"Shit!" A mercenary shouted. He dropped the magazine and snatched a second one. But he was too slow.
Carter was already at his face. He could kill the mercenary. It would be so easy. It would be just the blink of an eye.
But that wasn't who Eldritch Knight was. The Eldritch Knight was a swordsman in white. His robe never soaked human blood. Only Terror's.
So he did what Zeneros Blackburn should have done. He showed mercy.
Carter slammed the pommel into the mercenary's head and knocked him out cold.
The white swordsman sheathed his sword.
"My blade is for Terrors. Not the living." He said.
The white swordsman zipped away again. He disarmed each of the mercenaries. He danced in the line of fire and dodged every single bullet coming at him.
They fell like trees. A good sleep and nothing more. Their bones didn't even break. The force was just enough to knock them out.
Auschutz stepped back in fear.
"This… Can't be. Not even Terror survives these bullets."
Carter slammed the scabbard into a mercenary's abdomen, causing him to crumble and hold his liver. The swordsman dashed through three, leaving each of them with a smack to their weakness that rendered them useless.
A mercenary aimed the barrel at Carter's head. He slammed it away and knocked the rifle out of the mercenary's hand. His scabbard stopped just before hitting the helmet of the mercenary.
He stopped because the mercenary surrendered. He raised his hands in panic.
"Please spare me!" The mercenary shouted.
"I will." Carter said. His voice was calm and soothing. Almost like a whisper.
The other mercenaries dropped their rifles.
"What are you doing?!" Auschutz shouted. "I order you to shoot him! Shoot him! Now!"
The general shouted at the top of his lungs. But no one listened.
A mercenary's lips trembled. He said, "No."
Then another said, "No."
Then all of them said, "No!"
Neros and Piper returned.
Neros kicked behind the knees of Auschutz and forced him to his knees.
"You are being arrested for treason, General Auschutz. You've attempted to kill a great asset for our kind. Your action puts humanity at risk." Neros said calmly. He had a gun to Auschutz's head.
"Can't you see? My actions are to better humanity. If we can find out what makes him so strong! I can make all of us as strong as him." Auschutz said.
He turned to every single one of them. But they all gave him contempt.
"The path to become an Eldritch Knight has always been opened." Carter said. "But great power comes with great responsibilities."
The white swordsman placed the Prisoner in front of Auschutz.
"Becoming an Eldritch Knight is forever doom your soul to eternal torment. If you can resist it, you will become a Knight and protect humanity for their future.
If you don't, you shall become a monster no less than a Terror.
Look. The source of my power. Hold it and understand the difference between us."
The Prisoner hypnotized Auschutz. He heard its voice.
"Take me…"
Auschutz grabbed the blade and unsheathed it in one motion. He laughed manically.
"Hahahahaha! This sword is your source of power?! With it, I will become the Eldritch Knight! With it, no one can stand against me! With it! I will rule the world!"
The blade ate into Auschutz's skin. Dark veins appeared on him as he appeared crazier and crazier.
He had lost his mind. And the blade showed everyone his true color.
"Come." Carter said calmly.
The Prisoner snatched itself out of Auschutz's hand and flew back to Carter.
The dark veins disappeared. His eyes returned to normal. So did his mind. He had realized what he had just become. A hungry monster that knew no end.
"I…" Auschutz fell on his knees once more. His head lowered. He looked like he was bowing to Carter.
"I vowed to protect the innocent, strike down evil, and vanquish the deceptor." Carter placed his hand on Auschutz's head. "I saw many of my friends die. I live with nightmares and temptation. I walk this path alone so that others wouldn't.
Being an Eldritch Knight isn't a blessing. It's a curse."
Auschutz cried. He slammed his head on the concrete.
The other mercenaries dashed forward, wanting to stop him. But Carter raised a hand and gestured to them to stop.
"If you were a deceptor, I would have killed you. But you aren't. You are a desperate man in a desperate time that comes up with a desperate measure.
And for that, I won't kill you."
"I'm sorry…" Auschutz said.
Neros sighed. He took out his phone and called the authority.
The other mercenaries had all recovered. They saw everything with their own eyes. How a man was able to show the other man his wrongdoings.
'I can't believe that work…' Carter was equally surprised in his own mind. What he just did was something different. It came out naturally like improvisation. But it wasn't. It was the Awaken Acting Skill.
'Picking that skill was the right choice.'
The government came. This time it wasn't mercenary but the national guard. They put Auschutz in cuffs and took him away.
"Wait!" He shouted. "I want to say something to the Eldritch Knight."
The guards looked at Carter.
"Let him." He said.
"You remind me of my old commander. He died saving me. I never thought that I would meet another great man like him."
Carter stayed silent and listened.
"There are many forces in this world that want to maintain the same world order… I hope you can break it, sir. I hope you can bring an era of peace to us."
"I can't promise anything, Auschutz. But you can have my word that I will do my best or die trying."
Auschutz laughed. He seemed much lighter than before. All that weight in him had disappeared.
"Your best is enough. Your best is enough, Zeneros Blackburn."
And they took him away.
"Well. I couldn't believe what just happened." Quill wiped his forehead full of sweat.
It was so surreal that he thought maybe it was a dream. Quill was snatched from a modern world similar to Carter. He had seen many movies and read many stories. What just happened was so similar to a movie scene.
His feeling was correct. The Acting Skill might not be fearsome on the battlefield but it could achieve many miracles that a simple fist couldn't.
'It was almost like… Reality warping…' Carter noticed that.
Carter had Acting and Performance Skill at the beginning. He thought that they were useless. He didn't think that no more.
'I wonder if the Performance Skill can have a similar effect?'
Carter made a mental note to himself to acquire it if he could find one.