CHAPTER 61: A BEAUTIFUL MISUNDERSTANDING

Nick didn’t hesitate for long.

If he stood still, gawking like the rest of the bystanders, it would only invite suspicion — or worse, attention.

And right now, with this kind of heat in the air, he wanted anything but suspicion to fall on his shoulders.

So instead, he straightened his back, loosened his tense shoulders, and walked forward with the casual swagger of someone who absolutely belonged in the middle of whatever gathering this was between the two strongest forces in the War Beast Sanctuary.

He strolled along the side path toward the two groups like a man on a leisurely morning walk — no hesitations, no pauses, and no eye contact either.

Just acting like he was supposed to be there.

Naturally, several heads from both factions and the bystanders turned his way.

A few curious eyes lingered on him longer than he would have liked, with even a few murmurs passing from the lips of some Altered to another, but not one of them stepped forward or tried to stop him.

His act of joining them did break apart their serious atmosphere though, which quickly ushered an intense and loud reaction from both Dido and Beast Slayer, who just as quickly straightened out their people, forcing them back into place.

Nick made it all the way over to the perimeter of what he had coined the ’neutral zone’ between the two gangs, which was just an empty stretch of grass and dust that separated the War Beasts from the Radiant Slayers.

There, he stopped and sat down on a stump from a long felled tree that jutted out of the ground like a marker between the two forces. His expression remained completely neutral, with just the right amount of aloofness to look intentional...

Neither Dido nor Beast Slayer said a word.

But both of them noticed.

Dido’s sharp eyes twitched in confusion in his direction, with a subtle raise of her brow clearly betraying her surprise.

Beast Slayer didn’t even try to hide his reaction, as he openly glanced over and narrowed his eyes, jaw tightening just a fraction, but still said not a word.

Neither moved, but inside, both leaders were thrown into a whirlwind of mental gymnastics.

’What’s he doing here!? Did someone invite him to join us?’

Her thoughts were filled with utter confusion.

She scanned Nick with her eyes, trying to recall if she or one of her subordinates hired him once again, but now that everyone’s expression had returned to their serious state, she couldn’t tell at all.

’Don’t tell me Beast Slayer noticed his peculiarity as well and decided to hire him?’

Her brow furrowed slightly, but she didn’t place too much of her concentration on trying to figure it out.

However, she didn’t seem too concerned with his presence.

In fact, she even seemed slightly glad that he had joined them.

’His natural attraction for disaster can help us with this...’

If only she could know the real truth...

Beast Slayer however, was having an entirely different experience in his mind.

’Tsk, should have expected his presence from the beginning. Here I was, questioning whether he was going to show up or not. Though, does he take me for a fool, standing in the middle of both of our forces, acting like he’s not a part of her gang?’

He ground his teeth softly, especially after he had witnessed the full extent of Nick’s power the previous day.

He was already displeased with how much stronger Dido was than him, and how much more organised and overpowering her War Beasts over his Radiant Slayers as well.

The only thing he was glad about was that even through all that, they still had the same amount of Mutant Altered under their leadership, with 7 of such capable subordinates each.

However, now the scales were tipped on Dido’s side with the addition of Nick, which Beast Slayer didn’t like one bit.

Especially since the strength and speed he’d displayed in the Altered Testing Centre the previous day was at the peak of what a Mutant Altered could produce, without the effects of a technique of course.

’This must have been apart of Dido’s plan, groom this kid into an elite and reveal him after this whole shit fest’s come up. Trying to flex huh? Unfortunately, you could have never expected that he’s from the same planet as me, bitch!’

His anger slowly died down and quickly became replaced by smugness, as he felt he had deciphered Dido’s plan completely, keeping the ball in his court.

However, he still remained weary of Nick, since with his newly revealed strength, he could even pose a threat to him if he wasn’t too careful!

There was only a difference of 10 BF between the two of them at the moment, though it was more like 20 since Beast Slayer didn’t make use of his techniques during his test.

But that still warranted him to remain cautious around Nick, let alone Dido, who was even stronger than him.

Even if he activated his 400% strength boost, he wasn’t sure if he could beat Dido, in fact, he knew that there was a chance that she could still kill him despite the boost!

She was just that scarily strong compared to other elites.

Though he still hadn’t figured out what made her so special, which irked him even more than Nick did.

Nick didn’t even afford Beast Slayer a glance, but he did provide Dido at least a polite smile, since she was the reason he’d received the heaven sent opportunity to receive two Radiant Beast Armaments.

If it weren’t for her, he never would have received the Whiteclaw Snake King spear, and it it weren’t for that spear, he never would have even sought out his kill steal against Beast Slayer’s Radiant Wind Mantis either!

’Is he trying to act like hes associated with me so that Beast Slayer leaves him alone?’

Dido questioned in her mind.

She nodded inwardly.

’Smart move.’ She replied to Nick’s polite smile with one of her own, before turning back to everyone gathered, and began speaking after what felt like an eternity of awkward silence.