The Mercenary Queen Strikes Back (Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 73

Chapter 73-

Chapter 73

“What?” Ivy’s jaw nearly dropped in/shock.

Jacob also looked stunned, “Arthur, are you serious? Your status was earned through countless injuries. What does she have to compare with you?”

Ivy nodded. “Exactly, Arthur. Those knife and bullet scars all over you… Has Nova ever faced anything like that? She’s not even fit to be mentioned in the same breath as you.”

Eric paused for a beat, then said seriously, “Just be careful, that’s all.”

Arthur’s group had already moved far ahead. Even Daniel, Harvey, and Finley had set off.

Charles stayed behind. He wouldn’t join.

Just as Nova, Maxwell, and Hannah were about to start, Hudson stopped them.

“Kids, Alfred asked me to give you this.” Hudson handed over a small black backpack. “There’s a note inside about possible mechanisms you might face in the test and some tools to help. Take it.”

This was the “assistance” Alfred had promised-to help Nova’s trio pass the test successfully.

“I refuse.” Nova declined without hesitation. She was joining the game, and she would play fair and square with the main family members. Winning by cheating? That wasn’t her style.

“Thank you for the kindness, but Nova’s right. We’ll win by our own strength.” Maxwell nodded politely to Hudson, then quickly headed with Nova and Hannah toward the starting gate at the foot of the hill.

When Hudson returned with the rejected backpack to report, Alfred was shocked. “They really said that?”

After getting confirmation, Alfred’s face turned pale. He had hoped that cheating tools would give Maxwell a chance against Arthur. Now that plan had already failed.

Alfred smiled bitterly, “It seems Maxwell, Hannah, and Nova are bound to lose this test. They’re no match for Arthur. Is this really the end of my family’s future?”

*****

Blake Manor was vast, with the entire hill included within its grounds, so there was no need to venture elsewhere.

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At the foot of the hill stood an open gate, where young main family members were streaming in.

“This must be the test site,” Maxwell said, looking at his two sisters. “Let’s go in.”

Nova stepped inside first.

The interior was dimly lit, located deep within the hill-damp, chilly, and eerie. Candles flickered here and there, providing faint, flickering light.

Unlike commercial escape rooms, this was a site for selecting a family head, emphasizing actual strength and danger response-more like a challenge course.

Each room’s mechanism was a stage. Passing one was required to advance.

The first challenge facing Nova’s trio was a balance beam.

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the bean stretched over 50 feet, with deep pits on both sides filled with upward-pointing daggers at the bottom. A misstep would be fatal

But for trained family members, such obstacles weren’t difficult. Those ahead had already passed.

Nova and her team made it across effortlessly

The second challenge was a series of flipping panels-trickier, but manageable by stepping carefully to avoid triggers.

As they progressed through the third and fourth stages, the difficulty gradually increased.

Maxwell led the way throughout, with Nova not assisting. They passed smoothly.

By the fifth stage, Hannah was struggling, nearing her physical limit. Her stamina was almost at its limit.

Nova maintained a steady pace all along.

When they entered the sixth stage, they found the previously leading main family members-including young ones like Arthur, Ivy, and Jacob, as well as middle-aged ones like Daniel, Harvey, and Finley-all stuck there.

“How is this even passable? It’s designed to be impossible,” a young man said fearfully, staring ahead.

Another panicked. “This level… We could really die here!”

Ahead stretched a 65-foot passage flanked by 20 mechanical dolls both sides. They looked like silent gatekeepers, each armed with a bow and arrow.

Crafted by master engineers of the last century, these mechanical dolls would unleash a volley of arrows upon sensing anyone passing through.

“It’s terrifying. I just tested it with stones–arrows rain down the moment someone steps in. It’s got to be motion-triggered. Anyone walking through would be dead for sure,” someone panted, explaining the situation.

No wonder the sixth stage had everyone stuck. Racing through a deadly arrow storm was a risk no one dared take.

“I’m out!” one girl turned and ran away in fear.

Nova narrowed her eyes, picked up a stone, and hurled it into the center of the passage.

Just as described, arrows poured down the instant the stone passed through.

As soon as the stone landed, sensors instantly triggered. All the mechanical dolls fired off arrows, railing down in deadly, straight lines.

To cross safely, one would need to sprint past each sensor zone within the 0.5-second window before the dolls fired. There were maybe one or two people tops here who could pull that off.

“It takes 0.5 seconds from sensing to shooting.” Nova’s voice cut through the discouraged silence. “As long as we pass each trigger zone within 0.4 seconds, we’ll be safe.”

She had instantly calculated the arrow speed and safe intervals. Fixed mechanical traps like these were trivial to her.

Back then, she had survived real gunfire in rainforests surrounded by enemies with automatic rifles. The mere arrows couldn’t compare to that at all.

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