Troy's eyes seemed to bore holes into them.

Hayden and Lavinia looked at each other, hoping the other would speak, but neither of them stepped forward.

Lavinia tilted her head, signaling Hayden to talk but he only continued staring at her.

Seeing this, her eyes glinted coldly.

He couldn't help but take a deep breath.

He had to bite this bullet. Her rank was higher than his.

Hayden stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"Leader, our soldiers were turned to ashes by Nemesis' Warlord, Darius. We only managed to find a witness who saw our three Grade 1s being led through Quarath's streets, but we have no idea about their current condition."

Troy didn't say anything for several seconds. His mind was spinning rapidly.

It wasn't every day that a higher-up from Nemesis made a move during a normal skirmish.

Both factions had mutually agreed that their higher-ups wouldn't interfere in such conflicts.

At least, that's what Troy had thought.

Nemesis had never regarded the skirmishes as worth their attention, which was why they never deliberately sent one of their Generals or a strong Commander to handle them, only letting new recruits hone themselves through battle.

It was only when many deaths occurred that they would take the situation seriously.

But that hadn't happened in a while.

"Do you know why Darius intervened?"

Finally, Troy snapped out of his thoughts and asked.

Hayden didn't want to shake his head, doing so would surely result in punishment. The only question was how harsh it would be.

But they hadn't found any reason for Darius's interference.

After a brief internal struggle, his eyes sharpened.

"It's because Nemesis felt threatened by our Grade 1s and didn't want to lose their soldiers."

When Lavinia heard this, her eyes widened and her muscles tensed like the string of a bow. It only lasted for a moment before she returned to normal.

Troy was focused on Hayden and didn't notice Lavinia's reaction. He pondered Hayden's words for a moment, then nodded.

It wasn't too far-fetched to think Darius had stepped in to save his soldiers. If he were in the same position, he would have done the same.

They, the Federation, had also contributed to provoking this response by attacking twice in such a short period of time with Grade 1s.

I need to report this to the President, Troy thought. He nodded and waved his hand, dismissing the two.

Hayden and Lavinia quickly bowed and left.

Once they were gone, Troy swiftly called Jonathan and reported his findings.

Hearing the report, Jonathan didn't question its veracity. He also found it reasonable that a leader would lose face if their soldiers died in droves to the enemy, and would thus personally teach them a lesson.

Since they had discovered how and why their soldiers disappeared, Jonathan instructed Troy to slow down the attacks and give Nemesis some breathing room.

The President had always thought that, if push came to shove, he could ask Murdok for help in killing them.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Now, though, he knew that option was no longer available, and he didn't want to stir up the hornet's nest that was Quarath.

While Jonathan gave a few more orders to Troy before hanging up, Hayden and Lavinia walked into an empty room.

Bang!

As soon as they entered, Lavinia threw Hayden against the wall.

She stepped closer and said coldly, "What are you trying to do, giving a false report?"

Hayden didn't retaliate. He stared at her and said, "We worked like dogs for two days, asking everyone we met on the streets and even knocking on doors, yet we still found nothing. Are we supposed to be punished because no one in Quarath knows anything? Did you already forget what happened to Number Six?"

Lavinia stared at him in silence. The coldness in her eyes hadn't diminished.

She knew exactly what Hayden was talking about.

Everyone in the Numbers did.

They just didn't dare to talk about it, afraid that Troy might hear.

Number Six, or rather, Bernard, had been sent on a mission to kill a man. A Grade 1 who hadn't pledged allegiance to the Federation and was on the run.

Bernard tracked him down and found him in a small city.

The two fought, but as soon as the man realized he was no match for Bernard, he fled, taking the first person he saw as a hostage.

Bernard didn't want to endanger a civilian's life, so he let the man go, thinking he could track him down again and finish the job before things got ugly.

Little did he know, that would never happen.

When he reported back to Troy, the latter simply told him there was no need for him to continue with that mission.

Instead, Troy assigned him another task. Cleansing one of the small cities plagued by a few Grade 1 beasts along with a dozen Grade 0.

Alone.

Bernard agreed, thinking nothing of it. After all, he was one of the Numbers.

His strength surpassed that of ordinary Grade 1s, even though he himself was still a Grade 0.

True to his status, he completed the mission. But when he returned, he was missing an arm.

One had to know that regeneration only worked if the damage wasn't caused by a being, or a power, greater than oneself.

Many times, Nova's regeneration was slowed down when the opposing power was stronger.

A Grade 0, despite being stronger than a Grade 1, would still suffer if their body and cells hadn't undergone an enhancement similar to that of ascension.

The residual power left behind by a Grade 1's strike could slow the regeneration process drastically.

It could take days… weeks… even months.

But as soon as Bernard came back, Troy ordered him to cleanse another city.

This continued four times, four grueling missions, before Bernard stopped coming back altogether.

The public never knew what happened.

And those who did… didn't dare say a word.

After all, if people knew what kind of person was in charge of the military, would anyone still serve the Federation?

A mistake that wasn't truly a mistake had cost one of the most powerful people on Earth his life, and Troy hadn't suffered any consequences for it.

At the time, Jonathan hadn't cared much. He believed he still had everything under control, as long as he kept serving Murdok.

Perhaps now, he wouldn't be so nonchalant.

Lavinia spoke slowly. "I could sell you out to Troy and escape any sort of punishment."

Hayden met her gaze and snorted. "Do you even believe what you're saying? I might go first, but you'd soon follow. And… is there even a need to rat me out? Troy believed what I said, and he has no way to disprove it. Darius showing up was true. I only made up the reason, something only the higher-ups of Nemesis could know. For all we know, my guess might even be right."

She held his gaze, and they stared at each other in silence.

Then, she turned around and left, leaving behind three words.

"This never happened."

When Hayden saw Lavinia leave, he slumped to the ground.

His breathing labored, his hair disheveled and sweat matted his back.

He looked down and muttered wearily, "Back then… maybe I should've accepted Nemesis' offer."

They were numbered for a reason.

If Lavinia wanted to silence him, he knew he had no way to fight back.

//////

Quarath.

Woooo!

Two days later, a total of four days after Nova had entered the forge, a siren blared from the southern city gates.

"Beast attack! Five Grade 1s confirmed!"

A soldier shouted from atop the walls, his eyes fixed on the five massive beasts charging toward the gate, followed by dozens of smaller ones.

Below the walls, another soldier hurriedly relayed the situation to his superior.

The latter, a captain, was about to call for reinforcements when his device buzzed. His direct commander was calling.

"Sir, have you already received the report? We need reinforcements to fight the Grade 1 beasts," the captain said quickly. Every second mattered in situations like this.

From the other side, in stark contrast to the captain's hurried tone, a calm voice replied, "No need. Prepare to engage the Grade 0 beasts. Someone else will take care of the Grade 1s."

Hearing that, the captain composed himself and asked, "May I ask who?"

"The Huntress."

//////

"Hehe."

A woman stood atop Nemesis' headquarters.

She wore a white dress adorned with red ornaments that accentuated her fiery red hair, which whipped wildly in the wind. Her green eyes gleamed with a mischievous light.

"I'd better rack up some achievements now that the Boss is back," she said with a smile. "I might even get something good as a reward."

She looked toward the oncoming beasts, they were so clear in her vision it was as if they stood right beside her, and raised the bow in her hand.

A green arrow condensed from wind began to form, swirling until it solidified, looking as tangible as any real arrow.

She nocked it on the bowstring and grinned.

"Eurus."

Twang!

BOOOM!

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