Chapter 209: ...Claw's Nest (10)

World: MSS - loading...

***

“Kill them.”

I felt cold as I said it.

Maria Akka Xalud, the younger sister of Jason Akka Xalud; the one who razed Samak City to the ground and with it, the orcs that lay within.  He was the one who recruited Arione last minute, using the Grade-2 Mage to wreak enough destruction.  I theorized later; that Jason Akka Xalud wanted to fight the War Chief of Samak without his guards around him.

But that was him.

Yet, she was his younger sister.

And by extension, the same instrument of war that Turina employed through this continent.  From the house of Akka Xalud, known for their brutality and ruthlessness, their unending ambition and willingness to employ everything possible to achieve their means.

Maria Akka Xalud had to be no more than twenty years old.  By the gods, she looked like a college student to me.

She put out an arm, shoving Scarlet, the young red-haired mage, behind her.

“Behind me, Elf.”  She snarled, her gauntlets gleaming with either poison or acid.  Maybe neither, or maybe both.

Scarlet… a young elf mage who was just like Stole, nowhere old enough to be here on this expedition.  The mage had shed a lot of his childish aura, only to take on the awkward lanky freckled youthful aura of a teenager going through a growth spurt.  His robes were at least three inches too short on his arms, legs and neck.  His red hair was raggedy with salt and oil; no doubt having been stuck on this island for days.

His eyes shone with fear, obeying the not-much-older Maria Akka Xalud and taking position behind her.

He was also a Support-type mage.  One who specialized in Utility Type spells.

One that was a direct counter to my build.

[Back to Square One].

At this point in the game… he couldn’t take away all my buffs at once.  He’d probably have to spend way too much mana; being rendered useless when I could just rebuild my buffs.

No, if I was in charge of directing him… 

I’d order him to wait for an opening.  To use [Back to Square One] at a crucial moment when he knew that the killing blow could land.

I tightened my grip around [Snow Scream].

If it wasn’t for Scarlet…

I could have killed Arione back in Samak.  I knew it.

Yet…

Scarlet was the first mage I ever met in this world.  He and I had been trapped underneath the desert city, locked inside cages and waiting to be sold.  In Scarlet’s case, he was waiting for his master to save him: Arione Popindale.

[Aura] flared to life, covering [Snow Scream] with light-blue that would sing of death in a few seconds.

I felt my resolve harden.

Arione had to die.

And if I wanted to kill him…

His support.

Scarlet couldn’t leave this room alive.

I could see Maria Akka Xalud’s eyes shifting left to right, sizing us up.  I didn’t fail to notice the slight pause as they settled on L’teya.

Then Maria Akka Xalud raised her hands.  “Slaveborn, I surrender.”

I heard the words.  But they didn’t register in my head.

My silence must have unnerved her, because she put the gauntlets away into her [Dimension Ring].

“I have no intention of competing with you for whatever that [Key] is.”  Maria continued when no one said anything, “I’m just looking for a way out of here.”

“...I’m…”

“And if you want to keep your neck, you’ll follow me out of here, Elf.”  She snarled at Scarlet, cutting him off.

The teenager opened his mouth to say something but was cut off once more.

“Scion, are you giving your word?  As a Warrior?  Of your Homeland?”  Lety asked.

Maria nodded without hesitation.  She spat on the floor.  “Whatever that Arione and Clover wants, I don’t want it anymore.  The moment he cut ties with Zenom Saintred, he sealed his own faith.  And I–”  She jerked her chin towards me.  “I’m not blind.  I know my odds.  There’s no winning against that monster over there.”

L’teya’s eyes drifted over to me, then the elf barbarian gave a curt nod.  “I believe her, Slaveborn.”

It’s funny.

One of the first things I said as we formed my party was that I’d listen to everyone’s opinions.  That their boices mattered.  Aurora, Stole, Skaris –they all heard it.  Yet at the end of the day, they knew that I was the leader.  That was the burden that I was willing to bear.  I’d listen to all their opinions, but I make the final decision.  And with that decision, I bear all the responsibility of the fall-out.  

It’s a funny thing to be a leader.

When you fail, you must blame yourself.  When you succeed, it is everyone’s success.

Yet, that’s the type of leader I wanted to be.  Not someone who sat behind a computer screen and clicked on buttons for NPC characters to follow orders blindly.  I wanted people I could trust, that I could get stronger with.

But those people weren’t here.

“No.”  I said.

And immediately, the mood in the room worsened.

There is a feeling, an almost perpetual thing that can be touched when violence is about to erupt.  The impending bloodshed becomes an almost tangible thing, a manifestation’s everyone’s nerves, panic, fear, and adrenalines filling the air all at once.  Living in MSS, I’ve gotten used to it over and over again.

And it was still different this time.

L’teya stiffened.  “Slave...born?”

“How do I know that she won’t turn around and meet up with Arione?  Or Clover?  And decide to stab me in the back?”  I spoke coldly to L’teya, even colder than when I left her for dead on the battle on the ship.  “She’s a Scion.  Akka Xalud.  I cannot trust her.”

“I’m telling the truth.”  Maria hissed, desperation seeping out of every vowel.

I turned my gaze on her.  She flinched.

“You are a Scion, working with Arione.  Clover.  You’re traveling with Arione’s apprentice.”  I took a step, swinging my sword through the air and it hummed with frost.  “At the very least, the elf mage has to die here.”

Scarlet, despite his young age, didn’t cower.

Instead, he readied himself to fight.

But we both knew this wouldn’t even be a fight.  It’d be a simple execution.

“Slaveborn, please.”  L’teya ran up behind me.  The stupid barbarian still hadn’t drawn her battleaxes.  If she really wanted to stop me–

“Lock, wait.”

Kyrian.

“Lock, I understand what you’re saying.”  Kyrian said, “But there are other ways to do this.”

“Kyrian, you don’t understand.  That kid–”

“–is the antithesis of your Cores; of the bodily blessings you receive.  I get it.”  Kyrian cut me off, “And I agree that he’s a threat.”

“And you want to let him just leave?”  I snapped, “The Akka Xalud be damned; that mage has to die here, Kyrian.”

“Lock…”

“You listen.”  I stepped in close, speaking in a harsh whisper that I didn’t recognize, “You don’t have your head screwed on tight.  Aurora is missing.  Stole is missing.  Skaris is missing.  They’re our comrades.  People who risked their lives for us.  We don’t have time to be split over who to kill and who to spare.  This isn’t a discussion.”

“I know you’re worried about them.”

“Then listen to me.”

“...I can’t.  I can’t let you do this, Lock.”

And all of a sudden, I snapped.

I slammed my foot on the ground.  I’m pretty strong.  Even without my buffs.  It was enough to leave a mark in the marble tiles and cause a resounding ‘crack!’ which bounced off of the walls; amplified by the silence.

“Arione is on this island.  He’s a grade-2 mage.  I almost killed him the first time, but I couldn’t because of that fucking kid over there.  This expedition is the second time he got away from me.  And it was harder to fight him than before, because he was prepared.  This is going to be the third time I fight him, and he’s going to be even more prepared.”  I spoke in a rush, the words spilling out of me, “And Delas Ender is the fucking Horse-Head from the Scavenger Tunnels.  The one who beat me one-on-one.  Each of our enemies have information about our capabilities, and you’re suggesting letting go of a card that Arione prepared specifically to counter one of our strategies.”

“They surrendered, Lock.”

“That doesn’t–”

“It does matter.”

“Kyrian… our comrades lives are depending on us.”

“You mean depending on you.”

I wanted to punch him.

How dare he, how fucking dare he.

He questioned my intentions with that statement.  That I was making this about myself and trying to–

“But none of us asked you to save us, Lock.”  Kyrian’s gaze didn’t flinch, delivering the words with the same tone that I’d come to associate with… with myself, actually.  “We are not your child to be protected.”

“In fact… right now, I’m protecting you.”  He sucked in a breath, “I worry for you.”

I froze.

“...Ever since we landed on this place, you’ve been nervous.  At first, it wasn’t so bad.  But as the days go by, you’re growing more and more violent.  It’s not like you.”  Kyrian nodded and without warning, lifted his head a fraction, “I know, because I’m your comrade.  Just like Aurora, Stole, and Skaris are.  You, Lock Slaveborn, are unstable right now.  Extremely.”  Then in a quiet voice, he added, “Even more so, after we killed Borealis.”

I didn’t say anything.

“You’ve always been a little paranoid.  It’s part of what makes you… you.  But here…”  He shook his head.  “That’s besides the point.  They surrendered.  The Lock Slaveborn I know is dangerous, but only because he’s confident of his ability to deal with an enemy that would turn back on their word.  Let me deal with this.  For your sake.”  He put a hand on my shoulder, “I’m the Mage of our party.  Trust me with this issue.  Please.”

I looked into his eyes.

And looked away first.

…It wasn’t what I saw in them.

It was about what he might see in mine.

I was scared.

And I didn’t want to admit it.

For the first time…

I had this sinking feeling about my comrades.  About Aurora.  About Skaris.  About Stole.

Not Arrosh.  Not Zenom.  Strangely, I felt that they would be ok.

But whenever I thought of my missing comrades…

It felt like something was stuck in my chest, keeping me from taking a breath.  It made me nervous, want to scream and punch something.  This deep-rooted fear…

What if they were dead?

…What if I fucked up?

I was scared.

But I couldn’t be.

I’m the Party Leader.

If people could see my fear…

They’d use it against me.  Capitalize on it.

I had to be strong.  Fear was healthy, in little doses.

Not like this.

Not in a way that made me angry and want to kill every little thing that might be a danger to us.

Even if that little thing happened to be a teenager.

Gods, he was supposed to be home playing videogames on Earth.  She was supposed to be being late to class and crushing on a guy.

But this isn’t Earth.  This is MSS.

“Go ahead.”  My voice sounded hoarse, even to my own, “But Scarlet cannot be allowed near Arione.  Nor can he be allowed to work against us.”

“Understood.”  Kyrian’s body relaxed like letting go of something heavy.

I settled down in the corner, watching as Kyrian approached Maria and Scarlet.  L’teya followed closely behind.

“...You are blessed to have a friend like him.”  Freier’s ashen-lion mount padded over to me, and the priestess spoke while staring in Kyrian’s direction.  “You’re a good leader too.  Most party leaders could never admit that their decision-making capabilities have been jeapordized… especially when it’s not due to any magical influence.  But simple emotions.  The most dangerous curse of all.”

I didn’t respond.

“To think that he knows you’re a [Player] too… most [Players] could never…”  She trailed off.

I was too busy paying attention to what Kyrian was attempting to do.  Trying to turn my [Hear] stat in their direction.

“I envy you, Lock Slaveborn”  She said finally.

I raised an eyebrow, looking at her.

But her attention was still on Kyrian and them.  Not wanting to press the issue, I blatantly eavesdropped on their conversation.

“...be willing to make a Mana Vow?”

“Yes.”  Maria answered.

“No.”  Scarlet answered.

Maria Akka Xalud punched Scarlet on the arm.  “Elf, if you want to stay alive, listen to me.”

“My master–”

“Left you for dead.”  The Scion snapped, “Do you not get it?  With that monster walking around…”  She shuddered, “It’s over, Scarlet.  Your master is done for.”

“...He’s the most… power…”  Scarlet’s trademark stalling speech.

“I know what you’re saying.  Arione is one of the most powerful mage on the continent.”  Maria conceded, “But there’s always someone stronger.  Trust me on this one, kid.  A lot of my siblings and cousins are War Princes.  That… thing over there?  Staring in this direction?”

She shuddered.

“He’s the same as them.  That thing… it’s not human.  They’re different.  And that’s coming from me, an Akka Xalud.  Arione, he’s not leaving this island alive.”

Tears welled up in Scarlet’s eyes.  “He raised me.  And… I’m just supposed to… leave him?...”

“He didn’t raise you, he used you.  Groomed you to be a fucking pet mage, playing support to him.”  A touch of something foreign, entered her voice.  “I know how you feel.  But I was in your shoes once.  Everything Arione did for you, he was doing for himself.”

“You… cannot know how I feel… Scion.  You are just… a bloodthirsty human.  No attachments.  All… your siblings… were nothing but enemies…”

A bitter smile on the Scion’s face.  “Yeah.  They were.”  Then she straightened, “Make the Mana Vow, kid.  Let’s get out of this together.”

“And then… what?”

“Then we’ll see from there.”  Maria Akka Xalud turned to Kyrian.  “We’re ready.”

Kyrian nodded.

They made the mana vow.  

That they’ll actively avoid Arione.  To not work actively against me, or tell anyone my location or information about me to the best of their abilities; until they got off this island and for forty-eight hours after.  Kyrian added in a few more details.

As always… the Mana Vow took effect with the mana from both parties wrapping around the hearts.

It was time to leave.  As the rest of us got ready, L’teya and Maria lingered near one of the tunnel exits, talking.

“Barbarian.”

“Yes, Scion?”

“...You going to stick with him?”

“Yes.”  A simple answer as expected from the Barbarian.

“What are you going to do about Clover then?”  

“I will deal with that, when I get to it.”

Maria Akka Xalud scoffed.  “Such a fucking barbarian way of dealing with things.  Putting it off.”

“Perhaps I’ll die before then.”

The Akka Xalud beauty raised an eyebrow.  “I doubt it.”

The two kind of entered an awkward silence.

“Hey, just come with me.”  Maria Akka Xalud said at last.  “You, me, and the kid.  We could make a new party.  Maybe go to Babel.  Or Ragnia Mountain.  Or keep heading east, to Zimskar.  We could steal that job from Clover.”

“I cannot.”  Lety smiled, “I must see this through.”

Huh.  There was a slightly more; I guess, backbone, was the word I was searching for.  Backbone to L’teya’s voice now.

“Worth a shot.”  Maria shrugged.  Then she smiled, “It was fun, L’teya daughter of Agda.”

“Likewise, Maria Akka Xalud.”

“Don’t die, Barbarian.  Careful of Clover.  You know how she can be like.”

Lety nodded.  “You too, Scion.  Stay alive.”

We set off.