The Entire Clan Migrates

"If we refuse, will it be war?"

The middle-aged chieftain and his people could not accept the Spirit Cat Tribe being asked to surrender with empty words.

With the skeleton army pressing in, things would likely not turn out as beautifully as Suixiang and the others imagined.

If they refused to surrender, the most probable outcome was war and slaughter.

"No, we will leave directly. Just pretend we were never here."

The Spirit Cat Skeleton Warlock, having received Medivh's instructions, stepped forward to answer the Spirit Cat chieftain's question.

Medivh had no intention of starting a war. He was merely giving the Spirit Cat Tribe a chance to choose—whether they surrendered or not did not matter.

"Grandfather?"

When the Spirit Cat Skeleton Warlock stepped forward, Riddle, who had been as withered as dead wood, suddenly had light in her eyes. She ran up to the skeleton warlock and asked in confusion.

She sensed a familiar aura on that skeleton.

"Perhaps part of it is."

The Spirit Cat Skeleton Warlock glanced at Riddle and replied calmly.

The Spirit Cat Skeleton Warlock was composed of six parts, each forged from the bones of a Spirit Cat Warlock.

Judging by the situation, one of the Spirit Cat Skeleton Warlock's components was the bones of Riddle's grandfather.

"With the God of Light's blessing, how could a Necromancer defile the bones of our ancestors?"

Riddle's grandfather had died on the migration route. At the time, the situation was urgent, and the body was simply buried on the spot, not taken away.

With the God of Light's blessing, weren't Necromancers supposed to be in decline? How could this Necromancer still reanimate their ancestors' bones into undead?

"Riddle, look at this!"

Suixin quickly revealed the Inheritance Spirit Rune on her forehead and demonstrated the lost Cat Clan Combat Technique.

Suixiang followed by showing off the spells she knew.

They were very worried that their people would start fighting the skeletons over their ancestors' bones being turned into undead—that would be troublesome.

"Such a complete Inheritance Spirit Rune!"

The Cat-men's attention was instantly drawn.

The Spirit Cat Tribe's decline came from losing too many transcendents during the migration, plus the destruction of the inheritance stone tablets, which caused many traditions to fail to be passed down.

"Did you pass these on to them?"

Riddle looked at the skeleton warlord before her, then at the other skeletons suspected to be Cat-man ancestors.

The lost inheritance of the Cat-men must have come from these skeletons.

"Knowing too much is not always a good thing."

The Spirit Cat Skeleton Warlock bluntly conveyed Medivh's will.

Originally, they had only come to ask, giving the Spirit Cat Tribe a chance to relocate to Kurd City, with no intention of using force.

But Riddle had seen through the skeleton warlock's identity and understood how this group of skeletons came to be.

This was a very serious problem. Medivh was not afraid of others knowing there was a Necromancer on the Odyssey Wasteland; he was afraid of others knowing he could reanimate the dead while bypassing the God of Light's blessing.

The Spirit Cat Tribe had stumbled upon this secret. To ensure it did not leak, if persuasion to surrender failed, war would follow.

"The Cat-men belong to Kurd."

Riddle could read between the lines. She had learned all she needed to know. The Spirit Cat Tribe's future lay in Kurd.

"The Cat-men belong to Kurd!"

After Riddle made her decision, the middle-aged chieftain and the Spirit Cat Warriors echoed her, willing to accept the offer of surrender.

One path led to death, the other to revival. The Cat-men knew how to choose.

Next, the skeletons and Cat-men coexisted peacefully. They dismantled things on Spirit Cat Hill, packing everything movable onto carts and destroying what could not be taken.

Under Riddle's orders, the Cat-men respectfully exhumed their ancestors' bones from the graves and carefully packed them onto carts.

Knowing that the skeletons could pass on knowledge, the Cat-men no longer resisted their ancestors becoming skeletons.

Riddle had already made up her mind: after she died, she would guard the tribe in skeleton form, just like her grandfather.

"Lady Riddle, the Gnolls are here again!"

During the relocation, a Cat-man scout hurried back to report enemy movements.

In the battle a few days ago, Riddle had driven off the Gnoll chieftain, but she had also revealed her own condition.

Since then, the Gnoll Tribe had periodically sent warriors to harass Spirit Cat Hill, testing whether Riddle was dead or not.

"Continue the relocation. We will deal with the Gnolls."

The Spirit Cat Skeleton Warlock had the scout lead the way. The skeleton army split off several hundred Green Bone Skeletons to go and encircle the Gnolls.

"So formidable!"

The Gnoll Tribe is the Spirit Cat Tribe's sworn enemy, and the two tribes have been locked in endless conflict for years.

The Cat-men know full well how brutal the Gnolls are, and they worry whether the Skeleton Soldiers can hold their own—after all, skeletons these days are synonymous with weakness.

Yet the ferocious Gnoll Warriors are slaughtered like vegetables under a cleaver by the Green Bone Skeletons.

The Green Bone Skeletons fight with stark simplicity: you slash me and it's nothing, I slash you and you're likely dead.

Common Skeletons fight with stark simplicity, but Transcendental Skeletons put on a dazzling show.

Spirit Cat Skeleton Warriors manifest Spirit Runes on their bone bodies, unleashing various Cat Clan Combat Techniques as they chase down Gnoll Transcendental Warriors.

Spirit Cat Skeleton Warlocks swing their Bone Staves, trading spell barrages with Gnoll Warlocks.

The Ancestor Skeletons' combat performance stirs the hearts of the Cat-men watching, filling them with longing for the day they too can fight with such flair.

The Gnolls were just a harassing force, few in number, and they are quickly wiped out by the Green Bone Skeletons, who outnumber them several times over.

The Cat-men who watched the battle return and vividly describe everything they saw and heard to their kin.

The Cat-men sneak glances at the skeletons from time to time, realizing that these silent laborers hauling goods are actually so powerful.

The Cat-men are highly efficient; it takes them only half a day to prepare for the entire tribe's relocation.

Under the cover of night, the Skeleton Caravan leaves Spirit Cat Hill and retraces the route back to Kurd City.

Cat-men have excellent night vision and agile movements, allowing them to keep pace with the Skeleton Caravan's speed.

Having endured a great migration before, the Spirit Cat Tribe knows that the longer they spend on the road, the more dangerous it becomes. They grit their teeth and insist on not requesting a halt to set up camp.

"Lord Medivh, we've scouted it—the mountain path is passable."

During the Spirit Cat Tribe's migration, a Skeleton Mage reports their findings to Medivh.

Under brutal torture, the Slave Hunter Group's captives have divulged intelligence about a hidden mountain route leading to the Gewalt Federation.

The information from different captives varies somewhat, so Medivh sends the Skeleton Mage with a few Skeleton Knights to reconnoiter and confirm the correct path.

This is a major smuggling route. Medivh can enter the Gewalt Federation without passing through Winter Fortress, allowing him to purchase what he needs.

"They're worthless now. Give them to the Cat-men as a welcome gift when they arrive."

Medivh has no interest in the slave traders' ransom money.

He doesn't execute the slave traders outright; instead, he plans to let the captives serve one last purpose—to win hearts and minds.

The Gnolls only discover the Spirit Cat Tribe's full relocation a few days later.

They chase for a while, but finding the Cat-men already far ahead, they give up the pursuit and seize Spirit Cat Hill.

On the return journey, under the protection of Skeleton Sentries, the migrating caravan encounters no major crises.

Cat-men are, after all, flesh and blood—they can't compare to tireless skeletons.

So even though they don't dawdle, it still takes them fifteen days to complete the migration route.