LEVEL EVERYTHING UP in my Eldritch Tribe

Suddenly, a voice echoed in the air, almost distant, yet sharp enough to pierce through the chaos of the moment.

"Be careful…"

The world around Lyerin seemed to slow. His smirk faded as the very fabric of reality shifted, and everything around him began to decelerate.

The air thickened, as if time itself had been stretched thin.

The movement of his Pig Orcs became sluggish, their heavy feet dragging against the earth like they were submerged in molasses.

The members of his tribe, their panicked faces and frantic gestures, turned into exaggerated, dream-like motions.

Every breath Lyerin took felt elongated, the coolness of the air entering his lungs much slower than usual, filling his chest with an odd clarity.

He could feel each gust of wind pass through his hair, and even the smallest particles of dust floating in the air became visible, suspended in time.

The atmosphere shifted too.

The sky, once a dark, looming gray, now seemed to pulse with a dull, otherworldly glow, as though the very heavens themselves had recognized the presence of something… or someone.

The usual stench of decay and rot that filled the streets of the apocalyptic city was replaced by a faint, almost nostalgic scent—something familiar, yet long forgotten.

His heart, which was racing just moments ago, now beat steadily, rhythmically, as if it too was caught in this slow, surreal moment.

Lyerin closed his eyes briefly, feeling the weight of the atmosphere press upon him, a strange sense of stillness settling over him.

Every second felt like an eternity.

And then… he recognized it.

The voice.

Krisella.

His eyes snapped open, widening slightly, the smirk completely wiped from his face.

The name reverberated in his mind.

Krisella…

His first love, from his past life.

The woman who had left him, abandoned him without a second thought. And standing beside her, now coming into view through the frozen reality, was the man she had left him for.

A man whose face Lyerin had never bothered to remember, never truly cared to know.

Yet, here they were.

Together.

Lyerin's hands clenched into fists as memories of the past life flooded back to him.

He could almost hear the whispers of betrayal, feel the coldness of abandonment creeping back into his heart.

The man beside Krisella looked strong, confident, someone who had clearly drawn her away from Lyerin long ago.

But why?

Why were they here now, in this world, in this time?

How did fate conspire to bring them to him once again?

And then, Lyerin would remember, 'Oh… I accepted them because I want to have a little bit of amusement if I have time…'

He stared at them, trying to suppress the wave of emotions rising within him, and then, as if on instinct, he began to murmur quietly to himself.

"What do I do with her?" Lyerin whispered under his breath, his voice barely audible in the slow, thickened air.

"Do I confront her? Make her pay for what she did? No… that's petty, isn't it? Past life is past life. I have everything now. I have power, a tribe… and she's just a ghost of my past…"

He frowned, thinking harder.

"I could manipulate her. Use her like I've used others to get what I want. But… do I even need to? I've already leveled up their loyalty of my tribe. Even if I use their loyalty for the sake of fun, isn't it going to be boring? What could I possibly do it make it a little bit of fun?"

Lyerin's gaze flickered toward the man beside her, the one who had taken her from him.

Does he matter?

He wondered, his thoughts swirling with possibilities.

"Do I punish him? Prove that I'm the stronger one? But then again… what would that even accomplish? He's nothing to me. Nothing but a reminder of a past I've already left behind."

He paused, contemplating. "Should I just… let it go? But why should I? Why should I let her go unpunished after everything? After the way she discarded me?"

The questions swirled in his mind, one after another, each more confusing than the last. What did he truly want?

As Lyerin debated internally, Corora, who had been standing silently by his side, watching his every movement, suddenly noticed the change in him.

She could sense the tension, the shift in his demeanor.

Something was wrong, she could feel it in her bones, in the air itself.

She glanced at Krisella and then back at Lyerin, her eyes narrowing slightly in suspicion.

"What's wrong?"

Corora asked softly, her voice cautious, almost timid, as though she were afraid of triggering something in him.

Her eyes searched his face, trying to read his thoughts.

Lyerin blinked, as though shaken from his trance, and turned to look at Corora. He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"It's nothing," he said dismissively, waving a hand as though to brush away her concern.

However, Corora wasn't so easily fooled.

She knew something was off, though she couldn't quite place her finger on it.

She had seen that look in Lyerin's eyes before—calculating, distant, as if he were weighing something in his mind.

Lyerin knew that women, especially those close to men of power, had an innate sense of competition, a primal instinct that had been passed down from the ancient past.

In the times of kings and war chiefs, the leaders had their pick of women, and those women had developed an instinctual understanding of when their man had eyes for someone else.

It was in their blood, a quiet competitiveness that they might not even realize was there

But Lyerin also knew that this same instinct blinded them to other things.

They could sense competition from other women, but they were often oblivious to the deeper, more complex feelings their men carried—feelings of doubt, anger, or betrayal.

That's why girls can sense their men having another women, not when their men was unhappy.

Corora, though sharp and observant, would never truly understand what Krisella meant to him. And that was something he could use to his advantage.

"Corora," Lyerin said, his voice calm but firm.

"I want you to gather the others. Tell the girls to prepare to head back. We need to make sure the tribe's statue is protected, even with the minotaur guarding it. No chances."

Corora hesitated for a moment, clearly sensing that there was more to his words than just concern for the statue. But she nodded obediently, not wanting to question him any further.

She knew better than to upset Lyerin, especially after the last time she had doubted him.

Even though a part of her felt something was wrong, she didn't dare challenge him.

Not again.

"Yes, I'll do that," she replied quietly, casting one last glance at Krisella before turning to carry out his orders.

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As she left, Lyerin watched her go, his mind still spinning with thoughts of Krisella and the past. And then, suddenly, an idea struck him, a realization that made his eyes widen.

"I know what to do…" he murmured to himself, a slow smile creeping back onto his face.

The pieces were beginning to fall into place, and with them, a new plan was forming.

A plan that would involve Krisella, the tribe, and his ultimate rise to even greater power.

The game had only just begun.