149 Battle And Fate


    ~Leo~


    The time had finallye, and I was very nervous. Sylvester tried to boost our morale by giving us


    a heartfelt speech, but I could not take my mind off that we might be outmatched tonight.


    All my life fighting, I had never gone to battle with fear of being beaten. This was indeed the first,


    and I hoped we would survive it.


    "Leo, You are takingmand," Sylvester said while we headed out.


    I nodded and felt like the pressure of the world was on my shoulders. Commanding seven hundred


    troops would take a lot of work.


    "Don''t worry, Leo, you have us," Alexei linked me.


    "You must return home to Amelia," y said to me.


    I was grateful for their consideration, but it did not alleviate my fear.


    They had control of two hundred and fifty out of the seven hundred and still had to wait for my


    orders, but the best part was we all had each other''s backs. Even though Alexei, y and Andrew


    had just joined our group, I knew they would not betray us. We were fighting the same cause.


    We headed out and did not move as a group. We were scattered, and I made sure our men were


    hidden. I did not want to alert the Stepanovs watching, and I did not want a confrontation


    immediately. A sneak attack to begin before the entire assault will serve us better.


    "Darts!" I linked all the men so those possessing the darts would know to use them now.


    We hid from view and watched the Stepanovs guarding the ce mysteriously drop to the ground.


    Those guarding the entrance to the theatre were the first to fall. I do not know what they put in the


    dart, but Amelia had told me it was lethal. The goal was to reduce them as much as possible so we


    would not fight too many people, which seemed to work.


    We remained unseen and waited for our men to shoot all the Stepanovs on the street. I knew there


    were three buildings in the vicinity the Stepanovs upied, and I expected they woulde out


    once they saw theirrades dropping like flies.


    They all fell, and soon the streets were empty, and our men stopped shooting abruptly.


    Satisfied with the performance, I linked everyone to advance towards the theatre. I nned to


    position our men nearby and take control of the ce.


    This way, the Stepanovs in the Theater will be trapped, and the ones in the other buildings won''t be


    able to attack confidently because we will have those in the theatre as hostages. We all wanted Yuri


    but were prepared to kill as many of them as possible to get the desired result.


    We secretly advanced towards the theatre with me leading. Our men that shot the darts did not join,


    and I wondered why. Was the Agk32 affecting ourmunication too?


    We still advanced but weren''t together, so it would look like something other than an attack


    formation.


    Everyone was waiting for me to raise my hand and clench my fist to prompt us to band together and


    take our positions in the rehearsed battle formation.


    Alexei was yet to inform his men to advance.


    We did not want them to know we would be attacking the theatre. We n to use them as backup


    fighters. The Agk32 would have to help for now.


    The street was eerie and very quiet.


    I looked around, waiting for people toe out of the surrounding buildings, but no one did. I knew


    three buildings in the vicinity had Stepanovs in them; it made us wonder why they had note out


    to defend theirrade and protect the theatre.


    "Something is wrong," I linked to everyone, telling them not to relinquish their positions.


    "What do you think is the matter?" Alexei linked me. I could tell that he could feel the oddity of the


    situation.


    I also felt a blockage between me and some of the men we had positioned in the vicinity. What was


    going on?


    "I think they know," y linked me. I was trying to hope otherwise, but it was beginning to seem like


    it. Had we walked into a trap?


    I was still thinking about it when people exited the theatre, ready for battle.


    It was as if they were waiting to see what we would do.


    How could they have willingly sacrificed their people just to deceive us?


    I stood in front with Sylvester beside me while the others were behind. None of our men were in


    sight, and I chose to keep it that way until I was sure what they were doing. I felt my connection to


    the men break, and I was worried. Something terrible had happened, and we might lose our entire


    fighting force.


    The fair-haired white-eyed men and women came out of the theatre ready for battle. They spread


    from one end of the building to another, soon forming a triangr formation with the point facing us.


    I was silent and afraid.


    They looked intimidating.


    These were not the same people we saw going into the theatre. Was there a back door or


    blindsight? Or did they arrive in disguise to keep us guessing? I did not know, but this did not seem


    promising. We would be in big trouble if they already knew of our ns.


    Their triangr formation opened in the middle, creating a clear view of the entrance to the theatre.


    I watched a man walk through slowly with a smile on his face.


    His hair was white, almost bleached, and his eyes looked utterly blind, but his focus let me know he


    could see clearly. He had a brown expensive trench coat on and lookedposed and rxed. I


    did not need anyone to tell me who he was.


    N?velDrama.Org is the owner.


    "Yuri," Andrew linked me, and I figured it out.


    "What an honour," He finally said, stopping in front.


    "Darts," I linked my men again, trying and hoping at least one or two of them were still safe and


    could help us take out Yuri from a distance because I wasn''t nning to fight fair, but none was


    shot.


    "Shoot him and his people now," I linked the men, but there was silence. What was going on? I


    became worried.


    " Alpha, the Northern soldiers have been captured, and we do not have darts," an eastern warrior


    linked me, and I realised what had happened. More than half of our force was gone if the northern


    warriors had been made.


    I could not include the Stepanov warriors from the ten families because I did not know if they would


    fight on our side or double-cross us.


    "Volkovs, along with the treacherous Stepanovs, decided to join the party," Yuri said with a big grin.


    His voice snapped me out of my deep thoughts.


    "What is happening, Leo, have them shoot them down with darts," Sylvester linked me. I could feel


    his nervousness too. We were all afraid.


    I linked everyone to inform them about our captured northern warriors, and I could feel their


    apprehension. The Agk32 heightened senses; this was a terrible time to feel everyone''s anxiety.


    I could understand why it was better if it doused the Alpha abilities. Unfortunately, my genes were


    immune.


    "You all saved me the trouble of attacking you at the estate, well, not really, as some of my men are


    on their way there. I am sure your wives won''t be a problem. Unlike Dimitri, I won''t be sloppy and let


    some of them escape," He said and startedughing.


    I tensed up a bit but tried to hide it. We had expected it, and I knew his men would meet a brutal


    force at the Estate.


    Yuri walked forward slowly with a big smile I hoped to wipe off his face.


    "I knew Ighor was with you, and he was being monitored," he said,ughing.


    "He was meant to go to Grizlo, not Cains. He was meant to meet Ilya there so they could head to


    Greenville to prepare for my coronation, but when he called me with Cain''s number, I knew he had


    been caught.


    He did not need to say anything, you all made it easy, so I decided to use him to lure you all here,


    making you all believe you have the surprise element," He said,ughing.


    "I doubt that, Yuri; look at the dead men on the floor," Sylvester said, sounding calm, and Yuri


    laughed.


    "You think I would waste my bloodline like this?" he asked and went to one of the corpses on the


    floor. There was a dart stuck to his neck. His eyes were blue, and I knew what had happened before


    Yuri spoke.


    We could see their hair colour from afar but not their eye colour, and even if we saw it at close


    range, we would believe it was contact lenses. I dreaded what he would say, but I already knew it.


    "These aren''t Stepanovs. Just people from families, your father and grandfather offended. Honestly,


    your father gave me more members than anticipated when he decided to forcefully im the West.


    A lot of the noble families came for help. Some were fugitives from the north," He said, turning the


    corpse face down with his leg.


    "May their souls rest in peace they had served their purpose," He said, and I had nothing to say.


    The man was genuinely heartless. To think he had set the poor people up as decoys was


    disheartening.


    "Also, do not bother linking your men. We caught the ones with the darts," he said; I already knew


    that.


    I wondered if they were dead or if they had surrendered. I could feel some of them, meaning they


    were still alive.


    "Do you not fight your captors," I linked them, hoping to get through. The AgK32 might help them,


    but I did not know the extent of their condition. I felt like a failure.


    As much as we wanted to win this, every life mattered.


    "Don''t you have anything to say, Volkov?" Yuri asked Sylvester, and Sylvester was silent. We did not


    come with the mindset that Yuri would outsmart us.


    "We all know how this will go, so anyst words?" Yuri asked, and I could not believe this bastard.


    As much as I thought of my promises toe home to Amelia, I could not live with myself if I knew


    we did not try. We still had some men around. About a hundred and fifty without darts and,


    hopefully, Alexei''s men too.


    We had a chance.


    Looking at the formation in front of the theatre, there were almost a hundred people, but I knew


    there were Stepanovs in other buildings, hiding about the ce and maybe the theatre too. We


    were outnumbered and maybe outmatched, but I was still hopeful.


    "We can''t head to the north now to save our mates; we just have to hope they survive. We need to


    do whatever it takes to end this bastard, or we will lose everything," Sylvester linked us.


    His link was weak, but it carried to those of us close to him. I could feel the difficulty in the


    connection. The Agk32 had affected him in that department. Realising the weight of the coordination


    fell on me, I braced myself.


    "We will be going in, and we will be unapologetic about it," I finally linked everyone, including the


    warriors, and I could feel all our resolves. I prayed to the goddess that we survive today and


    conquer this bastard, or this will be ourst stand together.


    "Alexei, have your men advance to this area; there will be a blood bath. Hopefully, they are on our


    side, or we will have created more enemies to put down," I linked Alexei, and he agreed with me. I


    let him do his thing while I focused on Yuri.


    The man had a broad grin on his face. I expected them to pump silver into the air, but they didn''t-


    instead he took off his clothes in front of us and shifted partially to a white wolf. He growled at us,


    and the others copied him.