"We stood up for ourselves and won. I might die tonight, but I won’t go down without taking at least one of them with ! I’ll even try taking down the governor myself, even when I know it’s impossible!"
Silence followed the lackey’s remarks until one resident reached out to another. The latter looked up, only to see the hand offered to him. He reached out and slowly rose to his feet.
Others also began standing up, looking at the lackey with determined nods. The fear in their eyes slowly disappeared, replaced by resolve.
These people had nothing else to lose.
One might think they still had their lives, but was that really true in this situation? Were the lives they had truly living? No, they were rely surviving, waking up every day and wondering if it would be their last.
Even at night, they couldn’t sleep well or thank the heavens for surviving the day because danger could barge into their houses even in the middle of the night.
"You’re right!" one of the residents shouted. "Let’s die fighting! I am fed up with bowing my head to people who don’t even have the slightest idea how to value other people’s lives!"
"So what if there are a thousand n out there?!" another shouted. "Taking at least one of them down to hell is good enough for !"
"I’m going straight for the governor if I see him! To hell with it if I get shot to death!"
"Yeah!"
One after another, voices rose. Each shout lifted their morale just a little more. Florida and the other Bellemonte, who had stayed behind, observed quietly from the other building. Even the boss hung his head low, and although his expression was hidden, he no longer carried the air of soone desperate to escape.
The lackey’s words alone weren’t what moved them, but the genuine emotion he conveyed with every breath. The look in their eyes held a mixture of fear, determination, and pride.
Foolish, indeed.
But they would rather be foolish than remain cowards.
The Bellemonte mber let out a deep exhale as he watched these people stand up for themselves. Being accustod to cruelty and surrounded by evil for so long, witnessing the oppressed finally rise stirred a strange feeling in his chest.
What he knew for certain was this—he would stand with them. Whether out of guilt for what his hands had done in the past or from genuine willingness, he was ready.
Florida studied the rescued Bellemonte and noticed the determination and resolve in his eyes. Then he shifted his attention to the people of Gigante.
Fools, he thought. This isn’t the ti to raise morale — it’s ti to retreat.
There was still ti for everyone to scatter and find sowhere safe to hide. Anyone with combat training understood the value of a tactical retreat. But these people were prepared to throw their lives away.
Concerned, Florida turned to Lola and stepped closer.
"Madam," he said quietly. "You should stop them. This is marching toward death."
Lola didn’t answer, keeping her attention on the massive force approaching in the distance.
"Madam."
Finally, she responded with a distracted, "Huh?"
"This will be a mass suicide," Florida said softly but firmly, watching her side profile. "If you tell them to retreat, they’ll listen."
Considering they called her Goddess for whatever reason, Florida hoped that still held weight.
"The heck?" she muttered, her attention still on sothing else. But Florida nodded.
"That’s exactly my point, Madam," he sighed. "If we tell them to escape, we can still buy them ti. Even those in the underground facility would have plenty of ti."
"Huh?" Lola blinked and turned to him. "Who are you talking to?"
Florida frowned. "What?"
"Are you talking to ?" she pointed at herself, then shook her head. "Never mind."
She turned her attention back to the other buildings, catching residents from different vantage points shouting to raise morale.
"Besides, the Goddess is with us!" soone yelled. "She’ll lead us to victory and bless us with an abundance of luck!"
Everyone turned toward Lola. Her face contorted as she t the hopeful looks in their eyes.
I told them I’m a Goddess, but I’m not a real God. I thought that was quite obvious.
Lola clicked her tongue faintly and shook her head. "Seriously... when did things start turning out like this?" she muttered, lifting her chin toward the other building.
"That was... a really nice speech," she admitted. "I got goosebumps. But I don’t think there’s any need for that."
Brows knitted across the crowd while others frowned. Florida, on the other hand, nodded in agreent.
There was no need to die so soon without thinking things through, he thought.
"Don’t get wrong!" Lola shouted, raising a hand. "Worst cos to worst, I’ll jump over there and et them all halfway. But I don’t think that’s the case."
Confusion rippled through the group.
"I an—look!" Lola pointed toward the approaching army. "See?!"
Instinctively, everyone followed her gaze. As soon as they did, they noticed the raised flags. Earlier, only shadows had been visible in the distance. Now, they were close enough to clearly see the size of the force, their trucks, and the symbols waving atop them.
"That symbol..." the Bellemonte captive murmured, narrowing his eyes to focus on the black fabric.
Others did the sa, studying the flags rippling in the wind as if they carried a ssage from afar.
"What symbol is that?" Florida blurted out. "Is it from another region?"
"No," the boss said, stepping forward for a better look. "That symbol..."
His breath hitched as his eyes widened. The Bellemonte captive stiffened as well, followed by murmurs among the residents.
"What?" Florida asked, realizing he was among the few who didn’t recognize it.
"It’s her signature," the boss whispered, his gaze snapping to Lola. "L — that’s your signature."
At those words, all eyes turned back to Lola. This ti, even Florida wasn’t just confused, but he was shocked.
"A signature?" Florida repeated, turning to the flag that raised a large [L] sign in the middle. "Then why are they carrying her signature?"
Lola shrugged calmly.
"Who knows?" she replied. "But I’m about to find out."
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