The prejudice between men and women had long died down, since strength decided what was right and what was wrong in the kingdoms and empires. It would be a foolish thing to do if they acted the same when both men and women were stronger than each other in many ways.
But,
Women of this world were raised with the teaching of "women must seduce the men" and things along those lines; even though many women were stronger than the men, due to such upbringing, they were often looked down upon by many, at least until they "proved" their worth to the world, accumulating achievements for themselves to be acknowledged.
Though it was the same for men, it was applicable only when a "talented" "commoner" was involved, while noble young masters had money to get what they wanted, be it achievements, women, fame, ranks, position, or skills. The barrier of strength between men and women had broken entirely after the beginning of the apocalypse, but the women were still looked down upon because of the way they had grown up.
Seo Hana had learned about these things while they were still in the academy. Though there wasn't any verbal exchange between the Gifted and the Black Rain Order groups currently, she felt uncomfortable because of the stares she was receiving from the Black Rain Order group. One mistake, she was waiting for that one mistake, and she would massacre the entire group without a shred of mercy.
She grew up in a different environment with authority and authoritative strength, and being looked down upon didn't sit right with her; even "that" man hasn't ever looked down upon her, even though he was a god-like being.
'These mere ants dare....' Seo Hana gritted her teeth, irked. Her killing intent intensified, and soon a few cracks resounded with wiles following them, but of course, Hana had no intention of stopping anytime soon.
"Stop! Please stop! We're already on the verge of breakdown; please stop!" Richard exclaimed with difficulty.
[That's not how an alliance holder should handle things.] A calm, hypnotic, unrecognisable voice sounded in her mind, and shuddering at the abrupt voice, Hana calmed down and looked around with a frown adorning her face.
Her friend deepened in confusion as the face of a certain man flashed in her mind again, and
"Ahem....I apologise. I went too far." Hana apologised for the formality.
"I-it's ok." Bert quickly tried to take control of the situation.
*
After a few minutes of "rearrangement," the leaders of the Black Rain Order and the Gifted sat on opposite sides in an abandoned building, gazing at each other as they tried to assess and gain the upper hand in the alliance, but still unbeknownst to the Black Rain Order, Seo Hana already had the upper hand the moment she decided to act, and that act of hers was enough to gain the upper hand in this so-called alliance, which was only about glaring at a common enemy rather than a proper, formal alliance.
It was more of a temporary cease-fire in a war between kingdoms as they tried to suck in all the recourses of the third-party kingdom, which was poking around them and reaping benefits amidst the chaos that the two kingdoms were facing.
The information exchange took place after they shook hands at a deal that was more favourable to the "victims" of the Black Rain Order's prejudice.
The information exchange contained a lot of informative and curiosity-enticing news, which was well received by the gifted and also confirmed their suspicions about the Honour-bound Federation and the Abominations.
After taking a deep, sharp breath, Seo Hana, whose vibe had morphed into a terrifying one, gazed straight at Samuel's almost lifeless eyes.
"Human experiments." Hana stated, and the entire room turned silent.
"..... What?" Samuel asked as if he didn't understand her words.
"Huuu.... "We suspect" that these groups are involved in human experimenting. We have news about a certain man speaking about "testing the limits of a human's potential."" Seo Hana stated. They were planning to attack these groups' locations in a matter of a few weeks, which was the reason they were fighting against monster hoards before coming here. They too wanted to enter the dungeons to fight against hoards, but the dungeon they currently had a hold of in their "territory" had a huge time difference, and the difference was currently not completely calculated, so, since they couldn't take risks in times like these, they held off from going into the dungeons.
And it wasn't the time nor the matter that allowed them to have the leisure of taking a break, because the more they delayed, the more people they would have lost by the time they initiated a proper attack.
"Where did you get this information from? Is the source even reliable?" Samuel stated vaguely, implying many hidden queries clouded in distrust. And that was the last straw; Seo Hana's respectful demeanour shattered in an instant, replaced by a cold demeanour that chilled the atmosphere in the room.
"Mr. Samuel.... this so-called alliance was something you f**kers wanted; I couldn't care less if you believed me or not, but you have dared to underestimate us twice since the beginning; it seems like you didn't initiate this alliance with proper common sense on how an alliance works, so....." Seo Hana spoke slowly, eerily, and coldly, forcing the Black Rain Order to take an unconscious step back, both mentally and physically.
"We'll call off this alliance since I don't really see the use of being allied with a group full of sh*t heads." Seo Hana commented and walked off, uttering everything she wanted to. The Black Rain Order group, which ranked first in overall world rankings, had lost her respect the moment they underestimated and discriminated against her and her group, and Samuel's distrust was the last string of respect she held towards them, and when it snapped, her attitude towards them changed a whole 180 degrees.
"Halt!" Samuel exclaimed loudly as he glared at the Gifted, who were walking off of the table without even glancing back once.
"Ha...." With a sigh of exhaustion, only Seo Hana halted as she glared at Samuel over her shoulder, eerily.
"I guess I should change my opinion of the Black Rain Order; these dumb f**ks don't even understand the situation they are in....." Hana spoke to herself, and when she heard somebody unsheathing their sword....
"Incinerate." With a soft mumble escaping Hana's small mouth,
"ARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!" Anguish-dyed screams resounded in the room as a man in the middle of the group began to burn under a strong flame like a matchstick, and before long, nothing except for his ashes and witnesses remained as proof of that dead man's existence.
[Hahahahaha!!] A cold yet amused laughter sounded in her consciousness as she just ignored the laughter and glared at the group, which now had an expression with which Hana was satisfied. The expression of utter horror had dyed the ashen faces of the remaining fifty-three people.
"What were you saying, f**k head?" Hana asked as she gazed at Samuel, whose expression was changing unnaturally at a terrifying rate. She, until today, never knew that a human's face could change so many different expressions in such a short time.
SNAP-!!!
With a few snaps of her fingers, Hana garnered their attention and
"From this day forth, I, no, we the Gifted, are going to be in control of the gates in the Black Rain Order's territory. If you dare to block our paths, then it will be a war." Seo Hana stated, thinking that if the alliance was going to break anyway, why should she hold back her demands, and why not gain something in compensation for all the exhaustion they had caused? So, she decided that she would rip them off..... Ahem, she would get a "proper," and "adequate" compensation.
The compensation she mentioned was also one of the reasons she had accepted the alliance in the first place, so getting the same results by pillaging wasn't that bad,
Or so she felt.
"Wha-" Samuel was about to roar at the outrageous demands due to a simple matter of offence, but was cut short by Hana.
"No, war is when two equal forces fight, I think? But if it's one-sided, then it has another moniker for it...." She muttered and continued.
"A massacre." She stated, and they shuddered, as if they felt like the massacre she mentioned was going to take place right at that moment.
"The Black Rain Order will cease to exist the moment they dare to halt us, the Gifted." Hana stated in an authoritative tone and began to walk off, as
[Hahahahahahahaha!!!] A certain man's hysterically amused laughter sounded in her consciousness.
'At least, the benefits we were aiming for haven't changed....' She thought. Of course, if she wanted, she could make things right even now, but she chose not to. Working with another group without any trust was like leaving their backs open to their enemies, which was just another way to die sooner. It was a bit, only in the slightest bit, of a shame since she couldn't obtain a large number of "troops," but well, not everything goes as planned.
From her talk with the core members of the Black Rain Order—Bert, Garrick, Bobby, and Richard—at the start, she could tell that Samuel was currently extremely sensitive and unstable, which was the reason she had tried to talk as softly as possible, but once she snapped, it was over; she cared for nothing, and this time too, she didn't care about Samuel's state whatsoever and literally pillaged their source of survival, the gates.
And she felt no remorse for what she did; her world had always been a dog-eat-dog world, and that didn't change even on a new planet, so except for making her more mentally and physically stronger, the new planet had no influence on her.
"Is it over?" Katline, who stood just out of the room, asked as soon as Hana walked out rubbing her forehead.
Noticing Hana nod her head in agreement, "You did great." Katline said and hugged Hana as they walked down the stairs.
"Katline, do you think I'm boring?" Hana abruptly asked, her thoughts wandering elsewhere.
"Huh?"
"....."
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