The battle soon came to an end, initiating the "clean up" phase. As the workers cleaned the battleground while rebuilding the nigh-demolished school campus, the students enjoyed a month-long vacation.
The times were now peaceful instead of chaotic. However, there was a raging storm between the relationships between the Conscientious and Iniquitous Faction, causing stirs to occur daily between the two.
The rankers on both sides enjoyed an increase in targets for assassinations and bounty-hunting, while the high-rankers enjoyed a raise due to common conflicts between members of either faction, resulting in utter chaos inside the department.
People not affiliated did not notice an increase in pay. However, they did enjoy some time off due to the conflicts that could be classified as "dangerous". Due to the threat to their life, they experienced some time at home with their family, which was exactly the case with Adam Ambrosia.
However, there was one thing that had changed significantly.
A war had begun between the Conscientious and Iniquitous Faction. Of course, it wasn't serious enough for them to be sending out troops to invade the other, but it did cause some minor conflicts every now and then.
Noah Williams had declared war on the Iniquitous Faction, resulting in skirmishes almost every day. Most of the top high-rankers hadn't been mobilized yet, but some rankers who were lower on the hierarchy were indeed in a state of chaos.
The bottom line was, the Conscientious and Iniquitous Faction were engaged in a war.
The Neutral Faction's affiliation was unknown since they still hadn't made their decision, resulting in desperate urges from the leaders of the other two factions.
However, Oliver Tree stayed put.
*
*
*
A week passed in an instant, bringing about changes to the lifestyle of the residents of both factions equally. The residents lived peacefully, although a little cautious and wary of their surroundings due to the minor escalation of the severity of the war.
Now, rankers had begun taking numerous jobs and performing operations dealing with drugs due to the rush. The import and export business had increased due to citizens needing goods from the other faction to survive.
Small businesses had grown while the big ones had shrunk, forming a type of equilibrium in the state of money. This forced the value of money down greatly.
*
*
*
In a battleground sprinkled with the scent and display of blood lay hundreds of corpses. This was the result of the carnage performed by the several rankers that had participated in the recent battle.
Some hundreds of rankers had been sent on different missions, and their path had been intercepted during a specific operation, resulting in the current situation.
Suddenly, two corpses belonging to different factions arose.
The man belonging to the Conscientious Faction possessed a face splotched with freckles, and a dirty-blonde, thick, and long beard to go with it. His build was large and it looked like he could bench press thousands of kilograms.
The woman belonging to the Iniquitous Faction possessed a curvy body and a face covered in blood, utterly unrecognizable. Her pink hair fell down to her waist, while some of her body parts were twisted the wrong way.
As the two survivors got glances of each other, their eyes immediately flashed with a sense of hostility, equally wary of the other.
"Are we hostile?" The man asked, dusting away at his clothes. He made a pained expression, as if the act of moving brought upon excruciating pain. His voice was raspy and his tone was vigilant.
"I don't know… what faction do you belong to?" The woman responded with a question. She scrunched her eyebrows and squinted her eyes to get a good look at the person that stood a few meters away from her.
"Cons-" The man started to speak, but before he could finish his sentence, he noticed the tip of the woman's blade resting on his neck, waiting to dig in. He sighed as he formed a pained expression once again. "Of course… you're from the Iniquitous Faction, aren't you?"
The woman nodded at the rhetorical question asked by the burly man, distancing herself from him despite not moving her blade.
She carried a rapier that shone under the moonlight, while her clothes were specialized for agility-based combat. She seemed like a swordsman instead of a mage due to those factors that were easily noticed by the burly man.
The burly man was a person that wielded a great sword and specialized in strength, which seemed to be at a disadvantage compared to the woman. He calculated that if he reached for his blade, by the time he unsheathed it, his head would be rolling on the floor.
This brought upon a series of complications, possibly resulting in him losing his life in today's encounter. However, that was fine for the man. He had served his faction as much as he could, and didn't possess a family to return to. That is why he did not have any reason to try to survive in today's encounter.
All he needed to do was try to end his enemy.
However, it was unknown if the woman thought the same way. It was unknown whether she was willing to give up her life, and if she wasn't, it would result in an advantage for the man. If she possessed the will to live, the man would have an easier time slitting her throat.
However, the man's first priority was to remove the blade that rested on his neck.
"Do we have to engage in a battle? Didn't our battle just end? Everyone has died, so why should we lose our lives here?" He tried to reason with her, but as expected, the effort was utterly fruitless. The woman refused to spare the man's life, which would make things a little complicated.
"All right, what's your name?" The man asked for her name to try to stall for time so that he could figure out a way to distract her. The only way he would survive was if she was distracted, resulting in an opening in either her stance or her concentration and focus.
"Caitlyn… Caitlyn Rogers." She responded. Her breathing suddenly became heavier, most likely symbolizing her will to live. The man guessed she still had a family to return to, but did not sympathize with her at all.
He knew the value of his own life, and by no means would he give it up for a stranger, even if it were disposable at this point. That would mean the woman would have to fight him, whether she wanted to or not.
"My name is Jacob Maryweather." The burly man said, steadying his breath. He then extended his arm to try to caress Caitlyn's cheek, but his path was quickly intercepted by the woman's blade.
Before she could cut his arm, however, Jacob removed it from its location. Before Caitlyn could realize, she had been punched by Jacob's other hand, and the latter had also freed his hand.
Reaching for his great sword, he quickly unsheathed it, pointing it at his enemy, who had suddenly disappeared.
Kang!
Caitlyn's strike came from behind Jacob, but was parried easily due to his sharp reflexes, which had been trained in severe conditions for years. He wasn't a ranker for no reason, and he would definitely prove that point.
Whoosh!
Caitlyn's strike came once again, this towards his torso. However, it completely missed its target due to Jacob moving out of the way, surviving despite not altering the strike's trajectory.
The two fighters immediately released their mana, which quickly flooded the atmosphere. As it became denser, both of them ignited aura, their expression showing fury. Their emotions were of hatred, but their stances displayed their calmness.
Their current state of mind was as calm a human could ever hope to be, showing their casual behavior towards a potentially life-threatening battle.
The man swung his great sword vertically, and his strike partially sliced the woman's right shoulder. His aura amplified the damage, causing a burning sensation to erupt on the place of impact, otherwise known as the wound.
Unfortunately for Caitlyn, the wound would definitely trouble her due to it restricting too much strength from being exerted. However, thankfully, she could still utilize most of her speed without any trouble.
Sweat dripped down the two's faces, their chest moving up and down rapidly due to exhaustion.
"Do we really have to continue this meaningless struggle? It will not bring anything but death and destruction." Jacob protested, lowering his great sword by an inch. This action symbolized his unwillingness to continue the battle despite him not valuing his life. This was due to him not wanting to kill his opponent, who clearly had someone waiting at home for her.
"The factions have decided, so we definitely have to. They will remove us from the faction if we do not fight." Caitlyn responded, her voice filled with pain instead of fieriness. Her eyes had a glint of frustration, worry, and regret, but her tone was still icy. Her actions were quick and decisive, perfectly matching the visible part of her personality.
"But we can run away instead of following these inhumane rules that force us to lose our lives performing our duties." Jacob protested once again. He had not signed up to be a ranker. His mother had forced him, but he swore to excel at his duty. However, that was not necessary if he didn't deem it so.
His words didn't seem to reach the person that stood before him. However, it had ignited a little spark of untrust in her towards the factions. That spark would go a long way if nurtured to rebel against the factions, and it could possibly lead to her leaving her faction completely.
Caitlyn knew they both had the same job and carried the same name and sense of duty. She could empathize with Jacob, but was uncertain of her decision. She wanted to run away. At the same time, the complications would be more severe than she could handle.
Her family would also be in danger. Her mother, father, and little brother. Although she was unmarried, she was dating a boy back in her faction named Kim Chung-Cha. She would miss them if she left, and they would also be endangered to harmful situations that might occur.
She could always run away to the Neutral Faction. However, if they decided to form an alliance with a faction, and it just somehow happened to be the Iniquitous Faction, the consequences would be worse than she could ever imagine.
She still wanted to fight, but did not want to be restricted to a certain job that involved her life being put in danger.
"I accept. I will run away to the Neutral Faction," Caitlyn stated, her firm resolve reverberating throughout the battle ground. "However, I will not run away with you, even if we decided to go the same way."
Despite being in favor of the idea, she could not get herself to trust a stranger, even if it were a man that seemed trustworthy. That was just not a risk she could take. She also had to inform her family and possibly help them arrive at the destination she would settle at.
"All right." Jacob immediately responded, sighing in relief at Caitlyn's decision, which seemed to be favorable for him. "So, no hostility anymore, correct?"
"I guess…" She said, not offering a definite answer despite the conflict being resolved. However, Jacob didn't suspect anything, letting out a sigh of relief instead. This caused Caitlyn to inwardly reveal a sinister smile.
"I will go my own way, then." He said, completely trusting Caitlyn's decision due to her words being so… trustworthy. He believed her expression, tone of voice, and choice of words could not be imitated by someone who intended to lie in the first place. That is why he trusted the words of the woman despite the two currently being strangers.
Turning around, Jacob sheathed his great sword. He swept his long hair backwards, turning his head to give Caitlyn one last wink before he left. Then, he began walking forward. His work here was over, and he had somehow managed to escape with his life intact.
Little did he know, his persuasion skills were far too much like an amateur to convince Caitlyn.
Whoosh!
Slice!
Thud!
Several things occurred in the span of a second, but they were overly tragic for the man with the thick beard.
Firstly, Caitlyn lunged forward while utilizing all of her speed at once. Secondly, she used her rapier to slice Jacob's head. Finally, his head landed on the ground and rolled for a good distance before eventually coming to a stop.
A river of blood quickly formed near his corpse as his lifeless eyes closed. His body stopped moving and so did his blood. The winds swept past him, dragging the blood away from the corpse.
Watching the horrifying scene play out, Caitlyn couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the stupidity of the burly man. She believed he was a fool for trusting her words with such a meager amount of persuasion.
Moreover, she was a complete stranger to him, yet she attracted his trust quite easily.
However, breaking that trust was easier than she had imagined. She had never done so before, but she had to admit that such an action gave pleasure and satisfaction.
"Bye bye, filthy Conscientious Ranker." She waved at the dead body of the burly man that laid before her. The sight was disgusting, but she had definitely encountered way worse to be weirded out by such a spectacle.
Ruffling her hair, she turned around, heading towards the direction of her faction, the Iniquitous Faction.
She expected to receive a reward worthy of a high-ranker for eliminating so many nuisances belonging to the Conscientious Faction. She may even receive a special item or equipment related to a deity.
Yes, everyone in the faction was aware of deities. It was different from the Conscientious Faction, whether citizens and even leaders were unbeknownst to many things.
The other species had informed the Conscientious Faction about things that existed outside earth, but they still had much to find out. Simply put, the Iniquitous Faction had a much higher chance of winning the war due to the information base it possessed, rivaling some of the largest planets in outer space.
As she sped along the barren grounds between the Conscientious Faction and Iniquitous Faction, she saw many rankers as well as citizens wandering around. Some were there due to work-purposes, while some simply resided there.
Living outside a proper faction was very common. In fact, around five percent of the world population was not affiliated to a faction at all.
"Hey, Caitlyn!"
"Hi, Caitlyn!"
"Caitlyn!"
Several people greeted Caitlyn as she sped past them, returning their greetings. She was well-known throughout the faction, and one could even call her "popular".
It might be due to her beauty, or it might solely be because of her outgoing personality, that literally attracted others towards her. It had been advantageous to have such a trait before, and she was sure it was not going to be disadvantageous starting now.
She ran towards the headquarters of the Iniquitous Faction, near the center of the city. She had traveled all the way from the outskirts of the faction to the headquarters in only a day and a half of consecutive running. It wasn't a short amount of time, but it wasn't too long either.
As she neared the humongous, blue building that sat in the middle of the city, her eyes remained indifferent. Her guilt had finally caught up to her, and she wondered if killing the Conscientious Ranker was the correct choice.
There could have been an alternative, couldn't there? However, Caitlyn knew if that was possible, the war wouldn't have started. The rankers were being piled with too much work, and they released their frustration on rankers in the rivaling faction.
"Hey, Caitlyn." A blue-haired man, possibly around the tender age of twenty, greeted Caitlyn while exiting the building through the doors. He wore a suit, displaying his role in the headquarters as a person working in the department instead of the field.
"...'Sup, Theodore." Caitlyn greeted back, giving him a light wave and a faint smile. She could not bear to reveal a genuine smile, still wondering if what she did could be considered "moral".
The two did not speak after that, but Theodore wondered if something had happened during her operation, which none of the other rankers returned from. He wondered if all of them had died. Did the Conscientious Rankers survive? But then how did Caitlyn live to tell the tale? No, she wouldn't even tell the tale either.
He was confused, but didn't dare ask her about it. He knew she was notorious for being beautiful, but she also possessed a fiery temper sometimes. The latter wasn't as well known , but he had known her way too long not to realize such an obvious fact.
As Caitlyn entered the building, she was greeted by a sudden announcement from Genro Govel, attracting everyone's attention. Everyone perked up, trying their best to listen to the incoming announcement under the tumultuous atmosphere.
[Members of the Iniquitous Faction, I am pained to reveal information that you might not necessarily like. The Neutral Faction has allied with the Conscientious Faction, and they have signed a contract dealing with the import and export, meaning they don't need us anymore. So, the war will escalate, and the citizens will have a harder time surviving without the import and export business.]
The announcement was strangely honest, contradicting his image, which was one of a politician. However, because of it being honest, the heart of everyone currently working in the faction sank. Their expression darkened while they momentarily became speechless.
'S–Seriously?' Caitlyn stammered inwardly, her mouth gaping open while her arms opened into a motion that symbolized, what the hell?