Chapter 121: To stand there and do nothing

Colby didn’t get the chance to answer.

Esper Parker, an Esper warned about the man, grabbed him with his powers, hoisting him into the air and squeezing Colby in a giant, invisible hand of darkness. Colby let out a squeak as Esper Parker growled.

“Don’t think that you have the right to behave as you always have. Brent isn’t alone anymore, and you aren’t taking him anywhere. I’ve heard what you did to a child, and I will not forgive you for it.” Esper Parker growled. Colby, who was already having a hard time breathing because of the hold that Esper Parker had on him, gasped.

“I did nothing wrong!” He hissed and Brent laughed, loudly.

“Then where the fuck is my arm, Colby?” Brent demanded coolly and Mr. Caulder let out a shocked gasp. The Espers in the room, however, didn’t seem as shocked. They were more shocked that Colby had been grabbed.

Then, Colby let out a distressed sound.

“Why can’t I leave?” He demanded and Esper Parker let out a low, happy chuckle. It sent a shiver running down Brent’s spine and he was glad that the man was on his side.

“Hell if I know, shithead. Now, let’s go have a chat.” Esper Parker didn’t wait for Brent to give his permission, he just took Colby out of the room with him, slamming the door shut behind him with a shadow hand.

The silence after was loud, before Brent bent in half and started laughing. He was still holding onto the gun, laughing harder as he rested the gun and his hand on his knee.

“Alright Brent, come on. Let’s be a little safer, hmm?” Esper Harris muttered, coming closer to Brent and essentially taking over the position the Esper Parker had occupied instead. He gently raised Brent up, taking his gun from him and tucking it back where Brent had put it in the first place.

Brent didn’t appreciate the butt tap that accompanied the tuck away, but he wasn’t going to complain. It didn’t feel sexual in nature, and the man was a nature born flirt. The wink that he gave Brent in this kind of situation?

Yeah, nature born flirt.

“What the fuck is going on?” The Captain finally asked and Brent shook himself. He really had to get it together. If Colby was here, it was only a matter of time before his brother showed up. Especially since Colby wasn’t going to get away from Esper Parker that easily. Brent had thought that he was going to distract Colby, one way or the other, but now Esper Parker was dealing with that issue for Brent.

That still left the fact that his brother was going to show up, and Brent needed to get as much information as he could out of these fuckers and also unlock as much of this place to him as he could. Before his brother could hide anything else.

“What the fuck is going on? I thought it was pretty obvious. There’s going to be a change, idiot. The E.A.G. is not staying affiliated with this place as long as I am alive, and trust me, if I disappear?” Brent shook his head, letting out a deep, dangerous laugh. “I’m not the true threat. It’s the people backing me, who trained me, who are the bigger threat.” The Captain seemed slightly intimidated, but at the same time, he’d been the Captain for a long time. He knew how to deal with threats.

“The people backing you? I know who the Phoenix Guild are, Brent. They aren’t as scary as you are making them out to be. They got to the Captain’s partner. What the fuck can the Phoenix Guild do to me?” It was an upsetting point. One that got the rest of the Lieutenants on edge.

Brent’s gaze narrowed as he stared at the Captain.

“You’re right.” Brent said carefully, feeling the people around him turn their gaze towards him. Brent’s expression was cold as he stared at the Captain, his hand a fist at his side. “I can’t deny that the E.A.G. has done a number on this city. They’ve been allowed to run wild for some fucked up reason, and I can’t argue with that. However, they have repeatedly and continuously failed to assassinate a few people. Myself would be included in that list. I killed the motherfuckers who wanted to kill me.” Brent said with a shrug. “It’s a tale as old as time. Target the people who the people love, strike fear in the hearts of others, thrive in the chaos. They expect us to sit back and be pretty because they are relying on the years of teaching that Guides have gone through. The years of brainwashing.” Brent’s lips curled up slightly. “That’s because most of them have never gone to the front lines, never actually met some of the Guides who live and work there.” Brent commented.

The Captain looked confused as well. That was for good reason.

The city was so big and popular because there wasn’t a front line here. Technically, this city was safe. The reason being?

The surrounding cities acted almost like a buffer, protecting this bigger city from the dangers of most Gates. Any Gates that were in the area were either used as stable Gates for resources, or stopped before they grew out of proportion. The Espers who lived in the surrounding cities had it much harder, and thus were ’funded’ by the bigger city.

These Espers and Guides were basically lap cats in comparison to the street cats that were from the other cities. There was a reason that they never got along, and why Brent never went to any of the cities around them. He’d probably be killed on site just because he was from the major city.

It was one of the reasons why he decided to go as far away as he had.

So these idiots had never met a Field Guide, because what actual Field Guide would want to be here? In this damn hellscape, unsafe, with the E.A.G. running rampant, evil down to their roots? Bullshit that Brent knew he and Kellen wouldn’t tolerate. He knew Sergei also wouldn’t tolerate either.

The more Brent spent away from this damn city the more he realised how many things had to go right for this city to form as it had and how the humans that lived here were squandering it.

The E.A.G. of this area had no idea who Field Guides were, and neither did any of the Guilds in the area. Fuck, when Kellen got here he was going to eat them all for Breakfast.

“What the hell do the front lines have to do with anything that you’re rambling about?” It was the healer/earth Esper who spoke, fists clenched, pissed off. Brent gave a laugh.

“It has everything to do with what I’m talking about. These E.A.G. bastards, yourselves included, have never had to deal with a Guide pushing back against you, ever. The normal Guides of this era are soft, forgiving. It’s not a mark against them. They are allowed to be soft, but there are lots of Guides out there that are sick and tired of being soft. They want to be able to protect themselves. I am part of those Guides.” Brent said fiercely.

Brent was about to continue when another sudden fluctuation in powers had Brent spinning suddenly towards the door. Something was coming, fast and quick, and Brent didn’t have a lot of time to react.

One second they were the only ones in the room, the next second Esper Tracer was throwing wind sickles at the people coming into the room. Brent realised rather quickly that they weren’t wearing the uniforms of the Chronos Guild, nor were they wearing the uniforms of any of the other Guilds that Brent knew were in the city.

Brent didn’t hesitate at that point.

Pulling his gun out, Brent did what he needed to do. The gun didn’t need bullets as this one was a laser gun. The men and women fell quickly, their faces twisting in pain when they didn’t die, and the ones that did? Brent felt no remorse.

He stared down at the people that he had taken the lives of before Esper Gardner spat on their bodies.

“Brent, these are E.A.G. members.” Brent glanced towards the Captain and his Lieutenants. People who had not been targeted, but people who had also not moved to either help nor hinder them when they were attacked.

This was supposed to be their building. This was supposed to be his Guild. Looking at him now? He had no control over anything.

“Call up your people.” Brent ordered, tucking his gun away again. “Order them up here now. We’re starting the process of changing everything, and know that your days here are numbers. If I have it my way, you will be held accountable with everyone here for what your negligence has allowed to fester in this city.” Brent warned. He watched the Captain swallow thickly. “I should have known when you showed up and hurt a civilian on my brother’s orders that you were too far gone. I’m sorry that I thought you were better than that.”

Those words seemed to hurt him more than Brent shooting at him again could. Espers were anything if not prideful, especially since the Lieutenants all looked like Brent had hit him.

It was a testament to the Captain that he didn’t attack Brent and his people, and instead did as Brent ordered. Brent wasn’t sure if he did that because he was the new head of the James, or because he felt a hint of remorse for his actions, and honestly? Brent didn’t care.

He was here to do what he needed to get done, and that was it.

While they waited, Brent spoke quietly to Mr. Caulder, the older man getting an up close and personal look at everything Brent was about to go through. He looked like he was going to have a heart attack, but he wasn’t going to back down.

It was during that time that the Captain moved towards Brent.

“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.” The man said quietly. Brent turned, expecting him to argue with him, but instead the man looked…tired. Worn down.

“How can you be so sure?” Brent asked. The Captain stared at Brent, his eyes darting towards Brent’s missing arm and then back towards Brent’s gaze.

“Because you are standing here, in this office, when you should be avoiding this area as much as you possibly can. You should be running away from this city. It’s too far gone anyways. There is nothing you can do to save it. I tried, at first, to protest what was happening, but it’s far bigger than I could consider. It’s too much. You’ll fail.” He was warning Brent. He wasn’t running away from his accountability, he was terrified.

Brent, trusting his instincts, touched the other man. It was a jolt to his system to realise that the man was in danger from surging. Horrified, Brent looked around and probably realised that all of the Espers in the room with him probably were.

“It is never too late.” Brent replied, his jaw tight. He had to fight his nature against guiding them because he knew that he didn’t have enough to give. He was good, but he wasn’t that good. The Captain smiled at Brent, a rather surprising act given how Brent had spoken to him and treated him thus far.

“You’re right in saying you aren’t like your brother, but he’s not the only monster here, Brent. In the end, we’re all just fodder to the greater picture.” The Captain told him and Brent stared at him for a long, tense moment. The greater picture? What the fuck was that? The end of the world?

What the hell was the actual goal of the E.A.G.?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep