The black-haired warrior didn't even look at Lawson. Her icy gaze swept contemptuously over Dodge, who was currently wearing a dazed, lovestruck grin. She bypassed Lawson and walked straight toward Dodge.
Dodge was ecstatic, already rehearsing his pick-up line in his head: Hi, beautiful, these muscles aren't just for show—
But before the dream could start, the reality exploded.
The warrior attacked without warning. With a snap of her waist, her long leg blurred in a textbook aerial spin-kick. The blow, backed by a whistle of tensed muscle, slammed heavily into Dodge's broad chest.
BOOM!
The deafening thud echoed through the clearing. Dodge didn't even have time to scream; his 200-pound frame was sent flying like he'd been hit by a freight train. He was hammered into the thick brick wall behind him, the cracks radiating from the impact point amidst a cloud of choking dust.
"Dodge!" Lawson and Katie snapped out of their shock and rushed to help.
When they managed to pry Dodge out of the wall, he gasped for air, his face as pale as scrap paper, his eyes unfocused. As Katie checked for broken ribs, Lawson spun around to face the warrior, his voice trembling with repressed anger.
"Are you insane?! You just beat the hell out of a stranger on sight? We don't have a grudge against you!"
Faced with Lawson's fury, the warrior remained unfazed. She casually withdrew her stance, running a hand through her hair and resting her other hand on her hip. She tilted her chin up, her initial melancholy replaced by a sickly sense of arrogance.
"That disgusting blonde gorilla..." she spat coldly. She smoothed out a non-existent wrinkle on her sleeve, her tone as casual as if she were discussing the weather. "Who told him to let his eyes wander? I simply helped him find his place—inside a wall. You should thank me for not crushing his eyeballs."
She didn't spare a single glance for the half-dead Dodge. To her, that rib-breaking kick was no more than kicking an empty can out of her way. It was an elegance defined by bone-chilling indifference.
Katie, rubbing Dodge's chest, felt a shiver run down her spine. This wasn't a girl-next-door; this was a "Sovereign of Slaughter" wrapped in a stunning exterior.
Lawson, instead of defending his friend, suddenly let out a short, cold laugh.
"Blonde gorilla?" he repeated playfully. He glanced at the dust-covered Dodge. "You have quite the eye for detail. That description is accurate enough to be put on his tombstone."
He walked back to Dodge, and instead of pulling him up, he just patted the brick dust off Dodge's shoulder with a smirk. "Hey, brother, since she kicked you, you might as well enjoy the impact. Being personally kicked by a beauty like this is probably the peak of your hormonal life, isn't it?"
Dodge nearly choked on his breath in frustration.
Lawson's expression then turned dead serious. He stepped toward the intruder, his voice dropping to a cold edge. "Enough small talk. Let's talk about you. My game guide never mentioned a ninth warrior in the Nova Star Town."
The warrior didn't lie. "I don't belong to this town. I am from the Sunrise Town."
"I am the only one left... because of HIM!!"
The moment she mentioned "him," her pupils contracted, ignited by a literal killing intent. But the rage was quickly swallowed by a deeper, soul-crushing sorrow.
"My comrades are all dead... slaughtered like trash! All because of me... because of this damn "Veteran" experience, because of my arrogance! Their lives were cut short, completely and forever!!!"
She clutched her chest as if she were being stabbed. Losing her strength, she slid down the wall, her pride collapsing into hoarse, ragged sobs.
The clearing fell into a deathly silence. Any words of comfort would have felt like salt on an open wound.
They could only watch the silhouette of this veteran trembling with regret, burdened by the weight of the lives she had lost.
They stood in silence, letting the "powerlessness" of the situation spread through the cold air.
Eventually, the sobbing stopped. She used the cold wall to pull herself up, her fingertips white from the effort. When she looked up again, the tears were gone, replaced by a terrifying, hollow deadness.
"Where are you going?" Dodge asked, his voice shaking.
She didn't look back. She mechanically checked her equipment as if her breakdown had been an illusion.
She began walking in the opposite direction from Lawson's group.
"I am going to finish him myself. That damned Shadow General!"
Lawson finally broke his silence. "A Shadow General's strength is immense. Even as a ten-year veteran equipped with SSS-Rank armor, I find them troublesome. Be careful, don't throw your life away for nothing."
The moment the words left his mouth, she froze as if she'd been hit by a pause button.
"...Did you say, 'Ten-year veteran'?"
Her voice was low, like a chill rising from the underworld. She slowly turned back, her single visible eye filled with a complex mix of shock and trembling emotion. She stared at Lawson, her fingers twitching again.
Ten-year veteran? Could it be... is he the one 'He' has been looking for?
A flicker of cunning flashed in her eyes as she made up her mind.
I'll take him first. As long as I have this bait, "He" will have to show his face.
She didn't give anyone a chance to react.
In a single heartbeat, her form collapsed into a blurred afterimage.
With a gust of wind that tore through the stagnant air, she shot forward like an arrow. Her fingers locked onto the collar of Lawson's shirt like steel talons. Simultaneously, her other hand swept across her tactical pouch, catching a glint of cold silver.
"Hey! What are you do—"
"Eyes shut."
Those two words were as cold as a frozen cellar.
Before his voice could finish, her thumb flicked the safety. She slammed the flashbang directly at their feet.
—BOOM!!
A burst of "Polar Day" radiance exploded, blinding enough to sear the retinas. Screams and the thuds of bodies hitting the ground were instantly swallowed by a high-pitched ringing.
Their sensory world was forcibly wiped clean, leaving nothing but a void of blinding white.
By the time the glare faded and the dust settled, the clearing was empty.
She had already completed her armor Link. Carrying Lawson like a captured prey, she scaled the high wall under the cover of the light curtain and vanished into the depths of the wasteland.
"Lawson's been kidnapped—!!!"
Dodge and Katie, recovering from the blindness, let out frantic, distorted screams.