The night passed quietly for Talon's group. Like he expected, Hyun-Ki didn't try to attack them during that time at all. He knew the huge risk he was taking by throwing the rest of his army away like that especially when he knew that Talon and the others were capable of easily overwhelming his army.
By the time dawn came, the group had already started moving closer and closer from the base again. Using the trees as camouflage, they dispersed around the entirety of the base to watch carefully what was happening.
"How is the situation on your side?" As he pushed a leaf out of his way to watch, Talon used the device in his hand to communicate with the others.
"It's quiet here too."
"Nothing on my side."
"Seems very peaceful to me."
Immediately, he received multiple responses. Nodding his head, he closed his eyes for a moment. 'Interesting, so he isn't going to try and keep us from getting close to the walls. Did he get this terrified?'
Talon couldn't quite grasp what his enemy was intending to do. Still, he wasn't that worried about it since his plan involved so little danger that he might as well consider it a foolproof plan.
"Continue as planned." After a few seconds of mental preparation, Talon gave the order as he slowly started sneaking to the edge of the forest. Since Talon was alone on this side, the others had to go in groups.
Slowly, from all sides, they started creeping closer and closer from the edge. Everyone held their weapons, ready to move.
The tension was high and everyone was nervous. However, they didn't let that affect their minds.
"Let's get this done with, boys." With that signal from Talon, finally, the students appeared from their hiding spots as they started moving toward the base.
They kept their speed moderate and their bodies crouched down. Step by step, they got closer and closer to their target.
Meanwhile, Talon watched silently from his spot as he held the communication device, ready to move to the next step the moment the first one was done.
'Nothing so far. I'm sure they already noticed that we're trying to attack them. But, they don't seem like they have any intention of attacking.' Talon thought to himself with a serious expression.
He was suspicious of this. But, he didn't find any reason to stop the mission yet.
Eventually, the students reached the gates he checked if there was anyone watching them before they quickly crouched down and put some objects near the metal gates. After setting them up, they turned around and moved away quickly.
A few seconds passed in silence with nothing happening before suddenly, the gates exploded violently. Shards of metal flew everywhere as a gaping hole appeared in the gates.
After that, the students quickly approached the gates from all sides as they got their weapons ready. At that moment, Talon finally appeared out of his hiding spot as he approached the gate.
Hyun-Jae, Sophie, Chin-Hwa, and the others moved the moment they saw the sign too.
"The first step is done. Moving to step two." Talon said as he reached the gate and peeked inside.
What he saw was a gigantic city that stretched as far as the eyes could see. Its buildings were intact and its streets were in good condition. However, this city was now completely empty.
He couldn't see a single human being in the vicinity. Squinting his eyes, he turned to a student standing next to him. "Have you seen anyone when you blew up the gates?"
"No, leader. It was quiet."
Their unfocused eyes, robotic demeanor, and their odd silence. It all perfectly fits the description of someone being controlled by Hyun-Ki.
"All of these people?" Sophie blinked in shock.
"Yeah..."
"But... There are thousands of them."
Those words naturally made everyone tense up. The fact that this many people were being controlled by a single person was just not the most pleasant concept to wrap your head around. Especially when they were surrounded by them.
"Show yourself up, Hyun-Ki. I know you're here." Talon yelled loudly as he looked around him.
However, he received no instant response. Instead, as if his words triggered something, all the citizens suddenly lifted their guns up in the air and took aim.
Naturally, the group took a fighting stance as the pressure grew. They were ready to fight.
"Wait..." At that moment, one of the students spoke. "Am I imagining it or... are the kids the only ones holding firearms?"
His question brought everyone's attention to a detail they missed. Of all the citizens surrounding them, the ones that had weapons were kids that weren't older than 10.
"That's true..." Talon murmured as his face grew darker. "Don't tell me!"
"It's deliberate," Hyun-Jae said as she gripped her sword tighter. "He armed kids so that we wouldn't hesitate to kill them."
'He's playing on the moral side of it. Dammit!' Clenching her teeth in anger, she clicked her tongue.
Even though the group had already fought other people without any hesitation, kids were a completely different matter.
Sophie stared around her with a complicated expression. Of all the people there, she could recognize many that she interacted with before. Nobody knew how hard it was to see them being controlled like this.
'That bastard!'
"Hahahaha!" At that moment, a loud laugh echoed in the vicinity. "To think I even had to prepare all of this when you would foolishly walk into this place willingly. Is that a rare instance of stupidity there?"
Slowly, a man walked out of the masses, he looked disheveled and exhausted. His skin was paler than usual and his expression had a hint of madness in it that wasn't there before.
"I had prepared multiple plans for anything you might come up with. I never expected that you would actually show up in such a flashy manner, Talon."
Appearing in front of the group, Hyun-Ki grinned. His right sleeve was dangling with no arm in it.
Talon frowned as he pointed his finger at him. "I don't need a plan to beat your ass. All I have to do is show up."
"Pfft! Well, there you are. Why don't you do that?" Saying that, the man snapped his fingers. Immediately, the guns that were aimed at Talon and his group suddenly changed aggro.
Seeing that, Talon's eyes widened slightly.
"Oh no, you aren't..." He said in a cold tone as his aura rose slowly.
A//N: Don't forget to support the book if you enjoyed reading :D