The Mark

Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Lucifer gazed at Caen, still lost in thoughts. He was still confused by the intentions of Caen. Even though what Caen said seemed like the truth, Lucifer didn’t feel like trusting him entirely.

He had seen how treacherous humans had been. Even the scientists that had pretended to care for humans and their lives showed their true faces when Lucifer wasn’t of any use to them.

’It is a world of self-interest. People are only nice as long as we are useful to them. They are all hypocrites who only think of themselves above everyone else. They are all the same. At their core, they are only monsters who know how to act a little better.’

’ He would be no different. He and his organization would be the same. They only want me now because I am useful to them, but once I am not, they will forget everything I do and throw me away like the bastards in that lab did after my parents died,’ he thought as he gazed at Caen, who was clapping on the ground. ’It wouldn’t be any different this time.’

He was still thinking if he should use Caen instead or if he should just kill him and continue on his quest to destroy the Facility. If he did decide on the first, he would have the backing of a big organization in his quest, but he most probably would have to do things for them as well in exchange.

If he selected the latter, he would be alone, but he would have more freedom. It wasn’t all good either since he knew that more freedom would come with more risk as well since he might face situations like today when attacking the Facility.

By now, he was certain that the others knew what his aim was. He already knew that they would know, but he hadn’t expected them to set a trap by giving him fake information about the Facility’s location.

He had once again made the mistake of trusting the humans, thinking that they could tell the truth when the life of their loved ones was in trouble, but Xander had still lied to him. That only proved how cunning and uncaring they were.

Since they knew his target, they would most certainly not let him have his way without coming up with another scheme. Since he had killed most of the people here, he was confident that the next attack would be on a much bigger scale.

If he refused Caen, his organization might be after him as well. So the outcomes of saying no were much worse than saying yes. Still, he didn’t wish to agree.

He didn’t wish to forget everything and mix up with humans again, even if it was to get information.

"I guess it is something that must be done. After I am done getting what I want, I will leave even if I have to destroy them along the way. This should be fine. I won’t let anyone control me, even if it’s the gods themselves," he muttered softly as he decided what to do.

It was like how he had decided to stay with the girl he met along the way to learn from her the art of hunting and cooking. He just needed to use them before he left without giving them a chance to betray him.

- : He Did

- : He Did

- : He Did

Lucifer had decided to agree to Caen’s proposal and slowly started floating downward until he landed on the ground.

He walked towards Caen with small steps, not in any hurry.

"I will come with you," Lucifer said without a tinge of emotion in his voice.

"That’s good," Caen let out as he smiled. He extended his hand towards Lucifer as if intending to shake his hand. "Welcome to the team."

Lucifer stood still without any movement. He lowered his gaze at the man’s hand, which didn’t have any gloves, before looking at his face as if he was looking at an i***t.

Caen wondered why he was looking at him like that before he realized what he had done wrong. He slapped his forehead as he let out, "Right. How could I forget about your Decay? You can’t control that."

Lucifer didn’t respond.

"Don’t worry. We have a few good resources. We do know of gloves that were made keeping your mother’s abilities in mind that can last for a day without decaying."

"We are already trying to get our hands on that technology. After we get that, we can create hundreds of such gloves for you so you can live your life as normally as you wish. As you know, we care for our team members. Since you are becoming one of us, you’ll be a part of our big family as well."

Caen kept talking as he tried to tell Lucifer about their sincerity. His smile never left his face.

Generally, he rarely smiled, but on a mission, he could use any persona, so he wasn’t having a hard time faking his expressions.

Lucifer was also finding the words of Caen interesting. He was intrigued by the benefits, but he still kept his suspicions. He wasn’t going to let himself be swayed since he knew that they had an ulterior motive as well.

"Right. We should leave now. Let’s go," Caen let out as he turned back. He walked back towards the helicopter.

Lucifer thought for another second before he started following him, unaware of how this decision was going to turn out. He didn’t know what was going to happen, but he had decided on one thing. He wasn’t going to think of them as any more than puppets that he would be using.

He wasn’t going to be making friends. He also wasn’t going to let them control him or use him like the scientists had done, even if he had to burn the whole world in the process.

He had only taken two steps before he stopped. A frown appeared on his face as he slowly turned back.

Caen also stopped and glanced back as he also heard a sound coming from behind them.

It sounded like the engine of a car that was making a big noise.

Lucifer gazed into the distance and saw a few off-road vehicles racing towards them. The car in the front had no roof while the other cars did.

In the first car, Lucifer saw a bulky man standing. The man had what seemed like a rocket launcher in his hand, which he was carrying with his right shoulder’s support. The car also had a driver and a few more men.

"More of them," Lucifer muttered as he gazed at them.

Electricity again flickered near his arms as he began using his powers. He smashed his right leg on the ground and used the impact to propel himself forward.

His feet left a deep mark behind, but no dust flew this time as the ground had seen plenty of rain recently. The soil was still wet, or his stomping might have caused a big cloud of dust in his wake.

"Wait!" Seeing Lucifer flying towards the cars with the intention to attack them, Caen shouted. "They are my men. They came to help us!"

Lucifer heard the words of Caen and stopped. His feet landed on the ground, but he didn’t turn back. His fists were still clenched as his eyes were still observing the fresh arrivals.

Caen walked towards Lucifer as he further described, "I told you they were waiting ahead for us to blow the other helicopters. As the Delta Squad guys found out about you being missing, they stopped and decided to move back. Since the old plan had failed, I called them here to support you in battle. Surprisingly you already dealt with the enemies before they could come."

"Fine," Lucifer muttered as he turned back and resumed walking towards the helicopter.

He soon reached near Caen and stopped when he was right beside him. He looked in Caen’s eyes in full seriousness.

Caen didn’t know why but he always felt intimidated whenever he looked into Lucifer’s eyes. It was the same this time. He asked, "Is something wrong?"

He wondered if he had done something wrong. He couldn’t see anything like that being done by him, though.

"I need clothes," Lucifer said, looking down at his chest. He had no shirt. He was bare-chested for a long time.

"Oh, that," Caen laughed as he nodded his head. "Don’t worry. We will buy factories of clothes for you."

"Good," Lucifer muttered as he walked past him. He entered the helicopter and sat down, folding his arms.

The Cars stopped in front of Caen as the men stepped out.

"What, boss! You called us here, but you already dealt with them. You could have left some of them for us at least," the bulky man who was carrying the rocket launcher said, looking disappointed. "I wanted to blow up a few of them."

"I didn’t touch even a single one of them," Caen answered as he shook his head lightly.

He glanced back towards the helicopter before he continued, "Well... technically, he didn’t touch them either, but it’s all the handiwork of our new friend."

"The work of that kid?"

"Really? Is he that strong?"

"What the heck! Did he kill all of them alone without dying? Just what kind of monster is he?"

All the men were stunned to know about Lucifer.

"What kind of monster is he? That’s what I’m curious about too," Caen muttered under his breath as he frowned.

- : Meeting With Ayn

- : Meeting With Ayn

- : Meeting With Ayn

"Master Xander. Welcome back."

There existed a tall multi-story building. It was entirely covered with glass that was reflecting the bright sunlight all around. The building had over forty floors, making it very tall.

Even though the building was tall, it was still nowhere close to the tallest building in Elisium.

There existed a helipad on top of the building. A military helicopter was standing on the helipad. Its rotors were still swinging, highlighting the fact that it hadn’t been long since the helicopter landed here.

A red-haired man had stepped out of the helicopter who was greeted by the guard who protected the lift entrance.

The man was none other than the leader of Delta Squad, Xander Blake. He had just returned to the Base of the APF.

The team members that had left with him to Ikrego had also returned with him. They were sent there on a mission to protect the city against the dungeon dwellers that had occupied the city.

Xander looked around but didn’t find the other helicopters that were taken by his team.