Chapter 40: Shattered Allegiance
Ning Que and his squad, Linx, Viera, Aeris, and Lian, regathered themselves in the rubble, their bodies aching and their spirits frayed. Grit and grime caked their faces, mingling with the sweat that dripped down their temples.
Beneath the profound physical exhaustion, however, a seething undercurrent of raw emotion roiled, threatening to boil over.
Lian stood slightly apart from the group, a shadow of her former self. Her uniform was torn, her skin bruised and bloodied, yet a fierce determination burned in her eyes, a light that sought to cut through the suffocating anger directed at her. It was a gaze that spoke louder than any apology she could form.
But Ning Que’s team wasn’t so easily swayed. The memory of the trap, of the betrayal, was a fresh, bleeding wound.
"You led us into that trap, Lian." Linx’s voice was a low, dangerous growl that cut through the heavy air like a blade. He leaned his back against a crumbling wall, his hands clenched into white-knuckled fists. His eyes, which had once held a deep well of trust for her, now burned with the hot, unforgiving fire of suspicion.
"You walked us right into Tao’s arms. Was any of it real? Our missions? The times we had each other’s backs? Or were you just playing your part the entire time, waiting for the right moment to sell us out?"
Viera’s voice joined the fray, sharper and colder, each word a carefully aimed dart of ice.
"Don’t play the victim. Do you think we don’t see it? You were always watching us, weren’t you? Judging us. You thought we were the ones who were ’rogues,’ the ones who didn’t follow every single line in the Hunter’s Guide. You saw us as a problem to be solved. But in the end, you were the one playing both sides. You set us up, Lian. You chose him over us."
Aeris remained at the back, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Her expression was an unreadable mask of stone, but her eyes never left Lian. Her silence was a condemnation in itself, a void that spoke volumes.
There was no forgiveness in her gaze, no flicker of understanding, just a cold, biting anger that demanded answers she clearly believed Lian was incapable of giving.
Lian’s throat tightened, and she took a hesitant step forward, her hands outstretched in a desperate, pleading gesture.
"No... it wasn’t like that. It wasn’t a choice between him and you. I thought I was doing the right thing. I truly believed I was protecting the Guild, protecting everything we stood for."