Rocky held his breath and walked forward toward the division. Covering the Television by sitting in front of the table. Most of the division set their eyes on him, which made him quite tense.
"What?"
Ena scoffed, her arms crossed as she glared at him. Rocky felt a shiver run down his spine. He hadn't done anything wrong yet... So how come she's already mad at him? He felt threatened; he knew the capabilities of each member, one, nothing short of monstrous.
Even the division was confused about her behaviour; they knew she was the most emotional out of all of them. But only when things get reactive or when others do something she doesn't like.
But Rocky hasn't even done anything yet; it couldn't just be because he's blocking the Television—right? Ena has limits—something that small would be unreasonable. This made some of them suspicious as to why she was acting this way. But they chose to ignore it anyway.
Rocky took a breather—clasping his hands together.
"We've wasted enough time, haven't we? Let's continue our conversation."
Haruo turned off the Television to make everyone listen, kicking Theodor on his leg, waking Theodor up. Theodor scratched his neck, his eyes squinting as he sat up from the floor. Theodor fixed his hair as he stirred awake, absorbing his surroundings—realizing he's still in Rocky's abode.
"I want you guys to kill Fallon Anderson."
Not an ounce of hesitation in Rocky's voice, he remained completely resolute. Everyone remained silent and continued to listen. Some of them weren't even shocked or hesitant, since they had killed before, but all of them were prepared to do so anyway.
"Why do you want him dead?"
Isaac raised his brow; Rocky wasn't the type to want someone dead for political reasons. Isaac viewed him as someone who leans more toward the neutral side; in his perspective, he looked as if he were getting out of character.
"You don't need to know the reason. I just need you to kill him, and I'll give you the flower." He replied.
"I don't know his routine, but I know where he usually goes..."
***
The division had long left Rocky's apartment, entering the dense forest far from the city. They had estimated it to be high noon, but they couldn't really tell since the clouds obscured the sun's path, not to mention the leaves covering most of the sky light.
Right now, they were in darkness; not entirely, but it was hard for them to see. Theodor even bumped into a tree once, mistaking it for one of the members just stopping.
They weren't in a hurry to kill Anderson right away; they just needed to know he was first and think of a plan midway. Rocky followed right behind the division. Of course, they needed him; he was the only one who knew Anderson was, without him, they'd just be wandering the forest blindly.
"Where exactly is he here? And why?" Leo remarked
"I hired a person to follow him one time, but he wanted me to pay double since he almost got caught and killed on the spot."
Rocky followed them from behind, dodging low branches from the tree. He covered himself with thick clothing, layering himself with a waterproof jacket. He shivered vigorously; he had never been outside the kingdom before, only a few times.
With few exceptions, including his younger days as a Boy Scout. Even then, he was still at the bottom of the ranks. He had spent the majority of his life inside the kingdom and used its heater. Though he never asked how the inside of the kingdom was warm, but dangerously cold on the outside, he figured that most kingdoms were like that.
If it weren't, they probably wouldn't be able to plant anything due to its climate, and he was slightly thankful he was, even if he never liked vegetables in the beginning. It was the only thing that was the cheapest and most affordable when he had to live off.
But what confused him was how most of the division barely shook, except for two members at least, but the rest were just so calm about it. It irritated him slightly due to their condition right now, but he learnt to let go.
"Are you sure we're heading the right way? It seems like we're lost."
Leo shivered quietly, his teeth grinding. He had buttoned his leather jacket once more, finding little comfort in the warmth. His hands and ears turned red while he followed close beside Tatiana. Speaking of Tatiana, she was having it the worst. She tried to hide it, but almost everyone could tell she was cold.
Leo noticed it right away and smirked. An Idea had been planted inside his mind; Leo hugged her by the side, making her gasp suddenly. Tatiana tried to push him away while they followed behind the division, glaring at him while she was at it.
"Let go of me!" Her palm was on his cheek, pushing him away with as much force as she could. Leo only chuckled and kept his grip tight.
"Oh come on, aren't we both cold? Wouldn't it be better if we conserve our energy?" Teasing her lightly.
"I will send you all the way to the sky if you don't let go this instant." She threatened
Both of them kept fighting; most of them didn't bother to shut them up, mostly because they didn't want to waste their own energy.
"I mean, we are going in the right place..." Rocky stuttered a bit, "I have the map in my pocket."
Haruo raised his hand; everyone remained quiet and followed right behind him, and even Leo stopped the moment he saw him raise his hand. Forward is a steep slope, and at the bottom were groups of people gathered. Haruo hid behind a tree while he took a slight glimpse.
It was a camp, filled to the brim with hundreds of men and women. They ate, slept, played, and even trained; some were just near the campfire and doing nothing.
The division took glances as well, seeing the populated area. None of them recalled the kingdom having a campsite near the forest. It wasn't really military training either; if that were the case, then everyone would have to train and not sleep near the campfires.
"Who are they?" Isaac asked.
"Use your head, it's those damn terrorists. Who else would camp near a dense forest?"
Ena readied herself, summoning her emperor blade. Her eyes shot at the terrorists, trying to figure out the best approach to kill them all. Haruo glared at her, telling her not to do something impulsive or reckless. She bit her lip tightly, her anger clearly visible.
She held back and unsummoned her blades. She leaned on the tree, looking at Haruo's side profile before taking a deep breath and directing her view.
And there she was again, another impulsive action she was going to take. Her behaviour was somewhat unsettling; they knew she could be careless, but this was beyond her. She was ready to attack the terrorist out of anger and not strategy. Usually, she would strategise first and then act impulsively, but that wasn't the case here.
Some wanted to ask, but the situation currently forbade it. Sadly, as of the moment, they were near the base of a group of terrorists, asking questions for something so little is considered a distraction—especially when they were still deciding whether to attack or just ignore them entirely.
"So what do we do?" Leo asked.
"It'd be annoying to run into them while we find Anderson, and it would be even more so if they sabotage it. But these types of things could be avoided, but only by a slight amount, probably."
"Let's do a vote then, whether to attack them or not."
All of them nodded at each other, agreeing on the vote.
"All in favor of attacking the terrorists?" Leo said, raising his hand.
Not long after, Ena joined, as well as Isaac, while siblings and Haruo kept their hands down. The voting was tied; they needed another vote to make a decision, and that was when their gazes landed on Rocky, who was silent the whole time.
If there was one person who could decide, it was Rocky; after all, he was their dealer, and it was his choice whether they stayed or not. Rocky scratched his neck, and after what felt like an hour, he nodded his head.
It was decided now—they were going to attack the terrorist. But of course, they wouldn't attack right away; a plan is always necessary for the best outcome. Luckily for their advantage, the steep slope wrapped around a quarter of the camp, allowing them to attack from multiple angles.
Each of them found a position that suited a member, and as they were assigned, they studied their surroundings. Integrating the layout in their heads as a way to move around faster. Rocky, meanwhile, hid himself, not far from the camp but far enough not to get in their way.
Now all they had to do was adjust to their surroundings and wait until sundown, when they are most vulnerable.
***
Hours have passed, and most of the terrorists have begun to clean up. A lot of them are going into tents, while some are taking watch at night.
"Take out the guards first, then enter the tents. Don't make too much noise while you guys are at it."
They all agreed, and they began. Leo was the first; he slid down the slope, swiftly traveling behind a tent. The guard turned his head almost immediately as if he had heard a sound; he hurried to walk behind the tent, but all he saw was a raccoon.
It hissed at the guard before running away from the camp. He observed the raccoon as it fled, his vision suddenly blurry. When he blinked again, he saw a man smiling toward him. The guard saw his neck emitting a green glow before he passed and collapsed to the ground.
His blood painted the white snow, spreading out evenly as Leo ran past his corpse. He continued to kill one guard after the other, driving his blade into their neck as silently as he could. As he was in the middle of killing the ninth guard, another one saw him.
The guard widened his eyes and took out a whistle. But before he could even blow it, Tatiana had disarmed and covered his mouth while driving her blade through his eye socket.
Tatiana was in charge of removing the bodies and transporting them elsewhere. At times when other guards saw, she would kill them without hesitation. Ena supported her and removed all the blood that was scattered around, cleaning up after her.
Next were Theodor and Isaac, who traveled from one tent to another. Killing each one of them as swiftly as they could, at times, some would wake up or groan when their blades were plunged into them, which frustrated both of them for a bit, but luckily, most of them would die instantly before they could warn the others.
Lastly, Haruo scouted from a high place, which allowed him to see the camp as a whole. Whenever Leo got caught, he would remind Tatiana, who would then teleport exactly where he told her. And his also the one responsible for coordinating their attacks as a team. Though he didn't participate, he did need to; this was the best course of action in his mind.
Everything went smoothly until a person attacked Leo from his side. Leo wasn't able to dodge in time, with his arm from his elbow nearly severed. The person who attacked him was a girl. Her whole body was covered in armor, her visor glaring at Leo.
Tatiana teleported near her to help, but was intercepted by an arrow. She had to teleport away from the arrow.
More people began to show up, attacking each member of the division except for Haruo. The real fight was about to begin.