Chapter 405: Exchange

"And now, I’m giving you choices. You may pick the one you like because I’m a good person." Arnie looked at the Director coldly. "A man like you should have kept your daughter alive all this time. Most likely, the organization has been doing that.

"If you are gone, then that means your daughter has no more value to them."

The Director snorted. "What? You’re going to make me your confidential informant?"

"Informant? You are thinking too highly of yourself." Arnie chuckled. "I’m merely going to find your daughter for you. Look? How good am I? I might be a saint. I will even ask Auric Elfe to treat her. He might be able to treat her. Isn’t that why you’ve been trying to kidnap him? Because you believe that he’s the key to helping your daughter.

"If only you just acted like a normal person, asking him to treat your daughter. He would probably have treated her without asking any questions. All you’d have to do is bring her to his store, and it would be done.

"But you... chose the other way. So, I’ll ask him to treat her first. He will definitely not ask what I’m going to do with her.

"Well, since you want to know the pain and share that pain with everyone, I’m sure you’re willing to share that pain with your daughter." Arnie smirked. "Well, that’s going to be interesting. This will be my first time torturing a daughter who has just recovered in front of her father who is willing to turn the world against him for her sake. I wonder what kind of reaction you will have."

Lady Merlin looked at Bernard as if she was asking whether Arnie had really been with the police force before.

"..." Bernard just looked away. He knew that Arnie was never the same anymore after that incident.

Just by looking at the situation, it felt like a demon had finally met the devil.

The Director gritted his teeth and shouted, "You fucking monster!"

He tried to break free, but to no avail.

"Well, that’s just the first option." Arnie smiled. "I am even willing to spend a few years of my life training your daughter after rescuing her. I will bring her as an adjudicator, telling her that you have died because of the organization.

"She will be a very good hunting dog for the sake of her father, who has been fighting the world for her sake.

"You should know how good revenge can motivate you. And surprise! I will just put you there, making you look like you are the enemy that has been causing all this.

"When you try to explain to her, she won’t ever believe you. No, I will definitely train her to torture you first before killing you in the worst possible way. That is if I want to keep her as a hunting dog.

"I know you’re going to mess with her head, so I might even make the organization kill you. How tragic it will be."

"Are you sure Arnie is not a terrorist or a lunatic?" Lady Merlin couldn’t contain her question anymore.

Bernard sighed. "A lunatic? Yes. A terrorist? No."

The Director gritted his teeth. He extended his hands violently, as if he was trying to kill Arnie.

Unfortunately, there was simply nothing he could do.

Arnie simply said, "Or... if you give up the names, I can also give you two options. First, I will kill both you and your daughter and bury you two together in the place you choose as a sign of courtesy for giving up the names.

"Or I can save your daughter and bring her to Auric to treat her. Instead, I will tell her that her father has done a lot for her. At least she will live. She can continue living in the memory of her father. It’s your choice."

The Director was frozen. From the options, there was no way he was going to get out of this situation alive. At the same time, there was an option he could choose for the sake of his daughter.

As someone who was ready to fight against the world, that option was much more tempting than anything else.

"You’re lying!" The Director didn’t want to believe him.

"He could be as cruel as a devil, but he never lied when making a deal... He never lied about a promise." Bernard couldn’t help but interject in that one. Even though Arnie had changed, there was indeed one thing that hadn’t changed for him.

He always kept his word. Because if he didn’t keep his word, he might end up breaking his promise to his wife and kid to kill all the criminals. The oath he swore the day they were killed.

"Well, Bernard..." Arnie sighed.

Bernard raised his hands. "Sorry, sorry. I can’t help it with that one."

The Director could see Arnie’s genuine reaction. It seemed Bernard was telling the truth.

That also meant the threat was real.

The Director paused for a minute before saying, "I want her to be treated, and I don’t want her to be around you. I just want her to live like a normal woman. And you have to tell her that I love her."

"You don’t have the power to negotiate with me." Arnie shook his head.

"I do! I have the names of every single person in the organization, especially the top brass as well as evidence of their involvement and other things that will be enough to put them in jail for life or death row."

...

Bam!

Bam!

Bam!

Maya and Ryan continued to clash.

Despite being covered in wounds, the intensity of her attack was never reduced. On the other hand, Ryan’s condition had gotten worse and worse every passing second.

The original wounds inflicted by Mr. Green had messed with the internal flow of his energy. In addition, the lack of his left arm had made him unable to utilize his power to its full potential.

In a way, he could only use about 70% of his original power from the start.

Meanwhile, Maya had been conserving her stamina as much as possible from the beginning.

While the gap between Rank 5 and Rank 6 was huge, Maya was actually doing well.

Maya rushed toward Ryan.

Seeing the sudden charge, Ryan clenched his fist, forming a torrential burst of energy to blast her away.

However, Maya saw this as an opportunity. She actually leaped to the center of that torrential energy.

That torrential energy sliced her body, but she reduced the damage to mere scratches by creating a thin layer of energy on top of her skin.

As soon as she was close enough to Ryan, Maya finally activated her power to its full potential.

The energy in her arms flared up, dispersing Ryan’s energy.

"!!!" Ryan widened his eyes in shock. How did Maya do that? Even though it was a torrential energy, jumping to the center of it and knowing when to actually disperse his power wasn’t an easy matter. In fact, a normal person couldn’t do it.

It was different for Maya. The reason Maya was known as the black witch wasn’t just because of her dark element.

She actually controlled her own power under intense pressure. The more disadvantageous her position was, the more focused she became.

She knew she wouldn’t be able to defeat Ryan under normal circumstances, but this one was different. His injury had allowed her to see the path to success, even if it meant taking a path of sacrifice.

She minimized the sacrifice on her body and gradually pressured her opponent.

When the enemy finally lost their focus after being put under too much pressure, her focus had reached a new peak during that time.

Her control had become even more precise. Meanwhile, her opponent’s control had gotten sloppier.

People thought that Maya was simply orchestrating everything from the start. They thought Maya was just using a portion of her power and gradually increasing it. The way she planned everything made her look like a witch.

But this time, Maya was able to reach such a state faster because of Auric’s Artificial Heart Method.

With heightened sensitivity, her gradual increase in focus allowed her to see openings much faster.

And finally, she broke through.

Maya waved both her arms and clashed with Ryan, who was desperately blocking her attack.

Then she hit him.

"!!!" Ryan widened his eyes when a black line appeared from the center of his chest all the way to his right shoulder.

The line flared up and caused his blood to spurt.

Ryan gritted his teeth and punched forward, using a burst of his energy to blow Maya away.

Maya had no choice but to end her attack and raise both arms to block this punch. She was pushed back ten meters, but Ryan immediately sent forward a massive stream of energy to kill her.

The black silhouette she had summoned earlier reappeared and cleaved the incoming energy and continued toward him.

Ryan tried to block it, but one of his fingers was completely severed before the energy was dispersed. The black energy continued flying past him and slashed multiple buildings behind him.

Maya formed a spear in her hand and tossed it toward him.

In the end, he had to dodge it this time. The spear ended up causing a big explosion and engulfed several buildings.

He never thought he would actually be in this much trouble against a mere Rank 5 human. There was a clear gap between them, but for some reason, Maya took his attacks as if nothing had happened. Then, she would launch a counterattack that was growing closer and closer to killing him.

He didn’t understand what was going on. He remembered what Maya had said before the fight.

’Am I going to die at the hands of a mere Rank 5 human?’