Charge

Incessant muttering filled the air.

“Chaewon.”

“Kill.”

“Chaewon,” Joy repeated.

“Kill. Kill. Kill.”

“Chaewon!”

“What.”

Chaewon stared at Joy, brows furrowed, irritation scrunched all over her face. The corner of her lips had been bitten till it leaked blood, but she did not stop.

“Are you able to fight?”

Chaewon relaxed and smiled, bumping her jagged brass knuckles together.

“Why not?”

“You look very… angry.”

“Am I not supposed to be?”

“Well… I’m just worried that you’ll lose composure and—never mind. If you’re going to participate in this raid, Derrick’s and my orders are absolute. You got me?”

“Sure. On one condition though.”

“What is it?”

“I get the last hit on that fucker.”

Joy shook her head and sighed.

“No promises.”

Joy turned around and hollered for the rest to gather.

“I’ll brief everyone on the plan.”

She summoned her tome and conjured her own holograph of the camp’s layout, enlarging it for all to see.

"Now. There are only three possible entry points. Right from the front and the two sides. The back is entirely blocked by the valley’s walls, so that’s off the list. The flanks are too exposed. We'll breach through the front.”

She pointed to the centre of the camp.

“Once we’re in, I need someone to cause chaos from here and draw attention.”

“Why don’t we just focus on charging and annihilating all the enemies?” Chaewon asked.

“We have no information on their numbers, their exact capabilities,” Joy said. “Rushing in recklessly will just lead to pointless sacrifices.”

“Correct,” Robert added. “As I said earlier, I was only able to spot the goblins on the perimeter. Based on extrapolation, the most I can say would be an estimated three hundred goblins?”

“There are about seven hundred goblins.”

Everyone turned and looked at Voidborn.

“Four abnormal signatures. Two are overwhelmingly strong.”

Voidborn walked back from the cliff’s edge, crouching down.

“Two abnormal signatures are located at these locations.”

He circled his finger around the two ends of the camp.

“The strongest two are here.”

He pointed to the back of the enemy camp where the miasma fog was the densest.

“The rest are all easy fodder.”

“Are you certain?” Joy asked.

“Yes, I can se—”

“Yes,” Derrick interrupted. “I managed to send a drone to scan the area just now.”

“Then that changes the plan quite a bit.”

“Give me some time to think. Also, if you guys have any more wonderful things up your sleeve, it would be the best to let me know right now. It would really help save time and increase the chances of succeeding.”

Everyone nodded.

Jimin dragged Voidborn to the side.

“Hey, I don’t know about you, but please keep your ability to see emotions a secret. Mom and dad said to never let anyone you don’t trust find out.”

“Why?”

“They said it’s dangerous and it’s to protect me. So, keep it a secret, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Gather up!” Derrick called.

“The plan has changed quite a bit,” Joy said. “Perhaps I think it would be best for us to introduce ourselves first.”