“Whoosh—!”
The sound of a crossbow bolt tearing through the air was especially crisp in the underground chamber.
A minor gang leader, who had just been rallying his men to break through the defensive line, dropped instantly.
The bolt had struck true, sinking into his eye socket and killing him on the spot.
Shadow—Luca—lowered his crossbow expressionlessly, skillfully reloading it.
That was the sixth core member he’d taken down tonight as they tried to escape through the Emergency Escape Passage.
This precise and deadly Marksman Unit strike shattered the last trace of hope among the remaining enemies.
Terrified, they screamed and gave up their assault, fleeing back the way they’d come, scrambling and crawling.
They’d rather face the unknown terror behind them than challenge the impregnable line, held by the elite of the Lily Guardians and the core of Dawn’s Children.
“Wow! Nice shot, Luca!” A bright, cheerful voice rang out behind him.
Immediately, a warm, soft body hugged him from behind. The girl’s unique, faint fragrance wafted against his ear with each breath.
Luca could even feel two soft, elastic mounds pressing into his back.
Nightingale—Eleanor—clung to him without the slightest restraint.
Luca’s body tensed up. He jerked his head around and glared at Eleanor with those lifeless eyes of his.
His gaze made his dissatisfaction and questioning clear: “I’m not buying any of your tricks! What do you want?”
Eleanor didn’t care in the slightest about his look—sharp enough to kill.
She shrugged playfully, her voice sweet and soft: “Aiya~ don’t be so fierce! I’m just a weak girl, you know, can’t fight those vicious bad guys. Of course I have to rely on the reliable Sir Luca to protect me~”
Luca’s eyes involuntarily flicked to a corpse lying nearby, its throat neatly slit and eyes still wide open in death—a poor soul Eleanor had instantly dispatched a few minutes earlier with a dagger hidden up her sleeve.
He fell into speechless silence.
Eleanor was not only Marianne’s capable subordinate, helping her maintain practical control of the Intelligence Division, but also her personally taught student.
She had mastered Marianne’s techniques of stealth and assassination, even surpassing her teacher—swift and ruthless in every move.
In contrast, Luca excelled at academic subjects, but when it came to skills demanding physical talent and endless practice, he lagged far behind.
Allen had noticed Luca’s troubles, and had once patted him on the shoulder with a meaningful smile: “A man must know his strengths and weaknesses, and how to use the right tools.”
And so, Allen personally taught Luca how to use the “brute force” crossbow for precise sniping, and introduced him to the concept of the “Sniper”—a soldier class of the future.
Allen’s theory was simple: the core of any Feudal Army (including gangs like the Thieves’ Guild) was a handful of elite core members.
The fighting strength, command, and morale of the entire force revolved around these Knights, Noble Officers, Elite Retainers, or gang Headmen.
If these core members were systematically eliminated, the entire army would lose its brain and backbone, and collapse instantly.
And the Sniper’s mission was to pick off these high-value, high-threat elite core members.
Allen even dreamed ahead: one day, when he could make firearms and obtain special bullets made from the Saint’s Relic, he’d create a Sniper force specifically designed to counter Crestbearers.
That way, even when his regular army faced those superhuman Crestbearers, they wouldn’t be helplessly slaughtered without a fight.
Allen’s thinking was undoubtedly correct. Luca’s performance tonight was living proof.
Each time he took down a Headman, the enemies in that sector visibly lost their will to resist.
Of course, Worner’s “special channels” had played a crucial role too.
In this age of cold weapons, crossbows were strictly regulated contraband.
The crime of privately possessing one was severe—anyone daring to smuggle them was surely mad or desperate.
Naturally, the price reflected the “fortune favors the bold” principle of the black market.
But Allen had money to spare. He approved the extortionate smuggling price without even blinking.
After all, this investment would soon pay off tenfold from the Thieves’ Guild’s pockets.
Yet at this moment, what really made Luca feel like a fishbone was stuck in his throat—the thing that unsettled him far more than the battle’s pressure—was Nightingale Eleanor, clinging to him and using her body to tempt him.
Luca’s desires, and even half his tongue, had long since been brutally taken from him by the Thieves’ Guild.
He was no longer “whole.” The only thing that remained intact was his heart—hardened and renewed by Allen’s guidance and the doctrine of Dawn’s Children.
So, even though Eleanor had shed her old disguise and was now a lively, beautiful young girl, Luca clearly saw through her real purpose in sticking close—she wanted to “topple” him, or rather, draw him into her faction.
Yes, these clever kids, hardened by hardship, had already sensed the immense potential and budding power structure within Dawn’s Children.
Luca was the “Guardian” Allen intended to raise.
It was one of the four key roles of the future Committee of the Highest.
In theory, he followed Torchbearer Marianne’s orders, but in reality, he answered directly to the hidden supreme leader—Child of the Dawn, Allen.
His duties were to manage discipline, internal security, and armed forces—a position of great authority.
Nightingale Eleanor, meanwhile, was the real executor of the Intelligence Division. Her direct superior was Marianne; she was Marianne’s closest and most trusted confidant.
These two teenagers had immediately spotted a key issue—the Guardian and the Intelligence Division naturally overlapped in function and had inherent potential for conflict!
Clearly, this was Allen’s deliberate design—a check and balance, to prevent any one department (especially the intelligence agency) from swelling beyond control and endangering the organization.
The tension between Guardian and Intelligence Division was much like the relationship between the Interior Ministry and the KGB in a certain famous revolutionary regime—the former focused on internal purges and discipline, the latter on external intelligence and infiltration.
They were destined to face fierce and complex power struggles in the future.
And deeper contradictions lurked beneath the surface.
As a woman, Eleanor knew well the complex and burning “desire” her boss Marianne harbored for Allen.
It was both private longing and a controlling urge driven by power.
Everyone at the core of Dawn’s Children knew, even if unspoken: the Torchbearer was always yearning to “control” that radiant leader.
Allen fancied himself a hands-off boss, leaving everything to Marianne—but in reality, he participated in every detail of Dawn’s Children’s construction, his involvement surpassing even hers.
This “retired emperor” couldn’t help but overstep his own rules, undermining his own system.
Of course, it was perhaps necessary in the organization’s infancy.
As Allen’s trusted follower, Luca’s position was thus both subtle and awkward.
Marianne would never like Allen’s “eyes” watching her, and Luca had to remain vigilant toward the Torchbearer.
Who could guarantee that the leader’s closest friend and strongest supporter would never betray him?
Allen may have entrusted Luca with the Guardian’s role precisely because he sensed the dangers in Marianne’s intense urge for control.
A new organization is inevitably born with fine cracks. For now, it was nothing—but in the future?
All the core members sensed that victory was certain. But in the new world after that victory… would even more terrifying monsters be born?
Eleanor was trying to use her feminine wiles to “control” the future Guardian—trying to win him over to her (and thus Marianne’s) camp.
But Luca saw through her, and only felt deep fear and rejection.
Is this the weight and temptation that comes from standing at the edge of a power vortex?
The daily trials their leader Allen faced must be a thousand times harsher than this.
How much resolve must he possess to remain himself?
As Allen’s trusted Guardian, Luca had to do no less.
He was not alone, though. He had a natural ally—Finn.
Finn was the first ex-Wild Dog Gang member Allen had recruited, the crucial tool in merging and transforming the Wild Dog Gang into Dawn’s Children.
Finn was likely to become the Committee of the Highest’s future “Preacher,” in charge of ideology and member education.
This role complemented the Guardian’s focus on discipline and security—natural allies.
Together, they would form the strongest shield within Dawn’s Children, a bulwark no plot against organizational purity or Allen’s leadership could ever breach!
Everyone in Dawn’s Children had witnessed Marianne’s obsessive, possessive love for Allen, and Allen’s outward gentleness yet unyielding distance—a silent lesson: revolutionary organizations must not mix personal feelings with their mission, or disaster would follow!
So Luca resolved: from now on, he would abandon all personal feelings and devote himself wholly to the revolution.
He had already lost the ability to speak clearly; love was forever out of reach.
So let him be the silent, unwavering Guardian!
“No matter the winds and waves, I stroll as if in a quiet garden.”
Allen had taught them this line from a great figure of a distant age, demanding that everyone remember it.
“We, Dawn’s Children, must have that spirit and courage!”
Allen’s guidance had transformed these children’s inner worlds.
Eleanor realized that Luca’s heart was now as solid as rock; he was no longer that sensitive, lonely outcast from the Wild Dog Gang.
She gave up, seeing there was no use tempting him.
She stepped back a few paces, gaze drifting toward Hugo, still battling the cultists in the distance.
Suddenly, she said softly, with rare sincerity: “To be honest, I’m actually pretty scared of myself.”
“…W…why?” Luca forced out, his words slurred and awkward.
Eleanor sighed, her tone confused: “I used to be just another ordinary bottom-tier girl, struggling to survive, unable to see the future. But after Leader Allen and Teacher Marianne appeared, I suddenly found myself standing where I might one day hold tremendous power.”
“Can I really handle it? Leader Allen keeps warning us about ‘corruption’… can I really avoid it? I’m afraid I can’t. I have too many desires inside. I hate this twisted world, and I can’t be as loving and bright as Leader Allen…”
“This darkness inside me will destroy me one day.”
She paused, voice sinking lower: “But… even so, I think that’s fine. I probably won’t have a happy ending. But compared to a life of despair with no sunrise in sight, I’d rather choose this painful, but fiercely burning, road through the darkness.”
“…”
Luca was silent.
Wasn’t he the same?
When he shot those Thieves’ Guild members—some of whom may have torn out his tongue—he did feel the thrill of vengeance.
He hated this world that had stolen his chance to be “normal” more than anyone.
That’s why he would give everything, just to witness the downfall of the old world with his own eyes.
Perhaps Leader Allen had seen the ferocity and resolve deep inside him, and that’s why he’d chosen him.
The leader… at heart, he was an incredibly gentle person.
Though he often acted cruel and cold, he cared about every member of Dawn’s Children more than anyone else.
He was too gentle… which was why Marianne’s infatuation with him was all but inevitable.
If Marianne wasn’t guarding him like a wild beast with its prey, few other girls (or boys?) in Dawn’s Children could resist the leader’s unintentional gentleness and deadly charm.
Eleanor herself had once felt a fleeting flutter for Allen. But that was all.
Marianne, already a rare beauty at fourteen, would surely become a stunning, peerless beauty in a few more years.
Eleanor had no confidence to compete, so she’d long ago switched tactics—becoming Marianne’s confidante and best friend, supporting her completely.
Children’s worlds were never as simple as adults imagined.
On the contrary, these prematurely hardened kids, forged by suffering, were often more realistic—even more terrifying—than adults.
Allen, a transmigrator from another world, perhaps still hadn’t fully realized: in this brutal old world, there were no true “children,” only “little adults” forced to grow up too fast.
That was the most tragic and cruel reality of all.
Allen’s understanding of this world’s cruelty may not yet be complete. So, he might not have realized he was inadvertently committing another kind of “sin.”
The people who had united for a common dream as Dawn’s Children would, like every revolutionary organization in history, inevitably turn to internal strife and accusation.
That day was still far off, but the seeds of division were being quietly planted, right now.
Cliques and factions… how could they not exist?
Allen knew this, but could do nothing.
After all, he was out to save the world. He didn’t have the energy to micromanage every internal conflict.
He could not be perfect. He could only accept these destined tragedies, accept the cycles of history.
To save humanity, too much had to be sacrificed. Compared to that, these things may be nothing.
As the children of Dawn’s Children grew in understanding, they came to share Allen’s hidden pain, and gradually learned what it meant to “endure for the nation.”
Back in the Wild Dog Gang, there was no unity—only dislike and suspicion.
It was Allen who taught them that unity was not for unity’s sake, but a necessary compromise and alliance for a greater goal.
In the future, they would have to spend many long years together.
“…Cheer… up…” Luca said with great effort, each word coming slowly, “We… will… work hard… together.”
Eleanor glanced at Luca in surprise, then gave him a genuine, slightly complicated smile:
“Yeah! It’s a promise! Maybe one day, we’ll hate each other and fight… but for now, let’s work together. The future can worry about itself. Today, we just need to take vengeance for our past suffering!”
Around them, the core members of Dawn’s Children they had handpicked and led had been quietly listening.
They all understood the potential conflicts that might lie ahead for the two, but after hearing Eleanor’s heartfelt words, they felt a sense of relief—and their thirst for vengeance burned hotter than ever.
“That bastard I stabbed to death earlier… he once broke my brother’s leg.”
“Haha, I just saw an old ‘friend’! That guy used to curse us as damned wild dogs… And look at him now? That Crestbearer burned him to a crisp with a wave—less than a dog!”
“I got one! Those bastards all deserve to die!”
“Revenge! Revenge! Wipe them all out!”
“Long live the Leader! Kill them!”