OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 362: Outpost Defense

Chapter 362: Outpost Defense

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***

"You better shut your ugly mouth before I kill you!"

"Hah?! Do you even know who you're threatening kid?"

"And do you know who you're talking to?!"

Two men argued, their faces inches away from smacking into each other.

One looked to be a child, his androgynous appearance making him unthreatening, but that didn't stop him from standing up to himself.

Their loud voices bounced off decaying walls that had undergrowth sprouting from the tiles that covered them.

This scene was barely illuminated by flickering bulbs hung above.

"Yeah, yeah..."

The man opposite the teen snickered, stepping back as he said:

"Of course I do. But you're not here as 'Elijah,' are you? Right now, you're a nobody. A nobody that is under my fucking command!"

Elijah's brows twitched as he barely managed to reign in his anger.

"I get that, mister 'Spotter,' but that doesn't mean that you get to treat us like this!"

"You're right. It doesn't. But that isn't why I act like this."

"Then why?"

"Kids like you shouldn't be here. You'll be better off going back home and sucking on your mother's tits."

Elijah snapped.

But unlike last time, he didn't swing his daggers. No, his actions were methodical.

Acting like he was about to step back, deescalate the situation, he-

Click-clack!

Paused.

His surprise attack couldn't even happen as a glowing pistol was aimed right between his eyes.

"Don't. Accept defeat or go back home in a casket."

After staring at the gun for a few seconds, Elijah sighed and glanced left, spotting an approaching Sofia, which prompted him to say:

"Let's stop for now... And by the way, you need acting lessons."

Their spotter lowered his gun as his gaze followed Elijah's.

"Eh. I still got you mad, but hey, you at least passed my little test."

Ignoring his words, Elijah approached Sofia, Aria, and a random Watcher they chose to invite into their cohort.

"What was that?"

He shrugged his shoulders at Sofia's monotone question.

"Bastard wanted to shoo us out of here, thinking that we weren't ready."

Their spotter stood to Elijah's right, patting his back as he added:

"Don't worry, I'll stop doing that. Your top ranker is a little feisty and direct, it's a suitable attitude for a profession like ours..."

Looking at the Watcher, he asked her:

"What about them two?"

And before she could reply, Aria and Sofia cut in:

"Who are you to test me?!"

"We stand in different leagues."

Shuffling her blonde hair, she pointed at them and said:

"...As you can see, they'll be fine."

Stroking the back of his tanned mechanical neck with his fully cybernetic right arm, their spotter nodded.

"Alright. To keep things on the low from HQ, we'll go by numbers, I'm one, she's two, Elijah's three, Sofia's four, and Aria's five. Sound good?"

Everyone silently agreed-

"Why the fuck am I last?!"

Or rather, everyone except Aria, as she lashed out at the Watcher.

"A.R.I.A."

But before he could reprimand her, Elijah slowly said her name, stressing each letter.

She flinched slightly as she saw his angry stare and looked away, accepting defeat. Elijah wasn't done yet, however.

"I allowed you into this cohort under a condition. Don't forget it. Sofia won't coddle you like I do."

Unknowing that Sofia joined his cohort for the sake of understanding his older brother, he assumed that she might just leave in the middle of their dive from what he knew of her efficiency-first personality, even though she was the one who requested to join him.

"O-Okay, I get it. Humph!"

With a classic swing of her blonde twin tails, she closed her red eyes and looked away, her cheeks puffed.

When they witnessed, the Watcher and Spotter glanced at each other with knowing eyes and lightly chuckled while shaking their heads.

--

[This is HQ, Hunter 1036 get your cohort to checkpoint three.]

Elijah stepped back, dodging a Berta Scorpion's swipe as a NetWeaver from the Headquarters

of Outpost Three commanded, his voice echoing in all the cohort's minds.

Hiss!

As the name implied, the Construct was in the shape of a scorpion, slightly bigger than the average man. Its pincers were covered by random metallic scrap, protecting it like a shield, while its stinger had a long needle-like object protruding out of it.

[There's a Cannonjaw Crocodile on the loose.]

The scorpion's stinger snapped straight, the needle aimed directly at Elijah's chest.

[It got in through a new path, your objective is to kill it or at least help in killing it.]

Elijah blocked its attack with his daggers, then transitioned it to a deflection, as he led the stinger to his right.

[Once done, you'll resume extractions. If your quota is finished, join Hunter 398 and his cohort. Defend the position until the opening gets blocked or if there is a need for 'cleaners.'] And without wasting any movements, he stepped forward, his body reaching the pincers

range.

"Distant Grasp!"

But before it could cut him in half, they paused for a second, barely held back by his ability.

That second was enough for him to get close safely and lob its head off.

"Hooouf..."

Breathing out heavily, he looked around their small battlefield as the rest of his cohort went

ham against the Berta Scorpions.

'One' had his akimbo sub-machine guns out, shooting through the scorpions with ease, his Arcanist prowess evident.

'Two' wielded both Ice and Fire, her storms killing all that was in her path.

'Five,' being Aria, had her vines trap the monsters, allowing their Watcher and Spotter a much

easier time at killing them. Her damage not high enough to pierce through their shields.

'Hoh... She's really keeping up our teamwork.'

Elijah, whose attention was diverted momentarily, failed to notice the incoming scorpions.

Bang! Bang!

But 'Four,' Sofia was at the ready, killing them with her anti-material rifle as she lay prone far

behind them, in the corner of the rotting train station they were in.

[Thanks for watching my back, Four.]

[You owe me.] Chuckling, Elijah stepped forward to meet two scorpions in battle.

[Sure, One, let's clean up quick. We don't want HQ on our backs like last time.]

Killing a scorpion by throwing his dagger into its face, he sidestepped a stinger, and latched

onto it, pulling himself behind the monster.

[Take it easy, you little devil. I told you we were doing too good!]

As he gutted it on the way down, their Spotter complained while shooting down another

scorpion.

[Hahaha! Our reward for our hard work is more hard work! Yay to corporate!]

The Watcher laughingly shared his sentiment as she shot an ice bolt that tore open a

scorpion's head.

[Stop your yapping and kill those two.]

Aria had the last two Berta scorpions trapped within her vines, waiting for the rest to kill

them.

Bang! Bang!

And she didn't need to wait long as Sofia's Twin Shot came through, tearing them in half.

[Don't waste time. Let's go.]