The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 194

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 194

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When Ethan had almost finished stitching up his side, Hanna called to him with a nasal voice.

“Ethan.”

“What.”

“We’re in big trouble, aren’t we?”

“What nonsense are you spouting now.”

“I can’t get through on communications… I’ve been trying continuously since earlier.”

She fidgeted with her blood-red stained handkerchief while looking tearful.

“Something must have gone wrong just now. Is that why my nosebleed won’t stop? What do we do now? We can’t even request support…”

“What do you mean what do we do? Hey, when did I ever say I needed support?”

Ethan snorted and spoke nonchalantly.

“We can escape somehow, so if you have time to worry about useless things, just focus on stopping your nosebleed properly.”

It was bravado.

Even to Hanna’s eyes, he had clearly reached his limit.

Unlike earlier when he had reattached his right arm in one go, stitching up his side had taken quite a while, and the stitching looked incredibly sloppy.

‘He’s covered in cold sweat and even his lips have turned blue…’

Hanna didn’t voice those words. She realized that Ethan was deliberately trying to act more okay because of her.

‘This really won’t work. He’s going to die.’

How long could they hide here? Ethan’s expression had darkened when he looked outside earlier.

She felt like crying. Hanna swallowed her tears while sniffling as if swallowing her nosebleed.

‘Please, please connect. Anyone, please!’

Someone please help. Please help us, please…

She crouched down and desperately spread her Oaths.

The communications that couldn’t reach either Olivia or Isaiah and cut off weakly, she scattered in all directions as far as she could reach. Like a drowning person flailing and reaching out their arms in any direction.

And someone firmly grasped that arm.

[Hanna? Are you okay?]

It was Lillieta.

Hanna burst into the tears she had been holding back.

“Miss…!”

* * *

While running toward the Podonamu Estate, Rita received the final aerial view through the blue bird controlled by Is.

She confirmed the scene the sparrow had been watching until just before it was pierced by a spear thrown by a card soldier and vanished.

The suddenly transformed monsters. Their eerily coordinated movements. Upon seeing it, she reached the same conclusion as Ethan.

‘Nothing else can explain it except a Commander.’

Codename, Commander.

The reason it was given a name meaning commanding officer was clear. Its ability was to dominate and command other monsters.

The Commander itself wasn’t particularly strong. However, because it could unilaterally bring countless monsters under its command to form legions and wage war, it was considered the most dangerous monster.

When the Commander appeared during the Ash-covered Era, the Last Line of Defense fought a truly real war in many senses.

A war filled with trenches, air raids, maneuvers, and diversionary tactics – the kind of war that would normally occur between humans.

In the war against the Commander, each member of the Beacon Squad earned nicknames.

It meant they fought such a long war that each of them, who used to move as a group, got individual nicknames, and those titles became so familiar they became their respective codenames. The seasons changed several times over.

That’s how persistent and difficult an opponent the Commander was.

And now, not content with the giant Red Queen, that thing had appeared too?

‘…It doesn’t seem to be nearby. The Commander doesn’t have stealth abilities, but it does have remote command capabilities… It’s probably hiding somewhere far away and safe.’

The Commander was a monster that knew how to use ‘strategy,’ so it could even do something resembling ‘deals’ with humans.

If Pascal had made some kind of deal with the Commander, it meant it was possible to make the Red Queen’s minions, who should be wandering around freely, gather at a specific location.

Like the current situation at the Podonamu Estate.

‘If it’s really the Commander, it wouldn’t be commanding just this small number of monsters. It would definitely create a legion. I need to find it immediately.’

Imagining the Commander’s monster legion lined up and marching from Lambcard City sent chills down her spine.

While running, Lillieta grabbed her familiar and shook it vigorously to get Isaiah’s attention, then repeatedly mouthed “Commander.” If it was Is, he would see her through the bird’s vision and understand her meaning.

When the Podonamu Estate came into view, the familiar flew in circles. It was Isaiah’s signal that he understood.

‘Ethan first.’

Though the last scene the sparrow had seen looked somewhat dangerous, Lillieta trusted Ethan. He would somehow survive and hold out.

‘I’m more worried about Hanna.’

Just as she was thinking that while climbing over the estate’s wall.

[Please help us, please…]

Lillieta was startled and grabbed onto that communication to respond.

“Hanna? Are you okay?”

[Miss…!]

A voice bursting with tears came back. She listened intently to Hanna’s rambling communication and grasped the situation.

[So, *sob*, so that means…]

“It’s okay now. I completely understand the situation.”

While listening to the communication, she climbed down from the wall and stealthily took position.

Rather than entering the estate, she headed outside of it. She hooked a grappling hook onto the roof of the temple spire located some distance from the Podonamu Estate, climbed up, and lay prone.

‘Even if the distance increases a bit, higher ground is better.’

She activated her magic gun’s sniper mode and continued speaking.

“Hanna, can you tell Ethan something for me? December 7th, Southern Block 15 defense battle.”

[Huh? Yes…]

Hanna answered confusedly, then sent another communication after a moment.

[He, he says he can’t move as well as back then?]

“Tell him I’ll provide cover gently enough for a civilian, so don’t worry.”

[Um… he says okay…]

“Good. Now, Hanna.”

Actually, it would be best if Hanna could connect her directly to Ethan’s communication like she had done with Lindsey during the Mimic battle, but that technique was too much for Hanna’s current condition.

Listening to her rambling voice and guessing her state, Lillieta conveyed concisely.

“Tell Ethan the signals. When you’re on his back, if you tap his right shoulder, he turns right; if you tap his left shoulder, he turns left. And if you touch the back of his neck, he moves forward; if you pull his clothes, he stops.”

[Uh-huh…]

“Do you understand? From now on, when I say forward, stop, left, or right, you’ll use these signals to relay them to Ethan. Can you do it?”

[I, I, I think I can do it.]

“Good, then get ready.”

With them hiding in the warehouse inside the garden, she couldn’t just use Twilight recklessly.

But if she tried to draw attention so they could escape, she would become too dangerous without a vanguard to guard her front.

So the best option in the current situation was.

‘Cover using sniping.’

When sniping Crawlers, she had to use vision enhancement magic, but the modified magic gun’s sniper mode had a built-in scope.

[Notice: Activating night vision function.]

[Notice: Activating range measurement function.]

[Notice: Activating blind spot vision function.]

The clever artificial spirit automatically activated the necessary functions.

Lillieta placed the muzzle on the bipod, fixed her body to the ground, and put her eye to the scope.

Small butterflies flew up through the function Grace had activated, supplementing her vision of positions blocked by obstacles.

The scope and blind spot vision combined with her own eyesight and detection range to create a three-dimensional map in her mind.

In her magnified vision, she could see a card soldier approaching the garden warehouse. Rita placed the creature’s head in the center of the crosshairs and held her breath.

A silent bullet was fired soundlessly. Over the rooftops, over the estate’s fence, through the branches cast by the garden trees, it embedded precisely in the monster’s forehead.

As the creature fell backward, Rita whispered.

“Come out of the warehouse. Move forward.”

The warehouse door quietly opened and Ethan walked out carrying Hanna on his back. He wasn’t surprised by the corpse of the fallen monster, and walked forward without hesitation, looking only ahead. His steps were slow due to his severe injuries.

Rita moved her muzzle. The head of another Card Soldier approaching in the direction he was slowly advancing came into the center of the crosshairs.

With a hissing sound like air escaping, the monster’s head exploded beyond the scope.

“Continue forward.”

She moved the muzzle while simultaneously extending one hand to the side to prepare several silent rounds. So she could immediately reload even if the magazine was emptied in one burst of rapid fire.

“Stop.”

Hanna tugged at Ethan’s clothes, and he stopped in place.

Lillieta fired five shots in succession, then grabbed the silent rounds she had stacked beside her with one hand and reloaded. The cylinder spun around, and immediately she fired rapidly again.

Of the nine monsters gathered near the fountain, the four survivors were examining the corpses of the fallen five when their heads burst one after another.

Without looking at the results, she reloaded again and whispered.

“Move forward.”

A Joker appeared in the scope. When nine died at once at the fountain, it seemed to be going to check the situation under the Commander’s orders.

‘That one can’t be handled with silent rounds.’

But if she used other rounds like explosive bullets, it would be dangerous as all the remaining ones would likely gather.

Instead of shooting it, Lillieta moved her muzzle to the other side and said.

“Left.”

When Hanna tapped his shoulder, Ethan immediately changed direction. Inside the hedge maze, the Joker and he moved in different directions without encountering each other.

The Joker’s eyeball attached to its hat twitched as if it sensed something suspicious. Rita immediately sniped the wine fountain in the opposite direction from Ethan.

The silent round was fired soundlessly, but with splashing water sounds, dark purple liquor shot up into the air. The Joker immediately ran toward the fountain with ghostly movements.

After confirming the Joker had moved away, Rita shot two more Card Soldiers approaching in Ethan’s direction.

In front of Ethan walking as if taking a stroll, only the corpses of monsters with burst heads were visible. He chuckled. Yes, this is Matan.

In the same manner, the quiet movement continued.

“Move forward.”

“Right.”

“Stop… Move forward.”

“Left. Then continue forward.”

“Complete.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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