Chapter 54: The Good, the Bad and the Genius

"Cease fire!"

That sudden voice made them halt their movements for a moment. They both turned toward the collapsed cell. Concrete and stone rolled aside as something moved beneath the rubble.

Knowing who that was, Rhos held his chain tighter. Ripley also had the same reaction as him, she poised her weapon toward what was coming. Neither of them lowered their guard.

With a groan, a pair of hands shoved through the rubble and what emerged was a teenager who was badly injured.

His clothes were torn, his apron was barely hanging around his neck and several pieces of debris were falling from his shoulders. Crimson blood ran down the side of his face while dark-pink spiritual energy continued to cling to his body like an ominous mist.

"Monkey damn that hurts, everything hurts. Fuck. This is why I don’t like pain"

He walked with a grimace. When he was bathed by the dim lights of the corridor, the two finally got a good look at him.

The young man had definitely suffered wounds enough to cripple a grown man, but they didn’t seem to bother him much. This was because those same wounds were already closing.

Torn flesh knitted itself together while the bruises he suffered began to fade. By the time he reached them, the severe damage was completely gone, leaving only his tattered clothes.

He rolled his shoulders, stretched his neck from side to side then finished with an exaggerated groan. He looked between the two figures who stared at him with caution and sighed

"E-, ehem. My name is Sköll Rune. I’m a genius and the absolute best craftsman in Elderwood.... Apart from my master. The sole exception"

Rhos blinked. He was confused. What was this sudden change in personality? Did this guy try to murder him a couple of minutes ago?

And did he seriously just call himself a genius?

’Who calls themselves a genius in front of strangers?’

This had an effect on Ripley as well as the rage in her eyes was gone, replaced with confusion.

Rune frowned when they didn’t say anything.

"Uh, hello? You two are supposed to introduce yourselves too. I don’t understand why you’re both staring at me like that. There’s no reason for this awkward silence..."

Even with that said, none of them seemed interested in answering. Rune looked increasingly annoyed now but he contained himself and changed the topic.

"Fine, whatever. We can skip the introductions for now, but I’d strongly recommend that we stop fighting. This isn’t the time or place. I can already feel the corruption building up around us, and considering how many people have died here, we’re going to have multiple Wraths emerging sooner rather than later.

He pointed a finger at them.

"If either of you has any common sense left, we should the Exterminators before this entire underground facility turns into a disaster zone"

He wasn’t wrong. The spiritual atmosphere around them had already changed.

Death lingered everywhere.

Too many bodies had been left behind, and every corpse was guaranteed to become a chaos wrecking, man eating horror.

They really didn’t have the time to be fighting amongst themselves.

"We clearly all have our own reasons for being here. But first, let’s deal with the immediate problem first, find somewhere else to talk afterward, and then we can let our blood lust run wild after that"

He raised his arms in surrender.

"How about we call this a temporary truce?"

That annoying silence that ticked Rune off so much returned, but it didn’t last long when Ripley suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hehehahaa! You’re funny, you know that?!"

"What’d you say?"

She reached inside her coat and pulled out a small device before holding it up for both of them to see it.

"A communicator?"

Rhos called out its name with a relieved tone. He was hoping she was in possession of one. By the looks of Rune’s expression, he was surprised to see one.

A smug grin crossed her scarred lips.

"Good news, genius. I already called for cleanup. A professional is always prepared. So you don’t need to worry your pretty little face about it"

She turned her gaze elsewhere as she said;

"So I might’ve killed a few people in this place, but they were all pathetic weaklings. Unless there’s a nasty surprise hiding somewhere, the chances of them turning into Wraths immediately are pretty slim"

Rhos contained the urge to smack his face.

"You shouldn’t be that confident, Rip. That type of attitude will get us both killed. There are other monsters here"

His eyes stared directly at the teenager when he said that last part. Rune was definitely another unchecked monster lurking in the black market. But Ripley didn’t seem to be impressed.

"Is that so? Oh, before I forget..."

Something in her pale blue eyes changed. She turned to look at the teen with malice.

"Where exactly does this runt get off..."

Immediately, she appeared directly in front of him with a knife already drawn.

"...trying to order me around?"

Rune didn’t seem to realize that a lethal blade was flashing toward his neck. Even if he did, there was not much he could do to escape the situation.

The blade was less than an inch from his throat when another hand suddenly intercepted it.

Rhos had appeared between them and caught Ripley’s wrist before it could complete its arc. This brought genuine surprise in her eyes, she did not expect him to get in her way like that.

"That angle would have severed his carotid artery"

His amber eyes narrowed while tightening his grip.

"Rip, were you seriously planning to make a kid suffer before death?"

Even though he didn’t think that would kill him after that display of regeneration, he still couldn’t stand unnecessary cruelty.

Ripley stared at him in disbelief.

"Whose side are you on?"

Her expression crumpled as tears began to fill in her eyes.

"You’re supposed to be on my side! You’re always supposed to be on my side! I came all the way here for you, I helped you! And now you’re getting in my way?! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!!!"

She suddenly collapsed to her knees as she began to cry while covering herself with one of her hands.

Rhos was confused. Was she actually crying over being stopped from murdering someone? What the hell?

He continued to stare at her while holding the unconscious girl on his arm. He had no idea what to do now.

Behind him, Rune finally regained his composure and snickered.

"Elderwood has no shortage of mad women. I’m glad there’s at least one person here with some common sense. She’s insane"

The instant Rhos heard that, he released Ripley’s wrist, allowing her to cover her face with both hands now while she continued to whine.

"So, about that truce I suggested earlier, are we doing that or not?"

"Truce?"

Rune was shorter than the red haired young man so from his perspective, his back really looked broad.

"Truce..."

Rhos repeated that word again in a low tone.

"Yes, the truce. We stop–"

Before he could finish, Rhos suddenly turned and struck him with the back of his hand.

Before Rune could say anything else, Rhos suddenly turned and struck him with the back of his hand.

The blow caught Rune across the face and sent him skidding several meters across the stone floor.

Rhos lowered his hand, his expression slightly irritated.

"I won’t allow someone who tried to kill me to walk away without consequences."