SWNOVELXO Chapter 2: The End (Part 2)
"Captain Fu. How predictable." Li Hua's voice dripped with cold amusement as she tilted her head, a gesture that reminded Li Min of a panther sizing up its prey. The captain's weathered face remained impassive, but Li Min caught the slight tremor in his hands as they clasped behind his back. Even a veteran like Captain Fu wasn't immune to her sister's presence—that suffocating aura of barely contained violence that seemed to pulse outward with each breath.
"Miss Li Hua, quell your anger. We won't kill you if you'd admit you were wrong and turn over your command token." Captain Fu spoke sternly, as if he was reprimanding his own men. "It would be best if you would do this while kneeling."
He anticipated Li Hua to lash out in anger or perhaps even attacking but only silence followed his words, hanging heavily in the winter air like a suspended blade. The tension stretched taut as a bowstring, each heartbeat marking the passage of endless seconds.
Li Min found herself holding her breath, recognizing the deadly calm that had settled over her sister's features, the same expression she wore before rivers ran red with the blood of those who had dared to challenge her authority.
"Bahahahahaha, Hilarious!" Li Hua's laughter shattered the stillness like a thunderclap, echoing off the snow-covered ground. Her eyes glinted with a predatory gleam as she drew herself up to her full height, blood-stained robes rippling in the bitter wind. "Sister, don't tell me you made Captain Fu your second in command?!"
She pointed to the medal pinned to Fu's chest, its polished surface catching the wan winter light. The insignia—two crossed swords beneath a crescent moon—marked him as a commander of Li Min's personal death squadron. A squadron that she, Li Hua, put together to safeguard her only family member.
The blood drained from Li Min's face as the full weight of her sister's words crushed against her chest. Beside her, Captain Fu's weathered features contorted with unbridled fury, his jaw clenching so hard the tendons in his neck stood out like steel cables beneath his skin. His hands, still clasped behind his back, trembled not with fear now, but with pure, unrestrained rage.
"Captain Fu, you were always such a coward - that's why you always remained in my defense unit. It's not a surprise to see you on my sister's side though. After all she always did have a liking for my trash!" Li Hua's lips curled into a savage smile as she watched Captain Fu's composure crack like thin ice and Li Min's face twisted with a mixture of shame and anger.
"Fuck you, Li Hua!" Captain Fu shouted, his voice trembling slightly. "I deserved to be promoted; I was loyal until the very end and you didn't appreciate my value. I'll fucking kill you myself!"
The laughter dancing in Li Hua's eyes quickly disappeared as her sword flashed upward in a deadly arc, its polished surface catching the dim light. And like a hurricane, Li Hua swept through the men, her blade singing through the air with practiced precision. Blood sprayed in crimson arcs as she carved through their ranks, each stroke a death sentence delivered without hesitation. The first ten fell before they could even raise their weapons, their throats opened in perfect red smiles. Captain Fu's men stumbled backward, their training forgotten in the face of such ruthless efficiency. Some tried to draw their guns, but Li Hua was already among them, a demon of steel and spite, her movements too fast for their trembling fingers to track.
"Captain Fu! Hurry!" Li Min shouted as she ran back to the great hall. "Fucking do it now!"
Captain Fu was stunned for a moment as he watched Li Hua slice through his men like paper dolls in a storm. His mouth went dry as understanding dawned - she wasn't just killing them; she was putting on a show. Each death was a message written in blood, and he was the intended recipient. His hands shook as he fumbled for the detonator in his pocket, backing away from the carnage one step at a time.
This was the first time he's ever seen Li Hua in battle and my god was it terrifying. Her movements were liquid poetry written in violence, each gesture precise and purposeful, like a master calligrapher painting death strokes in the air. It was mesmerizing and for a moment he had regretted his betrayal. Unfortunately, he couldn't just turn around and beg to be forgiven - for now, it's either him or her. And he was a greedy man.
Captain Fu's thumb descended on the detonator with cold precision. In the heartbeat that followed, the winter air erupted into chaos. The first explosion tore through the ranks like a demon's breath, and then—like a grotesque symphony—his men began to detonate one by one. Bodies burst apart in rapid succession, each explosion feeding into the next, painting the pristine snow with gore and viscera.
The courtyard transformed into hell's canvas—screams pierced the morning air only to be silenced mid-breath, replaced by the wet thud of flesh against snow and the sickening crack of splintering bone. Waves of heat rippled outward, melting the snow into crimson pools that steamed in the winter air. The scent of cordite mixed with the copper tang of blood, creating a suffocating miasma of death.
Captain Fu stood transfixed, rivulets of cold sweat trailing down his temples as he watched his command become an abstraction of red mist and scattered limbs. Each detonation illuminated his face in strobing flashes, reflecting in eyes that had gone wide with a mixture of horror and fascination. He had just sacrificed three hundred lives to create this barrier of carnage—his sin and salvation wrapped in a single moment of calculated brutality.
After 30 minutes had past and the explosions have quieted, Captain Fu and Li Min walked through the aftermath, their shoes leaving dark impressions in the blood-soaked snow.
The carnage had achieved its purpose—at the center of the 300 bodies was Li Hua's mangled form, or what remained of it. Her once-pristine silk robes, now shredded and saturated with blood, clung to her broken frame like a funeral shroud. The explosive trap had torn through her legendary defenses, reducing the feared assassin to little more than scattered fragments of bone and tissue.
Yet even in death, her face bore that same serene smile—a final mockery of their desperate gambit, as if she had known all along that this would be her end.