Lyerin's breath hitched, and his eyes went wide as an enormous figure stepped into view from the shadows.
Towering above the rest of his tribe were creatures that should not have been here—hulking, grotesque beings with bulging, veiny muscles and hunched backs that strained under the weight of their own mass.
Their skin was a sickly greenish-brown, leathery and scarred, with patches of bristled hair jutting out in uneven clumps.
Thick tusks protruded from their wide, twisted snouts, glistening with saliva as they snorted and growled.
Their beady, bloodshot eyes glowed with nace, and their movents were lumbering but deliberate.
Each one of them carried a massive cleaver, jagged and worn, yet sharp enough to cleave a man in two with a single swing.
The ground seed to tremble beneath their heavy footsteps as they lumbered forward, their breath ragged and primal.
Lyerin blinked, his mind racing as he stared at the creatures.
How could they be here?
He knew these beasts all too well.
They were part of his army—the monstrous Pig Orcs of his tribe. But they were supposed to be in the ruined magical world, bound to that realm by the survival ga.
Their presence here, on Earth, was impossible.
"How... how are they here?" Lyerin muttered, taking a step back in disbelief, his voice thick with confusion.
He stared at the creatures with a mix of awe and trepidation, his heart pounding in his chest.
"They're supposed to be in the ruined magical world. This... this doesn't make sense!"
Corora stepped forward, her voice calm but tinged with urgency as she explained.
"Lyerin, when we ca back to Earth—back to the City of Horses—we found sothing strange. A stone tablet appeared before us. It said that the two worlds are now connected."
Lyerin's eyes snapped to Corora, his confusion deepening. "Connected? What do you an, connected?"
Corora nodded solemnly.
"It's a prize. A prize for winning the survival ga. The tablet said that as a reward, the ruined magical world and the real world would rge for us. Now, we can travel freely between the two realms. And so can they."
She gestured to the massive Pig Orcs, who stood silently in the distance, awaiting Lyerin's command.
The words hit Lyerin like a lightning bolt, and he instinctively took another step back, his mind reeling from the revelation.
He could feel the weight of it sinking in, a realization so profound that it made his head spin.
The implications were staggering.
As he stepped back, the ground beneath his feet shifted.
Suddenly, familiar stone walls began to materialize around them, rising from the earth like ancient guardians.
Lyerin recognized them instantly—the tall, towering walls of the labyrinth that surrounded the Minotaur Guardian, the ancestral protector of the Stonehooves Tribe.
The maze was forming all around them, its high, impenetrable walls slowly enclosing the group, creating a fortress of stone.
Lyerin turned in circles, his mind racing as he processed the sight.
The maze... the walls... it's all here, he thought, his heart thundering in his chest.
He could feel the power of the maze thrumming in the air, as if the very land itself was responding to the connection between the two worlds.
Lyerin's mind churned with possibilities. The maze, the ruined magical world, the creatures of his army—all of it was now accessible, rged with Earth.
And that ant one thing: he could level up his tribe, faster and more efficiently than ever before.
His thoughts spiraled, calculating the benefits of this newfound power, the potential it held for dominance.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Lyerin's laugh echoed across the empty street, his voice filled with manic glee. His eyes glead with excitent, his mind now racing through strategies and plans, one after the other.
The connection... it changes everything!
His thoughts beca a torrent of ideas, each one more ambitious than the last.
First, Lyerin thought, with the ruined magical world now connected, I can lead my tribe through the maze over and over, fighting the Minotaur Guardian to strengthen ourselves.
Each ti we face it, we'll grow stronger, more resilient.
Second, he mused, the magical creatures of the ruined world will be endless sources of experience and materials.
I can train the tribe in both realms simultaneously, doubling our strength in half the ti.
Third, his thoughts raced on, I can establish control over the magical resources of the ruined world—ancient relics, powerful artifacts that can fuel our growth even further.
With those in our possession, no one on Earth will be able to stand against us.
Fourth, he considered, we can use the geography of the two worlds to our advantage.
With the ability to shift between realms, we can launch surprise attacks, disappear into the magical world when needed, and erge stronger than before.
Our enemies will never know where to find us.
After that, Lyerin would shake his head.
And finally, he thought with a wicked grin, the other tribes, the other factions on Earth—they won't stand a chance.
We can crush them, one by one, using the full might of both worlds. The Borgias, the Asuras, all of them—they'll fall before us. And when they do, I'll be there to claim victory at the peak of our power.
Lyerin's laughter filled the air again, his eyes gleaming with maniacal intensity.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! So what if I'm constrained by the rules of the tribe? With this connection, there are no limits. I can level up our tribe beyond anything this world has ever seen!"
He could already see the future laid out before him—a future where his tribe stood at the pinnacle of power, with no one left to challenge them.
The possibilities were endless, and the thrill of it all made his blood sing.
But then, Lyerin's laughter died down, and he lowered his head, his eyes narrowing as a new thought occurred to him.
He smirked, the excitent still crackling in his veins.
"Before I do all that..."
Lyerin muttered, his voice dropping to a more serious tone as he gazed out at the towering walls of the maze and the nacing Pig Orcs standing guard.
"There's sothing important I need to take care of."
With that, his eyes glead with a dark resolve, and he turned to face his tribe. The real ga was just beginning.
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