Chapter 530 Will you pledge it deep from your heart? Pledge it!
"You!" At the instant that Alex exited his house, Delia quickly noticed him.
She wasted no time pointing her spear at him, with her vigilant eyes staring intently at Alex's every move.
"So you have revealed yourself, you scum of the Abyss." Delia muttered, with her demeanor making it appear as if she had ignored the Rookie Traveler that she just saved. "Were you rendered happy by my act of saving this Rookie? Well, save that happiness for later, for now I shall cut you down!"
"Yes, Big Sis will cut you down! So just stay there obediently if you want a painless death!" Tong'er, who was behind Delia all this time, said as she gave Alex a withering look. She seemed to be extremely pissed at Alex for some reason, which was exemplified by the way that she looked at him now.
Seeing this glare by Tong'er and the killing intent from Alina only made Alex smile, as if he was not worried about these two at al.
"…Okay, you two should just chill out. Can't you just greet me like a good old friend?" Alex said as he spread his arms wide. "We had a lot of cooperation in the Four Moons World, so you should be happy on seeing me!"
"Happy my ass! Didn't you remember my threat on you? I will really cut you down now!" Undeterred by Alex's genial greetings, Delia continued to point her spear at him, this time with her spear emitting a blindingly red glow. This glow was suffused with Delia's killing intent, which was enough to render the nearby Rookie Traveler scared s**tless.
Alex and Delia ignored the reaction by the Rookie Travler as they continued staring at each other.
It was at this point that Alina, who has followed Alex's exit, began to give her own opinion too.
"Hmph, for a b***h like you to bare your fangs like this is pretty normal. After all, you're just a martial junkie addicted to the concept of justice. You want to cut Alex down? Hmph, you can only do that through my dead body first!" Alina declared as she unsheathed her weapon.
"Thoom…"
A massive illusory body then appeared behind Alina, which released a suppressive aura that was no lesser than the one that Delia had. This aura began to warp the space around Alina, creating distortions on the scenery that brought the nearby Rookie Traveler to the brink of mental collapse.
"I have been itching to beat you up since I saw you, Traveler Delia. Now that I have the chance to pummel that dumb face of yours, I will really cherish it…" Alina said in a sultry tone as she began caressing the edge of her sword.
"…"
Alina's face looked extremely murderous right now, which coupled with the intense aura emitted by her body, showed how willing she is to kill Delia now.
"…"
In face of this sudden outburst from Alina, Delia only shook her head, as if she was exasperated by it. However, a small sneer can also be seen on Delia's face at this point, which was a clear indicator of her complete disdain for Alina.
"Hah, you want to kill me, Alina? Well surprise surprise, I am excited to kill you too!" Delia said venomously as she pointed her spear to Alina. "Hmph, why don't I start with you first? You seem weaker than Traveler Alex anyway…"
"If you want to cut me down now, then fine. You're free to do it. But if you do that, do you think that you can last that long in this world." Alina replied harshly as she raised her sword.
"Spark spark spark!"
Literal sparks of power materialized in the whole area as Delia and Alina's aura clashed with each other. The nearby objects around the two had already been destroyed beyond recognition, with the houses shredded into pieces.
Even the sturdy-looking roads were all broken down too, with their contents pulverized thoroughly by Delia and Alina's aura…
"Sigh, these two women just really gets worse and worse the more that they meet. Why do they really hate each other this much? This is just confusing…" Alex muttered to himself, with his nonchalant aura showing his disinterest on stopping the argument between Delia and Alina.
It was as if he does not care if these two fought each other, something that the nearby Rookie Traveler had noticed.
"Y-your name was Traveler Alex, right? I can see that you are just as strong as Miss Alina. If you are that strong, why are you not stopping her from fighting?" The Rookie Traveler, who had dragged his injured body towards Alex, asked this question while facing Alex with a confused face. "Even if Miss Alina is as strong as you, she can still get injured by this battle. Since she is your Companion, shouldn't you be-"
"Rookie Traveler, what's your name?"
"Um, my name is Marcus. Marcus Ex-"
"Ok Marcus. You're curious why I don't dare stop these two from quarreling now? Well I don't need to tell you the reason for that. You should just watch them duke it out." Alex said mercilessly as he gave Marcus a withering look.
"You want them to duke it out? But that will-"
"Marcus, I don't give a f**k on your opinion now. I have my own agenda, and you have no right to change that. You want to stop this fight? Well go on. Go and stop these two by yourself. Let's see if you can do that." Alex said as his tone became bristled with irritation. "What? Why are you not doing anything now? You can't do it?"
"Um well…"
"Hmph, this is the problem with someone like you, Marcus. Even if your power is not that high enough, you want to butt in into things that are not meant for you. If you want to meddle with the important stuff in this planet, you must be at least a Sixth Stage Being first!" Alex almost burst from anger after saying these words, something that quickly silenced Marcus.
"Marcus, you are just a paltry Third Stage Being now. With your power, you can't do a lot in this world. I mean, just look at what happened to you earlier. You were beaten up before you knew it, and you were quickly auctioned off like a cattle. Is that the kind of person that can just roll over here to stop an event like this? Of course not!" Alex continued to say to the ashen-faced Marcus. "Now, do you understand my message?"
"Y-yes, I understand."
"Good, in that case, go and help out your Companions. Heal them up, fix their bodies, and fix their clothing's. Once you're done with that, go back here and prepare to pledge your allegiance to me." Alex said, with his tone shifting from an angry man into a sleazy businessman.
"Since you are weak Marcus, the only way that you can survive in this world is by pledging allegiance to someone strong. Fortunately, you have me." Alex continued to say as he puffed his chest out proudly. "Once you go and pledge allegiance to me, all your problems in this world will be solved!'
"Ok, I shall go now, Traveler Alex-, wait, I should pledge allegiance to you? W-what do you mean by that?" Marcus, who looked at Alex with gratitude earlier, now had an outraged expression on his face after hearing the words 'allegiance' and 'pledge' together. "Surely you don't mean it like that… right?"
"Hah? An pledging allegiance to me is just simple. Once you do it, you will be under my protection." Alex replied nonchalantly, as if what he just said was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I will pledge my allegiance to you? No, I will not do that! I am a proud Traveler, and I won't be-"
"Oh, don't worry about this allegiance. You will also be pledging your allegiance to Traveler Delia after me. " Alex said cheerfully, interrupting Marcus' complaints. "She saved you after all, so she must be your boss too…"
"You!"
If Alex was only speaking in a low tone, then it will only be Marcus that will complain regarding his offer. However, Alex made sure to make his voice loud, just loud enough so that someone nearby could hear his surprising words.
Fortunately for Alex, his target had heard what he wanted her to hear.
"Prepare to die now, Alina- What the f**k Alex? You want to make the Rookie pledge allegiance to you?" Delia, who was ready to fight Alina now, was rendered surprised by the words that Alex uttered, that her intent to fight has quickly disappeared.
Delia lost the killing intent that she had on Alina earlier because of Alex's latest words, and it made her refocus her attention back on Alex.
"You… are you sure about what you said?" Delia asked to Alex, with her spear now lowered from its initial stabbing position. "Traveler Alex, now is not the time for jokes…"
The incredulity and disbelief present on Alina's words were so blatantly obvious, that the injured Marcus seemed to have found hope with her.
"Miss Delia, please make this man stop! He is just like those recruiters who beat me up earlier!" Marcus said, as he gave Delia the best 'give me pity' look ever. "He… he clearly deserves to be judged too!"
"Shut up Marcus. I don't want to hear your opinions! I will pry the truth out of Alex's mouth himself, so just stay down!" Delia said, quickly rebuking the hopeful Marcus. "Tsk, shouldn't you be focusing on healing your Companions? Instead of staying here, go and help them, you little boy!"
"…."
After giving Marcus this verbal beatdown, Delia looked back at Alex once more, with her body much tenser even when she was about to fight before. This just shows how much bothered Delia was with Alex's claims, something that made her ignored her fight with Alina.
Delia's spear, which was filled with all of her martial aura, began to sputter out as she quickly dispelled all of her abilities.
"…"
She decisively ignored Alina behind her as she began approaching Alex, who just stood on his spot, waiting for her arrival.
It was only when Delia was a few feet away from Alex that she began talking, with her tone lacking all the murderous urges that she had earlier.
Instead, what filled her voice was uncertainty and confusion.
"Alex… are you planning to poach all the Rookie Travelers that will arrive from now on?" Delia asked, as she and Alex ignored the existence of Marcus below them. "Do you plan on making the 10th group in this world? And does that group… include me?"
"Well, to answer your 1st question… yes, I am planning to recruit all the Rookies that will arrive to this planet from now. As for the 2nd, it's already pretty obvious that a 10th group will be made by my actions. There's no need to question that." Alex was tapping his arm in an unhurried manner as he said these words, which showed his carefree outlook on what he just said.
"As for the 3rd question, well you are also right, Delia. I was indeed planning on making you lead the group with me. After all, the leaders of the other groups are all Half-Step Transcendent Beings. If I just lead the 10th group alone, I will be easily defeated by them. But if someone like you, Delia, becomes a co-leader too, there's a chance that our group will survive!"
"…"
"Oh, and don't worry about the Returning Travelers suddenly attacking us today. One of those Returning Travelers is my friend, so I'm sure that she will delay anyone who will try to attack us today…"
"…
"So, what do you think about my proposal, Delia? Do you have anything to say about it?"
"Traveler Alex, you really are a madman. But an efficient one at that. Sigh… why must you become an Envoy of the Abyss Realm? If you were just found by the Holy Order, you could have been my greatest friend…"
"I don't care about being friends with you, but you sound like you accept my offer. So, do you want to lead the 10th group with me, Delia? Just say yes or no."
"Ugh, I already promised to kill you, and you still do things that makes me hesitate! Argh fine! I will cooperate with you again, Traveler Alex! But I promise that this is the last time I will ally with you!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you for your patronage, Traveler Delia. I promise you that you won't regret this."
"…"