Down below, chaos continued—
shouting, running, collapsing walls.
But on one of Javier's smaller scout drones,
a softer image flickered into view:
A young dwarven boy, eyes swollen from crying,
was now helping maybe his mother stand.
Her movements were weak,
but she was alive.
The boy supported her,
dragging her slowly through the ruins toward a gap in the broken fence.
Toward safety.
Javier's expression didn't change.
But his grip tightened.
"Stay alive.
I'll finish this."
The drone adjusted again.
The hunt wasn't over.
The drone hovered silently now—
its gun barrel steaming,
mana coils recharging.
Javier's hand hovered over the final control seal.
A glowing red glyph pulsed on the lens.
His newest weapon.
Mana Missile Deployment.
A siege-class attack.
Unleash it, and the entire town would be consumed in fire and force.
There would be nothing left standing.
He stared at the control.
The urge to end it all in one clean strike pressed at his thoughts.
