Clang.
My blade snapped up, parrying the strike aimed at me.
The force sent the vice-captain of some random unit stumbling backward, where her squad caught her like a bad decision rescued at the last moment.
These people weren't even strong.
If Tugnier had been here, we would've already cleared this shit and started trailing Drane's tracks.
Instead, it was Lydia and a bunch of traitors who looked like they'd barely passed basic combat. Fantastic.
I glanced at Lydia, still holding back at opponents of 10% her strength, eyes red, daggers twitching in her grip.
She looked like she was about to collapse and give a lecture on duty at the same time.
"What's the plan, Commander Lydia?" I asked, because apparently I had to be the one pointing out the obvious now.
She opened her mouth. Closed it. "I am thinking..." she said.
Which clearly meant 'I have no plan but I'm trying very hard to look authoritative'.
Great. That helped a lot.
"Okay, I've got a plan," I said before her internal crisis turned into a team crisis.
"We put them to sleep and get out of here. Fast and clean. That way you might still have a chance to save the troops loyal to you outside."
Lydia blinked, as if the idea of non-lethal fighting had never once crossed her mind.
"Put them to sleep…?"
I stared at her like she had dropped her brain somewhere back at the labyrinth entrance.
"You serious? Hit them on the solar plexus or.. or.. carotid sinus at the back of their neck, or the occipital area. Why are you even asking me? Isn't this supposed to be your assassin thing?"
One of the orcs lunged at me with a low thrust, momentum driving her forward.
I barely shifted, letting muscle memory do the work.
My knee shot up and drove into her solar plexus.
The air burst out of her lungs with a strangled wheeze, and she dropped instantly, collapsing in a heap.
I glanced at her crumpled form, then at Lydia, who was watching me like I had just solved calculus while juggling.
"You know…" I said, trying to look casual, "something like this."
Sera's frost magic hummed behind me, daggers still glinted in unfriendly hands, and Nexar was, no doubt. scribbling sarcastic notes about my leadership style.
"Alright…" Lydia said, her voice low but steady. "They'll come to their senses once they wake up."
She turned the wooden edge of her dagger toward the traitors, as if switching from deadly assassin to grumpy teacher.
Sera mirrored her, flipping her sword to its blunt side with a quick shink.
Lydia blurred forward, one smooth motion, and the nearest orc crumpled at her feet before her brain even processed the chop to the neck.
The remaining orcs hesitated, stepping back, eyes darting nervously.
"This… this isn't what he said would happen…" one of them muttered.
I couldn't help but smile at that.
"What else did you think would happen, going against our commander because of some stupid theory?" I asked, still smiling.
I wasn't sure if it was sarcasm or genuine amusement at this point.
Sera moved from behind me, her steps sharp and fast, not even letting them get another word in.
A captain blocked her blade with her own, but Sera wasn't just all swords. She was a storm packed into a person.
In one fluid step she slid past the captain, her movement a perfect arc of technique, and chopped the orc from behind. The orc went down like a sack of bricks.
That's it. Now we're doing something!
They tried to run, but of course the exit was already blocked.
Lydia and Sera made quick work of the rest. One after another fell.
Lydia drew her dagger again, and a purple flare wrapped around it like a living flame.
She twirled it in her hand with that assassin's flourish that made me both impressed and mildly nervous. Then she hurled it at the massive rock blocking the entrance.
Intermediate aura, I thought, watching the rock explode into chunks like it was made of paper.
From outside, voices rose. The sound of swords clashing, shouts echoing. It had already started.
Lydia stepped out first, her purple aura flaring brighter, a tear escaping her eye only to swirl off into the air as her aura bent the flow of wind itself.
All of a sudden, most of the male orcs in front of us collapsed under the weight of her aura, groaning.
"Ugh!" they choked, pressing their palms to the ground. Lydia walked forward slowly, her eyes gleaming that deep purple that said she wasn't playing anymore.
"You bitch" one of the male orcs tried to spit something out, voice breaking under the pressure. "We'll take back our freedom after we kill yo—"
He didn't finish. Her dagger was already in his throat. He dropped instantly, blood spilling from the hole and his mouth, choking on his last word.
The remaining traitors swallowed hard, their bravado melting.
Lydia looked around, taking in the corpses of some of her own unit scattered across the ground. Her grip tightened on the dagger.
"Tie them up and kill anyone who resists," she said calmly.
"Yes, Commander," her unit replied, voices low but firm.
One female orc approached her hesitantly. "Umm… Commander… what happened to the captains and vice captains inside?" she asked carefully.
"They fell unconscious to traps," Lydia said, biting back a harsh truth.
"I see…" the female orc replied softly, not pressing further.
I walked up to Lydia, wiping blood from my sword. "Commander Lydia, we should go after Drane. Ask one of them where he went," I said.
She looked unhappy, her eyes still flickering with what had just happened.
"I can't put them under more danger," she said quietly, clearly shaken.
"Who said anything about taking them?" I asked. "Sera will lead them back to the cave."
"What?!" Lydia snapped.
"No way!" Sera's voice came from behind me like a shot.
I sighed. "I'm confident Lydia and I can catch Drane, but he knows all our plans now. It's best if we send the covert unit back to Tugnier. He'll need them for better tasks," I said.
Lydia looked thoughtful, but Sera was still glaring daggers at me. "No way I'm leaving you!" she said, her eyes burning with defiance.
I reached out, took her hand. "Commander Lydia, think about it," I said, dragging Sera to a corner.
"Sera, lis—" I tried to speak.
"No!" she cut me off instantly.
"Comm—"
"No!" she said again, voice rising. "No way I'm leavi—"
"Ahh.."
I pulled her in before she could finish, my arms closing around her. Her breasts pressed against me, her eyes wide at the suddenness.
"Listen here," I said, staring straight into her eyes. She seemed flustered, her gaze darting like she was looking for an escape route.
I caught her chin gently, steadying her face so she would actually look at me.
"The situation changed," I said firmly.
"W-what…?" she asked softly.
"In my last life, the captains and vice captains under Lydia were loyal to Tugnier. They helped defeat Merin. But now they turned out to be traitors, despite all the changes to the plot," I said.
Sera's expression shifted; she was already catching on. She nodded, faster than I expected her to.
Then I added, "The reason is…" I hesitated, deciding whether to tell her what Nexar had told me.
"The system user," Sera said quietly.
My eyes widened. "How... do you know…?" I asked.
She closed her eyes, leaning slightly into me, her soft breasts still brushing against my chest.
"I always had this doubt," she said.
"Nexar came back with you because you regressed. Then what about the other system users? You claimed you didn't meet any in your past life, and Nexar didn't know other system users existed until he went to some dark space."
I swallowed. Her deduction skills were terrifying.
She continued, "If that's the case, what would have happened to the other systems that are beyond our dimension, like Nexar?"
[This girl is scaring me.]
She went on, "Unlike divine gifts, the systems are beyond the fate of this dimension. They contain the information to lead their user to the best possible outcome. In other words, they're awakened randomly. Nexar is with you because he was bound to you when you regressed. But other system users didn't regress. Hence the systems are awakened randomly again."
A smile spread across my face involuntarily. I tightened my grip around her.
"H-hey…" she said, cheeks pink, her breasts pressing more against me as she shifted.
"You're right," I said, genuinely impressed.
[Learn a thing or two from her.]
Shut up.
"…So is it Drane this time?" she asked, voice small.
I shook my head. "No. Nexar said he didn't sense a system with him."
Sera went quiet, brow furrowing as she turned the possibilities over.
"Someone close to Drane… but not someone we've met." Her lips pressed together.
I nodded. She'd hit the mark.
"Our best guess is Drane's a puppet," I said.
"Someone who knows Merin will die. They're using Drane to clear the path, so when Merin arrives… she gets the help she needs to win."
The implication settled between us.
Sera swallowed, eyes flicking away. "So you want me to warn Tugnier in advance?" she asked.
I met her gaze. "Yeah."
Her mouth trembled. "But... but I can't leave you. I don't care what happens to the world," she blurted, the protest more desperate than defiant.
I sighed. She was stubborn in the best and worst ways.
"If we don't stop Merin now, she could end up worse than a demon lord," I said seriously.
"She's the youngest master-level aura user. If she consolidates power with whoever's pulling Drane's strings, it's a catastrophe."
Sera looked down, the fight in her eyes dimming with that weight. I reached out and lifted her chin, forcing her to meet me.
"Don't worry," I told her, soft for once. "I'll come back as soon as I get my sword."
She nodded, and when she blinked the moisture from her lashes, it looked like the world was slightly brighter again.
I let go and turned away.
"Oh, also…" I paused, looking back at her. The smile I put on was businesslike, but the edge was sharp.
"Once Lydia and I leave, make sure every single orc in the labyrinth is dead."
Her lips curved into a sinister little grin that made my skin prickle in a way I decided to enjoy.
"I'll make it look like they revolted," she said.
"Perfect," I mimicked her smile.