I Kill Cannibals!

Those on the outer edges of the battlefield had no idea that a new challenger had appeared. So, Ayse used that to his advantage.

Mid dash, Ayse lightly tossed the two flinthead knives to double-check their balance point. Then, one knife vanished from his hand. It flew undiscovered until it pierced a cannibal's neck.

The panting hunter now left without an opponent noticed the broken spear right away. And he turned his attention to the new incoming threat with his tomahawk drawn.

"I'm no enemy!" Ayse yelled with his watch translating.

At the same time, Ayse dashed toward the downed cannibal instead of the hunter. Though that didn't stop the hunter from approaching Ayse, it was enough for Ayse to prove which side he was allied with.

The hunter lunged and swiped at Ayse with the lingering fury of his fight with the cannibal.

And Ayse dove over the tomahawk without batting an eye. He landed in a roll beside the cannibal corpse, removing the makeshift knife while getting back to his feet.

Then, to the shock of the hunter, Ayse dashed toward the next dueling pair.

"I kill cannibals! I kill cannibals!"

Ayse quickly rethought his strategy to distinguish himself as an ally. And what did that better than declaring who his enemy was for the entire battlefield to hear, over and over?

The left-behind hunter stopped himself from drawing his bow. Between the jarring declaration and what Ayse did to the cannibal, the hunter took a breather while accepting the intruder as a possible ally, for the moment.

There were still dozens of duels taking place across the battlefield, and even more when including the battling wolves.

And a third of those battling men finally glanced at Ayse and his unexpected declaration.

Frrrip, Frrrip…

Two more cannibals collapsed before they could realize how much of a threat the stranger was. Their necks were skewered by their own tribe's spearheads.

But Ayse didn't try to recollect those two spearheads. In the back of his head, Ayse reaffirmed his immediate goal, *Upset the balance of battle, then turn the tables around. That's the most effective way to avoid casualties.*

Regardless of his thoughts, Ayse never stopped shouting, "I kill cannibals! I kill cannibals! I kill cannibals!"

Ayse only had one makeshift knife left. For some, he might seem like less of a threat. However, to the cannibals who didn't understand Ayse's identity whatsoever, Ayse was too jarring of a threat after slaying three cannibals with three flicks of his wrist.

As for the hunters left without a foe, one knew Ayse a bit better than the rest.

That veteran hunter, who had personally confronted Ayse in combat after the crash and guarded Ayse all day, had a lot of things crossing his mind. But Ayses's earlier words of wanting to help now outweighed all other thoughts.

"Regroup!" that veteran hunter shouted at the other freed-up hunters. "Join fights! Kill the cannibals!"

A hint of relief flashed through Ayse's eyes when that veteran hunter rallied against the cannibals instead of Ayse.

Still, that was only for a moment. Because Ayse was already nearing his next target.

"I'll kill him!" Ayse yelled. "Rally your men!"

Panting, Elder Kano's fang-pierced nose twitched. He had a few cuts but nothing deep enough to stop him. The elder didn't need to look at Ayse to recognize the robotic voice of Ayse's watch. In that split second, Elder Kano was forced to confront how he truly felt about the intruder. Whether he trusted Ayse or saw Ayse as only an enemy and a curse.

At that same moment, a thrown knife forced Elder Kano to decide immediately.

Ayse's last makeshift knife dug into the ground where Elder Kano's foe had been standing. The enemy elder leaped back to evade the knife and give heed to Ayse as a threat.

"Don't die too fast!" Elder Kano yelled against his better judgment. He used that moment to back away from the cannibal elder. "Your sacrifice is payment for your crime. Don't die too fast!"

As the cannibal elder lunged toward Elder Kano, it was Ayse who stepped in to kick the spear aside, laughing, "What if I kill all that cannibals? Is that enough payment?"

Elder Kano never replied. He didn't have full authority to say such a thing. Nor did Elder Kano feel like bantering so freely with the tribe's captive sky fiend. Yet, under the drastic circumstances, with Ayse's startling actions matching LaRee's pleas and claims, the elder stopped himself from getting in Ayse's way.

"Hi, do you understand me?"

All the while, Ayse was already done thinking about Elder Kano. He was smiling back at the cannibal elder with a hint of interest.

When the cannibal elder didn't answer his question, Ayse asked again, "You understand, don't you–"

The cannibal elder replied with his spear.

But Ayse evaded the swing without breaking eye contact. When the next spear swing followed, Ayse stepped in and pivoted. His hands grabbed the spear and locked its swing down against his shoulder, snapping the shaft as if performing a shoulder throw against the weapon.

The cannibal elder was angry and cocky. With two crusty red streaks on each cheek, the cannibal elder discarded the broken long spear and grabbed the short spear from his back.

"You expose your back!" the cannibal elder greedily chuckled.

Chink…

Ayse pivoted again, now wielding the broken spearhead as a knife to block the short spear. The fight in Ayse's good eye was brighter than ever. And Ayse's vigor was more prevalent than ever.

"You've got some backbone?" Ayse questioned with a sly smile.

The cannibal elder retorted with another thrust of his short spear, pulling back the moment Ayse's makeshift knife streaked past the cannibal's face.

When the elder took a step back, Ayse's intrigue instantly dwindled. "Oh… Sorry, I was wrong. That's not a backbone your showing off. It's your tailbone wagging in retreat…"

Such niche words weren't properly translated into the cannibal's language. But the belittling, disappointed expression on Ayse's face was universal, all too easy for the cannibal to understand and react with a face of bloodlust.