Ultragene Warlord

The elder told the golden mammoth, ”In the future, you ’ll encounter countless trials.
The most important thing is to remain calm.
If you begin to panic, then everyone else will start to panic as well.
I ’m growing old, and I won ’t be able to remain by your side for much longer. ”

The golden mammoth hesitated.
”I ’m just afraid that I ’ll— ”

The elder waved his trunk.
”Don ’t worry about it and go try your best.
I ’ll be watching. ”

The golden mammoth scratched his head in embarrassment.
”Elder, I don ’t know where to get started… ”

The elder sighed.
Indeed, the golden mammoth had just become the herdleader, and it would be unreasonable to expect too much from him.
”I ’ll give you another hint, then.
The reason the mammoths are panicking is because they ’re unsettled.
They don ’t know what they should be doing; the warriors are leaving because they ’ve grown disillusioned with life within the herd.
Do you understand? ”

The golden mammoth ’s eyes brightened.
He knew what he had to do.
He stepped forward and shouted, ”Everyone, our new home, our new shelter, is right before our eyes! We can ’t let our hard work go to waste now! The reason the warriors haven ’t been able to investigate the whereabouts of the missing mammoths is because we don ’t have many warriors left.
We need the warriors to stay with us, to protect all of us from the predators and lifeforms you ’ve seen lurking around these last few days! ”

Upon hearing the golden mammoth ’s words, the other mammoths all raised their heads.

The golden mammoth shouted, ”Warriors, do you feel no pride in your station? No honor and glory? Surely you wouldn ’t succumb to just a few days of hard labor—our hunts are far more intensive than that! Stay strong! ”

The warriors of the herd looked silently at the golden mammoth.

”Even if we ’ve lost our home, we can build a new one.
As long as we ’re still alive, we can build a home no matter where we are! ”

Suddenly, a snowball smashed into the golden mammoth ’s face. 

He thought that he would be able to raise the herd ’s morale, but the result didn ’t seem to be as he expected.

A mammoth rolled up another snowball and flung it at the golden mammoth.
”It ’s all your fault! It ’s because you didn ’t manage to stop the human warrior that we ’re suffering now! ”

”Why weren ’t you the one who died—why did it have to be the former herdleader?! ”

Rage quickly spread through the herd.

”Right, why weren ’t you the one who perished? If the herdleader were still around, we wouldn ’t be in such dire straits! ”

”Return the herdleader to us! Return our territory to us! ”

”What a terrible herdleader—you can ’t even protect your kin! ”

The mammoths were all very upset.
Their territory, their home, had been consumed by the simultaneous eruption of eight volcanoes, and their herdleader had suddenly died out of nowhere.
They had no choice but to leave their home, only to find themselves plagued and harassed by beasts along the way.

Those negative emotions had been stewing in their hearts and minds, and now, they had finally found an outlet.

”You keep talking about this second home, but we ’ve already been walking for so long! I don ’t see anything but ice and snow! ”

The golden mammoth ’s sudden speech had made him the other mammoths ’ target.

The elder clutched his face, unable to look at the scene.
The golden mammoth was far too naive, and he had too simplistic a conception of the other mammoths ’ mental state.
Otherwise, he wouldn ’t have tried to rouse the mammoths from their depressed stupor with nothing but a few sentences and a peppy speech.
Given how gloomy the atmosphere was, this would be a far harder task.

Perhaps the former herdleader might have been able to accomplish such a feat, but the golden mammoth was still a beginner to his role, and he hardly had enough authority in the herd to inspire the sullen mammoths.

In some sense, the other mammoths had all grown too self-important under the leadership of the previous herdleader.

They had abundant resources, and the non-combatants in particular had a rather leisurely lifestyle.
Given their comfortable state of life in the past, their indolence wasn ’t a problem.
In times of crisis, however, that laziness and self-importance had to be stripped away.

The elder felt that he bore some responsibility of his own.
He had helped the previous herdleader too much, causing him to gain too much success and hence an inflated sense of self-confidence.

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The elder wouldn ’t make the same mistake with the golden mammoth.
He would have the golden mammoth see the herd for whom they truly were—to understand their basest thoughts, as well as the problems that plagued the herd at its core.

He had to make sure that the golden mammoth didn ’t go the way of the previous herdleader.

The golden mammoth stood still and allowed the other mammoths to throw snowballs at him until they were tired.
Even after they grew bored and too exhausted to make a move, the golden mammoth continued to stand silently.

The elder looked at the golden mammoth in surprise, then shook his head.
It looked as though he did have more of a plan, after all.
The elder had underestimated him!

The golden mammoth raised his head.
”Are you all finished? No more snowballs to throw my way? ”

The mammoths were silent.

”If you ’re all done, then, are you ready to listen to me calmly now? First, the home you lost was my home, too.
I ’m a mammoth, just like all of you! I know what it feels like to lose my home— I know what it feels like to lose my friends and family.

”I was more upset than any of you at the former herdleader ’s death! But we cannot, cannot allow these trials and tribulations to turn us against each other, to criticize and make life difficult for each other. ”

The mammoths couldn ’t help but agree with their new herdleader ’s heartfelt words.

”We all share each other ’s pain, but that pain shouldn ’t be used to hurt each other.

We ’re one herd, one race, one family.
We need to stay strong, and we need to work together. ”

This time, the golden mammoth ’s heartfelt words succeeded in touching the other mammoths ’ hearts—in comparison to his previous speech, which consisted of soulless words only designed to raise morale. ”

The mammoths slowly began to nod along with the golden mammoth ’s words, but just then, the wolves ’ howls all around them rose into a crescendo.
This time, unlike all previous times, huge packs of wolves began rushing toward the mammoths from all around them.

After five days of torture, the wolves must have thought the mammoths ready for the kill.

The golden mammoth shouted, ”Warriors, protect our kin! ”

The mammoth warriors immediately raised their shields and weapons, encircling the women, children, and elderly in a circular barrier and blocking the wolves that came at them from all directions.

As the golden mammoth howled, he struck using his plain, unadorned sword with enough force to split a mountain, a will honed by thousands of swings, and an indescribable sense of age and maturity.

A single swing flung up ice and snow, cracked the ground, and killed an entire swathe of wolves.

The golden mammoth rushed out of the defensive encirclement and began a one-man stand against the wolves that came at him every which way.

Blood and bone sprayed all around him as the golden mammoth cut a path out of the wolf packs, heading straight for the giant wolf that stood at the tallest peak of the battlefield and oversaw it all.
That silvery-white wolf was clearly the leader of all the wolf packs.
If he were able to kill that wolf, the remaining leaderless wolves would surely flee.

However, the wolf packs had chosen a perfect time to strike, while the warriors were all exhausted and fatigued.
It would be trivial for any of them to make a mistake, and a mistake could be lethal in a battle for life and death.

One warrior made such a mistake.
He lost focus for a moment, only to see a wolf successfully breach the defensive encirclement and snatch away a mammoth child with its teeth…