Chapter 619: The Eyes That Never Blink ( 619 )
Meanwhile, in the third dwarven stronghold.
The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the quiet living room.
Inside the house Javier had secured for them, everything was peaceful.
Liana sat on a simple chair near the window, her posture straight, her eyes unfocused as she gazed outside. Her arms were folded tightly, as if trying to hold herself together.
âI miss young masterâŠâ she whispered.
Across from her, Gloria sat with a half-finished garment in her hands. She had been knitting silently for a while now, the thread moving through her fingers automaticallyâbut her focus was gone.
ââŠMe too,â she replied softly.
At the far end of the room, Felicia lay stretched out on a cushioned couch.
ââŠIt feels strange without him here.â
The silence that followed wasnât heavy. It was⊠lonely.
Lianaâs fingers tightened slightly around her arm.
Gloria continued knitting, slower than before.
Felicia closed her eyes and spoke softly.
ââŠHe better come back soon.â
Once again, the room was quiet.
The only sounds were Gloriaâs knitting needles clicking, the faint breeze from the window, and the steady ticking of the old wall clock.
Liana, still sitting by the window, slowly relaxed her posture.
Her eyes softened.
A small, unguarded smile appeared on her lips.
She didnât even realize she was smiling.
Her thoughts wanderedâ
In her mindâŠ
She saw Javier, a little older.
No⊠much older.
No longer thirteenâbut eighteen.
His voice was deeper. His presence sharper. That calm, confident air still around himâ
but his features more mature, taller, and stronger.
His gaze just as steady. His smile.
She imagined standing beside him. Looking up into his eyes.
Would his hand feel different when he held hers?
Would he tease her less? Or more?
Would sheâ
âLiana.â
She blinked.
Gloria was looking at her with a raised brow. âYouâve been smiling at the window for a while now.â
Felicia peered at her with a curious look. âWere you⊠imagining something nice?â
Liana quickly turned away, embarrassed. âI-I wasnât!â
Gloria smiled softly and went back to her knitting.
Felicia rested her head back down.
Liana, her cheeks flushed red, looked back out the window.
Outside, the stronghold had settled into a strange calm.
Not the kind of peace that comes after victory.
But the kind that happens after an invasion, when the smoke has cleared⊠but everyone still looks at the skies with suspicion.
Dwarven soldiers patrolled the walls with sharp focus.
Civilians moved quietly through the market streets, eyes watchful, steps cautious.
It was a pause between stormsâ
A silence that wouldnât last.
Then she heard it.
The anti-air mana gun on the wall roared to life.
A deep, mechanical soundâlike thunder cracking across the sky.
Followed by the sharp firing of mana cannons in rapid bursts.
Liana moved before her mind fully processed.
She leapt to her feet and reached to her side.
In an instant, her white ore bow formed in her handâsleek, glowing faintly with her mana as the elegant runes along its spine lit up.
Across the room, Gloria stood just as calmly.
She held out her palm.
Mana surged around her wrist as her signature war hammer appearedâ
But this time, she immediately infused it with energy. The weapon pulsed, and its head grew larger, heavy enough to shake the floor slightly as she rested it on her shoulder.
Felicia, ever quiet, drew her twin blades from her back.
None of them said a word.
Their instincts were already in sync.
Liana turned her head toward the wall and narrowed her eyes.
On the upper battlements, she saw themâ
Javierâs Puppet Knights.
Each one moved like clockwork, standing tall behind the mounted anti-air mana guns. Their joints clicked into combat stance, mana cores glowing brighter as they activated.
âWYVERN ATTACK!!â
A dwarf soldierâs shout echoed from the top of the wall.
Instant panic followed.
Children screamed. Women ran. Shopkeepers slammed shutters shut.
Civilians scattered toward the bunkers as sirens blared across the stronghold.
But Liana, Gloria, and Felicia stood firmâcalm, prepared, weapons in hand.
They had trained for this.
They were waiting for him.
And until he returnedâ
They would protect what mattered.
The sky trembled.
The anti-air mana guns on the battlements fired nonstop.
Barrels spun hot with glowing glyphs, sending round after round of compressed mana bursts into the sky.
It wasnât just one or two shots.
It was every unit on the wall.
Fully manned. Perfectly synchronized.
All under Javierâs command.
Each Puppet Knight operated with mechanical precisionâadjusting their aim, recalibrating for wind, tracking fast-moving targets mid-flight. They didnât hesitate. They didnât flinch. They just fired.
From the skyâ
the first shadows of wyverns appeared.
But before they could even descendâbefore they were within reachâ
The barrage hit them.
Bright blue streaks tore through the airâ
Explosions burst across the sky.
One wyvern tried to bank leftâ
But the shots hit it dead on.
Its wing was shredded, and it spiraled down in smoke.
Another rider raised a barrierâ
It lasted half a secondâ
Then collapsed under fire from three different turrets.
Liana raised her bow, mana shimmering at her fingertips.
Watching, her eyes wide with tension⊠and awe.
ââŠTheyâre retreating,â she whispered.
High above, the remaining wyvern riders saw enough.
They hadnât even reached the third stronghold.
Their formation broke apart.
Without a single close-range fight, they turned in the skyâflapping their wings in retreat, leaving a trail of smoke and scattered feathers behind.
But the mana guns didnât stop.
Javierâs Puppet Knights kept firingârelentless, precise, steady.
Not because they were driven by bloodlust.
But because they obeyed the command:
âEngage all aerial enemies until the threat is neutralized.â
Every gun on the wall.
Every automated turret.
All still active.
The third dwarven stronghold became a fortress of thunder.
Felicia stepped beside Liana, eyes on the sky. ââŠSo this is his defense system?â
Gloria rested her hammer on the ground, calmly watching.
ââŠNot a single one got through,â she said.
Liana didnât speak.
She simply exhaled quietly⊠then smiled.
Then Liana saw it.
Above the clouds, partly hidden by smokeâ
a large drone, sleek and silent, hovered in the air.
It was aiming downwardâ
Beyond the stronghold walls.
Mana rounds fired in precise bursts.
The barrels rotated, locked, and fired again.
Target after target, one shot each.
Liana narrowed her eyes.
She couldnât see the targets.
But she heard it.
Faint at first. Then louder.
Screams. Dozens. Then hundreds.
Panic. Shock.
And thenâ
Silence.
Her eyes widened.
She stood up instantly, bow in hand, and rushed toward the door.
âLiana!â Gloriaâs voice called out. âWhere are you going?!â
But Liana didnât stop.
She sprinted down the stone stairs, jumped across the main walkway, and climbed the interior stairs toward the battlementsâher heart pounding.
Felicia and Gloria exchanged a look, then followed her silently.
By the time they reached the topâ
They stopped.
They froze.
Below the outer wall, in the shadow of the mountain ridgeâ
More than 200 human bodies lay scattered across the dirt and jagged rocks.
All of them wore black robes, faces masked, gear built for infiltration.
Every single one had been hit perfectlyâhead, chest, or throat.
Not a single wound was wasted.
Blood pooled across the stones, forming a slow river of red.
A soft breeze carried the stench of death upward.
Feliciaâs eyes narrowed. âAssassinsâŠâ
Liana didnât speak.
She simply looked up at the droneâstill hoveringâ
its weapons cooling, its targeting core resetting.
A single Puppet Knight stood beside her on the wall, eyes glowing faintly as it watched the scene below.
Silent. Still. Unyielding.
Javierâs orders had reached farther than they realized.
He wasnât just defending the skies.
He had protected the ground, too.
The drone hovered silentlyâ
Watching.
Waiting.
Silent guardian. Just as he designed it.
ââŠYoung master,â Liana whispered softly.
âYou really think of everything.â
( End Of Chapter )
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