The Mercenary Queen Strikes Back (Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 75

Chapter 65-

Chapter 65

In the mercenary world, death was an everyday occurrence.

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Nova had ascended to the throne of the mercenary king over the bodies of countless loyal followers-her position paid for in blood and lives.

In a world where people died hourly, no greeting carried more warmth than “You’re still alive.”

The moment Ghost-Hammer hit the ground, his combat instincts kicked in.

A veteran of the battlefield, he didn’t panic like ordinary people would-panic cost lives.

Muscles tensed, he was ready to counterattack when he recognized the face he hadn’t seen in half a year. All his defenses vanished in an instant.

“Boss!” His anger turned to elation. He looked up at Nova and shouted, taking her offered hand to pull himself up. “I knew you’d be here!”

The fierce, battle-hardened warrior transformed instantly into the most loyal partner-a stark contrast to the intimidating intruder who had just stormed the campus.

The watching students stood in shock. They had seen Nova subdue the giant with a single move, and now they heard her say, “Really glad you’re still alive.”

Everyone was thinking, ‘Who greets an old friend like that? And why did that brute call Nova ‘Boss’?’

Their unusual reunion left the students utterly stunned, their mouths wide opening. “That guy… Even the three prom kings couldn’t beat him. But Nova just took him down alone.”

The students couldn’t grasp the meaning behind Nova and Ghost-Hammer’s exchange. All they saw was she throwing him over her shoulder with only one move. It filled them with both shock and fear.

“Impossible… How is this possible? Someone the three guys couldn’t handle together… Nova actually…” Claire murmured, her face pale.

Claire was jealous that Nova had caught the eye of a handsome black market figure. Besides, she had to face that Nova, surpassed even the three top students. It was too much to bear.

“Nova’s… this strong?” Hannah swallowed hard.

Though her resentment toward Nova for hurting the family remained, Hannah couldn’t deny the truth any longer. It was her last shred of stubborn defiance.

Jessica, one of the school’s popular girls, maintained a composed smile-neither showing surprise nor fear, her poise and elegance unchanged.

Sophia, who had followed Nova to the scene, lost sight of Nova in the blink of an eye. When she found her, she saw Nova throwing the giant man to the ground.

Though Sophia couldn’t hear their conversation, she covered her mouth in shock, “Oh my! Nova…

The ones most deeply shocked were Zane, Maxwell, and Ethan. They had experienced Ghost-Hammer’s strength, and now seeing Nova had taken the man down in one move, they swallowed hard in unison.

Nova didn’t care about their shock. What surprised her was that Ghost-Hammer had directly come here. She gave him a

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hight mal “Let’s go somewhere to talk.”

It had been six months since she left the Bloodblade Mercenary Corps, and during her time isolated on Devil’s Isle, she had missed a lot. She needed to catch up with Ghost-Hammer.

“Sure.” Ghost-Hammer shot a glare at the surrounding students and agreed firmly.

Nova turned and walked away, one hand in her Rocket, Ghost-Hammer following closely behind.

They left the crowd of students in stunned silence, still unable to process what they had just witnessed.

The small rooftop above the natatorium was quiet and free of surveillance-a spot Nova had noted earlier as ideal for private talks. She brought Ghost-Hammer there.

“Boss, you’ve been staying here all this time?” Ghost-Hammer asked eagerly as soon as they were alone.

“Yeah.” Nova turned to face him.

“Why?” Ghost-Hammer couldn’t understand it. Fighters like them belonged on the battlefield, not in a peaceful country like

this.

He missed the old days when Nova, who never flinched, led them charge through gunfire, win after brutal win. They belonged to battlefields, not peaceful schools.

“For my family.” Nova’s reply was straightforward. She looked at Ghost-Hammer and got to the point. “Tell me what you discovered in the Ase Conflict.”

That was exactly why Ghost-Hammer had come to Nova, fresh from the battlefield.

He didn’t pry further into her personal affairs and began reporting carefully, “During the Ase Conflict, every tactical move we made was anticipated by the enemy.

“I found it suspicious, so I charged into their position with a rocket launcher, blasted a path, and captured their leader alive. He broke under interrogation and spilled it all. Snowfang betrayed us!

“I also learned from the leader that your sudden disappearance half a year ago was orchestrated by Snowfang and his faction.”

He was so furious he wanted to punch the wall, but found nothing around to vent on.

Nova’s eyes turned icy.

Snowfang was one of the core members of the Bloodblade Mercenary Corps, having joined around the same time as Ghost- Hammer, but she had never trusted him as much. So the news of Snowfang’s betrayal didn’t surprise her.

Recalling her experience being hunted by Interpol six months ago, it was likely Snowfang had leaked her whereabouts.

Nova decided not to mention her experience at Devil’s Isle to Ghost-Hammer. “I’ll get to the truth,” she said coldly. “If Snowfang really betrayed us, I won’t let him off.”

There was only one end for traitors-death. Even if Snowfang had followed her for seven or eight years, she would show no

mercy.

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Chapter 75

Harvey was terrified, thinking Nova wants to kill me!’ The idea hit him in a flash.

He screamed in terror, “You… How are you so fast? You’re that loser’s daughter. How did you make it? It’s impossible!”

He had dared to insult Nova so recklessly precisely because he had never seen her true strength.

He stared at Nova, a horrifying suspicion arose, ‘Could be that she has been hiding such strength all along? Is she deliberately humiliating me?”

Now, like everyone else present, Harvey’s face turned pale.

“Harvey, you always underestimate your opponents, even a teenage girl,” Daniel said scornfully as he passed by. “Thanks for holding her back. I’ll go ahead now.”

Those truly ambitious for the family head position never lingered on the sidelines.

Daniel was third to arrive. With those words, he quickly rushed toward the next stage.

Finley arrived right after. As Harvey’s ally, he showed no intention of helping. “Harvey, I’m going ahead! I can’t let Daniel take the head position, or our plans will be ruined!” he shouted.

With that, Finley chased after Daniel, vanishing down the path in no time.

Soon, Arthur, Ivy, and Jacob arrived.

This stage posed no problem for Arthur. He handled it calmly despite being slower than Nova, while Ivy and Jacob struggled visibly.

After a glance at his incompetent father, Harvey, and the fading figures of Daniel and Finley, Arthur sped up without hesitation.

Maxwell, arriving last, said to Nova with an assuring grin, “Novie, the final sprint has started. Don’t wait for me. Just go ahead.”

Just moments ago, everyone had been cautiously observing. After witnessing Nova’s skill, they all charged forward like machines at full throttle.

They feared falling behind Nova and losing their chance. From then on, it was purely a race of speed.

Nova gave a slight nod to Maxwell. Then, she tossed the half-strangled Harvey aside like garbage and warned coldly, “Mess with me again, and I’ll take your life.” She always meant what she said.

Harvey shuddered, clutching his bruised neck, unable to recover for a long time.

Leaving Maxwell behind, Nova turned and sped into the next stage.

By then, Daniel, Finley, Arthur, and the rest were all sprinting at full speed. No one was willing to be left behind. The main family members had real skills, after all.

Nova easily passed the seventh stage’s gravity catapults and the eighth stage’s repeating crossbow chariots, but she never caught sight of those who had started earlier.

Those people had clearly used her delayed start to build a desperate lead.

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wasn’t until Nova reached the ninth and final stage that she finally spotted them.

Before her stood a massive free-climbing wall, 65 feet high, with the finish line at the very top.

At this stage, no tools were provided, not even basic safety measures.

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Unlike the grip-rich walls of commercial climbing facilities, this surface resembled a rugged cliff face, covered in jagged, uneven rocks, making it extremely difficult to scale.

Daniel, Finley, Arthur, Ivy, and Jacob, who had arrived earlier, were already clinging to the rock surface, struggling upward.

Ivy and Jacob lacked the skill. They repeatedly lost their grip and slipped after short climbs.

Arthur was currently in the lead. He wasted no time-nimbly finding footholds and using protruding rocks to pull himself up with one hand.

Free solo climbing without any equipment was a high-risk extreme sport.

Seeing this, Nova roughly guessed what kind of cheating tools Alfred had intended to provide through Hudson. But she had rejected it. She had no need for such aids.

Back when she first became a mercenary, she had been left behind by her team at the bottom of a cliff during an operation.

No one even noticed she had gone missing. Even if someone had, sacrificing one ordinary mercenary meant little to the

team.

To survive, she had free-climbed the over thousand-foot high cliff bare-handed. By the time she made it back to the top, her hands were shredded by the rocks, eight nails torn off, and five fingers fractured.

This mere 65-foot climb might challenge others, but for Nova, it was nothing at all.

Arthur, already way ahead, believed that as long as he avoided sabotage from those below, the family head position was within reach.

Arthur thought with a confident smile, ‘Nova is a tough competitor. There’s a good chance she is hiding some serious skills. Maybe she could even be on the same level as me. But fortunately, I have a head start. No way she’d catch up now!

With that thought, he accelerated his climb.

“No way! How is she so fast?” Just then, a shocked cry came from below.

Arthur heard that and paused instinctively. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a striking scenę.

He spotted Nova gripping a rock protrusion with one hand as if walking on flat ground. In one swift motion, she pulled herself upward, her biceps lifting her entire body into the air.

She supported her full weight with one arm alone and climbed straight up, smooth and effortless, without even needing to search for footholds like the rest of them.

Arthur stared wide-eyed in shock, unable to process what he had just seen.

“Sorry for cutting in. I’ll be going ahead first,” Nova said, raising an eyebrow.

By the ume Arthur snapped back to reality. Nova had already used the last protruding rock to execute a light backflip. landing steadily atop the cliff.

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der the stunned gazes of Arthur, Daniel, and Finley, she walked toward the main exit of the “Ultimate Test.”

Outside the main exit of the “Ultimate Test,” Alfred, Hudson, Charles, Ghost-Hammer, and some main family members– including Hannah and Harvey, who had withdrawn midway-gathered to awant the result.

Alfred’s face was grave as he paced anxiously.

“Someone’s coming! The first one to pass the text is out!” someone suddenly shouted, then added, puzzled, “Huh? Looks like a big, bulky one.”

Hearing the words “big and bulky,” Alfred paused, feeling a cold wave wash all over hint

He thought, ‘Hannah had already dropped out. Maxwell and Nova aren’t large-framed. So, who is the winner? No… Is the Blake family doomed to a bloody fate after all?’

Suddenly, the man who had just shouted scratched his head and corrected, “Ah, my mistake. It’s a woman!”

At the grand exit, the first passer of the Ultimate Test emerged and approached the crowd. It was Nova.

Alfred, always calm and stone-faced, couldn’t help but gasp, his voice raw with disbelief, “Nova!”

He was totally floored. After all, Nova was the last person he had ever thought would win the test.

As soon as Hannah spotted Nova coming out first, she said proudly, arms crossed, “Humph, I knew it.”

Charles and the other main family members were struck speechless with shock, mouths hanging open.

Everyone was immersed in a state of shock.

The instant Harvey saw Nova come out first, he slipped away nervously, phone in hand. No one noticed this.

Hidden in a corner, he frantically made a call. His fingers trembled as he djaled the number.

As soon as the call went through, Harvey said, “Hello? Damn it! The plan failed. A woman took the head position.”

“Who?” A rough voice came through the line.

“Nova Blake!” Harvey snapped. Just thinking about how Nova had humiliated him made his blood boil.

He took a deep breath-good thing he had a back-up plan. “I can’t let her take the position, or everything will be doomed. You have to help me.”

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As he said this, a vicious smile flashed in his eyes. He sneered, a sly, venomous grin spreading on his face, “Anyone who sits in that seat-if it’s not me or Arthur-must die!

“Contact the world’s top mercenary organization, Bloodblade Mercenary Corps, right now. Hire the meanest ones to take that bitch out cleanly. Make it fast and quiet. I don’t want any mistakes to happen.”