He had been observing the fighting styles and skills of everyone present. Everything had fallen into place in his head. All he had to do, was to execute his master plan. With this plan, he would be able to kill two birds with one stone.
The first bird to kill, would be that he would be able to kill the beast before him without wasting too much of his strength and falling unconscious just like when he had fought the {Miasma Devil}.
The second bird was that he would be able to begin building a foundation with the group. Before, he had noticed a sense of distance between him and most members of the group. From his observations, he was able to tell that Hunter was extremely suspicious of him for no reason. Hence, his contact with both Hunter and Dan, his friend, had been limited to just introductions.
As for Manny and Steve, they were oddballs. Cain couldn't tell what their opinions of him were, but they had had little to no interactions. He was familiar with Susan and David, but he was still suspicious of the fatty. If there was one person who caused him to be cautious, it would be Vincent. Cain didn't have any way to tell what was going on in his mind. But one thing Cain knew, was that he didn't have any ill intentions toward him.
As for Evangeline, Cain had no idea what she thought of him because all she had done since they met was stare at him. If he had to pick the weirdest in the group, it would be her, as apart from him, she had little to no interactions with anyone else.
"Vincent, Hunter, Susan, try drawing in its aggro by kiting it from afar. Try to keep it distracted for a while to buy us some time."
"Manny, Blaze, Dan, David, you guys try to pin it down as well. Blaze and David should attack from the front, while Manny, you should attack from behind. Dan, lessen the pressure on the others by taking a few attacks."
If all went according to plan, he would be able to...
"I disagree!"
"Hmmm?!"
Cain stared in disbelief, as a pair of cold, calculating blue eyes stared right back at him.
'I knew this guy would be a problem...'
The person who had objected to Cain's "suggestions", was none other than Hunter. A glint is as cold as a blade flashed across his eyes, as he considered all possible options.
'Should I kill him?'
Cain's first thought was to eliminate any source of nuisance. It was the most efficient way he could think of, but certainly not the most effective.
'If I do that, the others might turn on me, and that would certainly be a bad thing, especially when I'm currently in a life-or-death battle.'
So instead, he decided to go with the second best...
Dialogue...
"Why do you disagree?"
Cain realized that to accomplish his goals, he had to turn over a new leaf and learn how to interact normally with people. One of his good attributes was his ability to easily adapt to circumstances.
"If I might ask, who made you the boss?!"
A look of realization flashed across his eyes...
'So that's what this is all about."
"Hahaha!"
Cain let out a brief chuckle before his face turned as cold as ice. He stared deep into his eyes of Hunter, trying to peer into his soul.
"I think we should just listen to Cain. He's the only one that can deal enough damage to this thing. You've seen how it's been disregarding our attacks all this time. I'm sure if we-" David said, trying to diffuse the situation, but was cut short by Hunter.
"I think he's trying to use us as bait."
"Bait?"
"He wants us to hold the monster down for him to kill. If he's so sure he can kill it, then why must we be the ones to bear the brunt of its attacks while he does nothing?!" Hunter didn't yell when he spoke, but every single word of his struck a certain nerve in everyone present.
They suddenly began to doubt Cain...
Was he trying to get them to risk their lives only to benefit himself?
Was he just a selfish prick who didn't care about their well-being?
Did he truly just want them to serve as cannon fodder for him to swoop in at the end to take all the good stuff?!
Hunter's expression didn't change at all, even after he had said all that. He just kept looking Cain dead in the eyes. In his mind, he thought;
'Show me what you're going to do next...'
Meanwhile, Cain was brainstorming...
'Well, fuck me. My hard work gone with just a few words, huh?'
Cain could see in the eyes of the others that they were already beginning to doubt him.
In reality, he truly didn't care about the others and was just using them as a means to an end. However, that didn't mean he was trying to hide behind them like a coward.
There was one thing he would always protect, and that was his pride. He would never allow someone to tarnish his pride.
'How best do I resolve this now? I can't force any of them. If I do, the entire team would be on my neck. Besides, it seems they've all forgotten that we might actually all be in danger if we don't work together?'
Cain turned his eyes to the side, looking at the super mutant that was still preparing its charge. Its feet were already glowing red, and its stance showed that it could launch an attack at any moment.
'The only way to solve this without fighting with anyone, and potentially losing my life, is to convince them I have their interests at heart, and that I'm not a manipulating dick.'
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit him like a bolt of lightning...
"Well, I guess I can't be trusted then."
Cain, whose resting bitch face was as cold as a millennium-old iceberg suddenly forced a sad, angry, and heartbroken expression on his face. He decided to put his substandard acting skills to the test
"But let me assure you, I have, and will never try to take advantage of anyone. My pride won't let me.'
Turning to look Hunter in the eyes again, he spoke slowly to emphasize his words.
"If you think I need to use bait, think again..."
"The strong don't need to do any of that."
BANG!
Cain had deactivated {Golden Blood} previously to preserve his precious stamina. He activated it once again, but this time, he didn't stop at just that.
'It's go big or go home, I guess.'
He downed a few bottles of MP regen potions to recover a few mana points he had used during the fight earlier, then proceeded to spend almost all of it, leaving just a bit over 500MP, on activating {Metal Creation} and {Metal Manipulation}.
His entire body shone with golden light of a completely different luster from the one produced as an effect of {Golden Blood}. This one had a sharp metallic feel to it.
Even his head and face were completely covered as well. The only apertures in the suit of armor were where his orifices were located, as well as his joints. Red eyes peaking out from within the suit of armor added an air of malevolence. His hands and feet had razor-sharp claws attached to them,
He also decided to add a few other details, just for aesthetics. Horns of gold jutted out from his head, as well. Spikes of gold sprouted out from his elbows, knees, and other joints.
'As a wise man once said, every self-respecting man appreciated spikes on their armor.'
The light dissipated to reveal Cain fully clad in golden scales.
"Metal Manipulation: Golden Armor."
Cain decided to take a big risk. If he took even a single wrong step here, it would most likely be his death of him. But without the threat of death, how could any of this be fun?
"You guys just sit here like the weaklings you are, and let me do the heavy lifting." Cain's deep voice resonated from within the suit of gold, reaching the ears of those who had previously doubted him. A trace of confusion flashed in the depths of their eyes, as they didn't know what to believe.
He had already planted the seed of doubt. All that was left, was to let it grow.
Like a real dragon, Cain let out an excited roar as he dashed at the now-recovered mutant.
The brief moment of respite had allowed the beast to draw power from its mana shard to heal most of its wounds including the wound gotten from its severed paw. The mana shards of mutants not only allowed them to grow stronger but also gave them the ability to gather elemental power to passively regenerate from wounds they sustain in and out of battle.
At their most optimal states, the two beasts clashed once again, most likely for the last time...