The soldiers had tossed him in as if he were nothing more than another prisoner.
Raz stood up quickly as he saw Carl, a Coalition soldier in his cell.
"Who is this... ?" asked Charlotte who was waking up from her sleep.
The fifty-year-old was no longer in his military uniform. He was now wearing the same outfit as the many captives in this hellhole and the number 710294, tattooed on his arm.
The troll inspected his wounds and noticed that 'His throat was badly cut. It's very likely that his vocal cords and even his trachea have been damaged'
Raz put his hand on his body and looked around at the various watchtowers surrounding him 'Normally I wouldn't save a Coalition soldier, let alone a Nomanian Empire soldier for the honor of the Brotherhood. But I have no other choice...'
The war criminal gave the Witch a reassuring look "Don't worry Charlotte. He's just taking a nap"
Then he turned back to Carl 'Charlotte's sanity is extremely fragile due to her Feelings Magic. If she were to see someone die, she could cause monstrous damage and...'
Raz pushed the thought out of his head 'No. I mustn't think of that. I must make sure we escape and get back to my country. For Maalick...'
He cast a magical mini-impulse to detect any signs of injury in his upper body 'Just as I thought, his vocal cords are disabled. But apart from that, he has no major injuries. No bleeding, no foreign bodies, no lesions etc...'
Charlotte moved closer to Carl "W-Will he..."
The Troll sighed with relief "I told you before not to worry. He's just a little tired" he said to his protégée with a wink.
***
A little earlier, before the leader of the Alpha Team found himself in the same position as the thousands of prisoners in the camp.
Bassandia quickly suited up in her room and picked up her moon rapier 'Something doesn't add up with his story. I need to see the evidence of their fighting to know if he's lying to me'
She left her cabin as quietly as a cat without waking Sam.
All the night soldiers were making their rounds. They were like a timer. Every movement, passage and change of rotation was timed and planned.
'I must not raise suspicions about my presence'
When she saw the guards accompanying Carl, she took her chance with flattering words "Excuse me holy soldiers of the Empire of Nomania. May I have the honor of accompanying you in your work. I would really like to... acclimatize myself to the duties of your great country"
The military swallowed her fine words like alcohol "Of course, madam. And the honor is all ours. It's not every day that we get to escort a princess of the elven royal family" they said, bowing respectfully.
Bassandia sank into the hell that the prisoners experienced and the punishment of Maalick.
Under the omnipresent threats of the soldiers overseeing their hellish production, the skeletal deportees were exploited to death in the Zerantium mines.
They did the same repetitive, backbreaking tasks.
Men, women and children of different ages, jobs and backgrounds worked themselves to death to avoid being executed.
The few people who did not work were women and children. They were accompanied by soldiers with perverse smiles, leading them to the surface.
'What kind of infamy is this ?!'
The young elf woman was trying to refocus on her goal 'Focus Bassandia ! You won't be able to make up your opinion, if you don't know what's going on' as she recalled Sam's pathetic lies.
"Princess, we need to get the traitor into one of these cells. Do you want us to call someone to bring you up ? I'm sure one of our soldiers would be happy to take you..."
The young lady with the long ears cut him off with a smile "Don't worry, I'll handle it"
Then they separated and Bassandia went deeper and deeper into the human cruelty, until they arrived at the edge of the Hole.
Surprisingly, there was no one there. She was alone, facing herself and the question of her King.
Her hands trembled under the literal and figurative darkness of this place.
Bassandia held out her arm and closed her hand "Stellar Magic : Sparkling Light !"
A mini star formed in the palm of her hand. The rays that came through were so powerful that she had to focus herself to close her hand.
Then she let her fall into the abyss, which illuminated the cruelty, the perversity and the inhumanity of this place with a thousand lights.
At the bottom of this hell, she saw what Maalick had felt. The Horror.
The number of corpses she saw was so inconceivable, that Bassandia fell to her knees, and watched with tears as her star slowly faded into the darkness.
"Impossible... how... is it..."
She couldn't finish her questioning. The forbidden things she had just seen and her emotions in shambles, could only come out in the form of her tears.
***
Maalick took Cole's skull in his hands and slammed it against the tree "There was no need to kill him !" he said in a semi-human, semi-lizardic voice.
The skeleton put his pistol under his maw "Damn, you're really ugly up close"
Meanwhile, the Olympian was trying to introduce himself "Hello, Madam. I am Ares, the God of War and this is my... candidate"
Noveshona wasn't really in the mood "Numero uno, I'm not old enough to be called 'Madame'. And number two, tell to your fucking dog to let go of my horseman, ok? Otherwise..."
"Or I will pull the trigger. And spoiler... he's gonna die"
Maalick felt his last wounds regenerate completely and Cole could see it very well 'He has an ability that can fix him. It's going to be a pain in the ass if I have to fight him'
[ HP : 15/15 ]
Charles took advantage of this moment of confusion to run away like a coward towards the Rosibbo camp 'I must warn Maria, she will know what to do! I will join the camp and she will evacuate me as a reward. I will be welcomed as a hero for playing a major role in his discovery and death !'
Before he could continue to run, Maalick broke one of his poisonous spines and threw it into his calf with his tail. This crushed his hopes in the process.
The two candidates said to him in an extremely scary way "You, don't move !"
He was screaming and peeing on himself "Come...save...me !" as he felt the effects of the poison.
Mars was trying to snap him out of his rage "It's over, Maalick. Let him go. They might be useful for your project"
His eyes returned to their amber hue "No way, I'm cooperating with that monster ! He executed a defenseless person without any hesitation !"
"Says the guy who just sliced and diced three people in the greatest of calm !"
"Rather in the greatest of anger" rectified the doll.
Maalick wanted to crush his skull, but the duo was right 'I have blood on my hands now. I have become the person I feared most in the cathedral'
The Lizardian released his skull and left the scene.
[ You have successfully completed the Armada Quest : An Evil for a Good ]
[ Reward : Skill [ Weapon Master ]
In Maalick's brain, new information entered abruptly. He saw a man fighting in different ways with his bare hands, a sword and his chain.
Those informations were trying to fill his brain on how to maintain his position, the different strengths and weaknesses of the Polymorphic Chain, the different ways to use his gladius according to different typical situations etc...
Everything that had to do with combat, his brain absorbed like a sponge.
Such an overload made him cry out in pain "AAAAAAAARH !"
The little lucidity he had, he used it to activate his Regenerating Plates 'Activate yourself ! Activate yourself ! Activate yourself !!!'
[ Regenerative Plates activated ]
His liquid eased the pain in his brain, or at least made it bearable.
Cole commented his outburst "He's really crazy, that guy"
"Not as crazy as you"
The pain and the countless information stopped flowing into his brain as suddenly as it had arrived.
"Are you okay ?" Mars asked him.
Maalick did not answer him. He wanted to know what was happening to him.
"Armada"
[ Armada : Blessed by War ]
[ Skills ] :
- [ Ultimate Soldier ] - [ Rank : Transcendent ] - [ Evolving ] - [ Mastery : 0% ] : Your body will grow perfectly with the increasing of your physical and mental stats, as well as when you evolve.
This ability also allows you to exceed your limits.
- [ Weapon Master ] - [ Rank : Low ] - [ Evolving ] - [ Mastery : 27% ] : Every time you touch a weapon, you will receive a wave of information in your mind.
All the things to know about the weapon, is done according to the rank of the ability.
A certain amount of physical stats will be needed to unlock special techniques.
'So... all the informations are in my brain ? Damn, its fucking hurts' he said with holding his head.
With his smoky purple eyes, Cole noticed something moving in the bushes 'She's still there'
The skeleton pointed his gun at his target and shouted "I see you you fucking psycho ! It wasn't enough to stalk me for a week ?!"
In response, she sent her tomahawk at him with more power than Maalick.
Cole barely avoided it with his enhanced Perception 'She's still powerful and accurate' as he saw her weapon planted in the ground.
The Noveshona candidate fired his pistol, but Maalick made him move by throwing a bone spine between his ribs, causing him to miss.
"What are you doing, man ?! Can't you see that she tried to kill me !"
The rider target fell entangled in the tree's vines "Oh snap!" she said in a serbian accent.
The Lizardian and the skeleton approached their attacker.
She was a woman from Eastern European countries. She had a face with fine features and green eyes that were simply beautiful.
Her long, wavy black hair fell to the small of her back, giving her the look of a novice hunter.
She wore hunting clothes worthy of the greatest RPGs created on Earth.
The hunter was equipped with a small crossbow on her arm and a tomahawk stored in its sheath behind her back.
Physically she was totally normal, except for her green eyes that hypnotized the SAS agent.
'She's really... beautiful'
"My killer is a hot one, at least. But..." the skeleton said as he pointed his gun, ready to shoot.
Maalick lowered his weapon "Wait ! We don't know what she wants or... if she's with the others"
Cole replied coldly to the Mars candidate "I'll tell you one thing I know for sure, lizard. She's the one who tried to kill me repeatedly, when the other freaks tried to kill me for three fucking weeks !"
Green Eyes spoke for the first time "I know what you are, monster"
Cole crouched down and said to her while threatening her with his gun "Oh yeah, and what is that ? Go ahead and explain, because even I have trouble understanding it"
With the utmost seriousness, she answered him "You are a Legendary Monster"
Cole and Maalick didn't understand anything she was saying "A what ?"
She lifted her head a little more and saw the Entities on the shoulders of the two men "Wait... you guys are candidates ?"
Behind her hood, the young woman's Entity revealed itself very slowly.
The Agent of Chaos and the God of War, both swallowed their saliva as they felt her aura containing billions of dark green monsters roar, rumble and snarl.
"A Transcended !" said the two Gods.
[ Ares used the function, Room ]
[ Does the Agent of Chaos, Noveshona and Ubrilt Jagt, the Legendary Monster Hunter, want to join him ? ]
The Green-Eyed Entity nodded.
[ Ubrilt Jagt agreed to join Ares ]
Both disappeared into a disciplined orange and green aura filled with monsters of all kinds.
The two candidates waited for Noveshona to go too. But apparently, the Agent of Chaos had other plans.
Cole looked at his doll "Aren't you going ?"
"And why should I do that, huh ? I have absolutely no interest in going there. Besides, it's not like I'm going to miss out on any fun"
The horseman pointed his gun at his temple and said to his Entity "Now you have one. If you don't go with them, I'll pull the trigger"
Noveshona stuttered "You... you're bluffing ! You wouldn't go that far !"
The skeleton was confiden "Are you sure about that ? Because before the Designer brought me into this world, I was playing some russian roulette with myself !"
Cole leaned back on the hammer of his handgun "So I'll ask you again, Noveshona. Are you sure you don't want to go ?"
The horned doll sent one of her diamond ball gowns into his face "You're pissing me off ! But fine, I'll go you fucking dumb Navy Seals !"
[ Noveshona agrees to join Ares and Ubrilt Jagt ]
She stuck her tongue out at him and disappeared in a dark aura of black and purple.
As a farewell, Cole raise his the middle finger " Have a nice trip, Agent of Chaos"