Chapter 13: Barbaric Negotiations

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Seeing a large group of elite warriors obliterated in the blink of an eye, the barbarians were dumbfounded. Previously, they hadn’t really believed the barbarian who was lucky enough to escape, but now that they were witnessing it for themselves, they felt deeply the shock and terror brought about by the beams of light.

Shocking, it was too shocking!

Every barbarian present was petrified. To the mountain warriors, Evil Eyes were the weakest low level Magical Beasts in Terras Forest, with nonchalant personalities and slow movements. Even four or five of them attacking together was no match for a barbarian, much less one. They did not expect that the power of these useless Magical Beasts would become so terrifying after Yang Ling gathered them together.

“Sir Yang, if this is the full extent of your abilities, I do not think that you will be able to destroy our entire tribe!” The leader of the barbarians swallowed hard. “Horned Bee Beasts that have evolved to the second stage can only launch three poisonous stingers a day. The magical powers of the Evil Eyes are also limited, and they cannot attack over a long period of time. As long as we stand guard over the castle, there’s no way your attack will be successful!”

Even though they had suffered heavy casualties, the leader of the barbarians was unwilling to submit. Barbarians were natural warriors of the mountains. Since ancient times, there were only barbarians that died in battle. There were never barbarians that knelt and begged for mercy.

“That’s right, I cannot take down your entire tribe!” Yang Ling admitted it honestly, much to everyone’s surprise. “But as long as the Magical Beast army under my command is standing guard outside of your tribe, there’s no way for you to hunt out in the forest. In that case, how long can you hide in your castle?”

Seeing Yang Ling directly expose the weak point of the barbarian tribe, the eyelids of the barbarian leader twitched, sensing the unfavorable situation. He deliberated for a moment before saying, “Sir Yang, do not forget that this is the Terras Forest, and we are only a small branch tribe of barbarians. We can call upon the help of other barbarian tribes at any time!”

“Haha, what a joke. Even if the other barbarian tribes are willing to help, when can they reach this place? Are they going to come here to clean up your corpses for you?”

Yang Ling smiled coldly. After a pause, seeing the green-faced leader of the barbarians, he continued, “As an Ancient Summoner, I am merely a small fry in my family. As you can see, I can only control low level Magical Beasts like Horned Bee Beasts and Evil Eyes. But my elders are different; the high level Magical Beasts can level your tribe with numbers alone, much less with their offensive capabilities. All I have to do is set up a Teleportation Spell, and they can provide reinforcements immediately!”

Just as the leader of the barbarians had said, the magical powers of the Evil Eyes had been depleted after their continuous attacks. If a group of barbarians were to charge forward now, merely escaping unscathed would prove to be a problem. At the critical moment, Yang Ling had decided to take the risk and exaggerate his powers.

Ancient Summoner? The leader of the barbarians had a shocking revelation, finally understanding why Yang Ling was able to summon so many Magical Beasts into battle.

The leader of the barbarians was confused when he looked at Yang Ling and his cold smile. He could not understand how he had offended a terrifying person like him. Even though the barbarians were violent, they had been living in the Terras Forest for thousands of years, and they understood more than anyone how terrifying Ancient Summoners could be.

According to the records of their clan, a long time ago, there was a powerful barbarian empire on the continent, its borders vast beyond imagination. But the twenty-eighth king unknowingly offended a mysterious, powerful family of Ancient Summoners. The Ancient Summoners then summoned a horde of Magical Beasts to invade the kingdom, massacring the entire royal family in just a night. In the end, the barbarian empire became overrun, its power declining over time. The barbarians slowly exited the main stage of the continent and became recluses within the forests.

How could the leader of the barbarians dare to act rashly, if even a mighty barbarian empire was no much for a family of Ancient Summoners? The leader of the barbarians felt his skin crawl just thinking about the powerhouse behind Yang Ling. After repeatedly weighing the pros and cons, in order to ensure the continuity of the clan, all he could do was give up on the idea of defending the area. He said uneasily, “Sir Yang, might I ask why you have come to our tribe?”

“Simple, I have said it before. I’ll call off my troops after you have released your captives and paid us for our losses!”

“Alright!” The leader of the barbarians was forthright, immediately nodding his head. He instructed his guards loudly, “Release all the captives immediately, quickly!”

After receiving the order, a few of the barbarians left quickly. Soon after, they brought out a large group of captives, young and old. Among them was Alice’s grandfather.

“Grandpa, Alice can finally see you again, Grandpa…”

Seeing the familiar figure, Alice charged forward without a care in the world. To be reunited after such a crisis, the pair huddled together and cried. At the same time, the rest of the captives shed tears, all thankful to Yang Ling for saving them.

“Good, chief, since you were going to do that anyway, why be so violent in the first place?” Looking at the uneasy leader of the barbarians, it was as if Yang Ling saw an extremely fat lamb, ready for slaughter. He smiled. “Now, let me calculate our compensation. Ten Purple Crystal Coins for every injured human captive, twenty for every dead. Is that fair?”

“Alright, count it as twenty for every person!” The barbarian leader agreed readily. All he wanted to do now was to send the plague that was Yang Ling away as soon as possible. He would have paid fifty Purple Crystal Coins per person, much less twenty.

After counting the numbers of human captives and consolidating the total amount to be paid, Yang Ling smiled and said, “Chief, the compensation for the captives has been calculated, a total of two thousand five hundred Purple Crystal Coins. Now let’s talk about compensation to me. Five hundred Purple Crystal Coins for every Magical Beast, a total of twelve. We can count my effort as twenty-five thousand Purple Crystal Coins. As for my mental strain, that’s fifty thousand coins. So the total would be eighty thousand Purple Crystal Coins!”

Eighty thousand Purple Crystal Coins?

Even Casey and the rest were dumbfounded when they heard the number, much less the barbarians. The teary captives even suspected that they were dreaming! A few moments ago, they had just been despairing in the jail of the barbarians. Now, they had not only escaped with their lives, they might even receive sums of money as compensation.

“You…” The leader of the barbarians was furious. He had expected Yang Ling to ask for a little extra as compensation, but he hadn’t thought that the Ancient Summoner would extort him, using his so-called “mental strain” as an excuse to ask for eighty thousand Purple Crystal Coins.

Could he be using this as an excuse to continue his attack on the tribe?

After taking in a deep breath, the leader of the barbarians changed his expression. He tried his hardest to cover up his unease and thought about something terrifying. After hesitating for a moment, he said, “Sir Yang, to tell you the truth, we do not come into contact with the outside world very much. We only have at most two thousand Purple Crystal Coins in the tribe!”

“Sigh, that’s troublesome!” Yang Ling pretended to be having an internal struggle. “Do you have any specialty items, like Essence Crystals of Magical Beasts or Dark Fire Crystals? Even though there’s not a good market for them, they are still worth some money!”

After listening to Yang Ling, the leader of the barbarians heaved a sigh of relief. He realized that Yang Ling was only after wealth. He then creased his brows. As powerful mountain warriors, they had indeed gathered a decent amount of Magical Beast Essence Crystals over the years. But it might not satisfy Yang Ling’s appetite even if they brought all of the crystals out.

“Chief, it is understandable that you cannot cough up enough coins or Essence Crystals in such a short amount of time!” Yang Ling gave a friendly smile after seeing the barbarian leader crease his brows. “You have a large number of brave warriors and can take the time to hunt Essence Crystals or dig for Dark Fire Crystals to settle your debt. I can extend the deadline for you!”

Yang Ling deployed the offer as bait. There were many Dark Fire Crystals in Valenia Valley, and the barbarians were strong and powerful. They would make excellent laborers. Other than that, the barbarians were notorious within these parts, and their appearance was ferocious. No one would dare mess with them.

With such bait, Yang Ling and the leader of the barbarians signed a seemingly fair contract. The barbarians would provide Yang Ling with a hundred Magical Beast Essence Crystals and two full carts of Dark Fire Crystals once a month for a total of two years. Yang Ling would generously release the rest of the captured barbarians and promise to supply the barbarians with essentials such as salt.

After saying goodbye to the leader of the barbarians, Yang Ling led the satisfied group south, toward the tribe of forest elves. Along the way, the people who survived the crisis were joyful, repeatedly thanking Yang Ling for saving them.

Yang Ling had returned satisfied, but a giant storm was brewing in a magnificent castle in Wissen Town, a thousand miles away from the forest.

“Yiblis, don’t be so rough, ouch…” Ymir was sprawled on the bed, his hand resting against his bloody butt that had been torn into shreds by the Horned Bee Beasts. He kicked the old man. “Scram, get a maid in to help change the medicine!”

Ymir had been unable to sit ever since the battle against the elf tribe. His buttocks were swollen and torn, and his temper was becoming worse and worse.

“Goode, gather all of the warriors immediately. I want to bathe the elf tribe in blood. I want to tear out the brains of that Summoner!”

“Young master, this…” Goode, who was dressed fully in black, was put in an awkward position. He chose his words carefully. “Half a month ago, the master took a large group of elite warriors to see. It does not seem to be a good opportunity for revenge!”

“I don’t care! I want to kill that detestable Summoner, and I want to sell all those elves to the most wretched brothel!” Ymir roared as he punched the bed under him. He had never experienced such a humiliation growing up. The warriors he had brought along with him were exterminated. He had almost lost his life.

Seeing the agitated Ymir, the strategist Goode hesitated for a moment. “Young master, through my efforts, I have managed to establish a secret correspondence with a member of a guild of assassins. What if we…”

…

After a secret discussion, Goode silently left the room while Ymir laughed heartily. He slipped his hand into the blouse of the maid and pinched her supple breasts.