Chapter 222 Contaminated

Gabriela Chavez is a Latina with black hair and a face that many people call sassy. She has a little mole under her lip and it adds a certain charm to her appearance. She was formerly a karateka; she already had a trained physique before but the muscles are more apparent now. She is 5'10" tall, which makes her look intimidating.

"Seriously, what happened to you, though? You look way better than you did--I am happy for you--but you must have gone through a lot. This world is fucked and I know it has tainted you from your eyes."

Abigail Myers was the first friend I had at school. She is a quiet girl and prefers tranquility--just like me. She is of German descent, which was why we could instantly hit off back then. She has long brown hair and a very soft-looking face. She was slender back on Earth but now she has gotten more fit.

"You are making it sound like he has been corrupted, Gabriela. Layland has just had a rough experience--he is still himself."

Putting my hand on Abigail's wrist, I gently pry it off my cheek. I stare straight into her eyes, prompting her to stare at me back in silence. She seems to know I am about to talk about something serious. The easy-going Gabriela, too, looks at me silently.

"Why are you guys here?" I ask.

"We are hunting for the...you," Abigail responds awkwardly. "Tell me you were joking. You were, weren't you?"

"No, I wasn't. if you are looking for the person nicknamed Arsonist, that is me. I haven't done any act of arson, though. What happened in that small village was something that the Paladins I killed did."

"Wait...it's maybe too late to realize but are you a Demon?" Gabriela asks in anticipation.

"I am one."

Immediately revealing my horns, I stun the two girls silent. They focus on my horns, staring at them intensely as if suspecting they may disappear once they blink their eyes.

A few seconds passed quickly; they turn their eyes to me. They look at me neutrally, caught up in their thoughts. I can sense no fear from them. They don't even bother to distance themselves. They still treat me the way they did before I showed them that I was a Demon.

"Were you forced into this situation?" Abigail asks first.

"No, I was given two choices: be a nobody in this world or be a Demon and take this world by storm."

"Was this the cause of your pain?" Gabriela asks solemnly.

"In a way, yes...but the pain it gave me was the reason why I can get my happiness--being able to stand on my feet and confront those who want to trample me."

"What is the reason for you to take up the offer?" Abigail once again asks; this time, seriously.

"Revenge."

At my short and simple answer, Abigail and Gabriela look at each other silently. They are talking with their eyes and they are giving me the impression that they know about what happened on judgment day.

Deciding that it is time for me to ask for some explanation from them, I interrupt their wordless talk, "Why are you here? How did you arrive in this world?"

They immediately turn their gaze to me, look at each other again, and then gaze at me silently. I wait for any of them to say something and the moment comes not long after.

"We were summoned," Abigail says.

"So, you didn't die? That is good to hear," I remark. "Who summoned you?"

"Antares Kingdom." I blink my eyes in slight confusion and Abigail immediately explains it to me. "We weren't summoned as Heroes. We were summoned because we had close ties-- whatever it means--with the Heroes. We didn't get a System but we have a genius aptitude."

"Were you summoned on the same day?"

The day I was summoned, Ilschevar showed me the situation on the other side. I got to see all of the bastards I had shot but I didn't see Abigail and Gabriela anywhere. The Spell covered the whole room, so I am pretty sure they weren't present at that time. They might be in the other room but there is also a possibility that they were summoned late.

"We were summoned two weeks late," Abigail answers.

"So, about that day..."

"We were summoned the day you committed that crazy act but still arrived here late. It had something to do with time dilation they said," Gabriela responded. "We didn't know anything about the incident until they told us about it."

Involuntarily smirking, I say, "They were flaming you, weren't they?"

"Yeah.... We were treated like brilliant women in Salem back in the 1690s." Gabriela shrugs. "They were looking down at us from their high horses, thinking too highly of themselves just because they had it easier than us. A bunch of motherfuckers."

The spite in Gabriela's tone is too thick to dismiss. She hates our accursed classmates to her core, it seems.

Turning to Abigail, I ask her, "Tell me about the fallout." The reason why they chose to be Bounty Hunters instead of working together with the Heroes must have something to do with how they are treated by the Heroes.

"I blamed you at first when you decided to do what you did but...after how they treated us, I appreciate what you did that day. All of them are ego-centric. They think the world revolves around them, so they blame everyone when things don't go their way," Abigail explains.

Abigail goes on about what happened. She told me about what happened at the end of the first month of the Heroes' stay in the world.

The Heroes mocked them for their cowardice because they didn't join them on the hunt near Amizanima Forest, which had cost them half of their friends. The girls had nothing to do with the skirmish they had with the Monsters, which made many of them succumb to their deaths; however, they acted as if it was the girls' fault.

Things escalated quickly; everyone went crazy because of the stress of the mass death. They blamed every unfortunate event that happened to them on the girls. They said God hated them because they were with the girls, who had a close tie with a damned person, which was me.

The Kingdom also supports this claim. The Temple claimed that the reason why the girls didn't receive a System was their ties with me, someone that God had come to hate.

Even though the environment had grown to become uncomfortable for them, they still decided to stay. It wasn't until Abigail had almost gotten assaulted did the girls decide to leave and become Bounty Hunters.

It has been a month since they became one and they have made quite a bit of a name for themselves. Leaving those bastards was the best decision that they ever made.

"Are you hated by the Bounty Hunter's community also?" I ask, referring to their disguise.

"Quite the opposite, actually. We are fairly well-known, you know? The Full-Armored Duo is what they call us," Gabriela declares proudly. "Unfortunately, we are hunted...by the Heroes. We are not strong enough to protect ourselves, obviously, hence the disguise!"

The sheer nonchalance in the way Gabriela said it gives me the impression that she doesn't even care if she dies. I can tell, though, she wants to stay alive as long as she can; I can see the well-hidden fear in her eyes, which irks me to no end.

Abigail smiles softly as I turn to her. I can see the bitter acceptance of the situation in her smile. It is very irritating--the thing I see. Both of them look like people who are enjoying their time before their execution day comes.

They act like free souls but they are extremely aware their end is inching closer. They don't even better to avoid it. The knowledge about their incapability has killed their fighting spirit. They are certain that any form of struggle will only prolong their suffering.

I have never seen them this fragile. Back on Earth, they were the ones who protected me from those bullies. Whenever they were around, those bullies didn't approach. They never showed any fear, nor had they ever been skeptical.

They are different now; this world--the situation it forced onto them--has contaminated their personality. My words won't return them to their old self but I know what I can do. My fist does much more than what my words can do. It is time to repay their kindness.

"As a Demon, I hunt Heroes. I kill humans most of the time but only those who dare to lift their weapons before me," I begin talking.

"I liberate some human territories, not because I am kind but because I want to colonize those territories in the future. I am a villain before many people's eyes but I can assure you, I am an angel to those on my side." Standing up, I offer my hands to the two girls and add, "I can't guarantee you happiness but I can guarantee you a life full of riches."

I am going to do many detestable things from the human standpoint. I doubt the girls will like that but, as long, as they are on my side, I can give them worldly heaven. They may not be happy and detest me for the rest of their lives but it is my egoistical desire. I don't care.

"Well, that is a good proposal. Marry me."

"That sounds good. Take our hands in marriage."

The moment they grab my hands, every thought about what I should do to realize my egoistical desire fades away. I blink my eyes in bewilderment as I process the wild development.

"Huh?"