"Our Father, who art in Heaven! May my soul find peace in the divine kingdom. Please take care of my mother and little Catherine. Mom, forgive me! Your son is worthless. Catherine, little sister, live a good life!"
The dagger froze halfway down. It had been stopped by Grey's own other hand!
Senior could never have imagined someone would stop him at the very last moment. But the instant he heard the name Catherine, he knew this would not be over quickly.
That ordinary name carried far too much weight in Junior's heart.
He wasn't sure whether Junior had really managed to seize control of the right hand that quickly, or if his own body refused to harm someone who had spoken that name...
Grey clenched his teeth.
"Do you really want to stop me? Because of a single name?"
"I..." Junior couldn't find an answer right away.
"You do realize he's talking about his sister, not your mother?"
"I know, I know..."
"And you agreed with my plan! This is the only way! The life of one guard or the lives of all my subordinates! No! Our subordinates!"
"I can't."
Senior heard the tremble in Junior's voice. Even within their subconscious, it was as though his very soul refused to harm anyone even remotely connected to it.
His hand remained frozen in place, unable to move forward or lower itself for good.
"Why? Why are you stopping me? I'm doing this for everyone's sake! I know it's wrong, but someone has to dirty their hands. All I feel now is guilt and anger. So why do you keep pushing me?!" At that moment, Senior was on the verge of losing control.
"Just let him go. We can think of something else," Junior argued, but there wasn't the slightest trace of confidence in his voice.
"HAHAHAHA, damn it! Another plan? There are fifty damn corpses here that practically point straight to our base. This is already the best plan I could come up with. We don't have much time. Someone will be here any minute because of all the commotion. And you're telling me to stop?
Why didn't you object earlier? You approved our plan yourself! Whether he wanted to or not, he's a guard. He would've sold us out without hesitation just to earn merit. No matter how you look at it, he's our enemy. And now you want to spare him because of a single name!
You're a damn hypocrite!"
Grey kept cursing, completely unaware of how utterly insane he looked.
He understood what Junior was thinking.
The image of that kind woman with silver hair and such a gentle, caring gaze had been carved into his soul as well. After all, just one loving look from her had nearly erased his soul when he was viewing someone else's memories during the battle of souls.
But he simply couldn't accept the fact that Junior had changed his mind so quickly.
The teenagers around them obediently lowered their heads and looked away, pretending not to notice their commander's strange behavior. It wasn't the first time they had seen him talking or even arguing with himself.
Maybe this was simply his own way of solving problems or thinking through every possible angle.
It was better not to ask unnecessary questions. The less you knew, the better you slept.
But Lily and Cheryl were different.
"Jeez, the madman is having another episode. Should we step in?" the little succubus asked her friend without taking her eyes off her fingernails. She couldn't care less about the fate of some pathetic guard.
For heaven's sake, she was a demon! To her, a stranger's life wasn't much more valuable than the life of an ordinary chicken.
After all, the very philosophy of demons was that every soul would eventually enter the cycle of reincarnation. Life was nothing more than a brief chance to fulfill one's ambitions. Only doves (angels), humans, and elves were hypocritical enough to worry about morality whenever it suited them.
"Cheryl doesn't think we should. Grey looks really angry," the rabbit girl replied, her eyes fixed on the ground, too afraid to witness the horrible scene.
"Tsk, fine by me," Lily clicked her tongue.
Dave wasn't nearly as calm.
A minute ago, he had accepted his death. But now his executioner was arguing with himself as if he had completely forgotten Dave even existed.
How the hell did I end up in the hands of a madman? Haven't you tormented me enough? Are you going to kill me or not? This uncertainty is even worse than death! Dave cried inwardly, but he didn't dare say a single word out loud.
The image of the insane boy holding a sharp dagger was forever burned into his mind.
He was terrifying.
Dave was absolutely certain that even if he somehow survived today, nightmares would haunt him for a long time. He would rather insult the devil himself than ever cross paths with that boy again.
"I've got a solution!" Achill shouted. He knew he had to seize the opportunity while it was there.
Grey turned toward him.
"Speak," he said in a split voice.
"We don't have to kill Dave to throw the pursuers off our trail. I can lead the tracks in the opposite direction myself. We just need to follow the hyena pack as if someone had been chasing them. The cultists will think it was expert hunters or adventurers. We can cut off the hyenas' ears to make the scene look more convincing. Leave signs of battle leading off into the distance," Achill rattled off so quickly that it sounded as if he was afraid of being interrupted or ignored. "What do you think? Then we won't have to drag an innocent person into our conflict, and the result will be the same, if not even better..."
"That sounds like a good plan," Junior agreed.
"Too risky," Senior objected. "Our base is too close, and hastily planted evidence won't be very convincing."
"Your plan carries just as many risks, and the consequences are far worse. Don't forget that if we're exposed, we'll become enemies not only of the cultists, but of the city guard as well..."
"You just don't want to take his life after hearing your mother's name."
"I'm not going to deny that. But Achill's plan is genuinely workable and requires fewer sacrifices."
"Are you seriously not going to let this go?"
"No."
"Fine! To hell with it. I'm not going to throw a pointless tantrum. Both plans are equally bad, I'm not denying that. We have to give it a try. It's better than standing around here any longer."
Grey turned to Achill again.
"Are you sure you can handle it?"
"Yes, sir!" Achill answered at once, afraid Grey would change his mind if he noticed even a hint of hesitation. "I only need two assistants to make it look like a real squad."
"Any volunteers?" Grey looked at the rest of his subordinates.
Every single one of them stepped forward. They weren't heartless, and they trusted Achill, so they all supported the plan that required no sacrifices.
"Choose," Grey ordered calmly.
"Garen and Zebra. Because of their barbarian bloodline, their builds are the closest to those of adults. Their tracks will be the most convincing," Achill said calmly, but then his voice turned hesitant. "Garen is in bad shape... If... If you could give him a Minor Healing Potion, it would work in our favor."
Achill lowered his head in embarrassment. He understood how valuable potions were.
In Thorn's Cloaca, master alchemists were so rare that the price of a single Minor Healing Potion could reach several silver coins. It was shameless of him to ask Grey for one when all they had done was cause him endless trouble. He knew that. But he had no other choice.
"All right," Grey agreed calmly. Since the potions belonged to Junior and had been given to him by Catherine, he simply couldn't refuse. "Anything else?"
Achill raised his eyebrows, not expecting the leader to give in so easily.
"I'd like to take Kai with us. He's an excellent scout and knows the best way to lay a false trail. His help would be invaluable."
"Denied," Grey replied coldly. "Have you forgotten that everyone else still has to make it back to base? Without Kai, we could run into even more problems."
"Reus?" Achill asked uncertainly.
"Denied. He has to watch over your friend. I won't trust that job to anyone else."
"I understand," Achill nodded obediently.
"Take Josh with you. He's a smart guy and will be able to help. Discuss the details with Kai and do the job properly. Your comrades' lives depend on it, not mine! You have two minutes to prepare. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," Achill saluted and immediately got to work.
"Everyone else, move the carcasses so it looks like hunters were finishing off fleeing beasts. Then rub the bodies with dirt to get rid of the blood. Every last bit. Don't leave a single stain. Move, move! We don't have much time. You can rest once we're back at base." Grey issued another string of rapid orders.
The teenagers obeyed without asking any questions. The stench was so awful that even someone who cleaned cesspits for a living would have felt sick, but they had no choice.
Garen walked over to Achill, looking across the battlefield littered with corpses. He had personally killed around ten hyenas, so he couldn't hide the smug smile on his face.
"What do we do?" he asked.
Achill didn't even turn around.
"We take a few carcasses, drag them behind us, and scatter blood along the way. The messier the trail, the better. Everything has to look like we were actually fighting while chasing them."
He kicked the nearest hyena to check its weight, then immediately grimaced.
"Damn... it's heavy."
Zebra glanced at his friend uncertainly.
"Are you sure this plan will work?"
Achill froze for a brief moment. He knew perfectly well there were no guarantees, but he simply couldn't let his uncertainty show.
"Yes," he answered shortly. "We don't have any other options. So it has to work."
Garen snorted but didn't argue. He had learned the hard way how quickly even the most reliable plan could turn into a disaster, but there was no point in hurting everyone's morale.
While the others were cutting off the hyenas' ears, Achill added one more reminder.
"Don't make it look too neat. If the job is perfect, it'll immediately give away that it's staged."
Zebra grunted.
"Never thought I'd live to learn how to do a bad job."
The teenagers finished everything in the time it took to brew a pot of tea. After one last look at their comrades and wishing each other good luck, the two groups headed off in opposite directions.
Before letting Achill leave, Grey gave him one final warning.
"You'd better not make any mistakes. Achill, I'm entrusting my subordinates' lives to you. I hope you won't let me down. You're fully responsible for this mission. If you fail... don't bother coming back."
He fell silent for a moment, letting the words sink in.
"You have three days. Come back alive."
Grey said nothing more.
He didn't want to state the obvious. If Achill failed to create a convincing scene and someone discovered their base, returning there would be the same as walking to their deaths.
The teenagers couldn't simply abandon their hideout and find another one. Finding a new place safe enough before winter arrived was practically impossible, and their supplies were already running low. There was no longer any time to play it safe. Things had gone too far, and now they would have to gamble with their lives on the line.
"As they say, all or nothing," Grey muttered as he led his subordinates away.
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