Clash To Seize The Treasure

“Do we have any reason to reveal our identities to each other?”

“Were you the ones who attacked our comrades outside?!”

“Hard to see any reason to tell you!”

“You’ll speak now! Otherwise, not a single one of you will leave here alive!”

They raised their voices at one another, and Princess Adrina’s side prepared to pull back at any moment. Fortunately, the entry space was a bit low; if they lay prone, it looked like it could serve as modest cover.

“That’s our line! Surrender quietly and we’ll spare you!”

“As if we’d listen to that drivel. You shut up and surrender!”

“Seems we differ in our thinking!”

“Fine, so you want to try us! Whoever you are, if you dare interfere with our work, you will not leave here alive!”

‘Their confidence is something.’

She figured they must be in a favorable position. At the same time, she judged that striking first would tilt the situation their way. Agent Hanseuran gave a silent hand signal to ready an attack. The agents prepared to pull their triggers at once.

It was a hair-trigger standoff. Gunfire could erupt any second. Just then—thoom!—a deep rumble rolled through the earth. An explosion? It seemed to come from somewhere underground; perhaps they had set charges to open the sealed entrance.

That meant time might be running out. Deciding they could not wait, Hanseuran signaled the attack. The agents squeezed their triggers.

Bang! Bang-bang-bang! Bang-bang! Bang-bang! Bang!

Gunshots burst out in an instant. Both sides opened fire on each other, bullets whipping through the air. Princess Adrina’s escorts pulled her straight back.

She took cover toward the stairway, and the gunfire continued to hammer the chamber. She realized this was not the outcome she had wanted.

No—she had expected a clash, but not a firefight to the death like this. Having grown up sheltered in the palace like a hothouse flower, her imagination had not stretched this far. She bit her lip tight.

‘I caused this.’

She felt that her own ambition had led to this situation. Her clenched fists trembled. She had steeled herself to begin this, yet her heart was not as ruthless as she had thought. Now, fear and regret pressed in on her.

At that moment, someone spoke to her in a low voice.

“Enemy, will counterattack.”

“Eh?”

Startled, she recognized the speaker as one of the emotionless agents. Enemy? Did he mean those inside? Then—skritch!—a rasping cry sounded from up the stairs. Her eyes flew wide.

Noises rose from the darkness above the steps. It was unmistakably the sounds of goblins. How had they come this far? Had the explosion roused them? More importantly, there were many—footfalls and shrieks coming fast down the stairs.

‘W-what do we do…?’

They were caught with enemies on both sides. She could not help thinking they were in real danger. Then the nearby agent spoke again.

“Protecting Princess Adrina.”

“Exterminate enemies.”

Only five guarded her, but each was a specially trained, emotion-suppressed secret agent. In that instant, four of them—leaving one by her side—broke into a run up the stairway, rifles blazing.

Bang! Bang-bang! Bang-bang! Bang! Bang-bang-bang!

Muzzles flashed in a steady stream; goblins sprinting down the stairs toppled and fell. Kkagak! Kek! Kkeok! How many were there? Amid the cacophony of shrieks, the agents closed and fixed bayonets.

In a blink they pushed higher into the darkness beyond the lantern light, vanishing from view.

“Ah.”

Startled by what seemed like a reckless charge, Princess Adrina then gaped again—at their inhuman speed. What reached her next were near-screams: the death cries of goblins.

Amid the occasional crack of gunfire—bang! bang-bang! bang!—the four cut goblins down with lightning bayonet work. They slit throats in a single stroke, then kicked off the wall to drive steel into skulls.

Four men were pushing a horde back one-sidedly. Thud-thud! Corpses tumbled down the stairs, some skidding as far as where she stood.

The lone agent by her side lifted a foot and booted the sliding bodies away. Thunk! It looked like a casual kick, yet the carcasses ricocheted off the wall.

‘How can someone have that much leg strength?’

A goblin corpse weighing at least thirty kilograms bounced away—proof these were no ordinary men. The fighting on the stairs raged on; only after fifteen minutes did the sounds finally cease.

Four figures descended the steps. None were dead. Their clothes were soaked in blood. One man’s calf looked mangled, blood streaming; yet he came down calmly, as if unfazed.

“Elimination complete.”

With that, they resumed their guard around Princess Adrina. She was at a loss for words—then quickly produced a handkerchief and moved to bind a wounded arm.

“No need.”

“Just a moment. At least we should stop the bleeding.”

“Waiting.”

He stood still as if to say he’d wait. She wrapped the handkerchief tight, hoping to stem the flow. It was only a stopgap. Left alone, the wound would tear and could turn critical.

Untreated, infection was likely. They would need medicine, and fast.

‘Ah—come to think of it, I don’t hear gunfire inside anymore.’

She realized the inner chamber had grown quiet. With a shaky look toward an uninjured agent, she asked:

“Has the fighting inside ended?”

“Fighting ended.”

“…Did we win?”

“Yes. We won. You can relax.”

Agent Hanseuran approached, his voice carrying ahead of him. He did not seem badly hurt, though given the enemy’s strength she suspected they’d taken losses. She had to ask.

“How many did we lose?”

“About twelve. Theirs are all dead. Looks like you handled things properly here as well.”

“What are they? How can they be so strong?”

“I already told you—they’re the product of extreme training. Beyond that, I don’t know. Only High Command and His Majesty know the details.”

“I see…”

She had no need to pry further. The earlier explosion came to mind.

“There was an explosion—have they already opened the entrance?”

“I sent scouts ahead for that reason. Even if anyone is left, it won’t be many. But to be safe, I had them check first.”

“Then we must hurry. And do we have medicine? One of them is badly hurt.”

Hanseuran noticed the fine handkerchief binding the arm and nodded.

“We’ll apply medicine—please come this way. It isn’t safe to linger here.”

Princess Adrina nodded, glancing up the stairs. They moved back into the inner chamber; the great crystals in the ceiling still bathed the place in light, and bodies lay scattered across the underground ecosystem.

‘They really are all dead.’

It should have pleased her to have won, but the fact that they were all from the Magnia Empire pained her. Hanseuran spoke to her.

“We must move quickly. Even with scouts ahead, the enemy might yet seize the treasure of the ruins.”

“Understood. Let’s go.”

Steeling herself, she started forward. The others hastened their checks and followed. The elite agents, though wounded, had not lost a single man.

They set off again, passed through a broad space, and found another stair leading down. They headed that way without special caution; the scouts would have left signs if anything were wrong.

After descending to a similar depth, they found another entrance and stepped into a man-made corridor shrouded in darkness. Lanterns up, they pressed on.

About five minutes later, a flicker of light appeared. They stopped. The flashes followed a pattern—signals from their advance scouts.

They slowed and soon met the scout.

“How is it?”

“A wall’s been broken; looks like they already went inside.”

“So they blasted the blockage with explosives. We’ll go in at once.”

“That may be difficult.”

“Why?”

“Someone’s guarding the entrance. One of ours who went in ahead has already been hit.”

“Hit? I haven’t heard gunfire.”

“It wasn’t a gun. It was a crossbow.”

“A crossbow. Troublesome.”

A crossbow—mechanical bow, obsolete, yet devastating. It could punch through most armor; charging in blindly would be dangerous.

After a moment’s thought, Hanseuran called to one of the waiting agents.

“Can you do it?”

“Can do.”

The agent stepped forward without hesitation. Princess Adrina paled.

“You mean to send him in alone?”

“Yes. We may be short on time, and if we want this done fast, we need his strength.”

“But—he’s the one most wounded. Why him?”

Indeed, it was the agent whose arm she had bound. She might have asked why him, but in truth the others beyond the agents were more battered; strategically, he was the one they could risk losing.

It was a cold, ruthless choice—but the mission had to succeed, even at the cost of a sacrifice. Hanseuran stated that plainly. Princess Adrina shivered at his coolness.

“We have no time. We must get through. Please don’t forget why we came.”

“…Very well.”

She no longer tried to stop them; reality here was brutal. Yet she could not help saying one thing.

“Come back alive.”

“Yes.”

With that brief reply, the agent moved toward the entrance. As he slipped in, he seemed to sense something and snapped his rifle up. Crack! The wooden handguard was pierced clean through. Compressed hardwood was tough, yet a stubby bolt from the crossbow had buried itself to the fletching.

He pushed deeper. Another bolt flew; this time, with no chance to block, he lifted his arm. Thunk! The bolt slammed in, dead center, likely through bone. Even so, the agent’s face did not change; he advanced.

From within came shots—bang! bang! bang!—and then strangled cries—gurk! gak! A brief silence fell.

Footsteps approached, and the agent emerged, the bolt still jutting from his forearm, alive.

Not unharmed—blood seeped from several places where he’d clearly taken rounds. Yet he walked to Hanseuran and reported, utterly calm.

“Mission complete.”

At his signal, the team surged through the entrance. Princess Adrina followed and saw two bodies: one clutching a slit throat, another skewered through the chest by a rifle’s bayonet—killed by a thrown weapon.

How strong must you be to do that? Her stomach heaved and she turned away.

Heart pounding like a drum, she forced herself to endure.