Internal Conflicts

Telling Gold about it, Armless was initially baffled to figure out where the red dot should lead Max. What furthered her puzzlement was the fact that Max fully believed in the magical map's authenticity, weird craziness, as if the person who gave it to him — definitely a Dragon Descendent —had the disability to lie.

Leisurely in a heavy voice, "Do as he wants. I ain't caring but only about my golds. Only my golds." was Gold's response to Armless, his fat hand waving to dismiss her presence.

She bowed her upper body and left him seated in his gold throne in silence, afterwhich her brain got to thinking more about Max. To Gold's knowledge, to her knowledge and to the sense of logic, Lucas could never be found in the Royal Castle.

According to the Vampire Slave at hand, the one who abducted his human girl was the Vampire called Lucas, the leader of all the mysterious Vampire Slaves, the one who had been bringing System Based Weapons to Royalty Pack for an unknown reason.

The Royal Castle was somewhat exactly as a villa for that is where the Imperial Alpha of the entire Werewolves resided. He was like the President or the Prime Minister of a country, so how could Lucas penetrate the tight villa-like security and even reside there in the Royal Castle?

But who knows? Lucas loved defying the odds, and he was hiding in the Royal Castle, perhaps.

Silently thinking about it in his gold made throne, Gold was then more convinced than any other person that Lucas must be in the Royal Castle;

If you think about it, it's a bit strange;

Having thought about it, Gold imagined Armless asking him why he believed so, and yes, he couldn't explain his reasoning to himself with any logic. It was more like an intuitive fear of his fellow skeptical terror that was leading him to his conclusion.

On the other hand and furthermore, that made things easier: Max had solved the mystery of where Lucas had been residing — a fact bugging the gang leader for days, as well — and he would complete their deal at a go.

Considering Armless again, she was a lower Elected, meaning she was one of the most loyal Gold Gang members who would do anything Gold asked her to do. That explains why she was now with Max plus the other five Electeds, explaining to him about whether the shower guy was a killer or not as they walked in a hallway:

"He is a Tyro, the fifth rank of the Gold Gang. Gold Gang ranking goes as Gold being at the top of the food chain, then the Golden Coterie followed by the Electeds, Foot Soldiers, Tyros, and lastly the Wads."

'You are only a rank away from Gold?' Max squinted his eyes. 'Let's see how this plays out.'

"Considering the rank of concern which is the Tyro rank, they don't kill anyone. They are often new recruits who are still proving their loyalty and worth by officially working for Gold." Armless paused speaking. She was in shallow thoughts.

'Yeah yeah, I don't care about you lying.' Max unconsciously frowned. 'That guy is at the Tyro rank, whatever, but he attempted to kill me by taking me to that bathroom!'

Coming out of her thoughts, "They usually have little influence and are given very menial and safe tasks that don't expose them to direct dangers, mostly still living their lives as if they are Wads." Armless explained.

The hallway was a long one. Series of magnificent Gold made chandeliers were brimming with no light on their heads, giving it some sense of metallic darkness that suited Max's Vampiric side.

Max averted his gaze off the black beauty by his left and swiped his damp hair backwards using his right palm; they recoiled back to be disheveled again. "Why?" He whispered absentmindedly.

"What do you mean?" Armless asked, her eyes all soft that hid her true blood lusty nature.

"The conflict..." Max's voice faded and returned: "..is always a first option. Why is it this way?"

Armless' brown lips curled a little but she refused to reply to Max.

The five Electeds kept walking behind the duo in silence, their steps soundless like feathers. They started making their way down the stairs to an underground leading portion. The stairway was dim but brighter than the hallway due to the blazing golden sconces attached to the smooth walls on the sides down all the way.

Armless glancing at Max with deceiving calmness, she spoke: "I think it should be obvious not for the naive. Oppression, competition, power, instant achievements, all are intertwined with killing."

There was silence.

"We will reach the red dot and get the girl for you, and to do that, we will slaughter a lot of Pack Forces or else they will slaughter us." Armless paused stepping down, and everyone there did the same. She turned to Max.

"I hope you are a good and merciless killer."

Max gave her a look that said "Do I fucking look like a murderer to you?". He loudly said, "Explain what ya mean. A'know that defense is a most, but being a merciless murderer? Why?"

Armless giggled and explained: "To face a mini portion of an army of the most powerful empire ever in existence just because of a human girl, man, you need to be a merciless murderer to have that confidence. Or they claw off your head."

Max suddenly imagined living without his head. He was a Vampire Slave and that means he could live even without his head, of course! Having a frightened expression, he came out of his thoughts enamour.

'No... No...'

Armless nodded. "Yes, indeed yes."

'It is as if you can read thoughts...'

"It's like you don't know about the Werewolves empire. Oh then let me tell you. They had been ruling the entire supernaturals, ruling as the law makers for about thousands of years! So why are you bold to even think of facing an ancient, sturdy, frightening force like that?"

From the looks of her face, Armless was amused at the expression of fear Max was making. It seemed like a strange expression to find on a moody face like his own.

"You truly grew up in the human realm as you told me in your report. So, I don't blame your lack of enlightenment about what we are. What I don't understand is why would the girl be here of all places? And why are you so desperate to find her? What's very special about a human?"

'Even if you can read thoughts, you can't read the strength of my bond with Evelyn.'

Max hesitated for some trance while processing his thoughts. He looked at the silent five Electeds behind him, then back straight at Armless before moving closer to her. She unconsciously took two steps away.

"See, the answers are privacy violating." He stopped moving, and replied in a meaningfully calm tone: "It is so complicated and ah don't care: Royal Castle? Pack Forces? The door to hell? Carrying Evelyn back home is inevitable."

Armless' amused expression faded, noticing the pain in Max's voice.

"If ya think ya're supporting me in finding her then let the deal between us to never exist and see how far ah must go. Nothing can stop me from finding what am here looking for in Royalty Pack."

Armless was shut to complete muteness with that said. After some silent seconds, she simply nodded in understanding.

'And I honestly don't know if trusting Penelope so blindly to do what I'm doing is the right thing or...'

Cutting his thoughts, Max took the initiative to continue walking down the stairs, orange flames by his sides exposing the sadness on his handsome face as his shadows sorrowfully kept dancing on the walls.

'...is the stupid thing as addressed by Lucas. There are many questions that have answers of "no reason". Why am I deciding my actions on the fact Lucas is really keeping Evelyn in the Royal castle?'

To reply to his question demanded a senseless answer. Lucas was a Vampire and Royalty Pack was a home of bloodlust Werewolves.

'Like I'm controlled?... By my love of Evelyn? What am I doing actually! Fuck... Penelope, I trust you.'