Kitara looked down at the battle stage, annoyance etched into her face. As it was only a match between a few F-ranks and an E-rank, she and the other Undying's team were basically the only ones in the audience. There were three other regulars that decided to check the fight, hearing that it was a fight between Undying.
Elan was standing with the ten men he brought from the other world, preparing to fight the Undying from yesterday.
'What's the big deal with those guys anyway?' she thought again.
Her captain threw the tall Shin to her, telling her to bond with him and protect him from danger. She was surprised by the effects of a Spirit bond with an Undying, but she quickly regretted her decisions when she got to know Elan more.
'Annoying fucker…' she thought again, seeing him talking to the other Undying in the battlefield.
She went and asked her captain what the fuck was this all about, but he only replied that it was an order from the Emperor. Kitara was left without choice. But it didn't mean she could just turn off her emotions and become enlightened.
She felt even more annoyed when the Shin revealed his orders. It was simple. Most of it was about messing with the other Undying. But that, too, had to happen delicately. Kitara couldn't just intervene and kill the target over and over.
Something told her she was going to be stuck with this whole bullshit for a long time.
The battle started below.
Like they planned, four from Elan's team pulled out the Soul Suppressing Beads and poured their spirit into it. They quickly ran around to block Lorn from all four sides. Even one of them was enough to mess with a Manipulator's skills, but four from all sides would never allow the soul to even leave the body.
Left in this state, a hunter can only use physique enhancing skills.
But as an E-rank, it still shouldn't be hard to beat up a bunch of F-ranks. Thus, two of Elan's lackeys were now invoking a 'Weak' debuff on Lorn. Since the two were bonded to Invokers, they seemed to automatically receive the 'Mystic Voice' and 'Invocation' skills. But since their willpower and Spirit wouldn't be enough, they were borrowing Relics to help them get around the problem.
At the exact same time, Elan and the remaining four lackeys would be preparing for a frontal assault. The Weak debuff wouldn't last long, so they had only one chance with this three-pronged attack.
The Shin was annoying, but his brains and abilities weren't bad. It was the same for his underlings. They were well-versed at working as a group and very receptive of orders. It was almost admirable, considering they were debt collectors.
'But they're ignoring something fundamental…'
With her thought, blood splattered on one side of the arena.
One of the lackeys holding the Soul Suppressing Bead had his head splattered all over the battle stage, a jagged rock stuck inside his brain. Another one and one invoker quickly followed behind him.
A brief silence filled the fight. The only ones remaining calm were Elan and Lorn. The others faltered in their movements, dropping whatever skill or move they were preparing.
With the death of another two, they finally started moving.
As desperation filled their steps, Kitara leaned on the handrail, finding the sight amusing.
Murder was allowed in the arenas, but naturally, it was frowned upon. Death of a Hunter for the sake of entertainment was a huge loss.
But what if it was the Undying who were fighting to the death?
She looked at the other three regulars of the arena. They, too, were shocked by the violence, but soon, pondering expressions appeared on their faces.
Below, the massacre continued. With their rhythm ruined, it was only a matter of time before Elan's team was wiped out. They tried for a desperate charge, but of course, there was nothing they could do.
Kitara looked at Lorn. Maybe there was something special about the kid. He was years better than all the other Undying that spawned around Vexis, that's for sure.
Dei Volu didn't even bother hiring any since no one matched their standards, even after they lowered it to the ground in consideration of the otherworlders. They had terrible habits, they were always searching for the easy way out, and their mentalities weren't fitting for Hunters. Some even seemed to think of this world as some game.
But the Undying below them was different. He was used to fighting, and he was used to violence. His skills and stats were powerful as well. Kitara guessed that his willpower must be in the forties while the Gravitational Push he was using was at least level three.
Moreover, it was the right choice of skills. Spirit Burst pellets being made of one's soul would've become much weaker due to the effects of the beads. A piece of rock, on the other hand, wouldn't be affected by the bead at all. Most of the skill's power output occurred right next to Lorn, away from the beads. It was also much faster than the spirit pellets, so there was no way for a few F-ranks to dodge them.
In half a minute, the only ones left in the battle stage were Lorn and Elan. Elan's hands were twitching, ready to grab the dagger hidden in his sleeves. But that would only work if Lorn was close enough.
Lorn slowly closed the distance, and Kitara carefully watched his actions. Lorn seemed like he wanted to say something, a smirk on his face. He was about to gloat. Maybe get physical a little, kick Elan when he was down. That would spell his doom.
But… after a few seconds, Lorn simply held up a rock in front of him and aimed at Elan's head.
Kitara sighed, raised her hand slightly above her head and used her Blink.
She appeared between the two fighters and just in time to catch the piece of rock that was flying towards Elan's head. It was a pain in the ass, but this was Kitara's duty for the unforeseeable future.
Lorn was surprised by her sudden appearance, and jumped back, shooting another rock towards her.
Kitara smiled at the cute action, caught the stone and spoke formally.
"I can't allow him to die. As an apology, Dei Volu shall send you a suitable gift."
She then looked at Elan. His expression was still, but his eyes were… they were calm as well. It even looked slightly amused.
'Creepy fucker,' she thought and gestured him to follow.
As they walked out of the stage, she saw Lorn casually absorbing the orbs of light on the 'dead' Undying. She wondered how they would act after they were reborn, after all, wasn't it their souls that Lorn was taking?
She thought no more of it and headed to their clan headquarters. On the way, she spoke to Elan.
"It's normal for plans to fail."
"Mm."
"But we can't just think that and sit still as if there's nothing wrong. What was the biggest problem with your plan?"
"I thought he would take his time when dealing with us. After all, it's the first time he's at an advantage against me… But he didn't even gloat when he won."
"Not everyone's a sadist like you."
"Weird."
Kitara chuckled, despite herself.
"But you're wrong. It's not him that's the problem. It's you," she continued. "You look down on that guy too much. Your preparations were sloppy and your attitude was shit." She wondered if she should say it. "It looked to me like you were trying to prove something to yourself by dealing with that guy with minimal preparations." She ended up saying it.
"…"
"I won't say stupid shit like throw away those emotions and attachments. But I will ask you to become stronger. With Dei Volu helping you, you'll reach his level in a couple weeks so you'll get your revenge sooner or later. But I fucking hate sloppy students so don't make me feel like I'm wasting my time, you understand?"
"Mm," he smiled back, his eyes hazy.
Kitara frowned, thinking he was acting way too melancholic. From her first impression, Elan didn't feel like someone who would act like this.
"Is this your first time losing or something?" she asked.
"No," he replied. "The first one was a week ago."
Kitara scoffed.
'Annoying fucker.'
"Whatever. Don't talk to me. Weakling fuck. I gotta send something appropriate for that kid."
Thinking about the clan's image dropping due to her interrupting the fight, her mood soured. At least there weren't any people watching the fight.
Arriving at the headquarters, she headed to the treasury. On the way, she checked in on Elan's underlings that were reborn. They were quite fucked. Some were shivering, others were crying, it was a mess to look at.
Kitara didn't look down upon them. But she did hope Elan would somehow fix this mess himself.
She entered the treasury and looked through the items for a bit, before getting bored. She asked the treasurer for something decent but not too powerful. She had to do at least this much so the clan didn't lose face.
She received a fancy looking dagger. She was familiar with it. It was something certain collectors would sell their children to get; and it was pretty powerful for an E-rank as well. The problem was that for it to truly reach its full potential some pretty difficult conditions to be met.
In a way, it was sincere, but not too much.
It was perfect as a gift to one's enemy.
***