"Talia, we have company."
"We see."
Rhys immediately ran to the Warden's quarters, only to find Talia, Dominique and some of her people, looking at the surveillance monitors inside the room; their faces, all sharing different expressions of worry... except for Talia, who seemed to be very excited with whatever was about to go down.
The helicopter was only about to land, and judging by how long it hovered in the airspace above the prison, they'd taken quite a good look at the aftermath of the massacre. Of course, Dominique's gang put their efforts into cleaning everything, but the large crevice in the holes and walls of one of their hall
"Boss, you think this will—" Dominique slowly strayed her eyes away from the monitor, only for her to almost jump in place as she saw the shadow following behind Rhys, "Why did you bring that here!?"
"It's fine, she's friendly," Rhys just casually waved his hand and gestured Edissa to follow him inside. Edissa, however, could not help but knot her eyebrows as she saw the looks of shock and horror in Dominique's and her gang's faces.
Although it was to be expected and the most normal of all reactions to seeing a natural predator, Edissa was still slightly conflicted that the people were looking at her like she was some kind of monster. Perhaps a day ago, she would feel nothing but pride with this kind of reaction. But now that she was suddenly Rhys's blood, she felt slightly... disappointed.
Was Rhys Wilder also seeing her like this? But he told everyone he found her beautiful, despite looking completely different. She sees the humans as disfigured as they lack body mass and limbs compared to them, but she would obviously be lying if she said Rhys's face was not attractive at all.
In fact, if he was a cenleon with that kind of face, even if he wasn't strong, he would probably be used as a breeder just for the simple fact of how handsome he is.
But alas, the only thing Edissa could really was just slightly react and follow behind Ryhs as he approached his tribe. If she could speak to the others, she would probably greet them, even if it felt weird acknowledging the presence of prey.
She tried looking them in th eyes, but most of them just quickly looked away — except for Dominique, who squinted her eyes at her... before nodding. Edissa nodded in response before finally turning to look where everyone was looking.
They were looking at some sort of flat... board. Were the humans just staring at these things for entertainment? As expected of lesser intelligent beings, they are—
"Are those tiny humans!?" Edissa's pupils instantly dilated as she saw the people on the screen. And of course, this sudden outburst of hers caused the others to raise their guard as they didn't exactly understand what she was saying. And their guard was raised even further as soon as Edissa also saw her tribe on the screen,
"Maha and the others!? What... what have you humans done to them!? What is this sorcery, Rhys!?"
"You... don't know what a screen—a TV is?" A small hint of a smile could be seen crawling on Rhys's face, "I thought your kind was the more advanced being?"
"That... has nothing to do with being more advanced, this is sorcery!" Edissa took a step back as she focused on the screen as her tribe went off-camera, "Where did they go!?"
"Not sorcery, technology," Rhys let out a tiny sigh while shaking his head, "I don't really know how to explain it to you, other than it's built. It's not magic."
"You—"
"I don't know what you and diz neanderthal are talking about, but it has to wait," Talia stepped in between the two, interrupting them and not caring at all that they literally towered over her, "But that helicopter's about to touch ground any second now and no one iz there to welcome them."
"You really think they're even friendly?" Dominique strayed her eyes away from Edissa, "Why are they even landing in the first place if they saw the damage Mike did in the prison? He literally cleaved an entire part of Typhon's in half. That shit should already be a clear sign that something's fucked."
"How long have you been here?" Talia scoffed while shaking her head, "This prison has taken more damage through the years."
"You're not going to surrender me, are you?"
Rhys and Talia were now heading toward the airstrip. This time, however, they were no longer wearing any disguises and were just in their prison uniform.
"No."
"And are you sure about her following us?" Talia glanced at Edissa, who was following behind Rhys, "Are you going ahead with your initial plan of putting the massacre on them?"
"No," Rhys shook his head, "As I said, I plan to tell my truth. Just follow my lead."
"If I sense any betrayal from you, I am going to kill you, Rhyz Wilder."
"Please do," Rhys smiled as he glanced at Talia, "The moment I betray my woman and the people I love is the day I should die."
"Love? Do not throw such a word so casually, tsk," Talia scoffed and clicked her tongue as she looked away from Rhys's eyes, "And not while dragging the corpze of two Nobles."
"They're props," Rhys let out a small chuckle as he slightly tugged the threads wrapped around his hand, causing the two headless corpses, as well as their heads which were attached to their waist to slightly juggle.
Edissa, who had seen the entire exchange, could not help but furrow her eyebrows; her cat-like ears, slightly folding as she glared at Talia's back.
"What is your relationship with that woman, Rhys?" Edissa asked, slightly hissing as she stood beside Rhys.
"She is... one of my mates," Rhys shrugged.
"One of your... mates!?" Edissa's eyes widened, "How many mates do you have!?"
"7. 8 if you include Arachnea."
"The God of Spiders!? How dare you make a jest like that!?" Edissa once again hissed, causing Talia to raise an eyebrow.
"I really wish I could understand what she is talking about — she's not badmouthing me, is she?"
"No," Rhys shook his head. Edissa and Talia wanted to say something else, but Rhys quickly shushed the two of them as they neared the helicopter. And as soon as they did so, the door opened up; revealing a dramatically large minigun; two of them, both pointed at Talia and Edissa,
"Everyone..."
As for Rhys, he just smiled at the people inside the chopper,
"...My mission is successful."
"Mission...?" The people inside the chopper all looked at each other in confusion,
"...What mission?"