"Well..." John’s mind stalled for a second. He hadn’t expected the Bulltors to weave such a wild narrative around what he was doing. "When you finally join my side, I’ll tell you the secret of this ritual. I’ve already shared the truth with the other Bulltors currently under my command."
"Speaking of which," Lilith added, her curiosity matching Blakar’s, "you keep ntioning these Bulltors on your side. You spoke of the Blue Sacred Challenge as if mbers of our race had already pledged themselves to a human. Who exactly are they?"
"Ah, about that," John said, seeing no harm in providing nas. "It’s a small group of eleven Bulltors, led by a Bulltor called Lanmar..."
"Lanmar?!!"
Before John could finish his sentence, Galnar erupted. The wounded giant, who had been brooding in the back, stepped forward with a loud, mocking shout. "That useless coward Lanmar? He’s good for nothing but running and screaming in panic! He’s a disgrace to all of us!"
"I dare you to say one more wrong word about him in my presence."
Out of the blue, John’s expression shifted from satisfaction to a cold, razor-edged fury. He raised his sword directly at Galnar, and his glaring eyes told everyone he wasn’t joking. The Bulltors around instinctively tensed up, but John didn’t lower his weapon.
"The Lanmar you’re speaking so lowly of is the reason my people survived the Wrathers and the yellow monster tides," John said, his voice a low, dangerous growl.
"He isn’t useless. A coward, perhaps, he certainly knows very well how to vent his fear, but he is far from useless. His knowledge saved us from a grave disaster, and I truly appreciate his deeds."
"Oh, alright," Blakar said quickly, stepping between John and the bristling Galnar. He shot a sharp, warning glance at his kin, signalling them to stand down. "I’m glad to hear he was of such help to you. He caused his fair share of trouble back at the base, but if he managed to do sothing honourable while in your company, then we shall be proud of him."
"That’s right," John nodded, his features relaxing slightly as he lowered his sword.
If he had heard those words before witnessing what happened at the Hiveminds’ territory, he might have agreed with the useless assessnt. But after seeing the Hivemind’ absolute paralysis and the disorganised slaughter currently claiming their lives thanks to their lack of intel, John’s perspective on Lanmar had shifted drastically.
The cowardly giant’s obsession with the trial’s chanics was the only reason John wasn’t currently buried under a carpet of yellow monsters with his friends.
Noticing the lingering tension and the way Galnar was still gritting his teeth, Blakar decided it was ti to change the subject. So he randomly picked a point and asked about it.
"Since we are heading that way anyway... Do you truly know how the Hiveminds are doing back in their territory?" Blakar asked, looking toward the northwest. "I an, it’s usually impossible to tell what’s happening at their faraway territory..."
"Hold on, let check and I will tell you in a minute."
Unlike anything Blakar or the others expected, John didn’t check a device or a physical compass. Instead, he simply went still, his gaze fixing on the distant horizon. His eyes moved rhythmically, as if he were looking through the miles of intervening wasteland and thick fog, peering directly into the heart of the Hiveminds’ territory.
Seeing this, Blakar exchanged a series of worried, sidelong glances with the other Twelve mbers. To the Bulltors, the human they had dared to hope was a capable, legendary figure was beginning to look like a complete lunatic. Their expectations, which had soared after hearing his stories, began to plumt. They prepared themselves for the inevitable disappointnt of a madman’s tall tale.
However, John wasn’t seeing ghosts. He was staring at his map, and what he saw there made him freeze in his tracks. His breath hitched, his mind montarily unable to process the unbelievable changes he spotted on the map.
"What happened?!" Blakar asked, noting the sudden pallor of John’s face. The Bulltors shifted their weight, ready to hear a stuttered confession of a lie. No one was prepared for what he was about to say next.
"Please take back everything I said earlier about Lanmar," John’s voice was low and shaky, vibrating with a mix of disbelief and mounting fury. "That son of a btch is nothing but a walking disaster!"
What John was seeing on the map defied his wildest imagination. Fifteen green dots were moving steadily across the fog, but they weren’t in his territory. They were deep in the transition zone, heading straight for the Hiveminds border. He zood in, and what he saw confird his fears: it was his friends, accompanied by the eleven Bulltors.
They were being led by Lanmar, who was gesturing confidently towards the Hiveminds territory. John didn’t need to be a foreteller to figure out what had happened. His friends had clearly decided to follow him to watch the challenge, only to get turned around in the fog. Thanks to Lanmar’s navigation, they were marching right into the maw of a collapsing territory.
Based on their current movent speed, John calculated they had roughly four hours before they reached the Hiveminds borders. ’I still have ti if I start running now, but that Lanmar bastard... How can he get lost in the fog like this?!!’
As he started to formulate a rescue plan, his eyes drifted further into the Hiveminds’ territory, where a second surprise awaited.
"Oh, they are trying to run away," he muttered.
Through the map, he saw what remained of the Hiveminds. They were no longer a big army; they were fewer than a thousand units, ford mostly of insects, fleeing through an endless ocean of monsters. But the reason for their desperate flight beca clear when he shifted the view to their central base.
The third surprise was the most chilling.
"Their base... It’s completely off the map," John whispered, his words sounding like pure madness to the Bulltors standing behind him. "That ans it was either destroyed entirely, or that boss monster took it over as its new den..."
The Bulltors exchanged looks of pity and annoyance. To them, John’s words had jumped from weird to bizarre to total insanity.
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