Aydin turned around, but it was too late.
From behind a tree on his right side, Midas appeared and stabbed him on the side of his stomach. Aydin paled and screamed in surprise, fear, and pain. If it wasn't because he had maxed out his Skill usage and had to wait until he recovered, he could have taken Midas down using any of the Skills he had.
"Why did you do it Aydin?" came that cold voice again. Aydin now knew that it came from Midas. Aydin held his hand up and backed away while trying to cover up the new wound on his body.
"W-wait, Midas! This is a m-misunderstanding" said Aydin. He was in so much pain, but he forced himself to stay as calm as possible.
"Misunderstanding, huh… You're right. You see, the only thing I ever misunderstood was how useful you would be to me reaching my goals."
Aydin, seeing that Midas and his relationship had gone sour, decided to fight for his life He had to take the opportunity while Midas was still in the mood to talk. As long as Midas wanted to talk, then it meant Aydin still had a chance to wriggle out of this because Midas doubted and had lacking conviction.
He would soon find out how wrong he was.
Aydin took out the Axe he stole and brandished it. He dropped all his luggage and attacked with a lunge. Midas, on the other hand, looked at Aydin's form and felt it immature at best. That coupled with the injury, and Aydin was as good as dead in Midas' eyes.
All he did was sidestep at the right moment and stab Aydin's chest, perforating his lung. Aydin screamed, however his scream sounded weak with only one lung supporting it.
Midas used his free hand to grab the back of his head and push it down while raising his knee, leading to a knee to Aydin's face, causing blood to flow out profusely therefrom. Aydin was now so disoriented that he failed to notice himself drop the weapon he was holding.
Aydin stumbled backwards and fell on his buttocks. His previously handsome face was nowhere to be seen anymore. Only fear and regret coloured his face. Thoughts kept ringing through his head at this moment. Why?
Why was Midas so strong?
Why was life so unfair?
"Ple..se p-please… Midas… We're friends. I made a m-mistake. I can fix it, plea— Ack!"
Aydin's pleas were ended with a knife to the trachea, severing the spinal column in the process. The knife was then pulled out and stabbed in the heart just for good measure. Midas pulled out the knife and watched as the light in Aydin's eyes grew ever dimmer and dimmer until Aydin stopped breathing.
In those last moments, Midas could make out the faintest of fleeting emotions. Not that it mattered anyway.
Aydin was dead.
This may seem brutal to any outside observer and it may seem like Midas was venting his frustrations, but in actuality, Midas had to kill Aydin.
Aydin knew somethings that others didn't know, especially with respect to the situation within the Trial and the Emotional Amplification being experienced by everyone. Worst of all, Aydin did nothing as Julio got hurt. And now, he even dared to steal before making his getaway to the safe asylum called the Shrine Plaza.
Aydin knew something he shouldn't know, and therefore he had to die.
Aydin indirectly allowed Midas' belongings to get hurt, and therefore he had to die.
Aydin stole from Midas, and therefore he had to die.
It was that simple.
With regards to the betrayal… Well, it did not matter anymore anyway. Whether Aydin told the Slaves anything or not did not matter. What mattered is that his guilt and self serving nature was enough for him to disregard everything else and leave just like that.
Midas left Aydin's body on the floor, taking all the supplies and luggage back with him to camp. He would deal with it later. For now, he would take care of Julio's injuries. Then he had to come back with a shovel and pick axe.
And if some people come to this region to search for Julio and Midas' traces? Midas had a way to disappear.
And that Slaver… This was the second time Midas was slighted by the Slaver. He would make him pay dearly for this.
Midas picked up the "luggage" and went back to camp, he had so much to do, and so little time to do it.
— At the previous Battlefield in the Northern Forest—
A Shadow materialised at the scene of a carnage and sneered in disappointment at his former teammates' blunder.
Their Liege just wanted one thing done, and done right. But these guys dared to fuck around like this. Now he had to deal with the fallout of this disaster.
First he would have to investigate the scene and find out who did it, how they did it, and where they went. Then he would have to find everyone who isn't a dead body and bring them back to their Liege.
The Shadow looked around but did not find any marks or footprints belonging to an attacker. So did he do this from range? No, those were clearly knife wounds.
How did he have a knife? Is that part of his ability? Maybe materialising weapons or sharp object…
If he did it from close range, how could he not leave a trace?
The Shadow frowned, thinking that this case was something important and must be brought to the attention of their Liege.
It then waved its hand and all five dead bodies melted into the ground… No, they did not melt into the ground, they were being pulled in. And not by the ground, but by the shadow on the ground. After sucking in all the bodies, the Shadow disappeared, flashing away in the same manner that it appeared.
— At the Shrine's Apple Field —
The apple Tree Field that was merely a few 6 trees previously had been expanded to keep up with the demands of the Chosen and was now a whopping 30 trees, with each tree holding at minimum 70 apples and maximum 100 apples.
The Green apples glistened with health in the mid day sun as they sat high up in the trees, looking down on all the Chosen in the Shrine Plaza below.
There was currently an event going on at the Shrine Plaza, with almost two thousand Chosen watching the proceedings with curiosity. A woman and seven other Chosen stood on a raised platform overlooking the rest of the people.
The woman stepped forward calmly and gracefully with a beautiful smile on her face as she prepared to give her speech. The crowd went wild with praises when they saw her approach the fore, calling her sexy and amazing. She took all this praise with grace, and spoke up:
"Ladies and Gentlemen. Chosen. My name is Gwen Cho, and like you, I was brought here against my will to participate in the Trials. It has been a tough two days since we arrived, but we are all still here, going strong, and I believe that is something we should be grateful for."
"But of course, the struggles are merely beginning. We have no food, and our water is barely drinkable. We feel homeless, abandoned, left alone. I know this, as I am one of you too. I also know that we do not have to feel this way anymore."
"Due to the efforts of a few who have worked hard and sacrificed themselves for the good of the many, we have this wonderful Apple tree Field behind me. This took a lot of effort to set up and is still a work in progress."
"By the end of its development, we estimate that the Field would be made up of at least 200 trees, capable of producing up to 10,000 apples a day, enough for all to have something to eat while we stay here in this first Trial."
After saying this much she paused and as expected, people were having reactions to this information. Some were skeptical, while others were visibly happy. More apples meant higher chances of survival for everyone. This was obviously a good thing.
Gwen Cho continued, "But in order to accomplish this goal we need your help. We need talented people to come forward and help us make our dreams a reality. And what are our dreams? A Trial without a threat of hunger or starvation. A Trial where everyone can feel safe and free. This is why we are making a huge announcement right here and right now."
"We seven S Rankers, are creating a group here in the Trials to help the Chosen cope with the Trials and to help the less powerful to have higher chances of surviving. We will provide food and protection to all Chosen who join us at cheap prices, making life bearable and livable in this hell."
"The group we are creating is called The Coalition. We implore all able people with the will to fight and protect humanity to join us in making this a better place. Join The Coalition and contribute to introducing law, order, freedom and happiness into the Trials."
The Chosen felt themselves emotional at this moment. There were people who were concerned about them in this hellhole. Some of them would occasionally check the Statistics page and noticed that people were dying while in the First Trial.
This meant that they were either killing themselves or were being murdered. This Trial was not safe. The Coalition not only had food, but they also had strong S Rankers. They would be idiots not to join.
"I want to join the Coalition!"
"Me too! I want to join it too!"
"There are a few announcements going forward. One, every member of the Coalition must report their Gift and Stats to be assigned a role. Two, Coalition members will get Apples for the cheap price of 5AC while non-members of the Coalition will get Apples for the price of 20AC from now on."
"Third, the Coalition is against any possible violence and violation of human rights, so if anyone is found to be violating human rights, they will be hunted and put on trial. Fourth, Coalition members will be paid for taking up jobs thus inspiring the creation of society and civilisation in the Trials."
"Let us strive to do better. Let us defend our rights and freedoms with our own hands,"
The price of an Apple had really changed by going down to a half of its previous price but that was only for members, otherwise people would have to pay double instead. The Coalition was also setting up law and order in this place.
No matter what, it sounded too good to be true. They would obviously join it now.
"If anyone wants to join, they can go to that person over there and be lead towards the applications. Thank you for taking the time to listen, and I wish you a wonderful rest of your day," said Gwen with a graceful bow showing off her stunning figure. Everyone became excited and praised her again at this display.
Suddenly a mocking voice came from the crowd.
"Wow, so this is the Coalition... Using Food to control people while acting like you stand for good. Overpricing the apples just so you could make a profit off the backs of the less powerful. So this is the Coalition. I am very impressed!"
Gwen and the other seven S Rankers on stage were about to leave when suddenly this voice came, causing their faces to change drastically. This was their moment to shine, and yet someone had the gall to question them?
They had prepared for this moment for the longest time, even recruiting Gwen and having her use her Skills to deliver a powerful and evocative message. They were sure that after this they were going to have many entrants into their new Group.
And yet someone had come up and said a few words, dispersing the atmosphere they had worked hard to build. How dare they?
But before the S Rankers could respond, the man continued, saying, "People of the Trials, You are being deceived! You must have thought they were being genuine, but did you know that the woman on stage has Skills that could mind control people? She has been using those Skills on you people to force you to join her group against your will! You—"
"Slander! Stop that man!" said one of the S Rankers on stage. But nobody moved. It seemed like there was a dense atmosphere of mistrust at the Shrine Plaza at that moment. This thick atmosphere was almost tangible, making everyone look at the S Rankers on stage with shifty eyes.
After seeing this much, the S Rankers knew that they were being played. Someone was making a move on them!
An indian S Ranker wanted to make a move but was stopped in his tracks by Frank. Frank then coldly surveyed the crowd in search of any movements and said "Don't you find it boring to play these Tricks? Why don't you show your face so that we can all see you?"
In the crowd at that position stood three men with devious smiles on their faces. They did not step forward, but moved further back into the crowds with the purpose of disappearing. They had done enough, now it was time for the finishing blow.
The man who had been interrupted previously spoke again at this time, saying, "People, there is no need to fear the Coalition anymore. They do not own all stores of food in this place. There is now a new food Source! They are a new group called the Diamond Group!"
The man paused before he unveiled something from within his jacket pocket, saying, "And this is their product! Meat! Real, tasty, animal meat created using a Material Conversion Skill. I'm sure everyone would know which is healthier for a human to eat in the long term between Apples and meat."
"The Diamond group is also holding recruitment. We need your help to spread our influence to counteract the hegemony of these vile Coalition Rankers who control others due to their need for basic necessities."
"If you have a heart, how could you even join any other group? Join the Diamond Group and let humanity Shine through like a diamond!"
After saying this much the man bowed to the crowd and turned to leave.
Suddenly another voice came forward, saying, "Well, since everyone is in such a good mood, we might as well announce the formation of our own group called Evermore. We also offer the same conditions as the Coalition, but our food source is slightly different. We offer Sugar and Bread!"
The crowd was even more surprised by these revelations. How were they only finding out about these groups right now?
"Eh, it seems like we are a bit late to the party. But it doesn't matter. My Raging Sun Team is also a group that offers the same conditions…"
The Seven S Rankers saw all this with grim expressions on their faces. Was this not a slap to their face? Worst of all is they could not do anything against these people as that would draw the hatred of the crowd.
Why continue standing on the stage and allow themselves to get slapped? They then left the stage and walked off into the distance with gloomy expressions.