Chapter 302: Final Warning

A burly, scarred man with a voice like gravel pushed his way to the front, his fists clenched, his eyes blazing with the arrogance of a man who believed he was destined to lead. He spat on the ground, his lip curling in disdain as he shouted over the roaring crowd:

"Listen to me, all of you!" His voice was a snarl, dripping with false authority.

"We are NOT animals to be herded and cast out! This fortress was built with OUR sweat, OUR blood! Sir Walter brought us here—we paid for this land, we fought for it! And now some outsider—some monster—thinks he can just take it from us?!" He laughed, a mocking, bitter sound, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.

"Do you really think they can kill us all? Look at them!" He gestured wildly toward the fortress walls, where Max and his team stood guard. "They’re outnumbered! They’re bluffing! They need us more than we need them!"

The crowd roared in agreement, their fists pumping the air, their faces twisted in rage.

"We cannot let this happen!" a woman screamed, her voice cracking with desperation. "They want to tear our families apart! Our wives, our daughters—inside, while we rot out here like dogs?!"

"NO!" the would-be leader bellowed, his voice a rallying cry. "We push through that gate! We take back what’s ours! They won’t dare shoot—they can’t! They need us to run this place! Without us, they’re nothing!"

A younger man, his face flushed with anger, shouted from the crowd: "And what about Sir Walter’s son? Tyler was supposed to lead us! Where is he? Where’s our leader?!"

The false leader grinned, a cruel, calculating smile. "Exactly! Tyler is gone—vanished—and now these impostors think they can just steal his birthright?!" He pounded his chest. "I say we take charge! We decide our fate! We storm that gate, and we claim what’s ours!"

The crowd erupted, their shouts merging into a single, deafening roar.

"WE CAN’T LET THIS HAPPEN!"

"THEY WON’T DARE STOP US!"

"WE OUTNUMBER THEM!"

They began surging forward, a tide of fury, their hands reaching for the gate.

Max stood firm, his rifle raised, his face a mask of cold resolve. The five soldiers who had witnessed my power firsthand stood beside him, their grips tight on their weapons, their eyes scanning the mob.

"LAST WARNING!"

Max boomed, his voice cutting through the chaos. "Step back, or you will be shot!"

The would-be leader laughed, a mocking, arrogant sound. "Oh, please!" He spread his arms wide, taunting.

"You think we’re afraid of you, Max? You’re one man with a gun! And who are you protecting? Some woman who thinks she’s a queen?" He spat again, his eyes narrowing. "You’re a traitor, Max. A coward. Sir Walter would roll in his grave if he saw you now!"

One of the dissenting soldiers—a young, nervous-looking man—stepped forward, his rifle lowering. "Max, stop!" His voice was shaking, but determined. "We can’t do this! These are our people! We can’t just—just shoot them!"

Max didn’t flinch. "You fool." His voice was a growl. "You think this is about loyalty? You think this is about fairness?" He gestured upward, toward where I stood watching. "You saw what he did to Walter. You saw what he did to Tyler. And you still think you can defy him?"

The young soldier swallowed hard, but another man—older, his face lined with stubbornness—stepped up, his rifle now pointed at Max. "Enough, Max!" He snarled. "We’re done following your madness! You’re not killing innocent people for some monster who hides behind walls!"

Max’s eyes flashed. "You idiot." His voice was deadly calm. "You don’t understand what you’re dealing with."

The false leader in the crowd grinned, sensing weakness. "See?! Even his own men don’t believe in him!" He raised his fist. "NOW! Push through! They won’t stop us!"

The mob surged forward.

The dissenting soldiers moved fast. One of them lunged, knocking Max to the ground with a brutal shove. Another wrestled the rifle from his grip, kicking him in the ribs as he tried to rise.

"Max is finished!" the older soldier shouted, turning to the crowd. "The gate is ours!"

The five loyalists fought back, but they were outnumbered. Fists flew, rifles clattered to the ground.

One of Max’s men took a baton to the head, crumpling. Another was dragged away, his arms twisted behind his back.

"Pathetic!" the would-be leader sneered, stepping over Max’s fallen body. "Now open the gate!"

But then—

A single, slow clap echoed from above.

The crowd fell silent.

I stepped forward, my presence alone freezing them in place. My voice was a blade, cutting through the tension:

"How adorable."

The false leader’s smugness faltered. His eyes darted up, finally landing on me. For the first time, doubt flickered in his gaze.

I smiled.

"You really think you’re in charge here?" My voice was a purr, dripping with amusement. "You really think numbers matter?"

The crowd’s confidence wavered. A few took steps back. The soldiers who had betrayed Max swallowed hard, their hands trembling on their stolen rifles.

I leaned over, my gaze locking onto the would-be leader like a predator sizing up prey. His arrogance had crumbled, his face pale, his lips trembling as he stared up at me.

"You talked a big game," I said, my voice soft, almost gentle, like a father disappointing a child.

"You called me a monster. A bandit." A dark chuckle escaped my lips. "You have no idea how right you are."

Then—I let it loose.

A pulse of energy surged through me as I activated my

Eternal Vitality

, my body becoming invincible, my skin shimmering like liquid metal for a single, breathtaking moment.

The T-shirt I wore rippled, shrinking in my grip before morphing—twisting, reshaping—into a sleek, black machine gun, its barrel humming with laser energy, the air around it warping with heat.

The soldiers below froze.

"H-How is this possible?!" one stammered, his rifle shaking in his grip. "What the fuck is happening?!" another shouted, his voice cracking. "How did that gun—?!"

Fear turned to panic.

A few soldiers, their instincts overriding logic, raised their rifles and opened fire. Bullets streaked toward me—

Only to ping off my skin like rain against steel.

The bullets dropped to the ground, clattering against the stone, piling up in a growing heap of useless metal. The soldiers’ faces twisted in horror, their fingers still squeezing triggers, their guns clicking empty.

I raised the machine gun, the laser barrel glowing a sinister red.

"You wanted to see a monster?"

My voice was a snarl, dripping with amusement.

"Here I am."