South Tivian, Bishop Square.
In the cold night square, the host on the stage was giving the final segment of his speech. The lively audience cheered in the last moments of the year, anticipating the final countdown. The festive atmosphere of the entire square was being pushed to the next peak.
Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a tall building at the edge of the square, within a smoke-filled pavilion, Sado, fully prepared, had finished his pre-battle motivational speech. The natives present, after listening to Sado's words, couldn't help but stand up. They gripped the weapons in their hands and looked at Sado with determined expressions.
"Alright, it's time. Kum and the others' sacrifice is about to begin, and we need to follow in their footsteps. It's time to let those white devils taste the flavor of firearms and gunpowder. Even if we sacrifice ourselves here today, when we return to the great soul, we will surely be welcomed as heroes by our ancestors."
In the center of the pavilion, Sado stood and announced loudly to everyone. The natives in the pavilion also shouted in response, holding their weapons. Sado nodded with satisfaction after seeing this scene. Then, he picked up a rifle himself, turned around, opened the pavilion door, and left. The natives in the pavilion followed, surging out. Soon after, all the natives followed Sado out of the pavilion. Only three masked men remained in the pavilion, silently watching the scene before them.
After everyone in the pavilion had left, the three men nodded to each other and then followed them out together. When they reached the outside, they heard Sado let out a startled cry in the Spirit Seal Language, which they didn't understand.
The three men were startled and immediately looked in the direction of the cry. They saw Sado, who had just cried out, standing still, looking ahead with an expression of disbelief. Not far in front of him stood the figure of a young man. Under the illumination of the surrounding firelight, it could be seen that although this man was wearing ordinary civilian clothes, he had brown skin like the other natives. He seemed to be a native from the New World as well.
"Kapak! How are you here?!"
Using the Spirit Seal Language, Sado shouted to the familiar young man standing in front of him, his expression full of surprise. Facing Sado, Kapak responded with a determined expression.
"I'm here to stop you, Sado, and all the fellow tribesmen who came with Sado. Stop now, what you are doing will not do our tribe any good. If you continue like this, you will only bring greater disaster!"
Kapak shouted to the fellow tribesmen with the same skin color in front of him. Listening to his words, the natives in front of him couldn't help but look at each other. In the eyes of many of them, there was no lack of sarcasm and mockery.
"Heh, I thought you came here unable to suppress your hatred and wanted to join our cause, but I didn't expect you to be here to stop us? Hmph... It's simply a pipe dream. The blood feud between us and these white skins cannot be stopped by a single word from you!"
Standing in front of Kapak, Sado said loudly with an arrogant attitude, while Kapak swallowed, calmed himself down, and responded.
"Although I know it's difficult... I must stop you all. This kind of revenge is meaningless. It will not bring any good results except for bringing more severe disaster to our tribes. I can understand everyone's hatred, but this method of revenge is inappropriate.
"Besides mourning what we have lost, we should cherish what is left. So let's go back now, go back to our homeland, and solve the more realistic problems facing our people now, instead of senselessly retaliating here and causing greater disaster for the people who remain after we die."
Spreading his hands, Kapak persuasively spoke to everyone with great emotion. What his persuasion brought was Sado's contemptuous and sarcastic laughter.
"Hahaha... Our revenge is meaningless? We don't need you to define what meaning is! Listen everyone, this person is Kapak of the Tupa Tribe. He speaks the white skins' language, can use the white skins' things, and knows the white skins' technology. He is not our fellow tribesman, he is with those white skins!
"Fellow tribesmen! Don't believe this kid's words. Although he has always appeared to be helping the tribe, treating the sick and constantly giving small favors, this is just his disguise! Although he was born among us, his heart is with our enemies! Although he can deceive the Tupa Tribe members and even the Shaman, he cannot deceive me! I saw through him long ago! He is a traitor among us!"
Turning his head, Sado said to the other natives around him. After hearing Sado's words, many of these natives showed expressions of disgust and even hostility towards Kapak. Some even raised their guns and aimed at Kapak, while Kapak calmly responded to these dark muzzles.
"If I were really a traitor, I would have come with the white skins' guards by now, but I didn't. I know you have a lot of opinions about me, Sado, but I can guarantee that everything I do is truly for the good of all our tribes. What you are going to do tonight is useless except for venting your anger. You can vent your anger, and the white skins will too, and they will be bigger and more violent than you, so while there is still a chance, stop immediately!"
Kapak said this to Sado in front of him, and after hearing Kapak's words, Sado couldn't help but laugh and speak.
"Hahahaha... Is it still in time? You just think it's still in time, Kapak... I can tell you, it's already too late, everything is unstoppable, we already have three brave warriors who volunteered to sacrifice themselves among the crowd below. As soon as the New Year that those white skins are celebrating arrives, everything below will be buried in a sea of fire from the explosion! You can't stop it!"
As Sado spoke, he took out a pocket watch and looked at it. In order to accurately grasp the time during this operation, he had specifically learned how to use this thing.
"Time is almost up! Only a dozen seconds left! Turn back now, Kapak, and see the great blood feud gift we have prepared for those white people!"
With madness in his eyes, Sado, holding the pocket watch, declared to Kapak. At this moment, he took two steps forward, turned around, raised the pocket watch, and continued to speak to the natives in front of him.
"Come on everyone, let's count down the final moments for them together, and let this traitor witness our determination!"
As he spoke, Sado used the Spirit Seal Language to start the New Year countdown with the host on the stage in the distance. His expression at this moment was even more excited than the crowd celebrating the New Year below, shouting and declaring loudly like a fanatical believer who had found a value to pursue.
"Watch closely, Kapak! Watch this imminent tragedy! Then ask yourself, is this something you can stop?!
"Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Witness!"
Synchronized with the countdown on the stage, Sado roared at Kapak and the other natives. In his script, there would be a huge explosion erupting from the cheering crowd below. The blazing flames and intertwined screams would amplify his words, making Kapak and the other natives in front of him understand what was truly worth following.
"Whoosh~ Boom!!"
At the moment the countdown ended, a huge sound really exploded from behind Sado. Hearing this sound, Sado's mouth curled up in an exaggerated manner, and the madness and smugness on his face reached their peak.
However, Sado soon realized that something was wrong. He found that Kapak's face was not surprised but calm, while the faces of the natives who followed him were filled with astonishment. The firelight reflected on their faces was not the bright red of flames, but various colors. The sounds coming from the crowd behind him were not piercing screams, but unprecedented boiling cheers.
Sensing that something was wrong, Sado suddenly turned around and looked back. In front of him, there were no towering flames as he had expected. Instead, there were colorful beautiful fireworks exploding in the sky. In front of him, there was no crowd struggling and screaming in pain as he had expected, only a sea of people cheering under the guidance of the host.
"What's going on? What's going on! What's wrong with Kum and the others!? Why didn't it explode! Where is the anger they guaranteed they would show me?! Where did it go!"
Looking at the cheering crowd below, Sado roared with confusion and anger, while Kapak on the side calmly replied.
"They have left, they are not down there. I already found Kum and the others before I came here. I persuaded them to give up this meaningless sacrifice. They all said they realized that there are still things to cherish in their tribe and were unwilling to die here like this, so they left first..."
By the way, if you don't believe me, I still have their amulets here. They also asked me to persuade you to stop now.
While Kapak was speaking, he took out several handmade amulets made of small wooden boards strung together from his body. These are traditional amulets of the New World natives, and each tribe and even each person has his own unique characteristics.
These amulets were real. After Adele used her ability to force the three human bombs to flee out of a desire for survival, Dorothy didn't just ignore them. Instead, after secretly tracking their location, she had Kapak, who arrived later, go find them. While helping them disarm the bombs, she also had Kapak direct them to a designated hotel to wait for him, promising to take them home afterward.
Originally, Dorothy wanted Kapak to persuade these three people to come here together to persuade Sado and the others, but because the three were full of the desire to survive at this time, they were afraid of Sado retaliating against them and didn't dare to come. Kapak had no choice but to ask them for their respective amulets as proof and then let them leave.
Under the firelight constantly illuminated by the fireworks in the sky, everyone clearly saw the tribal symbols on the amulets, which were consistent with those of the three devotees!
Seeing the amulets in Sado's hand, the natives present were all surprised for a moment. They looked at each other with slightly panicked eyes, each with an expression of not knowing what to do.
All along, when Sado gave speeches to other natives, he always promoted the three devotees as role models. He used words to make everyone regard the three voluntarily sacrificed human bombs as benchmarks, encouraging those who followed him to learn from those three.
But now, the prelude to revenge that should have been initiated by the three people's sacrificial explosion is gone. Kapak holds the three people's amulets and claims they have abandoned the mission and are preparing to go back. This has a huge impact on the natives who follow Sado.
The power of role models is infinite, it can be positive infinity or negative infinity. Since Sado set the three human bombs as role models for everyone, if the role models themselves deviate from his will, then the impact is immeasurable.
"Fake! Liar! Everything he says is a lie! Kum and their hatred cannot be easily shaken! The white-skinned demons must have learned about our plan and found them! Now they are letting this traitor bring their amulets to deceive us. Everyone, don't listen to this traitor! Let's kill him together now and then shoot at the crowd! Let's avenge Kum and the others together!"
Seeing the crowd waver, Sado shouted anxiously in his heart. He pointed at Kapak and directly gave the order to attack his followers, and those followers also hesitantly raised their guns.
Seeing his compatriots raising their guns at him, Kapak was not afraid. He took out a small pipe from his pocket and said calmly.
"I said, if I were a traitor, I would have come up with the white skins' guards by now. I am here to stop you all, and it is not just my own will, but also the will of my Teacher Uta. Teacher Uta absolutely does not want everyone to continue this foolish thing. He wants me to take everyone back together."
Kapak said this, and after he finished speaking, there was another commotion among the natives in front of him. For a moment, everyone was whispering the names "Uta" and "Uta Great Shaman" to each other.
Shaman, among the New World native tribes, is the most respected existence. Whether it is a chief or a warrior, no matter what identity a New World native has, they will show the deepest respect to a person who is a Shaman. Shamans are the guides of all New World tribes.
In the New World, there are also ranks among Shamans. Generally, each tribe can have one Shaman, but the existence that can be called a Great Shaman is very rare among many Shamans. It is rumored that many Great Shamans are wanderers, and only a relatively small number of Great Shamans irregularly stay in certain tribes. Uta of the Tupa Tribe is one of them. Uta Great Shaman is one of the famous Great Shamans among the Eastern tribes.
Shamans have high prestige among the New World natives, and Great Shamans even more so. Therefore, after hearing Uta's name, the people present couldn't help but hesitate even more, and upon seeing this, Kapak also spoke up in one go.
"If you don't believe that I was sent by Teacher Uta, you can look at this. This is his old man's pipe. Teacher Uta can make long-used items become a part of himself, allowing a part of his spirits to extend onto it. Teacher Uta gave this to me so that I could persuade you to come back."
Kapak said, then lit the tobacco in the pipe with a match. After taking a puff, he exhaled a cloud of smoke. That cloud of smoke exhaled by Kapak was affected by some mysterious power in the air, gathering autonomously in the air, and finally formed an old man's face, which was exactly Uta's face.
"U... Utar Shaman..."
Seeing the face gathered in the smoke, Sado's eyes widened, and he said with a trembling tone. After seeing Uta, his expression also showed a tendency to be moved for the first time. The face gathered in the smoke sighed slightly after looking at the surrounding situation, and then spoke.
"Come back, Sado... bring all your people back. While there's still time, go home..."
With a peaceful tone, Uta spoke to Sado and the crowd in front of him. Just as everyone was about to respond, a sudden change occurred.
Behind the crowd, three black swift shadows darted out, dispersing the smoke in the air that was forming Uta's face, while rapidly attacking Kapak. Upon closer inspection, they were clearly three masked figures who had been standing behind the natives all along!
These three people were none other than the monitors sent by the Eight Point Nest to supervise the natives' actions. They had been by the natives' side, silently watching their actions.
The task of these three monitors was very simple: to ensure that these natives attacked the crowd at the appointed time, causing chaos, to cover the Eight Point Nest's real assassination operation, and to take the blame for them afterward.
The three saw that the original plan to monitor Sado and the others was going smoothly, but they didn't expect Kapak to suddenly appear. Since they saw Kapak was also a New World native, they didn't act immediately, but watched the interaction between Sado and Kapak, thinking that Kapak was someone who had fallen behind among Sado's followers and had now returned.
Since they didn't understand Spirit Seal Language, they couldn't understand any of the communication between Sado and Kapak. So, after watching for a long time from behind, they realized that Kapak hadn't come to rejoin the team, but to oppose Sado. And for some reason, he had made the natives present hesitate one by one, showing a tendency to abandon the mission.
Although they couldn't understand what was said between them, judging only from the performance on the scene, those natives seemed to be losing morale more and more. Their side's mission seemed to be about to fail because of this suddenly appearing native youth, so the three discussed it and immediately decided to act, killing Kapak first without a second thought.
The three of them were all Apprentices of """Shadow""", possessing much faster speeds than ordinary people, so killing one Kapak together was absolutely no problem. As an Apprentice of """Silent""", Kapak couldn't even defeat one """Shadow""" in a head-on battle, let alone three.
Just like this, holding daggers, the three monitors crossed the crowd and rapidly charged towards Kapak, as if Kapak could be assassinated on the ground in the next second.
And just then, a low, strange sound came from the darkness.
"Meowww~~"
Under this strange sound, an even faster swift shadow swooped down from the top of the attic, attacking the three people who were currently attacking. The three quickly dodged relying on their superb reaction speed, but one failed to dodge and was pounced upon by the rapidly descending swift shadow, falling to the ground, and then let out a mournful scream.
Startled by this scream, everyone couldn't help but take a few steps back in horror, and then shifted their gaze to where the scream came from. By the light of the fireworks in the sky, they saw a black figure leaning over a fallen monitor. The figure's hand was hooked into a sharp claw, inserted into the monitor's neck. Accompanied by a series of twitches from the body, the monitor gradually lost his life.
After hunting down the prey, the figure slowly raised her head. What people saw was a female face wearing a half-mask covering her eyes. Behind the mask were glowing, terrifying vertical pupils in her eyes.
In everyone's eyes, Naifnis, who was inhabited by a Wilderness Spirit and wore a black coat, took her blood-stained hand out of the neck of the victim prey, and like a predatory beast, brought it to her mouth and slightly licked the blood on it. Then, spiritual cat ears and a cat tail appeared from her head and behind her, and her vertical-pupiled eyes looked at the remaining two monitors as if they were prey.