"Blage?" Vanity thought to himself, seeing the chief standing at the forefront of the tribe.
His presence was larger than life even when he was merely standing motionlessly. A formless pressure from his powerful physique and authority made it so no one dared to challenge his orders, like an unclimbable mountain that dwarfed everything in its shadow.
A subtle light flashed across Vanity's eyes as he smiled.
"Chief Blage, what are you and everyone doing here?" Savannah asked with wide eyes.
Everyone in the tribe was here. Not a single one was missing. Speaking of which, Savannah and Treko noticed something strange. All the children in the tribe were wearing thick fur clothing and looked snug. Their faces were flush from the hot sunlight but seemed perfectly fine.
But the adults didn't look so hot. The evil wind that licked everyone's skin and bones had wreaked havoc. For those with weaker bodies, their faces were pale while they still looked pretty stiff.
The only exceptions were the guards who worked out daily to strengthen themselves, Blage, the strongest in the tribe, and…Bru. She had a big grass hat that covered her forehead and a thick fur coat. Both were made by Treko just a bit ago.
"After what just happened, I have to check it out for the safety of the tribe," Blage said in a powerful tone. His chest muscles flexed as he slowly turned his stable gaze to Vanity.
His scruffy beard couldn't hide his powerful, sharp jawline as he stared at Vanity suspiciously.
"That voice that saved us. It sounded a lot like Life. Did Life see anything strange?" Blage asked, slowly posing the question to Savannah.
"As expected of Blage. He is someone who thinks like me." Vanity thought to himself after reading Blage like an open book.
As his creation, he could tell Blage purposely avoided placing that heavenly declaration on him to avoid giving him more authority. It made the other tribe members unconsciously attribute the declaration to someone outside the tribe, saving Blage's power—a smart move made in a snap of a finger. Very wisely accepting and using the power of Vanity.
But how could Vanity let that happen? He needed to snatch the perception of authority to continue his plan. For that, he needed to show everyone who was their savior.
Without saying a word, Vanity stepped forward. Placing a hand on Savannah's shoulder, he gave out a heroic gaze of heroism and was stern and sincere.
"Let me explain, Sis," Vanity said gently.
"Sis?" Savannah asked with surprise.
"When did you start calling me Sis?"
Vanity ignored her. He stepped again, getting closer to Blage. With each step, his presence seemed to get larger and larger. Emitting a formless pressure that made the tribe members feel as if they were looking at something extraordinary. It silently clashed with Blage's pressure, making the tribe members, for the first time in decades, feel that their Chief was not so impressive and unimaginable anymore.
"Is this really Life?" Bru muttered as she adjusted her freshly made hat. Her heart throbbed in sync with Vanity's steps as if he were stepping on her heart.
Feeling the same pressure oozing from Vanity, Blage went into red alert. His Blage's eyes flashed.
"Chief Blage," Vanity unexpectedly bowed.
"Huh?" Blage muttered, caught off guard by the gesture.
"Thank you and everyone else for taking care of me all these years," Vanity said with a level of sincerity that charmed everyone.
"It's been hard on all of you."
"Now it's my time to take care of all of you."
"Now it's time for me to take over my destiny. The Three Heavenly Wills placed my destiny upon me to save the world from destruction!" Vanity declared, his head lifted and his posture as straight as an arrow on the verge of piercing the sun.
"Life, what is the meaning of this?" Blage questioned with a deep frown. He had a gnawing feeling that what was about to happen wasn't good for him. But he couldn't stop it. The momentum had grown too strong to stop.
"Chief, I have realized my destiny. The apocalypse that had arrived had awakened me."
"I realized now that I am the world's incarnation in response to the world detecting that otherworldly monsters have invaded our world! If left be, they will cause the total destruction of our world. If left be, they will come after us and slaughter everyone we know and love."
"I can't let that happen! I will bear the mantle and burden of being the world's hero from now on!"
Vanity slammed his chest with his fist, causing a burst of golden light to fly out of his heart, just like the light that destroyed the darkness of the apocalypse.
Blage's face darkened seeing that light. It was the worst possible thing. Unsupple proof that Vanity was the one who had saved the entire world from the early apocalypse. He could no longer cast any doubt about that.
He didn't need to look back to see the people's hearts swayed.
Uter's eyes shone bright like the sun. Filled with endless admiration.
"Mom, we are saved! Life is our hero!"
"Life, who would have guessed you were protecting us all along? I misjudged you. A true hero." Bru said in agreement.
"A hero. Our tribe has given birth to the world's savior!" An excited tribe member shouted with gusto.
"Hero! Hero! Hero!"
One by one, others joined in on the chant. Their hearts had long grown tired of Life, and this mischievous and diabolical tribe member had undergone a drastic shift from pure negativity to pure adoration and admiration. Vanity had managed to change their perception of him in a single moment.
Blage and Vanity sensed that, at that moment, Vanity had taken a place in their heart and minds as their hero. Forgetting how poorly they had treated life in the past. In their minds, a true hero wouldn't blame them for such small matters. Vanity had already thanked them for taking good care of them and pledged to protect them.
He was a good and true hero, a figure of awe and admiration for the tribe!
Blage's mind raced as he felt threatened by his shaken authority. If Vanity stood around, he would no longer be of unquestionable authority. Thinking on his feet, Blage knew he had to cave in and push forward instead.
His face brightened up as he looked incredibly sincere.
"Life, do you hear that?" Blage said.
"What you did just now by destroying the evil darkness that covered the sky has convinced everyone that you are our hero. The mission to save our world will be perilous. Take half of our guards to assist you in finding and killing their monsters." Blage turned to the tribe.
"Is there any guard who wants to volunteer to save the world with our hero!?" Blage shouted.
Almost instantly, every guard raised their hands. Their eyes showed how excited they were.
"I am!"
"Hero, pick me! I'm good at tracking beasts and monsters!"
"I'm willing to use my body to protect the tribe!"
"Take me and my brother!"
The sincerity of the guards and tribe members was palpable. Savannah and Treko couldn't believe it. This…this was madness. Just moments ago, they whispered how they wanted to kick Life out. Even complaining about Blage for his seemingly stubbornness to kick Life out of the tribe. Yet now, they were willing to die with him so quickly.
They were speechless.
"Is this a dream?" Treko muttered as he pinched himself to see if he was asleep. When he felt a piercing pain from his side, he took a deep breath and looked at Savannah to see if she was reacting the same as him.
"So…so shameless." Savannah thought to herself, seeing how Vanity was acting.
If it hadn't been for the fact they saw his arrogance and disdain for herself, she would have been convinced by Vanity's performance, too. But now, this just seemed unbelievable to her.
The tribe's perception of him changed to being the world's hero. Vanity could sense himself getting stronger.
Before Vanity could get full of himself, he heard Stable's voice talk in his head.
"That is enough reputation building. Your power has grown enough, and any more will be too unstable. We need to start going on the journey now."
Vanity secretly rolled his eyes at Stable but knew he was right. The tribe was already in a frenzy, and any more would bring too many risks and possibly even cause a backlash.
He raised his hand slowly, causing the clamoring people to fall silent, ready to listen to his every word with their undivided attention. Feeling their intense gazes, Vanity soaked in it before speaking slowly and confidently.
"Thank you everyone. I mean it. However, this journey is too perilous for you all to go. I need to go, but you shouldn't." Vanity said sincerely.
A few guards wanted to speak up, but Vanity raised his hand again.
"No, I understand you want to help, but the Otherworldly Invaders are too strong for you to even imagine. Any guard that follows along will only be putting themselves and the world in danger."
"Sigh," Blage dramatically sighed at that but accepted it.
"Everyone stand down. If Life says it's too dangerous, then it wouldn't be right for me to send anyone else to their deaths." Blage said, using his authority to keep anyone else from trying to go.
"Thank you for your understanding," Vanity said with a grateful look.
"Before you leave, let us throw a celebration in your honor," Blage said.
Vanity shook his head.
"Time is of the essence. I need to leave as soon as possible."
"Very well, stay safe," Blage said, although he breathed a sigh of relief secretly.
Vanity nodded his head in agreement and stepped back. He bowed at the tribe again to solidify his heroic appeal and began walking south.
But he didn't get far before Savannah and Treko finally reacted and ran to follow him.
"Wait for us!" Savannah shouted and quickly caught up. She grabbed Vanity's shoulders and looked him dead in the eye with a serious expression.
"Since you are determined to go ahead with this. I'm going with you. I can't let you go through this alone."
"I-I'm going too!" Treko said, not wanting to be left behind.
"You," Vanity opened his mouth to try to dissuade them since he didn't want to share the spotlight, but he suddenly found himself outvoted.
"Let them come. I have been training them for this moment." Stable interjected.
"Savannah and Treko should come! It will be fun exploring the world with our family!" Life said with jubbly.
Outvoted by his other selves, Vanity caved and sighed.
"Fine, but that's going to cause us trouble." Vanity mentally communicated with Stable and Life.
"You can deal with it," Stable said.
"I believe in you! Hehehe!" Life chuckled as he almost accidentally retook control of their body and began skipping around like a bunny.
Vanity rolled his eyes and made sure not to let Life take over. He nodded his head at Savannah.
"Okay."
"Really?" Savannah blurted out before catching herself and sighed with relief.
"That's good. I can protect you and Treko."
Unfortunately, as Vanity had assumed, trouble quickly came. He turned his gaze to Blage and noticed a deep frown. He quickly hid it, but how could Vanity not see that he was displeased as this rechallenged his authority?
He just told the tribe that no one would be following Vanity on his heroic journey, and now, two tribe members have decided to follow him anyway. It would have been fine if Vanity had rejected them, but he unexpectedly decided to take them along.
It didn't matter if they were siblings. Now that Savannah and Treko have crossed the line, others will be tempted to try. Glancing behind him, Blage sensed that some of the more rowdy tribe members' eyes started glowing with the desire to give it a go.
"I can't let this happen, or I will lose face." Blage thought to himself and felt extremely uncomfortable.
Taking a deep breath, he straightened his back and took on a more stern expression. Noticing Blage's mood change, Vanity sighed as he knew trouble was coming.