The Queen Who Fights Back (by Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 170

Chapter 170

“What?”

Everyone in the armory looked like lifeless husks, all the color drained from their faces in sheer horror.

Especially Mavis, Eric, Vivian, and the college students from Suntry Academy.

They had just arrived at the Battle of Mura.

They hadn’t even had the chance to play dead and scrape by as cannon fodder in this 5S–level mission, and now it was already over?

If we get taken prisoner… what happens to us?‘ ‘The thought hung heavy in the air.

Everyone in the armory suddenly burst into a frenzy, racing for the exit in a blind panic.

The door was jam–packed, sealed tight by the bodies pressing against it.

Nova and her group, stuck at the back of the crowd, were completely trapped with nowhere to go.

Vivian always acted tough, like she didn’t care about anything.

But unlike Mavis, who was no stranger to danger, Vivian’s nerves finally snapped+she choked up and started crying right then and there.

“We die,” came the reply, cool and clear from a woman.

The words cut through the chaos, ringing in everyone’s ears.

Everyone whipped their heads around, only to see the entire armory in chaos as people stampeded for the exit.

Meanwhile, Nova, who had spoken, was calm as ever–so calm, it was like she was just out shopping for lipstick, casually picking out a machine gun.

Her eyes landed on a pile of machine guns scattered across the floor. She reached out with her right hand, sorting through them with almost obsessive care.

Finally, she picked up an RPK–74 light machine gun, hefted it in her hand to test the weight, and, satisfied, tossed it over to Yellowcat.

With a lazy spin, Nova crossed her arms and looked at everyone, her lips curling into a mischievous grin as she deliberately spooked Vivian. “Every single prisoner gets executed.”

“Ahh!”

She gave an involuntary shudder, goosebumps prickling on her skin.

Watching her little sister’s wannabe tough–girl act crumble so fast, Mavis just rolled her eyes, annoyed as ever.

By contrast, while others scrambled in panic, Nova remained calm–completely unfazed by the chaos.

It was like she shined alone, the brightest star in a sky full of turmoil.

Her composed presence was impossible to overlook.

For the first time, even Mavis found herself rethinking her opinion of Nova, noticing something different about her.

Nova let out a quick, almost sly chuckle, and for a split second, nobody could figure out if she was making fun of herself–or something else entirely.

She shrugged and clarified, “Relax, I was joking. The only ones who actually get executed as prisoners are mercenaries.”

That’s because mercenary squads–fighters whose only loyalty was to their paycheck–were just hired guns caught between

wars.

Win a battle, and they pocket a fat reward, then either retire or hustle straight to the next conflict.

If they lost, national troops or foreign allies who were captured usually made it out alive.

But mercenaries? They were the only ones guaranteed to get wiped out, every single one–because nobody recognized them as proper soldiers from either country.

Basically, they were just expendable desperados. If they died, nobody gave a damn.

They were the kind of people everyone–every nation, every person–despised to the core.

“Even if you guys get caught, they’ll just send you back home,” Nova remarked with cool detachment.

Beneath Nova’s calm words was an ironclad will–she was dead set on winning, every single time, no exceptions.

For thousands of days as a mercenary, every battle she fought was playing Russian roulette with her own life.

She simply couldn’t afford to lose.

Because if she did, it wouldn’t just be her dying–even her teammates, the ones who bet their lives on her, would go down with her.

She had no choice.

“R–Really? Why?” Vivian stammered, her voice shaky as if she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.

Nova’s words hit her hard–her eyes filled with tears, and she was trying desperately not to break down right then and there.

All that tough–girl swagger she’d had earlier? Completely gone.

“Because you’ve got a powerful backer–Zoria,” Nova answered levelly, stating the facts with a quiet confidence.

Vivian couldn’t hold it any longer–she burst into tears right there and let out a full–on wail, “I love Zoria!”

It didn’t take long for the armory doors to clear up–everyone who had been desperate to escape had already made a break for it.

“Columbus, we need to go! If we don’t move now, we’re screwed!”

Brutus saw Columbus still glued to Nova Blake, and without a second thought, he grabbed Columbus by the shoulder and practically dragged him toward the exit.

“Damn it! How does that Zoriaien girl know so much about mercenaries like us?

“Let’s go!

“We’re not like those Zoriaiens–if we get caught, we’re dead meat!”

By “Zoriaien girl,” he was clearly talking about Nova.

The ten of them weren’t about to stand there and sort through weapons anymore. In a frenzy, they snatched up whatever

guns and ammo they could find, stuffed their arms full, and sprinted straight for the exit.

“You guys aren’t getting away. Nova’s voice rang out behind them, calm and dangerous.

They barely made it a few steps before her soft words from the back froze them right in their tracks.

“Brandon always goes for sparrow tactics–splitting his guys into small hit squads, a few dozen here, a few hundred there, spreading them out and letting each group fight their own war,” Nova said, her voice steady and clear.

“The Battle of Mura is the ultimate face–off–Uria versus Orian. One fight, winner takes all,” her words dropped like a gut punch, heavy with tension.

“He’s not gonna just dump all his firepower and charge straight into Uria,” Nova added, her tone cool as ever.

“But you can bet he’ll lock down every exit that leads out of here. So really, stop dreaming–you’re not escaping.”

Nova kept talking as she stepped forward, each move making the tension ratchet up in the room.

These days, it wasn’t just about “sparrow tactics” anymore–where you split your force into small hit teams. Now there were all kinds of battle styles: mobile warfare, psychological warfare, electronic warfare, cyber warfare–the works.

As for high–tech countries, they lived and breathed electronic warfare. That meant tearing apart the enemy’s digital systems. with every trick possible, while locking down your own electronics for peak performance–all–out digital chaos.

But places like Uria and Orian? Both dirt–poor and outgunned.

Their battles came down to plain old bullets and guns, with a little artillery in the mix–forget about bombers, they didn’t even have one.

It was as primitive as you could get–straight–up squad versus squad, face–to–face and old–school, no high–tech wizardry involved.

It was about as old–school as warfare gets–a real relic from another era.

Before winding up in prison, Nova had fought digital wars and old–fashioned firefights alike. Scenes like this were nothing new to her.

“Oh my god! How the hell do you know so much about Brandon and the way he fights?” Vivian yelled, her disbelief practically shaking the room.

The shock hit her so hard, her mind was completely blown.

She clapped a hand over her mouth, but the shout still escaped–a shriek of pure surprise.

Brutus, who’d been ready to make a break for it, turned to Nova, frustration written all over his face. “You tell us, Nova! We can’t run, we’ve lost the fight–what now, just sit here and count down to our own deaths?”

Yellowcat rested his chin on his hand and stayed quiet.

Columbus just kept looking at Nova with those starry eyes of his, making it plain as day–so long as she was there, he wasn’t scared of anything.

“That’s right. We wait for death,” Nova said, her tone cold and matter–of–fact.

Her reply nearly made Bulruce and his crew snap–they were seconds away from blowing up at her.

“You crazy chick…” Bulruce growled, barely holding back his anger.

He was just about to go off on her.

Chapter 170

But then Nova shot him a glare so icy he froze up, not daring to say another word.

With nothing but her own guts, Nova tossed out a wildly bold line that made everyone stop dead in their tracks.

“We’re not sitting here waiting to die. We’re gonna let Brandon’s squad come knocking–straight into their own graves.”

“The layout of the Battle of Mura means this armory is the choke point–Brandon’s guys have no choice but to pass through here. So we’re gonna turn this place into our frontline battleground.”

“If you trust me, I’ll lead you to wipe them out–flip this war on its head and snatch victory from defeat!“