Tribal Sign-In: Immortal At The Start-Chapter 205: Fanatic Squad Leaders

Rion stared at Granny Nena, who had fallen unconscious out of shock, and without even a single change in his expression, he left the hut.

Just as he stepped outside, the calm moonlight fell onto him, and his gaze lifted to the moon.

Staring at the moon, he mumbled softly, "I wish to be just like you, but I am too selfish for that."

An amused chuckle escaped him. Slowly shaking his head, he turned and made his way towards his hut at the Redwood Den.

He didn’t walk back to Zaelyane’s hut because both Zaelyane and Dora needed rest and he didn’t want to invade it.

After letting a deep sigh, he quickened his steps, and as he neared his hut, his Zone, which he had made smaller than usual, alerted him about the nine figures standing by his hut.

Furrowing his brows, he channelled his aura into his feet and appeared before the nine figures in an instant.

"Holy shit!" Yuura jumped back in fright, and the other eight squad leaders immediately turned towards Rion.

These nine figures were the warriors who used to be the squad leaders of Rion’s group before he became the high commander: Yuura, Karhun, Tarun, Zukah, Balak, Moria, Armin, Cuba, and Waron.

At the moment, they weren’t under the command of a group leader, so they directly reported to Marin and Rion.

However, their reporting to Rion was not just because of his rank but also because of the bond they had formed within such a short time.

Seeing them, Rion smiled, but inwardly, he was cursing his current situation. ’Why did they have to come?! Can’t they understand I am trying to stay away from them?’

Only the high authority, including Lara and Zaelyane, knew about the journey he was about to make and he didn’t want others to find out about it because if they did, all of them would insist on tagging along and he didn’t want any other person to follow him.

A sigh escaped him, and the squad leaders knelt. Cupping their hands towards him, they spoke in unison, "Glory to the High Commander!"

Rion smiled, crossing his arms across his chest. He asked, "What are all of you doing here?"

The squad leaders lowered their hands, and Karhun was the first to answer him, "We wish to come under you, my liege!"

"Come under me...?" Confused, Rion raised his brow and seeing the flames of determination burning in their eyes, he could guess that was actually the real reason.

He studied them for a moment, his gaze stilled on Tarun, and he asked, "What is he talking about?"

Tarun nodded, his lips stretched out into a wide grin, and he explained in a delighted voice, "We want to become a force that only listens to you! We believe that you’ll be the one to guide us to glory!"

Taken aback by their reasoning, Rion blinked a few times, his eyes shifted to Yuura, and he asked in a slightly worried voice, "Is that really what you all want and believe...?"

Yuura nodded frantically, the flames inside his eyes burned brighter than others, and he replied, "YES, MY LIEGE!"

Rion facepalmed himself and commented inwardly, ’His fanaticism has to be dangerous...’

Heaving another deep sigh, he remarked, "All of you sound like cultists..."

They frowned, confusion spread across their faces, and Zukah asked with a tilted head, "Cultists? What’s that?"

Rion’s lips curved upwards at the question, which would’ve been considered childish in his previous world, and he explained, "Cultists are those who follow a set of doctrines of a god or god-like entity without a shred of doubt or limit — They lose themselves to an absolute devotion that allows no question and independent thought."

The squad leaders exchanged confused looks with each other, and Cuba, who had the perfect warrior body, voiced, "How is that a bad thing?"

Rion fell silent for a few minutes before he said, "Without question, their acts no longer hold any morality. Without independent thoughts, they are no longer human and thus, instead of glory, what they achieve is prejudice and hatred."

Understanding dawned on them, and Yuura commented, "I didn’t understand anything, but if my liege says that it is bad, then it has to be the worst thing!"

Rion and the others chuckled at his words, and a few moments later, Rion broke the news.

"I will be leaving the mountains."

They instantly turned their heads towards them, their mouth parted to throw a barrage of countless questions at him, but before they could even voice a word, Rion placed a finger on his lips.

"Shhhh."

They shut their mouths at once and stared at Rion with questioning eyes.

Rion felt an elation at how much trust they had in him, and he explained, "All of you saw what happened to Dora..."

Everyone’s expression darkened, remembering how Dora was screaming and thrashing onto the ground because of The Remnant’s final attempt at drowning Rion into despair.

Rion clenched his left fist and continued in a sombre tone, "Once I stopped the purple miasma from ravaging her body, the shaman and the doctor checked her..."

Biting his lower lip, he added, "And they found out that she doesn’t have much to live—"

"W-What?!" A few of the squad leaders stammered, everyone’s eyes wide in horror and shock.

However, Karhun, Tarun and Yuura didn’t react. They knew Rion too well, and seeing that he was still here telling them about her, instead of cursing the Celestia, they could guess that he already had a method to cure her or at least a way towards that method.

Rion raised his arm, and everyone once again fell silent.

A faint smile creased his lips, and he announced, "But the doctor told me that there are people who might have the ability to save her, so I would leave the mountains with Dora, the doctor and Yuura... and no one else..."

Everyone turned their heads towards Yuura, but none dared to go against Rion’s command.

Yuura once again cupped his arms towards Rion and stated, "As you command, my liege."