Hidden in the shadows of the night, three figures were travelling deep within the ground."Will this really work? Won"t this kind of trap be too obvious?"
"Even if it"s obvious, the damage will already be done by the time they realize something is not right."
"Well, even if this fails, we can just come up with another plan." The young boy sighed. This mysterious trio was naturally Greyson, Snow, and Theo. Carefully held in Greyson"s arms was the young heir of the Devil Fox Tribe whom they secretly abducted earlier. Using his earth element, he was leading the group through the ground to the territory of the Blood Rabbits. After Theo"s scouting, Greyson"s tunnel led straight into the adored princess of the Blood Rabbit Tribe"s burrow. Not surfacing, Theo pulled out a carefully sealed flower and flung it into the room. Thin dust pollen released from the flower. Counting the time, they finally surfaced to see the rabbit was pa.s.sed out. Knowing it was his turn, Greyson brought the fox over before opening its jaw and biting down into the rabbit. Soon, marks of red poison spreading throughout the rabbit"s veins appears. Each Devil Fox contained a Flame Poison within their bodies that was released through their teeth. Slowly dying in its sleep, the rabbit never felt what happened to her. Gently placing the fox down, Greyson turned to Theo who nodded his head. Using his wind element, Greyson carefully contained all the evidence of the powder from the flower and then jumped back into the tunnel. The earth element closed the tunnel and eliminated any traces of their secret arrival. Miles away, three bodies resurfaced and it was only then that Greyson released the powder back into the air high up in the sky. All traces of a tunnel and foul play disappeared.
"I still feel like this won"t work..."
"You just don"t understand how precious each child is to the tribe leaders. They usually are not prolific. These two are most likely their sole child after millennia of trying. One dying will drive them straight to insanity."
"Really?"
"Just wait and watch!"
...
And just as prophesied, Theo returned with breaking news. The young prince of the Devil Fox tribe was caught running away in the Blood Rabbit territory after the discovery of the murder of the tribe leader"s daughter. In his anger, the Blood Rabbit tribe leader slayed the fox before asking for his ident.i.ty. Infuriated, the Devil Fox tribe leader launched a revenge attack and slaughtered a group of female scavengers of the Blood Rabbit tribe. In this way, heated battles started to occur between the tribes without the Hargravens knowing how to stop them. Taking sides was not possible.
Dumbfounded, Greyson could not believe such a simple plan worked. These kinds of plots occurred all the time in human countries to incite conflict. Primarily within the royal and aristocratic families, all sorts of ugly politics happened in secret. How could they not realize how suspicious it was for the Devil Fox heir to randomly kill the beloved Blood Rabbit tribe leader"s daughter? Maybe it was a difference in mentality like Theo mentioned. Humans could always give birth to another child, while these higher-level magic beasts struggled with offspring all the time. This was why the number of young dragons was so dismal. At this time, both sides might have already calmed down and realized the set-up, but it was too late since the deaths already occurred. Deciding not to dwell too long on the subject, Greyson just accepted the success and did not question it. Now that the Hargraven side was thrown into chaos, it was the Cidian Bear alliance"s turn.
However, soon Theo returned claiming everything was already taken care of.
"What?! What did you do?"
"It was nothing too big. I"m actually surprised they bit the bait so easily. This time I did not even need to kill anyone."
"Okay, no need to be mysterious. Just tell me what plan you implemented this time."
"Well, let"s just say that their might be a new rumor floating around. Said rumor talks about how the Cidian Bears found a young Destiny Cat. Despite such extraordinary luck, they actually want to sell the cat to the Hargravens for a certain price because they want to avoid drawn-out conflict and unnecessary deaths. Needless to say, the Murs and Kaelvirs could not allow the Hargravens to s.h.i.+ft the carefully maintained balance between the two leading tribes. Their leaders could not be so spineless! Out of the goodness of their hearts, they had to go to convince the Bears to choose otherwise. Angered by the challenge to their authority, the Cidian Bears responded a little too aggressively and the Mur and Kaelvir tribe leaders were both injured. Therefore, infighting started to occur despite the Silver Bat and Cidian Bear tribes trying to calm things down."
"Why did the bears respond so violently? That"s not very like them..."
"A certain number two of the tribe might have been drugged."
"..."
What more could Greyson say? He was starting to pity these poor tribes. So clearly used, yet at the point of no return. Now that the conflict erupted, a lot of the deep-rooted resentment is starting to pop out.
The Hargravens started killing members of both the Devil Foxes and Blood Rabbits due to their annoyance and impatience with the situation which merely further drove both tribes against them. Even the Charflys joined in feeling that the Hargravens were too much.
The Cidian Bears kept trying to convince the other two tribes that their member was drugged and that something was awry with this situation. But years of doubt cropped up and both tribes claimed that the bears had gone soft and were no longer capable of leading the alliance. Keeping such an vital secret like the Destiny Cat also disgruntled them. Lack of any ambition was as bad as too much ambition in the eyes of magic beasts. Sitting on their laurels, the Cidian Bears had long neglected the need to prove their prowess. Feeling their pride at stake, the bears tried taking a harder stance to take control of the situation with the ever loyal Silver Bats taking their side. Two against two, it was not easy for one to overcome the other since heavy losses would not help anyone.
...
Watching the chaos play out, Greyson could not help but feel impressed with Theo. Just a little nudge and push here and there has started a large cascade of issues.
"I"m surprised this method did not already cause these issues."
"The timing was opportune. Without such a substantial incentive like the Destiny Cat the Mur and Kaelvir Tribes would not feel convicted enough to actually challenge the Bears. But they know how much of an advantage having the cat is, hence making them unable to give up this chance."
"Were the Cidian Bears genuinely thinking of giving the cat away for a price?"
"Partially."
"Partially?"
"Well, yes, they were thinking of selling. But not to the Hargravens of course! That would completely tip the power balance and could cause the takeover of their territory. They were planning on selling to another already more dominant tribe in the area, so that there would not be a difference that would affect them. They could even curry favor with a powerful ally."