moonlit night.
As the mercenaries finish setting up camp, the last member walks into the clearing. Taking a seat next to Cordayl, the merc throws his bloodied knife into the dirt.
Sticking his hands into the fire, he rubs them together, and when he pulls them out, they come out clean.
"Not gonna clean your blade?" Cordayl casually asks while meditating.
"Of course not. There is an old myth that after a blade has tasted the blood of a thousand men, it changes into a beautiful shade of maroon. I have 30 more bodies to go to see if it's true or not." The guy says, picking his blade up, blowing the dirt off, and sheathing it.
"All legends aren't true. " Cordayl responds.
"Kind of ironic to hear from a legend himself." The guy retorts.
Looking at Cordayl through the corner of his eye, he says, "Say, legendary Diablo, how bout a little spar? We'll stop after we draw blood. I'm sure your blood must be worth at least 50 warriors!" The man challenges.
"I'll pass," Cordayl says, continuing to meditate.
"And you know the rules. No fighting amongst the group." A woman reminds the man from behind.
"Not even a friendly one?" The man flashes a smile that is unreturned.
"No," she responds sternly. "Did you get the information we needed?"
"Yeah, I got it. The west side of the gate is the weakest, and the east side of the palace is the quickest route to our target." The man says, removing some earwax.
"Good. Get some rest. We reposition at dawn," the leader says, walking away.
The man gets up at the same time Cordayl does to walk to his tent. "Good night, Diablo. See you in the morning." He smirks. Cordayl ignores him as the man walks by.
The man stops, though, and looks at Cordayl again in the corner of his eyes. He puts his hand on his blade, and the moment he does, the aura of death propels off of Cordayl. The man feels it and chuckles, resuming his walk to his tent.
Cordayl walks to his area and lays down on his pallet. Finding his journal, he flips to a clean page to begin writing.
Hey Esquimo,
It's been a while since we talked. I haven't been in the mood to write lately. I apologize for that. I hope everything has been peaceful for you, though. Me? If you've been watching, you will see that I have been on a war path lately.
After Éclair died, I fell into this hole that I thought could be filled with violence. I decided to hunt down the list of white glove members I had one by one.
As I did so, as I beat the information out of everyone, the list just kept getting longer and longer. I was okay with that. Anyone who stood in my way got trampled as I casually kept erasing names off of my list.
I don't feel any regret about any of it. They started this, so they have to accept what comes after. But to be honest, I feel like this is all in vain. None of it brings me any satisfaction. In fact, the opposite. I kill one and I'm still just mad. I fight the next one and get even angrier.
Lately, I've been curious about what is bothering me, and only through this last meditation did I finally find why.
Esquimo I'm in pain. My heart has been cut too many times without the chance to heal so now it just bleeds. I thought that letting my anger out would help, but afterwards, I walk alone and remember why it must be that way.
I don't regret meeting you in the least, but sometimes I wish we hadn't. Then you would be alive, and I wouldn't be hurt.
But knowing I need time, unfortunately I have none to spare right now. I've made a promise to destroy this organization and I'll see it through. Even as we speak, I am headed to the stronghold of some white glove member.
Ohh yeah I forgot to tell you I teamed up with their enemy for this one. I don't trust them either, but we were heading in the same direction so I decided to tag along.
I'll wrap this up. I miss you Esquimo. We'll see each other again one day and catch up properly. Good night.
Cordayl concludes his writing and lays in bed. Not even sleepy in the bit.
The following day, the team stands outside the stronghold, scoping it out.
"What do you see?" The leader asks the sniper.
"Not too many sentry men on the perimeters. I haven't even seen a patrol group yet. Entry should be pretty easy. This guy is really confident that nobody would try to rush him."
"A reasonable person would not. He's one of the association's most brutal members. Rumor has it he literally killed for his position." Another of the group members states.
"Good thing we have a monster as well. Right Cordayl?" The boss states, turning around to see Cordayl leaning on a tree, dozed off.
The knife wielder gets a look on his face and tries to poke Cordayl on the side with his knife.
Without opening his eyes, Cordayl kicks him in the side. Opening his eyes, he yawns, "Are we doing this?"
"Later. Snake will have better chances of sneaking in once it's dark." The leader states.
Cordayl yawns again. "I'm gonna start now. If I fall asleep, I probably won't wake up for a few days." Cordayl states walking past them.
The leader's eyes widen at his blatant disorder. "No, you will not. You will follow the plan and wait till-"
"Look," Cordayl cuts her off. "I'm not part of your team. I'm the monster that's supposed to beat the monster, right? Wasn't that a part of your plan? I just prefer to do it now rather than later." Cordayl says, walking off.
The boss grits her teeth but decides to be fluid. "Fine. Start it off. We'll go through the back and meet up to assist you in the fight later."
Cordayl continues walking and throws his hand up as acknowledgment.
Cordayl casually walks towards the stronghold and looks both ways before approaching the wall. "Might as well go in noisy to make it easier for them." Cordayl reasons, destroying the wall in front of him.
The soldiers around all stand in confusion as they stare in the direction. Cordayl comes walking through the dust and addresses everyone unenthusiastically.
"Yes, it is I, the Diablo. Which of you fools will be the warrior to finally take me down." Cordayl says, sneezing to clear the dust out of his nose.
The warriors are still standing around confused, unsure what to do. Cordayl rolls his eyes and kicks a rock that flies and bounces off the head of one of the soldiers. The soldier growls and charges at Cordayl.
"Finally." Cordayl remarks. Dodging the mercenary, Cordayl punches the guy and sends him flying into a crowd of warriors. "This will be too easy if you all try me one at a time," Cordayl states. All of the soldiers draw their weapons and rush in to take Cordayl down.
"Why did it take this long," Cordayl mutters as he starts his assault on the stronghold.
The group is listening to all the wreckage Cordayl is causing and find this the perfect time to infiltrate. The boss gives Snake the go, and he transforms into a shadow snake and slips under the wall.
Snake silently slithers past guards and reappears behind them, removing all the enemies in silence. Whispering into his hand, his hand then turns into a small shadow snake and slithers back to the group.
The leader picks the snake up and hears snakes message of 'all clear.' Beckoning to the rest of the squad, they all follow the shadow snake that leads them back to Snake.
Rendezvous complete, the group runs through the facilities until they are forced to screech to a halt. Standing right in front of them is the man they were looking for.
He sits there peeling a giant apple with his fingernail as he calmly sits in a chair. "I love when my hunches are right." He states as he drops the apple and picks up another one.
"You were expecting us?" The boss asks.
"Not really. I heard the ruckus in the front and thought that only a fool would come in making so much noise. But a smart one would take advantage of all the chaos, seeing it as the perfect time to strike. Would have been a good plan had it not been me who predicted it." The man stands up.
Seeing his gigantic body, the crew watch in fear and amazement that such a man could sit on such a tiny chair.
"Well, what if I anticipated you being the one to intercept us? I mean, you are our target, after all." The boss replies.
"Well, then, I take back my praise of your plan. I would expect at least an army, but seeing how few of you there are, I assume this group was created specifically for me. That's touching. But wanting to fight me is basically an admission of suicidal intent," The hulk of a man cracks his neck as he gets a look of the illest of intentions in his eyes.
"Well, come fail your mission." He challenges.
"You know the plan. Go ahead and start it off." The boss whispers to the knife wielder.
With no response, she turns around and sees that the knife wielder is nowhere to be seen.
Cordayl coolly walks through the stronghold, not seeing a soldier in sight. "Guess that was everyone. Now where is the boss?" Cordayl ask himself as he continues to traverse the grounds.
Cordayl hears a thumping sound and decides to head towards that direction.
"Where's that team at? They probably are already fighting the guy and halfway to victory. They seemed like a capable bun-". Cordayl's thoughts stop as he sees this massive man casually smashing the boss's face into the ground over and over again.
Quickly overcoming the shock, Cordayl keeps walking towards them. The big guy turns his head and shows murderous intent in his eyes, but it phases Cordayl none, as he inspects the basket of apples.
Suddenly the massive man is besides him. "Those are mine." The man tells Cordayl.
"Well, you have plenty. I'm sure you can spare one." Cordayl responds, picking one up. The man doesn't hesitate to throw a fist down to smash Cordayl.
Picking his fist up from the ground, the man sees that he has only succeeded in smashing his apple basket.
Cordayl moves the last fallen warrior to safety and rests the apple on the boss' stomach. "Keep that safe for me. And don't eat it." He stares at her bloodied face as she groans in response.
Cordayl walks back to the big guy and sizes him up. "Lets move this somewhere less crowded." Cordayl says.
The big man looks down on Cordayl, "Why? Soon you will all be dead. And the dead love company." The man states, sending a kick at Cordayl's head.
A massive explosion is heard as multiple buildings get destroyed. The big man skids to a halt and shakes off the hit. Cordayl comes walking out of the dust, tying his hair back as he emerges.
"Before we start, what can you tell me about this white glove group you are a part of?" Cordayl ask.
The man smiles. "Since it's been so long since I've gotten to kill someone so strong, I'll tell you that there isn't a kingdom, let alone a corner, of the world that we do not control.
"Our organization reaches far beyond assassins. We are kings, queens, monarchs, politicians, and everything lesser or greater. Your plight has made its way to the higher up's ears but your fighting in vain. You would be fighting till the day you died, trying to stop us. Because everyone you defeat is easily replaced to keep the machine going." The man tells Cordayl.
"So I've already been told. Anything new?" Cordayl ask.
"Well then, I guess the only thing new for you will be the experience of fear before you die." The man promises.
Cordayl sighs, "Old info and old lines. Let's just get this over with," Cordayl replies as he squares up with the giant