Chapter 1713: Night Time Activities - Nepherage

After the partying had died down, practically all of the mortals, even those with high cultivation, had passed out from drink and stuffed bellows.

The only ones awake at this time were Hurricroak, Frosttusk, Slug-at-Arms, Terra, and myself.

It made sense, since our existences as kaijin made things like alcohol, sleep, and food ineffective to a point.

However, we were awake for a reason other than the lack of need for it.

There were some topics that had to be discussed between us that mortals, even our own allies, didn’t need to know.

And there were activities that could only be done when the number of witnesses were low, and the guards of others were down.

As such, the six of us were wide awake and well aware that someone amongst the Storm Singers was a traitor.

[How many times have we done this song and dance?] Hurricroak asked me. [Why are there so many people out there willing to betray their friends and family?]

[Ambition is a hell of a drug,] Terra answered before I could. [And to be fair, I had heard from Slug-at-Arms that your uncanny ability to end up in these situations may very well be due to the young Lord’s "Karmic Void". Did that ever get resolved, by the way?]

Since Terra was a Strangeblood born from a kaijin that came before our Lord was bestowed the title, she wasn’t able to communicate with us or our Lord over long distances, but she could do so when we were in a close enough range.

I believe the comparison that was made was that our ability to communicate to each other and our Lord was like a private satellite network, while beings like Terra could technically call in via a powerful radio or something like that.

The explanation was long and complicated, and all I got from it was, "Terra and others like her could only talk to us like this due to proximity."

Regardless, I indulged the young warrior, as it would be rude to do so otherwise.

[I...actually believe that,] I capitulated. [And no. It hasn’t. The Sacred Flame was supposed to do that, but that didn’t happen.]

[Well, that’s annoying.]

[Yeah...]

[Does that mean that—]

[Oy,] Hurricroak interjected. [Looks like our traitor is on the move.]

...

The way the Storm Singers had set up camp was stupid...yet efficient.

The main tents where everyone ate and slept were situated around the central bonfire, while the defeated Tremorscales were kept bound inside of a freshly dug out oubliette on the perimeter.

Ideally, this meant that if things went sideways, the main camp could just bail while leaving the guys who had almost killed them to whatever dastardly fate prompted the bail in the first place.

Especially since the bars used to reinforce the oubilette were enhanced with [Chaos]-infused runes that made them essentially invulnerable to brute force tactics.

Realistically, though, it also meant that if anyone wanted to mess with or assist the prisoners in any particular way, they would be able to do so without anyone really noticing. Especially if they happened to have a key.

Which is precisely what the six of us had noticed when we saw someone cloaked up and making their way to the aforementioned oubliette containing the Tremorscale elites.

We didn’t feel the need to shrink ourselves down in order to hide this time around. Instead, we simply masked our presence with [Chaos] and floated upward, using the night sky as our shroud.

After all, most people assume a flying shadow in the night was either an owl or a bat.

[Hurricroak, just to be sure, that’s the source of that Morse Code clicking you heard earlier?]

[Sounds like it yeah,] Hurricroak said as she listened closely to the sounds below. [The little traitor seems to be unaware that the treasure they’re using still emits a faint signal that only the most perceptible of warriors and monsters can hear.]

[So, you?] Frosttusk asked with a touch of sarcasm.

[Precisely.]

The six of us continued to watch above the camp and oubliette, keeping an eye on the scurrying traitor.

We didn’t immediately drop down on them like a guillotine of judgement, because of a lesson that our Lord drilled into our heads. Namely, a crime isn’t a crime until it’s committed and recorded.

If you try to call someone out without catching them in the act, they will do all they can to deny and lie their way out of whatever they had been accused of.

Catching someone after the fact also works, but it only leads to someone being punished for an act that had already been done.

That was a form of [justice], but not one I liked.

I preferred to prevent the tragedy from unfolding before it could play out...just like milord.

Eventually, the little traitor finally got right up to the oubliette and started talking with the prisoners down below.

With just a touch of aether and [Chaos] directed to our ears, we were able to hear...everything.

...

"Are you alright, Ancestor Tongora?"

"No, I am not alright! You said that the Storm Singers only had a small group of warriors defending them, and you promised that that pet lindwurm would’ve been enough to deal with those weird monstrous warriors!"

"Hey! I said it would’ve been able to handle the one monstrous warrior! Not another that could breathe fucking lava!"

"Oh yeah! You forgot to mention the thundering frog bitch, the howling mammoth monster, and those weird fucking summoned soldiers that were just tossing around my tribesmen around fucking paper dolls! Wait, why am I swearing so much? Also, who were those guys, anyways?!"

...

[Thundering Frog Bitch sounds like a good song, to be honest,] Hurricroak commented. [But I’m still going to make them suffer for that one.]

[Wait, doesn’t our defiltering effect only kick in when we’re fighting?] I asked the other kaijin as soon as I heard the telltale sign of someone being affected by [Chaos]. [Is that no longer the case?]

[Oh, no.] Slug-at-arms shook his head. [That guy got his face punched in by Lady Zhen Xun Tian, right? Yeah, for some reason, anyone who fights her ends up cursing for quite sometime afterwards. Even after training.]

[Seriously?]

[Oh yeah, Master Zhen Hai ended up cursing unconsciously for three days. Man was aware of it the whole time too.]

[Huh...]

...

"I overheard a little something during the feast. Those guys are apparently friends with that blue slug guy and the Bloodliner with the weird teeth," the traitor explained to the Tremorscale ancestor. "I heard them mentioning that they were subordinates to some family member related to those human outsiders. Oh! They’re also apparently as vulnerable to dragon force as much as that slug man."

"Okay, that’s great, but that also means the fucking Storm Singers have a fucking back of their own now! Fuck! Why do I keep swearing?! I haven’t done this since I was a teenager."

"Maybe? But from what I could hear, those three are the only ones coming to help now. If we can report this back to the Collectrix, then maybe she has something or someone she could mobilize to help. Hell, I heard there’s at least one Aether Emperor in her retinue that can wield Omni dragon force."

...

[Omni Dragon Force?] I repeated the words, causing my stone-like skin to crawl like a million ants had suddenly manifested. [Does that mean what I think that means?]

[A form of dragon force so ancient and all-encompassing that it probably ignores the normal elemental laws that we use to barely avoid getting injured by dragon force?] Hurricroak answered with a sarcastic tone. [Yeah, I think they did.]

[Worrying...]

...

"For all we know, she could just send people to kill them while completely ignoring us," Tongora noted. "Gah, forget it. For the time being, just get us out of this pit!"

"Of course, ancestor."

...

[And I can hear the jangling of keys from up here. Let’s go.]

[Finally!]

...

Before the young traitor could open the cage and make a mess of things, my fellow kaijin and I dropped down from the sky like angels of judgement and surrounded the poor bastard before they realized what was going on.

Wait... I think the correct term in this situation was, poor bitch.

The moment we touched down, the traitor’s hood was blown away, and we could now see that the traitor was a young woman who had just taken her first steps into adulthood. I didn’t know the girl, but I could sense that Terra recognized her and was shocked.

"Mathera? You’re a spy?!"

The young woman took a moment to compose herself, realized that the situation she was in was less than ideal, and then attempted to do something incredibly stupid.

Without warning or hesitation, Mathera drew a stone knife that was in her clothes and attempted to cut open her own throat.

Unfortunately for her, Hurricroak was a lot faster on the draw.

Before Mathera could even bring the blade close to her throat, Hurricroak had already grabbed her wrist.

{Nuh-uh, honey. Canaries are meant to sign, not die.]