Last Pact Standing (14)

"That's how it will be in every step of life, Master." 

Amelia, standing behind Julien, said in a soft and soothing voice. 

"God may love everyone equally, but not all love each other the same."

"Conflicts are a part of life, Master, and the path you walk will be harsh and unyielding. Hard choices lie ahead, for the world won't show you any mercy. You'll have to give back what's been dealt—there's no other way to it."

Amelia tried to ease Julien's conflicting emotions and made him understand the cruel reality of the world. 

She could see that he still had some reservations about killing a young girl like that, and she didn't blame him for it. If there was any other normal person here, they would've felt the same. 

However, he had now almost awakened, and the world that lay in front was completely different. He had to adapt and move on or he would get crushed. 

Julien knew about it. He knew that he was in a world where killing was unavoidable. Even if he hated it, he would have act, otherwise the person in front would end up taking his life instead. 

Amelia or Jackie's words weren't wrong. Had Jackie not orchestrated the conflict and made it clear that the girl wouldn't hesitate to kill Julien, he would've still been somewhat skeptical and felt traumatized for killing an innocent person like her. 

However, she was not innocent. She was as cruel as everyone else in this trial, and showing mercy was the absolute worst thing Julien could do. 

Julien let out a deep sigh. While magic and teleportation was fantastic, the darker side of this fantasy world was undeniably ugly. 

"Are you alright, Master?" Jackie walked upto Julien and asked. 

"Yeah." Julien said with a slight nod. "Are the remaining two taken care of?"

"Yes. They're dead." 

"Okay. I'll go get more people." Julien patted Jackie's shoulder and vanished from his spot. 

When he was gone, Jackie sighed and glanced at the blindfolded nun.

"Master is even softer than Sister Amelia. Who would've thought…"

Amelia shook her head and replied, "He is just unaware of the world's harshness. Maybe Master was brought up in a loving and warm environment to have such a level of empathy and compassion. Had it been similar to yours or mine then—"

"Forget it." Jackie shook his head. "I'm just glad Master wasn't brought up in an accursed environment like ours."

Amelia nodded in understanding and turned to the corpse on the ground. She joined her hands and did a quick prayer. 

The corpse emitted a bright radiance and in its place appeared a white lily flower, leaving behind no trace of blood or flesh. 

"Let's get going. Master must be waiting for us."

"Yes."

…..

"Commander! Commander!"

Huffing and puffing, two strong men appeared before a boy in full body armor and exclaimed. 

"What's with the unsightly appearance?" The boy sneered. 

"Commander! The teams… the teams have disappeared!"

"Huh?"

"Yes! There's a total of 15 teams that have gone missing!" 

"What!?" The boy stood up and exclaimed in shock. "Did those bastards dare to disobey the alliance pact?"

"No! They just…"

"Just what?"

"…just vanished in thin air." 

The boy silently looked at the two men with a piercing gaze, trying to make out whether these two idiots were drunk or actually stating the truth. 

When he saw their serious faces for the next few seconds, he frowned hard and asked, "How did that happen? And when did the teams disappear?"

"We do not know. The reports came just now and everyone is clueless." 

"Fuck!"

*BAM!*

The boy smashed his armored hands on the table.

"Pack my belongings and take me to the teams. I'll personally oversee this!"

"Yes, Commander!"

…..

In the open field where many teams stood, Players kept disappearing despite the tight surveillance. 

Holding hands, staring at each other constantly, and even being in a close group did not help as people simply vanished into thin air. 

How and why it was happening was unknown. Even the best minds in the area couldn't find any clue to the disappearance problem and were vexed. 

Soon, to answer their queries, the leader of the temporary alliance appeared before them. 

It was a Player in full body armor, about a meter and a half tall. 

He stood upon a podium and began addressing the teams with authority.

"Do not panic! The disappearance is likely due to that world-level threat. That bastard might be using concealment Arcana Cards or artifacts to infiltrate our alliance. Our best course of action is to stick together as closely as possible!"

At his command, everyone crowded together, closing the gaps in a frantic huddle.

"Closer! We need to press against each other tightly to leave no gaps!" the commander shouted.

"Ahhhh!"

People screamed in pain as they were jostled and compressed together like mashed potatoes.

"That's it! Now be aware of your surroundings and look for any potential movements. Stay steady and don't distract one another."

The crowd went silent and they did as asked.

When the boy in armor was done addressing them, he looked around to give his men a command, but found them to have gone missing.

Son of a bitch—! The boy cursed internally and resisted his urge to smash the podium. 

His eyes blazed with fury and he wanted to do nothing but rip apart that bastard causing a threat!

There was a nun with him, right!? I'll **** that fucking nun right in front of that bastard and show him who he's messing with! 

The boy took out his sword and looked around for the threat.

Meanwhile, amidst the mashed up crowd, a boy in plain adventurer's robes groaned, "Arggh!"

"Let me go! Let me go! I wanna peeeeeee!" The boy yelled.

His yell made the armored boy frown and look at him with disgust.

A moment's diversion proved to be fatal as right in the next instant…

"Ahhhhhhhh—!"