Chapter 206 - Power and Fear

Elle was pissed off.

Staring at the smug look Rynold was giving her right now, Elle couldn't help but regret the fact that things had turned out this way. Rynold had managed to flip the situation on its head, to the point where now Elle was on the receiving end of Rynold's terror.

Still, she wasn't going to express her disdain now of all times. The look of anger on Rynold's face was still fresh in her mind. It was terrifying. It might have even been traumatic.

And, worst of all, it was her fault.

Even though Elle was still in deep denial, there was no mistaking that the series of events was of her own doing. She had pushed too hard and caused Rynold to lose his head. And, consequently, caused one of her men to lose his life.

It was unfortunate. To have someone's life reduced to nothing in front of her very eyes. And, to have that loss weigh over her consciousness was more than enough to make her lose her sense of self. It was at that moment that Elle learned what guilt really was.

"Come out with your hands up! We have the building surrounded! There is no escape!"

The other soldiers seemed to have reacted to the situation accordingly. They followed protocol without fail and surrounded the building just like they said.

Despite the announcement over a megaphone, Rynold still felt calm. He didn't even move his head as he stared at Elle in near-deafening silence. The weight of his gaze felt uneasy on Elle's already heavy heart. And, in doing so, Elle didn't move from that one spot.

As the silence ensued, Rynold sensed the shifting soldiers that were around the building. They had the place surrounded, that much is true, but they were also entering through the roof.

Having noticed these things, Rynold let out a deep exhale. As much as he didn't want to do this, it appeared that he had no choice. What Rynold first thought to be a simple exchange turned rather complicated. He could only sigh as he looked away from Elle and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

Neana asked Rynold, who seemed to be doing one stupid thing after the other. And, after the series of events that had just happened, she became worried about Rynold's behavior. No doubt the cause was the bitch who got scared poking the bear with a stick.

"Hm?" Rynold turned around and thought before answering, "Just going to take care of our guests is all. Since there's nobody stopping them from attacking us, I thought I might as well do the first strike. You wanna join in on the fun?"

Rynold's wording, tone, and overall mood seemed disturbing for Elle. But, for Neana, it was actually quite reassuring. There were no more signs of that scary and admittedly terrifying Rynold anymore.

'Stop.'

Elle wanted to say that one word. But her mouth didn't even move, and her voice didn't form a single sound. She was just there, watching in silence.

"Are you sure?" the conversation continued with Neana asking another question, "I don't think they're going to be easy. I mean, they are soldiers, right?"

Taking this opportunity to interrupt, Elle tried to call out once more. But, just like before, it failed. The emotional damage was still too fresh in her mind.

"Well, we don't really have to kill them or anything. Just subduing the soldiers should be fine. Besides, if they don't come to their senses and call it off, we'll be the ones in trouble."

If it weren't obvious, Rynold was subtly trying to get Elle to snap out of her daze. He chose his words carefully to make Elle realize that she could stop this. All she needed to do was to snap out of it. Otherwise, Rynold would really have no other choice.

"I seriously don't think it'll be a good idea," Neana expressed her doubt, "I mean, we can leave them be, right? I don't think they'll follow us once we storm away with an army of our own."

"Fair point," Rynold nodded, "But, who's to say that they won't follow us? They do have some air support. It'll be hard to run away from that."

"Huh," Neana answered, "I guess you're right."

"So, what do you say? Care to join me in a little fun?"

"Stop!"

Elle finally got to speak, much to Rynold's satisfaction. He had been expecting it to happen for quite some time. And, fortunately, it seemed as though she had come to her senses.

After shouting that one word, Elle stood back up and moved towards her desk. She then stared at Rynold with a gaze that screamed something more than hatred. But, Rynold didn't really mind it, so long as he got what he wanted.

With a deep exhale, Elle picked up a radio from on top of her desk. She ordered her men to stand down and in a frustrated tone too. But, at least, things seemed to have worked out.

"So, what now?" Neana asked as Elle and Rynold proceeded to have a staring contest. The atmosphere around the two exuded awkwardness and Neana wanted to put a stop to that.

"Ask her," Rynold pointed at Elle with a slight nod.

"Now?" Elle's overall attitude towards them was hostile, even more so than before. "Now, you're going to the camp and get what you want. I'm going to monitor your actions heavily, of course. And, you're not to enter any unauthorized premises. Considering how you killed one of my men, following the rules is the least you can do, right?"

"What? You mean that guy?" Rynold asked as he pointed at the soldier still embedded at the wall, "He's not dead."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"What are you talking about?" Rynold said as he turned to the soldier, "Hey. Clear things up. I know you're awake. You can't get a drop on me by pretending to be asleep. It's just way too obvious."

Rynold wasn't guessing. He knew that the guy was awake and, for some reason, didn't want to move. He was probably trying to attack Rynold when he least expected it. But, it was a rather idiotic way of going about it, especially considering Rynold's senses and attention to detail.

"Hey!" Rynold approached the soldier on the wall. He still wasn't moving even after Rynold called him out. "Hey, buddy! If you wanted to fool me, you at least got to put more effort into it. With your Mana on a rage, it's hard not to notice. And, even then, Augmenters don't go down that easily."

It would take a lot to fool Rynold. So much so that the guy's Mana was already a dead giveaway. To successfully trick Rynold, they'd at least need to have better control of their Mana. Or, better yet, a higher-tiered Mana Core.

Otherwise, they'd only be making a fool of themselves, just like the soldier right now.

With another deep exhale, Rynold got up to the soldier. It appeared as though the guy was as stubborn as Elle was. So, without hesitation, Rynold pulled the guy off the wall and held him up.

Both Mana Gauntlets still in Strength-form; it didn't take Rynold much effort to lift a person. Holding the soldier in the air with both gauntlets at either side, Rynold then gave him a firm squeeze. He did so with just enough force to make the guy wince in pain.

In response to that, a small layer of Mana surrounded the soldier all so suddenly. To which, Rynold couldn't really blame him because the soldier's like was in his hands. Literally.

"Alright! Alright," the soldier gave up and opened his eyes.

"Good," Rynold released the guy from his grip, making the soldier land on his bottom. Then, he spoke to Elle, "You see. He's not dead. I don't even think I injured him. You ought to know what your soldiers' capabilities are before signing them off as dead."

Rynold had been questioning Elle's capabilities ever since he arrived. So much so that, in their short exchange of attacks, Rynold analyzed her combat ability as objectively as he could.

All in all, it was underwhelming.

From what Rynold could tell, she shouldn't even be here. What was she doing in a military camp in the first place? She could barely stand her ground when it came to a fight.

"Anyway, where were we? Ah, right," Rynold walked back to the desk and confronted Elle, "I don't care about any of your military secrets. As far as I'm concerned, this whole camp can go to shit for all I care. I told you what I'm after. No more, no less."

Rynold's tone was strict, his words concise. Having been pushed this far, Rynold had just about run out of patience. All he wanted was a quiet night. Why did he have to go through all this trouble just to get it?

"Okay, I understand," Elle complied, "But, make sure that you're not going anywhere you're not supposed to. I'm going to be keeping my eye on you. One wrong move and I'll make sure you won't see the next sunrise."

"It doesn't fit you," Rynold shook his head in disagreement, much to Elle's confusion. "The whole threatening look you're giving off? Yeah, it doesn't fit you. It's like I'm looking at a cat adoption website."

"Whatever," Elle dismissed, "Get the hell out of my office and wait outside."

Without any complaints whatsoever, Rynold and the others took their leave. From Rynold's perspective, he was more than willing to cooperate. Any more conflict would've been troublesome for him to handle.

Once they got outside, though, Rynold's hope of things quieting down was unfortunately ill-met.

"That's not good."

Rynold whispered as he looked around. As soon as they got out of the building, all eyes were on them. The other soldiers were staring daggers at them.

"Why didn't you just talk to her nicely? We could've avoided all of this," Neana expressed her disdain with how Rynold had handled the situation.

"Okay," Rynold admitted, "It's my fault that things turned out this way. Honestly, I was just trying to make her underestimate us. Things escalated way too fast. Then, I got angry. And, well, you saw what happened."

"Still doesn't explain why you let all happen."

It was clear that Neana had been keeping her thoughts to herself all this time. She didn't know when to express them until now when things had calmed down a bit. But, even then, she was a bit aloof about it.

"Can't believe you let her step all over you," Neana said as she hit Rynold on the arm. "Even if you were trying to get her to underestimate us, there's still a thing called too much. If I didn't step in then, who knows how things would've ended up?"

"I could've handled it," Rynold said, knowing that it was the wrong answer.

"Yeah? You call what you did back there 'handling it?' If you were direct from the start, none of this would've happened. What is with you and that bitch? You dated, didn't you?"

The two of them ignored the stares at this point and became too engrossed in their own conversation. But, Rynold didn't know how to answer Neana without throwing himself under the bridge.

"Yeah, we did," Rynold decided to be honest and answered defeatedly. "But, it was a long time ago. A really, really long time ago. I didn't even talk to her until the New World happened. Even then, I just delivered her to the arms of his current boyfriend."

"You're joking, right?"

"God, I wish I were," Rynold sighed and shook his head, "If I only knew how much trouble she'd bring us now, I would've left her alone. She was dead weight back then. God, there were so many opportunities to get rid of her."

Rynold was only half-joking, of course. He wasn't heartless enough to let someone die, defenseless. But, at the same time, he couldn't help but think what could've been.