Book 4 Chapter 3.6- Unexpected Blade
Kaplan's muscles slowly withdrew, and his figure began to return to a normal state as well. An assistant sprinted over, placing an overcoat over Kaplan's body, covering his robust body that definitely didn't match his age.
An extremely chilly gust of wind quietly surrounded the entire northern base, sending this area where warm weather was starting to settle in straight back to the frigidness of winter. This coldness that suddenly arrived made almost everyone break out into a shiver.
"It seems like a battle just took place here. A deep, cold, voice that was a bit muddled sounded from behind Kaplan.
Kaplan slowly turned around, and then he looked at the four people standing behind him who had rather turbid eyes. They all wore white windbreakers with red decorative patterns along the cuffs and edges. The dark golden buttons, even under the sky's dull lighting, released glistening radiance. The group of four was made up of three men and one woman. The one leading this group was a rather slender and handsome young man with a medium build and peculiar blue hair. He was rather feminine in appearance, and quite pretty as well. However, his eyes were sunken with dark black rings around them, as if he hadn't slept for several nights in a row.
"Are you all affiliated with Lord Bevulas?" Kaplan frowned as he looked at this group of four. Their appearances and numbers perfectly matched the materials he received, so they should be the special forces put together to deal with Persephone. Kaplan could feel that they were quite powerful, extremely powerful, to the extent where their strength definitely wasn't inferior to his. However, they gave Kaplan an extremely uncomfortable feeling. These four didn't feel like human beings at all, as if he was standing next to four snakes.
When he saw that none of these four replied, only sizing up the state of the battlefield, Kaplan then asked, "How should I address you sirs?"
The leading blue-haired young man said indifferently, "I am number one, and they are numbers two through four respectively. As for our names, that is not something you need to know."
Number four was the rather pretty woman who had a terrifyingly pale face. She widened her dark, completely pupil-less eyes and stared in the direction Persephone departed from.
"How long has it been since the prey left?" Number one asked. His eyes were still scanning the surroundings, not giving Kaplan a single look.
"... an hour and twenty nine minutes." Even though he was furious towards this special forces' attitude, Kaplan's many years of shrewdness still allowed him to control his mood and even reply calmly.
Number one gave Kaplan a look, revealing a look of surprise, but didn't say anything. He then walked in the direction that Persephone left. At this time, Lute suddenly ran over from the side, and then while kneeling by number one's feet, he loudly shouted, "Great one, great one! I am Lute! I am extremely familiar with this area's terrain, so please bring me with your distinguished self to capture Persephone!"
Number one didn't even give Lute a single look, directly walking past him. Numbers two and three followed behind him as well. Number four was the only one that stared at Lute with her eyes that had no expressions to speak of before cursing, "Trash!" She then kicked outwards, sending Lute flying high into the air, the blood that sprayed outwards poured down like a light rain!
Kaplan was completely shocked. He hurriedly caught Lute's body, and after quickly examining the state of his body, he found that Lute only had a row of ribs broken. Only after finding out that there was no danger to his life did he slightly calm down. However, after experiencing having his mental waves hacked apart by Persephone, Lute's abilities had already declined to three levels. For him to be wounded heavily again before those previous injuries recovered, it might be impossible for him to even maintain three levels as his highest level of ability. Just like what number four said, from today forth, Lute had already thoroughly become trash, losing even the qualifications to be a private ranked dragonrider.
The muscles on Kaplan's face twitched. He stared at number four, but didn't say anything.
"Couldn't even deal with a woman, pretty much the same as trash." Number four gave Kaplan a look and spoke with a voice full of contempt. She then swept her eyes over the surrounding dragonriders, adding with a sneer, "All trash!"
Several cracks sounded. The automatic rifles in a few dragonriders' hands began to deform. They were gripping them too tightly, to the extent where it destroyed the superalloy new era assault rifles. They were, after all, soldiers that had fought in the northern front for more than ten years. One of the reasons why they weren't willing to fight to the death against her was due to her original status, as well as Kaplan's decision to not fight her to the death. However, this did not mean that they would voluntarily accept the insults of a stranger.
Number four stopped her footsteps. She swept her eyes that couldn't be considered those of a human's over a few dragonriders. Then, with a few cold laughs, she said, "What, do you want to attack me?"
Both sides remained in a deadlock for ten whole seconds.
The blue-haired young man who had already walked quite far suddenly shouted coldly, "Number four, you have already spoken too much! Any more and I'll just kill you!"
Number four's body trembled slightly. She gave number one a look full of resentment, and then she chased after the group of three.
"Stop the alert protocol, clean this place up, and then take a three day vacation. Maintain the essential surveillance over the Holy Crusaders." After giving these orders, Kaplan carried Lute towards the medical area. If he put this off any longer, Lute might not even be able to keep two levels of ability.
Only, Kaplan discovered that these troops that had followed him for many years and helped him lay down the foundations for this secure base now seemed to carry a bit of strangeness in their eyes. He took a deep breath. He was already old, while these individuals were still at the prime of their lives still had dreams and ambitions. When faced with number four's provocations, Kaplan himself almost couldn't suppress his anger, wishing to fight them to the death!
His many years of battles not only brought Kaplan suffering, but also abundant experience and a firm will. Even though the difference in ability between number four and himself wasn't that great, he still felt quite confident in winning in a life and death confrontation. This was the difference between a soldier and another strong individual.
However, number four wasn't the only person there. There were still numbers two and three, as well as the clearly more powerful number one. Standing behind this special force was even the mountainous Bevulas!
Kaplan suddenly seemed to have aged ten years. He suddenly felt that perhaps satisfying Bevulas' conditions wasn't enough to compensate for his own loss of dignity.