Hurricane and Shadow

Insanely Strong

  35 Chapter 13: Insanely Strong
Insanely Strong

3 months later

"What is it that you want to show me, Ermita?" a tall warrior asked his handler from behind. His light blond hair was short and spiky and moved slightly in the wind. He was looking at his handler a bit annoyed. Why couldn't he just tell him instead of wasting his time?

They stopped on top of a small cliff. The sun was about to rise and in the east the sky was already slightly pink. "It is something you have to see with your own eyes" the man in black clothing answered. He pointed down the cliff. The warrior came closer to the edge. "Please, it can't be this unbelievable that you can't tell me wha...What...in the name...of the gods...?" he whispered shocked. Twenty meters below his feet he could see a kind of battlefield he had never seen before.

Once there had been a forest of that he was sure, but now all trees had been cut down or crushed. Everything had been destroyed, but that wasn't the thing that shocked him. He saw about five or six cadavers of Awakened Beings. He couldn't be sure how many there actually were, because every single one of them had been literally cut to pieces. "Who...did...this?" he asked his eyes still widened in shock "Was this Rigaldo or Isley?" This bloodbath looked like one of theirs. Rather like Rigaldo's. Isley preferred to finish his jobs with less bloodshed. But neither of them should be able to do something like that.

Ermita beside him answered calm "No, those warriors weren't even close to this battlefield." The new Number 4 and 5 killed them. They were assigned to kill an Awakened Being that was devouring people in a nearby village. Apparently there were a few more."

"What ranks did those Awakened Beings have?"

"I believe most of them were in the twenties."

"Those two warriors killed multiple Awakened Beings without any support?" he asked. There was fear in his voice.

"Yes. And according to my knowledge both of them did this without any Yoki-release."

"They can do something like that without using Yoki?" the warrior asked shocked "What kind of monsters are they?"

"Right now those two are the organization's most useful warriors. Their power rivals Isley's, they follow orders and unlike every other top-ranking warrior they are capable of teamwork" his handler answered.

"And why...haven't they already replaced Isley and Rigaldo when they are so unbelievably strong?"

"You see we don't want to risk an awakening of Isley or Rigaldo. That would be a catastrophe. So we let them keep their ranks. But the organization considers them as powerful as Isley and treats them as such."

"Why did you show me this? Why do you inform me about those two warriors?" the blond man asked.

"Because you have been assigned to a hunt with one of them" his handler replied.

"Why? When they can do something like that alone, you don't have to..."

"It has been decided, Joel. You will be Number 4's backup along with two other warriors."

"I hate working with top-ranking warriors. They don't give a fuck about their team-mates. They let the monster kill their fellow warriors and then finish the Awakened Being off alone. I only survived the hunt with Rigaldo because I'm a single digit myself. And with Isley it wasn't much better" Joel answered angry.

It was a well known fact that the three top-ranking warriors didn't care about lower ranked warriors. They let them die without interfering at all.

"This top-ranking warrior is a bit different. I don't think you will have any problems" Ermita stated. Joel looked at his handler for a while then he asked "Do I have to know anything else about this warrior?" For some moments there was silence then the man answered "Yes, there is something you should know. We found out that unlike Number 5, Number 4 isn't exactly mentally stable."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"This warrior has...how to put this...a split personality. Number 4 is very polite and nice on the outside, but..."

"But what?"

"Let's just say we found out that this warrior has some Awakened Being qualities. Number 4 has a killer instinct that is out of the ordinary and has a sadistic nature. Till now only Number 5 has been able to talk with this warrior in a normal way."

"What do you mean by "a killer instinct that is out of the ordinary"?"

"Number 4 doesn't care who or what the target is. Warriors, Yomas, Awakened Beings...it's all the same for this warrior. I doubt that Number 4 would have problems killing Number 5 when it is necessary, despite the fact that those two are close friends."

"So he's a monster? He just kills what gets in his way?"

"If we order Number 4 to get rid off something, Number 4 does it without any complains or questions. This quality has proven to be very useful to us. Very useful indeed."

"What about his sadistic nature? What do you mean by that?"

"Look at those Awakened Beings. They suffered incredible pain before they were killed. And warriors who make the mistake to insult or provoke Number 4 end also up in a very bad condition."

"What?"

"Just do not provoke this warrior or it will end badly for you. A Number 14 did that and only because he's a defensive warrior he is still alive. It wasn't a very nice sight. Be nice to Number 4 and I guarantee you that not a single warrior of this hunting party will die."

"So this warrior can do as he pleases as long as he's useful to the organization?" Joel asked slightly angry and also a little bit afraid.

"You shouldn't worry about such things. Meet the other warriors in the town to your east" his handler simply answered "And be careful. We don't want any accidents, do we?"

Meanwhile

"Seriously? A Yoma-Nest and an Awakened Being? And for that you assign a full hunting party?" Nila said, while leaning against her Claymore "I can handle this alone. They will only get in my way." Orsay stood a few meters to her left. His face was hidden by the shadows. "They won't. One of them is a single-digit and the others are Number 10 and 11" he stated. The female warrior blew some strands of her hair out of her face. Her almost white hair was now long enough to touch her shoulders. She wore it loose.

"Ranks don't help me to judge their strength. I need names and their techniques if they have any."

"Their names are Earthquake Joel, James and Nicholas the Awakened One." She raised her eyebrows when she heard the last name.

"The Awakened One? What kind of nickname is that?" Nila asked.

"You will find out as soon as you meet him" Orsay answered "The town is in the west. Three days from here." He turned around, but then he said suddenly "And Nila. Control your temper this time. Number 14 still hasn't fully recovered."

"It's not my fault that you send me an asshole as backup. He deserved it. And he didn't suffer permanent damage. I went easy on him. If he would have been an offensive warrior I wouldn't have done it anyway. But don't worry I'll leave your precious warriors unharmed" she answered smiling.

"You should be careful. Even top-ranking warriors can't do as they please" he warned her before he left.

"Oh can't they?" Nila whispered silently and watched the sunrise.