Alice shoved her hair back away from her face as she gave an exasperated sigh. Seriously, what was that idiot thinking? She could see where Frederick was coming from, but he was going too far. Done with playing soldier? But he was Base Miu's Commander. No, that wasn't it. The man standing in front of them looked like nothing more than a cornered wild animal, baring its teeth at the hunter who'd driven it into that corner. She knew that exterminating the Aberrations had been Frederick's goal since the beginning, but his hatred was clearly clouding his judgement. Everyone wanted to get rid of those creatures. They were the ones who said they'd kill the Aberrations' leader. Kei, Lyra, Fen, Annie, Ono and Ergo, the trainees... They were fighting so bravely, putting their lives on the line. Despite being Aberrations themselves, Gull and Kirru had helped them so much, too. They'd all done everything in their power to save mankind. Alice pinched the bridge of her nose. Maybe they'd been too foolish. Frederick didn't care about any of that. He didn't care about saving humanity. He didn't care about all those people fighting desperately outside. After all, Commander Frederick Sel wasn't that kind of man. They should've realized that sooner. Ridding their world of Aberrations, that was the only thing in his life that he truly cared about.
Karabell rubbed his forehead as his lips curled into a faint, almost ironic half-smile. Seriously, what was that idiot thinking? He'd finally gone and done it. Frederick was probably intending to fight that thing on his own. He wanted to kill it by himself... or die trying. Karabell stiffled yet another sigh. He still hated that guy's guts, but he couldn't really do anything about it. They had to slay whatever that thing was, even if it meant putting up with a frenzied Frederick. Well, he had to admit, he'd expected the Commander to start acting up sooner or later. He had been living in that world of destruction for far too long. All that suffering, that torment... Frederick Sel's pain was probably greater than Karabell could even begin to imagine. The Commander was definitely stronger and smarter than other warriors, but there'd always been a few cracks in his sanity. Frederick's actions contradicted themselves. The Captain's hand twitched as he touched his spear. That guy had always been an uncontrollable variable.
"Switch over to Plan F, Een," Karabell whispered through clenched teeth.
Een didn't respond. Despite being the one who'd come up with all those scenarios, he utterly despised Plan F. After all, it involved Frederick going on a rampage. They couldn't count on him to cooperate, that much was clear. Well, it probably wasn't that bad. They just had to wait for Frederick to create an opening. But, him aside, they needed to work together. That thing wasn't the kind of enemy one could take on alone. Een scratched his nose mechanically. Frederick had always been a thorn in his side. He was simply too strange, too unpredictable. But the fact that they wouldn't have gotten so far without his help was undeniable. Well, that didn't matter at that point. The Captain had made his decision. He wanted to save everyone. That was the ideal outcome. And Een had also made his decision. Frankly, he couldn't care less about Frederick. Of course, he wasn't planning to go against the Captain's wishes. But he knew that, if push came to shove, he wouldn't prioritize saving Commander Frederick Sel's life.
"We'll wait for Frederick to land a blow. Assuming he can do that, obviously. In the meantime, we might be able to understand that thing's attack pattern, so watch its movements closely," Een explained in a low voice that only Alice could hear. Had the Captain told her about those plans? Somehow, he doubted it. "Don't do anything rash, alright? And don't worry. We know what we're doing," he added, as if trying to convince himself.
Alice didn't say anything. She stared angrily at Frederick. The girl couldn't see the look on his face, but she was sure the Commander was grinning. The man took another step forward. His movements were slow, well calculated. Frederick was beside himself with anger, but he was still a soldier. He knew better than to charge at the creature with reckless abandon. So what was he going to do?
"Aren't you getting bored, beast?" Frederick asked as he stared the creature down. "I don't particularly like this cave, you know? It's way too cold here. Well, I guess I did take off my coat, so that's that. You've captured my interest, I have to admit. Those things you said earlier, they were most interesting. But you see, I prefer fighting to talking. Our fists are the only thing required to get to know each other. Don't get me wrong, you still have to die. You seem powerful, I'll give you that. But you're still an Aberration. So let's at least enjoy this fight," his voice echoed through the cavern.
The creature's expression remained neutral as it sized Frederick up. The Commander narrowed his eyes. That thing wasn't going to make the first move. Of course it wouldn't fall for that. Despite being stronger than him, it didn't plan on letting its guard down. Circling each other and waiting for an opportunity to strike, however, wasn't going to get them anywhere. Intelligent Aberrations truly were a pain.
"Fine, I'll do it myself," he suddenly growled, lunging at his opponent.
"At last. Seems like I was right, after all. You really are a lot braver." The creature let out a short, loud laugh and darted forward. "I agree, we have both wasted enough time. Let us trade blows, then."