PANDORA. Hope Dies Last: ToG

Games in Hell

Chapter 17

Unfortunately, Pandora's intuition and hunches never failed her. The bad feeling she had at the station came to be true when there was one more uninvited, unwelcome, figure on the Hell Train.

As there happened to be an unwanted figure introducing himself as the Slayer Candidate for the criminal syndicate, FUG.

FUG never shared good blood with any of the 10 families nor those who had sworn loyalty to Jahad's empire. FUG's goal, which few understand, was to overthrow the ruling class after all. How they planned to kill those who had attained both immortality, invulnerability, and powers beyond comprehension...that was beyond her knowledge.

All she knew was that their hopes laid in their gods; the Slayers. Those who showed potential would be given the title of 'Slayer Candidates', as such was the case of 'Hoaquin' as he addressed himself.

(AN: It's hard to agree on an English name of Hoaquin. The wiki says Hoaqin, some say Hoakin, and others say Hoaquin. As someone who speaks Korean, I will say that Hoaquin is the most accurate translation...I think. At least we have 'White' though.)

To begin with, FUG (an acronym she believes to be 'For Unforgettable Grace' referencing the 13th member of the 12 Great crusaders who had 'mysteriously' gone missing during the great civil war) was a sworn enemy of the Empire of Jahad. It was the duty of every soldier, every knight, ranker, and princess of Jahad to put their lives on the line to eliminate the threat.

Slayers were beings called 'Gods' by FUG, or rather their god as to serve as the counterpart for the 10 Families and Jahad himself. Fittingly so there were 11 Slayers, each for their targets. Slayer candidates were those who had shown great potential and might reach the level of strength required to fight against the family heads and Jahad. Handpicked from within, they commanded great fear and authority in their own rights.

In truth, they presented little threat to the family heads themselves due to their unreal level of strength, power, and most importantly the contract they had made with the administrators themselves which gave them true immortality and a form of invulnerability.

But to regulars, the family members, the others...FUG was a terrorist organization which commanded fear and slayers (along with those in candidacy) were icons of their power. It was only natural that the 'Slayer Candidate' quickly took control of most of the regulars within the train and tried to get all others to submit.

To make matters worse, or personal, for Pandora...was that Hoaquin shared the same tell-tale signs of her family. White hair, bleached white skin, white eyes, and even down to the traditional battle clothes that she wore most of the time. If put side by side, it would be obvious that they were related.

Perhaps due to the passage of time, Hoaquin stood much taller than Pandora but height never mattered much in the tower anyway. What was most important was the sickening feeling within Pandora's stomach as she saw the similarity between the slayer candidate and her loving father. He had to at least be a direct descendent if not a direct child of his holiness...which would make him her sibling. The thought disgusted her.

Her little group along with the other group (Group Daniel) stayed as far away from Hoaquin as possible.

"So he's a slayer candidate while you're a Princess of Jahad? Panny, your family's more fucked up than I thought!" Yuri chided before dodging a punch which came her way. Contrary to popular belief, Pandora was capable of fighting even without her blade (although it would be considered heresy in the main family).

Lero originally thought that if they, Yuri and Pandora, revealed themselves as princesses of Jahad, they would be able to win back the regulars and gang up on Hoaquin but the plan was quickly scrapped.