Maltyie jumped away from him when magenta spikes sprouted from his back. "You! You betrayed our trust!"

"Who is this 'our' you're referring to, Alex? Surely it's never the Aegis Users," said Relly, his voice echoed throughout the place.

Alexander stood up and glared at him, clearly enraged from knowing he was involved at all. "You did these atrocities behind His Supremacy's back!"

"No," said Relly. "His Supremacy knew about this."

"What? Then--"

"It's just that these... trivial matters do not concern him one bit. You of all people should know that, hm? Being an Aegis User who had served under him for a long time, it was not an anomaly anymore," said Relly.

Alexander lowered his gaze, gritting his teeth at his statement.

Melker knew about what his subordinates doing but he decided to not bat an eye at it. Given that he was the person who waged war against the whole world, his eyes were set on only one objective.

Simple-minded was what I described a person like him.

"My father... does not care?" Maltyie clenched her fists at the revelation. Surely she held her father in a high regard despite what he was doing all those years. He killed innocent people and pillaged other countries at whim.

Her blue eyes s.h.i.+mmered under the fluorescent light.

"Yes, Maltyie. You should just leave this matter to me," said Relly.

His suggestion fueled Maltyie with blind rage. "Leave this to you?! You're the one who started all this! What's your reason for doing it?!"

Relly s.h.i.+fted his attention to Alexander. "You doubt what I'm doing, aren't you? Alexander, you're one of the firsts to serve under His Supremacy as an official Aegis User. Why stop now?"

"No... that's not it," mumbled Alexander, refusing to meet Relly in the eyes. "My devotion, the faith that I had put onto this country my entire life, was for the sake of unity. His Supremacy's goal of wanting that made me believes he's the one I should be following all along."

Alexander stomped his feet and glared at Relly. "But you! You're the ones responsible! The citizens are afraid. Their hearts are filled with doubt because of your actions!"

"What actions?" asked Relly with a casual tone.

"These!" Alexander gestured at the cages, where the females whimpered from the event unfolding in front of them. "You yourself are conducting human trafficking!"

"So?"

Maltyie gasped, quickly changing her expression to that of pure anger. "Don't tell me you're playing dumb, Relly. Of all the people I know, you're one of the, if not, the smartest one. What's your reason?"

Relly sighed and he caressed his forehead. "You see, Maltyie and Alex. Selling humans these days proved to be quite profitable."

"Are you serious? Do you even realized what you're saying?!" asked Alexander. He had already formed a magenta blade that extended from his right arm.

"I guess it's my fault for not making it clear to you guys," said Relly. "I've been keeping this a secret. Of course, His Supremacy knew. But his ignorance in this matter was useful to me in the first place. Human trafficking, at its core, is just like selling slaves! There's nothing wrong with it. And the money I get would go to the soldiers who helped me."

"Are you insane?!" I finally said. Hatred consumed me and I let it seep deeper, engraving its poison into my heart.

"Some money would go to my account as well since I'm doing most of the job. It's fortunate that our glorious country has beautiful, stunning women for me to... take care of," said Relly with a smirk. "It's business, everyone!"

Relly leaped from the metal bridge and crashed onto the ground, sending clouds of dust all over the place. "Believe me, Alex. What you will say to His Supremacy would amount to nothing. I'm in charge of all these affairs after all, and more so that my rank's higher than you."

"RELLY!"

Alexander sprinted forward and swung his Aegis blade at him. He parried the attack with his own blade and kicked Alexander in the stomach. With a bit of room to work with, Alexander created two long blades from his palms and slashed at him. He kept slas.h.i.+ng with his eyes locked onto the one target in front of him.

"Urgh!" Relly winced when the sharp blades severed his right arm off. But within seconds, it st.i.tched itself back no problem.

"I see that you've been training, Alex," said Relly as he parried another attack coming at his head.

"I'm doing all this for His Supremacy! You're a thorn in his side, Relly!" yelled Alexander.

"A thorn, huh?" Relly dodged a few more blade slices from Alexander and thrust his blade at his direction. "What?"

A kick sent Relly's blade upward, with another one cracked his skull from the impact. He stumbled backward.

"M-Maltyie," muttered Relly, caressing the side of his head.

"I'm beating you up, and I'll have a talk with my father after this," said Maltyie, recovering her combat stance after sending those two kicks at Relly.

"I see. Well, you can try. But I doubt it would work. Mark my word, Maltyie." Relly took a deep breath. "LILY!"

The wall behind Alexander turned into pink crystals as a familiar figure emerged from it with a sly grin. She was in her Full Aegis Form, if I remembered correctly, what with her entire body was made up of pink crystals.

"You're bringing Lily into this, too?!" exclaimed Alexander.

"She's too obedient, Alex. It's a waste to not make use of her," said Relly.

Lily tilted her head at me. "Oh, the kid's here too? Should I take care of her, Relly?"

"No. His Supremacy needs her. You got Alexander in front of you."

"Ehhh? But Alex's on our side!" pouted Lily.

"You're just sparring with him, Lily. Nothing more than that" a.s.sured Relly.

Surely he was used to talking her into doing his bidding. His ploy of words was simple, yet effective.

"Oh, okay!" agreed Lily.

"Wait, our enemy is Relly!" said Alexander.

"But he's our leader, Alex. What he said is what he wants us to do." Lily then lowered her body and pounced on Alexander at blinding speed. He managed to defend against her with a broad s.h.i.+eld he formed.

He looked behind his shoulder. "Everyone, it's too dangerous here!"

Maltyie avoided a slice from Relly's blade and kicked him in the face. "You're too old for this."

He regained his stance and glared at her. "Perhaps I am."

I scrambled for a way to get myself involved in the fight, but running away was the only available option for me. Being Aegis-less in its essence was equivalent to being useless.

Lily converted Alexander's blades into her own crystals and it shattered.

"Dammit!" muttered Alexander. He formed a few more blades only to shatter from Lily's touch.

"Why aren't you using your specialty, Alex? Is it because there's a lot of people here?" asked Lily. She shattered another blade coming at her and punched Alexander in his cheek due to his sudden pause.

"Argghh!" His bloodied face healed as he became warier of Lily's movements.

Maltyie dodged a spike coming at her and swiftly countered it with an arching downward kick at Relly's head. He then retreated a few steps from Maltyie.

"I see. No wonder you're the General of The Army. But you know, I have someone here who also decided to scour in my territory without my consent," said Relly. He looked upward and whistled when two soldiers popped out from a door at the end of the metal bridge.

"Derrick?!" exclaimed Maltyie.

The general, Derrick, was bruised all over his body. Even his military uniform was tattered, with the soldiers pinned him near the metal rails of the bridge.

"He was the first one to discover this place, Maltyie. That man tried to expose this to the eyes of the civilians. But what outcome will that bring to our country? Riot. Rebellions all over Sweden. We don't want that, don't we?" said Relly.

"You're the one who caused this in the first place!" I yelled at him. "You're the greediest person I've ever met. Disregarding people's lives, you sold their existences for the people who're willing to join in your stupid business! You're nothing but a worldwide slave trader!"

Relly considered my words. "Hmm, perhaps you're right. Well, it was worth it while it lasts."He then shouted Lily's name.

"It's over already?" questioned Lily, with her right foot on top of Alexander's beaten up body. "Hm, oh well." Her body turned back into flesh and exited the place using the hole she made in the wall, followed by Relly.

"Wait!" shouted Alexander as he got back up.

"You're free to do what you want, Alex. But remember, your loyalty still lies in His Supremacy," said Relly. He waved at all of us before disappearing into the darkness behind the wall.

The two soldiers heaved Derrick up and threw him from the bridge.

"Derrick!" yelled Maltyie. She jumped forward to save Derrick from the fall but Eugene got there first. He caught Derrick with two hands and stumbled to the ground.

"Ouch. He's heavy, Sis," mumbled Eugene.

"Thank goodness," said Maltyie as she wiped the trickles of sweat from her forehead.

Alexander trotted to the metal cages and cut the locks open with his Aegis blade. "You're all safe now."

We then helped in the rescue operation, where the imprisoned females were all brought to the hospital with the aid of local polices. There was nothing much for us to do after that so we went back to Maltyie's house.

. . .

"Come on, Derrick. You could've gone to the hospital as well," complained Eugene.

It was already 6:00 A.M when we got back. Alexander carried Derrick all the way there, as he refused to go to the hospital with the polices.

Eugene applied clean bandages all over Derrick's body. His injuries were that bad. Derrick had replaced his military uniform with Eugene's red jacket and blue jeans.

"I have something to ask all of you. That's why I'm here," said Derrick with a stern face. He swept his gaze around the living room to look at everyone. "Why are you hiding, Maltyie?"

Indeed, Maltyie was poking her head out from the kitchen, subtly observing the progress of Derrick's treatment.

"E-Er, nothing. Just watching," she said with a nervous giggle.

Derrick sighed and put up a smile. "You haven't changed at all. It's been six months since we last met. Remember that one time you declined that meeting with the generals?"

"O-Oh. I had something to do on that day," retorted Maltyie, refusing to look straight into his eyes.

"Oh, come on, Sis. It's been a while since Derrick came to our house. You're being rude here," said Eugene.

"I'm being rude?!"

Maltyie stomped towards Eugene and gave him a fist to the arm.

"Ow! It's a joke, okay!" said Eugene, rubbing his pain away.

"I'm sorry if my presence here is not welcomed, Maltyie. Er, I mean, General of The Army. After I've asked some questions, I'll immediately go back," said Derrick.

Maltyie jerked her head up. "N-No, Derrick! It's fine! Really! I'll just get something for you all drink," She then rushed towards the kitchen.

I sat next to Alexander on the sofa, where Derrick was sitting on a wooden chair he got from upstairs.

Derrick then focused his attention on me. "At first, I don't believe it. The fact that you're an Aegis User. You're still a kid. But, after I've been ordered to a.s.sist Sir Relly in capturing you, it was shocking, to say the least."

I understood what he meant. He was one of the first soldiers of the Great Corporate United to approach me back then in Mansel Island. His reaction was not surprising honestly. Seeing a little girl becoming something else entirely was understandable.

From being someone getting rescued in Mansel Island by Derrick to the one that he should be getting his hands on at the end.

Alexander rubbed his spiky hair and stared at Derrick. "I see that you've done your own research, General Derrick."

"Just Derrick is fine, Sir Alexander. You're my superior after all," said Derrick.

"If you insist." Alexander cleared his throat. "So, Derrick, you must be unaware of the state of our country before this, right?"

"Uh, yes. But then, I witnessed a civilian claiming that our own soldiers conspired in what has been, a ma.s.sive human trafficking activity. It is even linked internationally, to my understanding."

Alexander nodded. "I've my own suspicion too. The other Aegis Users do not seem to care at all about this, let alone His Supremacy. I believe we have to take this in our own hands."

"I agree. His Supremacy may not want to get involved one way or another, but that doesn't mean we can just ignore all of that has been happening. There may be more hideouts spread across our country," said Derrick.

I raised my hand to get both of their attention. "Do Alicia and Bart know?"

Alexander shook his head. "They knew, but they're not involved in this. And what's worse, we can't put Relly down for justice to serve him since his authority is second to His Supremacy. He controls everything."

Derrick lowered his eyes. "Yeah. That's our biggest obstacle. And he's right. We can't just expose all of the human traffickings to the civilians. There will be chaos no doubt. The quickest way to deal with this is to bring Relly to court. But even then, his manipulation could extend to the judges as well."

I had been thinking of a solution while Derrick and Alexander talked to each other. As for Eugene, he had gone upstairs to get another chair for himself.

"What if," I continued, "we threaten His Supremacy?"

Derrick gasped at my suggestion, and so did Alexander.

"Threaten His Supremacy?!" exclaimed Alexander.

"Shhh. You're too loud," said Derrick.

"O-Oh, sorry," said Alexander. "What is this... method you're talking about, Ava?"

"It's easy," I said with my head held high. "Our invasion of Neo Africa starts in two weeks, isn't it? Let's just say, Relly got caught in an attack and his ability to fight could no longer be applied, wouldn't the soldiers and people under Relly's thumb that helped him all these years would get anxious, and therefore break off the connections they have with him?"

Alexander gulped. "Go on."

"Losing his right-hand man would be a huge blow to His Supremacy's side, isn't it? And without Relly's support, we as Aegis Users could bring His Supremacy down," I said. "And those human trafficking would no longer exist after that point."

"B-Bring His Supremacy down..." mumbled Derrick. "But..."

"What if Maltyie replaces him in the future? I know you don't want all these infighting and war that are happening around the world, right? I'm sure Maltyie will be a good leader," I suggested.

Alexander drew his eyebrows together at me. "And being the General of The Army, she has tons of support from our own people. If she becomes the country's leader, no doubt that I would serve under her with no hesitation."

"Are you saying His Supremacy is not good enough?" asked Derrick at Alexander.

"No, Derrick. He is, by far, a good leader for our country. But he incites all these needless bloodsheds. There are many other ways to unify the world without ever having to resort to war. And the fact that he ignores what's happening to our glorious country makes my doubt even stronger," said Alexander sharply.

Derrick sighed. "So, you're saying that you're supporting, Ava?"

"In the future, yes," stated Alexander before he glanced at me. "But how do you intend to put Relly down during the invasion? His combat prowess is above all of us Aegis Users, in terms of his Aegis specialty alone."

"Oh, I... haven't thought about that yet," I said with an awkward smile.

"Well, it's worth a try. I'm in." Alexander looked at Derrick. "You?"

Derrick considered what had been thrown at him during the conversation. He finally opened his eyes, filled with determination. "I'm in. I can't let my daughter lives in fear of having to deal with this mess."

"I concur," said Maltyie.

The three of us looked at her as she put down gla.s.ses of lemon juice on the square table. "I've been listening to what you said. And I also agree with Ava."

Derrick frowned at her. "So..."

"But for the one who should lead this country, I think you're the one who's most suitable, Derrick," said Maltyie, avoiding eye contact with him.

"Huh? N-No way! You're the one who has the people's support, Maltyie. I, too, wish that you lead us someday. You're smart and the achievements that you have garnered in the past years far surpa.s.sed the veteran soldiers. You can defeat all of the veteran male soldiers by yourself. You're more than qualified. In fact, my daughter would also share my opinion if she knows about this. You're her idol, Maltyie. Really," said Derrick.

While he said those words, Maltyie's face was red; too red that I wondered if she was mad at Derrick.

"I-I'm..." She paused, covering her reddened face with a metal tray.

The three of us were waited for what she wanted to say. After a few moments, she tossed a glance at Derrick before disappearing into the kitchen.

"I guess this is why my wife left me ten years ago," said Derrick to Alexander.

"You think? Your former wife is just a woman with her eyes peeled for your money, Derrick," said Alexander.

"I've to apologize to Maltyie later. I feel like we're not as close as we were back in the military school."

"Well, you should do that. Being The General of The Army, she has a lot on her plate. And I think what you said to her seems to be sugarcoated too much," said Alexander whimsically.

"Hmm, but my daughter, Elle, loves her so much though. I guess I've to bring her to meet Maltyie sometime." Derrick examined his injuries while Alexander took a sip of his lemon juice.

Maltyie brought up her weird side again. To think that she, as someone who overwhelmed Relly in close combat, had those hidden emotions inside her.

I took the gla.s.s of lemon juice in my hands and drank it.

At least, the women who were held in the underground prison were free. I had a feeling that sooner or later, we were bound to face Alicia and Bart whether we liked it or not.

I, for one, looked forward to that event.