I have Nine Lives

As the shamans talked with each other the remaining duo from the Sparron continent were huddled hugging each other, the older fox woman was hugging the younger one while soothing her, she had lost all of her teammates and 2 lives, also because of her incompetence their whole continent was at risk but there was nothing that could be done now if she blamed her or shouted at her, so she only comforted her.

Felix looked at the shaking duo and knew that something bad will surely happen to them sooner or later.

Actually, the moment he thought about something bad happening to them, the raven shaman suddenly disappeared as the older fox woman started to clutch her head in pain, she felt like a million needles were being stabbed in her brain as the younger one looked at her with scared eyes.

She tried to help her only for her to open her mouth and nothing to come out, her whole body remained paralyzed as everyone else looked unconcerned at what was happening.

The raven shaman tutted as he looked at the downed duo and said:

"You two should have known this would happen after you ended up in the last place, you should have run away!"

But after he said that he started laughing as a barrier sprouted surrounding the whole island, the older fox knew about the barrier and that's why she didn't even attempt to run away.

Felix frowned as he eyed the barrier and realized that it felt even stronger than the one that surrounded the formation he was supposed to access a few tens of minutes ago!

Siracha patted his head as he shook his head and whispered to him:

"We have ended up pretty high in rankings so our continent won't have any troubles, we should go already, it isn't our job to care about the other continents wellbeing and it's good that we don't hit them while they are down right now... as for the future we will see."

Felix nodded as he had the same thoughts as Siracha, he wasn't any hero that wanted to save the beauties nor did he feel any goodwill to the duo, in this world where the strong eat the weak they pretty much deserved what they got for being weak.

Siracha, Mashi, Felix, and his team started to leave but the Kangaroo Shaman and the Spider Shaman quickly got in front of them as they blocked their path while saying:

"Don't go so fast, we didn't finish our meeting yet!"

The Kangaroo shaman had a head full of white hair and an impressive physique, he wore a gown that didn't do anything to hide his bulging muscles and the spider shaman wore a cloak that hid his whole body, but the sheaths of his swords were there for all to see.

Felix didn't know what to do in this situation so he stayed put, he could feel immense pressure boring on his shoulders from these two people and he realized that he wasn't a match for them.

Siracha laughed as he looked at them and shook his head as he said:

"I think you forgot who you are talking to Mandobro and Shuman."

The spider shaman was Mandobro while the Kangaroo was Shuman.

Mandobro didn't say anything as he seemed like the stoic type but Shuman immediately got fired up as he entered a boxing stance and glared at Siracha before saying:

"I really wanted to settle our score as well but since we were in the middle of the event I could only look at you, but now we can finally fight!"

Shuman got fired up, literally, the fire started to sprout out of his head and body but it seemed like it was hugging him protectively instead of burning him, it was something akin to an innate armor.

Felix could feel the heat from the flames scorch his fur even though he was already 10 meters away from him and Siracha stood in front of him protecting him, was the distance between him and the shamans really that big?

Siracha frowned as he looked at his blatant attempt at provoking him before he laughed as his lightning scar on his forehead started to light up, it seemed he was ready to start up a fight!

Mashi coughed as he said in a low tone:

"You youngsters are really lively these days, can this old man join in as well for a little exercising? These old bones of mine are aching a little bit for staying still for such a long time."

The moment Mashi unleashed his aura the face of the Kangaroo paled as the Spider started to shake, his grip on the swords that he was ready to unsheath was removed as he took two steps backward leaving Shuman alone.

Shuman looked back at Mandobro and howled:

"You slimy coward!"

Mandobro just hissed at him before returning to the side of the raven shaman.

Now that Shuman was stuck between a rock and a hard place his fire armor started to disappear and he smiled awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head and laughed and said:

"Oh brother Siracha I was just joking, wasn't it 20-10 fights in your favor? Haha, my brain was muddled at that moment but you still have to stay so we can discuss how we will share the battlefronts for the Sparron continent invasion."

Siracha stopped for a few seconds but then he decided to leave again, one leg in front of the other he was ready to take his steps and leave along with his entourage when the shrill voice of the old raven was heard from behind him:

"Siracha you still have to stay for the rewards don't you?"

Siracha's body stopped for a few seconds then he looked backward at the downed fox females, the Fishman team won the event but they were on the 2nd spot so they deserved some rewards as well.

"You remember how your grandfather ended up in the same situation that year, we were all present, who knew one day you would end up to own a God's chosen?"

The Fishman team would end up with the shaman and Felix's would get the younger fox woman.

Siracha frowned as the old raven continued:

"While we can't force you to join the siege to the Sparron continent, and we won't consider there would be more resources for us. You still have to take the fox woman with you, its tradition and you know we don't like to break it, it doesn't matter what you will do with her afterward, you could even be considered lucky you get the princess of the Ishstarian Fox tribe for free, you know how much would she cost on the black market?"

There were no licentious intentions in the old man's eyes as he said that, it seemed that his body might not be able to hold up anymore but it's unknown what was going through his mind.

Siracha took a few steps forward as it seemed he wanted to leave, but then his steps faltered as he took another look at the pained faces of the duo and sighed, he returned and scooped up the younger fox in his arms, she wasn't that tall standing around 1,65 meters and Siracha was quite tall so she was pretty much a dwarf to him.

"Are you happy now?"

The raven old man smiled showing his toothless mouth and cawed as he laughed:

"I'm only thinking for her good, you should know what would happen if she ended up into the buff kangaroo's hands or in that creepy spiders, also I cannot guarantee she would end up well in my tribe either, you can see her beauty for yourself."

Siracha's heart wasn't moved by the fox princess's beauty as his wife died quite a long time ago and he promised to not love anyone else again, he was an old school type of guy, unlike the new generation who was moving from mate to mate only for bodily pleasure, but he knew this was just a trend that would die down, in the end, people changed as time passed.

The fox princess's complexion started to turn for better as she wasn't under the raven's technique anymore, however her body still shuddered as Siracha put her on his back.

Siracha knew a little how the girl would feel right now, fortunately, he was spared from this back then because of his power and connections but his grandfather wasn't as lucky, some type of sacrifice was needed for the loss in the event and he was the one who accepted to be the bargaining chip.

Siracha sighed as he remembered that incident and looked at Felix and the others before he ignored the other shamans and said:

"Let's go home guys, we have done what we were supposed to..."

Thus Siracha's entourage left, leaving the other shamans behind, Shuman was glaring at Siracha's back while Mandobro kept quiet, the raven shaman glanced down at his feet at the squirming fox shaman and shook his head as he looked at Wu Xiao who appeared after Siracha's team left:

"You should understand that this would have been our outcome if we lost, this is the truth of the world we live in."

Only the Fishmen were the odd thumb out as they looked at everything that was happening with both curiosity and some type of disgust in their eyes as they somewhat understood what was happening.

Only Altraeimo was looking at the fox lady with pity he was the only one who had empathy in the group, while they found their actions disgusting the Fishmen understood why they were doing this so they weren't really judging them.