Chapter 360 Extra - An Unlikely Alliance
"My Lord, where are you going?" Cross asked Yellow Ice. The Avatar of Shiva was ordered to rest and remain on standby with just one day to the Red Moon Operation. Purple Thunder had already abandoned his post yet Orc King Hamu had decided not take any action against him. It would only compromise their mission to try and punish him now. In the best scenario, the Avatar of Syldra would help the Thunder Army finish off those pesky humanoids. And if he did… he could always be punished afterwards. If he was unable to… well then the goblins and humanoids would have at least taken care of the intended punishment.
"Our operation does not allow us to delay it. He will be judged in front of the collective will of the Shaitans who will decide whether he lives or dies for betraying the King." Oku preciously reported to the respective agencies responsible for handling the operation logistics and informed them not to send any more additional help to the Thunder Orc Army.
"Cross, stay and observe the situation in the capital. My predictions were correct as my magical charms have picked up a village that's being burnt by Green Fire. I want to have a talk with him before he escapes our sight again." Yellow Ice instructed Cross. Surprisingly the normally loyal goblin disobeyed his direct order and told Yellow Ice to follow him instead.
"If you simply rush out of the castle like this, you will be spotted and Oku will be immediately notified. I can show you a route that is barely used at this time." Cross armed himself with his trusty crossbow and lead Yellow Ice out of the capital. Once away from the prying eyes of the guards, Yellow Ice used his magic to summon a boar out of ice and used it to travel to the burning village.
However, when he reached there… The village had already been burnt down to ashes. It was devoid of life. Nevertheless, Yellow Ice decided to take a look at the surrounding and check which direction Green Fire might have escaped to. Suddenly Cross took out his crossbow and warned his Lord.
"Five. Six…at least eight nearby hiding their presence!"
"Heh, you are too naïve, Cross. There are ten. The first six were the only ones showing their presence to hide the presence of the other four. The next two pretended to slip up, so that it would appear, that we have noticed the hidden threats. This should allow the last two to remain hidden. Unless I am mistaken, it should be Dagger General Igni! Why not show yourself? I'd love to welcome our foreign guests!" Yellow Ice exclaimed loudly before addressing the presences. They could hardly be blamed for the former Spy Master managed to see through their efforts. Upon hearing that the enemy had discovered all ten without taking any action to directly confront them, Dagger General Igni decided to take the gamble.
"It's rare for one of you Avatars to come practically alone and unarmed…" Igni commented as he came out of the bushes.
"It's even rarer for you to step into our land at all, Igni. Usually we used to meet in the human's territory." Yellow Ice replied as he came down from the Ice Boar and extended his hands to shake with Ignis. It had been quite a while the two spymasters had met.
"So I presume Green Fire is dead." Yellow Ice sighed as he asked Cross to unload his crossbow as a sign of goodwill. (Only the crossbow, it did not mean he would not be able to retaliate back in other ways.)
"Indeed Green Fire has been killed, but the Avatar of Ifrit still lives on. In fact, Ifrit now has blessed us with a 'descendant'." Igni said as he called Flame Ripper to come out from beneath the charred ruins of the village. Being an Avatar himself, Yellow Ice quickly recognised the aura surrounding Flame Ripper and confirmed that he was indeed an Avatar of Ifrit. Though his aura did feel different. He was unsure if this was because it was the very first time a goblin has become an Avatar or if it had something to do why he had been called a 'Descendant'? That was for him to find out during their barter of information.
"So the goblins have finally obtained an Avatar of a Shaitan Noble and it's your child no less. Congratulations to you, Igni." Yellow Ice still remembered the faces of every important goblin. The slight proud look from the Dagger General had also not escaped the notice of Yellow Ice.
"Cross?" Flame Ripper vaguely recognised the goblin beside Yellow Ice and called out to him. Even with the changes to his outward appearances, he too was able to identify the other almost immediately.
"So you do remember me. I am …somewhat honoured." Cross bowed a little as a sign of courtesy to the new Avatar of Ifrit.
"How could I forget you? You were one of us, fighting so desperately together before we got separated. We even set goals together to change the system. Don't you remember?" Flame Ripper replied with a bit of melancholy in his tone.
"But after all I did…" Cross thought to himself as he gripped on his crossbow.
"Oh, your allegiance with the orcs? The three of us had kinda figured out about it. Remember the one time when the drill sergeant conducted those surprise drill and made some of us take laps in the middle of the night? While you were away we found one of the letters and thought it was a love letter, so we read it, wanting to tease you with it. Even when we learned your identities, the ideals we talked together were genuine and wholly believed that you would change. If you ever needed help back then, we would gladly accommodate you." Flame Ripper said and Cross suddenly felt disconcerted.
"You remembered all those…trash- that idealistic bull crap that we spouted about goblins, orcs and humans living in harmony and working together?" Cross asked in a fit and Flame Ripper nodded his head.
"It is in the works, believe it or not. Despite what is currently happening in our world, my existence here is proof that change can happen. Trust me!" Flame Ripper unclenched his fist and a ball of red hot fire burned brightly. Yellow Ice immediately understood the significance behind this action. As an Avatar of a Shaitan Noble their existence was special and they were venerated by others. However everyone of them was only too aware of the price they would have to pay for it. Though they were granted immense powers it also destined them to become the sweet juicy sacrifice for their patron to feast on.
The abilities the Avatars obtained were usually not even the purest form of the Shaitan's powers. Therefore his Ice was yellowish in colour instead of pure white or blue, Purple Thunder's powers were dark purple rather than whitish blue whereas Red Hurricane had a slight red energy to his wind rather than a greenish transparent colour. Similarly Green Fire's fire had been green unlike the pure red hot Flame Ripper was holding on to. There were times they might be able to unleash the pure powers, but that also indicated that the Avatars were desperate and sacrificed part of their souls in exchange to use them. Yet Flame Ripper was able to wield it so casually. This only confirmed it, that being a 'descendant' seemed to be something unique and a superior form to himself as an Avatar.
"Just look at me. Has there ever been a case in which a non-orc has become an Avatar? So if someone like me can become an Avatar of Ifrit, we can change other things too. Our ideas might have been idealistic but they were definitely not trash at all. My master can make it come true." Flame Ripper spoke with conviction and at that point, Cross felt that there was finally a glimmer of light in the darkness he had been living.
"Reunion aside, I believe your purpose here is to assassinate the King. If so you should finish it by tonight otherwise would will leaving for the Fire Orc's base." Yellow Ice shared his piece of information while he tilted his head to relieve his stiff neck. Whether they believed him or not was for them to decide.
"That will not be necessary. We are actually the backup plan if things do not proceed smoothly and the Orc King decides to retreat back to the castle." Dagger General Igni stated bluntly as he bent his knees a bit to move them. This surprised the entire team of assassins. Revealing such vital information to the enemy? What was the General thinking? Or was he trying to use the real information as a bluff?
"I see. So, we are in business?" Yellow Ice asked as he pulled out a coin from his pouch. Cross noticed that the coin had a goblin picture with two small diamonds in the place the eyes were supposed to be.
"Very much. How are you going to do this?" Respetively Igni took out a coin from his pouch. It was similar in appearance, but instead it had an orc with two small ruby eyes on it. They both exchanged the coins and Yellow Ice began to mount his ice boar.
"Alone…well maybe with this guy with me." Yellow Ice answered and beckoned for Cross to enter his shadow once again.
"I shall forward the necessary information to you," Igni said as he too started to order the assassins to disperse.
As Yellow Ice rode back, Cross was naturally curious what this was about. "We have made a temporary alliance with the Goblins. The ones you have to kill have now become the ones you have to protect." Yellow Ice explained as he hastened the ice boar. Cross remained quiet for now as he reminisced the days of the past and wondered what made Ripcaller must have encountered to turn so brave in the present.
"So those movements were simply signals?" Flame Ripper asked as they teleported to another waypoint. Igni did not say much until they teleported to another safer place.
"Let's just say the history between Yellow Ice and I isn't so simple…we actually go way back. There will be time for you to learn about it later, after we survive the ordeal." Igni answered as he took the goblin coin out and asked Flame Ripper to light a small flame up. Meanwhile, he started to scribble some things on a piece of paper and held the coin above the flame. Igni then placed the parchment on the coin. There was a weird ghastly aura that was emanated out of the coin before one of the diamonds turned black and seemingly consumed the item above it.
"He will receive the information. Alright, let's get moving. The sun is coming up." Igni said as they proceed to hit another supplies base before dawn break.
Separately, Yellow Ice utilised Cross's entry and returned to the office with no suspicion… or so he thought. The Investigation team that day was secretly lead by Oku. The warrior had been blessed with Shaitan powers, a secret only known by him and King Hamu who made the pact with him. He noticed that there were two different Shaitan powers in the vicinity and a quick verification from Diabolos made him perceive that those belonged to Green Fire and Yellow Ice. Not receiving any report from the latter he could only assume that they conspired together against the throne.
Oku figured there were rats scouring around the King and he had expected it to be either the returned Ayse or the Avatars. "You might not appreciate it, Your Majesty, but I will do whatever is needed to protect you. No rats shall be allowed to live after tomorrow!"