The Queen Who Fights Back (by Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 134

Chapter 134

The grenade detonated inside the elder’s mouth, clenched so tightly between his teeth.

In those final seconds, right in the heart of the carnage, everyone watched as terror consumed him–his eyes. wide as saucers, bloodshot and frantic.

On the second–floor spiral staircase, Damien kicked him straight down the steps.

Before he could even hit the ground, his body blew apart in a bloody spray.

Not even a word escaped his lips.

A sharp hiss of shock ran through the crowd.

Everyone just stared, frozen in disbelief as the scene played out right in front of them.

People crouched behind pillars, peeked out from the stairwells, or hid against the balcony walls, too scared to even breathe.

For a split second, a wave of gut–wrenching terror crawled up from their toes–chilling them straight to the

bone.

Sheer horror.

Panic. True, bone–deep dread.

Everyone saw it for themselves–Nova and Damien, side by side, took down an Elder in five seconds flat. That was raw power. That was reckless audacity.

It was like a loyal duke at his queen’s side, offering unwavering faith, helping her ascend as the uncrowned ruler of all.

“They… they actually killed an Elder!” someone blurted out in disbelief.

“They said they’d do it—and they really did. An Elder is dead!” someone else murmured, still stunned.

“That’s terrifying… can regular people even pull something like that off?” whispered another, chilled to the

core.

Since the Greslin Gala started, it was always the same bloodbath–family scions dragging their dates into the chaos, tearing one another apart just to stand a chance at making it to the end.

All that madness, just to be the last survivor.

But never before had anyone dared to go straight for an Elder right off the bat.

Those guys had been running the show for decades. Their experience and raw power were lightyears ahead of

these young players–not even in the same league.

In that moment, everyone fighting suddenly went quiet, almost afraid to breathe.

People started whispering, but nobody really knew who spoke first.

It was like the whole room forgot about the bloodbath–everyone just stared up at the spiral staircase, eyes glued to the action.

“That brown–haired monster….

“No way! That brown–haired bastard!

“He actually…

“He actually killed an Elder–with that useless girl tagging along!

“Skills like that…

“No way–that’s actually him? The same Sius we used to beat up all the time when we were kids?”

Cruz, just poking his head out from the side stairwell, looked a total mess–his face smeared with grime and twisted in pure shock and terror.

He couldn’t help but yell out in disbelief.

“Cruz, am I losing it or what?

“That’s really Sius–the brown–haired freak we used to call a punk?”

Kurt’s shoulders were shaking with shock, eyes darting all over.

He’d always been a bootlicker–since he was a kid, sticking to whoever had the power.

Back then, when Damien was all alone and they had a whole mob of twenty, Kurt just followed the herd and joined in to pick on Damien.

Watching Damien and Nova crush it right in front of him…

‘Was I backing the wrong team?‘ Kurt thought, his heart wavering for the first time as he watched the tables

turn.

“Sius…”

Eskin, the one who used to warn Nova and Damien about Cruz, just stood there, eyes wide, completely floored and unable to say a word.

He never would’ve guessed that, after all these years, Damien had grown this insanely strong.

He wasn’t that timid little kid anymore–far from it.

Belinda and Nonna, who’d once thought Nova was just some clueless little girl they could push out as a human shield, were now frozen with terror.

It felt like their throats were blocked, and for what seemed like ages they could barely manage to swallow.

Hit by a wave of post–crisis relief, Belinda muttered under her breath,

“Good thing we never actually got her to take one for us…”

Everyone in the room–their fear, their shock, and every raw, unfiltered thought running through their minds–all surfaced at once.

And it all unfolded within the same brief ten seconds.

Up on the spiral staircase, the atmosphere turned razor–sharp.

Dean was frozen in shock, his expression darkening with disbelief at what he’d just witnessed.

The three other Elders hadn’t even noticed Nova and Damien dropping down from the third–floor balcony- by the time they realized, it was already over.

That split–second delay was all it took; they’d failed to stop their fellow Elder’s brutal demise.

“Payne!!”

The most ruthless of the three Elders left–a scrappy old man–shouted the blown–apart Elder’s name, voice cutting through the chaos.

His hawk–like eyes bulged in fury, veins pulsing as he stared them down.

“You killed Payne! You really went and did it!”

His hawk–like eyes bugged out with rage, fixating on Nova and Damien as he let out a furious roar.

The other two Elders, realizing the danger, instantly moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

Together, the three of them formed a solid alliance without hesitation.

There was no way they’d let Nova and Damien get away with another ambush like they did to Payne.

“Oh? So that old fossil who just got blown to bits was called Payne?” Nova said, unfazed, standing right next to Damien.

Compared to the three Elders, who looked ready to jump out of their skins, Nova’s vibe was all lazy nonchalance, her tone light and almost teasing.

She sounded like she was just making casual conversation, as if asking, “So what did you do today?“—like she was talking about the weather.

She shifted sideways toward the three Elders, her long, brown hair softly draping over her shoulder.

She kept her back to Damien, totally relaxed.

Up on the spiral staircase, Nova and Damien squared off against the three Elders.

Stuck awkwardly between them was Dean, the family’s powerless king, basically just a figurehead with no say in what happened next.

“Damn it!

“You went after Payne behind our backs–and then had the nerve to call him an old fossil?

“You’re finished today! Mark my words!

“Duff, let’s team up. Tonight, those arrogant punks won’t leave here alive!”

He roared, white beard bristling, practically shaking with rage.

In their eyes, Nova and Damien only managed to kill Payne because they pulled off a sudden sneak attack.

But now, with all three Elders joining forces face to face…

Just two punks like them? No way they could put up a fight!

Duff was the one who held true authority among the four Elders–the real power behind the throne.

His eyes bulged, hooked and vicious like a predator’s, drilling into Nova and Damien with a fury that was impossible to miss.

*****

Up against the three most powerful Elders of the Greslin family, anyone else in the room would’ve been sweating bullets by now.

Nova, on the other hand, was completely unfazed.

She lazily pulled a pair of pure white gloves from her pocket.

She slipped them on, the stark white a perfect contrast to Damien’s jet–black gloves–standing boldly side by side.

With that, Nova let her hands fall, then–with a loud, fierce rip–she shredded the skirt of her flamingo dress right in front of everyone, no hesitation at all.

That heavy, burdensome gown was gone in a flash, transformed into something that screamed she was ready to throw down.

Just like that, the long formal dress was hacked short, turning into a battle outfit that meant business.

The jagged, gear–like edges left behind added even more attitude–giving the flamingo dress this brazen, wild beauty that totally stole the show.

Standing next to Damien in his sharp black duke’s cloak and tailored military gear, she made one hell of a statement. Together, they looked like they owned the night

“Sneak attack?”

Nova arched her eyebrow, irritation flickering across her face as she locked eyes with him.

Her voice came out sharp and ice–cold.

“You wanna see a real sneak attack? I’ll show you exactly what that means!”

As soon as she finished speaking, in one slick motion, she drew out two compact M29 revolvers, twirling them around her fingers like a pro, all attitude and deadly skill.

She pointed one straight up and fired at the ceiling, the echoing shot silencing the room–bang!

Bang! Bang!

With the other, Nova aimed right at the trio of Elders and let loose two shots.

“Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!”

“Ping–pong-”

Nova didn’t even bother to look up. She just aimed and squeezed the trigger, nailing the chandelier’s chain with pinpoint accuracy–sending the whole thing crashing right down toward the trio of Elders.

The chandelier smashed to the ground at their feet, coming down fast and hard.

The other two bullets whizzed by in straight lines, each one searing past on the left and right, passing dangerously close between the three Elders.

Those bullets were dead–on, aimed straight for the hearts of two of the Elders.

With bullets flying and the massive chandelier crashing down, the three Elders didn’t even blink–they bolted for cover in a flash, each one diving for their own hiding spot without a second thought.

Attacks like that? Didn’t even faze them.

“Tch! You little punk-

“Other than flashing those guns and taking cheap shots, what else are you even good for?”

The white–bearded Elder kept bellowing furiously as he retreated, rage etched across his face.

“Whoosh-”

Where darkness swallows light and shadows dance, this is the Shadow Sanctum’s kingdom.

In a flash, darkness streaked across the room–everyone’s eyes snapped to where the shadow had just moved.

Damien, looking every bit the dark agent, was the only one who really got what Nova meant by her shooting.

His sharp, graceful body blurred as he darted toward Duff and the white–bearded Elder–the two who’d been split off from the rest.

Exactly.

Nova’s shots weren’t meant to kill–they were calculated to blow apart the Elders‘ perfect lineup, scattering them and wrecking their defense.

Damien was the very definition of ‘in sync

He read her intention in an instant, moving with laser–sharp precision.

With a long–legged kick, Damien blasted Duff’s defense wide open and sent him flying back, hands still clasped in vain.

In one slick twist, Damien’s arm snaked around the white–bearded Elder’s neck from the side, locking him tight.

The hands that once gently guided Nova now became steel–forged arms, hard and unyielding–more like weapons than limbs.

While Duff was still staggering from the blow, Damien didn’t waste a second.

He locked his other hand onto the white–bearded Elder’s head, holding him in an iron grip.

Just as the Elder’s eyes bulged in pure terror, about to pop right out of their sockets…

Damien wrenched his neck to the left, twisting it around twice–two full turns–snapping his neck with a sickening crack.

On the other side of the chaos, Nova was already zeroing in on the last Elder standing.

Without missing a beat, she rushed straight at him–no hesitation, all raw intent.

She sidestepped left, dodging the wild shot he managed to fire in his panic.

Nova was a whole move ahead, grabbing his wrist before he even realized she was there.

With a sharp yank, she forced his gun hand skyward, aiming it right at the ceiling.

Her other hand snapped around his neck like a crab’s claw, locking him tight as she drove him forward with ruthless force.

She smashed the back of his head against the stair railing in one brutal motion.

“Crack.”

Seizing the moment while the Elder was still reeling, Nova went in for the kill.

She twisted his gun hand until it snapped with a sick crack–his scream cut through the chaos.

Then, with vicious force, Nova bent his arm the wrong way, jamming the muzzle of his own gun up under his jaw.

Cold as ice, she yanked the trigger for him.

“Bang!”

Shot in the head by his own gun, the Elder dropped like a proud eagle snapped mid–flight–lifeless, wings forever broken.

He went limp, tumbling down the spiral staircase from the second floor, his body hitting each step with a sickening thud.

Nova and Damien teamed up again, but this time, there was no sneaky ambush–they went for the kill right in plain sight, with scrawny old Duff watching every brutal second.

They took down two more Elders in front of his face, wild and arrogant, crushing them like ants–taunting Duff with raw power and pure disdain.