Chapter 128 - Another Corruption

Almost an hour passed after their encounter.

Right now, the two Centaurides were leading the group to the nearest Centaur Tribe deeper into the forest.

During this time, Cyril learned that there were twelve Centaur tribes here before. However, because of the existence of the corrupted Druids, only six tribes remained and the survivors of the other six were divided into each tribe.

Of course, now that Sylvian attacked the other tribe and caused its destruction, only five tribes remained.

Luckily, their breeding rate wasn't bad. Though they are unlike the goblin race's incredible breeding speed, they are still quite decent…

"Cyril… We're getting too deeper into the forest… I wonder what happened to the other teams, will they look for us?" Luna asked softly.

The battle before must've caused quite a commotion. It wouldn't be surprising if it was detected by the other teams and decided to investigate. That's the protocol, after all.

If they found the crater, they would surely worry about their team.

As for the three Silver Swords Team who arrived here first, they shouldn't be that far as well… Now that no one is guarding the entrance of the forest from the southern side, there shouldn't be any problem for them reaching this place quickly.

"Don't worry, they should be focusing on finding beads at the moment..." Cyril replied as he looked ahead.

Finally, he saw the simple fence made by the other Centaur Tribe!

"Wait here! I'll speak to them first!" Pherone said as she rushed to the village while bringing the potion.

As for Cilleina, she remained together with Cyril's group silently.

Of course, Cyril knows why she stayed. There are four Centaur Warriors currently waiting on ambush…

If Cilleina moved away, they would surely attack Cyril and his group.

"Tymeon! Is it your group? Come out now! These guys aren't enemies…" The female centaur said calmly as she looked at the nearby trees.

"Hmph! Are you sure you're not being used as a hostage, Miss Cilleina?" A deep voice from another centaur replied. The owner of the voice continued hiding within the cover of the thick forest.

Upon hearing the voice, Cilleina couldn't help but chuckle.

"Haha! Of course, not! These humans are strong, they wouldn't bother doing such things."

Cilleina then stepped forward showing that she's free to move.

However, the hiding Centaurs probably felt that Cilleina was joking as they suddenly started laughing as well.

"Look at how skinny they are! Their bodies aren't even a match on one of my legs! Haha…"

Finally, one of the Centaurs revealed himself.

He's very ugly as well but very muscular. He holds a battle axe and shield as his weapon. He was still chuckling when he suddenly noticed Cilleina's body!

"Y-you're cured! Is that really you, Cilleina?!"

"Haha! Are you surprised, Tymeon? This is thanks to this man here. If you give me your shiny beads, I can get you healed as well… Kekeke!"

Cilleina said as she pointed to Cyril. She then looked at the Centaur with her smug face.

"This… I only have one of those shiny beads… I-is that fine?"

"I also have one!"

"Wait, I don't have one… Aldous, you have two of them, right? Let me borrow one!"

"Alright, just take my guarding mission in the next two days!"

The Centaurs finally relaxed and put down their guard. They even looked at Cyril's group with gentle eyes.

Soon, Cilleina explained the situation to them. The potion came from Cyril and Pherone was already at the village gathering the materials needed in order to complete the trade…

"Haa~ If we know that we could use those things to trade, we wouldn't be using them to enhance our weapons…"

"Ahhh… Now that I remember it, it's such a waste indeed."

"That's true. I could've saved five of them if I know."

"Heh! Why would you need so much?"

The four centaurs excitedly chatted for a while until Pherone returned with good news. The potion has been tested and they are now preparing to complete Cyril's request.

***

"Sir Cyril… Is it possible for us to purchase another potion? The two potions may be more than enough for this tribe but if possible, we would like to trade more to help the other four tribes that are also suffering from this curse."

An old and white-haired Centaur asked while looking at Cyril with nervous eyes. He had just experienced the healing powers of the potion. Just a small sip and it was enough to heal his cursed skin including the injuries that he suffered from the attacks of the Corrupted Druids.

He no longer cares about the recent attack made by Cyril's friend to the other tribe. It seems that both sides were at fault since none of them could understand each other.

"Chief Cimentes, I only have one more potion here with me. I can sell this to you… If I can still go back to this place, I will bring as many potions as I can… However, may I know what really happened? What truly happened to your skin?"

Cyril curiously asked.

"Ugh… It's the fault of those Corrupted Druids!" The chief then started telling the story about the sudden changes of the Druids living here in the forest.

They seemed to have touched something extremely evil somewhere in the forest which slowly corrupted them… The Druids became violent and wanted to corrupt more and more beings.

Finally, they started trying to turn the Centaurs into corrupted beings like them. They were obviously unable to do it easily so they used a curse to change the Centaur Tribe's skin to force them to submit… As it didn't work out, they no longer cared and attacked them from time to time.

Cyril frowned after hearing the story…

He then decided to ask Xagan about it.

'Xagan… When you turned back the time or something… Did it actually affect the demons—No, did it do something to the other titled Demons as well? I've been encountering a lot of demons recently. This is not normal, right?!'