The night passed quietly for Talon's group. Like he expected, Hyun-Ki didn't try to attack them during that ti at all. He knew the huge risk he was taking by throwing the rest of his army away like that especially when he knew that Talon and the others were capable of easily overwhelming his army.
By the ti dawn ca, the group had already started moving closer and closer from the base again. Using the trees as camouflage, they dispersed around the entirety of the base to watch carefully what was happening.
"How is the situation on your side?" As he pushed a leaf out of his way to watch, Talon used the device in his hand to communicate with the others.
"It's quiet here too."
"Nothing on my side."
"Seems very peaceful to ."
Imdiately, he received multiple responses. Nodding his head, he closed his eyes for a mont. 'Interesting, so he isn't going to try and keep us from getting close to the walls. Did he get this terrified?'
Talon couldn't quite grasp what his enemy was intending to do. Still, he wasn't that worried about it since his plan involved so little danger that he might as well consider it a foolproof plan.
"Continue as planned." After a few seconds of ntal preparation, Talon gave the order as he slowly started sneaking to the edge of the forest. Since Talon was alone on this side, the others had to go in groups.
Slowly, from all sides, they started creeping closer and closer from the edge. Everyone held their weapons, ready to move.
The tension was high and everyone was nervous. However, they didn't let that affect their minds.
"Let's get this done with, boys." With that signal from Talon, finally, the students appeared from their hiding spots as they started moving toward the base.
They kept their speed moderate and their bodies crouched down. Step by step, they got closer and closer to their target.
anwhile, Talon watched silently from his spot as he held the communication device, ready to move to the next step the mont the first one was done.
'Nothing so far. I'm sure they already noticed that we're trying to attack them. But, they don't seem like they have any intention of attacking.' Talon thought to himself with a serious expression.
He was suspicious of this. But, he didn't find any reason to stop the mission yet.
Eventually, the students reached the gates he checked if there was anyone watching them before they quickly crouched down and put so objects near the tal gates. After setting them up, they turned around and moved away quickly.
A few seconds passed in silence with nothing happening before suddenly, the gates exploded violently. Shards of tal flew everywhere as a gaping hole appeared in the gates.
After that, the students quickly approached the gates from all sides as they got their weapons ready. At that mont, Talon finally appeared out of his hiding spot as he approached the gate.
Hyun-Jae, Sophie, Chin-Hwa, and the others moved the mont they saw the sign too.
"The first step is done. Moving to step two." Talon said as he reached the gate and peeked inside.
What he saw was a gigantic city that stretched as far as the eyes could see. Its buildings were intact and its streets were in good condition. However, this city was now completely empty.
He couldn't see a single human being in the vicinity. Squinting his eyes, he turned to a student standing next to him. "Have you seen anyone when you blew up the gates?"
"No, leader. It was quiet."
"Interesting…" Talon murmured before he looked back at the hole. He was certain that this was sothing Hyun-Ki planned.
"Damn it, this could be a trap," Talon murmured with a difficult expression.
"What should we do, leader?"
Everyone looked at Talon waiting for his decision.
"We are going to continue."
With no further questions needed, the students slowly started moving inside the base with careful steps. Then, they strategically dispersed around to look for any potential traps. However, there was nothing of that sort.
Talon moved inside too as he pulled his spear out. Imdiately, he expanded his senses as far as they could go.
'Nothing… Nobody is near the entrance at all.'
"Continue moving. Don't go too far away from the group." Giving those orders, Talon started moving ahead with everyone following behind him.
The group slowly moved through the main street, approaching the heart of the city.
"All of this was built in a month?" Hyun-Jae murmured with an impressed look on her face. From what she could see, many of the buildings around them were either recently built or restored. The work needed to achieve this was unimaginable. "This place is perfect for a base."
She could imagine all the advantages they would get from taking over it. It would make spreading to other nearby cities a way easier task since it could work as a connecting point between their position in Seoul and everything else.
But, they had to first seize the place. Minutes passed as the group approached the heart of the city.
The city square was the biggest open area in the entire base. It was used as a small marketplace for people to get food and other necessities. One of the main goals of the post-apocalyptic world is to get the economy moving again even if on a very small scale.
People needed a reason to get back to work and build the world again. Not to ntion that the economy is one of the founding pillars of society.
However, this small marketplace was completely empty. Not even a single trace of a human being was left.
"So odd, did everyone disappear?" Sophie said in a confused tone.
"Seems like it," Chin-Hwa replied.
"Don't put your guard down," Talon said as he signaled for everyone to remain quiet. "I can hear sothing."
A faint sound could be heard in the distance. At first, Talon didn't understand what it was. But, as it slowly grew closer and closer, he identified it. The sound was awfully similar to the sound of people walking.
The sound grew louder and louder, making everyone pull their weapons out in anticipation. Then, they showed up. Hundreds of people appeared from all directions in the city square.
Their numbers kept growing quickly as if there was no end to them. They walked in a monotone manner, akin to robots with no minds. Their heads were looking down in union. So had their hands empty and so held firearms.
"What in the actual hell is this?" The students were confused by this sudden scene.
Looking around them, they couldn't understand what was happening.
"They're hypnotized." The first one to figure it out was Talon. All he needed was one single look at them and he could see that they were acting abnormal.
Their unfocused eyes, robotic deanor, and their odd silence. It all perfectly fits the description of soone being controlled by Hyun-Ki.
"All of these people?" Sophie blinked in shock.
"Yeah…"
"But… There are thousands of them."
Those words naturally made everyone tense up. The fact that this many people were being controlled by a single person was just not the most pleasant concept to wrap your head around. Especially when they were surrounded by them.
"Show yourself up, Hyun-Ki. I know you're here." Talon yelled loudly as he looked around him.
However, he received no instant response. Instead, as if his words triggered sothing, all the citizens suddenly lifted their guns up in the air and took aim.
Naturally, the group took a fighting stance as the pressure grew. They were ready to fight.
"Wait…" At that mont, one of the students spoke. "Am I imagining it or… are the kids the only ones holding firearms?"
His question brought everyone's attention to a detail they missed. Of all the citizens surrounding them, the ones that had weapons were kids that weren't older than 10.
"That's true…" Talon murmured as his face grew darker. "Don't tell !"
"It's deliberate," Hyun-Jae said as she gripped her sword tighter. "He ard kids so that we wouldn't hesitate to kill them."
'He's playing on the moral side of it. Dammit!' Clenching her teeth in anger, she clicked her tongue.
Even though the group had already fought other people without any hesitation, kids were a completely different matter.
Sophie stared around her with a complicated expression. Of all the people there, she could recognize many that she interacted with before. Nobody knew how hard it was to see them being controlled like this.
'That bastard!'
"Hahahaha!" At that mont, a loud laugh echoed in the vicinity. "To think I even had to prepare all of this when you would foolishly walk into this place willingly. Is that a rare instance of stupidity there?"
Slowly, a man walked out of the masses, he looked disheveled and exhausted. His skin was paler than usual and his expression had a hint of madness in it that wasn't there before.
"I had prepared multiple plans for anything you might co up with. I never expected that you would actually show up in such a flashy manner, Talon."
Appearing in front of the group, Hyun-Ki grinned. His right sleeve was dangling with no arm in it.
Talon frowned as he pointed his finger at him. "I don't need a plan to beat your ass. All I have to do is show up."
"Pfft! Well, there you are. Why don't you do that?" Saying that, the man snapped his fingers. Imdiately, the guns that were aid at Talon and his group suddenly changed aggro.
Seeing that, Talon's eyes widened slightly.
"Oh no, you aren't…" He said in a cold tone as his aura rose slowly.
A//N: Don't forget to support the book if you enjoyed reading :D
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