Chapter 199: Oh, damned Samha is not damned
"For one, demon, do you know that there is a Lord of all Savages who is stronger than all Golden Savages?" Yuuna asked, building Mark's intrigue.
"Hm, the Savage Lord. I've heard of him," he replied casually.
And I've killed him.
Mark stared at Yuuna, wondering what other secrets she knew. The Savage Lord's existence was a secret that only Gold Lords knew. In fact, as far as Mark could tell, not even every Gold Lord knew about the Savage Lord.
And Yuuna, a mere Silver Savage, knew of him.
Indeed, she had his interest now.
"It is not just a rumor, there indeed exists such a Savage Lord," she continued. "And he is not at all an ordinary Savage. He can use all the powers in this world that any Savage can use, and he is a genius who can optimally use all of these powers to shine in a battle."
"Hm, that indeed sounds like a strong foe." Mark nodded seriously. Even now, the Savage Lord had been the most powerful of all his enemies. That guy truly had a chance of killing him, but the man had died due to his overconfidence.
Mask of the Savage elevated all abilities by a minor tier, and the Lord had a lot of powers. He was basically a Tier 3 Low-level being in a world where Tier 2 Pinnacle was the limit. Truly, the Lord had the battle power of a Tier 3 while being a Tier 2.
Inwardly, Mark couldn't help but gloat.
If I get a Mask of the Savage, I could also fight a Tier above me. With that, being invincible in a Tier doesn't sound impossible!
"Fine, I believe you in regards to the Lord. But that's barely new information for me," he said half-heartedly. "What else do you have to say?"
Yuuna rubbed the bloodstain on her masked face with her clothes. She wasn't surprised that information about the Lord's existence was not enough to satisfy the demon before her. And truly, she had something that would convince him and bring true trouble for the Gold Lords.
"Some people in the highest echelon of this world know about the Savage Lord, but not many know about the hypocrisy of the Gold Lords. Do you know of that?"
Mark squinted, then nodded. "The people with higher quantities of Heart Blood inside them can influence people with lower quantities. A Silver Savage could be influenced mentally to sacrifice their life for a Gold with just his words."
"You know that, too…" Yuuna's eyes trembled. "Yes, we Silvers see Gold Lords as elders of our tribe but to them, we are nothing but disposable trash. Humans turned to savages—only to be used as an army." Your source for fiction: m-vlempyr.
Mark closed his eyes. That could be true, but that was too much of a generalization. Like everything in the world, you can't judge a group with a statement.
Look, all orange-skinned men hated violet-skinned men! Oh, no its the opposite!
Stupid.
When Mark murdered the Silver Savages for his own needs, the Savage Lord was livid! Each death had hurt him, at least a bit according to Mark's judgements. Truly, one shouldn't give heed to another person's judgment about someone else.
"It's true that the sense of loyalty in Silvers is created using underhanded means, but in the end, I don't think it is a particularly bad thing for them," he said. "Even if they feel loyal to something they usually wouldn't, they gain unique savage magic, a powerful physical body, and the humans are also safe from demons due to them. So, it is not a bad deal."
Yuuna shook her head, red eyes seething with hatred. "Look at my face, it's a mask! What is a life without any individuality worth? What kind of mark am I leaving in the world? Just one other mask? Did I ask for this?
They are hateful scum!"
Mark looked at her with a sneer.
"Do you love your family?" he asked.
"I only have my brother and I will die for him!"
"Oh, I see?" Mark's sneer widened. "If the Gold Lords hadn't turned him into a savage, or one of the many masked Silver Savages hadn't saved him from inside the rubble, he would have died in a landslide."
She was stunned, but after a shrug, Mark said, "Continue telling me more secrets. The Gold Blood's influence thing isn't new to me, either. Tell me something actually worthwhile."
Yuuna hesitated, then nodded. She hated the Golds, and in her eyes, they were hateful foes. Thus, she wouldn't give much heed to anything good they do, as that would not conform to her existing beliefs.
"Do you know about the legendary armor?"
Mark squinted his eyes.
She gave him a briefing: "Centuries ago, Emperor Samha—a mere human—was the greatest archer on known land. Renowned for his wisdom and perfect aim. The heavens itself was so impressed, they bestowed upon him an armor. Light and strong, beyond compare.
"Emperor Samha faced the savages on his lonesome, wearing his legendary armor. His arrows tore through the savages, destroyed their ranks, and put an end to the cruel savagery. He ruled the land for years. A mere human, and he ruled over savages. Yet, they respected him.
"A mere human ruled the world with but an armor!"
Mark continued the rest: "They say that legendary armor is still out there somewhere, passed down to someone else after the ancient Emperor died. Now, it is probably in the hands of some peasant. And according to myths, that man would rise up when the world faces a threat and will abolish everything that stands in his path."
The woman nodded. "You've heard of the legendary armor, then. The armor of Emperor Samha."
"I have, so what?"
"You've heard of the Savage Lord. Now, do you know why he is so strong, why he has all the powers that a savage has?"
Mark rubbed his jaws, and asked dubiously, "Because he has the armor passed down in that Emperor Samha's lineage?"
He still had the corpse of the Savage Lord safely in his reach. Due to the existence of a piece of World Will inside them, he didn't put Gold Lord corpses into his World Space, but he had already stolen their Heart Blood and their real corpses were still where they died.
Did that Savage Lord really have such legendary armor? Why didn't I see it?
Yuuna chuckled. "What did you ask? Did the Savage Lord have the armor passed down from Emperor Samha?" her laughter turned up a notch in pitch. "No, the Savage Lord didn't get the armor passed down from the dead Emperor Samha. Because that's impossible."
"Why?" Mark frowned.
"Because Emperor Samha never died. Because he is still alive—centuries after his birth! And guess what? He is, in fact, the Savage Lord himself!"
"What?!"
"The Savage Lord—no—Emperor Samha has a weird problem. Once every few centuries, the legendary armor in his hand would eat his memories. He would start to forget everything about himself, and he would age back and become a child along with losing his memories."
Suddenly, it made a lot of sense for Mark. When he had killed the Savage Lord, he used the Parasitic Dream Shock demonic art to send him into dreams the Lord wished to see. And those were his own memories!
Can an amnesiac stop himself from watching his lost memories?
Or am I still missing something?
"But that's not the entire picture," Yuuna said with a hateful expression. "There is a very unique part about the Armor. Do you know what that armor is made up of?"
"What?"
"Heart Blood. It is made using the Heart Blood of thousands of ancient Golden Savages. And it has a very weird property. If Emperor Samha were to die somehow, he would be revived if enough living Gold Lords sacrificed themselves—of course, it will not be him but the armor itself."
"You mean…"
"Yes, the armor has eaten all of Emperor Samha's memories. If it can gain the sacrifice of some Gold Lords, it will gain true sentience and with all the memories of the Emperor—a man of incredible age—and the abilities of all Savages, the armor will truly be invincible!"
Mark could finally see the picture, somewhat vague as it may be.
Yuuna chuckled. "Once upon a time, I fell into a dark cave and I found a wall of writing there. All written in blood. It was Emperor Samha's writing. It was a sort of biography of his life. He said that when he dies, many Gold Lords would suddenly vanish, teleported away by the Armor with teleportation powers."
Mark's pupils shrank. The Gold Lords suppressing the Mist Demon had suddenly vanished—he had killed Emperor Samha, the Savage Lord. So, was the Armor, already alive?
Was it sacrificing the Gold Lords even as he spoke to reach its full potential?
Where… was it?
In the distance forest, Mark's main body whirled around and looked at the Savage Lord's corpse lying in a puddle of blood. It was still, as unmoving as any other corpse. The Armor, where was it?!
Wouldn't a person with all the powers of a Savage and the experience of an old monster be impossible for him to handle?
I have been scammed against! Fuck.