While everyone was watching the newest opponent with reservations, he didn’t seem to care. His eyes found Mila, and he clicked his tongue, then grunted.

“So! She is the one.” The older man nodded along. “You-”

“Don’t be distracted.” Mila interrupted. She had noticed Laura was giving signs to her people while bracing herself for the possible attack.

After the humiliating showing, Laura was too cautious.

“He isn’t as strong as the old man! Push forward.”

“Old-”

Mila ignored the scandalised exclamation. “I’ll take on the baldy.” She declared with more confidence than she had. After another moment of thought, Mila recognised the folly. “Isabel, cover me.” She unwillingly added.

Isabel would not be able to pin the baldy down, but she wouldn’t suffer under his needles either. No. Mila would be the one who would defeat the source of her injured pride.

Besides, Isabel still had to keep the older gentleman in check. There was still an issue with the backline. All Mila needed was a tower to use as cover.

It was a chance. Mila could prove to… To herself, she was better than that. Her heartbeat quickened, her palms turned sweaty, and her eyes focused on the enemy that had given her so many despairing thoughts. Mila could do this. She could win. All she had to do was…

Mila almost fell. The whole room shook from a heavy impact from outside. Voices reached them from up and behind. The fight in the city that had been so distant was suddenly here.

Another groundbreaking boom deafened everyone inside the room. Dust and shambles fell from the ceiling, threatening a collapse. Mila steadied herself, fearing she had lost valuable moments and would suffer for it, but…

“That’s our cue.” The older man announced. He sheathed his dagger and did a slight bow. “We have no interest in engaging the heavyweights.”

That… That couldn’t be. Mila watched her fated enemy relax his stance and prepare to leave. Her heart burned with the need to fight, and it was suddenly taken away. She felt disoriented and unwilling.

“Hah!” The older man laughed. “Look at her. She hates your guts.” The bald man clicked his tongue. “Don’t be like that. You have been slacking. A rival is a good thing. Your master will be happy.”

Mila wanted to shout. To make them stop. But that would not be logical. They were leaving. Fighting would make the citation worse. She recognised one of the voices coming from behind. The youthful voice gave orders to someone, making them dig faster.

And then, the tough opponents simply left. Without sound, they entered the stairway and left.

“That’s fortunate. Let’s go.”

Viola’s voice disturbed Mila’s thoughts. This was so… Unsatisfying. There was no climax. Win or lose, Mila had imagined a hard fight, and at the end of it, she could hold her head high.

“Mila? We have to go.” Isabel nudged the shorter girl. “You okay?”

“I… What?” Mila blinked. She had missed most of the group entering the stairway. From the sounds coming from behind, the pursuers would be here at any moment.

But all Mila felt was the disconnect from reality. Isabel grabbed Mila’s hand and pulled her.

“We have to go.”

“Right. Yes.” Mila glanced back. The collapsed tunnel barely masked the sound of the people behind the rocks.

And just as Mila stepped on the stairs and looked back, she saw a translucent tentacle pass through the rocks and leave a gash in the formation. Another one followed, then another.

Mila’s eyes grew wider. She couldn’t recognise what it was, but the destructive power was no joke. Furthermore - a gap had formed between the rocks, and from it, a baleful glare met her eyes.

“YOU!” The enraged teen screamed, his voice seemingly shaking the very foundation of the place. “YOU’LL DIE!”

Frankly, Mila wasn’t impressed by the threat. After the anticlimactic encounter, she felt spent. Rousing herself from the exhausting feelings, Mila turned away from the boy and followed after Isabel.

“NO!” Oscar shouted. “COME BACK! FUCK! DIG FASTER!” He took a deep breath. “ASTRA! THEY ARE HERE!”

But for the current Mila, the boy’s anger felt insignificant. She understood him. Knew he was growing to be a problem. But…

Isabel glanced back - her concern was palpable.

“I am fine. Just… I just wanted to fight and… And win.”

“You’ll get the chance.” Isabel took Mila’s hand. “Come on. We are lagging behind.”

Mila shook her head to free it from the intrusive thoughts. Isabel was right. They were still trapped in the Noble district. And the loud impact above was evidence of a fierce fight.

Furthermore…

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“ASTRA!” Oscar’s voice still reached far.

As Mila stepped inside a ruined room that had once served as a transfer point for the bodies, she glanced around, expecting an ambush by the Inquisitor.

But besides Mila’s group, there were only silent corpses here. Right after she entered the room, Raran collapsed the stairway behind them. Agata was checking what was outside the place.

“Part of the wall is missing.” The scout described what she was seeing. “A lot of rubble is being thrown around. I can see bodies here and there. The guards are fighting something, but not quite here. We are behind the front line.”

Anger-filled scream shook the sky. Mila recognised this voice.

“That’s Astra.” Viola did, too.

“The Inquisitor?” Laura joined Agata at the doors.

“Good thing the City’s guard is holding.” Viola shuddered. “That woman is a menace.”

Mila had to agree. “Where did those two go?” She half hoped the pair would return to ambush them.

“Don’t know.” Agata ducked back into the room. “Didn’t see them.”

“Is anyone hurt?” Ugum asked while making rounds. Besides a few scratches here and there, no one had been injured.

“What now?” Laura looked at Viola. “Raran’s barricade won’t hold for long.” She looked at the collapsed corridor.

The spy started to sniff the air. Viola walked to the door and glanced around. “There is a lot of scents. Most are not dangerous, but there are several that I wouldn’t wish to encounter. Mostly where the fighting is happening. Nothing deeper in the district…”

“You want us to go towards where the Nobles are holed up?” Mila guessed, and Viola nodded.

“I doubt you want to go near the frontline. I don’t.” Astra’s shout emphasised Viola’s words.

Mila toyed with the idea of turning back and taking care of Oscar. She judged it too dangerous in the end. “Can you lead us?”

“Maybe.” Viola supposed. “A few scents are heading deeper into the city. The same ones I caught in the air on the way here.”

An unmistakable boom of thunder made the end of Viola’s words hard to hear. Mila knew of only one lighting mage in the city. “Another Inquisitor. Deeper we go.” She decided.

Laura paused to see if Viola would have other ideas, but after the spy returned to taking in the scents, she gave short orders to get her group ready.

Meanwhile, Mila found herself in Isabel’s hands. After putting down the hammer, her girl removed her mask and rubbed her face in Mila’s hair.

“Mmm…” Mila felt her shoulders relax.

“Better?” Isabel whispered in Mila’s ear.

“Much.” Mila had to admit. She turned her head and left a gentle kiss on Isabel’s cheek. With it, she was ready to move. “Where did Andrew and Helly go?” She addressed Viola.

Another sniff. “The same way the group of those dangerous people did.”

“All ways lead to the centre, it seems,” Amy grunted and lifted her shield. “I am ready. Sorry about earlier. He was too fast for me. I can’t believe I lost to you in defence.” She adresed Isabel.

“That’s what I am good at.” Isabel still rubbed her face against Mila’s head.

“We can move.” Viola interrupted. “The lighting boy drew most of the local forces towards him. This is our chance.”

“Let me go first.” Mila slipped out of Isabel’s hands. She was ready to resume her duties.

From the sounds, Oscar had gotten out of the underground passage and had started to work on the collapsed stairway. They had to move.

Mila took the forward position, with Viola sticking close behind. They snuck out of the room and moved in the opposite direction from the collapsed wall.

Here, Mila found doors left ajar. After opening them, she walked inside. This had been a workroom once. Now, it was full of corpses. The group those two had been part of had been throughout in their work.

Mila sighed. She wished she knew more about those people. All she had learned were scattered bits from the stray words. And the news that the bald man had a master and he had been slacking off was not great.

Luckily, Isabel’s affection still had not worn off. She quickly shrugged off the gloomy thoughts and proceeded to check the room and the connecting ones for anything suspicious. She found only more death.

“Anything?” Mila asked Viola, who shook her head. The group had found their way to this room without anyone noticing them.

“Nothing new.” The woman shook her head. “We have to exit the building now.”

“Right.” Mila glanced out of the window. A few stray guards - likely deserters - were running down the street. Otherwise, the surroundings appeared to be empty.

After exchanging a few more words, Mila proceeded to exit the building and scout ahead. Agata and Viola took the other direction while the rest of the group followed.

The surroundings were so different to what Mila had gotten used to in Stilag. Gone were the decrepit buildings. No stench of sewer was here. The street lacked the many holes refugees used to hide themselves from the cold nights. The cobblestone was level, and there were flowers everywhere.

And yet, everything was empty. Besides the deserters, Mila had not seen or felt anyone else. It was unsettling, and with the additional context of the corpses below, she feared the usual inhabitants of these streets were soon to be dead - if not already.

Soon, Mila headed back. She found Isabel and the rest in one of the buildings, where Laura and Amy were tearing out the wall.

It didn’t take long, and soon, they used the new hole to move to the building next to this. Like this, they wouldn’t need to use streets.

Mila had seen a couple airborne people fending off intruders in the airspace. It wasn’t wise to move in the open.

After seeing everything proceeding as planned, Mila returned to scouting. She saw Agata in one of the buildings a little to the side doing the same. She met the woman and asked for anything suspicious she could have found.

And…

Agata had found only more empty buildings.

Which was what Mila had feared. She looked back to where the fiercest fight was happening.

Flashes of lightning, booms and cracking of ice reached Mila even here. She squinted to see Astra’s foreboding shadow. Next to her were two more, and the trio was facing off seven other people.

The City guard was holding. Barely if Mila was reading the situation correctly.

While that point had the most powerful fighters, it didn’t mean the other directions lacked any. Mila could tell the siege was intensifying by the minute.

As the seven fighters on the Noble side were pushed back, the Military and the Inquisitors would soon find the empty houses.

Perhaps they wouldn’t suspect the worst at first, but… Oscar had likely found the crates in that basement. Soon, the Inquisitors and Military would throw everything they had at the Nobles.

They had to be gone by then.

Mila watched the fight a moment longer before resuming scouting. They were running out of time.