The four stood frozen, witnessing the crystal atomize and vanish. Matilda, her voice deceptively calm, raised her helmet, putting it on, and issued a chilling command:
"Kill them all."
Without hesitation, the soldiers unleashed a volley of bullets at the leader, Xin, Bethany, and Jinx.
BAM!
The projectiles slammed into an invisible barrier, a shimmering shield conjured by Bethany.
"You all know the plan... There is always plan B!" the leader bellowed, exchanging a resolute nod with Bethany.
He then produced a smoke grenade, smashing it against the ground.
BOOOM!
Smoke billowed instantly, engulfing them and the barrier in a thick, opaque cloud.
"How cute," Matilda murmured, her gaze fixed on the four silhouettes retreating into the smoke. A smirk played on her lips beneath the helmet...
...With a sudden flash, she vanished into the swirling mist.
"Advance!!" the soldiers roared, activating their helmet scanners as they marched into the smoke.
_
"Shit!!!" Bethany cursed, halting her retreat and summoning her sword.
"What are you doing???" Xin yelled, turning to her.
"She is coming, go! I will hold her back!" the dragoness declared, shooting forward toward Matilda.
The remaining three stared for a moment, then turned and bolted towards the settlement.
"She is dead! Just focus on getting inside the settlement, we will escape once we reached," the leader said in a deep voice, accelerating his pace.
WHOOSH!!
Bethany materialized before Matilda, her sword arcing downwards.
DING!
The elite-class blade collided with Matilda's maxed grand-class armor, sending her hurtling backward.
BAM!
Bethany crashed into the ground, a mouthful of blood erupting from her lips as she gazed at Matilda in mild horror.
"So annoying. You almost scratched my armor," Matilda drawled, examining her chest where the sword had struck.
"What made you think you can win?" she asked, raising her head to Bethany, who was already back on her feet.
"As far as I know, Dragons are arrogant... They will never sacrifice their lives for someone who isn't even one of them... So why are you sacrificing yours?" she added.
Bethany gripped her sword tighter, her eyes burning with lethal intent.
"You attacked the only place I took as home! What do you think?!" she yelled.
"What I think?" Matilda chuckled. "Don't blame me, but your stupid family... As a common-blood dragoness, why would you be favor by your true family?!" Matilda sneered. "Let me send you on your way."
__
In less than a minute, the three reached the settlement. "This?!" They were dumbfounded, staring at the scattered dead bodies. Even more shocking was Matilda, standing at the entrance, Bethany's severed head clutched in her hand.
"Your friend wasn't even my opponent," she said, tossing the head at the three as her soldiers swiftly surrounded them.
"Where is the Box?" she asked coldly.
"If you kill us, we will expose your secret?!!" the leader yelled, clutching at his last lifeline.
"Secret? What secret?" Matilda asked with a surprisingly calm tone.
"You!!" The leader turned to the surrounding soldiers and bellowed:
"This woman you take as your Queen is a killer! She killed a lot of people, and even the Commander! All for selfish gains!!"
The soldiers exchanged confused glances.
"Yes!! You don't believe me?!!" he added. "She wants the Box because it has the Commander's heart!"
"....?!!"
The soldiers were stunned, then burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! We already know that!! The empress already told us what we are looking for!!" one soldier roared with laughter.
"Yes! And we know she killed the commander, the empress defended herself! Who are you to accuse her?!!" another yelled, eyes filled with killing intent.
'There is nothing we can do... Bethany is dead, we will be next! No way, I won't die... Not yet,' Xin thought, pulling out a dagger.
Before everyone's horrified eyes, he walked towards the leader and plunged it into the man's back.
"...?!"
"NOOO!!"
"DIE!"
Xin yanked the dagger free and shoved the leader to the ground.
"You bastard!!"
Jinx rushed towards the fallen leader.
"You... You..." he stammered with difficulty, staring at Xin in shock.
"What?!! Because of your adopted daughter! Look what happened to our place! Do you think I will go down with you?!" Xin yelled back.
He produced a red crystal. "I bought this for a different purpose, but I am going to use it now."
"Unsealing crystal?! You! What are you doing??" Jinx hissed at him.
"With this unsealing crystal, I can take one object from the target's spatial storage." He flicked his wrist, and the next moment, the Box appeared in his palm.
".....?!!!"
The two watched in shock as he walked towards Matilda and dropped to one knee.
"Empress! I am returning what that bitch stole from you..." he said, extending the Box towards Matilda with both hands.
"Hmm..."
Matilda took the Box from him, and with a thought, her helmet retracted into her armor. She opened the box, saw the heart within, and nodded with a small smile.
"This slave will never disobey the Empress, and it will be an honor if I can be your slave," he said with a smile, head bowed.
"We need to get you out from here," Jinx whispered.
"Take this." The leader opened her palm, placing a wolf-head token in her hand.
"Locate the Beastify Human nation... Show them the token, they will protect you," he whispered.
"Protect me? They can't even protect themselves."
"Shut up! This isn't the time for that! Just go, and get out from here... Bethany already told you what you have to do... No matter what happens, one of us must survive, and that will be you... Cough!" he said, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
"But --"
"---No But! Do it now!" he urged.
"What are you two whispering about?!" Matilda asked coldly, raising her head to the two, ten meters away.
"Matilda, right?" Jinx asked coldly, tightening her grip on the token, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"You could have just taken me, or even kill me... Why did you have to go to the extent of wiping the whole settlements? The children, elderlies..." She paused, slowly rising to her feet.
"I promise you... I won't rest till you are dead," she vowed.
Matilda chuckled. "First think of a way to escape."
"Oh...?" Jinx smirked. "I already did."
"....?!!!"
Matilda raised an eyebrow at her words. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.
"We will see again."
Before everyone's eyes, Jinx transformed into smoke, vanishing from sight.
"Hmm..."
Matilda walked forward and squatted beside the dying leader.
"Where is she?" she asked calmly, summoning a dagger.
"You should kill me, that is best... You are a fool who only takes in traitors, you won't end well."
"Really?" Matilda smirked.
The next moment, the Tiger smashed Xin with its paw, instantly reducing the human to a paste of blood and flesh.
"I don't like loose ends." she said, staring at the leader.
"So where is she?"
"Hmph!" He scoffed, closed his eyes, and detonated his core.
"What a pity." Matilda plunged the dagger into his chest before he could explode, then stood up.
WHOOSH!!
She and the soldiers spun around, only to see one of their battleships flying away.
"Who is controlling that?" Matilda asked.
One of the soldiers produced a device, tapped on it, and showed the video to Matilda.
"So cunning." Matilda smiled, staring at Jinx's image. "Shut the ship down," she ordered.
The man took the device and tried, but failed. "Impossible, there is no way she could have discovered the control!" he stammered in mild surprise.
"Track her then."
"I... I can't," the man stammered again.
Matilda watched as a vortex opened before the battleship, which then shot inside, disappearing from the planet.
"A space jump... She is heading to a far place, I need her coordinates in an hour." She turned and walked into the settlement, while the soldier nodded.
"The rest of you.... Conquer this planet... Let's expand our territory." The soldiers nodded and rushed back to the warships and battleships.
____
Matilda sat on the leader's seat in the destroyed settlement and slowly opened the Box.
"It is ready, right?" she asked, turning to a spot in the tent.
"No one can hide from you."
One of the three brothers materialized from thin air, a smile on his face.
"So what are your plans now?!" He sat on one of the seats, staring at her.
"When is your brother ready for the ritual?" Matilda asked, closing the box.
"He is getting things in place, maybe by tomorrow... What about your other plan?" he answered and asked.
"Go and get rid of someone for me," Matilda said, turning to face him.
"Who? Jinx?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"She is just an insufficient ant... I need you to kill a senator, known as Peter... He questioned me about the heart in the courtroom, he might be suspicious... I don't want that."
"Is that all?" the guy asked.
"Yep..."
"Ok then!" He stood up and disappeared from the room.
At that moment, three soldiers walked inside: two elf men and a human lady.
"Any news?" Matilda asked.
"The battleship got exploded in space, and the planet closest to it is Planet Zax," one of the elf men reported.
"Ok... Three of you should go and investigate, and report back to me..."
The three nodded, turned, and walked away.