Chapter 6: Rescue Fee
Confidence slowly faded from Menard’s face, his brow furrowing in deep confusion.
"Why are you declining my offer? That’s a good offer!" Menard stammered, his voice straining under the sudden wave of desperation. "For trash like you—I mean, you were exiled! It’s an amazing offer. You don’t even have a decent shelter out here."
Terrence smirked, his eyes cold, relaxed, and thoroughly amused by the pathetic sight before him.
"Come on, Terrence. Don’t be stupid!" Menard pushed, stepping forward while clutching his hands into tight fists. "Without the family name, you are nothing out here in these ruins. You won’t survive a week."
"Menard, does your brain shrink by the second?" Terrence asked smoothly, taking a hands-in-pockets stance. "You already saw I have an S-Rank beast. That alone makes me equal to the family elders in pure combat power. Do you really think a pitiful little bedroom in the main estate is going to blind me?"
"Terrence... you..." Menard’s voice trailed off. His entire face flushed crimson under the sharp sting of truth.
His mind was racing, trying and failing to find a logical argument to regain control of the situation. He had always been the prodigy, the favored golden child, while Terrence was the useless outcast thrown away like garbage.
Seeing the dynamic flip in a single moment made his stomach churn with humiliation.
"How about this instead?" Terrence offered, tilting his head slightly as if considering a charitable act. "I’ll make an offer to you."
Menard straightened up immediately. A tiny flicker of hope lit up his eyes.
He genuinely thought Terrence was finally softening, coming to his senses, and getting ready to negotiate terms.
Terrence crushed that foolish hope without hesitation.
"Pay me a rescue fee," Terrence said, his tone dripping with blatant mockery. "If you do, I’ll actually look at you with a tiny bit of regard. You’ll even make it onto my respect list—despite being such an insufferable person."
"Terrence! How dare you!"
Menard couldn’t contain the intense humiliation anymore. The blood rushed straight to his ears as he snapped completely, raising his right arm to call for his contracted beast.
The white-furred giant wolf stepped forward, standing right beside Menard.
Its glowing blue eyes glared at Terrence while its chest puffed out, drawing energy directly from its master’s rage. Menard pointed a trembling, furious finger straight at Terrence’s heart.
"Tear him apart!" Menard screamed at the top of his lungs.
The rest of the Alpha Squad panicked behind him. Their survival instincts took over as they frantically summoned their own beasts to back up their squad leader.
The violet python slithered forward with a sharp hiss, swaying aggressively beside the white wolf, though the giant green frog was still nowhere to be seen after running away earlier.
Both beasts lunged at Terrence simultaneously, kicking up dirt, broken concrete, and thick clouds of dust as they charged forward with full force.
Terrence didn’t even flinch. He stood firmly in place, his hands resting casually inside his jacket pockets, completely unbothered by the incoming lethality.
He knew these creatures were nothing compared to what he held in his system.
FLASH!
A pitch-black blur materialized directly in front of him. The Mutated Iron Shadow Hound intercepted the dual assault in a split second. Its heavy S-Rank pressure exploded outward in every direction like a violent, invisible shockwave.
The hound lowered its head and let out a low, throat-rattling growl that vibrated directly through the shattered pavement beneath their feet.
The sudden aura hit the running wolf and python like a physical brick wall. Both beasts whimpered in absolute terror.
Their front legs buckled beneath them, skidding through the dirt before they scrambled backward in complete disarray. They looked back over their shoulders at their masters with panic-stricken eyes, refusing to take another step forward.
"What are you doing?!" Menard shrieked, his cracking voice reaching an embarrassingly high pitch. "I gave you an order! Kill him!"
"I was offering you something good, Menard," Terrence said, slowly shaking his head with a mocking sigh. "I might have even sold you a powerful beast down the line. But this is how you react?"
The Shadow Hound took a single, deliberate step forward. Its dark, metallic aura surged even higher, completely flooding the clearing. The immense disparity in raw strength forced every member of the Alpha Squad to stagger backward. Their knees trembled under the suffocating weight of the hound’s killing intent.
None of them could raise a weapon. None of them could cast a skill. The sheer aura gap was absolute.
"Wait..."
Clara, the female squad member, suddenly spoke up, her voice quivering with clear fear.
"Don’t do anything stupid, Clara!" Menard barked, glaring wildly back at her with red-rimmed eyes. "We are the Alpha Squad! We don’t bow to trash!"
Clara ignored him completely. Recognizing the utterly hopeless situation and knowing they were alive only because Terrence allowed it, she hesitantly stepped forward.
She kept her hands open and clearly visible.
"Did you... did you really mean that?" she asked nervously, reaching carefully into her leather waist pouch. "I’ll pay the rescue fee right now."
"No!" Menard shouted in pure, uncontrolled fury. "Clara, stop!"
It was already too late. Clara hastily pulled out three glowing D-Rank beast cores and extended them forward toward Terrence with trembling hands.
Terrence stepped over the cracked stone and accepted the cores, slipping them straight into his pocket with a satisfied smile.
"That’s very nice of you," Terrence said smoothly, giving her a small, polite nod. "You have my respect."
Without giving Menard another second of his attention, Terrence turned his back on the utterly humiliated squad. He called the Shadow Hound back to his side and strolled casually away, walking down the ruined city streets without a single care.
Menard stood frozen in place, watching Terrence’s retreating back. His face was pale, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles turned white, yet he couldn’t summon the courage to utter another word or make another move.
His squad mates remained silent, carefully keeping their distance from their broken leader.
’A B-Rank core and three D-Rank cores,’ Terrence thought to himself. ’Not a bad haul for a quick detour in the ruins. I can give the Shadow Hound a solid meal tomorrow and push its growth bar further.’
As he reached an intersection surrounded by collapsed high-rise buildings, his stomach suddenly rumbled loudly, shattering his cool and composure in an instant.
Terrence paused, chuckling softly to himself as he rubbed his abdomen.
’First things first... I definitely need some real food for myself.’