"One reason." A faceless calm voice echoed in the dark, "Give me one reason I should not shred you down into minced meat this instant."


    Eleanor couldn''t speak a word in the Leader''s presence, and she couldn''t even if she wanted to, as she had her tongue ripped out mere moments ago. That was the price of her failure to capture a direct descendant of the first subi.


    Apart from the mary and personnel losses, the Metal Sharks had received an irreparable blow to their name, and that was something the Leader wouldn''t forgive or forget anytime soon.


    However, Eleanor wasn''t the only one being punished there. Shing Fuyan, one of the Leader''s confidants, faced simr treatment.


    He did not get his organs ripped out like Eleanor, considering how much he had aplished for the Sharks. But Fuyan''s soul-haunting cries could be heard every few seconds.


    Even though Eleanor knew she was fucked, she couldn''t help but think who was facing it worse, she or Fuyan?


    While she was lost in her thoughts, someone grabbed her before tossing her around the pitch-ck chamber. She had already faced this situation a few times, but it still hurt like hell.


    It was thanks to that Eleanor''s body was covered in bruises and fractures. Yet the Leader didn''t show a shred of mercy to her.


    She had no idea capturing E was this important, or else she would have escaped from the organisation''s clutches when their defeat became a certainty.


    It was foolish of her to think she''d manage to get off by getting demoted or a severed arm. Hell, never in a million years would she have known the order to capture E came from the Leader himself.


    If she did, Eleanor would have given it her all to capture E or die trying. For death had be something she now yearned for.


    "Fuyan has been a close ally for decades, but that doe not matter to me. However, I have decided to spare his life for something he found by himself." The Leader mumbled.


    Eleanor did not have the strength to listen to the mysterious electronic voice. However, what the Leader said next immediately caught her attention.


    "Fuyan found someone more suited for our needs. An easier target, but more important than that pop star. The only question is, will you or will you not prove your worth to me?"


    Eleanor immediately got to her knees, begging for another chance to make things right. Without her tongue, she couldn''t form a single proper word, but that did not stop her from trying her best to convey her words.


    The voice never spoke again, but the room was lit a momentter. The entire room had been painted with her blood. However, it wasn''t senseless scribbling.


    Eleanor could read the words that the Leader wrote by smashing her all around the room. Words that made her feel both hope and despair at the same time.


    "Do not disappoint me again."


    At the same time, Fuyan''s shriek was heard onest time before everything went silent again. The Pce of Pain had gone quiet once again.


    ***


    "Achoo!" Anna sneezed louder than ever, "Who the fuck is talking about me now?"


    "I didn''t know you got fans in space?" Ashton yfully remarked while going through the mission catalogue.


    While everyone was busy iming job requests, a few were left as they failed to gain attention from the lower-ranked mercenaries for various reasons.


    Ashton wasn''t nning on taking on a request, but when he saw Kern''s rxed expression, he took all of them. As soon as he did that, Kern''s expression turned grey quickly. The job he wanted to im now belonged to Ashton.


    The only thing was that Ashton needed to know which quest the Gold Water mercenaries were so desperate to steal. Needless to say, Kern wasn''t going to let him know, so they left in a huff.


    That''s why Ashton was going through the list, hoping something would point him in the right direction. However, before he could get far in his search, there was a knock on the door.


    Anna went to check it, and a momentter, Ashton heard her gasping in confusion. After rushing outside, he found E kneeling in front of Anna.


    "What''s going on here?" He asked.


    "I was hoping you''d have the answer for that..." Anna mumbled.


    Before Ashton could ask E what the hell she was up to now, she spoke first.


    "Please grant blessing over this humble servant of yours, Goddess Lilith!"


    "..."


    Anna and Ashton both stared at each Other. They couldn''t decide whether E was off her rockers or had mistaken Anna for someone else. Regardless, Ashton did not find E''s behaviour eptable at all.


    "Is this want you wanted to talk about?" He firmly asked E, to which she nodded.


    "I know you are confused by my rambling, but I assure you, I''m here to help you."


    [Ah, I see. No wonder your girlfriend felt familiar to me after she became your mate. My stupid ass thought I was getting that feeling because of our bond.]


    ''What do you mean?''


    [Let''s just say you might have turned Anna into a primordial being.]


    ''Speak English, mofo!''


    [Trantion: Anna might have inherited the genes of the firsts of the subi when you turned her. Which means other subi think of her as a goddess. End trantion.]


    Rather than clearing his confusion, Astaroth''s words had the opposite effect on him. How could he turn Anna into something like a goddess of all things? But then again, he was the reincarnation of Seraph to the Giholos, so it wasn''t senselessly weird.


    However, he still had a question in his head.


    ''Why the hell were you carrying subi genes in the first ce?'' He asked Astaroth, to which he did not get a straight answer.


    [Let''s just say I had a fun time with them.]


    ''Weren''t you a virgin, though?''


    [...we did mental stuff, mostly.]


    ''No wonder your head is fucked up.''


    [...]