Jakob swiped his blade against one of the cultists. Around Jakob were the legion of the cultists. Most of them were not even Japanese. Europeans, Asians, and men and women of color from Regions he knew nothing about.

Hilda rested near one of the corpses of a TYPE-5 monster. The wounds on her body slowly stitch back her skin together. Her sword was dulled by blood and the unearthly remains.

“Can you fight Hilda?”

“A minute.”

“Gotcha.”

He swung his blade and then rested it. His eyes remained everywhere. His senses still dialed to eleven. He looked at the battlefield and then squinted. There was a visible tiredness found on his face. The battle-weary Jakob had been fighting long. He muted his comms, not daring anyone to let her hear him.

“You think that they got it?”

“They will. From the looks of it,” she breathed hard. “They are unwilling to give us a try. We have done them a service and they still intend to take the technology for themselves.”

“The Lady will not stand for it,” Jakob said. “But they will not listen to our warning, won't they?”

“Why would they? They have many reasons to do it right now. At best they will allow us to keep the BEHEMOTH as compensation.”

“The Adjutant is calling.”

Jakob stared at the distance. After a call that went through. Every Breaker, Supresser, Lancer, and even Mechanized Unit were defending a point they were ordered to defend.

“I can’t believe that the Lady is willing to trust those two.”

“They aren’t exactly hiding who they are in the first place. Adjutant Hardy never concealed his connections with the UEDF and AETF. Miss Foster is here in the name of the UEDF as well. The debt is merely a cover for the Miss.”

“Is that the same for the Adjutant?”

“Who knows? You saw it yourself. He isn’t one to enjoy this kind of business. He rarely disguises his annoyance in regards to fighting.”

She stared at her blade. Jakob thought of the Adjutant. The somewhat professional third-party that has been working with them. Jakob had him look up. Most of his work was rather banal. However, looking up the cases related to his work. One would find that most of the time he was involved with Consortium-related dealings. He is a Freelancer licensed by them, and his record showed that he was mostly hired by organizations that kept him around.

His world was simple, and yet as an Adjutant there are times where he is relied on. Most of the time the Adjutant delivered contracts and spoke on the behalf of other parties.

Recent records showed what the Adjutant was capable of. Which made it clear to Jakob why the Lady bothered to assign someone like that to become their Adjutant and would pay so much for two of them. It was information that they were aware of. It also didn’t help that they saw the record of how the Adjutant fought. Miss Janna Forster wasn’t so subtle either. If anything the two were simply not afraid, almost like they were not that alarmed about how people would find them.

“Do you think they have any other intention?”

“Go to Mars.”

“Hmm?”

“Miss Janna Forster said that to me. It wasn’t that much of a surprise to me. She doesn’t hate fighting. She isn’t like Adjutant. But it doesn’t mean that she’d not do anything.”

“Everyone wants to go to Mars these days.”

“Who wouldn’t? Barely any monsters. Recently it has become a flat waterworld with cities that float and are erected on top of the Martian plateau. Anyone who saw it would want to go there.”

“Do you want to?”

She became silent. Jakob took her silence as a yes. He would be lying to himself if he said that there was no part of him that wanted to just leave all of this behind. It's just that he found it somewhat intimidating. Leaving all of this behind. Settling to a reformed planet made to house humanity for the next coming ages.

Just the hell around made him think about it. How they are still holding on to this idea of mother earth. The birthplace of humanity. The Split-realm era has brought legends and myths to reality. Still, it also brought the worst and the deprived to doing what they wanted.

Then again Jakob understood somewhat why they would want to experience such an end. To them this was all charity. A way for those who are unwilling to go on, passed on quietly into the night. But to succumb to such a method and then bring forth such trouble? It was hard to fathom.

The worst part about the cultists he fought was that they were of sane mind. Professionals who simply choose this path. They are fanatics who could rationally think, strategize, and scheme. It’s the only reason why they were doing so well against them. How they could have done so much damage to a nation.

There was nothing wrong with the security of the nation itself. The enemy this time simply was too prepared and knew when to act. They made use of opportunities to further their goals. In a way Jakob couldn’t help but think well of their ability to plan their moves.

Jakob sighed. He swung his sword around as if trying to keep it from going stiff. He cracked his neck and looked at the movement coming from the place of battle. Although far, he knew that the others needed to defend themselves. Jakob hated to admit it. But the moment this all started. The cultists had already paved their way for victory. If anything he was just glad that they managed to subdue the BEHEMOTH and force their main forces to take a shelter in one of the arenas.

It didn’t matter if they were wrong or not. As much as he liked to fight on. The battle that they fought was far too exhausting.

It was no easy feat to slay a giant.

***

She stood to watch the field. Hands behind her back. The Lioness of the Babaika remained her eyes on the chaos. Her troops are fighting like cornered beasts. It was then that she heard rather brazen steps. She turned around and found a woman carrying a custom MF weapon shaped like an Anti-Material rifle on the magnetic sheath on her back.

“So you’ve come, Ms. Hild Monluc.”

“The Helicarrier, no, it should be the BATTLECARRIER, CECIL, si?”

“I didn’t expect that you would come.”

“I didn’t want to. But considering that you just got the most expensive BEHEMOTH captured. Whether you win or not here doesn’t matter. What I want to know is why you want to hire? Qu’est ce que tu veux?”

Lady Romanov pressed on the projector. A strategic map of the whole area appeared. The map zoomed out, revealing marks and locations designated. There was a knowing smile Ms. Monluc. She walked around the edge of her table.

“It looks like the Lioness lost this round? How does it feel to lose?”

Lady Romanov smirked. She controlled the hologram and showed the tagged locations. Ms. Monluc studied the table before caressing her chin.

“I see that you are after the BEHEMOTH and the residue left behind. Ah, mademoiselle, is it right to show me this?”

“Ms. Monluc. Have I not been showing my appreciation? I believe that you have not earned much because of our Adjutant rescuing the Constable?”

“Indeed, I have not. I wouldn’t even dare to meet the Lioness of the Babaika Lions if I wasn’t lacking the credits.”

“Then you know that I truly need your help with this.”

She projected an image on the hologram. It was a middle-aged man. Clearly Caucasian, and has sharp eyes. There were pictures of him displayed, taken from all over the world. A relatively low profile businessman who is a big donor of various resurrectionist churches dedicated to old forsaken religion.

“Hmm, so is this leader?”

“It’s his son.”

“How do we know this?”

Lady Romanov showed DNA samples. When they were fighting the leader of the cult, they were able to shed blood and made use of said blood to match the sample all over the world.

“Michael Mathews. A prodigy from South Africa turned into a recluse genius who is said to have earned millions in blockchain. Allegedly, he also made his own onion network and databases filled with his inventions.”

“Are we after those inventions?”

“Some of them. But the most important one is probably this person. We need his access keys. Digital access keys containing his network. But knowing this hateful man, he must have already made a deadman switch.”

“So you want the poor fool alive while you cracked the keys?”

“Possibly.”

She raised her chin. She settled back on her chair and looked at the strategic map.

“I am quite impressed on what Mr. Mathews have done. To do so much damage. Preparation is key to all success and he clearly knows what he is doing.”

“So you do not think that anyone can still win?”

“I adore reality. I know when a battle is lost. What I need is to benefit from this. My people are dying and I will not allow them to die without gaining something for it.”

“What do you want?”

“I need your shooting skills. You’re one of the best, Ms. Monluc. And I need you to bring this fool down.”

“Hmm, you have those two around. Including your own people. Why?”

“Because I choose you to be the one who pulls the trigger. And please, you know what I want.”

“Perhaps, if you have just ordered Diable. He’ll do it for you.”

“And owe the Adjutant a favor?”

“You know, don’t you? What will it be?”

“I do. Why do you think that I am not pulling on his leashes? They are in-debt, but you know their worth. A male and female exemplar… how wonderful, isn’t it?”

Hild quieted. She stood next to the wall. Leaned on it and snorted as if she found it funny. There was a hint of mockery in the eyes of Hild Monluc. Lady Romanov calmly accepted those eyes and sat down while displaying the strategic map.

“You seem to have put a GPS on them. Did she allow it?”

“She does. Her keenness makes her quite valuable. Other than her combat ability, she is a great asset. It is no wonder she is valued by the UEDF and AETF.”

Hild nodded. “Forster isn’t hiding herself. I doubt she even thinks of hiding herself. Both of them don’t. But the thing is that both of them aren’t so subtle. It’s just that Diable isn’t so fond of fighting. Not that it matters. So, you want me to shoot this cultist and then try to capture him alive? What about the rest of your troops?”

“They will be in position. I have made sure that they are while the YDF and the JSDF push forward. We have already contacted the others who will be willing to take a pot shot of yours.”

“One thing.”

Hild raised a hand.

“Did this come from Chameleon?”

“You know him?”

“Oh my, now you got my attention. If this is coming from Chameleon, then what price did you pay to ORI?”

“Cooperation. Why do you think that I have the battle carrier CECIL with me?”

“I see. So that’s how it is. Do I get killed if this gets out?”

“I will try. Many will.”

Hild tapped her waist and then walked to the door. “I will be expecting an advance payment. And would you mind if I get a refill for my bioshield generator?”

“I will send word to the armory. Get your fuel and your ammunition. I want that fool paralyzed and be brought.”

Hild looked at her, “Truthfully, I hate that you are what I expected to be. Not so noble after all…”

Hild left. Lady Romanov settled down in her chair. She looked at the strategic map and moved a marker to the position. She closed her eyes for a moment before she hardened herself once more.