Immersing himself in the wooden barrel filled with hot water, Thomas raised his head and looked at the night sky. He was lost in thought and his brows creased.
According to the description he was given, the Krias are a clan of a serpent type beasts that carries a powerful toxin.
Given their small size and slender figure, it was quite easy for them to sneak across the city defenses that were not even that good to begin with.
Even worse is that their numbers alone are closer to all cities mashed together.
If Arthur is with them, things are going to be tricky.
"I still don't know how different in time is in here and back on mars. I must finish this fast, otherwise if the demon kings attack…"
The bloody scene of his mom Jade, Clarisse, his cousin, and the others being torn into pieces by almost endless army of demons pouring out from the sky....
"I have Lumine now, as long it's provided with enough energy I should be able to win this." Thomas assured himself before leaving the bath and walked back to the bed. Once Thomas had made up his mind, he focused mind energy and studied the black orb.
....
The next morning, a loud bang was heard right outside the door and Thomas only felt a heavy object crash on his chest.
"Oh...Cough." Woken up in a hurry, Thomas lowered his gaze to the two small lioness over his chest.
"Lulu, Nana, please get off my chest. It' hea..." Thomas immediately froze as he was about to say something and stopped. Ever since her evolution, Lulu was able to freely control her own size, but no matter if big or small, she would still maintain the same weight. However, there no no way he's going to mention it otherwise he would be in a world of pain.
Nana patted him in the head before jumping down the bed. "Brother Ries, get dressed. You and sis are going there, right?"
"Lulu and I?" Thomas pondered for a moment then turned to the lion cub still lying on his chest. "Are you joining the extermination force as well?"
Lulu pouted as she guessed his thoughts. "Why not, dad himself said I'm already stronger than him so there is no problem."
"Second miss it took you some time, is everything ready to go?"
Hakin, a lion of similar age to Lulu looked over to Thomas. He was tall, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, his fur was slightly more on the orange side than yellow.
He was quite the straightforward dude that didn't care about norms or positions. He was against Thomas staying in the tribe at first and even objected to the chief. Then his opinion changed in one of Lulu and Thomas' spars, he got so scared watching them both he realized his wrongs and had been quite friendly since then.
Together with some of Lulu's cousins and other tribesmen, Thomas and a total of thirty six men headed to the other side of town.
Arriving at the address he was given, what he saw was a tall building. A single beast was staying guard.
As the two approached, the guard addressed them. "Show your invitation."
Thomas showed the letter he was given and Lulu pulled out the same type of letter.
"Everything's okay, you can head inside."
Inside the building, Thomas found several other beasts all gathered there. A total of five hundred beasts, with a minimum power of 3-star.
The species varied greatly, they were clearly taken from the various tribes within Aaron. Lions, Bears, Horses, giant insects, some of which were so unique he couldn't compare to any kind of animal or demonic beast he has seen.
Those were the most elite of their respective tribes since only a selected few got any 7-star beasts.
Lulu and Thomas had a quick look around and not much time later three black lions with dense fur and red eyes came walking towards the two.
"So you two are the ones the Earthly Core Tribe send? Not bad." Although he directed his words to group of earthly core lions, his eyes were instead fixated on Lulu.
Walking over with large steps and a smile as bright as the sun, he said, "Lulu! It's been quite a while since we have met, right?"
The one in the center looked very young, albeit a little older than Lulu. He didn't know exactly well but this should be the typical situation of the extremely handsome, rich man that forces himself on girls like in every story.
'Well, I couldn't judge if this young lion was any handsome since I know nothing of how the beauty standard is set for lions. But, it should be quite catch for other lioness, I guess?'
A strip of gold was etched into the bestial armor he wore on his body which was fairly useless in combat. It seemed he was more concerned which how he looked than to be of good use in action.
On contrary to how she acted with him, Lulu was fairly reserved as she addressed him back. "Yes, it has been one year and a half."
As she said, the last time they met was in a banquet right before she started manifesting the symptoms of evolution. Otherwise, she wouldn't even remember him.
"Who is he?" Asked a female tribesman to the people around her.
"Luke, the second young master of the Twilight Lions. Two years ago, he had already achieved 6-star as a fifth grade beast, surpassing his father the Tribal Chief. His sister Lais is already a core member of the city administration. If there are no accidents, his family may be the next managers of Aaron."
The rough Hakin looked towards Luke with the same admiration he felt for those that were strong. Lowering his voice, he whispered a couple more words to the other lions. "One and a half year ago, there was a meeting between families. Then their younger generation all participated in a hunt in the Verdan Mountain Range, he was in our team at the time."
"Moreover, I think Luke developed some feelings for second miss…"