Criminal X : Epitome Of Evil

Pablo told the soldiers that the newly arrived guards and criminals were here to kill all of them.

Naturally, they all tensed up and hoped for further clarification.

Draxus was the only one who kind of saw it coming as when he had counted the guards and the criminals, he had gotten it all.

There were one hundred and ten criminals in total and the guards were of the same number.

Each guard was looking after one criminal and Draxus knew the criminals were the one whom Pablo had some work with. The guards were just for protection.

And as to what work Pablo had with the criminals, everyone got to know that just now.

So other than Draxus everyone was tense.

Were the criminals here to kill all the soldiers because Pablo was fed up with them?

All of them darted their eyes at Draxus to raise the question to Pablo but their friend shook his head.

The soldiers would have rebuked if not for Pablo speaking again.

"Don't be alarmed, everyone. Hear me out."

No one had any choice so they heard Pablo out.

"There are one hundred and ten criminals in total present here today. The same amount as you all. So that is to say, one criminal for each soldier. The guards aren't participating."

Everyone nodded.

Pablo carried on.

"I said these criminals are here to kill all of you but I didn't mean it as a punishment. I meant, they came here to die or to kill. If I say it more clearly, then I mean…" Pablo surveyed his eyes around the ground. "They are your final training for today."

Draxus smiled. His guess was right.

But the soldiers weren't that much jolly.

Yes, they were Abyssal Butchers, but they were still novices. Yes, they had killed people but they were easy targets. But these criminals, they looked like they kill in breakfast and eat the same thing for lunch and dinner.

The soldiers weren't sure if they could compete with that.

However, some people were worse than the soldiers.

They were none other than the eight slaves, Hena and Nike. They couldn't fight normal people that well, what would they do against the criminals? The eight slaves didn't even have their Egoes yet. They'll be the first ones to die in the training.

They could only look at Pablo to see if he had made any arrangements for them.

"Today's training is each one of you fighting with a criminal. And this is not a friendly spar, mind you. This will be real. The criminals will try to kill you and you have to try to kill them. If they kill you then they will be rewarded with freedom. If you kill them, well, then they will also get freedom.

I won't be helping any one of you even if a sword is pierced through your heart. It's just kill or die today. Be it someone who didn't even have their Ego yet. Lastly, you all can go all out today. No need to hold back."

Pablo told everything he could think of at the moment and all the soldiers had no choice but to accept.

The eight slaves, Hena and Nike wanted to raise questions but it didn't look like Pablo was in the mood of answering anything.

But they still had a little relief in their hearts as the criminals weren't alone. They had guards looking over them and they also had handcuffs and chains. So it won't be that much dangerous.

Everyone would manage as the criminals would not be able to go all out like the soldiers.

However…

"Alright. Now that's settled.." Pablo looked at the guards in green uniforms. "You all can return to his highness."

The guards bowed and began marching.

Before the soldiers could react, Pablo added:

"Make sure to unlock their chains. They should get an equal chance like others."

The guards bowed again and did what Pablo said.

They didn't question anything as the King had instructed them to do whatever Pablo says.

But other than the guards, everyone else was surely questioning as all heads moved at Draxus.

Sera was fine though. Her eyes were only on Pablo. She couldn't care less about the criminals as she knew nothing would happen to her. At most, she would only be injured. She won't die.

Also, Gerald wasn't that much worried as well because he was only Flashy's father, not like Flashy. He was strong. He only appeared weak when he fought with Pablo.

Apart from these two, everyone else has their eyes fixed on Draxus.

Draxus looked back at those eyes and just sighed.

"Look, everyone," he said. "We are leaving for Hollow tomorrow. Such training is necessary. We should be afraid and face the fear of dying to do well in the mission. This is for our own good."

"But to do well in the mission, we have to survive this training first. What if we die in this training? What will happen to the mission?" Flashy asked.

Draxus shrugged. "If we die, we die. And besides, I am sure Czar won't let us die. He won't be able to go to Hollow alone. If he sees that someone is about to die, he will surely jump in to save them. So don't worry. Besides," Draxus smiled at Flashy.

"If you die, then it won't hinder the mission in any way. So you should not worry about the mission."

"You bast—"

"Alright. Alright. Discussion ends. Look here."

Pablo clapped and Flashy had no choice but to shut up.

The soldiers shared a laugh and focused back on Pablo. Though, they were better now as Draxus made sense. Pablo won't let them die. He would surely jump in when he would see something drastic would happen to soldiers. He won't place the criminals first before his soldiers no matter what.

Draxus saw the relaxed faces of the soldiers and the slaves and seeing them, he just shook his head.

That's all what I could have said to ease your minds, everyone. Because if I know Czar, then I know for sure that he can certainly…

His eyes glued to Pablo's stress free face.

Watch you all die and do nothing about it.