The ruler was watching the broadcast of the news while traveling in his security vehicle on a special escape route. “Give me the information we have gathered of the terrorist.” –The ruler spoke, ordering a scientist next to him, who had a tablet searching for matching features on the government database.

“According to what I found, he participated in the Pandora’s raid; he is the subject who escaped on Cristobal’s report. His name is Lawrence Kaiser, former participant of the custom weapon program and former elite soldier, capable of casting a dense mist around himself. Upon shrouding, his ability to cut through matter is abnormal. His records show erratic behaviors with certain individuals and murder; he was called to the raid to then be executed but the situation changed since he somehow managed to take off the tracking collar.” –The scientist explained while reading.

“Is there any report of him being a guardian?” –The ruler asked while leaning his head against 2 fingers while using the door of the vehicle as his elbow stand. The scientist simply shook his head while on the broadcast the reporter could hear from the terrorist how he requested an audience with the ruler. Once he heard this, the ruler requested to be taken to Lawrence, keeping in mind the danger but wanting to negotiate in order to hear what Lawrence had to say.

The situation persisted for 30 minutes before the ruler and several military vehicles reached the place. Lawrence was feeding the dragon a couple of limbs from officers that tried to shoot him beforehand. A dense mist was covering him and the dragon in the shape of an ominous cocoon, so the military couldn’t see through in order to properly shoot, so the Ruler took the risk and went out of the safety of his vehicle to negotiate with Lawrence. Upon getting closer, the mist partially dissipated where Lawrence was located. “I really didn’t expect the ruler himself would show up in front of a newly born guardian.” –Lawrence joked while walking away from the mist.

“What are your demands?” –The ruler asked in a serious tone while looking at Lawrence directly.

“That was pretty straightforward, quite proper of the almighty ruler of Delcyt.” –Lawrence commented. “I have actually several things in mind, but the first of them is immunity. I want to know I will be able to carry on this discussion in your office like 2 civilized men, and so I can grant you my services as a guardian.” –He answered with a sly smile, shifting his looks to the small army the ruler brought along with him.

After a moment of silence, the ruler began to consider the situation and snapped his fingers to make a sniper who was aiming for Lawrence to retreat and also making several of the soldiers behind the ruler lower their assault rifles. This made Lawrence dissipates the mist as well, only for the ruler to discover the dragon was missing, to which he looked at Lawrence in disgust, silently praising his wits. The ruler then commanded a group of 4 people to escort Lawrence in a vehicle, as he willingly gave up his scythe as well, which made the ruler pretty wary of him given the show he put an hour before his arrival and how compliant he is now.

Once in a safe zone, several kilometers away from the capital, the ruler held a meeting with the general of the army, the head researcher, Cristobal, and Lawrence. Cristobal served as a witness in order to certify whatever Lawrence happened to mention regarding the raid. Outside of the bunker, the small army was also waiting for any orders in case something went wrong. Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the capital, the dragon quickly moved, following Lawrence’s scent and avoiding any contact with people.

The platoon stationed out of the bunker eventually noticed the presence of the dragon by using a proximity sensor that acted as a sort of sonar and adopted a defensive stance by preparing the tanks they had and the mobile turret, along with the assault rifles they counted with. However, the dragon seemed to not make any moves upon entering the range of the device, as if it was waiting for something. The soldiers reported this to the general who was inside of the bunker and he received the message but didn’t read it given the importance of the meeting.

“Well gentlemen, I see you are all reunited here in my regard, so I most appreciate that. However, I will be brief given there are matters to be held accountable for.” –Lawrence politely referred to the present figures in the meeting. “I want to be part of the military once again, but I know very well it won’t be as simple, so to the public, I should be prosecuted in order to ensure the credibility of the ruler and the military, besides the approval of the people who suffered losses. This of course is just a slight matter that could be made up to ensure my safety and the possibility of having an irreplaceable active added to the military.” –He gracefully explained, extending his arms as a body language sign to seek the approval of the ruler, commander, and head researcher. Cristobal was standing behind the commander, silently listening and knowing the ruler would accept Lawrence’s conditions because of the dragon he managed to find and bring to the capital.

“Given your situation, you seem very confident that you won’t be actually prosecuted as the dragon would become the actual addition to the army. From my point of view, you are not in the position of demanding anything but to be killed in the spot.” –The commander mentioned while accommodating himself on his seat and crossing his arms. Meanwhile, the head researcher passed a tablet to the ruler to show him a notice where the dragon is in the vicinity, in a passive stance, to which the ruler looked at Lawrence and narrowed his eyes. Upon noticing, Lawrence smiled and sat down in front of the ruler, across the table in front of them.

“I must warn you, the situation will require you to suffer and get indoctrinated for the safety of our ranks, otherwise you are a weight I’m not willing to carry any longer. As I have seen your records, you are very likely to cause major drawbacks that could potentially be greater than the simple addition of a guardian.” –The ruler objected, making Lawrence’s smile fade away.

With a sigh, Lawrence reclined on his seat and pondered for a few seconds. “What if I also knew about the fugitives you are looking for? I’m pretty sure that cat-looking lady called Elvira is with your daughter as well within that group.” –Lawrence pointed out, making the ruler’s eyes widen and sit properly, clearly catching his attention.

“Well, this changes the situation. I will be clear: If you bring VM01: Sinns and retrieve the custom weapon created for Elvira Sevens, I will consider your proposal and lift any charges up to the date.” –The ruler concluded and looked at both the Commander and Head researcher as they both accepted his decision without hesitating.

Cristobal simply limited himself to listen to the meeting. This situation will drive Lawrence to ignite the war that Yan wants, and since this situation is conditional, there is no guarantee for Lawrence to be admitted back into the military. However, he seems to be capable of doing such a feat as becoming a guardian, so I can’t discard the probabilities. –Cristobal thought as the meeting finalized, escorting the ruler out of the bunker. Once Lawrence left the bunker, he whistled to make the dragon slither next to him in order to leave the place to start his new mission.

In Falladis, inside of one of the safe houses Eloise owns, she and an agent from the organization had a meeting, exchanging information regarding the implications of using Chronos as a soldier while he is being trained by Phil, Charles, and Elvira. In return, Eloise obtained information from other nations such as Arkadia and Metan. However, the agent mentioned that Metan’s religious ruler seems to be making preparations for the day god comes down to earth to bless humans again as once it did with the prophets. This conversation worried Eloise and made her recall what Gree mentioned about Delcyt’s ruler wanting to start a war. The situation seems to be precarious, what is Yan thinking? And who is he going to start a war with? In any case, I need to travel to Metan and have a talk with Aster. –She thought while leaving the safe house and entering her vehicle. The agent also left to enter another vehicle and left the place.

Meanwhile, Phil was teaching Chronos how to defend himself in hand-to-hand combat in case he wasn’t able to rely on his ability. Elvira often joined them to mercilessly beat Chronos in case he had learned anything from Phil’s teachings, and spoke to Phil about what she noticed in the fights. There was always room for improvement but Chronos seemed to learn quite fast, as he could dodge better and land hits every now and then. Phil kept trying to have talks with Chronos about what he was lacking and how to improve it, but unlike Nat, Chronos never wrote anything down and simply tried to focus on what Phil said every time.

Francois and Charles often visited the training grounds of the underground facility in order to assess Chronos’ progress with several tests done within the same room where Chronos was first tested in battle, as he was forced to kill some infected over and over again. Every time there was another test, Chronos grew less dependent to even use the knives provided by the researchers, efficiently breaking the necks and spines of the infected to either finish them fast or restrict their movement to achieve certain goals given to him for progress.

The quick development of Chronos scared Charles, as he was supposed to fight him at some point to gauge his improvement once again. However, given Chronos was tagged by the researcher’s team as a special case, Charles was allowed to use his ability to even the test battle in case there was a problem, to which he complained since there was no need for suppression in a mock fight.

Elvira was eavesdropping on the conversation as Phil stood next to her before having to leave and discuss what to do and what to tell Chronos regarding the matter. “So what should I do to help him on the matter? Do I beat him up again but this time seriously and see how it goes?” –Elvira asked with her arms crossed.

“I know you are aggressive by nature but you can be more methodical about it, so instead of beating him, try restraining him.” –Phil answered as he looked around the area in order to check for security cameras before walking to meet Chronos in the gym of the facility.

Chronos ended up asking for special dummies to help with the speed of his hands, as a boxing coach assessed his training. Phil and Elvira walked in and dismissed the coach while Chronos was running as fast as he could on the treadmill. At this point, he is going as fast as that special hound that followed us before leaving Delcyt. Does he also have a way to strengthen himself other than just training? He doesn’t seem human at this point. –Elvira thought after noticing the speed at which the treadmill was going, which was a ridiculous speed of 18m/s. After an alarm started ringing the treadmill started to slow down, reducing the momentum Chronos was building while running until it finally stopped, leaving Chronos heavily panting and getting off from it.

“Chronos, we need you to prepare for the next training fight you will have, Elvira will be your training partner again and the winning condition will be to successfully restrain or incapacitate the adversary.” –Phil explained to which Chronos simply nodded before leaving the gym to rest.

“Do you think he will not use his ability once he notices I’m using mine? I don’t want to be impaled like Sinns, I can’t heal like her.” –Elvira poked Phil on his arm after Chronos left the place.

“I honestly didn’t know how to feel once he left and came back like a different person. However, if he meant any real harm to us, we wouldn’t be here. He is just like a lost child; he doesn’t have anywhere to go and is just going with the flow of events, so the only real decision he took by himself was to spare both Sinns and you.” –Phil pointed out with confidence as he as well left the gym to walk to the living quarters.

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