God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 405: Trial and Trap.

Steve stared at the people standing before him with a calm expression. On the inside, his heart was bitter.

Still, he couldn't allow the last bit of dignity he had left to disappear...

Right now, he was kneeling before five female Beastmen alongside Li and Stan who glared at them.

The one at the center was a feline Beastwoman with electric yellow eyes and a sexy body that could ignite a fire in the loins of men.

To her left was a much larger, athletic Beastwoman with as many muscles as curves on her body, as well as a shorter one with dark eyes and an even darker aura around her.

Although she was pretty as well, she was also very frightening. She wore a black robe that concealed most of her figure, so Steve didn't know much about her.

To her right, was a Beastwoman who had short pink hair with bunny ears sticking out of the cotton candy fluff. She had a bitter expression on her face as she glanced down at Steve and the others.

Standing beside her was a girl in a straight-ironed uniform Steve couldn't recognize. A rapier hung on both sides of her waist. She started at them with absolute indifference. She was the one who had dragged them to this large, abandoned conference room at the top of a large building.

Steve had his eyes narrowed, 'If I am to guess, these are the queen bees. The ones with access to the system. Although there are others, these are the strongest of the bunch.'

Then he turned his eyes slightly towards the girl with the pink hair,

'She's the only one who seems to have some common sense here. She will be the key to–'

Before he could finish his thoughts, a light, yet cold voice drew his attention,

"I suppose you have a lot of questions. However, that can come later as we have questions of our own to ask."

Seeing that she was speaking to him, Steve grinned,

"What? If you had questions, you should have said so ages ago. Why keep us locked up in the brig for so long?"

Li who was kneeling as well sneered, "Why? Because she's a stuck-up bit-"

Before he could finish his words, a heavy fist slammed against his face.

"Speak when you aren't spoken to, and I'll send all your teeth down your throat." Kai, the huge, athletic Beastwoman said with a terrifying grin as she cracked her knuckles.

Spitting out a bloody tooth, Li glared at her but didn't say anything else...

"As we were saying..." Leah, the beautiful Beastwoman with yellow, electric eyes continued,

"What part of the school did you come from?"

Steve hesitated for a second before replying,

"Northern region..."

Leah let out a nasal hum before asking another question,

"Why did you come here?"

"Our goal is to reach the mainland. This central island is supposed to be a pitstop. Unfortunately, this happened..." Steve said with a shrug.

She proceeded to ask more insignificant questions before finally going in,

"Excluding the fools that jumped through the rift, are you the only ones?"

Without even hesitating, Steve answered,

"Of course not. Why would we leave any teammates behind? Our goal is to reach the mainland, remember?"

Leah's eyes narrowed, "Are you sure you are telling the truth?"

Steve's mind turned cold, 'Do they have ways to determine if I'm lying or not? If they did, that would be frightening. Thank the heavens I'm the one being interrogated...'

Steve stuck to his guns, "Of course I am..."

Nodding her head, Leah was about to ask another question before she was interrupted,

"Leah, what is the point in asking these dumb questions? We have no need for these idiots. Won't it be best to just dispose of them?" Lin Lin, the girl with the dark robe draped over her said whilst glaring darkly at Steve and the others.

The other Beastwomen seemed to agree with her. The girl with the rapiers placed her hands on the hilt of her weapons as she spoke coldly,

"Since Angel is gone, for now, I think we have the liberty to decide their fates. I think it will be a good idea to kill them now."

The only one who seemed to be complicated was the Beastwoman with the pink hair. Still, she didn't oppose them.

Steve's facial expression suddenly changed,

"What?! Why do you want to kill us?! Don't you know that is a crime?!" He yelled at the girls standing over him.

In his heart, he coldly calculated their circumstances,

'I have to stall for as long as possible. There is no doubt about it now. Something really is controlling them.'

Kai sneered, "Law? Who's law? On this island, we are the ones who make the law." She said arrogantly.

Steve wanted to burst out laughing but he contained himself. Instead, his expression turned grim,

"What do you think? That you will be able to commit atrocities forever? I assure you this... If a bunch of schoolgirls can survive the initial stages of this apocalypse, so can an organized militia."

"Ha! The city was destroyed by countless missiles. The military most likely evacuated the important people, leaving the rest of us to die. Either that, or they were completely destroyed as well." Lin Lin said with a dark smile.

Leah who had remained silent all this time suddenly spoke up just as Steve was about to reply,

"Enough."

With his words stuck in his throat, Steve had no choice but to back down. He knew that if she or any of the other girls wanted him dead, they could have done so a long time ago. The fact that they were still alive was a testament that they weren't completely useless in their eyes.

'Ha! What do these idiots take me for? You think these childish techniques can work on me?' He snickered inwardly. However, a slightly fearful expression appeared on his face.

"Listen... All we want is to make our way to the mainland. You don't need to bother with us. Just release us, and we will be on our merry way."

Leah smiled at him, but her eyes weren't smiling,

"Cut the bullshit now."

Steve wanted to say something, but he was interrupted again,

"From what I've managed to gather, you all came from the northern island which was infested with Devils and mutant beasts. After defeating the devils, you somehow managed to create an ice ridge to the central island. If that's your complete story then I only have one more question to ask,"

When their eyes locked, Steve swore he could see a storm brewing in her eyes. It was like a sky filled with dark clouds encroaching from the horizon with bolts of lightning and claps of thunder.

'This girl... She is dangerous.' Steve couldn't help but admit it.

Although the questions she asked seemed normal and mundane, Steve could tell that every question she asked was aimed with the intention of him spilling more information than he intended to. He had to carefully circumvent through these questions, or he could get caught in her fangs.

Still, he could sense a bit of foreboding. She seemed to have grown tired of his antics. But he was prepared for anything she could through at him...

Everything except what she did throw at him...

Stretching her hand forward, a benevolent smile appeared on her face,

"Will you join us?"

Steve, Li, and Stan blinked in confusion.

Kai, Sisi, Lin Lin, and Roselle blinked in confusion...

She also turned to Li and Stan, "The offer extends to you two as well."

Silence...

Steve was the first one to snap out of it,

"You... What do you mean?" He said with dangerously narrowed eyes.

Leah shrugged, "You know exactly what I mean. Betray your old crew and join us."

Stan couldn't help but snort, "You better start beating me to death then..."

Li cackled, "I knew it... You really are just a crazy bitch."

Even the girls behind her couldn't help but look at her funny.

Roselle, the girl who wielded the win rapiers glared at her,

"What are you talking about, Leah?"

Leah turned to her and spoke gently, "I'll explain later."

Lin Lin huffed, "Leah, I don't think there's any amount of explanation you can have to justify that. We accepted that fool Calio because he posed no threat to us. Do you want that incident with that bastard, Malcolm to repeat itself?!"

Kai also shook her head, "I also agree, Leah."

Her eyes were cold as she stared at Li with disgust,

"These men are hot sewage. It is best to dispose of them now. What use do they have?"

Although he didn't like being called hot sewage, Steve had to agree with her. Currently, they don't have any use for them.

'Does she plan to use us like Calio?'

Leah grinned at Kai, "Even sewage can be recycled, Kai."

The tall Beastwoman didn't look like she was buying it though. Just as she was about to say something, Li interrupted,

"We refuse. Like my bro just said, Kill us now or we'll come for you all the moment we are free." Li said with a nasty grin.

Leah stared at them for a while. Steve said nothing, but he didn't seem to object to Li's statement.

She shrugged all of a sudden, "Well, in that case, there is nothing more to be said."

A crafty light passed through her eyes...

"I was hoping to do this without too much hassle, but you leave me no choice. The plan will work either way, so it's fine by me."

As he didn't have a lot of information, Steve couldn't figure out what plans she had...

Turning to the other girls, Leah had a wicked look in her eyes,

"While I understand your frustration, the truth is this..."

Her feline eyes stretched as her lips turned into a crescent. She then turned to Sisi, who had a heavy frown creasing on her forehead,

"According to Sisi, they aren't the only ones. The others should be preparing to attack us. So..."

The eyes of the other Beastwomen began to shine. Lin Lin couldn't help but exclaim,

"You mean..."

Leah nodded. Looking down on Steve who now had a pale face, she grinned with a look of pity flashing through her eyes,

"We are setting a trap, and they are bait..."