61 Chapter 58: The 10th day
「What? You want me to attract that hybrid's attention, Adela sama?」Desmond blankly stared at the beautiful Astral in disbelief. Ever since witnessing the hybrid's prowess inside the deep, wet cave close to the town of Syllia, Desmond had made a promise to himself never to get close to that walking menace again. Once his sworn brother, the infamous hero, was confirmed dead after setting out to ambush the hybrid's group, Desmond knew his decision to avoid the hybrid was correct. 「You're kidding, aren't you?」The monk was sweating.
「No, of course I'm not.」smirked the girl. 「Though, to make it an enticing offer for you, who will probably be risking your life for the mission, I'll make you a deal.」
「A deal?」Desmond was intrigued, though he did not know if there was any "deal" that would make him change his mind.
「Yes. I know you're lusting after that hero named Ryan.」Adela leaned closer to the monk. 「If you somehow can take down the hybrid during this mission, I promise I will make Ryan yours.」The Astral blatantly lied to Desmond's face, since not in a million years would she willingly let someone else acquire a person who she had already deemed hers.
「Ryan kun, you say.」Desmond was intrigued. He was so close to being able to break and obtain the hero for himself. If not for the hybrid, Ryan would be kneeling naked next to him, licking his feet now instead of the same "maggot" he acquired more than a decade ago. 「But… still, that hybrid is bad news.」The monk still hesitated. There were so many things he did not know about the hybrid but he understood that for an Astral to personally want to eliminate a mere hybrid, that hybrid had to be dangerous.
「Then hire lots of people to help you. It's easy to deal with someone who you know is coming for you. Though, it's okay. I'm not forcing you to do it. As an Astral, I should not directly interfere with the affairs of the mortals but if needed, I can personally crush him myself.」
「... Will you be ensuring my safety during this mission then, Adela sama?」The monk appeared begging Adela for protection.
「... Fine, fine」lied the Astral.「I will be watching your back. If your life is ever in danger, I'll make sure to intervene.」
「Then I'll do it, Adela sama! 」Desmond was excited before he sinisterly continued asking 「... About the hybrid… Instead of killing him, can I break him and mold him into my perfect cocksleeve also? He does have a rather beautiful face…」
Ha? He wanted to break Zaeryn? Hahaha! In your dream, you little monk. Tormenting him is my job alone. Adela thought to herself, though she simply nodded and lied. 「Sure.」
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Up to this moment, everything had gone according to the Astral's plan. Knowing that he would be acted as bait, the monk had hired more than two dozen veteran adventurers to protect and help him subjugate the hybrid. They were mostly B to B+ rank adventurers, with a few having obtained A- rank. The monk knew that individually, those adventurers would pose no threat to the threat that was Kibadios. Yet, he was confident that if they all gang up on the teenager, subjugating him was not an impossible task. Of course, hiring them was not cheap, but for Desmond, money was not the issue since he could easily "borrow" some from his crazy wealthy brother-in-arms, like he has been for years. Working her magic, Adela was able to have Desmonds and his group of adventurers involved in the civil conflict between the Shilna clan's siblings, allowing his presence to be naturally discovered by the hybrid, who had taken the side of the young Princess.
「Now that he knows you're here, you just have to wait for his arrival.」Adela had warned him two days ago. Desmond was scared of the prospect of facing the hybrid again, yet, there was a part of him that was feeling strangely excited. Soon, I'll have Ryan chan with me… Ahhh, breaking a hero class individual is just so tempting!!!
Yet, this currently unfolding outcome was not what the monk had envisioned, for in front of his eyes, his group of hired adventurers were being massacred, one by one falling victim to the hybrid's merciless scythe.
「What are you guys doing?? Fucking kill him already! That's what you were hired for!」Standing in the back, Desmond desperately screamed out from the top of his lungs.
「...」One of the men gritted his teeth in frustration. 「That's easy to say… But this fucker in front of us is strong as fuck. Dealing with him alone is troublesome enough, let alone that demihuman kid and the hero class teenager that are with him.」
「Desmond, you tricked us!」A female member of the group screamed. 「That man is much stronger than you have told us. Besides, you said nothing about that kid! That kid alone is enough to take on at least 4 of us.」
「I did not know about him!」Desmond yelled back. This is bad… This is really really bad. Desmond cursed his bad luck.「We still have numbers on our side. Just keep attacking, they cannot take all of us at once.」
「I can't?」Kibadios licked his lips. His eyes glowed with murderous intent, which sent shivers down the adventurers' spines.「Why don't you try me?」
「Damn you filthy monsters!」An old man belonging to the group shouted. Judging from his white cleric cloak, the hybrid could tell he was associated with either the Oracle or the theocracy, which certainly explained why he just called them "monsters." 「You're pretty arrogant for a low-life!」The man charged forward, his hand gripped tightly onto his staff, which seemed to be charging with some sort of energy attack. Though his trajectory soon stopped short since Yuusei had already intervened by landing a devastating kick on the side of his blind spot that sent him flying for a few meters away while coughing up blood on the ground.
「Can't touch Master!」The mutant warned as a sinister Nen emitted from his body.
「You!」The old man swung his staff at the kid, chanting a spell that allowed the charged energy to be shot straight at the mutant. Though, the attack that he took pride in did not land a hit since Yuusei swiftly dodged it, leaving his mere afterimage behind. Before the old man could let out any sort of reaction, the mutant stomped his feet onto the ground, allowing him to come to a complete stop before changing his direction and launching himself at the man. The next thing he could register was the furry mutant's claws grabbed around his ears, piercing through his skin while his face was subjected to a repeating thrust from the mutant's knee. By the time Yuusei finished, the man was already dead, his ears were completely ripped from his head.
「Anyone harms Master, Yuusei kills!」The mutant declared.
Despite seeing his servant mercilessly just kill someone by crushing his victim's skull, Kibadios leisurely placed his hand behind the back of his head and whistled, his scythe had already vanished since he deemed Yuusei was enough to deal with these people. Only Ryan was taken aback to the development. Now the hero finally understood why Kibadios had taken Yuusei into the group: Yuusei was truly a killing machine. The kid did not care what was right or wrong. He merely listened to the command given to him by Kibadios as an automaton. But even more terrifying than that, he got the power to back up his threat. As a rabbit beastman, his speed surpassed even Kibadios or Ryuu while his ogre half provided him with an incredible amount of raw strength that could pulverize anyone who his attack came into contact with. Before, because of the restraint placed on him by the slave traders, all his skills were locked up and he was not able to use his physical attack to harm any human, to a point that a 6 years old kid could easily beat him up. However, when swarm of monsters attacked Lorian, Yuusei was able to escape and beat back the horde because despite not being able to access his skills, Yuusei was already physically powerful enough to deal with the monsters, which the restraints did not prevent him from harming. Of course, once he had successfully escaped, the mutant was again caught by humans. However, Kibadios had to be thanking those humans right now for thanks to them, he was able to obtain such an asset.
「Damn it!」A large muscular man instinctively charged at the mutant, his hand was holding onto a butcher knife as a weapon. Yet again, the adventurers' speed was proven inadequate since Yuusei quickly appeared in front of the man as if he had just teleported there. His claw reached out to the man's arm before sinking his nails deep inside his flesh. The pain caused the man to scream out loudly while dropping his knife onto the ground.
「Please…. Wai...」He was kneeling, begging for his life. Though his plea was cut short, since the mutant simply smashed his victim's skull with his own forehead. The man dropped dead instantly while the mutant again looked around, directing his attention to the remaining adventurers, his victim's warm blood was now dripping down from his face.
「What the...」
「We can't win against them...」
「This is hopeless.」
The adventurers' spirits began to break, one by one. Though the despair seemed to be contagious at first, but soon, five individuals were still able to keep their calm. After analyzing the situation, one of them turned to Desmond.
「Well, this is kinda unexpected.」The tall man simply stated the obvious. 「Though, I should still be able to deal with them...」
「However」A middle aged woman continued. 「The fee you paid us for this job is not enough. If you don't increase our payment...」
「Then we'll call it off.」A twin cladded in thick armor declared.
「Wait wait wait!」Desmond panicked. 「You can't just call it off.」
「What you paid us simply is not enough, though. We're not risking our lives dealing with these two hybrids just for a mere 50000 silver coins.」The fat man complained. 「And then there's the hero class right there.」
「For us to deal with such a threat, the pay is 5000 gold coins!」The middle aged woman bargained. 「If you don't agree to that, then we'll simply abort the mission right here and return the 10000 silver coins up front payment back to you」
「...」Desmond thought for a second. 「Fine! 5000 gold coins! Don't let me down, you A rankers!」
「「Sweet!」」The twin giddily exclaimed.
「Wow. Impressive.」Kibadios seemed to be unfazed 「A rank adventurers… That's even higher rank than you currently are, right, Ryan chan?」
「... Yes, master.」he nodded.
「I wonder how each of them would taste like.」Kibadios licked his lips. His shadow began to grow larger. From the dark abyss below his feet, a larger, more threatening scythe emerged. 「Let's get this party started, shall we?」
「Hahaha!」The tall man burst out laughing. 「Don't be too over confident, young hybrid. You're dealing with five veteran rank A adventurers here. Even an average hero would be nervous.」
「You lot!」The middle aged woman yelled at the other adventurers who cowarded away.「Don't just stand there and pee your pants. Provide us some backup!」
「「Obasan!」」The twin simultaneously called out 「「We don't need those pathetic people's help. They'll just drag us down. 」」
「Don't call me oba-san, you freaks.」She cracked her neck.「I'm still young.」
「Well… Should we start?」The fat man confidently slapped his big belly. 「Let's crush their arrogance by showing these demihumans the difference in power between us A rankers and them.」
「「Hihihi! Let's do this!」」
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Desmond simply stood there, frozen. He tried to gather his thoughts, to calculate his next step but he simply could not do anything but gazing at the dead bodies that littered right in front of him. Among all the people he hired to deal with Kibadios, only five were still alive. The five A rank adventurers, who, just twenty minutes ago, were so confident in their power, were now lying half dead on the dirty ground. The fight was not a one sided slaughter, yet, gradually, all five were completely defeated while the hybrid barely received any wound. The middle aged woman's ribs were all crushed, one of her legs was completely detached a few meters from her body. The fat man was now losing consciousness as his blood slowly soaked his head. Not too far from him was the tall man. Despite the fact that he was widely known among the adventurers within the Kingdom of Maeg as the "Impregnable" due to his incredible defensive skill, his face was completely mutilated after suffering continous punches from the mutant kid. The twin adventurers fared not much better since both were being held up by the hybrid's grip on their necks. Their armors were completely shattered, blood gushed out from their bodies due to multiple large slashes caused by the hybrid's weapon.
「... Pl...e...ase...」One of the twin struggled to speak 「Spa...ree...us...」
「We… have…. younger siblings… to care..for...」The other was crying.
「Really?」amused Kibadios. 「But how is that my problem? If I was defeated, beaten half dead by you guys, would you spare me? You accepted the job that monk over there offered, ready to kill me, did you think I also have someone I need to protect? Or that I also have a purpose in life? If you already were ready to kill someone as your job, then you should prepare to be killed yourself.」The merciless hybrid grinned from ear to ear, unaffected by his victims' begging. 「Now, simply resign and embrace your death.」
His shadow began to branch out, swirling underneath the other three A rank adventurers while creeping up and covering the bodies of the twins he was holding up. 「Since you all fought bravely, I'll be merciful and allow you guys a painless death.」As he finished, the three adventurers slowly sank into the abyss below them without much struggle while the twins' bloody bodies were absorbed without leaving any traces of their existences behind. 「Not too bad.」The hybrid licked his lips, then wiped his mouth, signifying the end of his meal. 「Now, back to you, Desmond. I have thought about it and so, I'll let you die under my Ryan chan's hands.」
「Hiii!!!」The monk freaked out, turned around and called out to his benefactor. 「Adela sama!! Please!!! Help me!!!」
「Adela...」
「You silly monk.」The Astral quickly appeared in front of him, though, instead of relief, Desmond suddenly felt a sharp pain in his stomach.「Your usefulness ends here.」She pushed the monk aside with her knife plunged deep inside his flesh. Walking beside her was Skyer, along with four other exceptionally handsome individuals that Desmond had never seen before. Though, just like the second in command elf, each of the individuals was emitting a crazy strong aura that clearly overpowered even the A rank adventurers that he had hired.
「A..dela sama… Why?」Desmond looked up to the devious Astral from the ground.
「Like I said, I'm done with you.」Adela explained. 「And I had already promises my Ryan chan that I'll take care of you after this.」
「You!!!」
「Ryan, barrier up!」commanded Adela, to which the hero simply recited some spell he had learned from her while raising his arms up. In no time, an expansive rectangular box, its five sides were made up of a series of octagon shapes, had already encased Adela and the hybrid within it while the hero stood firmly outside, concentrated in maintaining the Holy Barrier. Yuusei, at the last minute, was able to quickly jump out of the barrier.
「... Adela...It's been too long.」Kibadios calmly smiled as he raised his hand up, feeling the essence of the barrier that he was trapped inside.「This is the Octagram Holy Wall, isn't it?」
「...Yes」The Astral was taken aback, not at the hybrid's familiarity with the barrier, but at his rather indifferent attitude. Why is he still calm, even after being betrayed by Ryan? 「... You...」
(Note: At this point, turn on FMA:B ending 4 and imagine in your head the song starts as the following events transpire, just like when General Grumman snapped his fan and laughed, signifying "the coolest ending of an episode ever", according to the title of one youtube video lol)
「Heh, this barrier is just perfect.」Kibadios grinned. 「Ryan chan, until I say otherwise, under no circumstances should you dispel this barrier, understand?」
「Yes, Kibadios sama!」The hero nodded obediently. 「... Please… be careful...」
「What's going on here?」Adela's smile had already faded from her face. 「RYAN, CARE TO EXPLAIN?」
「He does not answer to you, Adela.」Kibadios raised his head and looked down at the confused and angered Astral as if she was a mere insect standing in front of his path. 「He's my property. Of course he'll be doing whatever I command.」
「... You!」
