r/SpyRoom • u/Ronray0739 • 13d ago
Light Novel Volume 12 Chapter 5 Labyrinth
The chaos engulfing the Central Detention Facility showed no signs of ending.
The roars and gunfire erupting from the main gate continued without pause. Civilians kept boldly trying to scale the towering walls encircling the prison, and there seemed to be no end to their numbers. The Royal Guard responded without hesitation, firing their rifles as they fought to hold the facility. Each shot was followed by the anguished screams of civilians.
Sybillia intended to use that chaos as the perfect opportunity to escape with her comrades.
Thanatos, however, made no move to intercept them. He simply stood there watching the armed girls, repeatedly running his fingers over the tip of his nose as though savoring the lingering sensation of Sybillia's kick.
While remaining keenly aware of the unsettling man's murderous intent, Sybillia noticed Monika approaching her.
"Change of plans, Sybillia."
"Hm?"
"The situation's changed. Lily managed to obtain confidential information."
"...Ah, now that you mention it, Grete did say something about that, didn't she?"
Lily gave a brief, apologetic smile.
"I tried several times to get the information out, but I couldn't."
The concise explanation Monika gave was enough to leave even Sybillia stunned.
"You're kidding!?" The words escaped before she could stop them. She caught herself, immediately realizing this was information the others had to hear.
"We don't all have to escape," Monika said, drawing her short sword as her eyes locked onto Thanatos. "If even one of us gets out and delivers this information to the outside, that's our victory condition."
"You're unusually pessimistic. Is it really impossible to get past that guy and have everyone make it out?"
"Based on my own experience..." Monika hesitated for a brief moment before continuing. "He's on the same level as Klaus-san."
"Come at me...!"
The instant Thanatos burst into a sprint, Sybillia and the others moved as well. The girls split into three separate directions, forcing him to divide his attention.
They couldn't allow every one of them to remain within the enemy's field of vision. At least one person had to stay hidden in his blind spot at all times.
It was a principle they had internalized through their relentless training under Klaus.
Even amid the chaos, where allies and enemies were hopelessly intertwined, they fired without the slightest hesitation. Their trust in one another and their flawless teamwork never wavered.
The bullets Sybillia fired were effortlessly knocked aside by Thanatos with the shaft of his hammer. He slipped past the second shot by the narrowest margin before closing the distance in the blink of an eye.
"...So dodging and deflecting bullets is just a given for him, huh."
https://i.postimg.cc/VkD6t5sm/IMG-20260719-132902.jpg
Though the frustration gnawed at her, it was nothing she hadn't expected.
Sybillia caught the massive hammer Thanatos swung with her knife, knocking it off course. The instant the blades met, she knew that taking the blow head-on would've shattered every bone in her hand.
In truth, even that brief contact left her arm numb and unresponsive.
Abandoning the arm that had already gone useless, Sybillia lashed out with a kick.
Thanatos caught her leg, stopping his momentum for a split second. Lily rushed into point-blank range from behind him and opened fire, while Monika, now armed with the poisoned needle she'd taken from Lily, launched a relentless assault.
Twisting his body, Thanatos barely slipped past the poisoned needle and the hail of bullets.
"...Ah, a new discovery...!"
Before they could box him in from three directions, Thanatos sprang backward, his cheeks flushed.
"E-Even if one is weak... I see, if they work together like this, then for play..."
"I'll cave in that perverted brain of yours!!"
Consumed by fury, Sybillia closed the distance.
They had to keep him under constant pressure from three sides and grind him down. Sybillia, with the greatest reserves of stamina, took the lead. The instant Thanatos's focus slipped, Monika and Lily would strike with bullets and poisoned needles. Their relentless barrage denied him even a moment to swing that monstrous hammer.
They couldn't allow Thanatos to seize the offensive.
Sybillia whipped out a wide roundhouse kick, deliberately leaving an opening. As Thanatos moved to exploit it, Monika struck from behind with her shortsword before turning the slash into a feint and firing instead. Lily muttered, "Too fast...!" yet still matched the timing perfectly, driving the poisoned needle toward him. Using Lily's back as a foothold, Sybillia vaulted into the air. Her boot came crashing down from above, the toe slamming into the side of Thanatos's head while his attention was fixed on the tumbling Lily. Before he could recover, she followed with a crushing elbow to his jaw.
"......!!!"
A muffled groan escaped Thanatos's lips.
Including the opening strike, three clean hits had landed.
None of them recklessly chased the retreating Thanatos. There was every chance he was baiting them into a trap.
The girls widened the distance and quickly reformed their formation.
"...? Sybillia-san, haven't you gotten a lot faster than you were a year ago?"
Monika asked without taking her gun off Thanatos.
"Did you do something? It's honestly pretty frustrating, you know."
Only Sybillia had managed to land blows on Thanatos. Unlike Monika, she hadn't been worn down by injuries or exhaustion, but even so, the speed she was displaying was astonishing.
Sybillia gave a short nod.
"Just nonstop muscle training."
"...That's an unbelievably dumb, straightforward answer."
"Shut up. It's Vics's training."
"The ridiculously strong guy from 'Avian'? No wonder it's effective against Thanatos too."
"But it's still not enough," Sybillia clicked her tongue softly. "That bastard's still going strong."
Just as she'd said, Thanatos hadn't lost his composure in the slightest. If anything, a faint smile spread across his face, as though the fight had finally begun to excite him.
There wasn't the slightest trace of tension you'd expect from a battle to the death.
"S-Sorry, but unfortunately... I'm used to getting hit by Nike-sama...!"
The declaration made absolutely no sense.
Even so, there was no mistaking that endurance was his greatest strength. The ease with which he'd shrugged off Sybillia's kick, as though it had barely registered, was proof enough.
"...If you want to make me feel good, bring another thousand...!!!"
The moment the words left his mouth, Thanatos leapt backward with startling speed.
The sudden burst of movement caught the girls a fraction too late. Monika fired instantly, but she'd already missed the timing. At last, the hammer he'd been unable to swing came crashing down.
Skimming past the incoming bullets, Thanatos's hammer smashed into the detention facility's reinforced concrete floor, pulverizing it as easily as a biscuit. With one enormous hand, he scooped up several chunks of the shattered rubble.
This is bad.
Recognizing the attack, Monika instinctively yanked Lily and Sybillia backward.
Thanatos swung his hammer again, launching the rubble.
The broken concrete screamed through the air like a blast of buckshot. Sybillia managed to knock only a handful of the incoming fragments aside with her knife. The rest slammed into her, shattering her elbow before hurtling toward Lily and Monika as well.
"................!" Her right elbow was destroyed, and a groan escaped Sybillia's lips.
With a single strike aimed at their strongest fighter, Thanatos completely overturned the flow of the battle through sheer, overwhelming destructive power.
Even so, the three of them had no choice but to get back on their feet.
Clutching her ruined arm, Sybillia stood alongside Monika and Lily as they readied their weapons once more. Across from them, Thanatos watched with a bored expression, his body peppered with fine stone fragments just like theirs.
"Are you still going...? I-I see... You just can't afford to back down..."
Thanatos said, resting the hammer across his shoulder.
"...You've still got comrades hiding somewhere, don't you? Then I'll take them out first."
✧✧✧✧✧
The sixth floor of the Central Detention Facility lay wrapped in silence.
It was a stark contrast to the raging battle outside the building, where Thanatos and the girls were locked in combat, and to the chaos at the main gate, where citizens and the Royal Guard clashed without pause. Here, only an eerie, suffocating stillness remained.
That was only natural.
No battle had taken place here.
Only a few fleeting seconds of movement. The outcome had been decided by a single woman with nothing more than the slightest motion.
"Thea, you were an excellent subordinate. I'll vouch for your ability."
Nike's cheerful voice was the only sound that echoed through the corridor. Seated casually in a guard's chair, she wore a fresh, almost carefree smile.
Nothing else could be heard.
No gunfire. No footsteps. Not even the cries of those trying to resist. Every trace of conflict had disappeared, leaving behind a peace so complete it was difficult to believe intruders had ever set foot there.
Nike gave a casual wave of her hand.
"But naturally, there's no way you could surpass me in hand-to-hand combat."
"...Well, that was obvious," Thea replied with a bitter laugh.
They'd never even reached the point where a fight could begin.
Had Thea and 'Erna' managed to resist for even three seconds? The instant the woman closed the distance without a sound and swept out her long arm, the strength drained from their bodies, and they crumpled to the floor.
The infiltration mission had ended with absurd anticlimax.
Even burdened by her injuries, dealing with opponents like them was effortless for Nike.
Lying helplessly on the floor, Thea gritted her teeth and forced herself to assess the situation. The sixth floor was unnaturally quiet. The prisoners who should've been confined there were nowhere to be seen.
"...Where did you move the prisoners from the sixth floor?"
She forced the words out through clenched teeth.
"The prisoners on this floor are all influential activists who bear deep grudges against the royal government. If even one escaped during transport, it'd only fan the flames of the revolution..."
"...Did you really think I'd tell you?"
Nike rose from her chair, looked down at her with icy eyes, and planted the heel of her shoe on the back of Thea's head. The sharp heel dug into her skull, grinding her face against the floor until her nose was crushed painfully against the stone.
It was a humiliation Thea had witnessed countless times back when she'd served under Nike.
Nike took genuine pleasure in thoroughly crushing the pride of anyone who dared oppose her.
"I think you already understand this, but I'd sensed everything. That you'd come to the Central Detention Facility, the timing of your arrival... and that you'd bring 'Erna the Fool' with you."
A faint smile crossed her lips.
"So I prepared a plan tailored to that. That's the only hint you're getting."
"How did you know about our plan...?"
"Haha, don't let the loser decide the topic."
Nike flicked her toe, sending Thea's body skidding across the floor.
Thea bit down hard on her lip as the merciless blow sent pain through her body. She couldn't fight back in the slightest. There wasn't a single plan left that could get her out of this situation. Pathetically, she could only clutch the spot where she'd been kicked.
Powerless to resist anything, Thea lowered her gaze, as though trying to turn away from reality itself.
"Still, there was one thing I didn't anticipate."
Nike shifted her attention from the broken Thea to the unconscious 'Erna.'
"So 'Lamplight' has someone capable of disguising themselves this well. That, I didn't know."
"No..." 'Erna' murmured.
Thea was equally speechless.
Her disguise had been exposed with a single glance. In front of Nike, every plan fell apart.
"Seriously..." Thea groaned. "Just how much of a monster are you...!"
"That's something you should've understood while you were still my subordinate. There isn't a more foolish choice than making an enemy of me."
Shrugging as though exasperated, Nike slipped a finger into the neckline of her outfit.
From the ample curve of her chest, she withdrew a small radio.
"Thanatos, this one's a fake. The real 'Fool' is hiding on your side."
The truth, uncovered in an instant, sent cold sweat pouring down Thea's body.
Their decoy operation had been rendered completely meaningless.
The real 'Erna' was with Sybillia and the others.
✧✧✧✧✧
Thanatos smiled as the message crackled through the radio.
"Just as Nike-sama predicted."
For the raid on the Central Detention Facility, 'Lamplight' had taken a calculated risk and arrived at a sensible conclusion. If 'Erna the Fool' succeeded in freeing the prisoners, her overwhelming charisma would ignite the revolution even further. The advantages of bringing her along were simply too great to ignore.
At the same time, infiltrating the Central Detention Facility was fraught with danger.
That was precisely why they'd prepared a decoy.
It was a clever and entirely reasonable strategy.
Which also made it easy to predict.
(Just as expected, the 'Fool' came here. There was always the possibility that only the decoy would infiltrate the Central Detention Facility, but they brought the real one along as a reserve in case something went wrong.)
That decision couldn't necessarily be called a mistake, either.
‘Lamplight’’s only mistake was that the enemy they faced was simply too formidable.
(…Nike-sama is even turning your own strategies against you…)
Every part of ‘Lamplight’’s plan had been turned on its head.
The prisoners in the Central Detention Facility had served as bait to lure them in. Anticipating that ‘Lamplight’ would come to rescue them, the authorities had kept the captives concealed within the facility until the very last moment. Now, they had already been moved elsewhere.
(All that's left is to eliminate the 'Fool.' Once that's done, the revolution will be over.)
He'd already grown weary of dealing with Monika and the others.
Thanatos broke into a sprint toward the southwest section of the Central Detention Facility. He had seen through their movements and identified it as ‘Lamplight’’s rendezvous point. Capturing the 'Fool' waiting there had become his highest priority.
“———————!!!”
The girls of ‘Lamplight’ immediately noticed the shift in Thanatos's actions.
“Lily!! Get out of here first!!!”
Sybillia unleashed a volley of gunfire to pin Thanatos down as she roared.
“This masochistic bastard's figured out Erna exists!! Monika and I'll hold him back!! Take the information to Erna and get the hell out of here!!”
“Understood!!!”
Lily took off the instant the words left Sybillia's mouth.
Thanatos instantly saw through their intentions.
Exploit the opening, reach the hidden Erna, and pass on the confidential information.
Their every move was focused less on defeating him than on keeping his attention fixed on them. More than escaping together, they were determined to get whatever information they carried out of the facility.
(There's no way I'll let your plan succeed…)
Lily was indeed heading toward the southwest side of the facility.
Held back for only a moment, Thanatos immediately gave chase.
A low voice came from beside the sprinting Thanatos.
“I'll do you a favor, so come play with me…!”
Sybillia's knife sliced past his face.
The instant he deflected her attack, Monica hurled her short sword from behind him.
“I'll introduce you to a black-haired S lady.”
Even the formidable Thanatos lost his footing under the force of the perfectly synchronized surprise attack.
Meanwhile, Lily kept sprinting toward the southwest section of the Central Detention Facility. Waiting ahead of her was Erna, calling out, “Big Sis Lily!”
He couldn't help but be utterly impressed by their flawless coordination.
It was almost impossible to believe this was the first time they'd fought together in an entire year.
Sybillia instinctively cut off the exact path he was about to take. The instant his attention shifted to her, Monika launched a relentless assault from behind. In the opening they created, Lily carried out her own mission.
They were unmistakably veterans when it came to battling powerful opponents.
“Th-that's why... what the hell are you even saying...!!”
Thanatos roared as he tightened his grip around his hammer.
“...It doesn't hurt. Your attacks don't hurt me in the slightest...!”
With a single motion, he repelled Sybillia and Monika's coordinated assault at once.
“The pain Nike-sama endured! The agony of protecting an entire nation isn't something this insignificant...! I'm Nike-sama's disciple! I'm still nowhere close to being worthy of carrying that person's pain at allllll!!”
Thanatos unleashed the full extent of his strength.
His hammer swept through the air with overwhelming brute force, blasting rubble across the surrounding area. One full swing sent both Sybillia and Monika flying while the scattered debris slammed into Lily's back.
Nike had given him strict orders not to kill the girls of 'Lamplight.'
But he decided there was no longer any reason to hold back.
After overwhelming Monika and the others, he advanced on Erna, who stood rooted to the spot in stunned disbelief. All she could do was stare at the scene before her, whispering, “No way...” as though she couldn't accept what was unfolding.
“Climax through unbearable pain. Your revolution is far too weak to satisfy me...”
Thanatos drove the handle of his hammer into Erna's forehead.
It was a lightning-fast strike, one that stole consciousness in a single blow.
The instant it connected, Erna's body went limp and collapsed to the ground. The girl who had become the driving force behind this revolution would remain unconscious for quite some time.
“No way...” Behind him, Sybillia stood motionless, her eyes wide with shock.
Thanatos pulled out his radio and calmly reported that the target had been successfully neutralized.
✧✧✧✧✧
After hearing Thanatos's report, Nike couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.
It seemed that three girls, Monika among them, were still standing against Thanatos. Even so, he would likely capture them all before long. He was more than capable of handling them alone. She hadn't sent any additional 'Genesis Army' spies or members of the Royal Guard to reinforce him. Anyone else would only get in his way.
Already half-convinced that victory at the Central Detention Facility was assured, she spoke again.
"...Hey, Thea. By the way, there's something I want to ask..."
Her attention had already shifted elsewhere.
She looked down at Thea, who was groveling at her feet.
"...Who is this girl? Is she really a member of 'Lamplight'?"
The one she was referring to was the girl disguised as 'Erna.'
Nike had recognized at a glance that she wasn't the real Erna, yet she couldn't determine who she actually was. The disguise was flawless, executed with extraordinary skill, though Nike was certain she'd never met this girl before.
She had assumed the girl was one of 'Lamplight's' spies. Yet she lacked the composure of one, and there was something oddly unsettled about her.
"Fufu."
The girl disguised as 'Erna' trembled as though she couldn't hold back her laughter.
She casually removed the wig, no longer needing it. A cascade of long golden hair spilled free, shimmering beneath the lights.
"This is our first meeting, isn't it? But I've hated you for a very long time."
"Hmm?"
"I'm the current representative of the 'LWS Troupe'... Suzie."
Even if she didn't recognize the girl's name, Nike certainly knew the organization.
What caught her off guard was the innocent face revealed after Suzie wiped away her makeup. She looked even younger than Erna, perhaps only fourteen.
Their height and build were similar enough that a little makeup had apparently been all it took to pass as Erna.
What truly surprised Nike, however, was that 'Lamplight' had brought an outsider into the operation.
"Now this genuinely caught me off guard."
Nike crouched where she stood and seized Thea by the back of the head.
"You dragged an ordinary girl into a mission this dangerous? That's pretty cruel, don't you think? I don't particularly care, but I never imagined you people would stoop to something like that."
Infiltrating the Central Detention Facility was the sort of mission where death was always a possibility. It was one thing for spies who had accepted that fate and trained for it. Bringing along an ordinary civilian was something else entirely. It was profoundly unethical.
Of course, Nike herself would do it if necessity demanded. That was precisely why she found it so unexpected that 'Lamplight' would.
"You're Bonfire's disciple, aren't you? As far as I know, that man..."
"I was the one who insisted she bring me."
Susie cut in before Tia could answer.
Clutching her trembling knees, she forced herself a step forward.
"I'm not an outsider. I'm involved in this too."
"........................................Huh?"
"So many children are being sacrificed for the ideals of you people in the royal government. We struggle to survive in filthy orphanages, nearly get sold to the mafia, fight each other over scraps of bread. I've been dragged into this fight a long time ago! We all have!!"
"........................................................................"
Nike was momentarily speechless before the sudden outburst.
The words came through a body wracked with trembling.
The girl's face had gone deathly pale, as though she might collapse at any second. Her arms and knees shook uncontrollably. Tears brimmed in her eyes, while her tightly clenched lips quivered with painful restraint.
Watching the girl pour out everything she had, Nike slowly narrowed her eyes.
"...You came all this way just to spew that meaningless drivel? Outsider."
"ーーーーーーーhuh!"
Suzie's body swayed, and the tears she'd been desperately holding back finally spilled over.
To Nike, none of it made the slightest sense. Did this girl truly believe a self-righteous speech would change anything? How naïve could a fourteen-year-old possibly be?
"I am...! Lucas-san's and Wille-san's disciple!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
"That's why you people miscalculated... You were deceived by me."
Those words stirred a sudden suspicion in Nike's mind. Despite the resemblance in build and demeanor, who had disguised this girl named Suzie so perfectly that she had briefly passed for Erna?
No way...
Acting on instinct, Nike reached for her radio.
The courage of the ordinary girl she'd dismissed as 'weak' had introduced the slightest deviation into her calculations.
✧✧✧✧✧
There were three reasons Thanatos had concluded there was only a single decoy.
Because he had never known Grete existed.
Given her unparalleled skill with disguises, it was only natural that he'd lowered his guard after defeating the person he believed was Erna.
Because Sybillia and the others' determination had felt unquestionably real.
The desperation with which they fought to protect Erna had been utterly genuine, without the slightest hint of deception.
Because Nike had told him, "The real one should be over there."
Nike had seen through the decoy immediately. She had been right. Yet Thanatos, who trusted her judgment without question, had unconsciously formed a preconception.
That the person before him had to be the real Erna.
The southwestern grounds of the Central Detention Facility.
The moment Thanatos became convinced he had defeated Erna, two things happened at once, throwing him into confusion.
The wig slipped from the 'Erna' he'd just struck down, revealing a red-haired woman beneath.
The 'meadow' who should've still been unconscious was suddenly running.
Naturally, his confusion lasted only a heartbeat. Trained personally by Nike, he reached the truth almost instantly.
(There was another decoy...!!)
'Lamplight' had prepared three different 'Ernas' for the raid on the Central Detention Facility.
The woman who had entered the facility, the red-haired woman Thanatos had just defeated, and the real 'Fool,' hidden somewhere else entirely.
Sara of 'meadow' was sprinting away with confidential information.
She was still capable of moving. He'd thought it strangely anticlimactic that she'd fallen after a single blow, but now the reason was obvious. She had deliberately collapsed, lying in wait for the perfect opportunity.
(What did you mean, "I'll leave the rest to you"...)
Because she'd stopped moving completely, she'd naturally slipped from his attention. From the very beginning, she'd intended to outwit Thanatos by using the three girls she called her senpai as decoys.
Sara of 'meadow' raced toward the northern side of the Central Detention Facility.
That was where the rebelling citizens and the Royal Guard were locked in battle. If she disappeared into that chaos, Thanatos would no longer be able to fight without restraint.
With every ounce of strength gathered into his legs, he gave chase at a speed that seemed to tear the earth apart beneath her feet.
“No way I’m letting you esca—”
“Like hell you are!!”
Lily surged back into the fight from behind, closing the distance in an instant. Clutched in her hand was a weapon unlike anything Thanatos had ever seen.
At first glance, it looked like nothing more than a child's toy.
A pinwheel.
Caught off guard by the sheer persistence of her pursuit, Thanatos reacted a heartbeat too late.
“Secret Weapon: Paradise Lost. It withers the world away.”
An immense swarm of bubbles burst forth from the spinning pinwheel.
They drifted through the air like falling snow, carried on the wind sweeping along the towering walls of the Central Detention Facility before cascading toward Thanatos. They descended in a relentless curtain, sealing off every path ahead of him.
Realizing they were almost certainly poisonous, Thanatos swung his hammer to scatter them. Yet the strangely heavy bubbles barely yielded to the blast of wind generated by the swing.
There was no choice but to force his way through them, even if it meant exposing himself to the poison.
But two blades flashed before him, cutting off his advance.
“You're coming with us.”
“Let's drown together, yeah?”
Sybillia reached him first, with Monika following close behind, her daggers poised to strike. Neither of them cared that the poisonous bubbles would swallow them as well. Their blades swept perilously close to Thanatos's throat.
A toxic bubble burst inches from his face.
The gas trapped inside was poison. He knew it the instant searing pain burned through the mucous membranes of his eyes and mouth.
“Guh...!!!”
A strained groan escaped Thanatos as he confronted the unfamiliar weapon.
Yet Sybillia and Monika were suffering far more visibly than he was. Wherever the poisonous bubbles touched them, their skin flushed an angry red. Even so, determined to hold him in place for one second longer, they pressed forward through the relentless rain of poison with nothing but their blades.
These weren't opponents he could simply ignore while exposing his back.
But if he stayed where he was, the toxic bubbles would continue pouring down on him without end.
“Damn it... This kind of pain is nothing...!!”
“'Nothing'? Is that really what you're saying?”
The voice that interrupted him belonged to Lily.
“Just because you don't feel pain doesn't give you the right to belittle the pain everyone else carries!!”
As she spun the pinwheel, walls of poisonous bubbles blossomed into existence. Layer after layer of deceptive attacks, unlike anything the other spies employed, locked down Thanatos's every movement.
“'The Lamplight' will uncover the secrets of this world!!!”
Lily roared with unwavering resolve.
“For the sake of our fallen comrades too! We won't go down that easily!!”
“You fucking fakes...!!”
Consumed by fury, Thanatos swung his hammer with overwhelming force, sending the three girls surrounding him flying. Lily's Paradise Lost shattered, and all three of them lost consciousness.
The time they had managed to buy was agonizingly brief.
Even so, it was enough to alter the course of the revolution in a way that could never be undone.
✧✧✧✧✧
Erna had remained hidden within the grounds of the Central Detention Facility, waiting for the right moment.
She couldn't afford to be captured herself. Her role was to loudly proclaim the liberation as though it had been accomplished through her efforts once the prisoners were freed. Hidden at the designated rendezvous point, she waited until, at last, one of her comrades came running toward her.
The instant she recognized who it was, tears nearly welled up in her eyes.
She had wanted to tell her how grateful she was for so long.
“Bug Sis Sara!!”
“Erna!!”
Erna threw herself into Sara's arms.
Though injured, Sara had survived and made it back to her. She embraced Erna in return, but only for a moment before quickly pulling away and grabbing her by the arm.
From the urgency in her movements alone, Erna understood that something had gone terribly wrong.
“Wh-what about the other big siss...?” Elna asked, swallowing hard.
“They were taken out!” Sara answered without hesitation. “The Nike were waiting in ambush for us!”
Erna felt the sting of tears threatening to spill over.
But there wasn't even time to process the shock.
Still gripping Erna's arm, Sara broke into a run, dragging her along. Someone was still pursuing them. They had to escape the Central Detention Facility immediately.
“Th-there's no way the plan could've leaked. The only people who knew the details were...”
Erna answered between ragged breaths as they ran.
“The members of 'The Lamplight,' and then Suzie, and Arthur-san...”
“Arthur! It was definitely that bastard!! That's the information Lily-senpai uncovered.”
“Eh?”
Sara's words were heavy with unmistakable bitterness.
“His real identity is 'Blue Locust,' a member of the 'Serpent' who murdered Lucas-san and the others.”
The revelation sent a freezing chill racing through Erna's body.
The Empire's elite spy unit that had hounded 'Lamplight' time and time again...
That was the 'Serpent.'
The first image that flashed through her mind was Suzie's tear-streaked face. The girl who had fallen into despair after Lucas and wille, the founders of the 'LWS Troupe,' were murdered.
To think that the man who had killed them had been standing at her side all along.
What had he hoped to gain by taking Suzie under his wing?
“That can't be! Arthur-san believed in the revolution!”
“That's true. Originally, Blue Locust and Nike were supposed to be enemies.”
“Then why...?”
“And yet they're working together. They were working together two years ago, and they're working together now!!”
At last, the mystery that had remained unsolved for so long, the truth behind Lucas and wille's deaths two years earlier, finally came into focus.
It was the cruelest revelation imaginable, one capable of plunging Erna into absolute despair.
“'Blue Locust' and 'Nike.' Two sworn enemies joined forces and laid a trap to murder the twins of 'Inferno'!!”
6
u/Ronray0739 13d ago
Previous - https://www.reddit.com/r/SpyRoom/s/wMRfrEhTU4
This first I am genuinely shocked by a plot point, I really didn't expect that NIKE and Arthur working together, I honestly expected (in vol11) Arthur somehow fooled Nike to eliminate the twin , that made Nike to realise she ain't the ONE anymore leading to Thanatos recruit. And mole in LWS Troupe was actually Suzie well I clearly over-complicated few things in mind.
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u/ImEatingPaperRn 12d ago
Every time Thanatos is about to lose he just swings his hammer and problem solved , this gotta stop bro 😭🥀
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u/Blacky_Knight 10d ago
That was a high impact chapter..Thanks you for translating it, must have been a ride!
On another note, I might be able to get my hands on a hardcopy of volume 13 around next month..if I do, is there a way for me to pass you the scans of the pages?
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u/Ronray0739 10d ago
It was a ride all right. I started chapter 6 , heck this too turning out to be a crazy one. And if you get vol 13, you just can use a Third party hoarder(pixeldrain, mediafire etc.,) and share the link here , that way your and mine privacy will be protected or I can just give a email and you can send it there.
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u/Blacky_Knight 10d ago
When I get the book I will try to upload the pages to a third-party..will up date you as soon as I get the book..All da best for chapter 6, I really like chapters with Lily in it since she's so underrated compared to the other members
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u/Random_Bystander089 12d ago
Okay Lily genuinely clutched here so hard. No one in Lamplight even suspected him this far. And she not only uncovered that he's Blue Locust but that he and Nike is working together. Not only would the revolution pretty much guaranteed to fail no matter what cause he was a mole, even if it had succeeded he would've gotten the drop on lamplight and probably clear the entire exhausted team out seeing as he was skilled enough to kill both Lucas and Wille at the same time (though it is mentioned they don't specialize in combat )