CHAPTER 49: TARGET DESATROYED. ALL CLEAR!

In a two-man formation, Gideon and Luke stepped into the ruins of the city. The air there felt heavy and unpleasant.

The ruined buildings, crumbled with age, and vines creeping across stone had become the normal sight of the place.

Gideon’s steps stopped for a reason. He stood at the city center, right in the middle of the main road overgrown with shrubs and tall grass.

So far, they hadn’t seen any Lizardmen. Gideon and Luke only spotted stones, fallen walls, and weeds that reached the waist of a grown man.

"Are they hiding underground?" Luke asked.

"Could be."

Luke turned, watching Gideon kneel and open his pack. Without needing an order, he already understood what Gideon was about to do. He was setting up a small drone to release into the city.

The ruins were too wide for just two drones to cover certain areas. Fortunately, Lyra carried small palm-sized drones for extra recon.

Black Hornet Nano, an effective silent recon drone, almost impossible to detect.

Gideon took out three of them and linked them with the signals from the two larger drones. Slowly, the rotors spun, showing that all three were connected.

"Drone up. Ready for recon," Gideon reported.

"Vision received. Mapping the outer area," Lyra replied from the command post.

He cleared his throat, strapping his pack on again while his eyes shifted to Luke, who looked more tense than usual. Gideon patted his shoulder lightly, trying to calm him down.

Because it wasn’t just Luke who was tense. Gideon felt the same. This was their first mission against a mythological race. Nothing was easy the first time, except sex.

"Stay frosty, Luke. Eyes up!" Gideon ordered.

"Roger that."

They continued moving forward with rifles raised and safeties off. Both of them walked cautiously through the ruined city, staying centered to avoid ambush.

For guidance, Lyra was ready on the radio, telling them when to turn and when to stop. Thanks to the drone imagery above the city, their recon was far easier.

Lyra narrowed her eyes. Clear on her screen, several red enemy markers were moving toward Luke and Gideon’s position, closing in from behind.

"We got movement. Six o’clock."

Her warning made them spin around and take position. Lyra was right: six lizard-like monsters covered in rotting green slime were approaching.

"Lyra. Watch our backs!"

"Roger that," Lyra answered.

"Stop and don’t move!" Luke shouted, speaking in the local language, hoping they could understand.

"Who are you?" one Lizardman demanded, its sharp eyes fixed on Gideon.

"You must know the Lamia, the race you’ve oppressed brutally."

"Why don’t you try to make peace and live together?" Gideon asked.

"They came to take our land, drove us out with their power, and forced us to live our whole lives in filthy sewers," the creature growled.

Gideon fell silent. He didn’t know what version of truth the Lizardmen believed, but hostility and vengeance weren’t justified.

"I’ll stop this if both the Lamia and the Lizardmen are willing to make peace and forget the past!" Gideon declared.

"No, you can’t. They’re deceitful!" Lady Siver snapped after hearing Gideon’s words.

He paused, hearing her voice, but kept his eyes locked on the Lizardman leader speaking to him.

"The only peace for us is the end of that snake race!" the Lizardman spat, refusing to be swayed.

There was no point in reasoning with them. Leaving them unchecked would only make things worse.

"Luke, prep the charge. I want C4 on that choke point, dual primed. Keep it cold until my call."

Hearing Gideon’s order, Luke asked Lyra to guide him to the water gate, staying on radio with Gideon as he moved out. He left Gideon alone to face the six Lizardmen.

"Are you helping the snakes?" one asked.

"I’m helping peace. If you want peace without killing, then I’m willing to help you," Gideon answered.

"The Lamia deserve their freedom," Gideon said firmly.

"Hah! Words I haven’t heard from you in a long time, a true patriot," Luke teased through comms, making Lyra and Lena laugh at another station.

"Stay sharp, lads!"

With Lyra’s guidance, Luke found the water gate at the riverbank, shaped like a tunnel about 2.5 meters tall. From his view, a massive boulder was blocking the water from flowing inside.

If the rocks were removed, the river would flood the sewers, flushing the Lizardmen out of the ruins.

"C4 has been planted. Setting demo now. Timer or remote?" Luke reported.

"Timer. 30 secs. Regroup at rally point Bravo," Gideon answered.

"Copy. Move out!"

Luke pulled back toward the designated rally point at the west gate. Gideon knew the demo was set and he had time to escape before detonation.

C4 wasn’t just any explosive. It was designed for whatever his team needed to blow. That gate’s obstruction was strong and nearly impossible to break otherwise. C4 was the best option.

"What’s happening?" the Lizardman asked, still standing before Gideon.

"Just a small problem. Maybe you should go and save them," Gideon replied.

"Who?"

BLAST!

The timer hit zero, the explosion shattering the boulder and nearby structures, rupturing the valve pipe and forcing river water to surge down into the sewers. Gideon glanced back, a red glow lighting the ruins, smoke rising high.

"What the—"

Gideon reached for his belt holster, pulling out a smoke grenade. As the Lizardmen panicked, he yanked the pin and threw it forward.

The canister spewed thick smoke, blinding their vision. Seizing the moment, Gideon rushed into an alley, moving toward the rally point.

"Lyra. Help me out."

"Roger, Captain!"

With Lyra’s guidance, Gideon cut through alleys, leaping over fallen stone and slipping between broken walls until he reached another main road.

Success! He emerged onto the street leading to the west gate rally point. But his eyes sharpened: more Lizardmen spotted him.

BANG!

Without hesitation, Gideon squeezed the trigger, sending 5.56 rounds into their bodies. Their frames were too big to fall from one hit. It took five to seven rounds to bring each one down.

"Hit their eyes! That’s their biggest weakness," Lady Siver warned.

Eyes?

Gideon shifted his aim to their heads, firing into their eyes. She was right—the bullets destroyed the tissue inside, dropping them dead.

"It’s like fighting zombies, only with thick scales!"

"Avoid contact. Meet Luke at Point Bravo," Lena ordered.

"Copy!"

Gideon kept moving, taking advantage of their weakness. At times he pulled the pin on a flashbang or smoke grenade, blinding them further. It worked.

Up ahead, Luke was already at the west gate, rifle raised, targeting the Lizardmen chasing Gideon.

"Keep moving. I’m covering!" Luke called. Gideon grunted in reply.

Soon enough, Gideon broke free of the ruins, sprinting with Luke into the swampy forest. The Lizardmen stopped chasing, their sewers already flooded by river water that pushed them out of their lair.

Swept away by the current, they clawed for the riverbanks. But that became the Lamia’s task. Lady Siver saw the chance and ordered her people to ready their spears.

"Kill them when they reach land!" Siver commanded, and her people obeyed.

Lena stood and walked to the riverbank, Lyra doing the same after recalling her drones from the ruins. The two women helped the Lamia strike down the Lizardmen trying to escape.

"This is insane, we’re killing them all," Lena muttered.

"If we don’t, they’ll do the same to the Lamia," Gideon answered.

"We have to choose who survives and who dies. The Lamia are better than the Lizardmen," Gideon added.

"Mission over!"