"So, what do you say?" Lucian asked, his gaze locked onto hers. "I can ask Richard to work harder."
deia parted her lips but didn’t respond right away.
How could a man be this sweet? How could he go to such lengths just to please her heart and support everything she wanted to do?
"Yeah, let’s do it," she finally said. "But I doubt it’ll just be the young soldiers coming for us. They want their weapons back. Which ans they’ll also send soldiers with real experience."
The older ones. The ones who had likely played a role in brainwashing those kids. Maybe they’d done it to survive, but as adults, they had a choice.
And death was one of the consequences of that choice.
"We can separate them," Lucian said. "You can tell their ages, right? Mark the younger ones sohow, take off their helts, maybe, and I’ll pull them away from the fight."
That way, deia could eliminate the rest without worrying about killing the youngsters. His entire plan was built around her advantage.
The wind brushed through deia’s hair, strands of white floating in the air. Lucian reached out, gently tucking them behind her ear before pulling her closer.
"You just need a few more levels before you can use your wings with ease, right?" he murmured. "Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get there soon."
He was about to kiss her when—
BANG!
A deafening explosion rocked the ground beneath them.
deia groaned, tilting her head back in frustration. "Really? They had to show up now? Right when we were about to have a mont?"
She let out a sharp sigh and grumbled, "Fucking troops."
[Foul language detected! Penalty: -20 C-Points!]
deia ignored the system’s nagging and lifted her binoculars, scanning the battlefield. Through the dense fog, she spotted three soldiers, who were completely unaware of the mines they had just stepped on.
A second later, another deafening explosion echoed through the canyon.
Body parts flew. Blood sprayed across the cracked ground.
She let out a harsh sigh. "They sent them in as sacrifices," she muttered. "Bastards."
[Foul language detected! Penalty minus 20 C-Points!]
She barely spared the system any attention and instead focused on the soldiers who had just died. "How old are they?" she asked silently.
[Age: 19]
[Age: 20]
[Age: 17]
deia’s grip tightened around the binoculars. She had expected this, but it still left a bitter taste in her mouth.
"They’re just kids," she muttered under her breath.
Lucian, standing beside her, crossed his arms. "I guess they don’t have chips in their heads."
Of course, they didn’t. The military wouldn’t waste their valuable weapons—those carefully conditioned young soldiers—on sothing as crude as mine detection. These kids were nothing more than disposable pawns.
Her stomach twisted.
"Let’s take them out before they trigger any more traps," deia said, shaking off the unease. Then, as if rembering sothing, she casually added, "I still have a pie to bake after this."
Lucian gave her a sidelong glance. "You’re thinking about pie right now?"
She shrugged. "What? That quest is actually more important than this."
Without waiting for a reply, she stood up, stretching her arms before pulling out a flare gun.
A bright yellow smoke shot into the misty sky, the vibrant color cutting through the thick fog like a warning.
This was the signal, an order for the snipers to stay alert but hold fire until she gave the next command.
The fog was still dense, but thanks to the earlier explosion, parts of the canyon were now visible.
Now, deia could see them clearly.
A squad of soldiers crept through the snow, their white uniforms blending into the frozen landscape. They knew what they were doing. The way they moved with calculation and silence, she knew most of them weren’t amateurs.
deia pulled a camouflage cloak from her inventory and tossed it to Lucian. "Let’s teach them why stepping into our ho uninvited is a bad idea."
Lucian caught the cloak with one hand, but instead of responding right away, he took a step closer, so close she could feel the warmth of his breath against her skin.
Then, he kissed her. Not once, not twice, but thrice.
Her mind blanked for a second. The hell? Right before battle?
By the ti she snapped out of it, he had already pulled back, his erald eyes locking onto hers with determination. "I’ll be watching your back," he murmured. "So go all out."
deia blinked a few tis, still thrown off, but quickly shoved the distraction aside. She exhaled and activated Demonic Strength. A rush of power flooded her veins, turning her into sothing more than human, sothing from hell.
"I’ve got thirty minutes in this form," she said. "Let’s wrap this up before then."
Lucian gave a small nod, then lifted his hand. The next second, he guided her down the canyon wall effortlessly, lowering her onto the snow-covered ground without a sound.
The flare gun had already revealed their position, but the canyon was full of hiding spots. Even with their advanced training, the soldiers wouldn’t find them easily.
Silent steps. No footprints. No mistakes.
Her Avalanche Boots absorbed the sound of her movent, erasing any trace she left behind. Every curve, every crevice in this canyon—she knew them all. If anyone tried to slip past, she’d find them first.
"System, give their ages. Just their ages," said deia to the system
There was no ti to scan through their full profiles. She just needed to know if she was dealing with brainwashed kids or hardened soldiers.
A second later, numbers flickered above each soldier’s head, glowing faintly against the snowy backdrop.
deia counted the young soldiers in her head, her sharp gaze sweeping over the battlefield. A rough estimate put at least ten of them under 22, while around thirty-five were well over forty.
The gap was staggering. It only solidified what she already suspected—years ago, the military had snatched up children before they could even understand the concept of choice. Molded them, brainwashed them, and turned them into obedient little soldiers.
Her jaw clenched.
Without hesitation, she moved.
Reviews
All reviews (0)