Back in Cole's hideout. The latter was pulling out Charles' fingernails, under the eyes of a completely shocked Maalick.
"What the hell are you doing ? You think you can torture him like that ? Like we're in Guantanamo ?!"
The skeleton looked back "And why not, Mr. I Got Principles ? We need information, and the only person who can give it to us is this fucking fat pig" he said, pointing at the tortured man.
"That's not a reason to do this !"
"So tell me... Was there any reason for you to kill those soldiers like that ?"
The Asath looked at the ground in shame for a moment as he thought of those people he had cut up, bitten and decapitated.
"That's what I thought. If you can't understand or handle what I do. You do what Green Eyes does. You get out of my way"
Maalick took out the Polymorphic Chain from his Inventory and said "I can't let you do that. This is too much..."
In return, Cole drew his Zerantium handgun so quickly that Maalick was surprised.
"Inhuman ? I will remind you that I am a skeleton. A monster. So stop playing the heroic soldier and get the fuck out of here"
Then Mars intervened in their argument "Maalick, put your weapon down"
The candidate looked at the toy on his shoulder "And why should I do that ?! He has no honor, no pride, no morals !"
The God of War sighed reluctantly "Cole is right. This individual is our only source of potable information. With these...'skills', we could better save the people locked up in the Rosibbo camp"
"Finally someone with some common sense !" said the skeleton.
Mars took a cold look as he spoke to him "Don't get me wrong, Cole Pierce. You may have my respect for what you did on Earth. However, you are one of the worst scumbags the Designer had mentioned in his room"
'He knows ?!'
Noveshona laughed slightly sarcastically 'Oh, I forgot to tell you that I had told the other Entities about your past. How stupid of me...'
'You fucking bit...'
The agent of Chaos teased him 'Oooh but don't make that face, mi cariño. It's not like you're going to hide things from them, isn't it ?'
The former Navy Seals and the demon goddess weren't listening to a word of what the God and the candidate were saying.
"I can't agree with that ! We're talking about torture for real here !"
"So what do you suggest ?" asked Cole.
Maalick didn't know what to say "I-I don't know ! But killing him is definitely not the answer !"
The Olympian used his telepathic link to speak to his candidate, out of sight.
'Maalick, we need this information. You know it as well as I do'
'I can't let him be killed. Even if this bastard deserves it, we can't torture him like we some kind of monsters'
The green soldier took a deep breath to prepare himself for what he was about to say 'Imagine. Just imagine... If Charlotte was a victim of these people, what would you do ?'
The Half-Blood's eyes turned ruby red as he said in a terrifying voice 'I would kill them all'
The God of War closed his eyes "Then it is decided. We will let the Agent of Chaos and her candidate do it'
Maalick looked at the skeleton with his red eyes "Try not to... kill him" and left the cave.
Cole kept his eyes filled with such rage in his mind as he left "I understand better how his eyes work"
The doll was intrigued by his insights "Oh yeah ?"
"His eyes turn red when he's angry. Or at least, when he can't keep his emotions under control"
Noveshona amused herself with her hands to make the sign of a gun being fired into her head "Touché !"
As usual, he ignored his Entity's childishness.
'Inventory'
Cole's System was different from Maalick's. The letters were in purple and the background of the screen was black. As black as his Entity's aura.
[ Inventory ] :
- [ 7x Classic Fist Weapons of the Nomanian Empire ] - [ Rank: Low ] : Classic weapons mass produced by the empire.
- [ Zerantium Alloy Sniper Cartridges (2%) ] - [ Rank : Inferior ] : These bullets have the power to create wounds that will dramatically slow down the healing time of your targets.
- [ Nomanian Empire Sniper Rifles (Large Caliber) ] - [ Rank: Low ] : Classic sniper rifles.
- [ 13x Handgun Magazine ] : Handgun magazines from the Nomanian Empire.
Cole took the sniper rifle and handguns out of his Inventory. He arranged them next to each other so that they were parallel to each other.
"Normally, this should work"
'What a fucking neat freak..." thought Noveshona.
Then he searched in the utility belt of his new outfit for something he was missing, like a drug 'Don't tell me they don't have any of this shitty world ?!'
He searched the last pocket of his belt on his left for the object of his desires.
When he felt the metallic coating of the object and the package he had used a thousand times, Cole couldn't help but say "A little comfort..."
The skeleton pulled out of his military belt, a lighter and a pack of cigarettes.
The demoness' candidate took out a cigarette from the package and pressed the lighter. Then he started to smoke it.
After a few inhales and exhales, the skeleton realized that his body had definitely changed "It seems that my sense of smell and taste have completely disappeared" he said while blowing smoke.
Noveshona tried to dissipate the smoke with her hands "Maybe you don't smell anything anymore, but I do !"
The skeleton began to smoke again 'Until the chubby one wakes up, I'd better try to fix the sniper rifle'
While the doll tried to clear the smoke, the rider mechanically deconstructed a handgun in front of him. Then he put in a very organized order, in front of him, the parts of the firearm.
Then he did the same thing with the sniper rifle.
The horseman, with his smoking purple eyes, looked at every detail of the components "Looks like it's going to be easier than I thought. The trigger tail, trigger guard and front sight are interchangeable. It's going to save me a lot of work"
The Chaos Agent candidate changed the parts like a veteran who has been doing this exercise his whole life.
When he finished, he looked at his creation 'You're not very pretty, but you should be usable. I'll just...'
Cole removed the precision scope, scraping it down and put it in his Inventory. Then he began to aimed, unload and reload with it several times.
"Looks like I haven't lost my touch"
Then the former human took a long look at his weapon. It reminded him of the first war in which he had participated. The Vietnam War.
Noveshona felt his memory take a detour.
She took this opportunity to piss him off "So, we're thinking about your buddies who died on the battlefield without telling me ? You know that they died because of you, right ? I mean, who would have let soldiers get..."
The rider blew smoke in Noveshona's face to shut her up.
His little attack caused Noveshona's black shawl to rise up "You fucking piece of shit, of Navy SEALS bastard ! I already told you I hate the smell of smoke !"
Her candidate started smoking again "If you'd stop opening it, maybe I'd consider quitting"
The goddess moved closer to him to give him little pats on his cheek "I swear I would have preferred not to have you as a candidate, you pathetic motherfucker !"
The soldier completely ignored his Entity's slaps and insults. He simply returned the weapons to their original states and put them in his Inventory while she hit him.
Then he stood up and woke Charles up with a kick to his belly.
"Come on wake up, fatty. I have a few questions to ask you"
Charles spat his blood on Cole's boots "You... monster..."
"Look, I'm in a really bad mood because of that bitch on my shoulder" he said pointing his gun at Noveshona.
The stuffed toy raised her eyebrow "You still don't understand that I can't die, Cole ? You're pretty fucking stupid for a sniper"
'Who the hell is he talking to ? Has he gone insane ?' wondered Charles.
On his prisoner's face, the skeleton saw that he was right 'I knew it. People from Lockarte can't see the Entities'
He crouched down next to a Charles who was starting to become terrified "First question. Where are we ?"
"I-In your mother's... ass" the Empire soldier replied.
The Navy SEALS sighed "Knowing her, I wouldn't be surprised"
Then Cole took Charles' hand and began to twist the fingers of his hand. One by one. And slowly, so that he could feel each bone break like churros.
The tortured man's loud cries of pain echoed in the cave. They even reached the ears of Maalick and Jade.
"Looks like it's started" said Mars.
As for Green Eyes, she started to vomit when she heard him shouting for help "This place is completly... insane"
Charles kept crying and asking "Please... stop ! I'm begging you..."
Cole stopped and asked the same question again "Where are we ?"
The team leader looked down at the ground thinking of all the horrible things Maria and the Nomanian Empire would do to him for revealing the island's location.
'I-I can't do this ! But I can't die like this ! I have been blessed by God ! I have been...'
His torturer snapped his fingers to bring him back to Earth "Last warning. Where are we ?"
Charles lost himself in the darkness of his purple smoldering eyes and found the courage to say "I-I will never tell you where we are ! This place will be your grave !"
The skeleton stood up and walked out of the cave "Looks like the warm up is over..."
He went to Maalick, who was standing on a tree training.
[ You have successfully completed the daily quest : Get in shape ! ]
[ You have earned 5XP ]
[ One stat point was awarded to you for doing it before the time limit ! ]
The Lizardian clicked his tongue 'This training really doesn't make any sense'
The candidate at the bottom of his tree hissed at him "Can you pass me a piece of your clothing ?"
Maalick leaned over the branch "Why is that ? He still hasn't spoken ?"
"What, this ? That was just a warm-up to test his pain resistance"
Reluctantly, Maalick tore off a piece of his outfit that was the equivalent of a towel and dropped it on his head 'He disgusts me...'
The rider removed it from his skull and replied "But what a kindness, my lord" while bowing.
Maalick glared at him with his amber eyes "Don't kill him"
With that, Cole left to go see Jade who was sitting on the other side of the waterfall, sharpening her tomahawks on a metal ingot.
Before he could even ask anything, she said in a dry tone "What do you want ?"
"3 bottles of water for my little project down there"
Jade ignored his request by sharpening her blade.
Ubrilt had to intervene to get her to give the bottles to Cole 'Jade, give them to him'
'I don't care what he wants. Besides, it's not like he needs my help to torture this dude'
'Don't be a child, Jade! I'm reminding you that...'
Cole cut off their little argument "If you don't want to give them to me, just say so. Instead of making me stand around like an idiot"
The hunter looked up "That's funny, because I was telling myself that it really suits you" with a smile.
"It's true that this role suits you perfectly" Noveshona added.
The Navy SEALS put his hands in his pockets and turned away "I guess I'll have to go with plan C..."
While Maalick and Jade went about their business, Cole dragged a Charles blindfolded, out of the cave.
He kept cursing him with "I-I'm going to... fucking..."
The skeleton stood by his ear so he could hear every word in his cold, cryptic voice "What you're going to do, pig, is take a little dive"
Cole pushed him with his boots near the edge of the lake.
Charles smelled the water and guessed what he wanted to do to him "P-Please! Don't... don't do that! I... will tell you everything... that I... know !"
The Chaos Agent candidate replied,"We'll talk about it later, huh ?" as he gave him quick little slaps on his cheek.
"No... ! I'm begg..."
Then he pushed the paralyzed man into the water with a kick.
Noveshona smiled with pure malice as she watched him sink "That... I love it"