Nein and The Mantis
A little while back, just before Rua's terrific interruption, Seff was still jumping across the APCs.
The moment Rua used the power of the craft. He felt a powerful incorporeal blast pass through him.
He could vaguely tell it was the Craft of Authority, he could also somewhat sense that it was right behind the border of the 4th League. But still, he didn't feel any of its effect on him at all.
'Strange!' His eyes narrowed, following soon, his speed jumped up.
As he neared the end of the barricade, his eyes caught a rocky dome crudely formed in a hurry.
'What's that?' His eyes lit up in a pattern, allowing his sight to gaze past the covering.
His pupils widened, safely standing behind the protective covering, a boy stood with his hands crossed.
His long, beautiful silver hair fell to his hips. His body covered in lavish and noble attire. His presence spoke volumes of his royal birth, even if he wasn't nobility.
The boy's eyes suddenly shot wide, his head turned in Seff's direction as if sensing the latter's gaze. His vertical white pupils glared straight into Seff's eyes. Following him acutely from behind the dome that obscured his vision.
'He's the leader... so young... He's not a hybrid either.' Seff deduced despite the fluffy silver fox tail that stemmed out from his behind. 'I can't defeat him. He's a cursed birth.'
Clicking his tongue, the pattern in his eyes changed, he jumped on the building to the side and zoomed past the dome, avoiding him with priority.
As he closed in on the Lab, his eyes traced sight of an unusual seen.
In the chaotic mess, there was an odd sight, a small group of humans were fervently defending a man who stood amid the center of the whole battlefield.
Despite the battle having stopped everywhere, they were still going at each other's throats.
The man had his arms clasped behind his back, his posture solid and upright like a statue. A single golden star glittered on his chest proudly.
'Captain!' Seff's eyes narrowed. His mood turned sour.
The man had a beaming glow in his eyes, his gaze affixed on the dome without any care for the ones coming toward him or the ones dying for him.
Sensing somebody approaching from a sneaky position, his eyes coldly drifted over.
But the sight of a human glaring back at him caught him off-guard. "Seff!?" He muttered to himself before focusing back on the rock he had erected around the fox.
Seff jumped past the Lab's gate, in a systematically trained manner, he took sight of the whole area and instantly appeared next to Rua.
"What's wrong? Where's Cikus!? Update me on the current situation."
Rua dazedly glanced back and shook his head, "I don't know."
***
Currently, Seff, the Mantis, and whoever had been paying attention to the changing situation inside the Lab repeated the word uttered by the potential League 4.
"Nein!" Seff's eyes flickered as he rooted that name into memory. 'If he's a human... he should be well within league 4. And,' Seff's face squeezed up. He looked down at Rua and inquired about that which forced him to abandon his post and get over here.
"Rua. There was a hybrid awakening alert earlier. That's majorly why I came over. Tell me, is that... man or whatever, did he walk out of the Lab's door? Aw, yes! I'm not talking no this time."
Rua peered into his eyes, and seeing their firmness, he forced his memory to trail back. After a while, hesitantly, and somewhat in unwanted enlightenment, nodded. "Yes."
Seff stared into his shaky pupils and finally let loose a sigh, "So... He's not a League 4... But a 4 Heart Hybrid... huh?"
Rua's heart palpitated, instantly his mind wandered to the worst, 'This is bad. Very bad! Since he's not on our side. We just lost a Captain level ally. But, the worst thing is, the Hybrids just gained a power equal to a human Captain. The balanced scale has shifted heavily.'
"Yo-YOU FOOL LET GO!!" The Mantis pulled back his arms and distanced back.
"Yo-You think I will let you off like this? Pathetic human!! First, you disgusting, gutless worms kill an innocent child who didn't know the first thing about why you louses showed such enmity against him. AND NOW YOU SNEAKILY OVERPOWER US WITH TWO LEAGUE 4! WORTHLESS! UTTERLY WORTHLESS! EVEN IF IT KILLS ME," The Mantis flicked his scythes, and a crazed glint flickered in his eyes. His two arms vibrated intensely, a humming voice resounded from inside.
Rua's fist tightened, 'That's... that's a mantis's ultimate technique... The Hum-blade!'
The Mantis's body crouched slightly, lowly newbies like Rua didn't even manage to see what happened.
All he heard was a terrific boom as the ground below his feet shattered and the next instant the tiles uprooted in a straight line toward Nein's direction.
"This will kill him!" Seff's pupils glinted, 'Is he not a hybrid but a human? Then we ought to save him.' He worriedly glanced toward Nein, his eyes glowing in a mystical pattern.
Things would've been too fast for Rua. But under Seff's eyes, they were barely seeable.
In response to the Mantis, Nein readied himself, his right fist gripped tight as his peeled eyes tracked the on-coming bolt.
"DIEEEE HUMAN!!" The Mantis's scythes blasted onward. Their terrifying power let loose a deafening roar and enshrouded the whole area in dust.
Once again, the spectators' hearts thrummed in their throats. Their eyes waiting expectantly.
In contrast, Seff stood rooted in his place. His complexion pale, and his heart frozen. He saw it, just before the Mantis's blades reached Nein, the latter stepped forward and blasted his fist right into the latter's chest.
Exploding him... in tiny particles of his body. 'Terrifying... He's not League 4... His power... His realm is reaching League 5!!' Seff unconsciously bit into his lip.
As the dust settled, the spectators spotted Nein standing tall right in his place. And the Mantis... nothing was remaining of him... except a puddle of goo on the ground.
The Captain, not having to fight, had his eyes affixed on the battle. His heart wavered upon the outcome, '6174... truly he is swathed in mysteries.'
Using the opportunity whilst the Captain had been occupied by the disturbance. The Hybrid Leader let loose his power and blasted away the rocky dome.
The Captain's hair stood up, his lax body turned solid like a rock. His palm quietly rested on his sheathed sword.
"Stand down!" He firmly ordered his subordinates who had shifted their attention from their opponents to the Leader and had been preparing for a suicide attack.
With his gaze not budging from the Captain, the Hybrid casually stepped into the Lab.
The second person he honored to receive his gaze was Nein. His vertical pupils burned in unsheathed fury as he stood right in front of him.
Looking at the goo beneath his feet, he sighed and spoke aloud, his voice heard by all under his command loud and crisp, "We are returning. As Vixous has died, we have no need to exact any vengeance for anybody now."
He crouched down and took the remains in his hand and devoured them.
"Nein..." His seething voice pierced into Nein's ears like needles, "I will exact Vixous vengeance from upon you. I will pull out your heart with my bare hands and crush it. I will feed your flesh to stray dogs... and use your blood to clean my toilet. I, Zanal, swear upon my name."
"Za-nal!?" Nein repeated in confusion. He suddenly felt something cold grip around his heart for a second, before the feeling receded into the back of his mind.
Qeff, the Captain, coldly glanced at the Hybrids cussing in a low tone while walking out of the Martial Gate.
Two Second-Lieutenants instantly rushed into a nearby room and pulled down a lever. Causing the door to slam shut.
The whole place descended in silence. Only the scent of blood remained to accompany the survivors.
"Lieutenant Posseto!" Qeff glanced toward the female Lieutenant by his side, his close assistant, and crisply asked, "Is there anything you have been hiding from me!?"
Her listless brown eyes wavered, tucking her short hair behind her ear and maintaining her poker face, she responded, "I believe if my memory serves me right, I was just reading a report before I was informed of this invasion."
His eyes turned chilly, he had known her enough to see through her lies, "Continue."
"If it's not false. Three drunk officers assaulted a Cursed Birth child and ended up killing it."
"Had the child any history of killing a human?" His voice turned monotonous, but loud enough for everybody to hear.
"No."
"Was he perhaps a Mantis hybrid?"
"Yes."
"Are you certain of the three officers being drunk?"
Posseto's hands trembled, but she forced herself to remain firm and responded, "I-I doubt its credibility."
"I believe under article 67, the killing of a hybrid under 18 is prohibited. And under article 89, killing any Hybrid that hasn't killed a human is banned."
"Yes!" Posseto's tongue squirmed as she wondered how to voice her words. But Qeff's words struck her more swiftly than she expected.
"Then I want those three arrested within 2 days. And sentenced to death by the night of the third and their corpses hanged on the Martial Gate until the completion of a full week."
Posseto's spine shivered, 'Outright death sentence??'
"Sir, isn't this too extreme?"
Qeff's gaze bolted toward Posseto, cold and stingy, he pushed his words out his teeth, "They should be torn from limb to limb... And you know this better than me."
"...S-Sir, m-my cousin is... is included within those three." Posseto finally allowed her tongue to utter the words irritating her tongue.
"Then the only way you can save yourself from a demotion is by bringing his head yourself." Qeff glared at her one last time before beckoning herself to calm down.
Posseto's throat turned parched, she didn't dare say the next words, 'H-He's engaged to me!!'
But despite her anguish, she knew she couldn't do anything. After that incident three centuries ago, courts were demolished. And the law became the word of those in power. What they commanded... the powerless bowed before.
Qeff's eyes moved toward Nein, the one standing cluelessly dumb like a kid, 'Now then... what do we do with him?'
'Or more like... can we do anything to him?'