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The small girl seemed determined, though her voice trembled slightly. MVLeMpYr-only

Lyerin smiled, a cruel glint in his eyes. "Corona," he drawled, his tone mocking. "Why are you so upset? You think I\'m hurting her?" He lifted Corora a little higher, just enough to make her wince, her breath catching as she tried to suppress a pained cry.

"Aren\'t you hurting her?" Corona shot back, stepping closer, her youthful defiance barely masking the fear beneath. "Isn\'t she your girlfriend? Don\'t you care about her?"

Lyerin\'s smile widened. "Ah, girlfriend." He mused aloud, almost as if testing the word. "Is that what she is? Just because I said so, right? I told her she\'d be mine, so now she\'s my \'girlfriend\'? Is that how it works?"

He paused, as if lost in a deeper thought, his eyes narrowing as his grip on Corora finally loosened enough for her feet to touch the ground again. But Corora didn\'t move, too stunned by the situation to react.

Lyerin\'s smile faded as he seemed to retreat into his thoughts, his voice growing softer but more ominous.

"Before the original Stonehooves tribe was destroyed… back when it was called the Devil Horned tribe…" he muttered, more to himself than to anyone else.

His gaze became distant, memories swirling in his mind.

"I was cursed," he continued, his voice tinged with a dark bitterness. "Cursed to make Corora important to me. Too important. That\'s the reason I couldn\'t help it before."

Corora\'s eyes widened as Lyerin spoke, her heart pounding in her chest.

A curse?

Was that why he had been so protective, so obsessive?

"But now," Lyerin\'s voice turned cold again, his attention snapping back to the present, "as I\'ve begun raising my level, I can suppress that curse. I can finally think clearly."

Corora\'s stomach dropped, the cold weight of his words sinking in. Her importance to him wasn\'t real—it was just a curse. Her feelings, her place in his life, were nothing but a manipulation of magic.

"And you," Lyerin\'s eyes bored into her with a look of disdain. "You took advantage of that. You\'ve gotten arrogant. Just because I let things slide, just because I didn\'t lash out before. You think you can do whatever you want?"

Corora trembled, her voice barely a whisper. "Lyerin…"

Lyerin ignored her, his focus shifting back to Corona. "Do you know why your sister wanted to bring those people into our territory?" he asked, his voice sharp.

"She thought it was a good idea. But she doesn\'t understand what she\'s doing. Didn\'t I tell all of you before? The hidden families, the ones who were plotting even before this apocalypse started, they\'ve been planning to turn this entire city into a deadly battleground for their amusement."

His voice grew harsher, louder, and Corora flinched at every word. "And what do you think would happen if we took in all those people? Does she want the families to find them? To find us? What do you think they\'d do once they realize we\'re here?"

Corona stared at him, speechless, her earlier defiance faltering as Lyerin\'s words crashed down on her like a tidal wave.

The weight of his logic, of the reality he was forcing her to confront, made her knees weak.

As if on cue, Maria, Elena, Lydia, Fiona, Emily, and Natalie—all tribe members—rushed into the room, their faces pale with fear.

They immediately dropped to their knees in front of Lyerin, begging for mercy.

"Please, Lyerin," Maria started, her voice trembling. "Corora didn\'t know. She didn\'t mean to—"

"She didn\'t understand what she was doing," Elena added, her hands clasped together as if in prayer. "We thought we could help. We thought we could save more lives…"

"Please," Lydia chimed in, her voice desperate. "We\'re stronger now. We thought… maybe we could make a difference."

Fiona\'s voice cracked as she pleaded, "We didn\'t think they\'d find us here. We thought we could protect them, like we\'ve been protecting ourselves."

Emily and Natalie joined the chorus of begging, each of them offering their own reasons, their own justifications for Corora\'s actions.

They spoke over one another, each voice more desperate than the last, each word an attempt to pull Lyerin\'s attention away from Corora and onto them.

Lyerin watched them, his expression dark and unmoving, his eyes cold as ice.

He let them plead, let them pour out their explanations, but he wasn\'t listening.

His thoughts were already elsewhere, focused on the problem Corora had created, on the danger they now faced.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Lyerin raised a hand, silencing the room. His eyes flicked to each of the women, one by one, before settling back on Corora.

"Heroism," he said, his voice dripping with disdain. "That\'s what this is, isn\'t it? You all want to be heroes. You want to save people, act like you\'re the good guys in some story. But this isn\'t a story. This is reality.

And in reality, bringing people into our tribe without thinking about the consequences is how you get everyone killed."

He took a step forward, his presence overwhelming as he loomed over them. "Do you think those hidden families won\'t notice? Do you think they won\'t come here and destroy everything we\'ve built?"

His voice grew darker, more menacing.

"I\'ve seen it before, over and over again. Families like those don\'t care about the lives of the people they use as pawns. They\'ll sacrifice hundreds, thousands, just for their own amusement. And you, Corora, you wanted to bring more pawns right to their doorstep."

Corora\'s lips trembled as she stared at the ground, unable to meet his gaze.

Suddenly, a notification appeared in front of Lyerin, the familiar sound of the system\'s chime breaking the tense silence.

Ding!

The message flashed in front of him:

[ 77 humanoid intelligent creatures have entered the Tribe\'s territory.

[ The host has already manifested a spirit. Would the host like to invite all the intelligent creatures? ]

Lyerin stared at the message for a long moment.

His first instinct was to decline, to keep them out. But just as he was about to select \'No,\' another message appeared.

[ Note:

[ The host doesn\'t have experience leading an organization. It is not recommended for the host to accept. ]

Lyerin\'s jaw clenched.

He felt the weight of the words sink in, with a slow anger building in his chest. His eyes narrowed, his fists clenched as the room seemed to grow even quieter around him.

\'What do you mean I don\'t have experience?\' he thought bitterly, the silence in his mind almost deafening.

His ears rang with the lack of sound, the stillness broken only by the faint whisper of air around him.

Time seemed to slow as he stood there, his frustration mounting.

The system\'s unintentional insult gnawed at him, digging into old wounds he\'d tried to forget.

"Slave… loner…" he muttered under his breath. \'I\'ve been betrayed so many times that\'s why my instincts didn\'t want me to try those,\' he thought, bitterness coating every word. \'But to imply I can\'t lead? Is this spirit underestimating me?\'

Lyerin\'s teeth ground together, the anger bubbling just beneath the surface.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he opened his eyes and exhaled, his decision was seemingly made. "Alright," he said, his voice low but resolute. "If there\'s nothing you can do… then I\'ll handle them."