Chapter 309: Order 66
<Execute Order 66.>
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'Ahh… I've always wanted to say this.'
I've been in telepathic communications with my three slaves basically throughout the entire Trials, but when Andrea and the rest got forcefully added to our team we devised a special countermeasure against them, called Order 66. Naturally, the name came from the brains behind the operation; yours truly.
I refused to do anyone's bidding, especially a traitorous bitch's like Selene.
Seraphiel who was part of our communications instructed the five elves to shoot the newcomers in the back, and the archers didn't need much convincing. They didn't have any wishes to attack a whole army with only 18 of us either.
A flurry of arrows shot out from our archers, striking with the long-lived species' many decades of trained precision. Six arrows- one of which was Seraphiel's [Arcane Arrow]- found their marks. The assassins were caught completely off guard. They staggered as the projectiles buried themselves into their backs.
Perhaps due to their desperation to help their alliance out made them even less receptive to their surroundings, or maybe they just weren't all that good to begin with. The fact that I and Ambition were running in front and gave no command at all- verbal or physical- must've also lulled their danger senses. What kind of a conspiracy theorist would you have to be to expect others to have telepathy in their skillset?
Andrea let out a strangled gasp with her momentum halting mid-stride as blood spilled from a wound near her shoulder. She stumbled with wide eyes that told tales of extreme shock and betrayal.
I, Blossom, and Ayame lunged toward the injured enemies. I personally aimed straight for Andrea. Her eyes were frozen in terror as she saw me rapidly approaching. The petite woman's honed instincts barely gave her enough time to raise her twin daggers in defense. I could see the confusion and fear in her gaze, but there was no room for hesitation.
"Why...?" she gasped while catching my sword's edge between her crossed blades, managing to just in time survive the first strike. She couldn't help but stagger back a step, clearly unprepared for my sudden attack.
"Why? Because I think this is the best way to bring all my teammates out of this situation alive. Your suicide charge was simply unacceptable." I said coldly, pushing harder against her daggers. She gritted her teeth and pushed back, trying to regain her footing. Andrea's hands were quick, evidenced by her deflecting and countering with the kind of practiced efficiency that spoke of decades of training. She was good- very good- but I wasn't about to let her take the lead.
I pulled my blade away from her parry and lunged again, forcing her to sidestep with a strong twist of her lithe body. She retaliated by slicing low at my legs but I flicked my sword down to deflect the blow, then immediately swung back up, aiming for her throat. She ducked, rolling to the side, and came back up in a crouch.
We circled each other briefly with our weapons aimed at the other. She was fast- perhaps even faster than Blossom- but I had the reach advantage, she was already wounded, and I wasn't about to lose at such a critical moment. With a sudden burst of movement, I feinted to the left and then slashed downward in a full-power, brutal arc. She moved to block, but I altered the angle at the last moment. Perhaps due to the arrow in her back, or maybe due to her simple mistake, my blade bit deep into her chest. It cut a gaping vertical wound through her ninja robes, revealing her white skin. Blood soon began gushing down in a crimson riverfall and her eyes went wide as she dropped to her knees while desperately gasping in pain.
Ouch. I think I cut her open from her right breast all the way down to her left hip. Yep. Her organs were spilling out across my lengthy slice. The woman who must've been a sight to behold based on her pristine skin was nothing but a gory mess now.
"This is all a giant mistake, you will all die! Only 100 Phenoms can pass, you scumbag! Attacking their backline was our best move, and you ruined it all!" She shouted her accusations and obscenities at me while clutching at her wound, trying to keep everything inside instinctively.
I shook my head. "We can't know the future. The only thing we mortal beings can do is act in our best interests with the current information available to us. I made my decision, and it was honestly nothing personal."
She painfully scoffed at my reply. "Damn you…! I hope the Goddess curses your soul for eternity!"
"May you rest in peace." I didn't wish to elongate this conversation by having a back-and-forth debate right now. I wanted to give her a quick and honorable death, without letting her suffer any longer. After all, I just ordered her to be shot in the back. As far as I was concerned, she didn't deserve to be ridiculed by me now.
Her mouth opened as if to say something but I didn't give her the chance. With a quick, decisive strike I brought my blade down and severed her head from her shoulders. It rolled away with a frozen expression adorning it, and then her body collapsed lifelessly, becoming one of the many thousands of unfortunate young and opportunistic souls whose blood soaked into the cavern's floor.
With Andrea's demise, I got the last XP of Primordial Level 19, which meant that it was time for the Rank-Up Mission. However, for primordials, it was supposedly something completely different for normal humanoids, and my message window also alluded to this fact.
[Entity needs to pass the Rank-Up Mission to be allowed to reach level 20. XP gained until the Rank-Up Mission's completion will be stockpiled and added once the entity passes the test.]
[Rank-Up Mission: Entity should wish in their mind for the primordial test to initiate.]
Yeah, I wasn't about to do this right here. I could go out of commission for who knows how long at such a critical moment, and honestly, I would really like to gather some info about what I should be expecting before proceeding.
Ayame and Blossom who were in on the schtick from the beginning have also finished off an opponent each. Lucille and Ambition were late to the party, but despite their complete confusion they still stuck with us and killed an assassin each. The last one was finished off with a second arrow from Seraphiel.