Chapter 92

Chapter 92: Chapter 92

"He... killed your family?" Ingrid asked, unable to hide her shock.

She had never known this about Lysander. It wasn’t as if she had ever sat down and asked him about his past, but she really hadn’t expected him to have such a terrible history with Berthanon. The man had already shown how cruel he could be, yet hearing that he had murdered Lysander’s entire family made Ingrid look at him differently. Beside her, Lysander’s expression had darkened, and his purple eyes seemed to be fixed on something that they couldn’t really see.

"Yes." He nodded slowly. "After the zombie apocalypse started, a lot of people formed tribes, villages and packs to protect themselves. My people formed a Den, where we lived together with other Snake Beastmen. Some of us had the ability to create poison, and our poison was apparently stronger than that of other Beastmen with the same ability. Berthanon came to our Den one day with an offer. He wanted to bring us to the newly established Hunter’s Guild, and in exchange, he would trade for our poison. He thought it was a good deal, but my people didn’t agree."

Ingrid remained quiet, allowing him to continue. Freya and Nurse Maya also said nothing, and the ward became unusually silent as Lysander spoke. There was something about the way he described his past that made it difficult to interrupt him. He wasn’t raising his voice or showing any obvious signs of distress, but the anger beneath his calm expression was impossible to miss.

"By then, rumours had already spread about hunters who lured Beastmen away from their homes, only to use them as servants and treat them terribly. We didn’t know whether Berthanon intended to do the same thing, but my parents weren’t willing to take that risk. They asked him to leave, though it was already late, so they allowed him to stay the night and leave the following morning."

Lysander paused, his fingers slowly curling into fists. "But when I woke up the next morning, everyone was dead. My entire Den had been murdered, and Berthanon’s scent was all over their bodies."

His fists tightened until his nails pierced his palms. A few drops of blood appeared, but before he could hurt himself further, Ingrid reached for his hands and gently pulled his fingers apart. She didn’t say anything, only held them while looking at him with concern. Lysander glanced at her briefly before continuing.

"But how do you know it was Berthanon?" Maya asked cautiously. "Could there have been a misunderstanding? Maybe someone else attacked your Den and..."

"There was no misunderstanding."

Lysander’s voice remained calm, but the coldness in it made Maya stop speaking. He had expected someone to question his words, so he wasn’t particularly surprised by her reaction.

"I followed his scent until I found him. I was young, but I understood that if one person could wipe out my entire Den, then that person was dangerous so I didn’t go too close then. I found him sitting beside a stream, covered in blood. My parents’ blood."

His jaw tightened, and for a moment, he seemed to struggle with the next part. "He had their skin beside him, and there were containers filled with their blood. He had taken their tongues, organs and even their poison. He was looking at everything with a grin on his face, as if he had just won some kind of prize. I couldn’t understand how someone could do something like that to living beings. I was so angry that I attacked him without thinking. I almost died, too."

Ingrid’s grip on his hands tightened slightly.

"When I woke up, I was in a forest. I stayed there for years before eventually coming across Ingrid and following her back to the village. I never expected to see Berthanon again, especially not here. It seems he recognised me just as easily as I recognised him."

Lysander finally stopped talking, but Ingrid knew he hadn’t told them everything. His story explained why he hated Berthanon, but it didn’t explain how the rot had entered his Beast Core or why he had spent so many years powerless in the forest. He had deliberately left out that part, and she wasn’t going to force him to talk about it in front of everyone. Whatever had happened after he attacked Berthanon was clearly something he wasn’t ready to share.

"That bastard!" Freya suddenly slammed both hands against the table beside her.

The sound was so loud that everyone turned towards her, but before anyone could react, the table cracked down the middle and collapsed into pieces. Freya blinked at the broken furniture, then slowly looked at Maya.

"You little—! How dare you destroy my table!" Maya shouted.

Freya flinched when Maya approached her, then rubbed the back of her head with an awkward smile. "I’m sorry! I was just too angry, and I didn’t mean to break it. I’ll pay for it, I promise!"

"You’d better! Do you think furniture grows on trees?"

Maya continued scolding her, but Ingrid’s attention had already shifted elsewhere. She was thinking about Berthanon and the things Lysander had just revealed. The man was clearly more dangerous than she had initially assumed, and the fact that he had managed to rise so high within the Hunter’s Guild despite having so many enemies suggested that there was something else going on.

"What kind of Beastman is Berthanon?" Ingrid asked.

Freya, who was still nursing the small bump Maya had given her, looked up. "Honestly, nobody knows. There were rumours that he was actually a normal human, but those rumours disappeared after a while. I’ve never seen him use any abilities, either. He usually gets other people to do his dirty work for him."

"What about you, Nurse? You’ve been here longer than us. Do you know what kind of Beastman he is?" Ingrid asked.

Maya shook her head. "I don’t know either. Berthanon and I have never gotten along. He hates me, and I don’t particularly like him, so I don’t exactly have many opportunities to ask about his abilities. But I’m not the only one who dislikes him. There are plenty of people in this Guild who have problems with the way he behaves and the things he does. Some of them have been trying to bring him down for years, but none of them have succeeded."

"Then he has someone backing him," Ingrid concluded.

The three of them turned towards her.

"Think about it. If Berthanon has so many enemies, why has nobody managed to remove him from his position? Either he’s more powerful than we think, or there’s someone behind him protecting him. And if the person supporting him is actually the mastermind, then getting rid of Berthanon won’t solve anything. Someone else could easily take Berthanon’s place."

Ingrid leaned back slightly, her thoughts moving rapidly. She had initially hoped to find someone within the Hunter’s Guild who could help her and her companions escape. There had to be people who disliked Berthanon enough to cooperate with her, especially after what he had done to Hunter G and the others who had suffered from the memory-search machine. But if the entire council was involved, or if some of its members were benefiting from keeping Berthanon in power, finding an ally wouldn’t be as easy as she had hoped.

Still, maybe there was another way. If she could identify the people who hated Berthanon and offer them something in exchange for their cooperation, she might be able to turn them into allies. She didn’t necessarily need everyone in the Guild to support her. She only needed enough people to help her escape safely and protect her companions.

Just as she was considering that possibility, a familiar sound rang inside her head.

Ingrid’s eyes widened slightly. ’Not now. What is it?

{DING!}

The voice of the system suddenly rang in Ingrid’s head, making her jump slightly.

{NEW MISSION!}

{Escape the Hunters Guild and Bring Five People From the Guild Over To Your Side as Your Subordinates!}

{MISSION TIME: 71:59:59}

{MISSION COMPLETION REWARD- 30,000 Points, One New Skill and Level Upgrade to Level 5.}

{ MISSON FAILURE PUNISHMENT- LOSS OF EYESIGHT FOR TEN DAYS, HEALTH WILL DETERIORATE!}

’Host, please select the people whom you want to bring over and input them to the system so that your mission may begin.’ Lorna said.

Ingrid stared at the glowing blue text hanging in her air, her breath hitching in her throat. Escape the Hunters Guild? And recruit five subordinates on top of that? It sounded like a death sentence disguised as a checklist.

Her eyes dropped down to the reward section, and her jaw nearly hit the floor.

’Thirty thousand points?!’ She blinked in shock at the amount of points the system gave her. If she added thirty thousand points to what she had now, almost half of the points needed for awakening her beast core would have been gotten. The system was literally dangling a life-changing bell right in front of her, paired with a brand-new skill and a massive level jump to Level 5. It was the kind of payout that could completely turn the tables in her favor, if she didn’t get herself killed first.

The euphoria vanished instantly as she read the failure punishment. Being blind in a place as ruthless as the Hunters Guild was a guaranteed ticket to an early grave.

Without even letting her catch her breath, the system’s interface shifted, displaying ten different profiles. Most of them were strangers, but a few faces stood out: Maya, Freya, Hunter G, and Jowe.

Obviously, choosing Maya, Freya, and Hunter G was the way to go, but she still needed two more people to round out the quota. She shuddered, immediately crossing Jowe off her mental list, just staying near him was enough to make her skin crawl and her sanity fray at the edges.

’What’s the deadline for choosing who I want?’ Ingrid asked, her voice tight as she turned to Lorna, who replied immediately.

’ The system gave you only 6 hours to choose. If you don’t choose within the 6 hours, then the system will take it that you forfeited the mission, and you will be punished.’