Chapter 45
Cyrus frowned slightly, sleep in thought.
Enzo, sprawled out in bis chair, sighed. “Didn’t you trust that girl before? Why are you suddenly suspicious?”
There were undoubtedly anomalies in Briar’s file, but nothing that explicitly undermined her credibility. Also, Enzo found it hard to believe that an eighteen–year–old girl could be concealing something truly monstrous
Cyrus inhaled slowly. “A new file came in from Okwell City. Its comments differ significantly from the original.
Enzo sat up. “A new file?”
Cyrus upped the stack of documents beside him. “Before she turned fourteen, she lived in the Whestein region. But for more than half the year, every year, she vanished. No school records, travel logs. Nothing at allTM
“That doesn’t mean inch,” Enzo muttered. “She didn’t grow up here. We’re lucky we have anything at all.”
Cyrus fell silent, his expression hardening with thought,
Suddenly, red alerts flared across the monitor, Blooding the screen in rapid succession.
Ento went rigid. “Someone’s breached the prison’s security system.
To Cell No. 001; Cyrus ordered
Enzo didn’t waste a second. He bolted out the door.
Cyrus slid into the chair and took control of the keyboard. Within seconds, it became clear that this wasn’t just any intruder. The hacker fail already breached the outer firewall and buried malicious code deep within the prison’s cure systems,
Red words flashed on the screen, showing all the alarm and surveillance systems were down
Dozens of CCTV screens behind Cyrus were frozen on a 30–second loop, and all footage in between had vanished,
Sirem blared outside in chaotic succession. Just as Cyrus was about to trace the intruder’s II, the monitor turned blood red, and a dark skull slowly emerged.
“It’s him“” Cyrus munered, eyes wide.
Meanwhile, Cynthia had already slipped into Cell No. 001,
She was no novice herself. As the chief instructor of one of the combat zones in the Sinueze region, she ranked among the top five across all Ewenty–one districts,
The cell was stark and bare. A woman sat shackled to a chair, her wrists and ankles bound by thick chains bolted firmly to the floor
Cynthia tensed instinctively
A low, dry laugh echoed froin within the cell.
The prisoner lifted her head, tangled hair falling away to reveal a pale, razor–sharp face
“Fox,” she drawled, voice dripping with dark amusement. “Long time no see.
“You’re alive after all,” Cynthia said, her voice tense.
The woman’s skin was ashen, her eyes singed with falist crimson at the corners like smudged rouge, giving her an unsettling, almost spectral appearance.
A faint smile curved her lips. “Of course I’ve been waiting for you to come rescue me.”
Without a word, Cynthia slipped out a thin wire and began working swiftly o
on the locks.
“Listen,” Cynthia said softly, “I was told to bring you back. You were always our master’s favorite student. He won’t kill you
The woman slowly rose, stretching stiff limbs with joints creaking like rusted metal.
“Well, we shall see,” she replied, voice low.
1/2
Chapter 45
In the woods beyond the prison, Briar crouched in the trees, eyes fixed on the compound.
Six snipers stood guard in the towers. If Cynthia didn’t make it our before the alarms rebooted, she wouldn’t make it out at all.
Sweat beaded on Briar’s brow. She secured a mini computer in a tree branch and flipped it open. A hidden screen and keyboard slid out with m
click.
She stared at the countdown on the screen and saw that only one minute remained
Just then, two figures leapt from the far side of the prison wall. One was Gynthis, and the other was a long–haired woman.
Despite appearing to be injured, the woman moved at surprising speed
Suddenly, spotlights sliced through the dark as gunfire echoed through the air, with dust and bullets ripping through the ground.
Briar didn’t hesitate. She dropped from the tree and sprinted toward them
That limping woman’s agility was terrifying. Even with a bad leg, she moved just as swiftly as Cynthia. In a flash, they were in the woods.
Cynthia called out, “B-”
She barely finished her sentence before the woman beside her suddenly turned and slashed at her neck with vicious speed.
Briar’s face turned gom. She lunged forward, intercepting the strike with a brutal blow,
The clash of their attacks chord dully through the night
Interesting The woman licked her dry hips with a rasp.
Briar said nothing.
The woman wasn’t planning on backing down, and the bunched at Briar.
They clashed immediately. Blows came fast and brutal, every move boed with lethal force.
Cynthia jumped in without hesitation to help Briar.
Only then did Briar realize that this wennan was no ordinary inmate, and it had been long since she’d met with a formidable opponent.
“Stop fighting” Cynthia shouted, startled by how the usually composed Briar had launched into a brawl mid–mission.
“This isn’t the time–she tried again
Before she could finish, Briar slammed a brutal kick into the woman’s que
The long–haired woman flew back several meters: landing hard. She doubled over blood spilling from her mouth.
“Good potential, she rasped with a dry laugh, then straightened slowly, clutching her abelben. “It’s been years since I went back. That old man still has a sharp eye.”
Briar stili said nothing.
She wasn’t the limpulsive type. Even as she traded blows, her eyes never left the prison gates.
All at once, the gates flew open. Armed guards stormed our with weapons raised.
The woman glanced sideways. I’m done having fun. Until next time”
With that, she vanished into the woods like a shadow
Cynthia moved to give chase, but Briar selaed her arm and said, “We’re leaving”
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