Declan made up his mind to join Suzaku when he saw him disappear behind the barricades.
'You will have to grow up little prick.' He thought disapprovingly, apprehending with a pessimistic eye the difficulties they would have to overcome in a near future.
In spite of what it seemed, Suzaku's behavior was making Declan more preoccupied than he was willing to show it, his cigar as a proof was almost cut in two under the pressure of his jaw which was tightened because of his frustration, 'You're not going to live long believing that everyone shits rose petals.'
Generally speaking, it was true that Declan placed little value on human life, which is why he wouldn't have the same scruples as most people and especially people like Suzaku if he had to put an end to one.
Even if it was a person who wasn't hostile to him, as long as he considered that person to be a complete scumbag, he would kill him without any particular remorse if he had to or just if he felt like it.
But Declan remained human, there were people he cared about, and although he had a very nuanced view of everything else, when it came to people, he divided them into only two distinct categories; those who represented nothing to him and those who represented everything.
Suzaku was like a third category by himself since although Declan cared about him, he didn't really like him.
It couldn't be otherwise; he couldn't trust his judgement and he found him rather boring to be honest.
The only reason he cared about him was that they were bound by the fact that they were both Disciples of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
In the end, the only thing he respected about Suzaku was his strength and toughness.
At the moment, they could afford to let their guard down; they hadn't come across someone who could represent the beginning of a threat except Bruce and the monsters trying to invade Manhattan weren't strong enough to really endanger their lives neither.
'So weak that the only way I found to make the whole thing interesting when I fight them is to not use my equipments.' Recalling how easily he, Suzaku and Bruce had foiled every attempt of the monsters to get into the borough made Declan snort.
But he knew that this situation could only be temporary, the time would inevitably come when he would have to fight seriously to keep his place at the top of the food chain.
'Stronger monsters, the bitch or someone else? Well... I guess I will have the surprise when the moment comes.' All that was left to do was to find out where the problem would come from and whether he could count on Suzaku when things will turned bad.
"Please, you must help us!"
Declan suddenly heard the frightened voice of a girl coming from the other side of the barricades where Suzaku was.
'Who the hell is that?' It obviously didn't sound like Bruce or Suzaku's voice and it was rather strange since there was no one else but him and them who dared to come to the other side of the barricades.
Declan quickened his pace to see what was happening.
"I'm sorry, I don't see what I can do for you."
He then recognized Suzaku's voice.
What Declan saw when he arrived at the other side of the barricades made him smile, 'Maybe they aren't hopeless after all.'
Next to one of the many piles of monsters corpses on the bridge was Suzaku, and around him were two young women and two young men that Declan recognized in spite of the fact that they were pinching their noses to avoid having to inhale the stench emanating from the bodies.
These people were Gabriella, Judith and her brothers.
---
Boston (M.I.T)
8 hours before
---
❗ [You have eliminated a Draugr spearman (E ★★★☆☆)] ❗
❗ [75 experience points obtained] ❗
...
❗ [Your level has increased, level 10➞11] ❗
❗ [You have eliminated a Draugr swordsman (E ★★★☆☆)] ❗
❗ [75 experience points obtained] ❗
...
❗ [Your level has increased, level 11➞12] ❗
...
❗ [You have eliminated a Draugr spearman (E ★★★☆☆)] ❗
❗ [75 experience points obtained] ❗
...
❗ [Your level has increased, level 12➞13] ❗
...
❗ [You got rid of all the monsters in the area] ❗
❗ [Consideration of the different scoring parameters...] ❗
❗ [Score : A] ❗
❗ [2500 contribution points obtained] ❗
Lazar shrugged his shoulders in disbelief at the sight of the hundreds of inert Draugur spread out all other the length of the lawn of the baseball stadium, 'That's it?'
He understood what had just happened, but he couldn't bring himself to believe that defeating the monsters at the origin of the disappearance of Buren's soldiers would be so... easy.
He would verify by looking at the new descriptions he obtained in his bestiary, but it became obvious to him that if all the Draugur were dead it was because they must have had some kind of vital link that connected them to their leader and that killing him meant killing them too.
'But if killing their leader means killing them all, then why was he dumb enough to come to the front line?' Lazar still couldn't explain it to himself.
However, this thought quickly lost importance when he saw the black fog emanating from his weapon dissipate, revealing a whole new Hate.
▼ [Hate : Second form] ▼
🔷 Grade 🔷 D ★★★★★
🔷 Bonus and malus 🔷 +4 agility ✦ +3 energy ✦ +3 perception
🔷 Skills 🔷
▼ Dark slash (Offensive skill) ▼
⚫ A unique rank D ★★★★★ skill based on the same principle as the Energy Slash but with the use of your Immature Energy of Death instead of normal energy.
⚠ Incomplete skill ➞ Requires the complete mastery of the Immature Energy of Death to maximize the power of this skill.
⚫ Energy consumption ⚫ 15
🔷 ▼ Description ▼ 🔷
⚫ Your weapon keeps its basic design but its blade is longer than the previous form (95 centimeters) and the black color it obtained is a sign that your weapon is in perfect harmony with the energy you inherited.
⚫ In this rank, no other weapon can measure up to yours in offensive terms on the condition that you master your energy. You still don't have a guard, but once you've mastered your energy you can focus it on the grip of your weapon so that your hand becomes literally glued to it.
🔷 Evolution conditions 🔷
⚫ Get 30 cores from monsters of rank D ★★★★★ ⚫ 0/30 ☐
⚫ Achieved level 30 ⚫ 13/30 ☐