The Earth Online

26 To Resist is To Live

“I hate Mr. Manny to the core for the evil things he has done, but I also recognize how Haine f****d up his home country so much.” Ulfrick pensively uttered, but then Haya continued,

“But this doesn’t excuse him from exploiting people. Your trauma doesn’t give you a pass to kill innocent people.” To which the five of them, even Ulfrick, nodded their heads in agreement.

Currently, they were having a drink in one of the pubs in the Lagash Interpoint. After succeeding in killing the remaining three people, they were reeling in from the guilt, especially after their last assassination.

“I mean I kill and all that s**t, but not innocent people. I slit the throats of fucktards in the world, rapists, pedophiles, and all that shit.” Kedrick muttered while drinking from his cup. They were having pints of this clear liquid that tasted like cotton candy.

“The world before was already f****d up, why can’t they consider the world we have now. Everyone’s doing their best to survive the Godly Gambles, but there are people out there still having the time of their life killing people.” Thaleos added while wiping the remaining liquid on his lips.

They were getting a bit louder, as the effects of the cotton candy alcohol called, “Irkalla’s Tears.” The drinks smoothly flowed through their throats but was a killer in the morning. They all had no filters right now, as they remembered what happened with the last person.

The group of five were drunk out of their minds as they tried to drown in their remorse.

Igor could still see the old man calm expression, as he saw his life before flashing his eyes. The kind old man managing a library near Mount Nergal, merely accepted his death when he heard Manny’s name.

Igor reckoned that the old man probably did terrible things when he was younger, but right at that moment, when he pleaded for the village children to not be harmed, the hunter hesitated.

Thaleos felt his hands shaking as he tightly clutched his katana.

The five of them remember how Manny insisted to come along to watch the old man’s death, this one, he seemed to be savoring the most.

The old man gave Manny one final smile, and muttered, “I’m sorry, Manny. It wasn’t your mother’s fault. It was min—” Before the old man could even finish his statement, Manny shot him on the head.

Gone was the joking look, nor the cold one that Manny’s face usually had—there was only a somber look.

The five men sighed in sorrow and just continued drinking their pints. As Thaleos were intensely feeling the effects of the alcohol, he sloppily slurred out,

“I think that it’s time to fight against Manny. This can’t go on.” His eyes could barely focus on anyone and he just saw the dark tavern spiraling.

“That's right! f**k, Manny! It’s time to stand up.” Igor said as he sluggishly stood up and proceeded to raise his glass.

“Raise your glass to freedom!” Ulfrick shouted as a response, prompting the other four to raise their glass and toast their guilt away.

After a couple of sips more, a group of men and other sentient creatures suddenly approached their table. There were about seven people from the group, and they brought another bottle of Irkalla’s Tears with them.

“We heard your conversation about Manny. Is this the same Manny from Ellis Town? The god-awful loan shark?” The pseudo-leader of the group asked, and then he tapped his left eye, which was covered with an eye patch.

“Got this little present from that bastard.” He grunted out in anger. The man was small and slim but had this intimidating aura. As the other members of the group started talking about their own situations and Manny’s exploitative ways, they moved to a larger table.

As soon as they all sat down on the new table, the two groups filled with humans, reptilian beings, and elves started ranting about what happened to them and their families.

They spent the rest of the night enjoying each other’s companies, amid the repetitive ranting and drinking.

~ ~ ~

“Ugh f**k, it feels like someone’s drilling my head.” Kedrick grunted out as he clutched unto his throbbing head.

The three of them were back in the base nursing their hangovers.

“Damn, I feel like puking.” Haya chimed in just as he was about to run off to the toilet. Thaleos merely grunted as a response and finished drinking a whole liter of water.

His throat felt so dry, as he remembered last night’s shouting and planning.

“Was I just dreaming or did we actually plan that mini-revolt?” Kedrick said as he shoved strips of bacon in his mouth, slowly chewing and enjoying them.

“Nope, it’s all in here.” Thaleos responded while tapping his temple, which made him flinch in pain.

“Thank god, you remember, cause god knows I don’t.” The small man from last night said, as he suddenly entered their kitchen.

“The f**k you doing he—, wait never mind, I remember now.” The priest said as he inhaled in more of the bacon.

The whole group of men and creatures all decided to spend the night in the Melam Base, just so they could continue planning the revolt.

After getting kicked out by the innkeeper, they all head straight to the portal and jogged all the way down the mountain—most of them tripping and almost dying.

“Ugh, f**k, okay! Let’s take a rain check and do this tomorrow.” Haya said with a pale and sweaty face. Once finishing his sentence, he felt his mouth drying up and his stomach protesting.

They all agreed and decided to nurse their hangovers throughout the day.

~ ~ ~

The Purple Mansion

“You’re finally here! You two only had one free day, not two. Cross me again and your wives go straight to the w***e house.” Manny muttered while busily chewing on his medium-rare steak.

The middle-aged man was sitting on the chair at the very end of the long table. He had two maids and one butler waiting for him on the side, ready to take his order or do his commands.

“Why’d you bring along these three idiots?” Manny said as he wiped the excess blood off his mouth.

The gluttonous man was angry at Thaleos, Haya, and Kedrick, since they declined further desecrating the old man’s body and library.

“They wanted to apply for guards or assassins,” Ulfrick responded with a bored tone, almost as if he doesn’t want to be there. Igor nodded his head in agreement and proceeded to push the three men towards Manny’s direction.

“Ah, not the brightest, but there’s a small park of ingenuity, I see.” Manny laughed with a smug look on his face.

“So, did Igor tell you the procedure to become my guards?” The middle-aged man asked with merriment in his eyes. When he saw Thaleos bringing out a bottle of Irkalla’s Tears, purer than the ones served in high-class taverns, Manny’s eyes sparkled in interest.

“Very good choice, all the Irkalla’s Tears out there are diluted with water, this one looks to be a 1374 Before the Gods version. Great job!” The debt collector responded while assessing the characteristics of the diamond bottle and its intricate cork engravement.

He rang his little bell and one of the maids immediately brought out a corkscrew.

“Hmmm, notable white linings of the goddess’ bejeweled tears. Yes, so good so far.” Manny muttered under his breath while intently staring at the bottle.

He immediately stuck in the corkscrew and took out the cork.

While the butler was pouring in the clear liquid in his expensive wine glass, everyone was holding in their breaths. Even with Ulfrick’s previous faux nonchalance, he was intently staring at the wine glass.

Manny held the glass up to his mouth, but before it reached the edge of his lips, he rapidly threw the drink to the floor with force.

“What the f**k do you take me for? A f*****g i***t? You and I both know humans can’t get a pure bottle of Irkalla’s Tears, it’s only reserved for the gods and minor deities.” Manny shouted in anger, as he felt his blood boiling in absolute rage.

He gave the five men death glares and rang his bell, but before it could make a sound, Manny’s left hand caught on fire.

He looked the corkscrew and saw it fizzle out in white smoke.

“What the actual f**k? What’s going on? What did you do?” He said while panicking. Everyone in the room was just staring at him, Thaleos giving him an empty look.

Suddenly, from the shadows, Muson Telk appeared and whispered to his ear, “Good luck in surviving this illusion.”

As soon as the billionaire said that, the whole room started shifting into a fight scene. There were people screaming and bombs were falling down.

Manny felt the excruciating pain of being burned alive, and before him, saw how his sister and mother was being massacred.

Thaleos’ group just stared at the middle-aged man shouting in agony over and over again, as he was shaking in his lavish chair. Soon, tears started streaming down his face.

The beast tamer was hesitant, at first, with agreeing to the billionaire’s deal, but reconsidered the moral impacts of his decision.

Their group of three realized that they couldn’t always make good decisions, they recognized, that at some point, they had to sacrifice certain things to achieve ultimate good.

“I’m not sure what illusions you’re showing, Muson, but remember, eternal life of being burned alive is enough. More than that is taking the job from the gods themselves.” Thaleos muttered while staring directly into the billionaire’s frantic eyes.

Soon after, Manny’s tears disappeared and all that’s left was the shouting.

~ ~ ~

“f**k, it’s finally over. This whole thing just tasted like s**t in my mouth.” Haya grimly said as they were driving back to the Melam Base.

Thaleos just nodded his head in agreement, and Kedrick responded with a, “I’m f*****g ready to go back to fighting monsters and creatures again!”

“Next stop, the Suburban Wild Cage.” Thaleos responded while going through Sam’s notes.