The Corrupted Syndicate

"According to both Venom and Raven, I was picked because of my skills in fighting and lack of emotions. Beast wanted a killing machine and I happened to be there. But Raven insisted that it was because I was the most able-bodied out of the kids," explained Mavislin.

Her eyes fluttered closed as memories of her past surfaced. She recalled how Venom had rescued her from the hellish confines of that orphanage, a place she had longed to escape.

He had purchased her with ease, thrusting her into the brutal training regimes under Beast's unforgiving command. As she recalled entering the Syndicate for the first time, she remembered being surrounded by a sea of other children.

The dragoness felt a pang of sorrow as she remembered how, out of the many who had started with her, most had not survived the rigorous trials of the following year.

Beast demanded nothing less than the strongest to rise as leaders, and the price of failure was steep.

"So, how did you end up as First Seat? It's not every day that a mere child takes up arms like you do. I've heard you've been in the force for at least a decade, and the rumors circulating claim your department has quite the reputation in the Southern regions."

Mavislin blushed unwillingly at the blonde's words about her. She took pride in knowing that she made a mark on her birthplace, though it harbored her terrifying past.

"What have you heard about me?" asked the dragoness, absentmindedly playing with the Viceroy's blonde locks.

Zenos smirked, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes as he allowed his little savage trophy to play with his locks. It had been ages since he'd let anyone but himself touch his hair.

With a soft shake of his head, he mirrored the gesture, his fingers gently twirling a lock of her hair around his own.

"Ah, there's much to discuss, my dear beast. For instance, how you managed to dismantle my Bravo team in a single skirmish, or how you leveled your own home in a fit of rage and despair."

"Not to mention how you transformed a dying District into a place of interest upon earning the title of First Seat. But I'm more interested in who you were before all that. Tell me about the person you were before achieving such fame."

The Viceroy's words of praise made the dragoness's tail flick with joy, but she soon composed herself, striving to convey her story to him with the seriousness it deserved.

"I wasn't much actually... Just an unwanted child that Venom bought so he could hit the quota for that day. Even though his main job was to research substances and discover the bodies' limitations, back in the day, Venom was an outfield member."

"We didn't have a segregation system back then because Beast had chosen only a few members to keep before purging nearly 99% of the entire Syndicate. Thus, the ones who remained had to divide the work amongst themselves."

"Venom taught me the ways of combat, from melee to firearms and in between, all of which I had excelled in. However, he was adamant about barring me from using firearms because of how skewed my view on living creatures was."

"To cut the story short, I never cared about them. I only saw them as mere target practices and obstacles to my goal, which was to finish my mission and earn my keep and placing as a member of the Syndicate. And that became my mantra for the most part of my life."

"It was only after I immersed myself into outfield combat, taking up missions that involved killing, that I started to gain back a bit of emotion. Before that, I was like a doll, even needing to be commanded to do basic things."

"When I was given a chance to level my old orphanage into nothing but cinders, I jumped on the chance even if the reward wasn't much. It was then that Venom and Beast realized that I was no longer doing it for the spoils but for the pure fun and joy of killing."

"A person devoid of remorse or mercy, driven solely by an unyielding resolve and a singular passion for combat, pursuing the thrill of the fight with relentless intensity. The perfect being to be a leader of the Covert Ops," finished Mavislin, allowing all her memories to pour out.

"Ah... I must be boring you to death," murmured the dragoness, trying to rise from his lap.

To her surprise, Zenos allowed her to get up, giving her the space to stretch her cramped muscles. The Viceroy had listened to her story in silence, absorbing every detail with intense interest. Still, it was the final sentence that had truly captured his curiosity.