"Let's head back!"
Alina's gaze was heavy with sorrow; she hadn't wanted to lay a hand on the child. But his actions were something she could not accept. Even at their most ruthless, they had never thought of taking the lives of these betrayers first. Yet the other side challenged their bottom line time and time again. Like this child—even Alina, who had the highest tolerance for children, felt a killing intent after hearing his words.
"Alright! Sister Alina, don't be sad. He's just a normal person; if he's dead, he's dead!"
Flandre did not know the child and felt not a shred of sympathy.
"Right, we need to go back and tell Talulah this news. That child gave the Reconnaissance Squad a lot of intel; they might move against us again."
Alina nodded, wiping the sadness from her face. Now was not the time for her to be depressed, as danger could follow at any moment.
Upon returning, they found Talulah, who hadn't slept yet. Hearing the news, Talulah practically jumped up.
"How is that possible? How could such a thing happen!"
Talulah was stunned; she never expected this. She quickly called for Buldrokkas'tee and Red. Buldrokkas'tee fell into silence upon seeing the child's head. Red, on the other hand, began to draw his long blade.
"What are you doing?" Alina asked.
"That couple must die!" Red said in a furious tone.
"Red!" Talulah called out to him just as he was about to head out the door.
Red turned around, wanting to say that they had already committed such acts, so why was the leader still protecting them? But when he turned his head, he froze. The Talulah before him still looked like Talulah, but her eyes were filled with flames. It was anger, it was regret, it was resolve. Talulah's figure seemed to burn fiercely as if hidden within the darkness.
Talulah stood up and said in a low voice, "I will handle this matter!"
Seeing her state, Alina looked at Flandre with concern. Flandre tilted her head. There was indeed a black aura permeating Talulah, very similar to that black insect from before. But this time it was extremely dispersed and hadn't formed a main body. It was guiding her, but had no intention of showing its head.
After Flandre told Alina what she saw, Alina watched with worry as Talulah walked out carrying the child's head. It was late at night, and the group walked silently down the road without being seen by others. They soon arrived at the place where the prisoners were held.
The sound of the door opening woke the six people inside. Upon seeing the head in Talulah's hand, one of the women let out an ear-piercing scream.
"No, Byron..."
Her cry let everyone know the identity of the head in Talulah's hand.
"You killed my child, I'll have your life!" Aiva Milo rushed at Talulah, claws bared. In the next second, an invisible sword slashed through him, and blood splattered everywhere.
The remaining five people instantly looked at Talulah with terrified eyes. One reason they dared to be so insolent was that Talulah's weapon had never been aimed at the Infected. But this time, it changed. She had nearly split Aiva Milo apart with a single strike. Aiva, lying on the ground, also had a look of utter disbelief.
"My original plan was to keep you locked up until next spring. When the Reunion Movement leaves, the gates would be opened again, and you would regain your freedom. But your betrayals are one after another, and your words are worth nothing... My sword is fast, rest assured, there will be no pain!"
Talulah tossed the child's head beside the dying Aiva Milo, then gripped the invisible longsword with both hands. As she walked toward the others, the remaining Aina Milo looked at them, her eyes full of madness and satisfaction.
"So that means my child got the message out, right! Hahahaha, so this is your final struggle before death?"
As she sneered, Talulah's longsword sliced directly across her neck.
"Whether the Reunion Movement lives or dies is not for you to judge," Talulah said coldly, looking at the woman clutching her neck to stop the bleeding.
Next, Talulah looked indifferently at the others.
"No, I don't want to die, please, I still have..."
Someone tried to use words to sway Talulah's resolve, but clearly, from the moment Talulah brought that child's head here, their fate was sealed. How long would it take Talulah to deal with four unarmed ordinary people? The answer was a single breath. The invisible sword either pierced or slashed, finishing off the two couples in an instant.
Flandre didn't wait for them to speak; she pressed her hand down, and the corpses slowly sank into the ground.
??? "Why are you looking at me? Is it not okay for me to help you dispose of the bodies?" Flandre asked.
"Of course, thank you for the trouble!" Talulah wiped a bloodstain from her face, indicating she was going back to change her clothes.
Seeing that Talulah had killed them all, Red had nothing more to say. They went to the office together to wait for Talulah's return. Ten minutes later, after a hurried shower, Talulah returned to the office.
"We don't know how much they learned about us, but we need to proceed as if Ursus has a basic understanding of our situation. The fact that the northern route is blocked by Flandre is a good thing for us. Next, we only need to face attacks from the Reconnaissance Squads to the east and west. The western route is through a forest, making it hard for large armies to pass. Only the east remains!"
Talulah looked at Buldrokkas'tee. "I will hold the east!" Buldrokkas'tee nodded.
"Let me help too!" Just then, a female voice came from outside.
The group looked up and saw it was Yelena. As she walked in, everyone gathered around her.
"Why are you up! Don't you value your life! The Reunion Movement isn't so weak yet that we need a patient on the battlefield."
A smile appeared on Yelena's pale face. "It's no matter, I can already walk on the ground. It's just that the Old Stubborn One rarely runs out late at night for so long... so I was worried."
Talulah also knew Yelena's temperament; once she decided something, even several Camel-like Beasts couldn't pull her back.
"Then how about this: leave the paperwork Alina is handling to Yelena. Now that you can fly, you need to take on more responsibilities."
Talulah's words were met with agreement from the officers present. After all, given Yelena's condition, she certainly couldn't go to the battlefield, but if you didn't give her something to do, there was no guarantee she wouldn't sneak out. Rather than letting chaos break out, it was better to arrange tasks for her now.
"What about me?" Alina looked at Talulah.
"Tomorrow we'll first go to the west for mapping and reconnaissance. We were too passive last time. If it weren't for Flandre's arrival, there would likely have been heavy casualties. This time, we need to set up defensive measures here."
With the advantage of air superiority, Talulah naturally wouldn't let Alina continue with clerical work. Talulah decided to build fortifications in the west so her side could wait for the Ursus Patrol at their leisure. Alina agreed.
"Can this flight Originium Arts be learned on a large scale?" Talulah asked Flandre.
"Flying itself isn't very troublesome; the trouble is the fear of leaving the ground. I can teach you a simplified version. It won't allow you to fly, but it can reduce your weight and let you jump much further."
Flandre, with her experience teaching in Lungmen, knew the literacy level of most ordinary people. Asking them to learn Magic models was unrealistic. So, she proposed the simplified version: "Flandre's Version of the Magic to Leap Higher and Jump Further."
Talulah had a very high foundation in Originium Arts and understood most of it. "Tomorrow while I work, I'll experience this Magic. If it works, we'll promote it to most of the combat-capable units."
"Mm-hm! Then I'll go rest first. I still have to go hunting tomorrow!" Flandre stretched her limbs.
Too many things had happened today. The shadow of the Kashchey on Talulah gave Flandre a bit of a headache. Although it had been severely weakened, it had already merged with Talulah. She had no way to resolve it completely. Encountering the low-handed tactics of the Ursus Patrol would continuously accumulate anger and hatred, and the aura of the Black Snake would keep swirling around her.
"Forget it, I'll leave tomorrow's problems to tomorrow's me. Time to sleep!" Flandre lay on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, everyone's expressions were very calm. Within the Reunion Movement, the sudden removal of three families and their subsequent disappearance only caused a small-scale stir.
However, the family next door to the Milos came to find Red to explain the child's disappearance.
"They have already left the Reunion Movement; the Captain personally saw them off," Red answered the other party calmly, showing none of the fiery anger from the previous night.