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This area of the jungle was relatively silent with just one voice booming from the sky.
The light illuminating the endless sky and a strange purple - orange winged bird.
"Ah, and every team must have one origin comprehension realm beast or else it's not entertaining for us," the voice said, almost mocking the weak before vanishing in the sky like there was nothing.
"Ha… it looks like the explanation is done, then next I will give you 5 hours to settle the hunting strategy before the actual hunt," the bird said, also disappearing in the endless sky.
After the hosts were gone the crowd scattered and panicked.
The announcement hit the assembly like a physical shockwave.
Suddenly, the "Grand Spectacle" turned into a desperate marketplace.
"We are the Royal Golden Lion Clan!" a massive lion roared, his fur shimmering with a literal, blinding light that announced his status as a being who had touched the Origin.
"We require one more Origin Comprehension partner!
The rewards will be beyond your imagination!"
He wasn't the only one.
The air, which had been silent during the invisible speaker's laughter, was now a cacophony of shouts and roars.
Every major clan was "roping in" rogue predators.
It was a hunt before the hunt—a war of gold, promises, and bloodlines to secure the strongest shields.
Dreleon watched this surge of greed with a cold, analytical eye.
He felt the weight of the Crane's words again.
In this field of "Shining Lions" and OCR powerhouses, a human with "Space Telekinesis" was a ghost—unseen and undervalued.
He turned to the Princess.
Vanessa stood amidst the shouting, her Cerulean robe fluttering in the wind.
She wasn't bidding.
She wasn't shouting.
She was simply watching the Bug River, her eyes reflecting the dark, swirling water.
"Your Highness," Dreleon stepped closer, his voice low enough to be buried by the Golden Lion's shouting.
"The requirements have changed.
Without a partner of that realm, we are targets, not hunters.
Shall I seek out a rogue for our unit?"
Vanessa didn't turn.
A small, cruel smile played on her lips—the kind of smile that made Dreleon realize she had already factored the origin comprehension realm into her plan.
…
The air at the assembly grounds was thick enough to choke a lesser man.
It wasn't just the humidity of the nearby Bug River; it was the suffocating pressure of a thousand predatory auras colliding in a desperate bid for power.
Shouts of "Ten thousand crystals!"
and "Ancient bloodlines!"
rose from the various clan camps as they scrambled to secure an Origin Comprehension partner.
Dreleon stood in the eye of this storm, his wooden sword feeling like a toothpick compared to the shimmering, divine weapons being brandished by the Golden Lion clan.
He looked at the Princess, his brow furrowed in a rare display of concern.
"Who is it?" he asked again, his voice barely a whisper against the roar of the crowd.
"Aslan is forbidden from participating due to the King's treaties.
Who could possibly stand as our Origin partner in a place where even the sky is watching us?"
Vanessa finally turned.
Her Cerulean robe caught the light of the setting sun, making her look less like a fugitive and more like a goddess of the hunt.
She didn't look at the shouting lions or the panicking deer-kin.
She looked up.
"You think too small, Dreleon," she said, her voice like silk over steel.
"You think like a soldier who only sees the blade in front of him.
But a Princess must see the entire forest, including the birds that fly above it."
She raised a slender hand, pointing toward the canopy where the green mist from the earlier confrontation was still settling.
"The Sky Snare Crane," Dreleon gasped, his heart skipping a beat.
"You... you made a deal with the creature that tried to eat me?"
"I made a trade with a creature that values its life," Vanessa corrected, a sharp, predatory glint in her eyes.
"The Crane is ancient, Dreleon.
It is wise enough to fear the 'Pillar' that stands behind you.
But more importantly, it is hungry for things that the Bug River cannot provide.
While you were busy learning the physics of space, I was offering it a seat at a much larger table."
Dreleon felt a shiver of realization.
The Crane hadn't just been "teaching" him out of respect for his teacher; it was a pre-arranged trial.
Vanessa had used Dreleon as the "bridge" to secure a divine predator as their guardian.
"What did you give it?" Dreleon asked, his mind reeling at the scale of her political maneuver.
"A drop of the Royal Lion's Ichor," she replied casually, as if she hadn't just traded a piece of her own kingdom's soul.
"And a promise that when the Shadow Tribe falls, the Crane shall have the first pick of the mutated marrows.
To an Origin user who has hit a wall in their evolution, that is worth more than a mountain of crystals."
Suddenly, the air above them rippled.
The space didn't just move; it folded, and the white-haloed silhouette of the Crane descended.
It didn't land on the ground; it hovered a few inches above the white stone, its emerald radiance casting long, dancing shadows across Dreleon's face.
"The girl speaks true, little disciple," the Crane's melodic chime echoed in Dreleon's mind.
"The Lions are a proud race, but this one... she has the scent of a schemer.
I find it much more entertaining to protect a Princess who knows how to buy my loyalty than to serve a King who only knows how to demand it."
Dreleon looked between the Princess and the Divine Bird.
He felt like a pawn that had suddenly realized the chessboard was ten times larger than he thought.
He wasn't just a guard; he was part of a triple-alliance between a Tyrant, a Shadow, and a Celestial.
"Don't look so shocked, Dreleon," Vanessa said, walking toward the riverbank without waiting for him.
"The invisible speaker told us that a Predator never trusts another.
I simply chose a Predator that is too smart to betray me yet.
Now, prepare yourself.
The three-month clock starts when the first drop of blood touches the Bug River.
And I intend for that blood to be the Tigers', not ours."
Dreleon tightened his grip on his sword.
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