Maalick jumped out of the tree when he saw Cole push Charles into the water and ran with all his strength to save him.
'I don't believe it ! If that man dies, I won't have any information about the Rosibbo camp and its surroundings ! And Charlotte and Raz will stay in this hellhole !'
Before he could take another step, the former Navy SEALS shot to the ground within an inch of his foot.
The skeleton looked up at him with smoking purple eyes "The next bullet, I will not miss it"
The Asath pulled the Polymorphic Chain from his Inventory "I swear, if you pull that trigger one more time, no matter what contract our Entities have... I will kill you"
The skeleton consumed the last bits of his cigarette "That's lovely. But it's not like he's going to die"
Maalick couldn't believe it "You tortured him, blindfolded him and sent him into the water while he was paralyzed. So tell me how he's going to survive ?!"
"Speaking of poison, yours shouldn't take effect for some time"
Maalick's eyes began to turn red "How would you know that ? It's not like you have a fucking timer with you !"
Cole sighed "Your poison has a paralyzing effect for a maximum of 15 minutes, as far as I can tell. After that, the target gradually regains its motor functions during the same period of time"
The candidate of the God of War was surprised by such an analysis 'With so little data on me and on a poisoned person, he would have managed to analyze the time of my paralyzing agent ?! No, that's impossible...'
'I'm not so sure, Maalick. From what Noveshona told us, Cole is a war genius' Mars said.
' "A war genius?" '
The green soldier sat on his shoulder 'The kind of person who has only lived through war. Who only knows how to do that and doesn't survive in normal society. Besides, Cole is probably the best sniper in history. Better than Chris Kyle or Simo Häyhä'
'Better than the "White Death" ?!'
'I know it's hard to swallow but it's the truth. Noveshona passed us the sheets of his past before signing the Alliance Contract'
But one thing didn't add up 'No... It doesn't make any sense. I've studied everything there is to know about war. So how come I never heard about it ? How could the world have hidden its existence ?'
Mars lowered his helmet 'You'll have to ask him yourself about that'
"Looks like it's time" Cole announced.
Jade pressed the arrow from her crossbow against the back of his skull "You better think of something interesting to say. Before I shoot your head off"
The skeleton raised his arm and dropped his Zerantium weapon "It's simple. Our dear prisoner has been in the water for about 1 minute and 27 seconds"
Green Eyes pushed her arrow lightly nest to his skull "So what ?"
"That means he only has 33 seconds to live" deduced Maalick.
The rider gestured to him with a gun firing at him "Touché. And personally, I think the little fat guy is going to last even less time given his weight. So if you could..."
The Half-Blood didn't hesitate for a second and dove into the lake.
'If he dies, everything I've been through will be for nothing ! I must save him to achieve my goal !'
Cole lowered his arms and turned around "If you want to shoot, do it. But don't waste my time, princess"
Jade brought her arrow up to his forehead "I promise you, the next time you do anything like this to us. I'll kill you too"
Cole ignored her as he picked up his weapon and put it back in its holster. Then he walked around the lake and got into the cave.
He crushed the end of his cigarette under his boots before entering. Then, the old human sat down on the rocky ground. Alone and in the complete darkness.
He savored this small moment for him ' Finally... A moment of silence'
But it was without counting on the interventions of Noveshona "Cooooooole, what does it feel like to kill someone after all this time ?" she asked him with a smile that went up to her cheeks.
He put his hand over his face in exasperation before answering her "He's not going to die"
"Huh ?"
The genius of war began to explain to her why "You may not have noticed, but I have found a technique to get you to stop watching my thoughts"
The Chaos Agent lifted her shawl "You did... what ?"
The skeleton lit up her face as she raised his purple gaze to her "That's why you don't know he'll survive"
Noveshona was speechless 'H-How did he do it ?! There's no way he could have hidden things from me with his human mind !'
Cole was amused at the look of surprise on her face "You still don't seem to get it. But I'll explain..."
He reached into his belt for his lighter and lit it "I knew very well that Maalick was not the type to abandon others. He is the type of soldier who has a soft heart, under his tough looks"
The beginning of his explanation intrigued the goddess "But how could you predict that he would help you even though you knew his personality ?"
"The piece of cloth"
"The piece of cloth ?" she repeated.
"That's how I unconsciously involved Maalick in my plan. By asking him this, he felt involved in his possible death"
Noveshona put her shawl back in place "Your plan was based on pure luck. If Maalick hadn't given you that piece of cloth, you would have lost"
Cole closed his lighter and the light from his eyes lit up the diamonds on his Entity's dress "That's where you're wrong. I don't know why, but Maalick needs his information more than I do"
Noveshona tilted her head to the side "Are you stupid or are you doing it on purpose ? He needs it to free the people in the Rosibbo camp"
The skeleton laughed "No, that's not the only reason. I can literally see it in his eyes. He wants to save someone. Someone who saved him..."
***
Maalick swam as fast as he could 'Damn, he's sinking deeper and deeper !'
Charles was 5 meters away from him, but the difference between their speed was clear.
'Is it because of my body that I can't move so fast ? Or does the water have magical properties or something like that ?'
Suddenly he felt on his scaly skin, a change of current in the depths.
'What is...'
The pressure and volume of the water around them pushed them back, as if some invisible force wouldn't let them pass through the blue-black water.
On the surface, Jade could see these changes. The water began to overflow to the sides and form an increasingly disturbing vortex.
"This is not natural..."
Then she remembered that before reaching this island, she had seen this kind of phenomenon on the mainland "Oh no... Don't tell me that..."
Then without warning, Charles and Maalick found themselves propelled into the air by the water. The Lizardian caught the human with the Polymorphic Chain. He held him in his arms so that his back served as a shield.
'This is going to hurt !'
They fell to the ground with full force.
[ HP : 14/15 ]
He felt his scales break as he absorbed the shock of the fall.
Charles vomited water as he felt the shockwave reverberate throughout his body.
Seeing the Lizardian in pain, he flew, being soaked with his fat bouncing around, despite the former injury that Maalick had caused him.
"You don't even know what's coming, you assholes ! That monster is going to kill you all !"
Maalick stood up and caught up with Charles effortlessly.
"You stay where you are!" he said, throwing his fist into Charles' face.
His common attack shattered his nose and rendered him unconscious on the spot.
Cole came out of the cave hearing all the chaos "Why can't I have a moment of silence ?! You think that's all I have to do is babysit you !"
In front of their very special eyes, each of them could see a giant red crab, covered in algae coming out of the water.
He looked at Charles' blood as if it were an appetizer at a French aperitif. Small, simple and normal. But terribly effective to fill your belly.
The hunter immediately noticed his behavior 'Shit ! His blood mixed with water must have woken him up !'
Without losing her composure, Jade said aloud "Bestiary !"
[ MP : 12/13 ]
In her hand appeared an old leather-covered book on which a bow and a hunting knife were embroidered in white. And the pages of which had bookmarks of different colors.
The crab launched a quick attack with its claw to its prey.
However, Maalick blocked it with his Gladius of the Hero at the last moment 'Fortunately I have the bonus. Otherwise I don't think I could have continued'
He shouted to Jade "I don't know what you're doing. Just do it fast !"
Cole drew his Zerantium gun from the top of the mountain "I seriously hate crabs..."
"Looks like these people trust you" said the Legendary Monster Hunter.
"Stop adding pressure on me !"
Ubrilt smiled as he saw her lose her composure "This monster will be good practice for you. After all, the contract states that you have one week for to test your chemistry as a group"
The Half-Blood tried to parry the attacks coming from the crab's claws as best as he could, by mimicking the movements engraved in his memory.
He handled his weapon a little better with each parry 'No, it wasn't like that. He was using his support more and his wrist was tighter'
"This is training for you ?" asked Jade, pointing at the Lizardian.
But before her Entity could answer her, the candidate said "No, actually don't answer me. I'll figure it out on my own"
Jade let her book float as Cole tried to find an angle to shoot "The wind is in my favor. I'm in a stable position and I have a way out in case things get heated"
He calibrated his gun on the monster's eye and fired once he felt that nothing was going to disturb his shot.
His bullet spun at an insane speed and contained what appeared to be ten times the original firepower.
When the bullet shattered one of its eyes and blood gushed out like the exploded human from the Designer's room. The monster let out a scream so loud it could have pierced the eardrums of the three candidates.
They had just enough time to put their hands over their ears to reduce the damage.
With all the mental strength she possessed, Jade could say with her mind 'Aquatic... Monsters...'
The Bestiary opened on its own and went to the blue bookmark, Aquatic Monster.
At the end of the monster's scream, Jade could see shadows rising to the surface.
"My hunch was right. The big crab is his evolution"
Several small red crabs with black eyes as big as a human arm, and just as monstrous, emerged from the water.
[ Aquatic Monster ] :
- [ Robust Crab ] : Aquatic monster, that is the most common of all. The Robust Crab is a monster with great resistance and has the ability to manipulate the water of its territory.
Be careful, if some of them have black eyes. This means that they are newborns !
The evolution of the Robust Crab caught Jade off guard, as it climbed with all of its 6 legs up to the mountain where Cole was.
'Shit. Knowing that they are newborns and that this Robust Crab has evolved. That means it's his parent ! We must have disturbed the birth of his eggs !'
Maalick was about to kill the little crabs next to him, but he heard the hunter yell "No, don't do that !"
Hearing her, he took his gun back and climbed a tree with his claws.
"What do we do then ? It's easier to kill them all !"
Jade found herself at a dead end 'I can't kill monsters fighting back with impunity, let alone newborns ! But the one who goes to Cole will kill him ! What am I supposed to do ?!'
For the first time in all her hunts, Ubrilt said to her "You're a faster learner than my other disciples, Jade. But the fact that you don't kill monsters that haven't done anything to others is a roadblock that you must break free of"
The crabs began to flock to her. So she decided to go deeper into the jungle and replied to her Entity "This is called having ethics !"
Percy gritted his metal fangs as he heard his mistress' candidate raise her voice. But Ubrilt gave him a few well-placed scratches.
"Then I advise you to find a solution quickly because without your help... These two men are going to die"