Free Web NovelChapter 83: Chapter 82 - Report
Point-of-View: Adelmira Hartley
———————————————————————————
"Hey, Miraliz, you doing okay, kid?" Came X’s voice, sounding concerned, but I could barely even heard her.
My ears were ringing, my chest felt tight, and my vision was darkening and blurring, as beads of sweat dripped down my face, my body feeling agonizingly hot and unbearably cold at the same time...
"Damn, I think she snapped. Lighten up, brat, it’ll only get easier from here on," Said Wrest, a tone of amusement in his voice.
"You stay back and keep your mouth shut," Snapped X, as she put an arm around my shoulders.
I felt numb, the wails of despair coming from the children and mother were tearing my mind apart, as I felt wracked with guilt and remorse. I...I just killed a man for no reason...
"Hey, let me remind you that we don’t have all day. There’s still at least three more to be killed," Remarked Wrest impatiently, before adding pointedly, "Oh, and the longer you take to kill them, the more mental anguish they’ll suffer. So, by all means...take your time."
H-huh? They’ll suffer even more if I drag this out, is that what he’s saying? But that’s just...
"Tch...as much as I hate to admit it, he’s kinda got a point there. Listen to me, Adelmira...as cruel as this sounds, the most merciful thing you can do right now is to put them out of their misery. You’re capable of killing someone instantly and without making them suffer...I know how unfair it is that you have to make this choice at all, but...there’s really no other option," X said to me, a hint of bitterness in her voice.
Oh...that’s right, she must have gone through this herself at some point. But still...do I really not have any choice but to kill them? Damn it, I already know the answer to that...if I don’t kill them, someone else will, they have absolutely no chance of getting out of this alive.
And...and there’s every chance that, if someone else does take over from me, that they won’t grant these people painless deaths. And what X said, about how the longer I take to kill them, the more mental anguish they’ll suffer.
I-I...I have to do this.
I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists, as I shakily got back on my feet and formed the water funnel over my index finger again.
"Daddy!? Daddy, p-please wake up!"
"I wanna go home, I don’t like this place! Let us go!"
"I-I’m begging you, just please spare the children, you can do whatever the hell you want with me, just let them go, they’ve done nothing to deserve this!" Pleaded the mother desperately.
She seems to be a good mom...but there’s nothing I can do to help her, I...I have no choice but to let her cries fall on deaf ears...
So...the least I can do is...to at least grant them painless deaths. As I took aim with my right arm, and clutched my forearm with my left hand, to keep it steady and stop shaking. I felt my chest tighten painfully, as I slowly exhaled to try and calm myself down, at least a little bit...
"I-I’m...I’m sorry...," I whispered inaudibly, before letting out an agonized cry of misery and fired five consecutive streaks of water beams, piercing each of them through the head and killing them in an instant.
The room was finally silent...a dead silence that broke me, as I collapsed onto my hands and knees as sobs escaped my lips, my entire body trembling and shaking as I desperately struggled to catch my breath.
But it was no use...their pleads and cries were firmly etched into my head, I could see their despairing faces each time I closed my eyes. I shook my head violently, trying to get the images out of my mind, but I couldn’t stop picturing them...
"Wow, you actually offed them all. Heh, Astra isn’t gonna be happy about this, she was really looking forward to burning up a couple of people...oh, well, there’s always next time," Chuckled Wrest in amusement.
"Asshole...hey, come on, Miraliz, let’s-...hey, calm down, you’re losing it," Remarked X in alarm, as she hugged my head onto her chest and stroked my back.
I barely noticed her though, my mind going blank as I took in sharp breaths, my chest aching and my vision getting blurry...
"Pretty sure she’s hyperventilating. She’ll probably pass out soon," Shrugged Wrest, as he walked out of the room.
D-damn it...I-I swear, I’ll...I’ll make Eden pay for this. Even if it’s the last thing I ever do, I promise to tear down this vile organization to the ground. If they really want me to become a killer so badly, then...I’ll do just that. I’ll kill them...every last one of them will die...!
I could barely think straight, and all my senses felt strange, my ears were ringing, my vision was blurry, my skin felt cold and clammy, and yet swelteringly hot at the same time, and all that I could smell was the foul stench of blood.
But even as my consciousness wavered and began to fade, that one thought was firmly burnt into my head...I will destroy Eden, no matter what it takes... frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
"Calm down, Adelmira! You need to calm d-...!" X was speaking in a loud, urgent voice, but I couldn’t really make out what she was saying...
My vision continued to darken and narrow, I felt my consciousness slipping as my senses dulled, before everything went dark...
———————————————————————————
Point-of-View: Wrest Seizel
———————————————————————————
As I shut the door behind me, I glanced down the corridor to make sure that the coast was clear, before silently slinking off towards an empty room nearby and slipping in, quietly shutting the door as I entered.
I then took out my phone that I’d kept in my breast pocket and glanced at the screen, which was currently displaying an active video call...
"Did you see all that? Sorry if the angles were unclear, but I couldn’t exactly be too obvious about it," I remarked sheepishly.
I was on a call with Eden’s informant, or more accurately, my new boss, the leader of the Chaos faction...
"No, not at all, it was perfectly adequate. The video was a bit unclear at times, but the audio was fine right throughout, I heard everything."
"Glad to hear it. So, what did you think of her?" I inquired curiously.
"Well, it’ll probably be a while before her mental state stabilizes after this, and there’s no telling how she’ll turn out afterwards. Worst case scenario, she totally breaks down mentally for good. Still, I have to say, that water attack she used was even more impressive than you made it out to be. Especially the creativity...it’s impossible to naturally generate that level of compression and pressure, so she used a funnel to make it work...she could be quite the terrifying sniper with that technique," Came the intrigued response.
"Yeah? Think she’ll make a good fit for Chaos?" I asked them.
"Hm...no, at least not for the time being. The Outliers are a crucial part of my plan in bringing down Eden and Harmony, and right now, both sides have an even balance with the Outliers in each of their possessions-...well, maybe not quite even, considering how insanely OP that Aurora girl is, plus there’s the fact that Harmony has got one more Outlier than Eden does. Okay, never mind, I spoke without really thinking, Harmony currently has the advantage."
"Hm, then whoever finds the last Outlier will have the scales tip in their favor...or rather, in Eden’s case, even the scales somewhat," I surmised with a nod.
"Oh, actually, about that...we’ve had quite the stroke of luck in that regard. One of our members came across the Aero Skill Outlier not too long ago. I’m not one to rely on luck, but I certainly won’t complain if some luck comes my way. Fortunately, this individual is someone who understands and appreciates our objective, I think you’ll get along quite well with him."
Huh, so that means all the Outliers are now officially accounted for. With the Space Skill Meta-Orb split between two people, that makes ten Outliers...Harmony’s got five, Eden’s got four, and we’ve got one.
"I gotta say, I was pretty shocked when I first found out how many people you’ve recruited into Chaos...especially the number of Aberration Skill users," I remarked wryly.
"Well, given my position in Harmony, I tend to interact with the rookie Meta-Humans more than most. Those with Aberration Skills are sometimes looked down upon and can develop inferiority complexes and resentment towards their peers and Meta-Human society in general...all I have to do is win them over by appealing to their desires, downplay their abilities to the higher ups and have then written off as talentless or whatever, and once they slip into relative obscurity, I recruit them. Pretty simple!" They responded with a laugh.
Heh, yeah, sure...if you ask me, being able to judge whether or not someone would be amenable to betraying everyone they know is a seriously incredible ability. Not to mention the ability to talk someone into actually doing so. And to do it on such a large scale, across two opposing factions...how terrifying.
This person is seriously terrifying...I’m really glad I’m on their side, because I’d absolutely hate to have them as an enemy, now that I know what they’re like...
_____________________________________________
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this Chapter! Don’t forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!
Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.
Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming Chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:
https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP
