At the core of humanity's belief is the unwavering faith to a higher being, whom they deemed and worshipped as the ultimate punisher and of course, giver.
These gods have perfected the world in all aspects, creating life and hope for the creatures that resided within it, pushing the progress of many civilizations around the world.
In what seems like an endless thread of life, where calamities and catastrophes are constantly bashing humanity's hankering over their successful future, these beings have provided the greatest blessing a person could have-- Desire.
Without desire, there would be nothing but an incalculable amount of despondence hovering around humanity. Through this gift, a person could have an aim for something, expecting that the fruits of his labor would sowed by him and only him.
Howbeit, desires could endanger even the gods themselves. Humans are proven to be too cunning and ungrateful that desire had grown into something that they feared, someday would sprout from the greatest gift-- Malice.
The desire to do evil with the means of fulfilling their unquenchable satisfaction became the main driver for these humans to do the worst forms of crimes ever known to history-- Murder, Coveting, Rape and many others-- Such evil cannot be turned by a blind eye. They knew that they had to avert such vile nature from contaminating their magnificent creation.
Even so, they could not overrule the consequences of their decisions for it was written now in the palms of natural order. Chaos would unfold if they will meddle in Time's resolve.
Things need to happen in order for someone or something to awaken. In the end, they just have to forget their mistakes and let humanity control their own decisions.
"This is quite a good read!"
The Saintess is drinking her hot choco while holding a newspaper where a daily literary piece have been published
"Is this the time to read such a shitty piece?"
The person who verbalizes those words happened to be Andros, who is still recovering from his injuries. His legs are now intact while his bruises and cuts have been residing now only in small patch of gauzes.
"Stop talking! You are yet to be discharged..."
The Saintess, who doesn't show very much of her careful side for her brother, is surprisingly concerned about the possible effect of the previous battle to Andros.
Alongside her brother are the other Templars who are also bed ridden in their gatch beds. Their injuries are now treated by the healers of their Guild.
Silence ensued between her and them, as everyone are completely worn out about the previous battle. The Saintess, in particular, grew weary about the possible threat the masked hunter could pose to their group.
'He defeated us all? From where did such monster came from, huh?'
She knew that she is not the most powerful hunter there but the fact that this hunter could easily counter-attack from their attacks is terrifying. Non only that, he had shown incredible skills both in short and long distance-combat.
'Even our Guildmaster, who is an X-class hunter, can only be master on a certain principle. He could easily defeat everyone in a close-range fight but will easily be defeated by someone who is equally as capable in magic and long-range attacks!'
A potential disaster for their Guild-- That's what she likes to call it. To be more precise, one that could end the short-history of the Sarimbal if left unchecked.
"I saw the memories, too..."
Her mind probing only ended when she heard Andros speak again. She glanced at him and saw the Archangel's face serious while staring at the ceiling, probably remembering about the masked hunter's doing.
"You do?"
The Saintess, concern piling, asked him while sipping again on her hot chocolate. She hid her worry in a soft tone, not wanting to sound in a negative manner.
"Aha! I even saw that time when we celebrated our birthday and how I... killed the Pastor..."
He threw a grape in the air before it landed right inside his mouth, calming himself.
"Andros, what did I tell you about this? huh? You're not the one who killed that Pastor, it's me! Okay?!"
The Saintess, disinclined to hear where this conversation goes, turned her back from Andros and walked away.
"It's only a matter of time before you admit yourself that I'm the one who killed them..."
Yet, her brother's words struck deep into her heart. She tried to deny it multiple times but it continues to haunt her recurrently.
"...That hunter had somewhat reminded us of our past! You may deny it but It could be a sign to finally admit the truth to the police..."
"Your sign is flawed! That man is only playing with our memories..."
She continued to walk away towards the door, not wanting to hear more of her brother's truths.
When Tesa left the room, that's only when she could breath properly. The Saintess is desperately clinging her back to the door while holding the door knob to support her balance.
"I'm sorry, Andros! I'd rather sacrifice myself over seeing you rotting in jail..."
She sat on a bench while drinking some water, provided by a nurse.
"Now that you're done talking with him, perhaps you could reveal everything to me, now!"
The person sitting beside her, spoke with authority.
"Speak!"
Trace, who allowed her to speak to her brother, uttered. He wanted to know the real truth about the previous battle.
"He is quite strong..."
Her words are short, as if she knew what the Guildmaster has been planning to do.
"Quite strong? Not evident with your injuries, huh! Haha!"
Trace sarcastically laughed on her words, treating them like some sort of a joke that should not be considered as a serious matter.
"C'mon, I though we talked already about this, Tesa? You promised me many times that you would not fail!"
Tesa, however, did not bulge despite the tremendous amount of aura that Trace exudes. She is clearly mad about the fact that their Guildmaster is nothing but a monster in a human's clothing.
"Tell me, what exactly are your thoughts of making us fight that monster? Were you planning for us to get killed because we are of nothing use to you now?"
She tried to be careful with her words but it was easily interfered by her growing anger.
"What exactly are you pinpointing, huh?"
Trace only met her fierce stare, obviously not faltered by her accusing question.
"That you wanted to kill us because of your greed and self-important attitude? I don't remember!"
Tesa made it sound like she did not remember her words earlier, causing Trace to become upset.
"I think you forgot who are you talking to..."
Trace touched Tesa's chin in which the latter immediately avoided by turning her head on the other side.
"I also think that I have not..."
Tension rose between them.
"Is this a call for suicide?"
Trace smirked, not willing to backed down by the Saintess' call for word war.
"What? are you now finally fulfilling your plan?"
Trace was subtly taken aback by Tesa's brave words, amazed but annoyed at the same time.
"I'm afraid you wouldn't do that!"
Tesa shouted at his ears right after she saw Trace's hand exuding so much aura.
"What makes you think so?"
Trace smirked at the tension in the atmosphere of their conversation.
"By reason of you not finding a rare talent like me and the information that I hold about the hunter that we fought..."
The Guildmaster, suddenly got the meaning of her words.
"Do you think I wouldn't know that the person you wanted to kidnap is Mike Sandoval himself?"
***
A week later on the entrance of a Hex...
"What is your level?"
Mike, who joined a hunting raid, was asked of information about him.
"G! G-rank!"
He deliberately shouted at the party leader who looked at him with a suspicious expression.
"What?"
Mike asked him, knowing that they were suspicious because of his equipment, which are not possible to obtain with his current rank.
"Look, sir! If you would think that I'm lying about my rank, you could see my license!"
He handed them his license confidently, knowing that he wasn't hiding something.
'Well, if I'd tell them that I obtained a new system and abilities, issue might follow. I don't like that!'
"Where did you get such high-ranking equipment? I'm sure that a G-rank's salary is not even enough to buy an A-rank armor!"
The leader seems to be interrogating the hunter skillfully.
"A friend donated them, Mister!"
Mike smiled.
"A friend donate you weapons and equipment?"
The leader raised his eyebrows in confusion.
"A certain friend donated them to me as he bought another set of equipment! Look Sir, you can just say if you will let me in!"
The leader, stunned by how frank this hunter in front of him.
"With all due respect, I don't want to be asked about the personal details of my life..."
"Haha!"
The leader who revealed his laughter, tapped Mike's shoulders.
"I like that attitude of yours, you're now hired! My name is Tobias, what's yours?"
"Mike, call me Mike!," he smiled, knowing that his psychological tactics had worked against these hunters.
"This is a D-rank Hex. Legally speaking, you are not allowed to enter this because of the possible danger but I'll just let this pass! I like your attitude!"
The other hunters smiled bitterly at the thought of their leader, breaking again the rules of the association.
"I see! Nice working with you!"
A moment later...
"Why there are no outsiders here?"
It's been almost an hour when they entered the Hex yet no enemies had engaged with them. It's almost like they were...hiding.
They continued walking deeper on the dungeon, feeling exhausted by the mixture of loss and frustration.
"Sir, how about we split up? The other team would take the right path while the remaining one will take this path?"
The Guildmaster, considering all possible solutions, found himself choosing the proposal of one of his men.
"Okay, we'll separate! You command these men while I lead these guys!"
Mike, assigned to be under the other hunter's team, was relieved. For him, being able to move without a loud leader is more beneficial.
"How do we know if the other would be in danger?"
Mike asked, concerned about the possible risk of the decision.
"Wear these!"
The Leader handed them a pair of earphones.
"These things are powered by mana, so they could work in the Hex, the problem only is they would stop working if there is a huge interference in the soundwaves, which I do not believe will ever happen considering that we are in a low-ranking Hex! No need to worry about an unrealistic thing!"
Opposite from what Mike thinks, the leader only dismissed his worry as a mere falsity. For him, however, he could clearly sense an incredible amount of mana coming from the center of the Hex.
"I wonder if they could only sense this amount of mana!"
Mike could clearly see a dark ominous aura emanating from the source of it.
Afterwards...
"My name is Leon while these two are Kael and Buboy, they are D-rank while I am a C-rank! Nice meeting you!"
Surprisingly, they were friendly to him, different from their intimidating demeanor.
"I'm Mike! Pleasure working with you!"
He smiled while continuing walking alongside his teammates.
"So your class is an assassin?"
Leon, who is the leader of the group, told him enthusiastically, sounding more like he is asking.
"Umm yes!"
That was a lie that only Mike himself knew. However, it was not a complete fabrication as he trained overnight to develop some new skills.
*You learned Marksmanship!*
*You mastered Knifemanship!*
*You learned Hurdle!*
'All those wakeful efforts are paid hefty with these skills! But, I'll make sure to sleep after this!'
Mike closed his eyes for a second to give it a little rest but before he could even do that, he was attacked by a flying javelin, which he dodged using one of his new skills.
*The Skill, Hurdle, was activated!*
When they glanced at the source of the attack, they saw a group of stone golems who thrown another batch of volleys.
"Everyone, dodge the attacks!"
They skillfully did so even without their leader's instruction.
Mike meanwhile, revealed a pair of daggers on his hand, which he used to easily cut the javelins and rocks aimed at him.
"Slash!"
"Woah! Is he really a G-rank?"
Leon and their other two mates, watched in awe as Mike easily dodged all of the volleys while taking the opportunity to slice them in half.
On the other hand, the Spectre can thank this sudden boost to his Strength and Agility stat rising by two percent as well as the items that he purchased on the system shop.
*Jade Daggers*
*Metal Nails*
*Boots of Ymar*
Their stats and damage are terrible but at least, he won't stand out from the people and would not be a subject of suspicions and possibly, harassment!
"This is the first time that I saw a hunter used those things to deal weapons!"
What they are referring to is Mike's creative use of the nails, which he used to throw against the stone golems!
*You leveled up!*
If there is one person who is more surprised than the others, that would be Mike himself. He knew that his whole week of training made his stats go up by 3 percent but he never expected that it would do this much against the opponents!
"Holy cow! I killed one of them!"
Mike, is brimming with excitement about what the fruits of his training would do when the golems chose to attack them at close-range.
"Everyone, ready!"
The braced themselves for an imminent confrontation. Mike, in particular, changed his weapons from the nails to daggers.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
Although they are big creatures, the stone golems have a surprising low durability against physical attacks.
"This is a D-rank dungeon after all!"
When they eradicated all of the low-ranking outsiders, they decided to part the drops according to each member's contribution on the fight.
"You can have the monster cores!"
The leader attempted to give Mike the monster cores but to his surprise, the hunter declined.
"Keep it for yourself!"
He smiled widely, causing the leader and the other two members' hearts to melt.
"Stop, looking at us with that smile!"
They hid their blushed face by turning their backs against him.
This is because, Mike began to undergo a series of bodily changes ever since he obtained the system. His thin body was replaced by now a lean physique which is evident with his muscles.
In addition, his skin became more complex as every time that he used the skill Recuperate, not only his injuries are healed but also the imperfections on his body, in particular, the skin and his face.
Mike never knew it, but he became more charismatic.
"I'll just take this!"
*You have obtained the item, (36) Javelins!*
*You have obtained the item, (15) stone spheres!*
One thing that Mike knew he should focused on is not the item's value but rather the benefit that it could give him. The monster core may cost some money but the weapons dropped by the stone golems, despite having low durability, can help him inside the dungeon and level-up his skills.
With this strategy, he is hitting two birds in one stone.
In particular, he has no intention on revealing the powerful weapons in his arsenal to other people. Plus, he realized that relying too much on his astras and abilities would not benefit him in the long-run especially that the system gave him a dangerous quest-- The killing of the gods.
"He surely is a strange guy!"
The other team members are whispering to one another. Nonetheless, they gladly accepted the monster core as it would give them a small amount of money.
"Pang!"
They continued to walked deeper in the Hex, encountering different types of outsiders on the way.
*You have leveled up!*
*You have leveled up!*
*You have leveled up!*
*You mastered Marksmanship!*
*You mastered Knifemanship!*
*The skill, Knifemanship, would be upgraded to Dagger Mastery!*
*Your strength stat increased by 1%!*
*Your agility stat increased by 3%!*
*Your speed stat increased by 1%!*
*You learned the skill, Leap!*
*All stats will increase by 2%!*
*You have leveled up!*
*You acquired the item, (5) Spiny Knives!*
"I'm starting to think that he is not a G-rank!"
They laughed at the sight of Mike, massacring a group of skeleton outsiders using his daggers. Now that they witness it, they were convinced that Mike could be a rogue hunter.
"He killed those monsters as if he is spreading a butter to his bread!"
After collecting the drops and monster cores, they reached the end of a tunnel where, in their surprise a forest-like area was lurking.
It seems like there was a forest inside the dungeon but the ecosystem is weird.
First, there were trees that looked like they came from a sci-fi movie and there are no other moving creatures but only plants which is weird considering that this should be the center of the Hex.
"Oh my! I didn't know that the team leader is also here!"
They found the other team resting on a flat rock, recovering from their fatigue and injuries. Mike's team joined them and shared their insights.
"We found ourselves fighting a group of Stone Golems before coming here. Fortunately, they are not that much of a threat with their low durability!"
The team leader happily told them while wiping his sword of any traces of monster blood.
"How about you?"
He asked Leon about their journey before coming in the boss room which caused the latter to answer with enthusiasm.
"It is pretty much the same but unlike you, we are not powerful enough to deal a considerable amount of damage to the monsters. Luckily, we have Mike on our team!"
The leader glanced at Mike who is sharpening the javelins that he got from the monsters with wonder.
"Mike?"
He raised his eyebrows, not willing to believe that a G-rank hunter is more capable than his teammates.
"Yes! If only you could see how he used those nails to destroy the Golems, you would also be amazed!"
They all look at Mike ,who also met their stares with a serious look before smiling again as soon as he saw their attention towards him, causing them to give him back with an awkward smirk.
'A G-rank? No, that would be impossible..."
Tobias not convinced about the information, Leon gave him, immediately went to have the attention of everyone for his instruction.
"Ready yourselves! We are in the possible location of the Boss' lair! I want you to finish all the preparations now so we could plan our strat-"
"Ahh!"
One member was suddenly hit by a large stone in the leg. His now pulped right thighs which severed the connection of his body to one of his legs, caused him to howl in agony.
"Heal him! Mike, accompany our teammate and wait for us to defeat the boss!"
Mike, eager to help, was taken aback by the instruction of Tobias. Nevertheless, he followed his instructions, now wanting to contribute on the mayhem.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
A golem, made out of hard crystal revealed itself to the group. It is holding a large rock on his hand while a spear on his left.
The system notified Mike of the boss's information and was somewhat disappointed when he saw it.
*Ruby Golem*
"The crystal giant who guarded the Elixir Forest!"
Rank> D+
Attributes>
Defense> 32%
Agility> 30%
Speed> 29%
Strength> 44%
Intelligence> 22%
Skills> Throw, Leap, Pinpoint
Survival Rate> 92%
"It's even weaker than Arachno... Pathetic!"
He whispered, unimpressed by the Boss' information. Contrary to his comments, the hunters subduing the monsters, were having a struggle, finding the way to defeat it.
*You have activated, Marksmanship, to the target!*
*You leveled up!*
Mike threw a javelin towards the monster which hit a part of its armor, causing some of its body parts to crumble. This was done secretly to avoid any attention.
"The monster is weakened! Attack, everyone!"
They did so according to Tobias' instruction though they failed to land even a hit. Mike was about to throw another javelin to the boss again but heard the injured hunter, whom he accompanied, howl in agony.
*You bought pain-reliever potion from the system shop. Deducting 1,000 coins from your treasury!"
Mike immediately made the hunter drink the potion which activated immediately as soon as all of it was ingested. He ensured that no one saw him buy the potion from his system shop.
After the injured man drank the potion, he fell asleep which gave Mike the opportunity to assist the team from the distance.
He threw another javelin to the monster, inflicting more damage than what the group had even done.
The boss however, surprisingly generated from his wounds, causing Mike to grew astounded. He used the Eye of Mayari to scan the monster's body and found out that its core contains an ominous amount of mana.
"Its intelligence is low, how is he capable of regeneration?"
Mike threw one javelin directly towards the core. To his astonishment, the boss evaded it and continued to counter-attack. This confirms that the boss is really protecting its core, causing Mike to speak towards the group.
"Everyone, try concentrating your attacks on the core, maybe that would work!"
He suggested to make it sound like he is just concluding a hypothesis.
"Y-you're right!"
Tobias, brimming with sweat on his forehead, agreed with Mike's suggestion.
"Find its core and attack it!"
When they tried to find the core using detection magic, they realize that the thick armor has been preventing them from doing so.
Mike saw it and hit the direction of the core, using a nail, subtly telling them the right spot.
"Hit him there!"
The teammates exploited the opening in the boss's body by continuously hitting it before the mages cast a fireball spell on the wound.
"Boom!"
To their surprise, they defeated the outsider in an explosion, causing them to celebrate.
"Sweet! Put all the drops here so we could divide it!"
The body of the monster is made out of crystal. This will suffice the cost of the core, which they destroyed earlier. The boss also dropped its long spear and giant stones alongside some gold and silver.
"I'll take the spear! Who wants the giant stone?"
Tobias shouted at the group, some of them are cleaning up their wound while some are busy collecting their fair share of the drops. No one is paying attention to the stones.
"Me!"
The person who said that is none other than Mike, who chose to receive the giant stones rather than the gems.
"Are you sure?"
Tobias, too stunned and can't help to judge Mike with his interest in a literal boulder, gave him another chance to change his choice.
"Yes! Give me that boulder!"
"Then you can have it!"
***
A while after... Outside...
"This is your payment!"
Tobias handed him a small bag of gold for his payment. He shook his hands before speaking again.
"Thank you, I hope that we could work again somewhere in the future, you got some skills!"
"I'll take note of that! Thanks also for the money!"
Mike raised one of hands holding the bag of gold, causing Tobias to laugh.
"I'll bid my farewell, Tobias! Nice working with you!"
He waved his hand to the group before walking away. He looked at the sky and found that it is now dark. This indicates that he spent some hours in the dungeon.
"I think the time in the Hex is different outside..."
As he continues to walk, a system notification popped out on his eyes.
*You received a system package!*
*You have obtained a Map Card (Metne Fortress)!*
-Map Card (Metne Fortress )-
A magic card that acts like a map leading to the (Metne Fortress ), The center of (N/A) and (N/A) where the (N/A) and (N/A) resides.
Type- Map
Difficulty- Unknown
Duration- None
"Was this some sort of a portal? Umm, Nevermind!"
He put the map on the primordial box and continued walking. While trailing the pavement leading to the City Center, his stomach growled in hunger.
"Yeah, I forgot to take breakfast earlier!"
He decided to eat in the nearest fast food restaurant. He entered the building while reading the name of the chain.
Macduo Ronaldo
"Hi, miss!"
He called the cashier lady in front of him. When she saw him, she heard her heart beating aggresively.
"H-hello s-sir, what's y-your...," she coughed to hide her stutter, "order! What's your order?"
Mike stared at her in wonder before speaking.
"I would like to have a Fried Chicken meal with large fries side and a medium-size soda float for my drink!"
Unexpectedly, the woman was not able to respond to his order and just stopped at her current position, staring at him while smiling.
"Miss?"
He called her while swiping his hands across her eyes to know where she is staring.
"Mi-"
"Oh my god, I'm sorry?"
The cashier lady was only able to respond to his order after one of the workers, who were in a rush to deliver an order, collided with her froze state, causing an ice cream to be smothered across her face.
"My goodness!"
Her co-worker could only utter those words after the food that she was about to deliver found itself to be all over the floor.
"I'm really sorry! Deduct it to my daily salary!"
She told to try to ease her co-worker's impending rage.
"I'm sorry Sir, what's your order again?"
She drew her attention back to Mike, who could only be shocked after the happenings unfolded.
Instead of an answer, Mike only replied by wiping his hand to his face signaling the cashier that she forgot to clean her messed-up face.
"What?"
She still doesn't get the meaning of Mike's actions and even asked him.
"Wipe your face!"
Mike finally let out those words to her.
"Ahh!"
But she answered as if it's just a piece of cake. Only to realize that she still hasn't wash her face.
"I'm sorry but I have to wash away my face! My co-worker here would get your order!"
Mike was not able to say anything as the cashier lady immediately went to the washing room and was replaced by a new worker.
When he got the order on his table, he immediately left the restaurant and went on a place outside Manila to test out the mysterious daggers that the system gave to him last week.
"It's a good thing that there are still bus going to Cavite at this time!"
(Cavite= a province outside of Metro Manila)
Cavite would be the perfect place to test out his new skills since it is just outside of the city. Furthermore, there is no way that the Sarimbal Guild nor the Saintess would find him here as the whole province is under the direct supervision of the Association.
"If I would choose between the association and the Sarimbal, the answer should be easy!"
He traveled on the farthest and remote place in order to ensure that no one would see something weird to him.
When he stumbled himself on a small hilly forest, he decided that this is where he would test out his new skills.
He checked his surroundings before revealing the Five pale daggers and examined them.
*A new information was added to the item!*
"Click!"
*Item information!*
Kalis
-The five daggers of the ____________
Class- ?
Type- Daggers (Sentient)
Duration- ?
Affinity- ?
Skills>
?
Passive>
?
"I wonder what are the conditions to use this?"
He swing the dagger in the air multiple times.
"Woosh!"
To his horror, he found the area where he slashed the daggers ravaged. The trees are completely cut down while the plants are raked from the soil. The boulders are cut in half.
"Don't tell me this is..."
He immediately checked if there is a new update on the information of the item. To his joy, there is.
Class> Daggers (Sentient)
"Is this a new Astra?"
Some puzzle are now starting to be connected as Mike realized that the system granted him a new weapon.
*This item is not yet completed in form. You must unlock all information in order to use it effectively!*
"If this is a new type of Astra, this would definitely be more powerful than K'lung and K'filan!"
He wielded the daggers on his hand as an idea came to his mind.
"What would happen if I use Tyranny on these guys?"
A tremendous amount of energy enveloped the daggers as Mike activated his powerful skill.
*You have activated Tyranny!*
*The skill, Failed to activate on the targets!*
"Just like what I thought, my levels are not yet enough to do such things!"
He is disappointed but at the same time, have expected of these things.
"I need more time to level up!"
What Mike didn't know it but behind him, a creature is taking the time to have the chance to kill him. Its eyes were red while its legs took on a form of a spider. its mouth is watering from the killing intent.
*An enemy has been detected!*
***
"What seems to be bothering the Minokawa Guild Master for him to come here late at night!"
The Chairman is currently talking to someone of a high importance in his office. His eyes are somewhat worried, not the usual thing that he would exude nor he believe he would show to anyone.
Sillas Natividad, the Guildmaster of Minokawa Guild had something to report on the Chairman. It was something that would spark a lot of controversy if left unsolved nor unanswered.
"Just like what I've said earlier, the artifacts are behaving quite strange!"
"And what made you say so?"
The Chairman sip on the cold whiskey beside him.
"You know the answer to that, Chairman..."
Sillas talked with his eyes, obviously concerned about the fact that the Chairman is taking this matter lightly when in fact, it's not.
"Honestly, the atmosphere these days are somewhat different from the past years."
The Chairman rose from his seat and looked at the window, his arms are closed while his breathing is heavy.
"I agree, the Outsiders had somewhat become stronger and ferocious to the point that we could no longer prevent a horde!"
The Chairman only nodded, thinking something deep on his mind that he could not utter a single word.
"Mister Chairman, you know what that thing means. The doctrine is coming true!"
"And what could we possibly do about it?"
He tilted his head slightly on his right to take a peek on the Guildmaster who is worried about something.
"Only a handful of us knew about that thing, Chairman! We have been warned multiple times by them! If we don't listen, then we might be-"
"Killed?"
The Guildmaster was able to answer the Chairman with a loud silence.
"In exchange of fulfilling that truth, we will sacrifice all lives?"
"But a greater thing would be taken from us if we don't take action right now!"
"Taking actions too prematurely would only lead to a fiasco! Being adamant is the only key for this gateway..."
Silence.
"What should we do then?"
The Guildmaster asked him sincerely. The Chairman however, answered him with a response that is opposite from what he wanted to hear...
"We watch!"
***
The day has finally succumbed into the night's devour. The moon replaced the daunting sun, standing mightily like an insolent warrior who thought of himself as the strongest but didn't know of his equal opposite.
In the private gym of Sarimbal Guild's headquarters, Trace Antonio has been toiling himself for a week after the Saintess made a daring negotiation with him. A blackmail that would ensure the tarnish of his reputation if ever he will not accept it. The choices are either he would forever feast on his good reputation or bite the dust...
A week ago...
"If you would stop being a greedy shit of a bastard towards us, I can assure you that your crimes won't be revealed to the public!"
The Saintess told him boldly.
"And why should I be scared of that?"
He tried his best not to loose his composure.
"Because..."
The Saintess neared him and whispered something on his ear...
"...it is true!"
"But you don't have evidence..."
He thought he evaded the danger but he never expected the Saintess' words that would follow.
"I may have not but once I tell this to the association..."
She shaped her hands into a gun and mimics it firing them imaginatively on his head.
"Bang! You will be a subject to their investigation..."
Trace was lost as words. He couldn't find anything that would get him out of this mayhem.
"And you know to yourself who is more powerful than Sarimbal Guild..."
The Saintess continues her checkmate pattern.
"Believe me if I tell you that you are not that invincible, dear Master! Once everyone found out about this, it would only be in a matter of weeks before this Guild of yours would be turned into dust!"
Silence.
"And if that happens, you would not be considered as a hero but rather a criminal..."
More silence.
"You choose?"
"Fine! We'll do it your way!"
In the end, Trace was left with no options. If he decides to kill her right on the spot, his crime would be guaranteed but if he let her go right now without taking any choice, he would be risking compromising the results of his mistake.
"A good choice, indeed!"
The Saintess smiled again and left the hallway, leaving Trace dumbfounded. Inside his heart, he promised that once time gave him the chance, he would kill the Saintess himself.
What she did that day would be remembered by him as a humiliating moment on his life.
"I'll fucking kill you!"
His murderous thoughts was halted only when one of his men called him for an urgent news.
"Sir, there's something strange happening on the artifact!"