NOVEL NEXT Chapter 22: Yes, they were diabolical
"What happened here? Did someone beat me to the punch?" That was Justin, ever ready for action, scratching the back of his head.
A lady also accompanied them, dressed scantily and showing off a lot of skin as it would allow her to fight properly if she did not have any clothes obstructing her movement.
She caught sight of Mark, whose uniform made him seem like he was a rank above others, and asked,
"What happened here? Which S-class did this?"
"It wasn't a registered S-class awakened." He answered. "And she had been under my custody."
"A criminal?"
The lady asked, furrowing her eyebrows and squinting her eyes.
"Yes." Mark answered, bowing his head.
Then, Devon stepped forward with a suspicious yet worried look on his face and asked,
"Wait, are you referring to Miss Alice?" He asked and Mark nodded. "So, she was an S-class after all."
"What?!" Justin exclaimed in disbelief. "That pipsqueak did all this?" He asked and Mark had no choice but to nod once more.
Even if he wanted to protect Alice, there were too many eyes watching at the time when she battled, no, when she slaughtered the monsters, so he could not lie.
"We'll need to interrogate her on her motives." The lady said sternly. "It's dangerous to have a rogue S-class roaming around. Where is she?"
Mark did not respond; rather, he looked up at the closed red gate glowing beautifully at the side, and they followed his gaze.
"No way." Justin said and laughed. "She went in there?"
Devon's eyes widened.
"How could you let her go in there on her own? Don't you know that it's dangerous?" He asked, his aura surging in anger but Mark could not respond.
He knew it was reckless and dangerous, but he couldn't stop her. It was as if she had the entire world in her hand and nothing could stop her.
His breath was getting cut short because of the stifling aura the S-class awakeneds were releasing. Were they trying to kill him? He already has bad injuries that are yet to be healed.
"Miss Alice said someone's got to take care of them, and if she doesn't do anything, they're all going to come out and kill us all. She decided to be the sacrifice and hold them back till you all came back. She..." He bowed his head. The next thing he was going to say was definitely not anything Alice would say but this was the only way he could give her a good image in the eyes of these powerful people. "...she did not want any more lives to perish."
An S-class that was yet to be registered or even acknowledged by the agency or the government was not permitted to carry out raids. It was against the rules.
Many would believe it was because they may use that opportunity to get stronger and revolt in the most violent way possible, just as the agency announced.
But in fact, they were merely worried that they would rake all the rewards from the raid and not hand it over to the agency.
That would incur a huge loss on their side. They could've gained a lot.
Yes, they were diabolical.
"Since it's already happened," the lady flipped her hair looking nonchalantly as she said, "...we just need to wait till she comes out. Or maybe, till the gate opens up again." She opened her eyes and peered down at Mark dangerously. "For all we know, she just might die before fulfilling half of her bull talk."
Mark clenched his fists. He didn't want her to die. She was far too young and had a bright future ahead of her to die already.
But he could never rule out the possibility.
It was already unusual for more than one species of S-class monsters to come out of a red gate.
It was okay for two but when there were more than that?
A raid team would be wiped out immediately, even if it did have S-class awakeneds as its members. So how was Alice supposed to take care of such a dungeon?
How was she going to come out alive?
He grew worried.
Maybe he should've stopped her. Maybe he should've...
"Hey, jail man," Justin called, suddenly putting his arms around Mark's shoulder, startling him. "So tell me, how much help did that pipsqueak get in taking out these monsters? How long did it take? Did she use her bare hands? Eh? Tell me. What sort of weapon does she use?"
Justin was suddenly interested in what happened.
He was the kind of guy who would take interest in any strong character, and if Alice was strong enough to take on a hydra, crimson griffin, and an eclipse dragon, then she was way stronger than how she appeared when they fought before.
"Miss Alice did not get any help." Mark answered.
He did not know what this notorious S-class awakened was up to but his reputation and the base of his question already gave him a hint of what he was after.
"She took them all down on her own, with a hammer, and in a single strike each. She... Is not to be messed with." He narrated.
The lady, known as Florida squinted her eyes. She couldn't believe it, honestly. These things, even if she were to fight them, she would take at least five minutes if she wanted to take one of them down completely.
She could not believe the words of this jailer but there were a lot of people around. So she doubted he would make up some fabricated story.
'I can't believe there has been such a powerful Awakened all along.' she thought and gritted her teeth. 'And she kept her identity a secret. What was her goal?'
She didn't like this.
In their country, there were over seven combat S-class awakeneds, and among them, she was the only female. The only one getting admiration and adoration for being the most powerful female.
There was another S-class female awakened but she was a healer and didn't engage in combat like the rest of them.
Florida squinted her eyes, displeased.
If this new girl came running along, carrying power that they could not even hold a candle to, then she, Florida, would be pushed to a corner while Alice took the spotlight.
She didn't want that.
Florida was always proud of her skills and she was exceptionally beautiful with nice curves. The image of her did not leave a lot of minds easily as she was always scantily dressed with a lot of cleavage, stomach, and thighs on display.
She wouldn't let a puny thing that wasn't even past her teens steal the spotlight from her.
Maybe, just maybe... She could keep her in line as soon as she got out of the dungeon.
That is... If she ever got out of the dungeon.
The level of difficulty was too high for a normal human to handle. She would definitely perish. But if she didn't...
She turned around,
"Ready your troupes, jailer," She ordered. "As soon as she comes out, we shall take her into custody right away and interrogate her of whatever motives she has."
Mark's eyes widened. Why would she go that far? Alice was risking her life inside that dungeon. Once she was out, instead of getting the recognition she deserved, she would be treated as a criminal?
He paused and bowed his head.
He almost forgot. She had a criminal tag on her forehead all along. He just saw past it because he had spent so many days with her.
This was originally the normal procedure after all. And he could not do anything about it.
"Yes, ma'am." He answered and shut his eyes.