Cole pulled out the Zerantium weapon with the speed of lightning and fired once more into Noveshona.
"No way... Did jou just try to kill just saved your ass, you stupid bastard ?!"
Cole noticed something about his Entity 'Despite all the times I've tried to kill her, she always gets away without a scratch. Is it impossible to kill her ?'
Jade aimed her loaded crossbow at him "I knew it. You're going to try to murder us, skeleton"
Mars and Maalick stood between Jade and Cole.
The first said "Ubrilt tell your candidate to calm down ! All of us here have made a contract that binds us all together"
"Cole, what the hell are you doing ?"
The rider ignored him. He was too busy not giving in to Noveshona's many insults and jabs.
'Even dead I can't be at peace'
The Goddess added a layer 'It's not like you deserve it either. You have killed so many people in the name of what ?'
'Shut up !'
Jade put her gun away slowly "What's this contract thing ? Is this a quest ?"
"That's right Mars. What is it? A new rule from the Designer ?"
The God of War explained to them what happened in the conference room "Noveshona, Ubrilt Jagt and I made a contract together"
"What ?!" shouted the three candidates.
The Legendary Monster Hunter was wearing the same clothes as before, except they were made of leather. But the most surprising thing for Cole and Maalick was that she was on the back of a dragon.
Percy had the same color as the clothes she was wearing in the conference room. He had glowing yellow eyes analyzing every variable that could endanger his mistress.
The pet contracted its muscles, drew its sharp claws and roared at low volume, as if it wanted to intimidate the skeleton and the Lizardian.
Ubrilt scratched his metal horns, "Relax, Percy. They're friends of mine and Jade's"
His dragon began to relax under his mistress' well-placed scratches.
Noveshona tried to anger the dragon, by making grimaces at him "Well then, doggie, you can' t do what you want ? Are you too afraid to pick on me because mom forbade it ?"
Percy remained faithful to his mistress. He remained relaxed in the face of the Agent of Chaos's little jabs.
The metal dragon even made a small growl of contempt towards her.
Noveshona felt a little annoyed 'That's not even funny'
"What the Olympian said is true Jade. Put the gun down" Ubrilt told her.
Jade used her telepathic link with her Entity 'Are you sure ? Our target is right in front of us ! I'm sure I could capture him and...'
'And you'd be killed needlessly. Don't forget that what is the counterpart of your Armada. This is your greatest weakness and these men can fill it'
Green Eyes stared at Cole 'I could never get along with that guy ! He's a fucking brainless asshole !'
Ubrilt contradicted her " It' s just the opposite. He'll be the brains of your team'
"I think if I show him to you it will be easier" Mars says, snapping his fingers.
[ Alliance Contract between Ares, Ubrilt and Noveshona ]
[ This contract was created following the desire of the God of War to create an alliance to achieve the objective of his candidate, which is to save the Rosibbo camp ]
[ The Entities and the candidates included in this contract are ] :
[ Noveshona, the Agent of Chaos and Cole Pierce ]
[ Ubrilt Jagt, the Legendary Monster Hunter and Jade Dragovic ]
[ Ares, the God of War and Destruction and Maalick Gamble ]
[ This contract stipulates the following clauses ] :
[ 1) Candidates will be tested for a week to determine their agreement as a group ]
[ 2) The candidate Maalick Gamble will have to reveal the Skills related to his Armada as a sign of good faith ]
[ 3) The Entity of the candidates Cole Pierce's Entity, Noveshona, the Agent of Chaos, will need to reveal which Legendary Monsters it is during the testing period ]
[ If this clause is not respected the right to kill will be applied to the candidate Jade Dragovic ]
[ 4) The Entity of the candidate Jade Dragovic, Ubrilt Jagt, the Legendary Monster Hunter, shall not kill or attempt to harm in any way the Legendary Monster during this time ]
[ 5) If the interested parties are satisfied with the test phase. Then the same clauses will be renewed with some changes until the candidates liberate the Rosibbo camp ]
Maalick could see what this meant "Wait, you built a team for... me ?"
Mars sat on his shoulder and lowered his soldier helmet "You wanted to save those people, right ?"
Noveshona came to remind him of a painful memory 'Saving people from a camp, doesn't that remind you of something Cole ? You know... all those people who died because of you during all those wars'
The rider tried to ignore her, but Noveshona was persistent 'All your exfiltration targets, all your comrades, all your friends. They died because of you and only because of you'
The former Navy SEALS picked up the doll and slammed it into the wall "Shut up you piece of shit !"
Noveshona pretended to be choked "Chok me a little... harder"
Cole held his gun to her head "If one bullet isn't enough. Then maybe a whole load will maybe be enough"
Maalick grabbed his wrist "Stop it now"
"What do you want from me 'hero' " Cole said with emphasis on the last word.
Maalick forced him to let go of the demoness with his physical power.
His bones were about to crack under the pressure of his hands 'Damn, he's strong that bastard'
Ubrilt warned his candidate 'You better go separate them'
'And why would I go and save a jerk like him ? Worst case scenario, I'd just need to deliver the killing blow so my skill would count as if I killed him'
'All you're going to do is throwing away your chance to get the truth about your origins'
"What are you talking about ?"
The Huntress had her back straight like a teacher giving a lecture 'Reread the clause about him'
Jade reread the condition concerning the alliance contract between the Entities, and therefore themselves.
Then she realized what Ubrilt meant 'D-Don't tell me he can have that kind of skill ?'
Ubrilt said nothing. She remained as impassive as her metal dragon.
Jade ran to stop them from killing each other "Stop ! Stop fighting !"
She tried to move Maalick's arm 'He doesn't look like it, but he's super heavy ! How many points in resistance did he have to put in to get there ?'
Cole observed something odd with Green Eyes 'How can she have so little strength, when she threw her tomahawk at me with a strength equal to that of the lizard? Her Strength should be around 15 or 20 points'
Maalick released Cole's wrist "Don't ever do that again"
Cole laughed "What do you think ? That she's a princess who needs to be save ?"
"I don't care about that. Just don't ever call me a hero again."
The Half-Blood came out of the cave with Mars 'Why does everyone think I'm a fucking hero ?! What is it with everyone and that fucking word ?!'
Maalick sat down a little farther to admire the waterfall 'Finally a moment of calm'
Calm. This is a word that Maalick would never have believed to be used in all his life.
During the different phases of the SAS entry, he seemed calm. But the calmest person in the whole process was the person who considered him his rival.
'Jane'
Maalick began to think about the past "You know, now that I think about it. She was always ready to take action, to rush in without thinking. But I preferred to take my time and make a plan, even if it meant losing time'
"You don't have to talk about her in the past" Mars replied.
Maalick picked up some dirt and let it fall through his fingers "The Designer basically signed my death warrant by taking me to this... hell"
Maalick's blues were starting to get on Mars' nerves "You're not dead. So get your shit together, Maalick"
"I know. I just need to build a pla..."
The candidate/entity duo was interrupted by screams. They saw that Jade ran out of the cave and threw up right next to them.
"He's gone too far..." she said with a bit of vomit on her mouth.
"It's the only way to make him talk. We have no other alternative" Ubrilt told her.
Maalick ran into the cave and saw Cole torturing Charles.
He had removed a fingernail from his hand.
"I'm going to kill you, you skeletal piece of shit ! Our holy empire will..."
Cole coldly removed another fingernail from his hand with frightening dexterity.
Charles kept crying and calling him names "You... Demon... I'm going to..."
Then he passed out. Unable to bear so much pain.
'If only after 2 nails pulled out he fainted. The rest will be a piece of cake'
Noveshona asked him "Do you think we could continue our little torture session ? Cause I was actually having fun for once. And then..."
The goddess started to smile "It makes me happy to see that my favorite torturer hasn't lost his touch"
***
"Hey ! Wake up Butcher !"
The scream of the guards woke the Witch and the Troll from their light nap in this hellhole.
The effects of this camp had already caused physical consequences for both inmates, especially for Raz. He hadn't eaten a meal since he was incarcerated in this filthy place.
What little he had, he give away in the hands of his protégé, as always.
The veteran kept telling her 'Everything is fine. Don't worry, everything will be better'
But Charlotte knew it wasn't going to stop. Her parents beat her, insulted her and lowered her self-esteem all the time.
So she had given up on that idea. That is, until she met Maalick and the burn man.
Every time she heard his words coming out of his mouth she thought 'Maybe this time it's the right one'
But this world was a cruel place.
"What's... going on ?" he asked in a sleepy voice.
The guards opened his cell and began pummeling him with sticks "You think you can talk to me like I'm your buddy, you fucking war criminal ?!"
"You think we're on the same level, troll ? Us, we have been blessed by God !"
Raz didn't try to fight back for a good reason 'Defending myself is pointless. If I tried to do so they would torture me or kill me. But they will probably use Charlotte as a sex slave. I can't let them do that !'
When he was sufficiently beaten, the guards forced him to get up and walk 'Hurry up! We have to be at the stadium in 25 minutes"
Charlotte reached out her hand to try to hold on to him 'Please don't leave me Raz !'
But the soldier slapped her hand away, covering it with mana "You stay where you are, Devil's Bitch !"
Raz had an instinctive movement, like a parent protecting his child. But he held back 'I'm sorry Charlotte... But this is the best long-term solution'
He put his foot down and followed the soldiers who were forcing him to pick up his pace with batons until they reached the entrance to the sports dome.
4 impenetrable gates guarded by 2 other soldiers stood before him.
"This is the next one on the list" said one of the soldiers accompanying him.
His colleague answered him by pointing to the right "He has to go through the other side, then you go down and there you hand him over to the soldiers on guard"
The two guards wearing poppy badges guarding the door cleared their throats and spat their saliva in his face.
"That was for the dead heroes of my country, you fucking Troll"
Raz grinned "Your dead are no heroes. They're just lowly criminals glorified by your corrupted Empire"
One of the guards looked over his shoulder and motioned to the guards to act as if nothing was going to happen.
Then all of them began to pull out their sticks and hit him.
The blows of the sticks hurt on his rocky skin 'Shit... If this keeps up, they'll break one of my bones'
They were ecstatic when they were hitting this man. Until Arthur grabbed the hands of his attackers with his copies.
"What the hell are you doing here ?"