“...Did you…” Isabel began a question. “...have to…” She finished. Her subdued voice was full of unwilling anger. Even the Hammer Isabel had gotten back didn’t quench the resentment.

Mila, who was leading Isabel towards Naran, sent a lingering look at Helly. “Yes.” She turned away.

The damned woman was talking to Polonomia, who at least looked uncomfortable about the situation. Not so for Helly. She was gleeful.

And Andrew was…

Mila didn’t want to think about it. After Helly had gotten the gun back, he had looked almost happy. She had a nasty suspicion she knew what the damn woman had promised him.

It was likely a way back.

Andrew had always been clear about his wish to return. He hated this world. Mila had heard him complain about it constantly…

Not lately. Not after Mila and Isabel started dating properly. He had withdrawn to himself even more at that point, speaking mostly to his bonds.

Mila barely reacted when Polonomia appeared next to her. She looked at the member of the enigmatic group, wondering what she wanted.

The woman’s face was still invisible under her hood - even when she leaned closer and studied Mila.

Whatever Polonomia could see the transformation Mila had gone through was unclear. She certainly didn’t comment on them, speaking of something entirely different.

“The city will be cleansed,” Pononomia revealed. “Without the barrier falling, everyone will die.” Then, she vanished.

Mila and Isabel were left frozen. Helly pushed past them, reaching Naran right after. “Is the escape hole ready or not?” She asked directly to the tired man.

Naran shrugged. “Maybe. We think we are past the barrier, but just. If we went up, we would be sitting rabbits for the guards to shoot.” He didn’t look enthusiastic about the possibility.

The information seemed to make Helly even happier. She waved towards some of her men. “Make a hole up.”

“You might escape, but the rest…” Naran shook his head. When he noticed the worried faces of his people, he also spoke up. “Keep digging deeper. We will get out of this.”

But Mila was still thinking of the words Polonomia had left. She glanced at Isabel, who looked worried. “One last job for me, huh?” She slid her arm around her girl’s waist. “You can’t come. You will…”

Isabel nodded and put a finger on Mila’s lips. “...I… know… But…” She hugged the smaller girl.

“You saw me. I am not the same as before.” Mila gave a daring smile. “And… We have to be quick.” She felt very regretful and feared Isabel would not let go. Part of her had resigned to take her girl along.

The longer Mila was held by Isabel, the clearer it was to her of how weak she was. They didn’t exchange many words, mostly just sharing warmth.

At one point, Mr Crow landed on Mila’s shoulder and studied Isabel as well. They didn’t chase him away and simply asked the bird to not say anything to Andrew - to which, surprisingly, Mr Crow agreed.

The bird even chirped a series of sentences. While neither of them understood him fully, Mila got a sense that Mr Crow was quite unhappy about Andrew’s actions as well.

When Mr Crow left, Mila led Isabel to the side, where she could rest. Barcy joined them soon after to see if he could get any information. But the gang’s spymaster left disappointed, not learning much.

Mila did make sure Barcy brought Isabel some food and water - as well as a new batch of clothes.

“You should be safe here.” Mila fussed around Isabel, finding it hard to leave. “Andrew and Helly are staying. They should be able to protect you if anything happens.”

Isabel frowned, pointedly not looking at their friend, who was once again trying to find a reason to come closer. “...Back… Soon…” She fingered the pearls around her wrist.

“I will,” Mila leaned in and gave a chaste peck on Isabel’s lips. “Don’t make trouble.” She tried to lighten the mood, but Isabel nodded with seriousness. “I am going.” She finally took a step back.

Mila didn’t stop looking at Isabel even as she left the hastily dug hall. Just before rounding the corner, she saw Isabel collapse on the bench.

The chase had taken another toll on Isabel. Mila’s hatred for the boy grew again and again.

As Mila shot through the cramped tunnels, she tried to rain in her emotions. She suspected the more powerful the emotions were, the more likely it was Oscar would find her.

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Or, it could be worse. Perhaps Oscar didn’t detect spikes in emotions. Perhaps he could find and distinguish between persons by using his senses.

That was a scary thought. Mila’s mana sense was not nearly as universal. She still couldn’t sense a person with no mana at all.

Although…

Mila tested her senses as she passed the earlier checkpost with the man who had given them a guide. She had received a precise location to strike from Polonomia and didn’t have to ask for directions this time.

The feeling she got from her scans was stronger. It wasn’t by a large amount, but even her Mana sense had grown. The only thing still the same was her mana pool.

It was still the same. The bits and pieces of mana Mila had ripped away from living, breathing humans were there, swirling and empowering her body.

Mila felt as if her body could fit in much more mana within itself than previously. She was curious about what had happened.

From the scant few words Isabel could utter, Mila knew her inner companion had tried to teach them something.

Perhaps the unmentionable Ghost had told something about Mila’s condition. She could only hope. Knowing the damn thing, he probably hadn’t. It never was that easy.

Finally, Mila found a way up. She shot upwards, pushing away the escaping civilians and making some of them fall into the dark hole they were crawling down to.

It might have been rude and risky, but everyone was in danger if Mila didn’t move as fast as possible. Her reluctance to leave Isabel had already cost them too much time.

Nothing had changed on the surface. Mila exited the building where the entrance into the tunnels was hidden, then turned eastward.

Before Mila was destruction and chaos. The buildings were burning, fights were happening, people were running, and death was everywhere.

It occurred to Mila that the situation here was arguably better than in Ocheon’s last moments.

The various battles here were less disastrous. The fighters, despite their hatred for each other, didn’t aim to end the lives of the common folk. At this desperate time, even criminals were more concerned with survival.

But not all.

Mila’s black dagger reaped the life of an upstart gang’s Boss, stopping their attempt at herding people into a group to abuse them.

It didn’t slow Mila down. There were many such pockets of suffering thrown about the city. As she continued to move, more came into her view.

Mila did what she could by killing another group of rapists. This time, she did slow down for a few moments to properly end the group's lives.

To encourage the victims, Mila didn’t hide her terrifying appearance. It resulted in them screaming in horror and then running away.

Hopefully, it would be enough to keep them safe. Mila was gone from the spot the next moment. She regretted not asking for a new cloak. Her mind was full of other worries, missing the story state her appearance was in.

The short encounter had reminded Mila of her blood-soaked visage. The sticky blood that had fed the ritual was still viscous. She flicked her wrist, sending a few droplets of the sanguine liquid flying.

Mila could already imagine more terrible rumours spreading about her. She wasn’t doing herself any favours by running around like this.

It was too eye-catching, even if people couldn’t see Mila under the spell she had cast. It was simply a bad practice to forget these things.

These small acts of mercy repeated several more times before Mila reached her goal.

It wasn’t hard to recognise the building. It stood out as a bastion of peace among a turbulent sea. There was no fighting around the large warehouse. The area was kept in relative order by a few teams of soldiers poking the defences of the place.

Mila used her upgraded sense to feel the mana flow towards the walls. This was another sure way to recognise the place. This was just one of several, too.

But a failure in the spell matrix here would impact the whole structure. Mila just had to destroy this place and let the Military take care of the rest.

The barrier around Stilag wouldn’t fall with just this - not completely. At least not as far as Mila could tell. But it would make holes and tears to exploit.

It wasn’t as if the remaining pockets of rebellion had enough people to cover the walls surrounding the city. People would get out.

While moving towards the building, Mila glanced around with suspicion. She still didn’t know where the Inquisitors had gone. With the help of those powerful people, even if they were injured, the barrier should have already fallen.

Unless…

Unless the Inquisitors didn’t want that to happen.

Mila’s stomach dropped as she landed next to a bolted-shut window and began praying it open. Her dagger wasn’t meant for a job like this, but it still performed adequately at breaking in.

It didn’t take long for Mila to get inside, where mostly darkness and the pained groans of the injured awaited her. She silenced the single guard who came to check the opening and then closed the hole she had used.

Then, Mila headed towards the centre of the building where the mana build-up was. She killed a couple more guards - none powerful enough to even react to her attacks. The most powerful fighters were outside - fending off the attacking soldiers.

And then, Mila was standing before a large reservoir eerily similar to the one they had ruined below the city. The feeling she got from it and the engravings on it were the same.

While searching for a way to disrupt the flowing blood, Mila considered her guess. She closed the valves and then ruined them, making it impossible to resume the barrier-feeding circulation without ruining the local system.

The more Mila thought, the surer she was.

The Inquisitors wanted the city to remain trapped. This place had seen too much. When compared to Ocheon…

Mila finished her work here, then sunk into the shadows, hunting down anyone alive inside the building. They couldn’t be allowed to work on restoring the blood flow.

Once Mila was done, she exited the building and looked at the ground.

The line of mana was still there, heading towards the walls. Mila then looked northwards, knowing this single place would not be enough…

Mila knew she had to destroy another couple of places to make a path for civilians to escape.