The gunshot echoed again—closer this time.
Emma sprinted through the forest, branches whipping against her arms, heart pounding so hard it drowned out everything else.
Liam is alive.
Liam works for Victor.
And the lodge is under attack.
The thoughts collided like lightning inside her skull.
But she pushed them down.
Right now, Darrick and Adrian needed her.
She burst through the last line of trees—
—and froze.
The Lodge Was Surrounded
Black-armored Syndicate soldiers circled the building.
Six men at the front.
Four at the back.
Two snipers on the ridge.
And on the roof—
A tall figure with white hair, holding a scoped rifle.
Victor's lieutenant.
Raven.
Emma's blood ran cold.
If Raven was here…
Victor was escalating the hunt.
A sudden explosion rocked the lodge, blowing out the side wall.
"ADRIAN! DARRICK!" Emma screamed.
Gunfire erupted inside.
Emma didn't wait.
She moved.
••• The First Kill
One guard stepped away from the group to reload.
Emma dropped from a tree branch above him and landed silently behind him.
She wrapped her arm around his neck—
twisted—
and lowered his body to the ground without a sound.
Her movements were fluid.
Cold.
Precise.
The Syndicate had sent hunters.
But Emma Hellsing?
She was a predator.
••• Adrian Holding the Line
Inside the lodge, Adrian slid behind the kitchen counter, firing rapid, accurate shots at the intruders.
Three men were already down.
But eight more flooded the room through the broken wall.
"This is too many!" Darrick shouted, crouched behind an overturned chair with a pistol Adrian had tossed him.
"You don't say," Adrian muttered.
He ducked as a bullet cracked through the wooden shelf above him.
Darrick peeked out again, hands shaking—but steadier than before.
He squeezed the trigger.
A Syndicate soldier dropped, hit clean in the shoulder.
Adrian looked at Darrick, shocked.
"…Nice shot."
"I panicked!"
"Then panic more!"
••• Emma Joins the Fight
Emma crashed through the window in a storm of shattered glass.
She landed in a roll, immediately flinging a knife across the room.
It embedded itself in a soldier's throat.
Adrian smirked. "About time."
"Miss me?" Emma shot back.
Darrick stood up, relief flooding his face.
"Emma—thank God—"
She grabbed his collar and yanked him down as a bullet flew over his head.
"Less talking, more living!"
She kicked a table leg, sending it flying into a soldier's knee.
He screamed.
She finished him with a swift strike.
The room descended into chaos—
gunfire, metal clashing, footsteps pounding.
Emma fought like a wildfire, cutting through Syndicate soldiers with terrifying efficiency.
But despite her skill—
—more kept coming.
••• Raven Moves
Outside, Raven watched calmly from the roof, one leg crossed over the other.
"Heh. She's even better than the rumors," he murmured.
He lifted his rifle.
Adjusted the scope.
Aimed directly at Emma's chest.
"Let's test her reflexes."
He pulled the trigger—
CRACK.
Emma turned instantly, sensing the shot.
But she was half a second too slow.
The bullet grazed her arm, ripping through her jacket.
Blood sprayed.
Darrick screamed, "EMMA!"
Emma staggered behind cover, clutching her arm.
Adrian cursed. "Sniper! Roof!"
Raven spoke into his headset.
"Team, fall back ten meters. I want her alive but bleeding."
Emma's jaw clenched.
She recognized him now.
Raven—the Syndicate's ghost sniper.
A man who never missed twice.
Her voice was ice.
"Darrick, Adrian—stay down."
Darrick crawled toward her. "Emma, you're hurt—"
She grabbed his hand, squeezed once.
"I've been hurt worse."
Then she stood.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Challenging the sniper on the roof.
Raven chuckled, adjusting the scope again.
"Attagirl."
But before he could fire—
a new voice came through his headset.
Cold.
Commanding.
Victor.
"Stand down, Raven. Retreat. I want her taken by Liam, not you."
Raven frowned but obeyed.
"Tch. The boss and his attachments…"
He jumped off the roof silently, landing like a phantom.
Within seconds, the Syndicate forces pulled back into the forest.
Emma watched them vanish.
Her knees trembled.
But she stayed on her feet.
Darrick ran to her, gripping her shoulders.
"Emma—your arm—"
She looked at him.
Really looked at him.
His eyes held terror.
But also something deeper.
"You came back," he whispered.
"Of course I did," she said softly.
Adrian holstered his gun. "We need to move. More will come. Especially now that they know we're alive."
Emma nodded.
But her voice was hollow.
Because the real threat wasn't the soldiers, the snipers, or the Syndicate.
It was the one who hadn't shown up.
The one who had watched from the shadows.
Her brother.
Liam.
Her chest tightened painfully.
Darrick saw her expression.
"Emma… what happened out there?"
Emma swallowed hard.
"Darrick… Liam… he's alive."
Darrick froze.
Adrian's breath caught.
"And he's working for Victor."
The room fell silent.
The war had changed.
It wasn't just survival anymore.
It was a battle for her past, her family, her heart—
—and the truth buried under nine years of lies.