The Mercenary Queen Strikes Back (Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Everything happened in a flash.

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When the students finally came to their senses, the twenty–something wolves that had almost killed them were already lying there as cold bodies.

All of them were dead.

Nova, standing at the front, showed none of the compassion that most girls might feel for animals.

All that remained was the cold, ruthless instinct to survive and fight relentlessly for her place at the top.

Nova walked back toward the students, their stares blank and terrified.

The blade in her hand kept dripping crimson blood, each drop tapping out a chilling rhythm.

When Nova started heading toward them, the students recoiled, fear driving them to back away in a frenzy.

The sound of their hurried footsteps crunching through the fallen leaves filled the air.

When they looked at Nova again, their eyes were wide with shock and terror.

Those wolves were so terrifying that not even Maxwell and Hannah, the top fighters of their group, could bring them down when they teamed up.

And yet, Nova had just wiped them out by herself, and it seemed so easy for her.

‘Could Nova really be stronger than Maxwell and Hannah?‘ they wondered. ‘She has even fought wolves like these a hundred times before and knew every trick they had.‘

Claire, Julian, Caleb, and Laura were so stunned that they couldn’t even get a word out.

However, there was no way they’d buy that Nova’s strength actually topped Maxwell and Hannah’s.

They were way more ready to believe it was just her wild, over–the–top survival skills kicking in.

That had to be how she took down all those wolves so easily.

But when it came to the fight, Nova probably still wasn’t on Maxwell and Hannah’s level.

Even Claire and her group were stunned, let alone Hannah and Maxwell.

“Y–You actually took them down?” Hannah stammered, her voice trembling.

She never in a million years imagined Nova wasn’t just talking bi; she really did take out more than twenty wolves all by herself.

After spending these days with Nova, Maxwell had his suspicions about her true abilities, but seeing her mow down that pack, he was still left totally stunned.

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Chapter 34

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Anyway, no one had expected that Nova, who had been away from home for more than a decade, would be so strong.

“You-” Maxwell stared at the sister he knew almost nothing about for a full thirty seconds before he spoke.

Then he sighed, decided not to pry into Nova’s affairs, and changed his tone. “Be careful next time. Don’t be reckless. If you’d moved any slower just now, you’d have been bitten.”

Maxwell scolded Nova for being reckless, for almost getting herself hurt.

From his perspective, Nova’s blade had moved at incredible speed–fast enough that most people only saw a blur.

Even so.

Maxwell had watched several times and knew that if Nova had been one step slower, a wolf would have leapt on her and torn her apart.

She had been fighting for her life.

He had broken out in a cold sweat.

Thankfully, Nova was unharmed.

Nova paid little mind to the stares around her.

Hearing Maxwell’s admonition, she knew he was worried.

She sheathed the bloodied dagger.

For the first time during the slaughter, the bloodthirsty yet endearing girl offered a normal smile.

That smile was innocent and pure, without a trace of the coldness that had marked her moments earlier.

“Got it.” Nova replied to Maxwell.

The way her beautiful, mysterious face combined with the faint curl at the corner of her mouth made every student present–male and female alike–freeze in their tracks.

She was stunning, like an angel.

Claire looked at Nova’s breathtaking face and felt her knuckles go pale from jealousy.

Among the three school beauties, Claire had always ranked second because of Hannah.

Claire had spent so much effort convincing Hannah to stop being the kind of girl boys disliked–to drop the rough, tomboyish act and be more ladylike–that Claire had expected the top spot to fall to her eventually.

She never imagined a newcomer more beautiful than Hannah would suddenly appear out of nowhere.

‘Unforgivable. I will never let this go, Claire thought.

*****

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Chapter 34

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Once the wolf pack was wiped out, Maxwell didn’t hesitate; he called the school right away and reported everything.

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When the school realized there were real threats hiding out in the survival training zone, they wasted no time reaching out to the other teams.

They asked students who weren’t confident in their abilities or just felt too spooked to end their training ahead of schedule.

But on the down low, the school had secretly called in operatives from the Shadow Sanctum to keep the students safe.

And besides, Saint Laurel Royal Academy students all had some self–defense training under their belts, and nobody wanted to pass up the excitement of survival camp.

So, in the end, only a handful of students actually chose to end their training early.

Nova’s group all felt safe knowing they had the Blake siblings, Maxwell, Hannah, and Nova, looking out for them.

After that face–off with the wolves, everyone started seeing Nova as every bit as tough as Maxwell and Hannah.

So, of course, not a single person from Nova’s group wanted to bail out early.

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The night fell. With practiced ease, Nova skinned the wolf and stripped off its hide with her dagger, built a campfire, and set up a simple spit to roast the meat over the flames.

The meat sizzled loudly.

There weren’t any spices or fancy seasonings out here in the wild, but just the natural scent of roasting wolf meat was so mouthwatering that everyone’s stomachs started rumbling.

Most of the kids clutched pre–wrapped sandwiches or other soulless grab–and–go fuel.

Some of them couldn’t help swallowing hard, their eyes glued to Nova as she roasted the wolf meat.

Only Sophia was hanging around Nova.

Sophia had already crowned Nova her new idol; she was absolutely obsessed, admiration written all over her face.

Sophia kept gushing, “Nova, seriously, you’re a total badass. Not only can you fight, stand up to people, and take down wolves, but you can cook out here in the wild, too?

“No wonder you didn’t bring any food; you don’t even need it. You were right, Nova–only total rookies make sure they’re loaded down with food and water out here in the wild.”

As Sophia said that, she tossed a sharp glance at Hannah and Claire by the other campfire.

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Chapter 34

Beside the two of them was a pile of food.

It seriously looked like they’d raided half a supermarket before coming out here.

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When they heard Sophia’s little dig, Hannah and Claire’s eyes nearly popped out, and their faces totally blushed.

“Here, have some meat,” Nova said, tearing off a juicy chunk of wolf leg and popping it right into Sophia’s mouth.

The temperature was perfect–not too hot at all.

The flavor was just right–neither too strong nor too bland.

Sophia was practically drooling as she scarfed down the meat; she finished it quickly.

Maxwell’s the responsible type; right now, he was rounding up some classmates to get a fire going and scout the flattest spots for sleeping bags.

Nova had only gotten down two bites of wolf leg when, suddenly, her hand darted to the dagger at her waist.

Her eyes grew wary as she glanced toward the shadowy trees on one side.

‘Something’s coming,‘ Nova thought.

Nova narrowed her eyes.

A series of quick rustling sounds came from the woods.

Within seconds, someone burst out from behind the trees.

The students, totally caught off guard, all jerked in fright; some half–convinced another terrifying creature was about to attack them.

However, it was just a boy, someone everyone at Saint Laurel Royal Academy instantly recognized.

“Oh my god, it’s Ethan,” the girls screamed, totally losing it.

Clearly, Ethan had just fought his way through many jungles; his hair was a messy nest of leaves and grass.

When he spotted Nova, his grin was so sweet. He dashed over, unable to hide his excitement. “Nova, I finally found you.”

Clearly, ever since entering the survival forest, Ethan had split off from his group and spent all his time searching for Nova.

“Huh?”

Julian, Caleb, and the others from theFree Combat Club spotted Ethan, their sworn enemy from the Taekwondo Club.

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Chapter 34

Their first instinct was to get ready for a fight.

But hearing Ethan shout at Nova stopped them cold.

‘Wait? Is Ethan here for Nova?‘ they thought.

Just like Maxwell and Hannah, they just stood there staring in disbelief.

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“Yeah, Nova, you promised, if I do well surviving out here, you’ll officially make me your student,” Ethan called out and walked up to Nova.

He caught a whiff of the roasting meat in the air and couldn’t help himself. “Whoa, that smells amazing. Are you guys roasting meat? Where’d you get it? Come on, let me try a piece.”

Nova didn’t hesitate; she let go of the dagger at her waist, casually tore off a bone–in hunk of wolf meat, and handed it right to Ethan.

Then, in front of everyone, she fixed her gaze on Ethan and warned him, her tone all business. “Just so you know, killing is pretty much all I can teach you.”

She needed Ethan to understand that the lessons she could offer weren’t the ones he pictured.

Three thousand odd days as a mercenary had left her with nothing but kill–strokes on the calendar.

Every skill she owned–long–range marksmanship, demo, fighter jets, small arms, chem–bio payloads, heavy ordnance, black–code hacks–had been sharpened for one purpose–putting a body in the ground.

That was the entire curriculum. And it was the only syllabus she could hand him.

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