God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.-Chapter 1098: Troublesome Friends (1).

The sound of a commotion snapped Cain out of his reverie.

He turned away from Susan who seemed concerned as well.

On the other side of the fire, an argument seemed to be taking place.

"What’s going on?" She mumbled.

He shook his head and muttered as he rose to his feet,

"I’ll be right back."

In the time it took him to reach, the argument seemed to have spiraled even more.

The atmosphere was fiery as curse words and insults were hurled from both sides.

He was not the only one that had reacted. Lukas, Alvi, and Gilead were already there with difficult expressions on their faces.

"What’s going on here?" There was a subtle shift in the atmosphere upon his arrival. But it still remained tense.

Cain raised his brows. At the head of one side of the quarrel was Hunter, his gaze cold with Dan and Floki at both his sides.

He turned to Cain and spoke, not with him tongue, but with his mind,

’These idiots are trying to start a fight.’

Cain’s eyes narrowed. He knew Hunter was not one to get into pointless arguments and fights.

If he was heading this, then there surely had to be a good reason.

Cain turned to the other side.

At their head was a cruel-lookimg woman. Despite her seductive curves, the terrifying scowl on her face poke nothing of her good nature.

Cain’s eyes narrowed, ’If I remember correctly, she should be the head of the Soul Sprite hunter party— one of the parties Alvi hired. What is she doing, starting a fight with Hunter?’

"Melania, what is going on, Alvi spoke up, trying to get to an understanding."

In response, Melania sneered,

"Alvi, you promised us good weapons and mana shards in exchange for accompanying you on this stupid quest. I didn’t think it was all just a scheme to turn us into fodder!"

Alvi’s expression turned dark,

"What the hell are you talking about?! Why would I do such a thing?"

She spat, her words drenched in wrath,

"Don’t fucking bullshit me!"

Then she turned to Hunter,

"And you... You’d better keep your dogs on leashes if you don’t them all dead come morning."

Hunter responded to her threat with a cold declaration,

"Words have no meaning once blades are drawn. It you have the gusto to back up your words, I suggest you take a gander and see what happens."

Melania’s expression worsened.

The Hunters behind her seemed agitated as well, staring at the Beastmen behind Hunter with menacing eyes.

’Hunter, tell me what happened?’ Cain insisted again.

There was a brief pause, then Hunter’s voice came into his mind,

’They blame us for what happened two nights ago— the incident with the watchposts.’

Cain raised a brow. Hunter continued,this expression getting worse as the Hunters kept throwing provocative words and insults,

’They were the ones supposed to be on guard that night. However, they are blaming it on us, saying we knew it would happen. Even worse, thanks to the mass number of casualties coming from them, they believe we are somehow placing them in more danger than we let on.’

Cain frowned them turned to Melania.

Seeing this, the hunting party leader sneered at him,

"What, are you going to try to silence us?! Do you think we don’t dare speak for ourselves?! Or you just want us to keep our heads down while we are bullied and mistreated!"

Cain turned to Alvi. The older man’s face was pale,

"Cain, I-I..."

’Looks like he doesn’t have a clue either.’

Cain sighed and turned back to the troublemaker.

His mind swam a bit;

What was the purpose of this? Why was this lady trying to start a fight now?

’She certainly won’t be willing to see reason. And if her motives are sinister...’

A dark gleam flashed across his eyes.

"What do you want?"

Melania sneered,

"What I want? Adequate compensation and a formal apology from that dog." She said, pointing at Hunter.

Hunter took a step forward,

"The only way you’ll be getting an apology, is if you wring it off my dried out corpse."

Melania sneered, "I’ll gladly oblige."

"I have a better idea.* Cain suddenly said.

The chattering stopped. All eyes fell on him.

Melania’s eyes narrowed in suspicion,

"What are you—"

A smile that didn’t reach the eyes appeared on Cain’s face,

"If you truly believe you have been wronged, then I believe you will have to fight to prove it. Unfortunately, I believe we all put our lives on the line that night. But if you truly believe you were wrong, there’s nothing I can do to change that."

He chuckled sinisterly,

"So instead, how about you prove it another way..."

He pointed at Hunter,

"Fight him. If you defeat him, you’ll get what you’ve asked for and more. And as for the apology, I’ll publicly hand you my severed arm alongside it. What do you say?"

For a moment, the silence was deafening.

Then the chatter exploded.

Hunter turned to Cain with wide eyes,

’Cain! What are you doing?’

Cain snickered, ’I think I have an idea of what is going on.’

Melania sneered as she glared at him,

"What would a battle even prove? It doesn’t change the fact that we have been wronged."

Cain shrugged, "Well, I am giving you a chance to take justice into your own hands. And you know what? Let’s put up something even extra. How about he only fights you at fifty percent of his full strength? How does that sound?"

Melania’s expression changed. Hunter let out a tired sigh, and even the usually impassive Dan turned to him with slightly raised brows.

Eventually, Melania burst into laughter,

"Oh, my. What faith you have in your dog."

Cain shrugged, "It is what it is. Of course, I won’t force you to accept. If you have any better suggestions, I’m willing to hear."

Melanie sneered and shook her head, "No. This is fine."

Her sinister gaze burned holes through Hunter,

"This is absolutely perfect."