Since Bernadotte had become a mercenary, he had thought that he had forgotten how to fear.
He used to think that those stories in fairy tale books were just fanciful and dull plots conjured up by writers. As a professional mercenary, as someone who lived among life and death, fire and iron on the battlefield, he had thought he understood what fear was, what death was. Even when facing destiny, he had enough confidence to fight it.
But now, Bernadotte realized that his imagination was too shallow and conceited for this world.
He gritted his teeth, large beads of sweat sliding down Bernadotte’s forehead. The gun was in his hands, the safety was off, his finger already pressing against the trigger, and he would be able to fire bullets as soon as he pulled it.
But at this moment, he simply couldn’t do it; his fingers were extraordinarily stiff, to the extent that Bernadotte struggled and still couldn’t move his fingers even slightly…
“This is where it ends.”
With Fang Zheng’s words falling, Bernadotte finally felt the terrifying pressure that enveloped him disappear, and only then did he gradually regain control of his body. He cautiously lowered his right hand, feeling as if he had just gone through an intense battle, almost too exhausted to collapse on the ground.
But in fact, he had withstood only for a minute.
Fang Zheng looked satisfied at the mercenary captain in front of him.
“Worthy of being in charge, you indeed have some skills, unlike your underlings who are far worse in comparison.”
Hearing Fang Zheng’s assessment, Bernadotte should have responded, but he couldn’t say anything. Because the reality was exactly as Fang Zheng had said; his subordinates were now lying on the ground, looking like they were all dead. Their eyes were wide open, their mouths opening and closing like fish thrown onto land from water.
This disgraceful behavior shouldn’t occur in them, but at this moment Bernadotte didn’t reprimand his subordinates. He understood, this kind of pressure wasn’t something humans could resist.
“Tell me, are all the enemies we need to face this daunting?”
Looking at Fang Zheng, Bernadotte’s complexion seemed unwell. Initially, he thought this was just a typical mercenary job, but now Bernadotte was somewhat wanting to back out. He wasn’t cowardly; in fact, Bernadotte had once faced wolves, lions, and even bears and elephants–those terrifyingly large animals, alone in the wilderness. Even then his body was still agile and his mind alert.
But it was different here. In front of Fang Zheng, just one gaze from him made Bernadotte feel like an idiot, his brain going completely blank, clueless about what to do. He could imagine, if they were to face such enemies, Bernadotte feared that even fully armed, he’d inevitably have his head twisted off by the enemy.
“That’s not the case. In my view, those little bats really aren’t much of a challenge. But it’s not the same for you, so my advice is you’d better get used to it. That way, even if they engage you in close combat, you won’t be killed off like useless dummies.”
“That would indeed be a very foolish way to die.”
Hearing Fang Zheng’s explanation, Bernadotte’s expression eased somewhat. Frankly speaking, he still didn’t understand Fang Zheng’s identity. Bernadotte had once quietly inquired with the old butler and that lady with the large breasts, but their answers were basically to the effect of “He’s a guest invited by Miss Intagura” and “Mr. Fang Zheng is a very formidable person.”
But Bernadotte suspected that Fang Zheng wasn’t human.
Perhaps others hadn’t noticed, but Bernadotte observed that every time Fang Zheng released his pressure, his eyes would morph into reptilian-like pupils, and after the pressure dissipated, Fang Zheng’s eyes would return to their original state. Clearly, that wasn’t something any human could achieve.
However, Bernadotte sensibly refrained from asking. After all, this place even had vampires, and he wouldn’t be surprised if a giant dragon appeared now. But no matter what, Fang Zheng was at least relatively easy to get along with, so they managed a decent relationship. Only issue was, Bernadotte’s subordinates generally steered clear of Fang Zheng…apparently the psychological trauma from Fang Zheng’s initial test of pressure was too intense.
“Speaking of which, if you were to release that… pressure at full strength, what would become of us?”
Glancing at his ineffective subordinates, Bernadotte curiously turned back towards Fang Zheng to inquire. He felt he was increasingly getting used to resisting the pressure unleashed by Fang Zheng and was getting accustomed to it. Hence, Bernadotte decided he wanted to challenge his limits.
“If possible, I would actually like to try that.”
“I’d advise you not to do that,”
Hearing Bernadotte’s inquiry, Fang Zheng shrugged.
“The pressure you’re feeling now is less than one-fifth of my full release. If I were to go all out…”
“At best, you’d instantly become an idiot; at worst, you might become insane or even commit suicide right in front of me.”
Speaking of which, Fang Zheng looked at Bernadotte with a smile that was not quite a smile.
“If you want to try it, I think it’s best to write a report first.”
“Uh… let’s not, I still treasure my life very much.”
Hearing Fang Zheng’s response, the Mercenary Captain also went pale, he did not believe Fang Zheng was just trying to scare them. After all, he had personally experienced the oppressive aura Fang Zheng could unleash… He had to admit, it indeed could cause psychological Shadow.
Just at that moment, a voice rang out at the entrance of the training ground, Fang Zheng looked towards the entrance, only to see Walter standing there with a smile.
“Intagura is looking for you.”
“Alright, I’ll come now.”
As Fang Zheng spoke, he reached out to touch the small head of Ester standing beside him. This Sword Sprite now usually transformed into humanoid form to accompany Fang Zheng, and Fang Zheng had grown accustomed to Ester’s presence — to be honest, it somewhat reassured him, considering Ester also came from the system’s Soulstone, if Ester was fine, then Nymph and the others should also be fine.
Although Fang Zheng knew this thinking was somewhat self-deceiving, it was still much better than worrying indiscriminately.
“What does the Young Lady want from me? Are there Vampires running amok again?”
Following Walter towards the study, Fang Zheng curiously inquired. If he remembered correctly, Miss Intagura had recently received an invitation from the Thirteenth Division, heading to the Vatican to meet with them. Fang Zheng had no interest in these political and religious matters, so he had stayed behind. And now, it seemed, the Young Lady had obviously returned.
“We wouldn’t be going to war with the Vatican, would we?”
“You jest, Lord Fang Zheng, we have no such intentions.”
The smile on Walter’s face did not change at all.
“I’ll leave the specifics for the Young Lady to explain to you.”
And after they reached the study, Fang Zheng’s confusion was soon clarified.
“So, what you mean is…you went to the Vatican, and they gave you information about this final squad thing?”
Fang Zheng, twirling the teacup in his hand, curiously looked at Intagura.
In the previous attack, there were two Vampires leading the Ghoul Legion, the blond man was burned by Fang Zheng as kindling, and the other was taken down by Walter and Seras together, and that Vampire revealed a word before dying…millennium.
After that, the entire HELLSING organization had been investigating information about this word, but hadn’t found much. However, they finally got the data they wanted in the Vatican.
This word came from a World War II era plan in Germany, it was an organization that aimed to create an Undead Legion to rule the world, but fifty years ago, this organization was destroyed by Intagura’s father. But now it seems, this group of maniacs, hungry for artificially created Vampires and an Undead Legion, targeting the entire world again, apparently had not vanished.
And importantly, they seemed a bit restless.
“So what? What do you want me to do?”
Fang Zheng had little interest in these old stories, and he was pretty sure, Intagura calling him was not for a chat.
“I want you and Alucard to head to South America together, to find clues about millennium, and destroy them completely!”
At this, Intagura suddenly stretched out her hand to slam on the table.
“Orders are only one, Search and Destroy! Do you understand?”
“Search and Destroy… Understood.”
Upon hearing Intagura’s order, Fang Zheng smiled slightly, then stood up.
“Please await good news, Miss Intagura.”