Chapter 16: Clipped Wing

"We're going to end him," Ashfall repeated, eyes locked on the carefree Demigod of Greed, who was waiting patiently for the sun to rise in the east.

"Sir, how exactly are we supposed to do that?" Lira asked, still far from convinced.

"Trust me—I've got a plan."

The sun had begun to rise in the east, which also meant it was setting in the west.

"Ahh, finally! Good, then let the game begin," the demigod chirped as he sprang to his feet and turned to face the trio.

"Go on—fly, run, crawl! I don't care, just move—your time is ticking."

But the three of them, especially B-Day, didn't show any signs of going anywhere.

~ ~ ~

"Didn't you notice how long it took him to come back to us earlier?" Ashfall reminded Lira of when the demigod had disappeared into the woods to look for the five dead Timer agents.

"I remember, but what are you—"

"Why do you think he said he believed us this time? He never found the bodies. It's as if the red-fogged forest dulls his senses even more than ours," Ashfall cut in.

"And why else would he have waited for us to come out of the forest? Strange, don't you think?"

Lira understood what he was getting at—the red misted forest seemed to hinder even the demigod's perception.

~ ~ ~

"Where do you think you're going? The mountains are in the other direction," the Demigod of Greed remarked as the trio turned toward the forest.

Lira and Ashfall, supporting the injured B-Day between them, turned back.

"Remember—we're pretending to retrieve gear from the dead agents. If he refuses, we ask him to go instead. He wants an exciting game, after all," Ashfall whispered to Lira before turning to address the demigod.

"We want to collect some gear from the fallen followers of Orvak—or could you grab it for us real quick… you do want this game to be thrilling, right?"

Annoyed, but curious, the demigod waved them off: "Do whatever you want—it's your time to waste." He laid back down on his rock and resumed watching the sky.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Before he could change his mind, the three vanished into the red-fogged forest.

"Step one complete. Now onto step two..."

~ ~ ~

"Once we're in the woods, we use the glowing tree spots to our advantage—we'll camouflage ourselves to blend in," Ashfall explained.

"Camouflage as in... the trees?" Lira asked, confused.

Ashfall pointed to their armor.

"We'll use ours and the armor from the traitors. He'll be expecting three red coats. So, we'll wear other gear, making it easier to pass as the trees."

~ ~ ~

They spent nearly a day searching for the bodies—but eventually found them.

They dragged the corpses to a spot in the forest they'd marked earlier—a place with lots of cover.

"The three dummies are ready, sir. What now?" Lira asked, her armor now reconfigured into black tactical gear with a helmet flashlight.

"Good. Now let's rig the pistols," Ashfall began pulling long threads from the dead agents' uniforms, attaching them to the pistols' triggers.

They weren't just going to use the bodies as visual decoys—they'd make them shoot too.

Suddenly, another wave of pain hit Ashfall—worse than before. Lira wasn't doing much better. Though her bleeding had stopped earlier, it was still a bullet that had gone clean through her.

B-Day, despite his own injury, helped finish securing the threads while Ashfall and Lira rested and fought through the pain.

The only moisture they could gather came from morning dew, which B-Day struggled to collect while half crawling.

After two full days of preparation, the final 24 hours before the hunt began had arrived—or so they thought.

"We're set. The decoys are in place, the weapons can be triggered from a distance, and we've gotten some rest… You both know your roles?" Ashfall looked them in the eyes. They were all scared, exhausted—but determined to survive.

They each took position near trees, their helmet lights blending in with the glowing dots on the trunks.

One by one, they would trigger each decoy's weapon remotely, disorienting the demigod. When he was distracted—they'd strike.

"Let's rest a bit before he—" Ashfall's sentence was cut off as a blur raced through the trees—it was the Demigod of Greed.

"Come out already! I know you're here! Hiding won't save you!" he roared through the forest.

"He's started way too early—we'll have to run the plan now, even if we're not at full strength," Ashfall changed gears instantly.

The others nodded. They moved into position.

They waited. And waited. What might've been minutes felt like hours. Every sound—every snap of a twig or gust of wind—sent shivers down their spines.

"GOTCHA!"

He stopped right in front of the middle decoy—the one B-Day was supposed to trigger.

"I knew something felt off. So I came to check—looks like you three really thought you could hide from me."

He stepped closer—PFFT!

A silenced shot rang out. The bullet missed, just grazing his side—he dodged instinctively.

"Nice try—but far too weak—"

PFFT! Another shot from a different direction. He ducked, narrowly avoiding it again.

He crushed Marek's corpse and charged toward the shot's origin—but another shot fired from Ashfall's decoy stopped him in his tracks.

Ashfall and Lira dropped their spent trigger strings and repositioned.

Shot after shot echoed—none found their mark. But that wasn't the point—they only needed to confuse him.

"SHOW YOURSELVES!" he shouted, slamming his foot into the ground and sending debris toward Lira's path.

She dodged—and that told him everything.

He blinked and suddenly stood before her, grinning.

"Gotcha."

His hand closed around her neck, lifting her into the air.

"Die, you worthless insect—"

But pain suddenly struck his leg—real pain. An upper demigod had flinched. He buckled.

"You—"

He looked closer. It wasn't Lira. It had never been her—just one of the decoys in a red coat.

The real Lira had shot him from a different direction—slowing him just enough.

Enough for Ashfall to get close.

"To hell with you," Ashfall whispered, pressing his pistol to the demigod's head.

PFFT!

The bullet pierced his skull.

"Keugh..."

The demigod coughed blood and dropped the corpse he was holding. Slowly, he turned toward Ashfall. Blood trickled from the hole in his forehead.

Step by step, he advanced—Ashfall didn't move an inch.

"Y-you… how—blurgh—"

He dropped to his knees, more blood pooling beneath him.

He looked up into the silenced barrel.

"A high-ranking… demigod… killed by insects… NEVER—"

Ashfall fired again.

"Even the smallest insect can bring down walls—if it's smart enough and given enough time...remember that"