LAYING THE SNARE
The war camp moved under the weight of fear. Two bodies in two nights. A killer in their midst. Trust was a brittle thing, ready to shatter.
Billy stood at the center of it all, his mind working through the possibilities. If Erebus was involved, this wasn’t just murder—it was manipulation. The enemy wanted paranoia to spread, for his army to turn on itself. He wouldn't allow that.
Inside the command tent, his officers gathered.
“We do this carefully,” Billy said, eyes scanning each of them. “The killer thinks they’re untouchable. That means they’ll strike again. But this time, we choose their target.”
Kaela leaned against the table, arms crossed. “And who do we dangle as bait?”
Billy's lips curled into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Me.”
Aelric exhaled sharply. “That’s reckless, even for you.”
Soria adjusted her glasses. “More than reckless. It’s exactly what they want. What if it’s an ambush?”
“Then I spring it first,” Billy said, rolling his shoulders. “I don’t plan to sit back while someone carves through my men.”
Kaela shook her head but didn’t argue. She knew by now—Billy didn’t ask for permission.
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WAITING IN THE DARK
That night, Billy sat alone by the central fire, seemingly relaxed. His cloak draped over his shoulders, shadows flickering across his face. His officers were hidden, stationed at every vantage point. Even the Crimson Vanguard had been ordered to stay out of sight.
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He let his breathing slow. The chaos blade rested at his hip, its whispers constant.
They are close. So close. End them before they strike.
Billy ignored it. Focused instead on the shifting air. The subtle, wrong silence.
Then—
A whisper of movement.
Too quick for an ordinary man to notice. But Billy wasn’t ordinary.
His hand shot up, catching a knife midair. The assassin had aimed for his throat. If he’d been a second slower, he would’ve been dead.
Billy leaped to his feet, hurling the blade back. It whistled through the night, but the shadowed figure twisted out of the way, landing softly.
His officers emerged, weapons drawn. The assassin was surrounded.
Billy stepped forward, chaos energy sparking at his fingertips. “Show yourself.”
The figure hesitated, then removed their hood.
Billy's breath stilled.
It wasn’t a stranger.
It was Varik.
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THE TRUTH REVEALED
Kaela’s sword was at Varik’s throat in seconds. “You were in chains,” she hissed. “How the hell are you standing here?”
Varik smirked. “You should ask your mercenary friends.”
Billy’s gut twisted. The Crimson Vanguard.
Aelric’s expression darkened. “They let you go?”
“Let me?” Varik chuckled. “They planned this. I was never the killer. I was the distraction.”
Billy’s blood ran cold. If Varik was the decoy, then—
“Check the prisoners,” Billy snapped, already moving.
The camp erupted in chaos as they ran to the holding cells.
But they were too late.
The doors hung open. Guards lay in pools of their own blood. And the real killer?
Gone.
A name burned in Billy’s mind.
Reinhardt Vale.
The leader of the Crimson Vanguard had played them all.
And now?
He had vanished into the night.
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END OF CHAPTER 77
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