When Oritha parted with Liu Feng and told him where the two no good rats were hiding, the Seer quickly excused himself with an air of sharpness around him. Although the Amazonian knew that Johan and Felix were capable in battle, she still wondered how badly injured they would end up with the Seer motivated enough to want to smash their bones into powder.
Either way, that was a show she could probably ask about or buy in the game highlights after the event ended. Now, the Amazonian had a mission to join the Godly Food party.
Liu Feng did Oritha a favour by informing Zen about the unexpected guest. As long as he could feed her something nice, the Amazonian joining them would be a great addition of talent. Besides, he could not see anyone loyal to food as an enemy. In due time, Oritha would prove to be one of their strongest allies. The woman might not be the smartest but she was undoubtedly one of the strongest in combat. Not even he could win against her when it came to raw power. That body was simply made different. She could turn titanium into a scrap if she wanted. It was why Guild Carnage scouted her.
When Zen finally finished assisting Akiko over the party call, he received a new message from his blind sworn brother about a guest visiting. Sasha wasn't aware of it, and Zen guessed that the Russian sniper must have muted the party chat to focus on managing the guild chat.
"What's going on?" he asked her, and Sasha looked very relieved to pass the chat management to Zen.
"Nothing much. Party Freedom had a run-in with Party Undead, and now the dojo is ours. There is also an influx in guild applications because many people wish to join us to submit their collected egg points. What do we do?"
Zen thought about it. He was the advisor and not the guild master or vice master. Akiko was busy, and Liu Feng muted them. The Seer was probably up to something serious, and Zen did not feel like entertaining flaky people who wouldn't put their lots in without being forced by circumstances. Maybe it was good to have things shaken up a little during this event.
"Ignore them," he told Sasha. "We have a guest to welcome. I hope you don't mind another addition to our party."
Confused, Sasha wanted to clarify what Zen meant when she sensed a powerful person approaching the cafeteria at a high velocity. The Russian sniper readied her gun and fired five shots in succession before Zen could speak.
Oriole screamed in surprise, but everyone else in the kitchen was already moving into a battle formation. Zen felt someone grabbing him and shoving him behind the metal countertops. Guns were loaded, and Sasha took command.
"If Zen gets so much as a scratch, all your lives are forfeit!" the sniper yelled.
A chorus of 'yes ma'am' could be heard, and Zen cringed at the noise the suppressive gunfire made. He wanted to speak, but everyone was yelling over him so much that Zen did not know what to do. He had a feeling he knew who this new guest was, but nobody was listening to him. What if she got angry and decided to start a massacre?
His worries were unfounded as Oritha waltz past the shower of bullets with her signature spider run. That speed was something only modified humans could achieve, and Zen gaped when he saw those thick muscles. Was that a woman or a gorilla with boobs? His mind couldn't keep up when the Amazonian dropped from the ceiling and hoisted him by his collar in front of the armed teens.
Sasha dropped a kick, but the Amazonian flung her to a side with a casual wrist toss, shocking everyone into silence. Without Liu Feng and Akiko, nobody was this woman's match. Wasn't she in the library guarding it for Guild Carnage? What was she doing here?
A flurry of reports from the panicked members in the kitchen reached Akiko's ears. Everyone started defending themselves and recounting the ground situation to the guild master who just acquired black eggs.
"She's not an enemy," Akiko finally replied after she defused the black eggs. Almost as if gravity was switched on, the black eggs fell to the ground with clinking sounds. There were simply too many to collect alone, so she called for the members of Party Freedom to assist her.
Sasha coughed out blood from the impact of that toss, and her vision spun, but she never let her rifle go, aiming it at the Amazonian. The lady's strength was not just an unfounded rumour. If she was serious, Sasha would be dead by now.
Zen paled when he saw how badly hurt Sasha was from that one casual toss.
"Are you Zen?" the barbaric warrior asked, and he shivered. His body wouldn't listen to him, and he could not give her a reply. If anything, he closed his eyes and waited for something to happen.
Guns were fired, but the Amazonian dodged with ease, pulling Zen along with her to the cafeteria. Zen's body was now a human shield, and not even Sasha was confident that the Amazonian wouldn't use their advisor as a meatshield if they fired.
Akiko told them in the guild chat that the Amazonian was not an enemy, but it was hard to believe the guild leader with how the female warrior was behaving. Zen was swung around helplessly like a ragdoll, but his adolescent body could not help but turn red from embarrassment when he realised what the soft thing his head was resting on.
"Stop firing those noisy things and let me talk to your true leader," Oritha growled. Despite the warm welcome, these flies were noisy.
Zen covered his face with his hands when Oritha pulled him against his chest and hissed at him to tell them to back off.
"C-can you not hold me in such a position?" he stammered. This was more embarrassing than death. "Males and females should not share such a close proximity."
Zen's request, reaction and reasoning made the seasoned warrior laugh. The Seer was right about this candidate. Even if he was not the perfect mafia leader, he was a very refreshing personality in their dark world. This kid did not fear death either despite his civilian behaviour. It made him unique, and Oritha was now sure that this was the correct decision.
"I left my guild and party for you, master. Won't you welcome me to your party?" the Amazonian laughed. "I'm the strongest human weapon in this academy. Blades, guns, poison and hypnosis won't work on me. Except for having a very thick skull that does not absorb knowledge very quickly and a tendency to hoard food, I have no other weakness."
Zen did not know what she was talking about. However, he could understand why Akiko and Liu Feng would let this woman come directly to the cafeteria. They tested her before they agreed to let her go. With two powerful people attesting her abilities and intentions, Zen did not have any reasons to deny her. The only other party member was Sasha, who struggled to hold her gun steady.
From his uncomfortable position, Zen told Sasha to lower her gun. At the same time, he asked if she objected to accepting this lady as the fifth party member.
Initially, the Russian Sniper thought Zen was joking. Why would someone from Guild Carnage defect to join them? Then, it clicked. Joining Godly Food was not the same as joining Guild Survivor. Oritha had no intentions of playing friendly with everyone else. She only wanted to join the party she thought would win this death game. Like Liu Feng and Akiko, Oritha was casting her fate with Zen by joining the party.
It was as good as an unwitnessed omerta. Sasha was in the same position as the Amazonian and lowered her gun as a sign of acceptance before collapsing.
Zen quickly told the other guild members to grab the healing items. Oriole was the first to tend to Sasha as Zen added the Amazonian to his party. The Amazonian's change of loyalties made those in Guild Survivors shocked. Nobody pointed their guns at her as she followed Zen into the kitchen.
"She's part of my party now," Zen told them. "Please try to get along even though she isn't part of the guild. Amazonian… I can call you that, right?"
The female warrior raised a brow. "Why? You call the Seer, Death Princess and Two Shots by their name. I'm now a party member, you can call me by my name. I'm Oritha Silva."
Feeling slightly strange to be calling the busty warrior by her first name, Zen looked away and blushed. "T-then I'll call you Silva-san."
Satisfied and finding the kid's reaction slightly adorable, the Amazonian looked around at the kitchen. There wasn't much time until the basilisk was spawned, and this was all the defence they had in the base?
"That's all the defences you have against the basilisk?" she asked incredulously as the guild members scurried around to manage the eggs.
Zen nodded. "Kanzaki-san will be coming with the last batch of eggs I need, and big brother Wind will be stalling Guild Carnage for me while distracting the basilisk. We have nothing to worry about here except for the crafting."
"Huh? What are you talking about? Aren't you going to fight that boss monster?"
Zen shook his head. "There's another way to win this game, and it involves cooking. How fast are you with your hands? I need white egg wings, but nobody here can react fast enough to catch them before they fly away from the sack."
Hearing that Zen was presenting her with the first task as Godly Food's sword, she grinned.
"How many wings do you need?"