57 Chapter 57: A Demon's Deception
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"Sometimes the hardest choices in life are the ones that seem the easiest on the surface."
- Lisa Kleypas, (Sugar Daddy)
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<(Bruce Wayne POV)>
"That isn't fair. Rewards shouldn't be given based on choices but on achievements. Instead o making me choose between the three, why not just give me a task and reward me according to my performance? If I excel at the task, give me all the rewards and if I fail, don't give me anything. How about it? You are not going to lose anything..."
"Nope. Nada. Non. Nein. Nahi. You may fool anybody else with that challenge but not me little boy. You either take my offer and make a choice or you can just walk out of this room and fight the horde of undead outside on your own. I am sure that you will survive even without my help but the question is, will you be able to save the others as well? Even with your bag of tricks and unnatural body, I still highly doubt so." The kid god S'aru giggled like it had just caught me cheating red-handed.
"... So in a way, this is my test, isn't it? You are going to judge me by what I choose?" I asked, raising one of my brows at the floating baldheaded teen god.
"Not everything is a test you know. Sometimes, it's just a god giving you a choice among two free gifts to choose from." S'aru sighed as he looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.
"Shit... Wait, will you give me the true answer to any question I ask you? Even if I ask you stuff like how to become the strongest being on Earth in one week?"
"What do you think genius? Of course, I won't. Even I am nowhere close to the strongest beings. I mean I am definitely in the top 100 but surely not in the top 50. So how the hell can I help you? God, kids these days. Give them an inch and they will ask for the palace. No, I will only answer your question if I myself know the answer to it." The kid god grumbled childishly.
'Ohhh. *Ugh* Then I guess his knowledge isn't exactly going to be useful for me since I doubt you can tell me anything truly important that I either don't know or can't figure out myself. Also, I am damn sure I can make myself immortal through multiple methods without his help. Even the version of Extremis that I have been working on can give a sort of physical immortality along with eternal youth. So the weird suspiciously green liquid is also out. That just leaves... those." I said as my eyes landed on the pair of burning swords which looked like they could burn me with just a single touch.
"Good choice little Bruce. As people say offense is the best defense. And believe me, knowledge is so overrated anyway. A couple of swords might go a long way in cutting off some wise and knowledgeable heads if they were to ever go against you." S'aru gave his version of 'wise' advice as he began to float towards me, both the goblet and the twin swords disappearing from his hands.
"Now time to pass on to you the real inheritance of the All-caste, oh and you should clench your teeth because as people nowadays say it, this is going to hurt like a bitch." He smiled innocently while grabbing my hands which immediately made me feel like my hands were being burnt to a crisp through slow roasting while millions of needles were piercing through the burnt flesh.
"Oh goddamn, I should have chosen the question," I yelled, feeling true mind-breaking pain for the first time ever since I came into this world without any sort of nerve suppressant.
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<(Nyssa Al Ghul POV)>
"Number 198, did you secure our exit? We need to get out of here ASAP. There are too many undead here. We are swarmed. A retreat is the only option." I yelled through the Handheld Transceiver while battling the hordes of zombies that had suddenly attacked us out of nowhere.
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They had waited for the perfect time to attack and hit us when we were our weakest. Most of the remaining All-caste members were either resting or in the praying chamber while Bruce himself was in the supposedly magical room titled 'Chamber of All', trying to find out a method to effectively defeat the threat of this bloodthirsty undead for once and all.
'But, why the hell is he taking so long? He was supposed to be here to lead the team during times like this. Did he run away or something? But again, as much as I understood from observing him, his personality shouldn't be the type to run away this easily. I hope he is alright. Even though he is an ass sometimes, at some corner... some deep deep corner of his heart, he is still a good person.
But, unfortunately, I currently don't have the luxury to worry about him. I need to save my own skin for now. That's what surviving means, that's what being in the League of Assassins means' I thought as I forcefully dispersed thoughts about him from my head.
"Negative. All exits are blocked miss. The All-caste leader Ducra and her daughter Essence are currently battling two of the cloaked Untitled members as we are trying to plow through the Undead but we doubt we will be successful in securing an exit way. You should leave if you get the chance mistress. Don't wait for us. Rather, we will try our best to rescue the captain." The voice of the nameless ninja on the other side sounded as he spoke out in a flat tone like he wouldn't care even if he died.
The ninjas of the League were more strictly trained than any other military organization in the world. Taking a bullet for their superior is the least of what they are prepared for. Giving their life for the slightest chance of the League's growth was all they could think about. Both their lives and their deaths were meant for the league and the person leading it.
They were all orphans handpicked by existing League members at an early age and groomed constantly to be loyal and useful. Among the hundreds picked, only a select few, the best of the best are chosen to be actual League assassins once their training period ends. The rest mostly die out due to not being able to endure the constant struggle. However, the ones who do survive excel in stealth, combat, sabotage, and intelligence gathering. They are the pinnacle of loyalty and efficiency.
So much so, that they even throw away their original names given in their childhood and take up a number as their new name that gives them recognition in the League. The smaller the rank of the number, the higher the position of the member. Right now, there are about 200 League members in the Nanda Parbat branch. But the only ones allowed to hold a name or a title are the ones from 0 to 20.
Ra's Al Ghul himself was 0, Ubu was 2, my elder sister held the rank 3 and I myself ranked at about 11 currently. Of course, as one can already guess, the people my father sent with me were the last rankers of the Nanda Parbat beach, the bottom rookies as one can say. But that didn't mean, I was gonna treat them badly. Master or rookie, they were loyal nonetheless and I respected them for it.
"... Fine. I'll see if I can find any escape." I replied through the transceiver while putting it away and shooting another arrow at the nearest undead's head putting him down even before he could charge at me.
'I should have run away when I had the chance. I was an idiot to think that my father would actually care for me. Who am I kidding? He probably knew what we were going to face here. I am sure that this is one of the fight-or-die tests he loves to put me and Talia through. Even if I die here today, he most probably won't even visit my grave. He never wanted us in the first place anyway, all he ever wanted was just better soldiers and a worthy successor... I so want to kill him and bash his face in to show him how hard I can hit despite being a girl. If only he wasn't my father.' My fists clenched as I shot three arrows at once hitting three different undead at the same time, curtsey of the lessons from Bruce.
I still remember what he said to me when he selected me for the journey. He told me to either be the best archer on the team or to get pregnant by someone worthy and give him an heir to fulfill my responsibility as his daughter. Tsk And he calls himself a father, that piece of shit, after torturing both of us sisters for years in the name of training, taking away everything we loved and replacing it with hatred, he still behaves like he can be our father like he has authority on our lives. DAMN YOU.
"My, my, what anger. It seems that the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul has some severe issues. Like father like daughter, I guess." One of the hooded figures, probably a female if one were to go by her body structure, dressed in a black hooded cloak with bandages wrapped around the visible parts of her body whispered in an ominous voice as she walked towards me in a slow pace.
"Oh come on Crimson, I have been waiting for a chance to add her to my collection. I always wanted to see an Al Ghul undead. Just imagine how amazing it will be for Ra's Al Ghul to see his daughter in an undead state. It will be amazing. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA." Another one of the hooded maniacs, a male this time, said as he hung from the nearby cave wall like a demon of some sort.
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"No chance Dark, all of you guys got dibs on our little niece and sister. But I was the only one who called dibs on her. I knew that the Demon's Head would definitely send one of his daughters here. He did promise us after all to give us a prize if we were successful in completely taking over the All-caste. We are free to do anything and kill anyone except the dark-haired blue-eyed boy, he said as much as I remember." She laughed viciously like a witch, under the demon-like white skull mask on her face.
"Wait... what... did... you... say?" I muttered now in a trance, barely hearing what they just uttered from their rotten mouths. It didn't make sense. Why would father ally with them? I can understand him trying to make us stronger by making us suffer but why would he ally with them and tell them that they could kill us... kill me but still spare Bruce, someone he barely met a year ago. Why would he prefer him over his own daughter?
"Oh, it seems you still don't have any clue about the deal that your father made with us. All this that we have achieved in the last few weeks is because of your dear father. A few weeks ago, he contacted us out of nowhere and gave us a method to make the... darkness in us stronger.
He even gave us the exact location of the Chamber of All so that we could achieve our full potential and gain the ultimate power with the Water from the Immortal lake of absolute evil. All for the small price of completely eliminating the All-caste and giving him everything else we find here while leaving the boy alive. Truly a finger-licking good deal." The male Untitled this time sneered as he made a disgusting licking sound from his mouth.
'So, my father was the one who started all this? He began this entire farce to what... get rid of his enemies in the most efficient way while getting a worthy successor out of it?' I thought as redness affected my vision and tears began to drop from my face, tears made of red blood all the while I heard a constant ringing sound in my ears making me want to rip everything up.
"Are you crying? Hahahahaha. Wow, that is funny, little girl. But don't worry, once we stitch up your dead body as our perfect doll, you won't be crying anymore. You will forever be happy." The woman said as the crimson fire began to light up in her left palm.
"... You know what?... Fuck my father, fuck his League, fuck his empire, and... FUCK YOU." I uttered in unrestrained anger as I took three of my special arrows out of my quiver and shot at the sibling duo.
The two Untitled were standing close to each other at this moment. So the three arrows were targeted at both of them. The male one dodged the first and second arrows while the female one caught the third one effortlessly with her fingers.
"Arrows? We are old but come on. Even we know that there are better weapons out there." The woman chucked in glee as she twirled the arrow in her fingers trying to tease me.
"Look again," I said as they both noticed a small part section of the arrowheads releasing a minute trace of fresh smoke.
"Huh? *Boom*" An explosion rattled the entire cave as pieces of their rotten flesh and bandages along with the remains of their cloaks scattered like tattered trash, painting a gruesome picture on the cave walls.
"As I said Fuck you," I sniggered as I picked up a few of my previously shot arrows and prepared to go into another section of the cave. Most of the undead had already left this region of the cave after the two Untitled came here. They would be returning soon now that their masters are dead.
"That was smart. Risky but smart. I like you. I think I am going to make quite a special little undead doll out of you." The same female voice from before echoed as their flesh from all around me began to turn into shadows and merge together forming the twisted figures of the two Untitled again like they had never died.
I quickly tried to draw more arrows, this time supplying chi to them to make them stronger than ordinary arrows but some of the tattered pieces of bandage around me began to tie me up, making me unable to load my bow.
"Don't bother little Ghoul. Even if you were able to attack us again, you still wouldn't be able to kill us. Our immortality isn't exactly for show you know?" The male Untitled broke out in a bloodcurdling sneer as his eyes searched for desperation on my face while mocking me.
But there wasn't any. I didn't show a single bit of fear in front of these monsters. I felt nothing while looking at their corpse-like bodies, no fear, no panic, just utter disgust... although I also felt a little sad at not being able to experience my life to the fullest before my death.
'Maybe I should have gotten a boyfriend or something, a boyfriend who doesn't want a kid at all. I am sure that would piss off my father. Yeah, that would be funny.' A smirk came to my face as I saw a crimson sphere of flame being tossed towards me by the female Untitled.
'Maybe next time in a better life.' I closed my eyes as I activated the remote-controlled exploding device hidden in my quiver through a secret regulator on my bracelet, a last resort for the top-level League members when all hope is lost in a battle.
However, I didn't do it for the league. I did it in the hopes that my sacrifice might help the rest of the All-caste members to survive... and maybe even buy Bruce some time, if he still hasn't escaped yet. Maybe my sacrifice might save him... As Ra's Al Ghul used to say, a life for a life.
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