The snake charged.Darian darted to one side, slamming his fist out at the snake as it pa.s.sed.
[You think your bare hand can hurt me…?] As quick as a thought, the snake"s scorn burst out psionically.
Sudden blue light flared in Darian"s palm.
[Uoogh!] the snake wasn"t even half-done charging forward yet when all this happened and its thought broadcast went into an incoherent scream of pain. Blood spurted as Darian zipped away fast enough to leave afterimages before the snake could retaliate. [Human…! HUMAAAAN!!]
"Wha…?" Remian and Mindy said the exact same thing with the exact same baffled look on their faces.
Darian, who had nothing in his hand before, now seemed to have an enormous blazing sword of blue light extended from his wrist. It covered his fist, and extended no less than five feet out, spread one foot thick.
[What is that?] Tim"s question flickered across in a thought-burst. [It"s not magic.]
[Second Stage Psi-Blade.] Doom explained. The concept of it was that it was simply a sword made of light. The First Stage Psi-Blade was only semi-tangible and usually didn"t retain a form very well. The Second Stage, like Darian"s, was totally solid. As for its size, that was simply a reflection of choice on Darian"s part. Something that big would be weightless, and powerful, but would prove quite costly on Darian"s Psionic power.
[Forget "totally solid", for it to be able to pierce through the scales of a Tier 6 King Challenger is really…] Remian shook his head wordlessly.
[It"s a waste, that"s what it is.] Doom shook his head. [A direct Psionic attack to the snake"s mind would have been much more effective and efficient. There was no need to physically attack its body.]
[Isn"t this a duel? It"s supposed to be a brawl, right?] Tim pointed out.
[There are other Kings who fought challenges using pure psionics. The Prism b.u.t.terfly King, for example, did not dirty a single foot.]
[Could have told me that earlier!] Darian barked, while dodging the Snake"s snapping fangs. A sudden shimmer in the air rippled, and then the Snake froze.
Abruptly, it turned around with a vicious snarl, snapping at the empty air. It twisted; it rose; it fell; it surged round and round and into loop of its own making…
Remian, Mindy, Tim and Phoebe blinked in unison as they watched the Snake Challenger basically tie itself into a knot. [Ehhhh…?]
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[Urghk!] the snake suddenly choked, half-strangled by its own coils.
[See? That works so much better.] Doom nodded in satisfaction.
[How did…?] Mindy stared. [I mean… I thought the Kings of the Wilds were strong psionically.]
[Strength is one thing. Wisdom is something else.] Doom snorted. [For all its brute force, that Snake proved remarkably easy to trick.]
[What did you do? What did you trick it with?] Mindy asked Darian.
[Nothing much. It already thought itself vastly superior to me, and that I was a weak puny human who would only flee from it, so…] Darian shrugged. [I used that. It simply believed what it wanted to believe. Trying to convince it of something it refuses to believe would have been extremely hard. Letting it deceive itself, though, was very easy.]
[I guess Wilds are like that?] Tim pondered.
[Humans are worse.] Doom snorted. [They would deceive themselves even without Psionic illusions.]
Darian meanwhile, had gone over to the snake and asked, [Do you concede?]
[I"ll tear you apart!] the Snake hissed.
Darian stabbed it. [Are you sure?]
[I"ll make you bleed!!]
He stabbed it again. [Really, really sure?]
The snake howled, and Darian went on stabbing, and stabbing, until at last, there was only silence. The Snake glared at him balefully, while Darian asked again, [Now are you ready to concede?]
This time, there was no answer. The Snake didn"t make a sound.
[Can I take silence as a.s.sent?] Darian asked Tor"ndras.
Tor"ndras observed the knotted snake and considered. [I believe so. I"m calling it. The humans have won the Eastern Edge Region.]
Rather expectedly, there was no cheering from the Wilds or anyone else for that matter.
Thinking that there should be at least someone cheering, Tim acted.
"Yay." He said tiredly, and slumped over, exhausted.
***
As far as the Wilds were concerned, the King of the Eastern Edge Region was Darian. As for the North-Eastern Edge, the Star Wolf King had won it as his territory.
From then on, the matter of humans living on their turf was entirely the business of these two Kings.
"So, what"s the plan for your territory, your majesty?" Mindy asked Darian.
Darian shivered. "Please don"t call me that!"
Remian barked a laugh from where he lay recovering in bed. "Were you planning to seize power from the start?"
"No, and I still don"t." Darian refuted. "I was just standing in to win the fight. You can do whatever."
Doom cleared his throat. "Actually, he can"t. The Wilds are watching your every move. I"m afraid you"ll have to be at least a bit involved in the running of this Region."
"What? But I"m busy enough as it is!" Darian protested.
George picked up Darian"s hand and shook it. "Welcome to my life."
***
In the following two days, Darian really understood what George meant.
The Eastern Edge Region was the area between the Speckled Highlands and the Sea. It included the Rocky Thorns, the Blood Lands, the Striped Highlands, and the Bog Marshes. At least three hundred species of Wilds lived in those five areas, and those were only the ones that the Lords reported.
Speaking of Lords, almost all the Lords of those areas were either dead or leaving immediately.
The sole exception was the Thunder Hawk Lord. While wounded from the King"s Challenge, he adamantly refused to give up on his territory and remained the Lord of the Striped Highlands. While cooperative, he was not in the least cordial. His responses were curt and utilitarian. He promised to leave the humans alone, within reason, a promise which included his family and immediate subordinates, but gave no guarantee that the Wilds living on his turf would do the same.
Also, there was an issue of Tribute. Darian instantly waived all the half-rotting carca.s.ses the five Territories could offer, but he requested for valuable herbs and fruit.
[He"s a Herbivore Lord.] the Thunder Hawk Lord snorted, and flew off before anyone else could add on more orders.
As for the other Wilds… they mostly just wanted to be left alone, and Darian thought that was just fine. All he did with them was to introduce them to their new Lords.
***
[Remian…? What is a Remian? Is he a lizard?] the Salamanders of Rocky Thorns asked.
[No, he is my brother.] Darian explained to them.
[A monkey, then.] One Salamander Elder nodded sagely.
[No, no, he"s human!] Darian tried to differentiate.
[Does he eat bananas?]
[Sometimes.]
[He"s a monkey.] the Salamander Elder confidently told his kin.
***
The Vipers of the Blood Lands were far less congenial. [What is this… Tim? We do not acknowledge a human! We Challenge him for the Lordship!]
Tim sighed. "Here we go again. I guess just killing one snake wasn"t enough."
No less than six vipers, nine rattlesnakes, four pythons, two boas and five more snake-types that Darian couldn"t even identify all started challenging Tim one by one.
"Once a week!" Darian cut in. "You guys can only challenge once a week! Otherwise, you"ll all just exhaust him to death."
[Very well.] The snakes hissed grudgingly.
"Thanks." Tim said dryly, looking at all the challengers he had to fight over the next few months.
***
But that was nothing compared to the roaring outrage that Song Chen received at the Bog Marshes. At least the Challengers of the Blood Lands were willing to line up.
The Wilds of the Bog Marshes rebelled outright. They absolutely refused to accept human rule or Song Chen or even Darian for that matter.
"So… what do I do?" Darian asked Doom.
Doom shrugged. "What do the Kings of the Wilds do whenever they face a rebellion?"
"Eat the rebels?" Darian figured.
"There you go."