Chapter 1081: The President’s Daughter (7)
Chapter 1081: The President’s Daughter (7)
Mia turned to look at the approaching naked man. Her situation was already as weird as it was, and seeing a man walking towards her without clothes made everything even stranger.
As soon as the man got close enough, one of her guards, those who joined the fight against her, who clearly were not her real guards, gave something to the man to cover himself, with a deferential and servile look in his eyes.
It was at that moment that she became able to give a closer look at the man, and when she did, her heart started beating faster, much faster than it beat in the middle of the earlier fight.
She recognized him; she understood the reason why the guards were so servile towards the
man.
Terrifying, that was how Erik Romano appeared to her at that moment. It might have been because of how he carried himself; it could be because of his muscular body or for the look he had in his eyes, but that wasn't the reason. It was because this man exuded power in every move he made.
"You're... you're Erik Romano," she said.
Her blood ran cold, and she felt a chill run down her spine just saying those words, just saying that name.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
The color drained from her face, leaving her pale and trembling, and she felt her knees weaken, threatening to give out beneath her as the full realization of who stood before her sank in.
"In person."
"What do you want from me? Why are you doing this?"
Erik smiled, trying to reassure her, but there was no warmth in it, and she felt it.
"What happens next depends entirely on you," he said, not liking his own words a little.
"Cooperate, and you might just walk away from this. Resist, and, well..." He let the implication hang in the air, an implication she fully understood.
Mia drew herself up, a flicker of defiance in her eyes despite the fear.
"You would threaten a helpless woman?" she spat. "The blackguards were right about you. You are as evil and deranged as they say. It's just that I didn't think you were a coward who preys on the weak."
Erik's smile wavered at that point, not because he felt offended by what the woman said or what the blackguards said about him. It was because he knew that the only evil and deranged ones were them.
"Evil and deranged? This is what the blackguards told everyone about me? Easy! Did they tell you because I'm waging a war against them? No, I assume."
But Erik didn't keep talking about this topic. Telling this information to this woman would not bring him any benefit, and besides, what would be the point of changing one person's mind about him? None, aside from the fact he wasn't even interested in that.
Mia Turke, daughter of Salena Turke, was going to disappear from his sight once he was done extracting the information he needed from her.
"Besides, I've fought against plenty of women who were anything but helpless," he said.
"Women who were every bit as deadly, cunning, and ruthless as any man could be, even stronger. I don't discriminate when it comes to my enemies. The Fierce Lioness certainly wouldn't appreciate your implication that women are inherently weaker, and neither do I. Though you certainly are, that's because instead of focusing on training, you chose to spend time dressing up and partying with your friends. Am I wrong?"
Mia remained silent, as that was indeed the truth.
Besides, hearing about the famous warrior made the president's daughter lose confidence because Erik was right.
Her shoulders dropped. Who didn't know the Fierce Lioness and her legendary feats? Damn, she was said to have killed a Jolmine, a fucking lightning Wyvern. Who else could say the same?
Well, Erik Romano could.
She recalled another piece of information about him, one that really made her back shiver. Erik Romano was said to be able to control thaids and that he had a black Wyvern under his command.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"Information," Erik said, stepping closer. "And you're going to give it to me, one way or another. The easy way, or the hard way."
His hand shot out, gripping the woman's chin and forcing her to meet his gaze. Her eyes were filled with tears, but also with a stubborn resolve.
"I won't betray my country," she said. "I won't betray my mother."
Erik's grip tightened, his fingers digging into her skin. "We'll see about that."
He nodded to one of the Chimaeric Demons, who stepped forward with a syringe filled with a clear liquid. The president's daughter's eyes widened, and she struggled, but Erik's grip was impossible to break.
The needle slid into her neck, and the woman's eyes rolled back in her head. She went limp, and Erik let her fall to the ground.
"How long is this going to last?" Erik asked.
"30 minutes, just as you asked us."
"Good. If things go bad, I will be able to ask the questions I need with her, unable to keep her thoughts. Maybe she will talk with me, not needing to use my powers. Now, load her into the car," he said, turning to his Chimaeric Demons.
"And clean up this mess. We don't want to leave any traces. Take these people's place, including the woman, as soon as you can. No one must find out about this."
As the Chimaeric Demons set to work, Erik allowed himself a moment of satisfaction. Yes, people died, but it wasn't like he hadn't been responsible for death before; it wasn't like he had never killed. In fact, he was sure he was the person with the most kills in the world.
The attack had been messy but successful. They had the president's daughter, and with her, the key to find her mother.
<Just one step, and then...>
Then he would attack Maynard Island.
<I can't wait...>
Erik grinned. This time, it really was a malevolent one. He hated the blackguards, hated what they represented on the surface, and hated how hypocritical they were behind the scenes. He remembered what they and what Doran did to all the people that got kidnapped in Frant
and Etrium.
Children, most of the time. He remembered having lived in fear all his life, thinking he might be just one of the next few people to get kidnapped and disappear.
It was just that there would have been no one to mourn for him, no one trying to find him.
And he could have likely ended up like that easily. If it wasn't for Uncle Benjamin needing information about his father, needing to blackmail him in case he returned by using him as a bargain chip, he would unknowingly be.
Just that thought made his blood boil.
<Given how things turned out, he should have done that... I wonder if dad would have given them the biological supercomputer to save me.>
But he could not ask that anymore, and even if he did, he was sure his father would have said he would have given them what they wanted, just for him to have done the complete opposite. Lucius... He said he loved him, despite him not having really shown that for a long time, and while Erik didn't really know what to think about him, it was still true that what he was doing
was important.
Erik realized long ago that, even if he was the one that had to end up with the short end of the stick, even if it had to be him to live a harsh life, what his father did wasn't something he could simply toss away and forget about.
The blackguards had to be stopped; it was just that. Now it was Erik completing what his father, Becker, Richard, and Caiden Joyce, started.
<Better focus on the next task.>
He mentally communicated with the Chimaeric Demons, who had already disposed of the evidence of a fight and assumed their new identities.
There were a bunch of dead, naked bodies on the ground, all of them belonging to the guards
and workers present on the scene. James was also on the ground, stripped bare of his clothes and weapons. The only thing they didn't take was the guards' underwear, for obvious reasons, of course. But for the women in the midst, while they left their pants on, they had to take their
bras.
Mia, too, had been stripped of her clothes and was lying naked on the ground. Erik never made distinctions between people, aside from being an enemy or an ally, and he would not start
doing that now.
<Is the car ready?>
<It's coming here, master.>
<Good... There is no time to lose. Dress Mia up and load her into the car.>
<Yes, master.>
For now, he had to focus on the next steps. They needed to get off the airport grounds before
anyone noticed something was amiss.