The Queen Who Fights Back (by Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 148

Chapter 148

Darkness.

The whole world was shrouded in gloom. Nova could no longer feel even a trace of the sun’s scorching heat from above.

All she felt now was the chill and suffocating pressure that seemed to seep down from the sky.

Everything felt frozen, as if carved out of ice.

Nova strode forward, barely sparing a glance at the countless corpses littering the ground, as if they didn’t exist. Alone, she headed step by step toward the cluster of bodies where the firefight had happened.

One step, then another…

She moved particularly slowly.

“Hey, where are you heading off?”

“Ah!”

“C–c–c–corpse!”

Jake Davis was the first to rush after Nova. But before he could even get close to her, the sight ahead made his legs turn to jelly and he slumped right down to the ground.

Whenever their employer stepped away from the main crowd, the mercenary guild’s mercenaries would usually tag along to see what was happening.

So, when Nova broke away from the rest,

a crowd of thirty to forty merchants of the caravan followed close behind her.

When they finally witnessed the scene up close,

five mercenaries from the guild barely reacted–they were already used to this kind of thing.

They hauled people through Kate Deathly Canyon more than a dozen times a month, and it was a regular thing for underworld gangs to come here to settle their scores in bloody shootouts.

Dead bodies were nothing but another part of the scenery on their trips.

So this time, when they saw all the corpses, none of them even flinched.

But for some of the merchants in the caravan, the shock was just too much–they nearly jumped out of their skin.

“Ah, ah, ah!”

As for Maria Lavender and her friends–those college students had anticipated what they would see before they arrived.

They knew Kate Deathly Canyon was nothing like anywhere they’d ever been.

But the moment they saw all those corpses piled up ahead, they literally jumped back in fright, each one letting out a high–pitched squawk like a startled duck.

None of them dared to get any closer.

“Dead bodies? They’re the most common thing you’ll see in Kate Deathly Canyon. Every single day, someone’s here trying to settle a score,” one of the mercenaries explained, sounding almost bored.

“It’s just how the landscape works–it turned this place into the underground’s favorite battleground.

“So don’t be afraid. As long as you steer clear whenever a firefight kicks off, nothing’s gonna happen to you.”

Out of the caravan strode a burly man with a battered cowboy hat perched on his head, a loud patterned shirt hugging his frame, and jeans that had clearly seen better days.

Giving an explanation as he came over, he gave Jake Davis and his pals a companionable slap on the shoulder, never taking his gaze off Nova up ahead.

This was Madan, one of the five mercs dispatched from the guild.

The moment Madan’s hand landed on Jake’s shoulder, Jake jolted upright as if he’d been zapped, face pale and heart pounding.

The crowd pressed in around the aftermath of the shootout, hovering near the bodies. Among them were a few passing shepherds, but most were locals from the outskirts of Kate Deathly Canyon.

They muttered quietly, eyes fixed on the fresh–faced, pretty girl as she walked right into the heart of the

corpses.

Without a flicker of emotion, Nova flipped over the foreign man whose size and ruggedness were almost a mirror image of Ghost–Hammer.

At that moment, everyone could finally see exactly who the dead man was.

It was…

a battered corpse of a stranger–his face pockmarked and uneven, nose smashed flat, beady eyes half–lidded. The pallor of death had set in long ago, mottled bruises blooming across waxy skin.

Not who she was searching for…

It wasn’t Ghost–Hammer.

Realizing this, Nova’s icy expression softened just a fraction.

But she knew this was far from over. The field of corpses, and that man who looked almost like Ghost-

Hammer–both served as a chilling warning she couldn’t ignore.

If she was even a moment late, Ghost–Hammer could be the next one lying lifeless on the ground.

She would never allow that to happen–not on her watch.

Without another word, Nova turned around and strode back the way she came.

“What the hell were you doing just now? Did you think sneaking off was fun or something? You almost scared us to death!” Maria put a hand over her heart, glaring at Nova like she couldn’t believe what she’d just seen.

“We offer to stick together and you turn us down–then you go running off. What if something actually happens next time?

“Seriously, don’t make us the ones who have to go tell the embassy you bit the dust out here!”

Maria was the type of girl in campus every guy wanted a shot at–total queen bee vibes back in college.

With that kind of reputation, she never bothered sugarcoating her words. She really couldn’t stand girls like Nova, the lone wolves who minded their own business.

In Maria’s opinion, girls were supposed to be all sweet and demure, letting the guys take care of everything. When the guys dropped a naughty joke, she’d give out giggles and shy glances, not sass.

Nova though? She acted like every situation was a competition, always going head–to–head with the guys instead of playing along.

‘Seriously, who does she even think she’s impressing?‘ Maria scoffed to herself, rolling her eyes.

“Clatter, clatter…”

Maria’s words barely faded out before-

a sudden jangle of coins hit the ground, the noise snapping everyone’s attention back to Nova.

She’d simply pulled her hand from her pocket,

and let a steady stream of coins tumble from her palm, rolling out in a glimmering trail at her feet.

The five mercenaries, with Madan at the front, fixed Nova with the hungry, predatory stares of wolves sensing easy prey. Their eyes lit up with raw greed as soon as they saw the stream of coins spill out.

Nova shot Maria a cold, dismissive glare, not bothering to hide her disgust. She dipped her hand back into her pocket, scooping up another handful of coins. “Kick this loudmouth out of our caravan,” Nova said flatly, her patience long gone. “Dead weight like her? I don’t have the time.”

“All this cash is yours if you do,” Nova added.

In the regular world, money might not buy you everything, but down here in the underworld, just about anything’s for sale if you’ve got the cash.

Lives, organs, even whatever scrap of humanity someone’s still clinging to–name your price, and it’s yours.

Madan was the only one who managed to keep cool. The other four mercs didn’t even wait for Nova to finish talking–before anyone could blink, they dropped any shred of dignity and dove for the coins like starving mutts, scrambling and snatching every last one off the ground.

Watching this scene unfold, Nova’s expression stayed perfectly blank, her calmness almost unnatural.

It was as if she’d spent years familiarizing herself with the unspoken rules of this place, moving through it like

it was second nature.

As this hit him, Jake felt a chill run down his spine–he hadn’t expected Nova to be so at ease in this ruthless

world.

Wait, something doesn’t add up.‘ Jake thought, a shiver running down his spine.

She looks so normal, just an average girl on the outside–like, you’d never guess what she’s really capable of.

‘Isn’t she supposed to be a college student, just like the rest of us?‘

“Look–seriously, I promise Maria won’t say another word. If she slips up again, you can kick her out, alright? Just–please, give her one last shot!” Jake stammered dumbly, practically tripping over his words in

desperation.

“Please…”

Knowing full well that the mercenaries would actually go through with it if there was money involved, Jake pressed his palms together and bowed repeatedly to Nova and the mercs, groveling for their mercy.

Then, just in case, he slapped a hand over Maria’s mouth to shut her up before she could dig her own grave.

“Lead me forward. Fast. No delays,” Nova snapped, her voice cutting through the tension.

“Like I said–money’s on the table.”

Her stare was ice cold.

She didn’t even acknowledge Jake or Maria. As far as Nova was concerned, they simply didn’t matter.

Her orders were aimed straight at Madan and the other mercs.

“You’ve got some nerve, girl,” Madan said, scratching his head as he walked over to Nova.

Out of the five Guild mercs, he was the only one who still acted like a human being with dignity–the other four, as soon as they saw the cash, started scrambling like stray dogs.

He couldn’t hold it in and spoke up loud enough for everyone to hear:

“Of all the first–timers who’ve come to Kate Deathly Canyon, you’re by far the gutsiest. Most folks wouldn’t even go near the bodies, let alone start poking around.

“Your courage could go toe–to–toe with any of our Guild mercs.

“Seriously, with guts like yours, you’d kill it as a mere in our Guild. It would be a waste if you did not sign up.”

As Madan talked, the rest of the crowd all turned their gazes onto him and Nova.

With everyone staring, he felt a hint of awkwardness.

Clearing his throat with his signature rough voice, he said, “Let’s move out! Everyone, keep going!”

With that, the journey kicked off once more.

The mercenaries from the guild were professionals–they worked for cash, plain and simple. None of them banded together to hassle Nova just because she was a girl, despite what Jake had feared.

The trip took a solid seven hours.

The sun was nearly setting.

Throughout the whole trek, Maria showed her contempt at Nova every chance she got, but she didn’t dare utter a single word.

Nova didn’t even bother to pay her the slightest attention.

After trudging through endless scrubland and barren canyon floors, the group finally caught sight of a patch of green shade ahead—a forest, unexpected and welcome, nestled right within the vast canyon. It was a relief for everyone. They nearly forgot the past hours spent under the merciless sun.

There, tucked beneath the steep, jagged rock faces, was one of the few rare stretches of greenery they’d seen all day.

But just as they were about to breathe a sigh of relief,

the caravan came to an abrupt halt.

A squad of heavily armed men, toting machine guns, were stationed beneath the shade of those trees at the broad bottom of the canyon, making it clear that no outsiders were getting through.

Madan tried negotiating with them for ages, but it was no use–the guards wouldn’t let anyone through, no matter what.

Even tossing cash didn’t work; these guys weren’t budging for anything.

Going around the canyon would mean a massive detour, and with the supplies they had, there was no way they’d make it all the way through.

Noticing all this, Nova just lowered her gaze, eyes shadowed and unreadable. Nobody had a clue what she was thinking.

Madan came back to the caravan, scratching his head and griping, “Just great–blocked again! Seriously, what’s up with these roadblocks every damn time?”

“What the heck happened here for the whole canyon to get shut down like this?”

At that moment, a shepherd passing by with his camels called out over his shoulder, barely bothering to look

back.

“If they say stay away, you’d better listen. Take the detour, no matter how long it is–because if you try your luck in that canyon, you might not make it out alive.”

Madan frowned suspiciously. “Oh? What do you mean by that?”

The shepherd, his voice gravelly and thick with the unmistakable accent of Kata City, replied,

“Every single road in and out of this canyon is locked up tight, I tell ya.

“Not even a fly could squeeze through. You folks from outside wouldn’t know, since you haven’t been in the canyon these past days.

This place has been blocked off for three days straight–all because of those gunmen up ahead.

“They’re mercenaries from the Bloodblade Mercenary Corps. They got a traitor cornered somewhere in these canyons and they’ve been chasing him down like dogs for two whole days and three damn nights. Mark my words, nobody’s getting past ‘til they’ve put that turncoat in the ground.”

*****