Maalick was going deeper into the cave, when his bifid tongue involuntarily came out of his mouth.
She was analyzing the smells in the area to transmit them to his brain.
'My tongue and my Perception allow me to better control my sense of smell, but I'm no more advanced. My tongue has now become an organ in its own way. I still have trouble understanding it'
The soldier tested by sticking his tongue out voluntarily this time. He smelled the same odors around him.
'It's just as I thought. My tongue analyzes the smells with precision in a radius of maybe 100 or 200 meters'
He smelled the air in this heap of fragrances, such pure air that he hadn't tasted in a long time.
"If there's air that means there's got to be an exit !"
Maalick ran as fast as his stats could, but the loss of his tail prevented him from exploiting his full potential.
'Why does it take so long to regenerate ?'
Then new notifications appeared in front of him.
[ Alpha Team Extermination quest failure ]
[ Failure conditions met ]
[ Creating a new quest in progress ]
"What ?"
Mars explained his situation "Some quests have hidden conditions, kind of like impossible probabilities that meet each other"
Maalick knew it was going to take some time "Don't beat around the bush"
"Okay. To put it simply, when you fought the team of the asian you beat them but you didn't kill them" said the God of War.
"So I passed the quest without passing it ?"
"Let's say you succeeded in hijacking the system from its purpose" Mars corrected.
Maalick kept sticking his tongue out to see if he was getting closer to the scent 'The tunnel is longer than I thought, and with my tail regenerating my trip will take a lot longer'
The Half-Blood paused and looked at his half regenerated member "It's not enough. I'll have to force my body to focus the healing on my tail"
Maalick redirected the regenerative fluid in his body to his tail with difficulty.
'Come on ! Heal my wound !'
His regenerative plates felt his call. The general regeneration that was taking place in his body, turned into a focused operation.
"It's working !" he thought as he watched his tail regenerate faster.
It took a significant amount of his mental and physical energy, to regenerate his tail. But Maalick had done it in less than an hour.
Then he took out his weapon from his Inventory. "With the Gladius of the Hero, I should be able to regain my stamina"
He felt energized by his weapon, as if there was a special bond between him and it "It's strange, but I feel calmer when you're by my side"
With his new tail and the 11th form of the chain, Maalick ran for a very long time without stopping. His tongue was coming right back in his face, which made Mars laugh quite a few times.
Then the Half-Blood came in front of his goal. A grid rising fifty feet above him. The candidate and The Entity could see the starlight night through this window.
"Finally. After this, I can start working on how to save them"
Maalick dug his claws into the stone "This time I won't fall" he said, remembering his fall into the Hole.
The SAS agent dug his claws in as he ascended. With each new meter he climbed, he thought more and more about his two friends.
The Lizardian felt guilty for not saving them now.
Mars tried to be as objective as possible "It would be suicidal to go back in. You managed to neutralize them without killing them, but they had no information on you and you ambushed them. When they will bring up the information, they will do everything to counteract your plans"
Maalick was halfway there, but he couldn't stop thinking about Raz and Charlotte "I know it's just that..."
"That you don't want anything to happen to them, I know. I think I've grasped it since the cathedral episode. But I need to know if you..." hesitated the Olympian.
"That I what ?"
"If you're willing to kill someone for them" Mars asked him.
***
Carl, who was healed by the bandage and the magic of his team's healer, had come up from the Hole. They walked through the towers of the second level.
The soldiers cheered them on, not knowing the truth of what would be the beginning of a legend or an endless nightmare.
"Bravo Alpha Team, you did a great job!" said one of the snipers.
"You are a real blessing for our country and the Church of Liandrasn ! I hope my children become like you !" said another.
In their heads, the sounds of their applause had the same effect as a stone being thrown into the water. They sank into the void of their thoughts.
Carl's soldiers could not face their eyes. They hid their shudders of fear, disgust at themselves and Maalick's words.
As for the red-haired soldier, he kept looking at the ground out of guilt 'They're going to judge me for treason because of what I did ! No ! No ! No !'
They reached the first level where Raz was working. The troll noticed right away that he was down.
'What happened inside the last level ?'
But a guard disrupted his thoughts by hitting him with the butt of his machine pistol, "What did I tell you, Troll ? You work or it's the little one who takes it !"
Without speaking, he put Charlotte behind her and continued to mine the rocks in the heat of this hellhole.
'Fucking troll. If it were up to me, I'd take you back to your country and have you killed by your homeland'
Meanwhile, the Alpha Team was making their way to the surface in the silence of defeat.
When they arrived in front of their barracks, Carl said without turning around "No one is talking about what just happened'
"But Chief..."
Carl spoke in a calm but authoritative voice "I said nobody talks about what happened. I have to give my report to Maria"
He left with his hands in his pockets 'His yellow spots... I thought I would never see them again after Linbar. It reminds me so much of...'
Suddenly, he began to think of his little daughter in his arms. Of her brown strands and her doll that she adored.
But most of all he remembered that day. That day when he decided to end her suffering.
He bit his lip and took the direction towards the barracks of Maria. He entered without knocking and sat down on the sofa.
She was stunned by his disrespect of the rules "What the hell are you doing ?!" There was still Arthur in there.
His heart sank when he saw him because he was also one of the famous Linbar's survivors.
The second in command could see that Carl was not in his normal state. He asked him "Did the mission go well ?"
Carl took a bottle of alcohol from the table and began to pour himself a drink. He swallowed the cup of alcohol with small gulps of disgust.
Arthur, despite his differences with him, was a little concerned "Carl I think you should slow down. You haven't been drinking since..."
"That my daughter died at Linbar" he said as he put down his drink.
A heavy silence filled with doubt settled as he put it down.
The team leader revealed his report as he looked at his empty glass like his heart "Our target is a Half-Blood from the Dracmiros and Ranzara Tribe. He is also the "worthy" successor of the Polymorphic Chain..."
Then he began to smile "Conclusion : Our mission is an abysmal failure"
Arthur couldn't believe it "Are... are you kidding me Carl?"
"I wish that weren't true, Arthur"
The vice-Captain's , remembered the last time he had seen his family, in the house he had bought for them. The papers of the doctors and nurses that he had signed, to take care of them when he was gone.
And the photo he had taken with him.
Arthur tried to control himself as best he could "Where is he ?"
"I don't know" Carl answered him.
The Linbar survivor slammed him against the wall "You let him go after everything their Queen did to us ? You let him live after she killed those civilians. Those people were totally innocent children, women and men !"
Carl lowered his gaze in shame "He had paralyzed my team, when he could have killed us if he wanted. I had to get them somewhere safe. I had to..."
"You had to kill him if you found him Carl. That was your mission" said the No Man's Land Hyena.
The Alpha Team leader looked up "We have one more problem on this cursed island. A world class problem ! This time you can't ignore the situation, Maria. We need reinforcements from the empire !"
The Captain elbowed him in the throat with her mental mana.
Her blow caused him to spit out blood. He struggled to catch his breath and tried to speak. But he couldn't.
'My vocal cords !'
"I warned you that if you raised your voice, I'd bust your vocal cords"
Maria's magical pressure and the oxygen that was suddenly reduced in his lungs, made him lose consciousness.
While Carl was unconscious the former Death Squad soldier took the time to search his memory with her magic.
"Interesting. Looks like our little lizard has become a man" she whispered as if she was talking to someone in her head.
Arthur wanted to leave his barracks, but the purple-eyed lady stopped him, "You're not going anywhere. We'll have to take care of him first" she said with an evil smile.
***
The 5th princess of the Elven Kingdom of Rielwig knocked on the door of the Alpha Team's barracks, but no one answered.
'That's strange. I thought I saw them come in'
A person behind her patted her on the shoulder. The elf drew her rapier with the speed of light and put it near his neck.
"Wait, I'm a soldier of the empire !" exclaimed the Alpha Team fire soldier, waving his hands.
"Ho" she said as she saw his badge.
Bassandia put her moon-white rapier away in its sheath and held out her hand to help him to get up.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, sir... ?"
The red-haired man grabbed his hand "Ricardo. Sam Ricardo. Soldier of first class and fire soldier of the Task Force Alpha" he said as he grabbed her hand.
He looked into her golden eyes 'How beautiful she is. It almost looks like there are flames dancing in her eyes'
"Could you explain to me why your barracks is closed ?" she said pointing to the name Alpha on the door.
Sam quickly came up with a lie "Ummm. I guess you could say it was a pretty rough day for the team"
The young woman tilted her head slightly to the right with a smile "Would you like to talk about it in my barracks ?"
"I'd prefer if it's possible. If you agree of course, Mrs. Bassandia"
They both walked to her barracks in an awkward blankness that Sam broke "This is going to sound like a dumb question, but why are you wearing earrings ? I thought Elves never wore jewelry, except your King"
Bassandia began to cover her budding smile "It's true that the Elven people don't like this kind of accessory. Especially the nobles and royalty, it makes them think of... loose women" she murmured.
Sam didn't understand the meaning of the word "Loose woman?"
Then after a look filled with innuendo from the princess and a time of reflection, he understood "Oooooooh, you mean who..."
Bassandia signaled him not to talk about that "In my country, we don't talk about this kind of women, nor about their... profession"
In front of her personal barracks, she invited Sam to enter.
But he told her " Ladies first" like he was some kind of gentleman.
"You know you don't have to be so courteous to me and be so formal"
"Do I ? Cause I wouldn't want to make you feel uncomfortable or anything"
She opened the door to her barracks "Don't worry. I prefer everyone to treat me the way they treat you" she said with a smile.
They both entered her barracks and sat on a couch adorned with raven and eagle.
"How about you tell me about your day ?"
Sam began to share with her what he had seen on his mission. But he left out his attempted murder of his comrades that he still couldn't get out of his head, and what was going on in the Hole.
'No one should know the true work of the holy empire of Nomania. Not even a child of the elven royal family !'
With a smile worthy of the greatest hypocrites in history he said to her 'There, now you know' as he nervously scratched his shoulder.
Bassandia began to consider an idealistic hypothesis 'This Lizardian is a member of two Lost Tribes. If I can get in contact with him I might...'
But then she picked herself up, 'What am I thinking ?! The Elves are on the side of the Humans, on the side of the Coalition, on the right side. If I tried to do anything to them, it could destroy the relationship between our two countries'
"Hmmm... Bassandia. Do you happen to know why Arthur and my boss hate each other ?"
Sam's question brought her out of her bubble "I don't know, but it sounds like they had a very "intense" history"
Sam began to smile melancholically "You could say that in a way. I think the most qualified word to describe their relationship would be the word "broken" "
"Broken ?"
Sam sighed before revealing the sad history that bound them "The Chief's little girl, and Arthur's family were victims of the terrorist attack by the Queen of the Ranzara, nicknamed the Viper. She is the one responsible for the Linbar incident, and... for the death of 45 million people"