Chapter 80: Zero...

Chapter 80: Zero... Her cloak fluttered like a mischievous shadow as she stepped over the last body, unbothered by the stench in the air. She whistled, twirling one of her vibrating blades before tucking it behind her. "Seriously? That was it?" she said, stepping over the last corpse like it offended her standards. "Was this a joke squad? Did they draw straws?" She shook her head in disappointment. "Can’t believe that’s all," she said out loud. "Well," she flexed her toned arms, then brought one bicep to her lips and kissed it. "I won’t hold it against them, not their fault. I’m just too awesome. They didn’t lose because they were weak," she said, flexing and smooching her bicep again. "They lost because I’m me, and there’s nothing they can do about that." She adjusted her cloak and continued forward, but her sharp ears caught footsteps rounding a corner. Another squad of five, maybe six, rushed to her. "Stop right there!" one barked, forming fire around his fists. "Well, maybe I judged them a little too early," she beamed. The first three charged. One leapt with a fireball forming in his hands, the other two moved to flank her. She easily sidestepped the first, caught his wrist mid-air, spun him, then slammed him into the marble ground. His skull cracked. Dead. The other two didn’t stand a chance. She knocked them down with such fluid motion that it almost looked like she was helping them sleep. She paused, still holding the last one by his collar. "Do none of you idiots recognize me?" He whimpered. "Tch." She let go, turned around dramatically, pulling her cloak aside to expose the fiery insignia on her back. "Circle of fire. Signature mark. Do none of you senseless grubs know who I am?" They didn’t care what she tried to show them. FOOSH! Blinding fire sprayed forward. "IDIOTS!" She turned just in time to punch through it. Her wind-charged fist sliced through the flame, dispersing it completely as it caved into the closest soldier’s face, launching him back. His body spun mid-air like a ragdoll before slamming down. "Didn’t your parents teach you brats manners?!" she shouted. Another soldier shouted, "Ignore her feeble attempts at distracting us. ATTACK!" "Feeble? Me?" She was not having it. One of them stepped forward with twin swords of fire. Another created an axe, and then another with fists engulfed in spiraling blaze. For a moment, it looked like she was retreating, dodging, flipping back, shielding herself in a veil of wind as they pressed forward. And though she still had that nasty grin on her face, they could clearly see she was finding it difficult to fight back. They advanced, not even giving her a chance to pull out her weapons. All she could do was summon gusts of wind and shoot them at the soldiers, but their blades slashed through the wind. One soldier even clipped her side, his blade sizzling against her rib. "Yes," another cheered. "She’s slowing down! We can beat her!" But then...she stopped and leaped onto the nearest wall. Her pupils narrowed, and her smile vanished. The sword wielder jumped at her, spinning towards her, but he only slashed the air. "She’s still here! Don’t let your guard down!" Suddenly, the air trembled. It was a small sensation—the air vibrating. But they felt it, and they could tell something was wrong. Wind shattered across the ground, and a few bodies fell to the ground. Each soldier was dead before they even saw her move. They didn’t feel pain, didn’t know she’d struck them a second ago, and their bodies gave in before they could ever know. They would meet their ancestors, not even knowing how to explain the reason why they were in the afterlife. She stood calmly, brushing her cloak. "Enough playing around." She pointed toward the imperial palace. "Where’s that old man?!" With a frustrated grunt, she stormed off. But from the highest roof, a cloaked figure watched. And as she left, his mind whirred. The circle of fire, the inhuman speed, precision, and fatality. Only one assassin in this world could move like that. "...Zero...?" he whispered. "No...she wouldn’t dare come back." He waited till she was gone before he went down to the corpses. A quick look at them, and he easily confirmed the kills were Zero’s. She’d left her signature mark on them—a perfectly cut circle on their chests and backs. They never even knew these marks were left on their skin when she was dancing about and dodging. A hand went to his robe as he pulled out a transmission stone. "The exile... she’s returned." They’d waited all day for the meeting to end, waiting for Kesha to join their company, but it was clear they’d have to wait longer into the evening. Mozrael rested against the tree trunk, Lia beside, quietly tracing patterns in the grass. Aramith stood a few paces ahead, arms folded as he watched the clouds. "You think the stars will be bright tonight?" Mozrael asked. "Not if the sky’s hiding something," Aramith muttered. Lia tilted her head. "Why do you have to sound so...something?" "It’s still beautiful," Mozrael whispered. "No insects or birds, though," Aramith replied. "Odd." Even the crickets were surprisingly silent. They heard sudden footsteps as three soldiers emerged from the hedge-lined walkway, all fire-wielders in ornate imperial uniform. "Trouble...I feel trouble...," Lia whispered. Before Aramith could respond, "Young masters," one said with a polite nod, "there’s been a situation. We’re under orders to secure this area for your safety. Please remain within this garden until told otherwise." Aramith turned. "What kind of situation?" "Nothing urgent," the second replied. "Just routine security protocol." Lia sat up straighter. "Security protocol doesn’t come with three armed men." "They’re lying," Aramith said. The words weren’t his, but he heard them loud and clear in his head. The trio exchanged glances. How could a threat be in the walls? And worse, they hadn’t been able to deal with this threat? Aramith blinked, hearing the voice whisper in his mind again "They plan to kill an innocent soul. They lured her in. She walked into their trap. They want her dead." He tensed, feeling a cool sensation under his skin. The whisper was soft, but insistent. It wasn’t a voice he recognized. Yet it was calm. Almost... feminine? He looked at the guards again, noting how their stances were too casual, like men who expected to be unbothered, not ones worried about danger. "Who told you to come here?" Aramith asked. "You doubt our orders?" one asked. Aramith didn’t answer. But he subtly moved in front of the girls. Lia nudged Mozrael, unease in her voice. "Something’s wrong, isn’t it?" Aramith nodded, though he couldn’t explain it. "Do not let them blind you. She is not the monster. But they... they would kill her to preserve their pride." Unlike the soldiers who’d been killed earlier, these were among the elite of the elite. They wouldn’t be killed so easily by some random assassin. They were there to protect them, but the voice in his head...was it friend or foe? And would it help him or not? He took a step, wanting to leave, but- "If you value your life, you would stay there," The deep voice of Deadlock one cut through the air cleanly, making Aramith stop. He frowned, but at least he knew that man was someone he had to listen to. Aramith still wanted to speak, to push past, but he wasn’t foolish enough to ignore that voice. Henndar stood again before the shimmering map, arms folded behind his back. He spoke like he owned the room. "...and that is why your security policies are a delusion." He gestured toward the west on the map. "Your border flame posts? Useless. Your patrol rotation? Predictable. Even your code words for internal threats—known. All of them." They looked at one another. Uncertainty now became dread. "And you didn’t think to tell us this earlier?" one barked. "I did. You just didn’t listen. If I tell you there is danger, I don’t need to tell you again to prepare for any unexpected situation that might weaken you, am I right?" "I can never trust a man like you," he replied to Henndar, but this made him chuckle, making a few frown, and others clench their jaws tighter than their girded loins in cold weather. "You amuse me. Look around. You say you don’t trust me? Good. Because neither does the man beside you. But you’ll still work together. Why? Because for now... I’m the only one who can save you." Serephene sat like a calm viper, uninterested in anything but the tea steaming before her. Apart from earlier, the people from the Myriad Depths hadn’t uttered another sound. They were just observing. Kesha watched Henndar with sharp interest. The more he spoke, the more layers he revealed. Was this his real face? Or just another mask? "Then tell us," Khaizen said quietly, "what’s next?" He was sure that through all this, Henndar definitely had a plan. Henndar only smiled. "Next, we wait. And for those who decide to not listen, remember that the ones who don’t listen... always end up hearing something they wish they hadn’t."