~SWISH!~
That was the last sound Fenrir heard before his body turned into mincemeat and his consciousness was plunged into darkness.
Before dying, though, Fenrir could only ask himself one question.
'Why… did I ever think I killed a Dragon Commander…?'
He didn't understand the reason why. Perhaps… if he didn't have such thoughts, he wouldn't have been so careless with his actions.
'I… we were just previous soldiers drafted into war back then…'
The founding members of the Mercenary Gang were merely ex-military officers who decided to defect and become fugitives instead.
They stole a lot of resources from the Alliance—especially weapons—before defecting. This was instrumental in starting their own organization.
They initially started out as mere bandits, but slowly built their influence up to this point.
Sure, they spread the rumors of their exploits—killing Dragons being one of them—but even Fenrir hadn't killed anything above a Two-Horned on his own.
There was no way a single man could win against a Dragon Commander.
Sure, his squad had encountered a Dragon Commander in the past, but they were all wiped out—save for him.
It was all due to luck!
Yet, somehow his mind had interpreted it as him winning the battle somehow.
Why…?!
Fenrir didn't know why he thought that.
But, it was because of those foolish thoughts that he had made so many wrong decisions which led to this downward spiral.
In the end, his arrogance led to his fall, and the hubris of the leader caused the end of the Mercenary Gang.
'I really was… a fool.'
And so, Fenrir's head and entrails fell amongst the countless others that lay strewn all over the area.
They formed a grotesque landscape for the senses.
—A painting of death.
********
'Not bad Skills at all.' Rey thought to himself, happy to have gotten something valuable from the entire exchange.
His expression quickly soured, however, after thinking about the fact that there were still a few members of the Heads of Destruction whose Skills he hadn't yet obtained.
'Even if they're not useful on their own, I could fuse them for maximum efficiency.'
Rey sighed, realizing there was no use making a fuss of such matters.
'I have no long-distance communication Skill, so it's not possible to tell Ater to spare the Heads of Destruction until I return.'
Besides, knowing his Familiar's personality, they would already be dead at this point.
The most he could do at this distance was feel what Ater was currently experiencing, and based on those vicarious emotions, Rey could only feel delight and satisfaction.
It felt so raw that Rey was convinced that Ater was doing some pretty nasty things back in the Capital.
'As long as it's only directed at the bad guys, I suppose there's no issue.'
He cast his gaze on Rebal and Kara, who were still seated in their seats.
They had been constantly protected by Rey, so none of the echoes of destruction touched even a minute part of their outfits—talkless of hurting them.
"Are you all good?" He asked, especially looking at Esme, who remained behind Kara.
"Y-yes. I'm fine." Kara nodded, though based on her trembling tone, it was clear she was somehow afraid.
'Why is she frightened? Ah… I understand now.'
Rey looked around them and realized just how messy everything had gotten. This was the result he was going for, but he could see how that could be a problem for Kara.
'Her family was brutally killed, after all. It's possible she still has trauma.'
Rey had hoped seeing the people responsible for the death of her family would bring her some sort of satisfaction, but that seemed a little too much to hope for.
'But, even Rebal also looks anxious. Does he have trauma too?'
"S-sir Ralyks… the remaining two are—" Rebal began, pointing at the seat that Scylla had previously occupied.
"I know."
As Rey glanced in its direction, he could only see a wrecked seat, with no one seated there.
"Scylla and her guard slipped away while I was busy with Fenrir and his allies."
Despite the severity of what he was saying, Rey's voice didn't display any ounce of worry or anxiety. In fact, it seemed like the opposite.
A terrible calmness coursed through his words.
"On to important matters, I suppose your role here is done, Rebal."
"I-I suppose so…"
"I'll be transporting you back to the Capital. As for you, Kara, I'll be reuniting you with the Alliance Forces that are likely on their way here already."
Once Rey said this, Kara's eyes widened a little in surprise.
"On their way here?"
"Yes. They're almost done with their thorough investigation of this city. Besides, my recent fight with Fenrir and the other two blasted a hole in the ceiling, which compromised the barrier that keeps this place hidden."
Of course, Rey had ensured all of this was done intentionally.
It was to send a signal to the Alliance Forces so they could reach the location of the enemy on their own.
"For good context, this is what will happen…" Rey went on to explain the plan going forward.
"I'll be going after Scylla and her guard, while Rebal returns to the Capital, and you'll rendezvous with the Alliance Forces directly outside this building and explain what happened—of course, you'll tell them what we agreed on."
"U-understood!" Kara nodded in response.
"What about me? What should I do?" Esme's voice was low, containing none of the life that they had all experienced before the mission started.
It sounded like her voice was hoarse, almost as if she had been crying her lungs out for hours.
"I can sense a Cellar downstairs, and I can sense a lot of people there. You should go down there and look for the merchandise that we seek."
Of course, he meant her friends, but with Rebal and Kara present, he had to change his wordings a little bit.
"I-I see…"
Rey couldn't help but notice how detached she seemed to him.
'Did my recent actions frighten her? Maybe…'
He didn't regret anything he did, though. Besides, he had already told her how bloody things would be, and she signed up for it anyway.
It wasn't his fault at all.
'Still, I don't think she'll feel very comfortable around me right now…'
Rey sighed and shrugged a little. With a few thoughts, he summoned two Grand Elementals beside her.
Earth and Wind.
"They're going to defend you down there." He told her.
'I doubt there is anyone who can beat a Grand Elemental down there, but just in case… I chose the two who would be best for protecting her.'
The Earth Elemental was the perfect Tank, while the Wind Elemental was swift and could be used to escape in case of awry circumstances.
In any case, both would be perfect replacements for a clone of his.
'Besides, I'll probably need to be at a hundred percent for what comes next.' Rey told himself as he looked at the three people who stood before him.
"You all did good today. We're almost done already. All that's left are some loose ends."
The last ounce of Rey's smile vanished as he recognized the next phase of what he had to do.
'Even I am not certain about how this will go.'