The Villain Reborn as Game's Final Boss

Chapter 252: Culling [4]

None of the soldiers here could ever be truly loyal to me or D.X.

It was a give-and-take relationship and for most of the time it would stay the same.

Even the Numbers in the top 200 were the same.

They knew the actual benefits of staying here were far more than the risks involved in having their lives in the hands of the leadership of D.X.

After all, why would D.X. kill them if they could serve better uses?

And that would mean that this was just a formality for those with bigger ambitions.

At the end... no matter what path you take, the cultivation world was filled with risks at every turn.

Compared to that, this risk was too little to even be considered their main topic of interest.

Within a minute, most of the Numbers in the top 200 had already bonded the device with their mana cores, while the rest followed along.

Bit by bit, I could see that more than half of the Numbers had begun the process.

Haa...

"Is it working?"

I spoke through the communication device, with Alfred being on the other end.

"It takes time."

That was the only answer I received before the communication was cut off.

Sigh.

Not letting Alfred’s antics affect me, I focused my attention on the soldiers who had shifted sides once again.

Seeing all of the soldiers in higher cultivation ranks bonding with the device, those that had earlier decided to leave D.X. soon walked towards the boxes, taking the orbs for themselves before repeating the actions of their seniors.

Still, the number of people who were adamant on leaving D.X., even after witnessing everything, were quite a few.

Maybe around thirty percent of all the Numbers that were present on the training ground.

This... the ratio was better than what I had initially assumed.

I thought that around fifty percent of the soldiers would decide to leave the organization, but the results had surpassed my assumptions by a large margin.

Roughly three thousand were ready to leave D.X.

Though the number looked heavy... it was within the losses that I could manage.

And it wasn’t like there were many strong fighters among the cowards. Many of them were among the informants, while the rest were the ones who completed tasks other than direct combat operations.

There were quite a few combatants among them, but all were below the Gold Core.

Manageable.

"Can we leave now?"

One of the deserters spoke up, his voice raised, as many followed along.

Haa...

Was deserters the right word for them?

No.

But I liked treating them as such.

After all, they had decided to abandon D.X...

"Is everyone done?"

Not replying to him, I swept my gaze across the soldiers who had decided to stay with D.X., waiting for them to finish the process.

And... nearly all of them were done with the bonding.

Now around seven thousand Numbers had successfully bonded themselves to the device, thereby resulting in them being bonded with the system that was developed to monitor them.

"You may give best wishes to your ex-comrades who have now decided to pursue their own paths."

On my words, none moved... while those among the deserters just gave me mocking looks.

Well... I knew that the people here had no friendship amongst themselves. Still... as the one standing here, I had to maintain the basics of formality and courtesy.

"For those who have decided to stay with us... I must once again welcome you to D.X."

My heart started to beat faster as I sorted out the next words that I had to speak.

Was I excited?

I couldn’t tell.

But the situation was surely becoming interesting to witness.

"From today onwards, let’s build our organization stronger than before, and ensure that the hands of those in power never reach your throats. It’s time to stop being prey for the authorities and turn into their predators."

My words weren’t wrong.

The authorities... someday these criminals would give them a good payback for everything that they had done to the... poor souls.

"Still, there’s one thing remaining, and that is to let your ex-comrades leave D.X. peacefully."

"Just wave us the damn goodbyes, and let us go... stop wasting our time, kid!"

One of the deserters at the Bronze Core spoke before beginning to walk towards the exit.

"Don’t you want to be relieved of your duties?"

My question made him pause in his tracks, as he turned to look into my eyes.

"Relieve? I am leaving the damn place—"

"My comrades."

I spoke while looking into the eyes of every soldier that had decided to stay with D.X.

"Relieve them of their duties."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"What the fuck is this kid—"

"Let their souls rest in peace."

Silence.

Many were confused at my statement, but the confusion didn’t last long.

"Huh—"

Spurt!

The Bronze Core dropped to his knees, as his head rolled on the ground.

Arthur stood in his own place, but the attack was carried out swiftly without anyone being able to notice anything or track Arthur’s movements.

Still... the message had been delivered.

Spurt!

"Hehe... rest in peace, fuckers!"

A vampire was the first to move.

***

"Let their souls rest in peace."

Kael Frost’s statement made many soldiers frown in confusion.

Though the intent behind the statement was easy to interpret, the soldiers were debating if it was a joke, but—

Spurt!

The debate didn’t last long, as the first head rolled on the ground.

It was the Bronze Core from earlier.

Silence enveloped the surroundings as the message was clearly sent to every soldier of D.X.

Spurt!

"Hehe... rest in peace, fuckers!"

No. 120 made the second move, and soon the area began to be dyed in red.

The deserters, having low-ranked mana cores, couldn’t really stop the might of a Platinum Core.

Soon... the Gold Cores joined, who were then followed by the Silver rankers.