"Are you looking for me?"
A familiar voice rang in her ear, making her feel a chill deep in her bones.
She stiffly turned her head, trying to look to the right where the voice came from, only to feel a sudden sting on the left side of her neck.
"Thank you for washing your neck so clean."
She looked into the mirror in terror; a young girl was leaning over her back, sharp teeth biting through her aorta.
Meanwhile, another identical girl floated in the air, greeting her with a smile.
Just like back in the village.
She wanted to cry for help, she wanted to beg for mercy.
But opening her mouth only produced a "ho-ho-ho" sound.
She thought back—how long had it been since she last heard that sound?
It seemed to be just before her son died, when he wanted to say something to her but couldn't.
"So that's how it is..."
A tear rolled down Ivanova's cheek, and she quickly lost consciousness.
After quickly draining the blood of the woman in her arms, Flandre stepped back and squeezed the mummified corpse, which instantly turned into dust.
She then turned her head to look nearby, where a young girl had just stepped out of her room to get water and happened to witness this scene.
She smiled slightly, pinched her skirt with both hands, performed a ladylike curtsy to the girl—just as her sister had taught her—and vanished on the spot.
In the next second, a piercing scream echoed through the corridor, and people rushed out to see what had happened.
But the terrified girl pointed at the spot where Flandre had vanished, unable to say a word.
After dealing with the target, Flandre charged straight for the Confidential Documents Room.
Although this place was extremely important, its defenses were not strong; aside from two guards at the door, there was no protection inside.
She easily killed the two and pushed open the door to the Confidential Documents Room.
Looking at the countless documents arranged neatly inside, Flandre scratched her head.
With so many, if she only used her "Eye" to destroy them, how long would it take?
However, she had a better method.
"Laevatain!" she shouted, raising her hand as a longsword made of flames appeared in her grasp.
"Hahahaha~" The girl darted through the room with a silver-bell-like laugh.
The flaming sword in her hand swept across the documents, igniting them instantly; in less than a minute, the entire Confidential Documents Room was engulfed in flames.
"What's going on!" The Confidential Documents Room was located in the core area, and the thick smoke from the fire quickly caught the attention of the Fourth Army Group's top brass.
"Report! An enemy has infiltrated the camp and burned all the documents in the Confidential Documents Room!"
News arrived quickly.
Upon hearing the news, the officer standing at the entrance of the Command Headquarters turned pale with rage.
This was the heart of the Fourth Army Group; if an enemy could infiltrate this far, did it mean they could take his head at any moment?
He pointed at the people around him and began a furious tirade.
Then, a young girl's voice came through.
"You're right, you know. Killing you on the way is quite easy."
He tried to turn toward the voice, but found his subordinates staring in horror at his chest.
Looking down, he saw a large hole had appeared in his chest at some point.
Where his heart should have been was now completely empty.
"No wonder some monsters only like eating hearts; this flavor really isn't bad!"
This was the last sentence the officer heard.
"A Blood Demon attack!"
Someone rushed to a nearby button and slammed it down; instantly, a shrill alarm spread throughout the entire legion.
"In the name of the Court of Blood!"
Flandre gave a wicked smile, and Laevatain appeared in her hand once more.
She swung her weapon and charged into the crowd at the Command Headquarters.
After a bout of slaughter, she left two "lucky survivors," destroyed everything in the room, and then rushed out.
At this time, many soldiers had just woken up and were discussing what to eat for breakfast.
The shrill alarm left everyone stunned for a moment.
"Move, move, move! Enemy attack alarm!" The roars of the NCOs snapped them out of it.
After grabbing weapons from the nearby Armory, they began to gather at the parade ground outside.
Such efficient gathering would have earned praise from their superiors on any other day.
But this time, they didn't see their officers arrive; instead, a Blood Demon girl wielding a flaming greatsword charged from the Command Headquarters in the name of the Court of Blood.
If the ability to destroy all things was powerful against single targets, then Flandre wielding Laevatain was an efficient mass-slaughter machine.
Laevatain transformed in her hands into a flaming greatsword dozens of meters long; with every swing, it crushed the Ursus soldiers charging toward her.
"Hurry, hurry! The enemy is a Blood Demon Caster! Where is our Caster Regiment!"
Seeing that the Blood Demon girl's combat power was terrifyingly high, someone called for Caster support.
As for the high command, from the moment she charged out of the headquarters, no one expected any of them to be alive.
The Ursus Caster Regiment soon joined the battlefield.
With various types of Witchcraft interfering, Flandre's killing speed began to slow down.
Once they realized Flandre was skilled in close combat, the soldiers stopped blindly rushing forward to their deaths.
Countless drones carrying bombs, coordinated with Witchcraft, swarmed toward Flandre from all directions.
"You think Flandre doesn't know Danmaku?"
Facing the overwhelming assault, Flandre instantly split into four; ripples then expanded from their hands, turning into dense waves of Danmaku that intercepted the incoming drones and Witchcraft.
Various explosions erupted constantly between the two sides, but Flandre was only one person after all.
Once the Ursus military formation fully awakened, she could only barely manage a stalemate against ten thousand by relying on her mobility.
Meanwhile, near the Armory, Joseph watched the mobilized troops and knew his opportunity had arrived.
He gently touched a transmitter in his pocket.
This was a self-made detonator.
It could activate a batch of explosives already fitted with fuzes.
These explosives were usually kept in an inner area completely isolated from external signals.
They could only be successfully triggered after entering through the main gate.
Normally, as a Uniforms Administrator, there was absolutely no way he could have entered.
As for why there were explosives with fuzes pre-installed, it was related to the national situation in Ursus.
These explosives could be assigned to a mobile warship at any time; to make it convenient for those warships to collect them, a "stockpile" would be prepared.
Joseph walked all the way to the gate without being suspected.
Primarily because he was wearing an Ursus military uniform, and due to the fierce battle nearby, many people were coming here to pick up equipment.
He followed the crowd inside quite smoothly.
"Brother, which unit are you from? Why don't I recognize you?"
Not long after entering, a dazed Joseph heard a question from beside him.
He looked over; the man was holding a hand crossbow and looking at him with a wary expression.
Clearly, his behavior just now had aroused the other's suspicion.
Joseph smiled.
"It's me, Joseph from the Clothing Management Department."
"Ah, that Uniforms Administrator. Why aren't you hiding in your room? What are you doing here!"
The man sized Joseph up; his image gradually merged with that of the short-tempered Uniforms Administrator, and his tone softened considerably.
"Me? I'm here to do what I must."
Joseph smiled, pulled the transmitter from his pocket, and pressed it without hesitation.
The man's eyes widened, but before he could speak, a massive explosion erupted from inside the warehouse.
Then, a series of sympathetic detonations spread out, instantly blowing the entire Armory sky-high.
At that moment, lookouts on several High-speed Warships rushing toward the base after receiving news of the attack witnessed the entire warehouse being blown away.
We're screwed!
That was everyone's first thought.
Even Flandre, who was prepared, was thrown hundreds of meters away by the shockwave of the explosion.
"Ah, ptui! Uncle Joseph, this power is much greater than you said!"
Rubbing her head, which was a bit dazed from the shock, Flandre looked at the sea of fire nearby and couldn't help but mutter to herself.
Although she didn't know how he would evacuate after succeeding, Flandre knew it was time for her to run.
Because at a glance, High-speed Warships were closing in from all sides.
Seeing this, she lowered her altitude, hugged the treetops, and flew away quickly.
Even if someone noticed her escape now, no one had the spare capacity to care about her.
The power of this explosion was more terrifying than Joseph had estimated; the flames directly engulfed more than half of the base.
Even more terrifyingly, this batch of explosives included many high-explosive Originium charges; after the Originium dust exploded and was carried by the wind, the Originium concentration within a ten-kilometer radius instantly rose to the highest threat level.
Many soldiers became part of the Infected before they could even react.
This explosion shook all of Ursus.
A quarter of the Fourth Army Group's top brass were killed, and the soldiers suffered even heavier losses.
After questioning hundreds of participants, all evidence pointed to Kazdel in the south—specifically, the Court of Blood under the Great Blood Demon Lord.
Many of the Old Nobility initially clamored for blood for blood, but eventually fell into an eerie silence.
Inside Holy Steed Fortress, the current Emperor of Ursus, Fyodor, was holding a secret meeting with Minister Witte.
"Why would a Blood Demon appear in Ursus, and why would they target the Fourth Army Group?"
"We haven't received accurate information yet.
We only know there were at least several of them; one was responsible for pinning down the troops stationed at the camp, while the others took the opportunity to enter the Armory and detonate it.
But their reasons and goals are entirely unclear. Some speculate it might be related to the incident in the spring when the Eastern Military District went south and clashed with the Sarkaz.
After all, according to reports, both sides had victories and losses then, and we killed several well-known experts from the Court of Blood."
Minister Witte softly recounted the information sent back by the Staff Members.
"But it's been almost a year since that incident." The Emperor clearly didn't believe this explanation.
"There is a proverb in Yan: 'A gentleman's revenge is never too late, even after ten years.' The Blood Demons' sense of time is inherently different from ours, and perhaps they had a plan all along and only recently found a suitable opportunity, also possible."
Minister Witte continued to answer.
"I don't need 'perhaps' or 'possibly.' Arrange for someone to question that Regent—whether he can afford the price of attacking Ursus, and whether the Sarkaz can afford it!"
Although he had political disagreements with the Fourth Army Group and had long wanted to get rid of those fellows, one thing was separate from another.
At this moment, they were still Ursus citizens, and their soldiers were still the most loyal warriors of Ursus.
Therefore, logically and emotionally, as the Emperor of Ursus, he had to step forward and take a stand.
On the other side.
After finishing the battle, Flandre took a long detour to ensure no tails were following her before making her way back to the Reunion Movement.
It was completely dark by the time she arrived.
However, the Reunion Movement's operational Command Headquarters was still brightly lit.
The sound of the morning explosion was so loud it could be heard clearly dozens of kilometers away.
After their people sent word back, Talulah and the others believed that Flandre must have succeeded.
Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that Flandre had just left yesterday, and the Fourth Army Group exploded today?
However, Flandre hadn't returned, and the hidden contacts within the Army Group had fallen completely silent, so they didn't know exactly what had happened.
So they had been waiting here all along for Flandre's return.
Just as the sky grew darker and their mood shifted from high spirits to low, the door was suddenly opened.
Flandre's head poked in from outside.
"Good evening Talulah, Yelena, and Bo... Old Stubborn One..." Flandre indicated that the name Buldrokkas'tee was too hard to remember, and Old Stubborn One was simpler.
Seeing Flandre, Talulah rushed over and hugged her.
The beautiful girl reached out a hand a step too late and finally let it drop with regret.
"You're not hurt, are you? This was indeed too dangerous; I shouldn't have let you go alone..."
Talulah's tone was filled with worry and lingering fear.
After a moment of calm, Buldrokkas'tee looked at Flandre.
"What exactly happened? Tell us the details of the process."
Flandre found a seat and began to recount everything from her departure yesterday to meeting Joseph, and her withdrawal after the explosion.
After listening, the group fell into silence.
"Joseph, he's probably..." Talulah's voice was a bit dry.
"This was his own choice; we should respect it," Yelena said solemnly.
Based on Flandre's explanation and the man's plan, they didn't believe Joseph had enough time to enter the warehouse, set the timer, and then run back to a safe area.
However, because the explosion was massive and there were so many dead and missing, someone like Joseph—at the very center of the blast—would naturally be reported as missing since no body would remain, and it wouldn't lead back to the Reunion Movement.
Furthermore, the fact that a large number of soldiers had turned into Infected left the Fourth Army Group facing a very difficult choice: what should be done with these people?