Return Of The Supreme Beast Tamer-Chapter 190: Alliance
Two hours felt like two minutes, but Zenith knew the reality. They were deep within the Red Zone, yet the atmosphere was unsettlingly calm. The group of five—Advika, Xing, Katherine, Adonis, and Phoenix—walked with an unnerving casualness, chatting and laughing as if on a leisurely park stroll, not traversing territory crawling with dangerous monsters. Zenith, the seasoned military commander, felt a knot of confusion tighten in her stomach.
Her eyes darted from the crumbling ruins of what was once a street on the right to the dense, overgrown forest on the left.
Where were the roars? The growls? The signs of a fight for survival that defined this zone?
"Em... Advika," Zenith began, her voice a little louder than a whisper, "I’ve been meaning to ask, why did you spare Lincoln and hand him over to the military?"
Advika didn’t spare her a glance, her focus fixed straight ahead. "He needs to face the people’s anger. Killing him would be an easy sentence—a cheap escape." Her tone was cold, definitive.
’A public trial, not a private execution.’ Zenith filed that away, a small insight into Advika’s rigid sense of justice.
"Oh! Another question," Zenith pressed, moving her gaze around the eerily silent landscape. "I am one hundred percent sure this is a Red Zone, but where are all the monsters?"
The sharp rebuke came in front of her:
"Commander... Please be silent, just follow us," Xing said, looking over her shoulder with a gaze that held a potent mix of irritation and warning.
"You are the one that wants to come along, so don’t ask any questions."
Zenith blinked, then silently nodded. She swallowed her professional indignation. Xing’s impatience was a testament to the gravity of their mission, a gravity Zenith hadn’t yet fully grasped. She settled into a silent observation, the only logical action left.
_
After what felt like hours, the group stopped before a huge cave entrance, a black maw in the side of a massive rock face.
"Commander Zenith... Before Christopher went on his journey, he asked us to prepare an army for him," Katherine explained, a genuine, warm smile finally breaking the group’s tense silence.
"He kind of knew Darkness would be coming back, but he didn’t know when or how strong she’d hit us again. But if we have an army ready to support us, we won’t have so many casualties."
BAM!
The sound was a ground-shaking thud, and Zenith raised her head in shock as a huge bull, standing on two legs like a human, lumbered out from the cave entrance. It was easily twice the height of any man, its muscles corded, its horns wickedly sharp.
"Watch out! A Divine Stage Beast!" Zenith yelled, automatically raising her guard, her eyes scanning for an escape route.
"Hold your socket, lady... This here isn’t some stupid mindless beast," Adonis drawled, an amused smirk playing on his lips.
"He already formed an alliance with the beasts we are looking for. The path we took is his path."
"Wait... You are saying all these beasts here are our allies?" Zenith asked, utterly shocked, her military training momentarily overridden by the surreal sight.
"Yes," the Bull spoke, his voice a deep, resonant rumble, staring directly at Zenith.
"Darkness’s goal is to take over this planet and rule over us. We don’t want that. And now... there is a bigger threat who seeks to destroy this world entirely. If we don’t come together, we will both lose."
"And this is Christopher’s idea?" Zenith asked again, trying to reconcile the image of a respected leader consorting with the very things the military was sworn to destroy.
"Yes. Stop looking so shocked and come in," Adonis said, walking inside, his hands tucked away in his pockets, his nonchalance stark against Zenith’s astonishment.
"So much is happening right under our noses... Christopher is secretly creating an army of beasts," Zenith muttered, shaking her head. The world she thought she knew was crumbling before her.
"Not secretly." Advika stopped at the entrance and looked at Zenith with a gaze that chilled her to the bone.
"The Governor knows about this." She paused, then added, her voice low and menacing: "If you don’t have anything important to say, shut up."
With that, Advika walked inside the cave, leaving the rest behind.
"Okay... You offended her. Next time, don’t. That’s an advice," Adonis said, quickly following Advika. Xing and Phoenix trailed after him.
"Hey... Advika is as hot as Phoenix. Those two ladies aren’t someone we should be offending," Katherine whispered conspiratorially to Zenith, then quickly walked inside.
"What just happened?" Zenith muttered, staring blankly at the Bull. With a deep sigh, she entered the cave, her perception of reality fundamentally shifted.
"Humans, always so confusing," the Bull muttered, and followed behind them.
_
Zenith silently followed the group to their section of the immense, naturally formed cavern and sat down on a makeshift bench. Hundreds of monstrous forms filled the space below them, a sea of glowing eyes and alien shapes.
"What are we doing now?" she whispered to the person next to her.
"Watch," Adonis answered, his eyes fixed on the center of the cavern.
BAM!!
The sound was less forceful than the Bull’s, but it commanded attention. Zenith shifted in her seat as a humanoid ant—a terrifyingly intelligent-looking creature—walked out from the darkest part of the cave, its four shimmering wings folded neatly behind it.
’A Sky Stage Beast? Such a powerful beast is here?’ Zenith thought in mild horror, her eyes moving to the hundreds of monsters below them, all staring at the ant as if he were their absolute King.
"My friends!! Today, I invited the humans over to strengthen our cooperation!" the ant spoke, its voice surprisingly calm and commanding.
"The humans made a deal with me! The whole North Forest belongs to us; it is now our home! And no harmless humans must be touched! We can help them, not attack them!! But the Beasts in the other regions aren’t with us!" The ant, whom Zenith now recognized as the leader, continued:
"That doesn’t mean we won’t defend ourselves! If some humans attack you, you must attack back! But never, I mean, never attack first!" It smashed its foot onto the ground, causing spiderweb cracks to spread across the stone surface, a demonstration of controlled, immense power.
"Anyone who attacks a human first will be severely dealt with! If you kill any innocent human, you will be killed by me, no matter who you are!" It finished, staring at the assembled beasts. Then, it turned to Phoenix, who stood up with effortless grace.
"Good day! I am Phoenix, the second Transcendent Master of Cordelia! And we are here to represent the ruler of Baltimore continent!" She moved her gaze around the cavern, a look of respect on her face, and nodded.
"Leader Tenyo already said everything! I am here to affirm this! Of course, no Human from Baltimore continent will trespass the boundaries and enter the northern regions! If someone enters and attacks, kill them on the spot! This is an order from the Baltimore ruler! It shows we want to cooperate with you all and make this world better and peaceful for everyone!"
The beasts slowly nodded their heads, a profound silence settling over the cavern as they turned back to Tenyo.
"Thanks to the life force tide, all our strength has been risen greatly! But our strength isn’t enough."
"...?!"
Everyone, including Zenith, was stunned into silence.
"What does that Ant mean by that?" she whispered, her hands gripping her knees.
"Listen," Xing said with a slight frown, indicating the seriousness of the revelation.
"There is a dangerous enemy out there, and this enemy has one goal: the destruction of our world! If we don’t fully come together with the humans, we won’t be able to defeat this enemy! That’s the main reason for this alliance! I don’t want to hide anything from you, that’s why I am letting you all in on this!"
".....?!!"
The beasts below were dumbfounded. An enemy that forced two fearsome, natural adversaries to join forces was a threat beyond comprehension.
"Does such an enemy even exist?" Zenith asked, her skepticism melting into genuine fear.
"You ask so many questions." Advika turned towards her, her face a mask of annoyance.
"You saw what Darkness did to Cordelia, but this enemy is hundred times stronger than Darkness. That’s why we are here."
Zenith blinked a couple of times. The reality of the situation finally sank in, pushing aside her shock over the beast alliance. This was not a power grab; it was total war prep.
"I understand now," she said, her voice subdued. "So what’s the plan after this?" Her question, though whispered, reached Tenyo.
The humanoid ant turned his attention directly to the human. "Now... we wait for the enemy to make the first move..."
"What if this first move is too devastating?! Why don’t we attack first?" Zenith countered, her military instincts kicking back in.
Tenyo stared at her for a few seconds, then turned to the others. "She doesn’t know?"
Katherine and the rest shook their heads.
"Know what?" Zenith asked, a sharp frown pulling her eyebrows together. She was back to being confused, but this time, the confusion felt far more dangerous.
"This enemy has more than ten Celestial Rank Beasts," Xing calmly answered, her flat tone somehow emphasizing the colossal weight of the statement.
"At the moment, we don’t have the man or beasts to take them on."
"So... so powerful?!" Zenith sat frozen in place, her face turning a shocking pale as the sheer, terrifying scope of the enemy’s strength finally registered.
The gravity of Christopher’s foresight, the necessity of the beast alliance, and the reason for the Red Zone’s silence all clicked into place. The world was on the brink of annihilation, and they were the underdogs, waiting for the first, devastating blow.
