Volume 2 Chapter 1: Let the Hunting Begin
The first one to notice that something was wrong was, of course, Leiya.
When she was serving in the Sisterhood, she had a little bit of fame, but unlike the "Sharp-eyed Mona", "God Hand Able", and "Slachivet, the Animal Abuser", which were all overpowering names, she was only the "anything goes" Leiya. This was quite an odd title.
"Anything goes" - she was the most accurate scout, the best sniper, the best observer, the best replacement for the dead in the team, and one day, she became a captain. So people teased, "Congratulations, Leiya, of all the captains in the Sisterhood, you're definitely the prettiest one."
Pretty - there was a time when Leiya's name also appeared on the catalog of candidates for the crown princess, which made the young girl understand for the first time that simply looking good could also change her fate.
But now, she needed to forget the sweetness and sorrows of the past. Now, Leiya, sitting across from Su'er and the Prince, had more important things to consider.
"Listen, girl, and my king, whatever I say next, you should not panic, just continue to maintain the eating posture."
As she said this, Leiya was still calmly nibbling on her "strawberry pie" as if she was telling a fairy tale to two children, but Su'er immediately realized what was happening -
"Nah? What did you find out?"
The Dragonfly Girl lowered her voice so that it sounded like she was whispering.
"Not sure yet," Leiya put on a smile, "but it's probably someone from the Sisterhood. There's no mistaking it."
What she saw was a flash of light on the opposite hillside, obviously not natural light, but a phenomenon caused by the reflection of artificial lenses - for example, most typically, a telescope.
Leiya's "battlefield intuition" has always been accurate, and it is on this that she has survived many dangers and survived to this day - so today, she also has no doubts about her judgment.
"Don't turn around, they are on the hill behind you, you act like you are still eating and listen to me carefully."
She said so, but the Prince even began to shake his hands, so how could he eat his meal and pretend nothing happened?
"It should be a scout, or possibly a sniper, and she hasn't fired until now, probably because she's not sure of our identity yet - especially yours, my Prince. So you can't turn back anyway." Leiya continued, "Also they should have doubts about my position. We can use that … Well, it's settled."
Su'er put down the bug food in her hand and actually got a little excited, "Is it going to be a battle?"
"Well," Leiya nodded with a smile, "It's best to take them all down here, to save us the trouble of inviting steamships later."
"All, all of them?" Kukur couldn't help but shiver, "Are there more than one?"
"At least when I was in the Sisterhood, our standard combat unit was a team of five people," Leiya said as she unloaded her rifle and drew out a magazine, "A scout, a stromtrooper, a sniper, a combat mage, and a team leader. The scout is responsible for opening up the vision, the sniper is responsible for sneak attack and backup, the stromtrooper and the combat mage are responsible for frontal containment, and the team leader is mainly responsible for command and replacement."
Saying that, she fished out several slender bullets from somewhere and lined them up on the palm of her hand.
"So, we need 1 high-speed bullet, 3 dumdum bullets, 1 anti-magic bullet, and 1 secret-silver armor-piercing bullet … Well, 6 rounds in total, exactly."
More curious about Leiya's calculations than her confident tone, Su'er asked.
"Nah? Did you just say they were five people in total?"
"If there was only one team, yes," Leiya loaded the magazine and opened the safety on the rifle once more, "What's wrong?"
"But why did you count six bullets?"
"Good question."
As soon as she said, Leiya suddenly lifted her rifle and aimed it at Su'er's chest.
"Nah?"
The secret-silver armor-piercing bullet shot out in response, piercing the girl's slender chest. Su'er's thin shoulders shuddered violently, and with an open-mouthed expression, she fell backward and lay heavily on the riverbank.
Without waiting for the Prince to react, Leiya tackled him with one hand and strangled him in his arms.
"What are you doing! Let … go of me!"
Completely ignoring Kukur's resistance, Leiya dragged him into the woods with a tug, and in the blink of an eye, they were gone.
"Kukur … Kukur … er …"
Su'er's outstretched hand, too, finally went limp with weakness, and a familiar dizziness hit her brain, and she knew she was going to die soon - for the second time in two days.
The calm at the scene lasted about 15 minutes before the first witness finally cautiously walked over.
A scout - just as Leiya had predicted.
The Nayimei woman who appeared in front of Su'er wore a jungle warfare camouflage. She had a black ponytail, an intricate red oil paint on her face symbolizing the "Sisterhood of Priests", and carried a "Fireman's Star" In her arms - as clean as a new product from the factory.
The hand holding the gun was trembling slightly - she was nervous, not as calm as Leiya at all. Although it looked like she was about the same age as Leiya, there was no doubt that she was supposed to be much younger and seemed to have little combat experience.
The female soldier cautiously walked up to Su'er and half-kneeled down.
"This is … a Dragonfly Girl!" Seeing the wings covered by the cloak, she couldn't help but take a small half step backward in fear.
After being shot by two secret-silver armor-piercing bullets from different angles in two days, Su'er's clothing had long been in tatters, and the green pulp had stained the original color in an unrecognizable mess. But in any case, all that could be seen in the eyes of the Sisterhood scout was fear and disgust.
"The Great God…" she prayed once with a very quick gesture, "Bless me from this filth."
Although she had heard about the regeneration ability of Dragonfly Girls, Su'er did look like she was dead, not moving, not even breathing.
Just at this time, another face-colored Sisterhood member burst out of the bushes and came towards the area while looking around alertly. Compared to the scout, her uniform was drastically different - a blue corseted sheath dress, white lace camisole, and a pair of boots that wrapped around her entire calf. In place of the rifle was a staff that looked like a street lamp, and in her other hand, a 6.2 caliber silver revolver.
A combat mage - 400 years ago, people of such status had decisive influence enough to make commanders change their tactics, while now they can only undertake auxiliary tasks. Those with excellent talent are mostly teaching students in the academy - after all, compared to the rifles that can be mass-produced, mages are indeed a scarce resource that is difficult to reproduce, and the so-called combat mages who are put into the front line are often small figures that can be consumed. Even so, the number and role of this military class has been declining, only a few countries still insist on listing them into combat units.
"Who is this girl?" The mage walked up to her companion and pointed at Su'er with a serious face, "Hmm?" She also immediately noticed the strange thing about the corpse, "A dragonfly girl?"
"Yes, a fucking monster."
Compared to the nuns and priests, the mages in the Sisterhood are almost pagan in their devotion, especially when it comes to the dragonfly invasion, they strongly disbelieve that butterfly girls are "the Wrath of God", but prefer the biologists' view.
"Are you sure it was her that the sister killed?"
"I saw it with my own eyes," the scout replied seriously, "the sister hit her in the chest with her rifle at close range."
"Well …" the mage looked closely at Su'er's "corpse", "That kind of damage can't kill a Dragonfly Girl. We can wait until she wakes up and then we ask her for clarification."
"Wait here?" The scout looked up at the surroundings, "Won't there be danger in such an open place?"
"I'm protecting you, sister" the mage laughed, "remember not to stray too far from me."
"But the team leader means to find that sister. She took Kukur."
"Aren't they looking for her too?" The mage fanned the wind with her hand, showing a very impatient look, "I told you to stay here, guard this dragonfly, and do not think confused thoughts. Didn't I tell you? That sister was wearing a plain white uniform, right?"
"Yes, the standard Sisterhood uniform, I can't be wrong."
"Pure white is synonymous with high ranking priests, she must be a veteran who has experienced the Holy War and strayed to this island for some unknown reason." A hint of disdain suddenly mixed into the mage's tone, "Do you think it's possible for a rookie like you to catch a high-ranking priestess in a mountain forest like this?"
"Uh…"
"Where we are standing is just within the shooting boundary of the sniper position," the mage nudged the ground with her toe, "And also in the middle of the whole formation, the safest position there is."
After careful thought, the scout accepted this reasoning - her opponent was a high priestess, and it was not worth risking her life to piss her off.
She sat down and tilted her head back, sighing out the tension and fear she had been holding in for a long time. The mage, who was standing on the sidelines, intertwined her fingers and mumbled something, holding her staff. Within seconds, her skirts shuddered slightly as if a small-scale whirlwind had blown through, raising a very inconspicuous burst of flying sand and rocks on the riverbank.
"A level six anti-projection magic circle, tsk …"
Leiya turned the focus of the scope back to twice as far, and while observing carefully, she whispered to herself.
"I'm afraid normal anti-magic bullets won't be able to penetrate it."
With that, she tricked out a blue bullet engraved with runes from her coat pocket.
"I hope you haven't passed the shelf life yet."
The shield that was once used to guard the sisters has now become a weapon to take their lives - even the heartless Leiya was still a bit sad when she saw this bullet.
But the sadness lasted only half a second - since they were already on opposite sides, there was no point in discussing what they once had in common, not to mention that the Sisterhood Leiya was loyal had already disappeared with the collapse of the old Empire. The so-called "Sisterhood" nowadays, in her opinion, is just a criminal organization.
Thinking about it, Leiya glanced at the sniper who had fallen under the tree.
The woman was not only young, but sluggish, feeling like a novice on her first battlefield, unable to do even the bare minimum of concealment. It didn't even take Leiya 1 bullet to deal with her. She just quietly touched over and ended the fight with a single blow from behind.
While lamenting the shoddy fighting quality of the Sisterhood now, she bet the bullets into the chamber and by the time she picked up the scope again, Leiya already had a detailed order of kills in her head.
First is the stromtrooper - she is closest to the Prince's hiding place. If she heard the gun shoot sound, she might become nervous and find the Prince when looking for cover; then is their team leader, who is in the woods on the other side of the creek. Since she is the team leader, then more or less she will have some combat experience and must be a priority to deal with; and finally the combat mage and the scout - two fools. They must still think they are under the cover of the sniper. When they heard the gunshot, they must be more afraid to move.
"The Great God, your daughter Leiya hereby calls upon your honorable name and prays that you will forgive me for my unpardonable tyranny…"
The corners of her lips flicked open, and she murmured the murderous prayer that she had meditated countless times, setting the cross of the scope on the stromtrooper's red-painted face.
Then, pulling the trigger.
