"Let me do my job, and we all walk away from here and not get in each other's hair." Daniel offers.
"But… Lord mage! If you were to do that, We would…" The police officer was about to object but needed to stop as Daniel raised his finger, showing it for all to see.
"Or…" The scarab quickly rearranged itself in a formation surrounding all of the SWAT members and the police officer. Ready to strike at a given moment.
"You do your job and I do mine. You get two rank promotions from your boss. And I walk away with my target after all of you perishing here. Choose." Daniel gestures his hand as if encouraging the police officer to choose.
Daniel doesn't want to have trouble with the royal court mage, but that doesn't mean he's afraid of it. If push comes to shove he would just unleash the full might of his Self-Replicating Metal Scarab.
As for the police gang side, It's good to get 2 rank promotions but getting 2 rank promotions after a confirmed KIA was an entirely different matter. They loved power and money but also loved their life more than anything else.
Besides, considering that their operation had involved a powerful mage like the man in front of them.
They doubt that their superior would acknowledge their death as part of the job because the thing involved in the Curtain World would usually do it in a hush-hush fashion.
They might get their name crossed in the official and get their name recorded in a secret file cabinet as casualties somewhere in the royal court mage office, waiting to be destroyed.
"Then… Lord mage. We will take our leave. Have a good night." The police officer was about to retreat but was stopped by Daniel's cold tone.
"Wait…"
"Ye… Yes? Lord mage." The police officer fearfully turned toward Daniel and saw his cold and unfeeling eyes.
[Shit! Shit! Shit! Is he going to kill me and silence me here!? God! Buddha! Jesus! Muhammad! Laozi! Please help me!] The police officer's heart was beating like crazy while praying to any god and religion he could think of.
Daniel looks at the SWAT and then the police officer pondering on what to do then moves his mind into his mindscape.
There are only 3 cards in his hand and there was no card he could use to wipe the memory of these people about him interfering. Even if he did have one, he can't use it to wipe the mind of all the people here because the cards that can influence the mind that he got from the booster pack are not many and all of them need to target only one.
He needed a card that could wipe the memory off a group of people or wipe the mind of the masses. Since he knew about the taboo and the tip of the iceberg about the strength of the Hightower and people in the curtained world from reading the mind of the police officer. He felt that he urgently needed such a card.
He remembered that there was such a card in one of the card sets he had designed. He knows that his action in the real world would affect the card shop and may supply it with a new card set. But he still doesn't know exactly what he needs to do in order to trigger those.
Daniel let out a sigh, after he had pondered and saw that there was no way he could avoid the consequence entirely. Well… at least he would make it lighter.
"There's one thing I need you to remember, Mr. Officer," Daniel said.
"Ye… Yes sir? What would you wish me to remember?" The police officer asked fearfully.
Daniel looks into the eyes of a police officer, his war Veteran pressure from his level three Grand Artificer making the cowardly heart of the police officer beat like a drum.
"Don't make me regret not killing you here today. Trust me, you don't want to experience how I am coping with my regret." Daniel gives a stern warning to the police officer.
"Yes! Yes sir! I won't make you regret sir!"
The police fearfully agree he quickly nods like a henpeck and immediately retreats with his subordinate. He then bowed toward Daniel and brought all of his subordinates back to the truck and drove off as if running from a plague.
—
After the police had retreated, Daniel looked at Pete who was abandoned by the police. The cloud of Metal Scarab that was buzzing around quickly formed into a collar around Pete's neck, picking him up and hanging him in mid-air. Suffocating Pete as he tried to speak.
"I'm... I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" Pete could only utter an apology word as he was being suffocated by the metal collar formed by the metal scarab around his neck that is shrinking by the second.
"Mr.Daniel, please... Let him go." Murphy pleaded for his friend who was about to be suffocated.
Daniel looked into Murphy's eyes with complicated feelings then looked at Pete in disdain. Seeing that Murphy can't bear to see his friend whom he has known for 5 years to get what he deserves. Somewhere within Daniel's heart was unwilling to let Pete go, even though he wasn't affected by Pete's betrayal directly.
"Uncle Murphy… You sure are kind. Even to a betrayer." Daniel then commands his metal scarabs to release Pete.
Pete was released to the ground from a height of more than two meters causing one of his ankles to sprain.
"Ugh!..." Pete clutching his sprained ankle but still looking at Murphy in gratitude.
"His wife needs a lot of money to survive. He was desperate, Desperation sometimes makes people do the unthinkable." Murphy said as he's looking at Daniel as if he knows what Daniel had experienced.
Daniel didn't say anything, he thought back to the day that changed his life, the day he died. His girlfriend… the love of his life. He still felt betrayed even though he wasn't angry at her anymore. No, he even felt that it was good to see her face before he died.
"What kind of desperation makes someone betray the one they love?" Expressed Daniel, without hoping for an answer.
"The kind that relates to love," Murphy still answered even though he knew that Daniel didn't really want the answer while looking deep into Daniel's eyes.
Daniel paused after hearing that. In Murphy's eyes, there was a sadness hidden within those deep blue eyes. It was as if Murphy said from his experience.
His mind wanders off and thinking about his former girlfriend.
She is one of the most popular and successful idols of her time. He remembers that one time, she canceled all of her arranged concerts for a week after she got the news that he was in a hospital because of a car accident.
He heard that she agreed to pay a lot of collateral damage to her agency and even negotiate to reduce her paycheck by 50% in exchange for the right to take care of him and return to him whenever she sees that it was necessary.
Her agency was happy to oblige since she made more than a hundred million per year for them.
She didn't give a damn when her agency told her to break up with him. She even challenged them to fire her. They didn't dare to do so as more than 25% of the agency income came from her.
And people like her would betray him because a shitty crown prince said so? What kind of threat does she get from that human scum that makes her relent?
"....." Daniel was still keeping his silence then walked toward the shack wreckage keeping a distance from the group, wanting some space for himself.
Seeing that Daniel seems to want some time alone to mull through something in his mind. Murphy then went toward his other friend and helped him up as Daniel already commanded some of his metal scarabs to disable the handcuff on that man's hands. Then come back to Pete to see how his ankle is.
"Pete, I only forgive people's betrayal once even when they act out of desperation or have no choice. You lost a lot of my trust this time so don't expect everything will be the same you understand?" Murphy gives a stern warning to Pete.
"Yeah, engrave it into your damn skull, don't ever do that shit again." Murphy, another friend said in disdain before kicking at Pete's sprained ankle making the latter scream.
Seeing that Murphy can only let out a sigh and say to his friend.
"Rocky, forgive him just this once ok?"
"Yes Father Murphy, Shall we pray now? Do I need to prepare wine and bread?" Rocky fakes his devotion and acts as if speaking with a father from a church.
"Stop being a dick or I'll beat up your ass and toss you into a river." Murphy snaps back in annoyance at his friend's antics.
"Hey, Just kidding man" Rocky raises his hand showing that he doesn't want to be beaten up by Murphy. He knows how fierce Murphy is in a hand-to-hand fight even against a group of 4 people he had never lost, let alone one.