Chapter 362: Outpost Defense
***
"You better shut your ugly mouth before I kill you!"
"Hah?! Do you even know who you're threatening kid?"
"And do you know who you're talking to?!"
Two men argued, their faces inches away from smacking into each other.
One looked to be a child, his androgynous appearance making him unthreatening, but that didn't stop him from standing up to himself.
Their loud voices bounced off decaying walls that had undergrowth sprouting from the tiles that covered them.
This scene was barely illuminated by flickering bulbs hung above.
"Yeah, yeah..."
The man opposite the teen snickered, stepping back as he said:
"Of course I do. But you're not here as 'Elijah,' are you? Right now, you're a nobody. A nobody that is under my fucking command!"
Elijah's brows twitched as he barely managed to reign in his anger.
"I get that, mister 'Spotter,' but that doesn't mean that you get to treat us like this!"
"You're right. It doesn't. But that isn't why I act like this."
"Then why?"
"Kids like you shouldn't be here. You'll be better off going back home and sucking on your mother's tits."
Elijah snapped.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
But unlike last time, he didn't swing his daggers. No, his actions were methodical.
Acting like he was about to step back, deescalate the situation, he-
Click-clack!
Paused.
His surprise attack couldn't even happen as a glowing pistol was aimed right between his eyes.
"Don't. Accept defeat or go back home in a casket."
After staring at the gun for a few seconds, Elijah sighed and glanced left, spotting an approaching Sofia, which prompted him to say:
"Let's stop for now... And by the way, you need acting lessons."
Their spotter lowered his gun as his gaze followed Elijah's.
"Eh. I still got you mad, but hey, you at least passed my little test."
Ignoring his words, Elijah approached Sofia, Aria, and a random Watcher they chose to invite into their cohort.
"What was that?"
He shrugged his shoulders at Sofia's monotone question.
"Bastard wanted to shoo us out of here, thinking that we weren't ready."
range.
"Distant Grasp!"
But before it could cut him in half, they paused for a second, barely held back by his ability.
That second was enough for him to get close safely and lob its head off.
"Hooouf..."
Breathing out heavily, he looked around their small battlefield as the rest of his cohort went
ham against the Berta Scorpions.
'One' had his akimbo sub-machine guns out, shooting through the scorpions with ease, his Arcanist prowess evident.
'Two' wielded both Ice and Fire, her storms killing all that was in her path.
'Five,' being Aria, had her vines trap the monsters, allowing their Watcher and Spotter a much
easier time at killing them. Her damage not high enough to pierce through their shields.
'Hoh... She's really keeping up our teamwork.'
Elijah, whose attention was diverted momentarily, failed to notice the incoming scorpions.
Bang! Bang!
But 'Four,' Sofia was at the ready, killing them with her anti-material rifle as she lay prone far
behind them, in the corner of the rotting train station they were in.
[Thanks for watching my back, Four.]
[You owe me.] Chuckling, Elijah stepped forward to meet two scorpions in battle.
[Sure, One, let's clean up quick. We don't want HQ on our backs like last time.]
Killing a scorpion by throwing his dagger into its face, he sidestepped a stinger, and latched
onto it, pulling himself behind the monster.
[Take it easy, you little devil. I told you we were doing too good!]
As he gutted it on the way down, their Spotter complained while shooting down another
scorpion.
[Hahaha! Our reward for our hard work is more hard work! Yay to corporate!]
The Watcher laughingly shared his sentiment as she shot an ice bolt that tore open a
scorpion's head.
[Stop your yapping and kill those two.]
Aria had the last two Berta scorpions trapped within her vines, waiting for the rest to kill
them.
Bang! Bang!
And she didn't need to wait long as Sofia's Twin Shot came through, tearing them in half.
[Don't waste time. Let's go.]