Forsaking and Persevering
Asher entered a concealed supply point, a cave hidden by foliage. It would be hard to find without a careful inspection of the area. He drank all the stored water before catching his breath.
He had almost succeeded.
Six months in the training camp had been enough to understand a person, especially someone like Mauro—arrogant and impulsive, with clear strengths and weaknesses. Asher had used himself as bait, exploiting Mauro's personality to lure him from his sniper's nest. He used a deer to distract Mauro and seized the opportunity to attack. Even though Mauro's reaction was faster than Asher had anticipated, he had been prepared.
Asher had set another trap along the path Mauro might take to escape. Indeed, Mauro had bolted into it like frightened prey. The trap wasn't lethal, but it was enough to hinder his movement.
This series of hunting actions were interlinked, but Asher had not been thorough enough—he had overlooked Melly.
Perhaps Melly's timid behavior had made him subconsciously disregard her, not considering her a real opponent. As a result, not only did she disrupt his plan, but she also nearly cost him his life.
A bullet had grazed Asher's back, causing a bloody furrow. Luckily, it was only a superficial wound. He tore his uniform into strips and bandaged the wound. Then, picking up Rampage, Asher left the supply point. There was no time to rest; he had to finish Mauro before the injury healed. Otherwise, if Mauro and Melly teamed up, Asher would be in trouble.
Leaving the supply point, Asher climbed a tall camphor tree. He ascended to the canopy and peered out from the dense foliage, seeing a sea of trees. When the mountain breeze blew, the leaves undulated like waves, a magnificent sight. The forest was calm, and Asher didn't rush to act. He waited patiently for his prey to reveal themselves.
Before long, a flock of birds suddenly took flight from the tree sea about half a kilometer to the west, scattering in different directions. Asher grinned, pinpointing the direction, and swiftly descended the tree, heading stealthily toward the western forest.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Mauro cursed furiously, banging the butt of his sniper rifle on the ground beneath a large tree to vent his anger. He was wounded but not fatally.
His chest was a mess of blood and flesh—a result of Rampage's blade grazing him. It was just a graze, but if he hadn't dodged in time, the dark blade would have cleaved him in two. Recalling Asher's strike, Mauro still felt a chill. The slash had been so swift and precise, yet not quite skilled enough. Otherwise, Mauro wouldn't be brooding here.
Besides the chest wound, the two sharpened wooden stakes that had pierced his calf infuriated him even more. It was a trap, undoubtedly Asher's handiwork. They had penetrated deep into Mauro's leg, almost piercing through. Now, with the stakes removed and the wound hastily bandaged, the pain was like fire, making every nerve in Mauro's body twitch uncontrollably.
Suddenly, the leaves in front of him rustled, and Mauro quickly turned his gun.
"Don't shoot, it's me."
A timid voice spoke.
"Melly?" Mauro watched as the girl emerged from the shade, his eyes falling on the pistols in her hands, and he said coldly, "Stay there, don't move."
Melly bent down, placing the pistols on the ground, "Don't be like that, Mauro. I just want to help you."
"Help me? How do I know if you're telling the truth?"
Melly sighed, "Listen, Mauro, if I wanted to harm you, I wouldn't have needed to drive Asher away. We agreed he's our common enemy. After we kill him, you help me escape—it's that simple."
"That was your shot?" Mauro had heard the shots and guessed it was Melly, but now wounded, he was extra vigilant.
Melly spread her hands, "Who else do you think is here?"
Mauro nodded, finally lowering his rifle. Melly approached, leaving her guns where they were. Mauro relaxed, unarmed Melly posed no threat.
"How bad are your injuries?" Melly frowned as she knelt down, carefully unwrapping the makeshift bandage around Mauro's leg.
"I won't die."
"Let me have a look." Melly bent down to inspect Mauro's leg.
Her action pulled down the neckline of her uniform, revealing the budding peaks inside. As she moved, glimpses of pink flashed by. Mauro swallowed hard, reminded of the frantic pleasures he had shared with Melly. A fire seemed to ignite in his abdomen, his breathing growing heavier.
After Melly re-bandaged his wound, she looked up, "There, you..."
Suddenly, Mauro reached out, cupping her face and pushing her to the ground. He climbed on top of her, hastily trying to remove her pants. "What are you doing? Now's not the time!" she protested softly.
"Shut up, you're mine. You'll do what I tell you, spread your legs, I want you now!" Mauro pulled her pants halfway down and thrust himself into her with savage force.
Melly bit her lip in pain, her expression fueling Mauro's frenzy. He thrust violently, channeling his rage towards Asher into the body beneath him.
And all this was witnessed by a pair of eyes.
A pair of crimson eyes.
Minutes later, Mauro cried out, his body shaking violently. Hidden in the bushes, Asher tightened his grip on Rampage, ready to charge. Now was the perfect time to kill Mauro, at his most vulnerable. But as Asher prepared to sprint, a scene made him stop abruptly.
Melly, pinned to the ground, quietly picked up a wooden stake and stabbed it into Mauro's neck. Mauro grunted, and Melly stabbed him repeatedly, blood uncontrollably spilling through his fingers. He looked at Melly, using his last breath to ask, "Why..."
After pushing Mauro's body aside, Melly redressed, then sat on him and stabbed his chest with the stake, screaming hysterically, "Why? To survive, of course! Did you think I really wanted to sleep with you? That was to make you like my body! Did you think I really wanted to run away? No, I want to stay and live to the end!"
"I'm not like you; I've used the Awakening Elixir three times. Even if I escaped, I wouldn't live more than ten years! Only by surviving and winning to the end can I get a chance to repair the nerve damage." Melly's face was covered in Mauro's blood, and all traces of timidity were gone, replaced by madness: "So you had to die, and that white-haired brat too. I'll seduce him and make him end up just like you!"
After one final stab, Melly stood up. She wiped the blood from her face and turned to pick up her pistols, only to freeze.
In front of her, Asher stood holding Rampage, watching her coldly.
Melly forced a smile, "You're here? Look, I just took care of him for you."
Asher didn't speak, but his gaze made Melly almost suffocate.
She seemed frightened by his stare, retreating and falling to the ground, tears streaming down her face. "Please, I don't want to die. I just want to leave here. Look, if you don't kill me, I can make you very happy."
She undressed, trying to accentuate her youthful breasts, "You haven't touched a woman yet, have you? Come on, you can do whatever you want."
Asher shook his head, "I don't want to end up like him."
"You heard?" Melly's body tensed.
"What do you think?"
In a sudden roll, Melly grabbed Mauro's sniper rifle and aimed at Asher, "Yes, I have to kill you both! I just want to survive, is that so wrong?"
"No, it's not wrong. It's just unfortunate that I have my own reasons to live."
"Then die!" Melly pulled the trigger.
But Asher ducked and sidestepped, the bullet shattering a thick branch. Ronan had said that firearms were indeed the best choice when Source Energy wasn't strong enough. Their advantages were clear, but their weaknesses were also pronounced. As long as one avoided the trajectory of the bullets, their power was nullified. So when Melly picked up the sniper rifle, Asher had already calculated her firing trajectory and evaded in advance.
The distance of six or seven meters between them was closed in Asher's swift movements, and by the time Melly could fire a second shot, Asher had already reached her side. His agility, three times that of a normal person, made him move as swiftly as a cheetah. Without mercy or hesitation, Rampage swung in a black arc across Melly's neck.
The Crescent Moon strike, combined with Rampage's sharpness, sent the girl's head flying, landing beside Mauro. Standing over the headless corpse, Asher straightened up, his eyes reflecting a complex mix of emotions before settling into calm.
"I sympathize with you, but I despise deceit more!"
Leaving those words behind, the youth dragged his broadsword away. At dusk, the magic-powered craft landed in a valley. The rear cabin opened, and Ronan beckoned from inside, "Come on in."
As the craft rose again, the forest shrank from view through the porthole. Watching the retreating woods, Asher felt as if he had left something behind forever.
The next day, Asher donned a new uniform prepared by Ronan. In addition to the original vest and camouflage pants, there was now a black leather jacket. Half a year had passed, and the weather had shifted from the height of summer when he joined the camp to the current winter chill. When Asher awoke, snow was falling outside the barracks.
In the snowflakes, specks of strange-colored Source Energy glowed and danced, as beautiful as the morning five years ago. But Asher was no longer the same person from five years ago. Half a year of intense training had made him grow 5 centimeters taller. His once lean figure now bore muscular contours. He looked like a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy.
He stepped out of the barracks, and the magic-powered craft and Ronan were already waiting in the square. The lieutenant waved at Asher, "Hurry up, that craft will take you to the 13th District's military base. From there, someone will take you to Babylon."
Asher approached and said to Ronan, "Thank you for your guidance, Lieutenant."
"You should thank yourself for surviving, kid." Ronan clapped Asher's shoulder forcefully, then pushed him into the rear cabin of the craft.
As the cabin door began to close, Ronan suddenly called out loudly, "Listen, Asher, sometimes we have to forsake some things, even become devils ourselves. But never forget, there are things we must persevere in. Otherwise, what awaits you is the true hell!"
Hearing this, Asher paused. The closing cabin cut off Ronan's figure, but a smile slowly spread across Asher's face. Ronan's words warmed his somewhat icy heart.