18 Chapter 18 : Because I Want to Be Better Than You

'Seriously, this plan is too risky. I see about 7 flaws just by flying over it" said Mars.

The Half-Blood and the God of War were standing on the tiles of the Polymorphic Chain temple. They were discussing of the issues of Maalick's makeshift plan'

'I know what I'm doing. I just have to wait for the right timing'

'Which is ?'

'From what I can see, they seem to know what they're doing. But no matter how much training they do, they'll have to get close to each other to share information' he remarked as he saw the formation of the Alpha team.

'Even if you succeed, how can you be sure that the next part will work ? If you make even one wrong move, you're dead'

[ Armada Quest : Exterminate the Alpha Team ]

[ Your plan involves many risks. But your convictions and morals, prevent you from maximizing the success of your strategy ]

[ Kill the Alpha Team and you will be rewarded ]

[ Alpha Team Members : 0/8 ]

[ Reward : [ Weapons Master ]

[ Failure: ??? ]

'I told you. This plan is way too risky if you don't kill them.

'If I do that, I'll be under the influence of my anger. I can feel it that she only asking for it'

The plastic toy sighed 'As you wish. But passing by Weapons Master...'

Maalick cut him off 'The important thing is that I get out of here, and maybe the quest can reappear at another time'

The soldiers of the empire inspected the traces of Maalick's passage, while not letting their guards down.

Carl in the front line told them "Be careful. Our target is still around"

Only he had seen the prophecy, but he paid no further attention. He did not speak the language of the Dracmiros.

He waved his hand to signal his team to move toward the temple and cut off all verbal communication between them.

Still in formation, they walked up the black granite steps of the temple. The Asian turned his finger, to tell the soldiers in his charge to keep their eyes open while he went to see what was inside.

The soldiers moved slightly closer to the others.

'Now is our chance' said Mars.

'No. He's still in the temple. I'll wait for him to join them and only then will I'll strike'

Carl looked at the patch of water apprehensively 'What is that thing ?'

The puddle was the only thing that was in the temple with the lights on ' There had to be something that had been entered to activate the lights'

The leader of Alpha Team was beginning to think that Maalick was dead 'The Lizardian might be under the corpses of the ghouls too. He must have died from their claws or from the traps. But let's not make a mistake.

He returned to the military and made the sign of the dog with hands to the specialist.

The veteran at the back of the group opened her arms and released the mana into her hands.

She closed her eyes to sense any magical presence in the area 'I don't feel anything in this cave except us and my comrades' weapons'

She opened her eyes and nodded horizontally to deny her leader's doubts.

"Very well. Lower your weapons' Carl said loudly.

'Now !'

Maalick opened his Inventory and pulled out a handful of Sadum leaves. He quickly tossed them into the air and they fell on the soldiers.

The SAS agent jumped over his leafy screen. He reached through the leaves and clawed with his newfound strength the two people closest to him, while unleashing his paralyzing poison.

Then in that split second, he scratched the sniper and the healer.

All four fell under his poisonous ambush.

'That makes 4 out of 8'

The soldiers shook their heads as if they refused to see what was ahead.

Then they saw their enemy. Its black skin and yellow spots terrified the young survivors of this attack.

One of the soldiers pointed at him and said stammering "A-A-A... Dracmiros !!!"

Maalick charged toward the rest of the Alpha Team members. But Carl reached out his hand and threw the same type of wind ball as before.

The Lizardian avoided it by ducking like a lizard.

Carl pulled out his katana and ordered his soldiers, "You support me with your respective magics from the back lines, understood ?"

Maalick returned to the charge with a boxing stance. He sent him a series of quick jabs with his right hand.

'He's got some experience to stay so calm in this situation. He got the young soldiers to pull themselves together and give them simple directions while protecting them from me'

Carl barely avoided them by increasing his speed with wind magic ' I'm not so young for this crap, but I have to hold on. If he escapes from here, he'll become an international threat !'

The remaining soldiers couldn't aim properly 'The Dracmiros is getting closer and closer to him all the time. We can't take any offensive action without hurting the chief !'

Mars was commenting on his battle 'It wasn't very smart to rush in'

Maalick was talking to him as he moved closer and closer to Carl, so that he could counterattack with his katana 'I need to know what their magical abilities are before I go ahead with my plan. Now stop talking to me. You're distracting me'

Maalick voluntarily retreated from Carl. The soldiers saw his retreat as a golden opportunity.

'Jackpot !'

All three fired a beam of mud, fire and water respectively, which combined to create a deadly attack that was three times as powerful.

'There is no other choice' thought Maalick.

The Asath pulled the Polymorphic Chain from his Inventory. This new point in speed, allowed the beam to graze some scales of his skin instead of piercing him.

"I know what kind of magic you are wielding now. Water, fire, earth and wind" he said as he pointed to his Gladius of the Hero.

Carl saw his special weapon. He knew very well what it was "Impossible! The Polymorphic Chain is in his hands?! So you are..."

Maalick did not listen to him. He continued with the second part of his plan by lifting the paralyzed healer.

He pulled his claws out from under her throat and threatened his opponents "If you move, she dies"

"You coward ! Come and fight with honor" shouted the red haired soldier.

Maalick's amber eyes turned to ruby red and the Basilisk's eyes on his weapon just turned the same color.

The Lizardian could not believe the words that came out of his mouth "Me... a coward? You use monsters to kill us in this reformatory camp. You deprive civilians of their basic needs, force them to work to death and lock them up in these hideous towers in the name of your empire and God ! And if they don't do as you say, you put a bullet in their head and send them into this hellhole !"

"All of these people have been tried and sent here because they are threats to peace ! Now come and fight me so I can..."

Carl looked firmly at his soldier to keep him quiet. Then he turned back to his enemy "What do you want ?"

Maalick offered them a deal "You all drop your weapons and I will paralyze you one by one. I promise you that I will not kill any of you. You have my word"

Carl's soldier opened his big mouth once more "What if we don't accept, lizard ?"

Maalick took on his most threatening and believable look "I can freely change the composition of my poison in their system. Just by my thoughts, they will die in the worst possible way"

He lightly scratched the healer's throat to give more substance to his words.

'Not a very believable lie, but it should do the trick' commented his Entity.

As you may have understood, the first part of Maalick's plan was based on how many people he would paralyze with his skill. As for the second part of his plan, it was based solely on a lie to avoid an unnecessary massacre.

But Carl and the rest of his team didn't know that.

'The yellow spots made me doubt. But now I'm sure, he's a Dracmiros and a Ranzara ! We can't let him leave here! But I can't abandon them. They are my responsibility'

The red-haired soldier reached out his hand and charged a huge fireball towards the Lizardian, who was protecting his victims in his own way "They will die for the glory of the Empire of Nomania and the holiness of the Church of Liandras !"

He hurled his ball, which swept through the passage.

Maalick changed the chain into the Gladius of the Hero 'If I concentrate all my strength in my hands and with the bonus of the Gladius, I could do this !'

He hit the ground so hard that the field began to rise as if it were a ruined area.

Maalick used the cracks in the ground to lift a huge mass of earth and used it as a shield.

When the fireball hit the obstacle, it shattered his shield into a thousands pieces.

Then he glanced over his shoulder to check if the soldier's attack had hurt them 'Fortunately, they're okay'

Maalick sped around the battlefield with his sword, slashing through the rock and smoke.

From a distance, he could distinguish Carl's three soldiers 'Always attack what you know'

He changed his gladius into a chain and began to run faster toward them.

At the last moment, the Lizardian threw his link rod to grab a soldier's leg to pull him back towards him.

"Help..."

Maalick clawed at his back with his poisonous Dracmiros Claws.

The fire soldier reached out his hand and threw several fireballs in a flurry towards Maalick "Take that in your face !"

Maalick reached around him and scratched the second soldier in the back lines.

'Shit, he's..'

Then the Half-Blood brought the last soldier to his knees with a well-placed blow to the knee and planted his claws deeper than the others.

"Remember that I spared you, coward"

Carl cleared the smoke obstructing his view by influencing the winds, to see that his entire team paralyzed on the floor.

But he did not lose his cool. The team leader soaked his wind on his blade. He pointed his katana at Maalick and shouted "For my fallen soldiers !"

The humanoid reptile in front of him understood his anger 'If he knew I hadn't killed them, would he let me live ?'

Mars gave him some advice in this situation "A person making a decision out of anger is predictable Maalick"

Carl quickly approached Maalick with his wind magic. He struck a vertical blow which Maalick blocked with his Gladius of the Hero which he had changed just in time.

'He is really strong'

'He resisted my wind magic enchanted blow just with his physical strength ?!'

The candidate of the God of War changed his weapon. Carl's katana blade fell into Maalick's chain. He tried to disarm him from his Japanese weapon, but Carl put a blast of wind in his face.

[ HP : 12/15 ]

The Asath was stunned. He stepped back to put some distance between him and his opponent 'Shit, I've been tricked'

He rubbed the chain with his hand to coat it with poison 'I'm almost out of poison for a non-lethal offense. After that I will have to incapacitate him'

Maalick waited for Carl's attack.

His opponent took a stance that emphasized his vertical strike, in order to increase its effects tenfold. With his wind magic and his physical power reinforced by the basic mana, he created a blade of air cutting everything in its path.

'Blade of the Rising Sun !'

The blade moved too fast for his eyes to watch. Maalick had just enough time to move for 2 seconds so that his body would not be cut in half.

[ HP : 8/15 ]

The Half-Blood felt his tail get cut off under Carl's attack "Bloody Hell !"

He immediately activated his Regenerative Plates to regrow his tail.

[ Regeneration Activated ]

[ HP : 9/15 ]

He felt new bones, his muscle fibers and nerves rebuilding all around. But he lost his balance.

"Don't tell me my tail..."

Carl walked over to him "That was very well played of you. You chose to have my attack saw off your tail instead of cutting off your body. But you Lizardians, if you don't have your tail you don't have your balance anymore !"

Maalick staggered to stay in position 'I have to get to the stairs !'

Carl propelled himself with the wind in the air "May you find peace, Ranzara"

The team leader charged at him with his traditional weapon. But at the last moment, Maalick sat on the steps and changed his chain.

He took the hilt of his sword and threw it like a cannonball into Carl's leg with deadly accuracy.

The team leader gradually lost altitude until he fell to the battlefield.

Maalick was out of breath "If you want to do... a stylish attack, that's up to you. But next time... don't try to be so predictable"

Mars was proud of his candidate "Well done Maalick. You sat down to get more stability and when you saw that he was propelled in the air, you determined the direction of his attack and countered it perfectly"

Maalick struggled to his feet. He could feel his thick scales covering the beginning of his limb 'This kind of stuff wouldn't have worked against Maria. I need to be stronger'

He went to Carl, lying on the ruins of their fight. When he saw him, he saw his sword stuck in his heel.

Maalick was about to leave, but the fifty-year-old spoke to him in a weak voice 'Please... don't...kill... my soldiers. Take my miserable life... instead"

Maalick paused "Why the fuck does someone always have to play the hero..."

Without his consent, he withdrew his sword. The blood lay thickly on him.

Then he picked up the few Sadum leaves around him and chopped the leaves to spit on them. Then he placed the bandage on his chest.

"With this you should survive"

With that Maalick was about to go on his way.

But Carl asked him respectfully "Why... didn't you... kill us... when you had... the chance ?"

Maalick answered with his yellow eyes "Because I want to be better than you"