Chapter 1066: Heritage Totem
This is the Burning Tower’s most fundamental secret: Fire exists to burn. Every enemy becomes fuel to ignite, all of them reduced to ash.
Half a minute later, the golden crown on the Goldentop Tribe Grand Chieftain’s forehead faded completely, and the Goldentop Spellmark lost its luster. The protective aura vanished, and his body was ignited by the relentless Fire Dragon Breath swirling around him.
Burning—endless, unyielding burning...
On the other side, the Sky Rank Warlock fighting Krom suddenly turned pale, his entire body erupting with spellmarks. In an instant, he unleashed a massive fireball, dozens of meters wide, blocking Krom’s advance, then fled straight toward Dida La without looking back.
Meteors rained down from the sky, countless blazing trails streaking behind them like a meteor shower, engulfing the orange firecloud below.
A barrage of explosions thundered as the orange firecloud rippled. Under the Sky Rank Warlock’s relentless assault, over a thousand meteors crashed down in mere seconds, shattering the firecloud apart...
The firecloud burst open, and a figure wreathed in pale golden flames plummeted to the ground. The searing heat distorted the air, threatening to burn a gaping hole through space itself.
The Goldentop Tribe Grand Chieftain crashed to the earth, and within a hundred meters, the ground erupted in flames. As the Fire Dragon Breath dispersed and the fuel was spent, the fire slowly died down. The Grand Chieftain’s charred body smoked and twitched where he lay.
Elsewhere, Krom charged in from behind, his Fang Greatsword smashing hard against the Sky Rank Warlock’s shield.
With a thunderous crash, the Sky Rank Warlock’s body became a blurred shadow, plummeting to the ground.
The impact gouged a crater over ten meters wide. At its center, the Sky Rank Warlock, having triggered the Goldentop Spellmark, lay bleeding. If not for the spellmark’s protection, he would have died instantly from Krom’s strike...
This battle was now over. On the other side, Leon had grown tired of playing with Krav. He unleashed two Four-Element Bombs in rapid succession, blasting Krav to the ground again. Before he could leap up, a mass of black-red flame appeared in the surrounding fire.
In an instant, the flame transformed into a chain, binding Krav. The next moment, Krav screamed in agony as the golden light on his forehead flared. The Goldentop Tribe’s ancestral spirit wailed as it was torn apart and scattered into motes of light.
Krav’s face turned ashen. The moment he tried to draw on his magic, it felt as if every bone in his body was burning.
Leon drifted down, casting a glance at Krav.
"If I were you, I wouldn’t get any ideas. This is a Prime Flame Sprite, freshly evolved after devouring a mass of Devouring Black Flame from the Bone Lord. If you don’t want your bones turned to ash, you’d better behave."
Bound by Theo, Krav glared at Leon, his face twisted in anger and frustration, roaring loudly.
"Damn you! Another sneak attack—if you dare..."
But before he could finish, he was wracked by agonized screams, his body convulsing as a thread of black-red flame burrowed into him, gently caressing his bones...
Three seconds later, Krav was drenched in cold sweat, gasping for breath, his body limp and collapsed. He glared at Leon, but dared not utter another word.
Elsewhere, the Sky Rank Warlock and the Goldentop Tribe Grand Chieftain had been captured, but the Grand Chieftain refused to yield, his charred body wracked with pain as he continued to snarl defiance.
"Krom, if you think I’ll surrender, you’re dreaming. I’d rather fight to my last breath. My blood is my honor. Death is nothing but a return to the earth’s embrace."
Krom, I will never yield. Kill me if you must—I’ll never bow my head!
We are the Beast God’s children—we’ve never known surrender!
Dida La’s eyes flashed, ready to burn this stubborn fool alive, but Krom stopped him and stepped forward to persuade the chieftain himself.
The Sky Rank battle was over, but fighting below that rank raged on. The Goldentop Tribe’s defeat was sealed. All three of their strongest had fallen, morale was shattered, and the Bloodfang Tribe and humans pressed the attack, ready to storm the Goldentop Tribe’s settlement.
"Ral, do you still not understand the situation? If this keeps up, your Goldentop Tribe will be wiped out!"
Krom tried to reason with Ral, a hint of regret in his eyes.
If it weren’t for the undead threat, Krom’s lifelong wish would have been to defeat the Goldentop Tribe and hang his old rival Ral’s head at the Bloodfang Tribe’s gate.
But now, seeing Ral like this, Krom no longer had that wish.
Ral strained his neck, veins bulging on his forehead, eyes red as he glared at Krom. His battle aura surged again, but the sudden burst made his charred skin split open, revealing raw, bloody flesh beneath.
The agony tore at his wounds inside and out. Ral could no longer control his battle aura, forced to gasp for breath, teeth clenched, eyes locked on Krom.
"Krom, you traitor to the orcs, a disgrace to the Beast God’s honor—I refuse to yield! Even in death, I’ll never submit. If I so much as frown, I’m no child of the Beast God.
You vile bastard, bringing outsiders against us! Even in death, I won’t surrender. The Goldentop Tribe’s orcs will never bow. Even if you destroy Goldentop Tribe, it’s meaningless.
I’ll become an ancestral spirit, hiding away, telling countless generations to come how you, Krom, won this victory with despicable tricks!"
Seeing Ral’s state, Krom’s face darkened. He pointed at Krav, who lay limp on the ground, bound by Theo.
"Ral, last time you brought outsiders to attack our tribe, you didn’t act so righteous. You even had that guy pretend to be one of your Goldentop Tribe orcs, trying to deceive everyone.
Last time, you saw it yourself—when you attacked, my honored guests didn’t interfere. We only stepped in after discovering you’d brought outsiders.
You broke the rules first, betraying orc honor. If you can use outsiders to wipe out our Bloodfang Tribe, then I’ll use the same tactics against you. You brought this on yourself!"
Ral’s eyes burned red. He wasn’t afraid of death, but he refused to be the one who broke the rules—especially not the first to do so.
"Krom, how is this the same? It’s completely different. My guest is an orc, but none of your guests look anything like orcs.
My guest is also a child of the Beast God—there’s nothing wrong with him helping me. But you brought in outsiders, that’s different. You’re the one who broke the rules."
Krom wasn’t angry. He just chuckled.
"Ral, even now you’re still stubborn. Do you dare swear to the Beast God? You know our ancestral teachings—you don’t need me to remind you.
Do you dare swear by the Goldentop Tribe’s honor, swear that you did nothing wrong?
If you did nothing wrong, why didn’t you openly bring your guest? Why did you have him pretend to be a Goldentop Tribe orc?"
Ral opened his mouth, his face flushed, but said nothing. When it comes to tribal unity and swearing by the Beast God, unless your conscience is clear, no orc dares take that oath—at least not in Goldentop Tribe or Bloodfang Tribe.
Seeing Ral speechless, Krom quickly pressed his case.
"Ral, you’ve got nothing to say, right? You broke the rules set by our ancestors first. If I use the same tactics, it’s not against the rules. What’s there to complain about?"