Liam broke the silence."Where are your Elite Guards to defend you?"
Mr. N snapped his fingers. A steel projectile screamed past Liam's face, embedding itself into the wall.
"Aspera eliminated most of them. She's already sniped seventy men."
As expected from Osprey's student, Mr. N felt pride swell within him as he checked his watch.
He tapped into his surveillance feeds.
Aspera had completely zoned out. She looked dead inside, as if her mind was somewhere else entirely.
Unable to even speak, she whispered to herself,"This must be my karma."
Mr. N moved on from Aspera and checked the other sides of his base.
Karmel Kan likely came through the kitchen window, where Yara's Bible was located. He fought, got injured, abandoned his men to die, then attacked us… killed by Liam.
Everyone else…
The Calexsis fellow I sent my students to track down… his squad is likely dead or captured by Osprey or Whymzel.
Solomon will handle the interrogations.
Liam frowned."Isn't Osprey Elite Guard Rank 0? Isn't he the strongest? Where is he?"
Mr. N responded immediately."Fuck no."
"My Elite Guards are not ranked in order of strength. Well… they are, somewhat, but not really."
"Even so, where is he?" Liam pressed.
Mr. N's irritation flared."Yeah. He's completely missing."
Mr. N knew Osprey was slacking off again.
Likely sleeping around with his student.
Nothing new.
But after all Osprey had done for him, he allowed that freedom.
The room fell into an uneasy silence.
Siegfreed looked around before speaking.
"Um… Goldilocks…" they mumbled. "Your friend might be dead."
Mr. N's eyes narrowed."How would you know?"
Freya twisted their hair softly, like they wished they were wrong.
"My animals are already there, drawn to it. The shockwave that happened ten minutes ago didn't just shake the ground… it affected the air."
"A shockwave is basically a nonlinear pressure front. It's pressure moving supersonically. Unlike normal sound waves, it doesn't disperse smoothly, it hits all at once. So my birds could easily detect where it came from. And anyone hit by something like that will be in critical condition."
Liam nodded, impressed.
"My black birds are still a few kilometers out, but they're restless… circling, breaking formation. They only do that when they want to eat someone's intestines…"
"If this Osprey is one of yours, I'm assuming he has life force similar to the girl on the wall? My animals aren't scared. Their instincts aren't scared or anything, meaning there's little to no life force in that area. Hence… he is dying. Or already dead."
…
Freya coughed awkwardly, blushing, pointing. "You're lucky I'm doing this for you, by the way. Only because Liam asked. Consider it thanks for rescuing him from that 'place.'"
Mr. N nodded."I appreciate it."
Liam: "I didn't ask—"
"I could send my giant air animals to go get him." Freya cuts him off. However, for that distance, it takes a lot of effort. I won't be able to defe—"
Controlling animals…?
Mr. N thought.
"Serial killer… who exactly are you? Those markings, Do you have a Great Weapon? From the Amazon Rainforest, The Voice of God? Weapon Number __?"
Siegfreed froze."Uhhhh…"
"Um…"
"Lol."
"Ok, this is sexual harassment. Why are you doing this?"
"Liam, I'm uncomfortable… I tried to help you, but now this guy is making such bold assumptions."
"Do I have to make him disappear?" they said nervously.
Mr. N spoke with quiet confidence.
"Osprey is not dead."
But it made sense.
If the other person who died had a lot of life force, it's likely Osprey was still alive, just injured.
He should have known better.
He should have stayed at the base.
Mr. N walked to his desk.
"This entire three-hundred-man attack was only possible because he and Aspera left their post. The assault was just a scare tactic… a distraction to isolate one Elite Guard and kill them."
Liam's voice cut in.
"So they planned for this? To reduce our forces for the Presidency battle?"
Mr. N's jaw tightened."Yeah. Someone fed them information."
Siegfreed yawned."Who?"
Liam noticed the change, his gaze narrowing.
He's sweating.
That means he's concerned.
He knows something we don't…
Or maybe he's afraid.
Afraid his friend really is dead.
Afraid his plans are unraveling right in front of him.
Mr. N spoke."This isn't good, I can—"
The words died mid-sentence.
The door slammed open.
Demi stepped through, a slight bruise on his cheek almost unnoticable.
His eyes instantly locked onto the corpse.
Without hesitation, he lunged at Liam, bloodlust radiating like heat. He moved instinctively towards the person with the most life force in the room.
Liam moved.
They both dashed forward at full speed.
So fast Siegfreed couldn't even process it.
Demi threw a punch.
Liam answered with a kick.
Force on Force, their clash echoed like steel on steel.