Chapter 546 - Cutthroat...

Elijah nods with a morose grin and begins leading the group through the VIP apartments. Dean makes a feeble attempt to resist his captor, but Elijah just shoots him in the foot... The hologram-like projectile almost blowing his foot completely apart.

Afton grimaces slightly at the bloody remains of Dean's foot, the bone and flesh of which had been decorated around the hallway. Of course, Dean screamed bloody murder, but Elijah kept firm control over the situation, pushing the weapon against the ghoul's temple when Afton starts to approach.​​

Thus, the group continues moving, Elijah leaving a long smeared trail of blood as he drags Deans shuddering body with him...

Eventually, they reach an elevator that was intelligently hidden nearby a storage cupboard and the stairs. It doesn't have any labels detailing where it led, nor did it have any buttons that would allow you to access it...

Elijah stops before it and points his gun at Christine, "Speak... Say 'Let go'... SAY IT." he commands as excitement shines in his eyes.

...

Afton's plant arm tightens its fist as tiny roots begin travelling up his sleeve, through his clothes and out the bottom of his trousers. Christine seems to be between psyching herself up to speak and glaring daggers at Elijah, which gives him plenty of time to put his plan in motion.

Now that they were 'close' enough, he could slowly approach with his roots, hopefully without the old man noticing.

"L-Let go." Christine says, but nothing seems to happen, causing Elijah to frown.

"Say it again... PROPERLY this time!"

"Let go!" Christine loudly repeats, and a light above the elevator door flickers to life.

Elijah follows everyone's line of sight and glances at the elevator, giddily grinning as he seemingly ignores the group. The elevator hadn't arrived yet, but he was acting as if the exit was already there for him... Fortunately, Afton had already begun his plan.

"W-what's thi-!?" Elijah mutters as he feels something slithering up his leg, before he's even able to get out a sentence he's pulled off of his feet, losing his weapon in the process. The root's girth swells as it strengthens and begins slamming Elijah into the hallway walls.

*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Afton grins viciously as he continues bouncing Elijah from one wall to the other, all the while multitasking and unclipping the old man's belt that held all his hidden devices. This continues for around a minute until he finally stops the beatdown, hoisting the elderly limp body up by its ankle.

Afton steps forwards and pokes Elijah in his chest, letting his body dangle painfully. "I told you didn't I? You're not leaving this place alive... Maybe I should take the opportunity and skin you, hang it up like a curtain to scare off anyone with similar ideas to you."

"Y-Y-You caan't! I'M ALMOST THERE! IT'S RIGHT THERE!" Elijah roars, reaching for his 'utility belt' but not finding it on his person. He growls and reach inside his elder robes instead, pulling out some sort of remote control?

He's about to press a button but Afton snatches it out of his hand, causing the elderly man to give an angry and distraught shout. "AAAAFFFTOOOOOON!!!!"

Afton ignores the man's screams and examines the control, quickly realising that it's linked to the Casino's central security. "Ah? A gift? How thoughtful." he says before turning and glancing behind him at Christine. "You had some business with him?"

Christine nods, "I do." she quietly replies, her new voice still difficult for Afton to get used to. She strolls up to Elijah with a hard look and draws a knife, with it, she presses the cold metal against Elijah's forehead before slowly beginning to cut the skin away from his face.

The group watches with morbid fascination as Christine carves the same scars she has onto Elijah, all the while the mad former-elder screams in agony, yet, still not begging for forgiveness, but promising retribution.

Afton wonders if the man was really so deluded to think that Christine would let him leave in one piece. She continues to carve long bloody lines into his skull, face, and lastly, neck. She makes sure not to deal a lethal blow, her cuts were efficient and measured... However, soon enough even Christine seems to have had enough, dealing the final blow to the elderly man by brutally cutting out his vocal cords.

She allows the corpse to slump to the floor as she tosses the organ away, taking a glance at Veronica who looks both horrified and relieved at the fate of her former mentor.

Honestly, it was hard to tell how Christine was actually feeling in this moment. She had a small satisfied smile plastered across her face, yet, both of her hands were trembling slightly...

[Elder Elijah killed : Quest complete]

[Reward for completion : Treasure.]

With Elijah dead, Afton turns his attention to Dean who was still slowly but surely bleeding out from his mangled foot. He quickly applies a liberal amount of Med X and Stimpacks while bandaging the wound tightly to prevent further blood loss.

*DING*

As if having waited for Elijah's end, the elevator doors finally slide open, revealing a cabin completely devoid of dust and looking spectacularly clean.

...

Afton glances at everyone, "Err, well... I should let you guys know that I had already found a way out of here, but if you wanna check out the treasure then I'm not gonna say no." he shrugs.

"We need to see if it's dangerous or not... Whether or not the treasure should be destroyed to prevent people like Elijah from getting their hands on it." Christine states after taking a moment to compose herself after her recent execution.

Afton shakes his head, "It depends on what it is... You should be aware that in all likelihood, I'll be taken it for Bulwark... Before anything though, me and Veronica should hop back in our armour... No point going in unprepared."

The group nod and not long after they're gathered back around the elevator entrance. They had collectively decided to leave Anja and Dean behind, both having been heavily injured and would be pretty useless in a confrontation.

Though, Dean seemed adamant on actually seeing what the treasure was... So, in the end, they decided that after it'd been scouted out and deemed safe, everyone else would follow.