“According to our reports,” he went on, “the Casulls have impressive combat skills but lack experience with the psychological toll of battle. Their morale will likely be low if they’re forced to leave town, which will lessen their drive and thus keep casualties on our side to a minimum. We’ve posted personnel on all likely departure routes.”
Chris stared at the man, surprised. He didn’t consider himself a particularly honorable fighter, and in order to fulfill his duty over the years he’d taken hostages, exploited weaknesses, and looked for every tactical advantage. But it would have never occurred to him to go to such great lengths to weaken an enemy.
However, Luke had already said that his main goal was to keep casualties at a minimum, both soldiers and civilians. That alone made moral arguments against his plan seem unjust.
“Well?” Luke didn’t bother turning to Chris. “What are you going to do? Return now and report to your superiors, or stay and see how the mission is carried out?”
Chris took a breath. “I have orders from the baroness to observe the mission to the end,” he said evenly. “Regardless of success or failure.”
“I’m sorry.”
Surprised, Winia looked up. Who’s there? she wondered.
In a horrendous turn of luck, Raquel stood in the doorway. And from the look on her face, she had heard the conversation between Winia and her grandmother.
Winia’s stomach sank. Her grandmother’s words had been hard for her to hear, she couldn’t imagine how painful they were for Raquel. Winia had been hoping that she, at the very least, could have been the one to break the news to the Casulls.
“Raquel…” she began.
Raquel shook her head. “It’s all right,” she assured Winia softly. “As soon as Shannon returns, we’ll leave. I promise we’ll come back with money for the repairs as soon as we can.”
“You don’t have to leave. My grandmother just believed those silly rumors—”
“It’s okay.” Raquel smiled faintly. “Really.”
Winia swallowed hard. She’d heard the rumors that called the Casull siblings murderers and worse, but knowing the three of them as she did, she couldn’t imagine anyone believed the tales. Still, Shannon always carried a sword with him, and it was a well-known fact that Raquel had used attack magic in town—not to mention that Winia had been kidnapped in front of everyone. With so much danger and violence surrounding them, Winia reluctantly realized that rumors were to be expected.
“I’m not surprised that this happened.” Raquel carefully folded her hands in front of her. “We’ll be fine. Just promise me that you’ll make up with your grandmother.”
“I know, I know. It’s just that…” Winia trailed off into silence, unable to continue.
In the end, Winia had refused her grandmother’s wishes, which had been so shocking to the old woman that she hobbled away, her head dropped in despair.
Winia looked to the floor and narrowed her eyes. Anger welled up inside her, pushing aside the depression in her heart.
“Why are people so stupid?” she asked. “They have eyes, and ears, and minds. How could they let this happen?!”
Why don’t people think for themselves?!
Raquel slowly pulled Winia into her arms. “Most people aren’t that strong,” she said softly. “It’s hard to know what to think sometimes. It’s human nature to believe what’s easiest—that’s not really wrong in itself, it’s just the way things are.”
Winia hiccupped. Hot tears welled up in her eyes, and she wiped them away with her sleeve.
“Then I… I want to be strong. I want the strength to believe in people, no matter what happens.”
Raquel smiled sadly. “Strength alone doesn’t solve anything, Winia. Some people don’t see their own mistakes because their strength blinds them. Some people have absolute faith in their beliefs, but use that to hurt others.” Raquel gently stroked Winia’s hair. “I don’t know who’s right or wrong, or even if it really matters. I’m just glad that I met you and the people of this town. That’s enough for me.”
Winia hiccupped again. Her view of the floor blurred as new tears filled her eyes.
“Hey!” A hoarse whisper caught the attention of the five soldiers of Team 6. Their team leader, who had made the sound, gestured at a figure walking down the road toward them.
Team 6 was one of seven Blackhawk units deployed to detain anyone leaving or entering Taurus. Any travelers, whether or not they had anything to do with the Scrapped Princess, were to be held for five days while the mission was carried out. If it could be determined that the townspeople knew too much, the Blackhawks would descend to kill every last civilian.
Of course, precautions had been taken so that the last resort wouldn’t be necessary. Teams 1 and 2 had infiltrated the city to spread rumors about the Scrapped Princess and her siblings and thus drive the three of them out of town.
Although the Blackhawk soldiers generally tried to avoid slaughtering civilians, if they had to, destroying an innocent town was preferable to allowing the world to know that the Scrapped Princess lived. The political instability that would result when the Mauser Church realized that the royal family had spared the princess—as well as neighboring countries’ reactions when they found out that Linevan had allowed the girl who would destroy the world to survive—could be enough to tear the entire country apart.
The soldiers of Team 6 were not about to take risks. They readied their weapons as the figure drew closer.
The man who approached was abnormally large, with a normal-sized head that seemed strangely comical attached to his huge body. His hair was short, and his bland eyes stared forward resolutely.
The soldiers exchanged glances. They recognized the man from their briefing documents.
“Is that… a Purger?’’ one soldier whispered, obviously doubting what he saw.
The documentation had stated that Purgers always operated in teams of four. Not only that, but the Purgers misshapen body was a surprise—the team’s information on Purgers had described them as completely normal men with an unusual similarity. A single, huge Purger returning to the scene of his defeat made their information oddly inaccurate.
The team leader raised his thumb, then pointed it downward—the Blackhawk signal for “handle according to standard procedure.” The soldiers quickly and silently surrounded the Purger on all sides.
A sudden, strange, rasping noise made them pause. They looked around in confusion before focusing back on the Purger. A chill went down the leader’s spine as he realized what the sound was.
Laughter.
Purgers were supposed to have abandoned all traces of humanity to carry out their faith. For one to be laughing made no sense at all, yet the large Purger smiled brightly as his shoulders shook with mirth.
Suddenly, his face twisted.
The soldiers reacted instinctively. Some jumped out of the way, others threw up their weapons to block; all the movements had a swiftness born of intense training. But for those who stood their ground, even their considerable battle experience couldn’t save them.
The Purgers humanoid form abruptly split apart, sending new limbs bursting from his body. The arms were abnormally long and had more than one joint. They shot out of his face, his back, and his knees, shredding his clothes as they reached for the soldiers. In barely a moment, two soldiers were gripped in the monster’s grotesque hands.
The leader had managed to dive out of the way. He threw his gaze up to see that the Purger had sprouted a total of eight arms, likening him to a giant deformed spider. As the leader watched, the last of the Purger’s shirt ripped away and a cheerfully laughing human face popped out from the Purger’s chest.
The monster opened its mouth. The leader expected to hear a terrible roar, but instead the creature spoke in a strangely normal voice.
“Ha ha! This truly is bliss! We always thought we knew true unity, but that was only a pale shadow compared to this new oneness!” The Purger surveyed the soldiers surrounding him.
“Lonely creatures!” he announced. “I will share my joy with you!”
Without another word, the monster dragged one of the soldiers close and sank an arm into his face.