of their conversation had no idea of what happened when Isaac stepped into the Ashfang tribe.