CHAPTER 53: Andrea's Decision [(Part-3) out of 4]
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During our journey, Olivia told us that in the last 2 hours of the 18-hour rest period, she received information about an incident caused by the Assassin renowned as 'Death Shadow' through her sources from Russia.
Within those 2 hours, she used her influence and gathered as much intel as possible on that Assassin and found that his real name is 'Sergei'.
She also briefed the intel she gathered on him. Just hearing Sergei's kill count when he was an assassin, I felt chills down my spine.
Kasim expressed his opinion on that secret Assassin organization's stupidity to provoke an Assassin with such a track record by going after his daughter.
I asked Olivia what would happen if the Lv.9 Alpha Chosen we were about to meet was Sergei instead of Brandon.
She told me not to worry and that not to judge Sergei by his former occupation. With me still being worried, she assured me that she had a plan in mind.
I nodded as I subconsciously developed a sense of trust towards her.
With Olivia leading us, we didn't come across any Tier-2 monster, and we soon reached the location where there were several dead bodies of green ugly midgets.
Among them stood a man in a black coat that was drenched with those monsters' blood.
Just then, he killed the last three Tier-1 monsters by slitting their throats in a single swing of a 5-meter long chain that had a black gaseous substance on it.
Then, he turned his head to the left with a sharp turn and looked at us with cold eyes.
The next instant, the area of 10 sq.m that he stood at was covered in a black cloud of gas, hindering our vision.
Then, Olivia threw her weapon to the ground before lifting her hands in the air and told us to do the same.
Soon, the dark gaseous substance dissipated, and Sergei was nowhere.
But unlike Kasim and me, she looked in different directions, every few seconds with her golden eyes as if she could see him.
Olivia then spoke in a loud voice that we were not here with hostile intentions and that she would like him to join their group.
Later, she mentioned that, in return, she would provide intel on the remaining members of the Russian Assassin organisation that went into hiding.
Then, Olivia turned her head and looked at me.
At least, that was what I thought until I heard a flat voice originating from just behind my ear.
I tried to turn around, but then I felt a blade on my throat, causing me to shiver in fear.
Sergei demanded Olivia to give him the intel she gathered or that I would die.
Then, I heard Olivia's voice in my head as she told me to trust her and that nothing would happen to me.
In that situation, other than leaving everything to Olivia, all I could do was to blame myself for being weak.
Olivia said, "There isn't any need to take her as a hostage since I would provide the intel you needed regardless of you joining our group."
Before Sergei could say something, Olivia continued, "I know that you don't trust me. So, let me prove it to you."
She then took out a set of documents from her backpack, and with an ability of her golden eyes, she made it move in the air before stopping as it floated beside my face so that the contents were clearly visible to Sergei.
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"On the first 3 pages were the hidden locations of the remaining members of the Assassin Organization that you were looking for. You could check if it were true since you must have had some idea on where some of them might be hidden."
Even though the silence stayed for just 10 seconds, it felt like an hour for me, with Sergei still holding a knife to my throat.
Then, Olivia waved her finger to a side, causing the top three pages flipped by themselves and Sergei to read through the new content.
After going through the documents, he removed the knife and let me leave, to which I responded by rushing back to Olivia and Kasim.
I didn't know what was on the documents to remove his hostility towards us.
Sergei then asked with a puzzled look, "I know that you are one of the richest people on Earth. But, why would you go as far as giving me a contract to pay me 100 million pounds per month (139 million dollars) for having me as your chief of security?"
Hearing the amount that Olivia was willing to pay without as much as batting her eye, Kasim and I gasped at the same time.
Ignoring both of our awed gazes, Olivia replied to Sergei, "The reason why I was able to be successful as an entrepreneur was because of my ability to make right investments for the future and with the dangers we have to face from the System assimilation, I am investing in you."
"One of the main reasons for me to do what I did right now was because you turned your life around, and you were not the same cold-hearted assassin you were 5 years ago. Another reason was to have the 2nd powerful Alpha Chosen as you in our group."
After that, Olivia and Sergei conversed on some other details regarding the contract before he agreed to it.
Later, Olivia introduced Kasim and me to him.
At first, it felt awkward for me to be with the same person that tried to kill me but beneath his cold appearance was a warm personality as he sincerely apologised for his previous actions.
From Olivia, I also learned that Sergei agreed to her deal mainly because he wanted to give his daughter a life where they don't need to keep on hiding.
That changed my opinion of him and after that, all of us started to hunt monsters, and with Olivia leading us, we only came across Tier-1 monsters.
After killing a few monsters, Olivia came up with an effective strategy to fight as a group based on our abilities.
From then on, Kasim was the one to tank the monster's attacks, and Sergei was the main damage dealer.
Olivia would control the number of monsters that each had to face at a time.
After increasing my
Sergei would often teach Kasim how to attack efficiently while expending less amount of stamina.
Because of Sergei's combat abilities, Kasim admired him a lot, and our monster hunt continued.
A bit more than an hour passed and when we were in the middle of fighting against a bunch of Lesser Sonic Bats, a crystal orb formed around Sergei as he began to float within it.
Even though it was a bit harder without Sergei, we still defeated the Tier-1 monsters.
Using the skill
After that, 2 hours passed and meanwhile, we protected Sergei from the monsters that tried to attack him.
Luckily, we didn't come across any Tier-2 monsters. But, when Olivia obtained enough Life Energy to reach Lv.11, all of her evolution requirements were satisfied and similar to Sergei, her Tier-2 Evolution started without any warning beforehand.
With just Kasim and me fighting against the Tier-1 monsters that occasionally show up, 10 hours passed by.
Then, Sergei's Evolution came to an end as he exited, and we felt the change in the pressure that comes from pure Tier difference.
His pale skin turned even paler but in an aesthetically pleasing way.
From him, we learned about the Evolution Stats and that the number of Undistributed Stats increased from 5 to 10.
With Sergei reaching Tier-2, no Tier-1 monster lasted longer under his attacks, and for the next hour, everything went in a smooth ride. Sergei reached Lv.22, Kasim reached Lv.10, whereas I was in Lv.6.
But our luck didn't last long as we were found by two Tier-2 monsters and four Tier-1 monsters.
Olivia still had more than half an hour left before her evolution reaches an end.
All three of us defended her as we didn't allow the monsters to disrupt Olivia's Evolution.
Sergei fought against the Lv.23 Greater Shadow Leopard, whereas Kasim took on the Lv.12 Greater Shadow Leopard and the four Lesser Shadow Leopard by himself.
Even for Sergei, who was strongest among us, it was almost impossible to defeat a High-Phase Tier-2 monster that had 100 overall Stats more than him.
So, instead of going for a head-on attack, we went for a battle of attrition by defending and evading with the intention to elongate the fight until Olivia completes her Tier-2 Evolution.
After 15 minutes passed, the fight continued, and Kasim's movements grew sluggish as his Spirit and Stamina were limited to his level, unlike Sergei and the high-levelled monsters.
As for me, my Spirit Energy was almost exhausted, and my head started spinning, and with every passing second, it felt harder even to stay standing on my feet.
Then, an Lv.10 Lesser Shadow Leopard slipped past Kasim and bolted towards me.
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