I feel uncomfortable even a little dirty but not because I'm doing something wrong but because I'm doing to another what I would hate to be done to myself, this task makes me very uncomfortable and this feeling only got bigger with the passage of time and when the warrior's green core has ended.
My task of keeping the rune matrix stable was finally tested when the first orange core warrior was marked, even with little aura within his body his core fought both the Nightingale curse it released on his body and the runes that tried to mark himself. core.
I feel uncomfortable even a little dirty but not because I'm doing something wrong but because I'm doing to another what I would hate to be done to myself, this task makes me very uncomfortable and this feeling only got bigger with the passage of time and when the warrior's green core has ended.
My task of keeping the rune matrix stable was finally tested when the first orange core warrior was marked, even with little aura within his body his core fought both the Nightingale curse it released on his body and the runes that tried to mark himself core.
This only helped to increase my nervousness the feeling that something was wrong was more understandable when I saw those distorted black cross trembling inside the warrior's core, I can't help but think of the pyro senary where these cross just sent a signal that will warn the cultists that this warrior was branded a stranger.
That would be a great alarm system, this cru might be telling them that this warrior can't be trusted anymore. The stronger aura of the orange core warrior not only resisted throughout the process but in the end his aura tried to attack the rune matrix mana, Mia managed to keep the process functional even with this extra resistance.
On my side I had more than once to hold the mana of the runic arrays that started to get chaotic because of the mana that was bounced by the fighter core, the time taken to mark him was almost double that of green core fighters, but the work and energy expended to do this was not twice as much as four times than in the first process which was the slowest among the green core warriors.
I'm glad that just three orange core warriors here, that amount was already big enough to drain on all three. Before starting the process on Akin I believe a break to replenish aura, mana and stamina is necessary and from the sweat running down Nightingale's face I doubt she would disagree with that.
During the next few minutes, we marked all the orange core warriors leaving Akin for last, during the break to replenish our energies I went outside to get some air, but this was misinterpreted by Mia.
"Are you okay, Wolf? I know this is an unpleasant task, but it is necessary and for the greater good the cultists are too dangerous to let them complete their plans. Thousands may die because of their plans."
"I'm fine, I'm just taking some air that has an invigorating effect. I do not doubt that taking care of Akin will be a complicated and long task, you should be resting too as I am the one with the easiest job and I am worried about the difficulty we are going to face."
"Okay, I was just worried about you. This kind of task is not easy to tackle when you are not used to this line of work, you are still the one with the least experience here."
"I understand your concern and being completely honest with you, I am bothered more not by the work itself but by the possibility of me finding myself at a table like this in the future. I'm used to violence and making people like them suffer in order to get slander from them, I'm fine with that and even I was responsible for it, but the idea of being marked by others bothers me a lot."
"This kind of tactic isn't common, Wolf, you don't have to worry too much about being the target of this kind of lawsuit. The realm maintains this kind of tool and knowledge to mark someone against their strict will and with many prohibitions, no one wants to be in that rune matrix."
"That doesn't reassure me at all, it's not like all the rules of the realm are followed to the letter. I would only feel safer if the gods declared this shit taboo, that's a real ban."
"I doubt that will happen, the destructive power of this method is too small to be taxed as a taboo as it does not interfere with many lives at once and also does not interfere with the plans of the gods directly."
The rest of the break I spent alone when I enter the building again, I find Mia talking to Nightingale and Raven chatting with Akin who seems strangely calm. The fear he had before seems to be hiding inside him, no matter how screwed up his current situation being scarred by the army isn't going to improve his life, but still the possibility that he's more afraid of the cultists.
I still haven't gotten a good look at his core, but I'm sure he has a mark on him, maybe even stronger than the ones I've seen so far.
"Ready again? We will begin the last procedure; this rune matrix must be taken back to the capital soon or we will be visited by the dark guardians."
I think these dark guardians must be some division of the army that keeps dangerous items under control when they are used in the field like now. Seems like a cool job, at least his name is cool.
With everything in order again Akin and placed on the table, the cold look he has on his face can't hide the anger I see in them as he looks at the three of us. I can't say I don't understand where this is coming from, I can only hope he gets a chance to get his revenge.
I thought this would be difficult, but it seems I underestimated Nightingale. She took a purple crystal out of her robe and kept it on the table just above Akin's head, it appears to be some kind of tool, but it's not a magic tool despite having a core in it.
The high-level curse she is creating does not enter or cover Akin's body but travels to the crystal which serves as a kind of enhancer, because the curse that was a purple cloud has turned into several condensed strands that are covering and entering the body. from Akin. It seems that Nightingale didn't intend to rely on luck during Akin's turn, as the curse entered her body Mia began operating the rune matrix and the poison was dissociated so that the process completely ate.
This was long and hard, the matrix mana started to get chaotic even before Akin's gold attacked the runes. The amount of mana that was building up in the matrix and the runes that were forming before entering Akin's body were overloading the matrix.
Before that I knew that this method can work on blue core warriors, but seeing as this matrix is reaching the limit, I doubt that this is possible with this equipment, only with something much better than this I think a feat like this is possible.
Because of the purple crystal Nightingale didn't have much trouble taking care of Akin, it made Mia's life easier as well even though it was difficult for her to operate the matrix on him it was still manageable. The only one that wasn't affected much by this was my job, it was really hard to keep the steady flow of mana in the matrix if I had lost a little more control over that mama Mia would have failed in her task.
After Akin was marked he was taken by Raven and Mia to a safe room, while Nightingale put away everything and prepared to take the rune matrix away. I managed to get a good look at the crystal which is now white before she puts it away, it looks like this crystal is for single use.
I followed Raven and Mia to listen to their conversation with Akin in a very brazen way, the eyes of power were riveted on my back as I entered the room.
"As I said before you don't have to be afraid, the fact that you were captured by us is a good thing for you, Akin. The cultists don't kill people like you on their payroll for too long, you'll have known that by the time they tag you."
"I still had a chance to escape, now I'm sure I'll spend the rest of my days in a mine."
"You shouldn't be so negative I have no intention of harming you, Akin, but in order for you to get out of this situation alive and free I need you to follow my plan to the letter. Our target is the cultists I don't give a fuck about your fate so I'm ok with you going free but just so you don't get the idea if you stick to your side, you will be free but this will happen outside the realm you never mis will be able to set foot in those realms again and you will be his with the clothes on your body. He understood?"
"Serious? That's fine for me, what's your first order?"
"It's simple, you're going to tell the cultists that you got another batch of materials from me, but that's because I'm getting rid of them and fleeing the realm. My company was visited by a priest in disguise and as I'm not stupid, I'm on the run from the kingdom and I needed extra money."
"After getting the materials for a low price you will throw them to the cultists and say that doing the smuggling here is too risky, you also intend to change cities and that is why the place where you are setting up the delivery of materials will be different, you can't risk using the places you used before."
"Did you understand your role?"
"Yeah, so where are you going to set your trap?"
"That is still being decided, but now you have to send the message to the cultists that the situation here is not very good and you also have to keep your men in line. We can't risk one of them screwing up my plan, Akin, if that plan fails, you'll spend the rest of your life mining deep in the earth after I destroy its core with my bare hands. He understood?"
"Yes! I will keep everything under control."
How anticlimactic, I thought a criminal like Akin would have more willpower. Such a slim chance of getting his freedom was more than enough to make his brain lose half of its cognitive abilities, I know despair can cloud someone's mind, but he really thinks he can get out alive and free after working with cultists?
I'm pretty sure Raven will kill him and send his men into the mines for several decades, maybe even some of them will end up the same way as Akin.