“Finally caught up with them,” a red-haired figure said, lowering a pair of heavy binoculars.
A faint, neon halo hovered above her head, casting a soft glow over the desolate ridge overlooking the Reunion Movement encampment.
“What’s the next move?” Texas asked.
The Lupo lay perfectly flat against the dirt beside Exusiai, her expression as unreadable and pragmatic as ever.
“Hmm…
well, to cause a bit of a stir for them, of course!” Exusiai flashed a bright, easy grin.
“…Don’t cause too many casualties.” “I know, I know.
By the way, why did Rhodes Island suddenly make this request?” Exusiai asked, checking the chamber of her Vector.
“…I don’t know,” Texas replied, pushing herself up from the dust.
“Let’s begin.” “Hehe, just watch me!” A heavy, muffled explosion rattled the structural supports of the makeshift Reunion command post.
Dust drifted down from the ceiling, dusting the tactical maps scattered across the table.
“Ha!
Looks like you’ve got work to do.” W leaned back in her chair, arrogantly propping her heavy boots up onto the edge of the table.
She tilted her head toward Skullshatterer, a mocking smirk playing on her lips.
“So, do you need my help?” “We are compatriots,” Skullshatterer replied, his voice a low, mechanical rumble filtering through his heavy tactical mask.
“But that Kai is really strong,” W countered, dropping the playful act for a moment of sincere earnestness.
“I feel like even if the two of us were tied together, we couldn’t beat him.
Why don’t you just listen to me?” “…The Reunion Movement is my home, and Talulah is my benefactor.
I will not leave.” After a brief, heavy silence, Skullshatterer rejected the mercenary’s proposal and turned on his heel to take his leave.
“Tch, stubborn as a mule.” W leaned further back, tilting her chair to a precarious angle as she watched him walk out into the chaos.
Outside the building, the air was thick with the smell of scorched earth and ozone.
Skullshatterer spotted a squad leader guarding the perimeter and approached him.
“What’s going on over there?” “It seems…
it seems like there are two people causing a massive disturbance on our perimeter.” The squad leader scratched the back of his head with a pained, utterly baffled expression.
He looked as if he had a mountain of things to report but was struggling to find the vocabulary to explain the absurdity of the situation.
“What’s wrong with you?
Are our casualties heavy?” Skullshatterer asked, his brow furrowing beneath his mask.
Even if the enemy vanguard was exceptionally strong, a seasoned squad leader shouldn’t look this thoroughly humiliated.
“No…
the coordination between the two of them is excellent.
We haven’t been able to take them down at all.
Instead, we’re being toyed with.” The squad leader let out a gloomy sigh.
“Although our side is full of casualties, not a single person has died.
If we were being unilaterally crushed, it would be one thing.
But it’s as if they’re just playing around, making us scurry away in a panic without even breaking a sweat.
When the reinforcements arrived and saw our comrades groaning and moaning all over the ground, it was…
a bit surreal.” “What does this mean?” Skullshatterer muttered.
The tactical logic of the assault made zero sense.
Puzzled and deeply unsettled, he decided to lead a team to the perimeter personally to assess the damage.
Out in the ruins, Texas smoothly sidestepped a lunging Reunion grunt, driving a swift, calculated kick into his midsection that sent him tumbling into the dirt.
“Exusiai, that’s enough,” Texas said, sheathing her blade with a sharp click.
“Hmm?
What’s enough?
Oh!
I see them!
So~ many~ people!” From her vantage point, Exusiai peered through the settling dust.
The main force of the Reunion Movement had finally rallied, a massive wave of armed Infected pouring out from the inner camp and heading straight for their position.
“Then let’s make ourselves scarce!” Deep within the safety of the camp’s rear lines, Skullshatterer knelt beside Misha, patiently guiding her through the fundamentals of Originium Arts.
“Look, this is the trigger.
You load the ammunition like this…” He demonstrated the mechanical action slowly, ensuring she could follow the complex movements.
Misha watched intently from the side.
Mimicking his posture, she reached out and wrapped her fingers around a raw piece of Originium, closing her eyes to focus on the sensation.
“I think I feel…
a warmth in my palm,” Misha whispered, her eyes fluttering open in mild surprise.
It was exactly as he expected.
She possessed the exact same latent potential as he did.
But before Skullshatterer could even allow himself a moment of familial pride, the heavy footsteps of a returning scout broke the quiet atmosphere.
“Bro…
Skullshatterer, those two people have fled.” The squad leader leaned against a concrete pillar, completely out of breath from sprinting all the way back from the frontline.
“Fled?” Skullshatterer frowned beneath his mask.
He held his hand up, letting the man catch his breath while his mind raced.
Was this a tactical feint?
An enemy trap designed to lure their main force out into the open?
“Are all our people dead?” “…No.
The most serious injury is just a comrade who fell unconscious from a concussion.
Casualties are almost non-existent,” the squad leader reported truthfully, still sounding entirely bewildered by the fact.
“Is it Rhodes Island?” Misha leaned in, having overheard the breathless report.
“…Most likely.
A Lupo with a sword and a red-haired Sankta.
I’ve seen them before on the battlefield,” Skullshatterer said.
For some inexplicable reason, a heavy knot formed in his chest.
His heart felt deeply unsettled, the lingering weight of his earlier conversation with W echoing in his ears.
“If it’s Rhodes Island…
should we…” Misha trailed off, not daring to finish her sentence.
Instead, she simply looked up at Skullshatterer with pleading eyes.
“After everything that’s happened, you want me to go talk to them?” Skullshatterer asked, his tone dropping into a cold, defensive register.
“They…
they will definitely help the Infected,” Misha said simply.
She closed her eyes and lowered her head, bracing herself for his inevitable reprimand.
However, the expected explosion of anger never came.
The air remained perfectly still.
Misha peeked up through her bangs and found that Skullshatterer was completely silent, his hidden gaze fixed squarely on her.
“…I’ll consider it,” Skullshatterer finally said.
He had originally wanted to scold her.
He wanted to yell at her for her blinding naivety, for her cowardice in the face of a cruel world.
But the words died in his throat as W’s mocking warning surfaced in his mind.
‘I’m telling you, Skullshatterer, the Reunion Movement has changed, and Talulah has changed too.
Look around you.
How many people still hold onto that foolish dream like you do?
They only care about revenge.
Wake up and take your sister and run while you still can, before you get turned into dust by Kai’s two punches.
Seriously.’ Talulah…
He shook his head, forcing the messy, conflicting thoughts from his mind.
He left Misha in the safe zone and walked out to the perimeter where the two women had just caused a scene.
Looking at the groaning, bruised, but entirely alive soldiers scattered across the ground, a chilling realization washed over him.
He had to admit the truth.
To be able to incapacitate so many armed soldiers without endangering a single life, while simultaneously making a clean getaway, meant those two operatives absolutely possessed the raw power to slaughter everyone on this perimeter.
They chose not to.
‘Is this Rhodes Island’s sincerity…’ “Even after all this, do you still want to fight?” W appeared ghost-like beside him, her voice a sudden whisper over his shoulder.
Skullshatterer did not flinch.
He kept his eyes on his fallen men.
“I have a favor to ask of you…” Turning away from the mercenary, he keyed his radio to the local command frequency.
“Notify the ‘Lumberjack’ unit.
Tell them to hold their positions and not to act just yet.” “Skullshatterer…” a nearby soldier muttered, gripping his weapon with a look of deep worry.
“Since they want to talk, then I’ll talk with them.” Skullshatterer felt a strange, sudden sense of relief wash over his tired bones after speaking those words aloud.
He walked back to the rear lines and gently patted Misha’s head, silently praying to whatever gods watched over Terra that this decision wouldn’t become his greatest regret.
Across the wasteland, Exusiai skipped back into the Rhodes Island formation, flashing a bright peace sign at the young man standing at the front.
“Boss~ mission accomplished!” A short distance away, Officer Ch’en stood beside Amiya, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword as she watched the distant Reunion forces grind to a sudden, unexpected halt.
“Why did they stop?” “…Officer Ch’en, Rhodes Island has secured an opportunity.
Can we go and talk to them?” Amiya kept her gaze fixed on the enemy camp, completely ignoring the Lungmen officer’s initial question.
Ch’en’s eyes narrowed sharply, her draconic tail flicking in irritation.
“Talk?
Amiya, do you even know what you’re saying?
They’re the Infected!
They are terrorists!” “I am also an Infected, Officer Ch’en,” Amiya said.
Her voice was perfectly calm, entirely devoid of anger, yet it carried a weight that instantly froze the air between them.
Ch’en stiffened, her jaw tightening as she realized the sheer insensitivity of her outburst.
“…Sorry.” Back within the Reunion lines, a scout rushed up to the command group.
“Skullshatterer, they’ve sent a few people out into the open.
They’re saying they want to parley.
That really strong guy from before…
he’s also there.” “…That was fast.
I understand.” Skullshatterer turned to the veterans gathered around him.
“You all stay on guard here.
I’ll go out and talk to them.
If anything happens to me, abandon the camp and retreat immediately, do you understand?” “But Skullshatterer…
those Lungmen guys are out there…” “There are no ‘buts.’ Take this.” Skullshatterer unslung his heavy grenade launcher and shoved it into his subordinate’s chest.
The enemy negotiators had stepped into the open without drawing their weapons.
Even though a monster like Kai could easily overpower him barehanded, Skullshatterer wanted to match their gesture.
He could only hope that Rhodes Island was truly a group of good people, just as Misha so desperately believed.
“Skullshatterer…
I’m going with you.” Misha’s voice rang out clear and steady from behind him.
Skullshatterer froze mid-step, turning around in absolute shock.
“Misha?
No, what are you going for?
This could be very dangerous.” “I’m going with you,” Misha repeated, her chin trembling slightly, but her eyes burning with a stubborn resolve he had never seen before.
“This…” Skullshatterer looked at the resolute expression on her face.
Standing there, he suddenly realized just how much taller he was than his sister now, and how much weight she was trying to carry alongside him.
“Alright.
But you must stay close to my back.
If anything feels wrong, you turn and run immediately, okay?
They shouldn’t hurt you.” “Hey, if a fight breaks out later, I’m running, okay?
Do you need me to take any last words back to base?” W called out from the sidelines, making an obnoxious clicking noise with her tongue.
Skullshatterer completely ignored the mercenary.
He looked back one last time at the dozens of compatriots standing behind him.
They were all watching him in silence.
They might have harbored deep doubts about parleying with the enemy, but their eyes held nothing but absolute trust and support for their commander.
He took a slow, deep breath, the filtered air hissing through his mask.
Side by side with Misha, he walked out of the shadows of the camp and stepped into the open wasteland, moving steadily toward Kai and the Rhodes Island delegation waiting in the distance.
Perhaps many years later, he would look back and feel fortunate for the choice he made today.
But for now, with every step he took across the cracked earth, he felt nothing but a heavy, suffocating unease.
[Rhodes’s Note: Enjoying the operation so far, Doctor?
(This daily grind literally pays the landship’s rent!
to use the links!)