The air grew thick and heavy After Gruger said those words, Margie and Scalar stood frozen, there anticipated battle plans crumbling. They had expected lies,threats ,a fight anything but this ...
"Go... go in," Margie urged, his eyes never leaving Gruger. 'I can't keep being in the dark. I need to know what actually going'
Scalar carefully glanced between Margie and the unnervingly calm Gruger.
"Okay." He took a single, cautious step toward the container's hatch. A searing, metallic cold clamped around his throat, cutting off his air.
"You actually want to take what's mine?" Gruger asked, grabbing Scalar's neck with his cold, metallic arm.
"Let him go!" Margie yelled, as he shifted his stance and leveling his on sword on Gruger throat
A grotesque smile appeared across Gruger's face . "My, oh my. I would have to thank you both. You just gave me an actual reason to tear you into shreds."
"You arrogant bastard!" Margie yelled as he swung his huge broadsword towards Gruger, only for the man to stop the blade with his other arm.
Scalar, using the opportunity of Gruger's distraction, turned around, his hammer in hand, and broke free from Gruger's grip. Margie then used the opening to strike Gruger in the chest, pushing him back.
"All this time, I've been thinking of an actual reason to kill you," Gruger sneered.
Margie, having heard enough of Gruger's self-amusement, charged with lightning speed. Gruger was fast enough to dodge the blade aimed for his neck and delivered a punch, which Margie deflected with his sword.
Scalar, seeing an opening, jumped high, preparing a downward strike with his hammer, only for Gruger's metal hands to catch it mid-air. Gruger looked at scalar in mud air and then delivered a sounding blow straight to his guts. The impact was so strong Scalar could feel his bones shatter. As Gruger let him go, he fell to the ground, blood furiously dripping from his mouth from severe internal injuries.
Seeing Scalar broken and bleeding on the ground, rage ignited inside Margie. Mana surged through his broadsword as he charged Gruger, eyes burning with murderous intent.
He lunged with impressive speed, almost catching Gruger off guard. But Gruger had expected it. He raised both arms into a guard position, taking the full force of Margie's attack. Though the impact moved him back slightly, Gruger acted as if it were nothing and began to dust off his metallic arm.
Infuriated by the gesture and his friend's fall, Margie charged again, this time swinging his sword frantically. Though difficult to dodge, Gruger avoided all of the destructive attacks. Margie's attacks lost all form, becoming wild, hacking swings. Spittle flew from his lips with each ragged, furious cry, his eyes wide with unseeing rage. Seeing Margie loose him self Gruger believed it was time to make his move.
Skillfully guarding against Margie's attacks with his arms, Gruger waited for a momentary opening. He grabbed Margie's broadsword and used it to pull him forward, delivering a devastating blow to his face. Before Margie's body could even recoil from the impact, Gruger grabbed his head and smashed it through the broadsword, shattering the blade.
With blood oozing from cuts on his face, Margie tried to rise, only for Gruger's foot to crash down on his skull, mashing his face into the red sand. Like the psychotic beast he was, Gruger continued to smash Margie's skull over and over and over again.
"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!" he continued screaming as he smashed what was left of the head, which was now caved in and unrecognizable.
"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!" Gruger continued, stepping on the now cracked ground, fully covered in Margie's blood.
"I think he's dead now." A deep voice, not too loud but more like a whisper, came from behind the enraged Gruger.
Gruger turned, stopping his frantic and psychotic stomping, and looked toward where the voice had come from.
"Seems you got bored of watching."
"Well, you could say that," a low chuckle emanated from the shadows behind him
The Dog of Veil
"Still as feisty as ever, I see."
Out of the shadows, John Beecroft appeared, swift and silent like the wind itself, striding toward Gruger.
Gruger rose, blood dripping from his clenched metallic fist, his furious gaze locking with Beecroft's.
Miss Kenny, who had witnessed the brutal scene unfold, grew anxious. Her gut screamed another disaster was about to break loose.
I have to stop them before they start fighting again.
"Oh my Lord," she blurted, forcing her voice steady, "we need to get the Q.R.C. back to base before the rain comes again."
But Gruger paid her no mind. His eyes never left Beecroft.
"Didn't I tell you and the others to deal with the corrupted trash? Why are you here?"
Beecroft tilted his head slightly, his emerald eyes gleaming with amusement. "Well, I was never told I had to listen to you."
The tension spiked instantly. Miss Kenny's breath caught—those words were a death sentence. Beecroft had just handed himself a one-way ticket to dead town.
Unlike her, Beecroft showed no fear. He seemed to savor Gruger's brewing wrath, as though each pulse of rage entertained him.
Gruger's fists trembled. His eyes burned red with fury.
"Move."
"What do you—" Beecroft froze. A sudden chill ran down his spine. Gruger's fist was already tearing through the air toward his head.
But Beecroft vanished at the last instant.
The blow slammed into the ground with an explosion that shook the earth. Dirt and rubble scattered everywhere.
Gruger blinked, stunned. His punch hadn't landed. He stared at his own arm in disbelief.
"Shocked?" a voice murmured behind him.
Beecroft stood there, his hand pressed against Scalar's battered face. The wounded man winced at his touch.
"I'm not your enemy, Gruger. In fact…" Beecroft straightened slowly, every movement deliberate, "think of me as a god-sent helper. I know about the Q.R.C., and I know what Roar plans to do with it. So don't worry."
Gruger found himself staring again into those unsettling emerald eyes. Every instinct screamed to rip them out, but Beecroft's aura was too unpredictable, too mysterious.
"Fine. You live for now. But don't get in my way."
Beecroft's lips curved into a faint smirk as Gruger stomped toward the second container.
This is going to be fun.
"Help me…" Scalar croaked, struggling to lift himself. His voice trembled with desperation as he reached out to Beecroft.
Beecroft glanced down at him. His expression didn't change.
"Pathetic."
Without another word, he stepped over Scalar's broken form and continued after Gruger.
Scalar, seeing Beecroft's figure pass over him, lifted his head. His eyes fell upon Margie's mangled, broken body.
A hollow, crushing loss washed over him. His chest tightened, and before he even realized it, a scream tore out of him raw, wild, and piercing. The sound ripped through the battlefield, carrying his grief until darkness claimed him and he collapsed.
The scream was so loud it caught Gruger's attention. For a moment
"Vermin," he muttered.
Beecroft, watching, smirked sly and unbothered.
"My lord, are you alright?" Miss Kenny asked nervously, glancing at Gruger's tightening expression.
But Gruger ignored her. He strode toward the container, his eyes never leaving Beecroft the man's smug smile, his ridiculous hat, his very existence seemed to crawl beneath Gruger's skin. His fists clenched, his body shifted, and his stance lowered into a fighter's posture.
Miss Kenny's heart jumped. "My lord, no!" she cried, sensing what he was about to do.
Again, Gruger ignored her. He turned back toward the container, veins bulging across his forehead, and inhaled deeply. Then, with a roar of power, he struck the very air.
The impact thundered outward. Wind exploded from his fist, ripping the container off its base and hurling it aside. A storm of sand and smoke spiraled up, cloaking the area in a blinding haze.
Beecroft's eyes widened. 'Fuck. Did that brute just blow away the Q.R.C?'
As the dust cleared, the silhouette emerged silver, tank-like, its barrel almost twice their height, with a mounted chair and control system.
Beecroft's breath caught.
'No… so this is the Q.R.C. in its full glory.'
But he wasn't the only one captivated. Gruger's lips curled into a twisted grin, his gaze drinking in the weapon like a mad demon.
Miss Kenny, trembling, dropped to her knees in relief. For a moment she had feared he would destroy it.
Gruger laid a heavy hand on her head, his voice low and certain.
"Did you really think I'd destroy such a beauty? No… how could I?"
His eyes locked back on Beecroft, dark and glimmering with bloodlust.
"This… this is what we'll use to kill those Veil bastards."