More or less, the vantage point had been compromised. Nightreign was forced to take a long detour as multiple vehicles pursued them through the outskirts.

Fortunately, they were far from the commercial districts. There were fewer civilians, witnesses, and obstructions around. That alone made the escape manageable.

Still, external intel reported that counter-intelligence units had already begun tracking them. The government hadn’t pinpointed their exact location yet, but it was only a matter of time before they did.

They wouldn’t be able to run much longer.

Nightreign knew that. Even so, they were grateful for the connections they had built over the years.

Their access to the deep web had been revoked, but not all doors had closed. With the right favors and the right people, they could still receive information.

"Why can’t we shake them off?!" someone from Nightreign shouted.

Anna was already dead. No one panicked the way she would have. In truth, Anna had been the only one among them who still valued her life. The rest had long accepted the risks of their work.

Yet, ironically, she was the first to fall.

That reality weighed heavily on everyone’s minds. Not because they feared they would be next, but because the one who cared most about living never got the chance to keep doing so.

Even so, not all Nightreign operatives were in the vehicle. A portion of their members had stayed behind to delay the pursuit, buying time for the car to continue its escape.

——Left wing is exposed. Keep watch. Erich has... fallen.

"...."

"...."

Nightreign didn’t have many members to begin with. However, every operative was a professional capable of going toe-to-toe with a Revenant Knight. The fact that one of the combatants had been killed meant the situation had reached a dangerous point.

And it didn’t stop there.

——Second contact lost!

——I’m sorry, but I have to retrea—Ukh!

——Yuze, help us!

Reports came one after another, each one confirming what they already knew. Their people were being taken out.

Within minutes, several communication channels went silent... because no one remained on the other end. Nightreign was falling one member at a time.

Inside the car, no one screamed. The only sound came from the engine and the rapid turns it was forced to make as it sped through the outskirts.

Yuze tightened his grip around the photon saber. They had called for him, but he already understood it would be pointless. A part of him wished he could go back and save them, yet he knew it was impossible.

"Yuze... don’t," Rachel said, placing her hand gently over his trembling one.

"...Yeah."

Another transmission arrived.

——It was a pleasure working with Nightreign.

The message broke off into static. Then the channel turned quiet. All those who had remained outside the hover car to buy time had been wiped out.

But still, no one panicked. They had long accepted the risk of dying. Yet choosing when to die was an entirely different matter. Outside, the gunfire and explosions had grown distant.

Because, despite everything, they had managed to escape. The moment the car skidded to a stop, everyone moved. They climbed out quickly, dragging Emma and the unconscious Leo with them as if they were nothing more than extra baggage they couldn’t afford to leave behind.

A bulky Nightrein member who went by the code name Vulture slung Emma’s arm over his shoulder, while Yuze grabbed Leo by the collar, pulling him up.

The forest swallowed them the moment they stepped off the road. Branches snapped under their feet. The smell of smoke and burning metal trailed behind them.

Clang——

The metal door slammed shut, sealing the group inside the massive, abandoned warehouse on the outskirts. It was one of Nightreign’s temporary bases where they could regroup and hide.

Rachel entered last. She scanned the interior, unconsciously counting heads out of habit. Halfway through, she froze.

Someone was missing.

"Yuze...?"

"...."

"...."

"Where’s Yuze?" she asked again.

To anyone else, she might have seemed calm, but the tremor in her tone was obvious. Rachel might have been an AI housed in a synthetic body, but Rachel had long since learned what it meant to feel. Among Nightreign, she was more human than most.

"Rachel..." one of the operatives whispered.

She turned toward him. "H-Hey, this isn’t funny. Why isn’t Yuze here?"

"Yuze’s... taking the vehicle out for a ride..."

"What?"

Before the mission even began, they had ensured the hover car was clean, dismantling every possible tracker and every traceable component, all of which were removed. However, during the pursuit, residual signals would still have been present.

A clean breakout was impossible. They had planned to ditch the vehicle once they reached the outskirts, but Yuze had gone further. He had taken the car alone to lure their pursuers away.

"H-Hey... this isn’t funny... Yuze? Zhang Yuze!" Rachel’s voice rose. She turned in circles, as if he might suddenly step out from behind a pillar. "I know you’re here! S-Stop joking around... this isn’t the time for that..."

Nightreign was, indeed, meticulous. The fact that they had used the target’s vehicle instead of their own had a clear purpose. Rachel understood that immediately. Her gaze snapped to the person closest to Yuze, the one currently acting as Nightreign’s leader.

"L-Leader... w-when did you discuss this with Yuze?"

"Even before the operation began."

"Then why did—"

"It was his idea," the Leader said. "In case things went sideways, he suggested we use the Deutschmann boy’s vehicle as a smokescreen. We all thought it was just a contingency. But..."

His jaw tightened, and his fist curled. "It seems Yuze’s intuition was... correct."

"Then why didn’t any of you tell me?!"

"Because we all know you would never agree to it," Vulture said, cutting in before the Leader could answer. "Yuze volunteered to act as the lure. This reaction you’re having right now is exactly why he kept you in the dark."

"That idiot... He should’ve let me go instead..."

"You know he wouldn’t," Vulture replied. "He always said he was expendable. You weren’t."

Rachel clenched her fists so tightly her metal joints whined. "That’s not his decision to make."

"It was," the Leader said quietly. "He made it before we even left. And we trusted his call."

"I’m not even human!" Rachel shouted. "Why would he... why would any of you think my life is worth more than his?!"

The Leader held her gaze. "Because to him, it is."

"...."

"This is not the place where you should die, Rachel—"

Bang——!

A single gunshot rang out.

The Leader’s body jerked, then collapsed forward. He hit the concrete hard. A fist-sized hole, still burning at the edges, was seared clean through his torso.

Rachel’s pupils trembled. "L-Leader...?"

There was no such thing as a perfect plan.

"...."

But even the worst plans never fell apart like this.

Bang! Bang! Bang!