The Queen Who Fights Back (by Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Among the three foreign men standing beside Harvey, the one who immediately drew attention was a towering figure with sharp, piercing blue eyes—the very Mr. Dorken Harvey had heard so much about.

Harvey’s confidence wasn’t merely for show; it was backed by solid achievements.

His son, Arthur Blake, was only twenty-four years old, yet he had already earned a spot on the international mercenary rankings, sitting at number 2,099. With such credentials, Harvey felt justified in looking down on the world with a certain arrogance.

If Arthur kept pushing his limits, there was even a chance he might break into the top 2,000.

But the idea of reaching the top 500? The top 200? Or even the top 100? Those were ambitions so lofty that Harvey didn’t dare entertain them.

Yet that’s the advantage of having the means to hire talent—he could simply pay someone to accomplish what seemed impossible.

What truly intrigued Harvey was the sheer power lurking on the other end of the phone call. He had no clear idea who this formidable individual was, only that this person had managed to secure the services of the 39th-ranked mercenary worldwide.

Number 39!

When Harvey first heard Mr. Dorken’s global rank, he was nearly knocked off his feet by the shock.

And now, here he was.

“I’ve become so accustomed to rubbing shoulders with absolute legends like Mr. Dorken that it feels like just another day,” Harvey thought, a smug grin spreading across his face.

“If this isn’t a game-changing move, then what is?”

“One day, the entire world will be forced to respect me. It’s not just a dream—it’s my destiny.”

“All I have to do is manage Nova and keep everything on track, and nothing will be able to stop me,” he mused, his heart swelling with determination.

Suddenly, the rough, menacing voice on the other end of the line pressed in close, chilling Harvey to the bone.

“If you fail again this time, even with Mr. Dorken backing you,” the voice growled, “don’t even bother coming back alive!”

That brutal threat, immediately followed by a dull thud as the call was abruptly cut, sent a shiver down Harvey’s spine. His heart pounded wildly in his chest.

Beep, beep, beep.

By the time Harvey scrambled to snatch the phone, the connection was already dead.

He gasped, nerves stretched taut like a wire ready to snap.

Before he could gather his thoughts, Mr. Dorken, standing right beside him, suddenly spoke in flawless, unaccented Zoriaien, catching Harvey completely off guard.

“They’re coming,” Dorken said calmly.

“They’re coming?” Harvey’s mind raced in confusion.

“Coming? Who exactly is coming?” Anxiety surged through him.

“Could those two low-level mercenaries really have succeeded in finishing off Nova and made it back?” Harvey wondered, his heart hammering with a mixture of dread and anticipation.

His eyes gleamed with a strange excitement as he peered through the flap of the tent, gazing out into the distance.

Thunk, thunk, thunk…

For a brief moment, it seemed as if those two low-level mercenaries had indeed returned—

But what rolled toward them were two heads.

Those heads belonged to the very mercenaries sent to assassinate Nova.

Their eyes were wide with terror, frozen in a final moment of panic—whatever they had seen before dying had clearly terrified them to their core.

“Ah!” Harvey couldn’t hold back a scream, panic surging through him like a tidal wave.

The shock knocked him backward, sending him sprawling onto the ground, and the binoculars slipped from his grasp, clattering loudly onto the dirt.

At that very moment, his gaze caught a glimpse of a girl standing just outside the tent, not far away.

“Nova!” Harvey bellowed, rage rippling through his voice like wildfire.

He shouted her name like it was a curse, each syllable laced with venom.

“Nova—the useless daughter of that no-good Charles!” Harvey seethed inwardly.

If it weren’t for her, he would have already been the undisputed head of the Blake family—or at least his son Arthur would have been.

By now, they would have sold off Blake Security Group, stormed the international stage, and become a major force worldwide.

“Mr. Dorken, that’s her!” Harvey barked, barely able to contain himself.

“Kill her! Do it now!”

He jabbed a finger furiously in Nova’s direction, roaring as if he could tear her apart with his bare hands.

From the moment Nova appeared, Mr. Dorken sensed an utterly unique and overwhelming aura radiating from her—and all of it coming from a teenage girl!

For a split second, his mind refused to accept the reality.

That sudden realization sent a sharp stab of danger straight through Dorken’s gut. His instincts screamed that something was terribly wrong.

But the feeling barely lasted a heartbeat.

True powerhouses don’t waste time talking—when they move, they move fast.

Rustle, rustle, rustle!

Only someone ranked 39th in the International Mercenary Ranking could pull off such a feat.

Dorken, propelled through the air by that kick, slashed his blade into the ground at the last second, barely managing to stop himself from face-planting.

Immediately after, he just stared at Nova, utterly dumbfounded.

She stood there calmly, her expression blank, eyes lifting coolly to meet his.

“Hmm? Yellowcat’s lackey, are you?” Nova said, her voice icy and sharp.

Yellowcat was one of the top figures in the Bloodblade Mercenary Corps, on the same level as Ghost-Hammer and Snowfang.

As a member of Bloodblade, Dorken actually worked under Yellowcat.

“How… how do you know that?” Dorken stammered, nearly losing control, his voice trembling.

‘How the hell does she know I’m Yellowcat’s lackey?’ Panic pounded in his chest as he froze.

Having his secret exposed so bluntly left him completely rattled—his eyes widened in shock as he blurted out.

Nova stepped forward, her icy voice cutting through the air, each word heavy with an oppressive aura that made every step feel suffocating.

“That sword style? I taught it to Yellowcat myself.”

“So, care to guess what chance you think you have against me?”

That was why his blade moves were like an open book to her—she saw through every slash, every trick.

As she spoke, Nova tilted her head ever so slightly.

That cold, stunningly beautiful face combined with that subtle head tilt left Dorken looking as if he’d seen a ghost.

His sword techniques? He had learned them directly from his superior, Yellowcat.

Everyone knew that the top dogs in the Bloodblade Mercenary Corps were absolute beasts—each deadlier than the last, masters of countless deadly techniques, the best mercenaries one could find anywhere.

But every trick they knew? All of them were taught by the boss of Bloodblade.

The boss of Bloodblade was a complete mystery—Dorken had been in the Corps for years and had never even caught a glimpse. No one had.

Wait a second… does that mean this girl standing before me is actually…?

Dorken’s mind spun wildly as panic surged.

His face went ghostly pale. He shouted at Nova, his voice trembling so much that everyone—Harvey, stunned beyond belief, and the other two mercenaries—could hear him clearly.

“You! You’re… you’re the boss of the Bloodblade Mercenary Corps? Bloodforge!”