The wizards and Defense Bureau agents dispatched to the mansion where the Third Prince had been imprisoned found the ce in ruins, bearing signs of an intense battle.


    It seemed that the subus ally who had helped Third Prince escape had been captured by the Dark Wizards and had most likely met a tragic end.


    Outraged, the Third Prince fully cooperated with the efforts to track down the Subus Queen. He revealed everything he knew and even willingly submitted to a full-body inspection.


    Through a meticulous investigation led by the Illusion Magix advisor, codenamed『Crazy Wizard』, the Defense Bureau obtained highly valuable intelligence.


    “There’s a massive gate linked to the 『Nest』located on the Western Imperial estate of Elmest.”


    “Wasn’t the entrance to the 『Nest』inside the Third Prince’s mind?”


    “Yes, but the transmission speed and capacity are limited?? basically, it’s a narrow passageway, and it can only allow a single subus to pass through about once a week.”


    Since only a few subi needed to infiltrate the Academy, this narrow gateway had been sufficient. The limited bandwidth also slowed potential attacks, making it easier to defend.


    This limitation had served as a protective measure for the subus faction, ensuring they wouldn’t suffer major losses even if the Third Prince were captured. Normally, extracting critical information through this narrow passageway would have been impossible, but.


    Crazy Wizard had outmaneuvered them. He used the information capacity of one subus to pinpoint the location of therger gate.


    “A giant gate??why would they build such a thing? Do you have any idea, Senior?”


    “Subi are strange creatures that shift between the realms of information and reality. But this transition isn’t instant, like flipping a switch. Pink-Haired Lesbian probably understands this??there’s a dy, and they’re vulnerable during the shift.”


    “I was asking my Senior but…”


    It’s like pulling out a USB mid-transfer and corrupting the data, Crazy Wizard responded with a strange iprehensible analogy.


    That was why, for subi living in the information-based world of the 『Nest』 , a well-constructed passage was necessary to safely cross into reality.


    Moreover, such a gateway would be required to transport physical objects back into the 『Nest』.


    “It would take an entire day to transmit a person’s soul through the narrow entrance. The subus must fragment and extract the essence to bring it to the 『Nest』, which means they would have an entrance for that.”


    “Either way, it’s an important facility.”


    “Just destroying it would cripple them. It’s like sealing the entrance to a beehive—they’d take years to make another way out.”


    With this intelligence, Second Prince Irid ordered the Defense Bureau’s paramilitary unit, the 『Extermination Squad』, to the Elmest estate. Their mission: close the massive gate.


    As part of the operation, a veteran field agent, renowned for her strong resistance to charm and outstanding performance in anti-subus missions, was reassigned to the 『Extermination Squad』


    Thus began 『Operation Close Nest Entrance』.


    ===============================================================


    Yuna and I stood by the Academy’s South Gate to see Pink-Haired Lesbian off. Yuna sucked on a lollipop she’d bought from a nearby street vendor, but despite the sugar going in, she still looked downcast.


    I probably looked just like Yuna at that moment—depressed, as if a storm cloud was hovering over me.


    The weather matched our mood—gloomy.


    It felt different from when the two of them left to assist Roderus. This time, there was no telling when Pink-Haired Lesbian would return, and??.


    We had offered to go with her, but she firmly refused. Yuna and I were both a little hurt. Wouldn’t it have been better if we all went together?


    She exined that 『Operation Close Nest Entrance』was a straightforward mission and didn’t involve any direct confrontation with the Subus Queen. She promised to ask for help if things got dangerous, but not yet.


    Despite her reasoning, I had a feeling that wasn’t the whole truth. It seemed more like?? she didn’t want us to see something. That was the kind of emotion.


    See what?


    I couldn’t say. What were we, anyway? We knew each other’s measurements, scents, probably knew more about each other than what we didn’t.


    ck. ck.


    The sound of heels echoed. I turned toward it, ready to crack a joke.


    “????.”


    A pitch-ck uniform.


    Pink-Haired Lesbian?? no, Yuri Lanster. She was dressed in apletely ck uniform, with no decorations. Her shirt, her gloves—everything was ck.


    She wasn’t wearing the tight, form-fitting suit. This uniform was loose, designed for freedom of movement—more practical than stylish.


    And her face. Her face was?? different from her usual nk expression. Those calm yellow eyes now looked like they were carrying the quiet menace of a wolf eyeing an injured deer.


    I couldn’t find the words.


    I had never imagined she’d look so good in that uniform. Right now, she looked like someone who could end lives without hesitation. I could almost smell blood.


    She spoke lightly. But her voice was different. It was sharp.


    “Have you been waiting?”


    “Ah, eueung??. We waited! To say goodbye?? uh, quick, you say something??!”


    Yuna iled her arms, pping my thigh in a panic. She also seemed panicked by this unfamiliar side of Yuri.


    Desperately, I blurted out a joke.


    “You look good, Pink-Haired Lesbian. Is this your ‘Lone Wolf’ mode?”


    “Thank you for thepliment.”


    “????.”


    I’d expected her to fire back, maybe with a yful retort, or something like, Are you mydy of fantasy?


    But Yuri Lanster didn’t take the bait.


    H. Yuna started to hup. She seemed unsettled by Yuri’s strangely cold tone. I wished I could hup too.


    Then Yuri Lanster drew a clear line.


    “Now, I’ll get going.”


    “??Ah, okay.”


    Her words were sharp. I abandoned the idea of asking her to stay—there was no point in saying something like, Don’t go, Pink-Haired Lesbian, or suggesting onest meal together.


    It felt like she already knew everything I wanted to say, and cut me off on purpose.


    She walked past us without looking back. All Yuna and I could do was stand there and watch her leave.


    But then.


    V


    Without turning around, Yuri raised a peace sign, and casually waved it. Only then did the tension break, and Yuna and I rxed, our shoulders slumping in relief.


    We bid farewell to her retreating figure, after ridiculously scaring us.


    “??Come back soon, Pink-Haired Lesbian. We’ll be waiting.”


    “Y-yeah! If you don’te back, I might go looking for you??!!”


    Swing Swing.


    Her ponytail swayed gently.


    Her pink hair, flickering like a candle me, grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared.


    Even long after she vanished from sight, I found myself staring at the spot where she had stood, my heart feeling strangely hollow. Maybe I really should have hidden that damn ck uniform…


    Drip, Drip


    “Ah, it’s raining.”


    “??Of course. On a day like this.”


    A raindropnded on my nose. For a second, I wondered if I had cried, but thankfully, it was just the rain. Dark clouds were rolling in from the west.


    Are you crying for me, dear sky?


    If so, I wanted to tell the sky it didn’t need to. It wasn’t that sad. It wasn’t like we’d be apart forever. Right? She was definitelying back.


    Yeah, I needed to stay positive. Just like The Little Prince^{<button>1</button>} said—waiting would fill me with a sense of excitement, and the joy of reunion would be even greater.


    So, I decided to think of this sadness as happiness in disguise.


    ===============================================================


    There are only two kinds of people truly prepared to face death.


    Those burdened with a mission heavier than death itself, or those for whom life feels lighter than death. Since it was rare to find people brave enough to risk their lives even while fully understanding the value of life, thetter group tends to be far moremon.


    And the 『Extermination Squad』 was made up entirely of people who found their own lives utterly meaningless.


    They had lost everything. No matter how long they continued to live, they saw no hope of finding happiness. So instead, they chose to dedicate their lives to revenge. They wanted to throw away their lives to strangle the neck of the one who had taken everything from them.


    That was why they were able to gamble with their lives so easily. That was why they could walk into the jaws of death without a second thought.


    They didn’t care whether they died today or tomorrow. In this ce where only such broken souls gathered, a unique bond formed—a sense of belonging.


    A bond shared by those living wretched lives.


    That was why?? someone who had left the『Extermination Squad』, only to return now was…


    Someone who had once lived fully, only toe back and im to be hurt as well, joining the ranks of the 『Extermination Squad』 again? He hated her. He could never ept her as arade. The boy thought it that way.


    He vented his frustration to his fellow squad members.


    “Leaving the Extermination Squad means you gave up the will to die! And now you’reing back? How does that even make sense?!”


    “Hey, kid. I’m warning?? no, giving you some advice. Don’t mess with Pink-Haired Lanster.”


    The one-eyed old man of the Extermination Squad muttered this while staring into the campfire. But the boy, blinded by his anger, ignored the wisdom of someone who remembered the past.


    “Sure, I get it. I know she was a big deal back in the day. I understand she has to be part of this mission. But she could’ve just joined as a regr agent instead ofing back as an Extermination Squad member! Why are we letting a coward who ran back to her life??e back?!”


    To the boy, it felt like she was tarnishing the name of the Extermination Squad.


    Rumor had it that, during her time as a Defense Bureau Field Agent, she had been flirting with other women.


    And now, she was returning to the Extermination Squad with that kind of attitude?


    He couldn’t ept it. It felt wrong. How could someone who had tasted happiness, someone who had held joy in her hands, now im the title of the Extermination Squad, his only source of pride?


    Jealousy boiled in his mind. Then, he wrapped that jealousy in a shroud of honor. The boy stood up, ready to confront her.


    Yuri Lanster sat silently on a tree stump with her head lowered.


    For some reason, the air around her felt heavy. A chill ran down the boy’s spine before he even realized it. His body instinctively sensed danger, as if warning him—don’t do it. Don’t poke this ho’s nest.


    But his immature anger overpowered his instincts, and he finally stood in front of her, releasing all the rage he had bottled up.


    “??Get out of Extermination Squad!”


    “????.”


    If she asked why, he was ready to list every one of her faults. Since she had left like a coward, he was going to demand that she should stay gone for good.


    But she silently stood up without uttering a word.


    “G-get out??!! Y-you have no, no right! Someone like you, who ran away to cling to life, has no ce here! This is the Extermination Squad! It’s not for people who’ve enjoyed happiness??!!”


    ‘Right? I’m not wrong, am I?’


    The boy looked around, seeking validation from the others. Some of the newer recruits nodded, sharing in his anger.


    But the veterans, the ones who remembered Yuri Lanster?? looked at the boy with pity. They were looking at him as if he was a pathetic person..


    ‘Why?’


    The answer came, not in words, but physically.


    Grab.


    “??Kek?!”


    He was grabbed by the throat in an instant, his feet lifted off the ground. The force of her grip tightened as his own weight pressed down, cutting off his breath. He gasped, struggling desperately for air.


    Was she going to overpower him? Absolutely. He knew she had reached Metamorphosis. But this wasn’t about raw strength. He wasn’t going to submit??!


    That was what the boy told himself, ring at her with defiance. However, he had severely miscalcted.


    Wham!


    It felt like a shbang detonated inside his skull. A fist. He was hit by a fist, and it felt like a siege hammer smashing into his face. His cheek split open, and his teeth shattered.


    ‘I will not yield to this violence.’


    Smack! Wham!


    Her fists kepting. He was thrown to the ground, and a dress shoe mmed into him. Blood spurted and bones cracked. The boy tried to fight back, his hand reaching for the dagger to kill her. But it was useless.


    Skill, strength—nothing was enough.


    He was being crushed, his body literally turning to mush. Yet her blows did not slow. They came methodically, with mechanical precision, like a machine with no intention of stopping.


    In his agony, a single thought flickered through his mind. ‘Why?? won’t she stop? At this rate, I’m going to die. I will die???’


    Through swollen eyes, he peered up at the source of his suffering. Cold yellow eyes gleamed in the darkness.


    Only then did the boy finally understand.


    The 『Extermination Squad』 wasn’t just about throwing away life.


    Life no longer mattered── so they could do anything. That was the important part.


    To Yuri Lanster, he was simply an obstacle. His outbursts could undermine her position within the squad, jeopardizing the sess of the mission. Therefore, he had to be eliminated.


    She didn’t hesitate to beat him to death.


    The usations that she was a spy for the Subi, that she was useless with her lewd and slow body, that she wouldn’t be capable of anything with just sharpened martial arts skill??.


    All those words, she silenced with her fists. There was no trace ofpassion.


    Though she had been away from the squad until now──


    After deserting the Extermination Squad with C’s help, she spent her days doing odd jobs, joking with others, hanging out with the Wizard. But every single moment, her simmering hatred never truly left her.


    Re-adapting was easy. All she had to do was let that rage rise back to the surface.


    “S-sp?? spare m-m-??.”


    Only after his faint, broken plea did her fistsfinally stop.


    The boy understood then. The reason her violence had stopped wasn’t due to mercy?? it was because she calcted it was more useful to keep another meatshield.


    Yuri Lanster wiped her bloodied hands on the boy’s uniform, and then gave hermand.


    “Seris.”


    “Yes, Senior!”


    “Clean this up.”


    “Understood! I’ll move him to the medical unit. If he’s useless, I’ll leave him behind!”


    With a grin teetering on euphoria, Seris eagerly began cleaning up the blood-soaked mess. She had returned. The senior she had worshiped for so long was back atst.


    Around them, the other members of the Extermination Squad began to grin, their faces bright with weing smiles.


    She hadn’t changed. She hadn’t disappeared.


    The Mad Dog of the Extermination Squad had returned.