Yelena covered her mouth, forcing herself not to make a sound.
The inspection captain pulled his knife free, wiped the blood off on the dead man's clothes, then swept his gaze over the rest of the villagers.
"Next."
There was no reason, no real intent to keep questioning them. It was as if he was simply venting his rage on them.
And so the killing began.
Yelena watched as they dragged people out one by one and stabbed them to death, one after another.
Some cried and begged for mercy. Some tried to run, only to be caught and stabbed down. Blood stained the snow at the village entrance red, and bodies began piling up in a chaotic heap.
She searched desperately for a chance to warn the others, but several pairs of eyes kept sweeping in her direction from time to time. She didn't dare move.
She knew that if she rushed out now, she would only be throwing her own life away. There were more than ten inspectors, armed with blades and crossbows. She was only a girl in her early teens, without even a proper weapon.
But she couldn't run, either.
If she ran, what would happen to the guerrillas?
They were still in the village, trading for supplies. If the inspectors found them—
At that moment, an angry roar shattered the suffocating massacre.
Yelena turned and saw Captain Yulievich charging out from a wooden house, weapon raised as he rushed the inspection squad. Several guerrillas were following behind him.
They had been discovered.
The fight erupted suddenly—and ended just as quickly.
The guerrillas were too few in number. They had only come to exchange supplies, their weapons were poor, and they were forced into battle without preparation.
The inspectors took casualties too, but they regained control of the situation almost immediately and began pressing back.
Yelena saw Yulievich fall.
She saw the guerrillas behind him fall one after another.
She saw the few elderly villagers who had tried to resist stabbed down where they stood.
Blood.
There was blood everywhere.
And she herself remained crouched behind the pile of junk, unable to do anything.
Fear. Rage. Despair.
And, most of all, crushing helplessness.
Yelena bit her lip so hard it nearly broke. Tears streamed down her face and froze there, but she didn't even notice.
And then, at that moment, a voice spoke inside her mind.
"Do you need power? I can help you…"
Yelena jerked her head downward.
That black thing was still there, right at her feet. A thin tendril had stretched out and was lightly touching her ankle.
"Do you want to save them?"
Yelena's pupils contracted.
It… could talk?
Then she looked back toward the village entrance.
The inspectors were still slaughtering people. The screams of the villagers had not stopped. Almost none of the guerrillas were left standing.
And she could do nothing.
"What… what can I do?" she asked in her heart.
"Let go of your resistance. We merge."
"I can help you."
That voice was hoarse, but calm in a way that made her feel strangely at ease.
"What price do I have to pay?"
Yelena did not have Wis'adel's level of wariness.
On the frozen soil of Ursus, everything had to be obtained through exchange. She knew there was no such thing as a free meal in this world, and she knew that help offered at a moment like this always came with a price.
"Everything you have."
The voice remained steady, but Yelena's whole body tightened.
Of course.
She had seen too many opportunistic bargains in her life. She already knew how this worked. When people had you at your most desperate, they would seize the thing you needed most and demand everything, gnawing down to the bone if they could.
But now—
Another scream rang out. Only two guerrillas were left, both of them boys barely older than she was.
Yelena closed her eyes.
"Fine."
"Do it."
She let go of her resistance. Her body stopped trembling, as though she were calmly accepting a fate she had long known was coming.
The black substance surged up at once, crawling along her calves and swallowing her gaunt body whole.
Warmth.
That was Yelena's first sensation.
The frozen wilderness of Ursus had never felt this warm before.
The black substance clung to her skin like a thick quilt wrapped around her, shutting the howling cold out completely.
Then she felt something take control of her body, while she herself seemed to sink into the role of a spectator, watching her own body hop twice in place.
"Hm? As a rabbit, you don't even get any enhancement to jumping ability?"
The voice coming from her mouth now sounded completely different from before, with a trace of frivolity in it.
Yelena's consciousness sank deeper, watching the being that had taken over her body.
She was tense.
And somehow, expectant.
Expectant that after taking everything from her, it would at least keep its promise and fulfill her final wish.
She had even prepared herself to be deceived.
She had no other choice.
It stretched her body a little, then looked toward the village entrance.
The inspection captain had just stabbed another young guerrilla to death and was wiping the blood off his blade.
"Hey. You animals over there."
Using Yelena's voice, it called out lazily.
"Why don't you hurry over here and kneel before your lord?"
The captain snapped his head up.
He saw a Cautus girl standing up from behind the pile of junk.
Small. Starved-looking. Wrapped in a bizarre, skin-tight suit so thin it should have been impossible to survive in it on this frozen plain. And yet she stood there expressionless, as if she could not feel the cold at all.
The captain was only surprised for an instant before savagery washed the thought away, and a cruel grin spread across his face.
"So there's another one who wants to die!"
His only answer was the figure rushing across the snow toward him at terrifying speed—and the fist swinging toward his chest.
The black fist buried itself in his torso.
He opened his mouth, blood spilling from the corners, and then his body collapsed to the ground.
The remaining inspectors froze.
"Damn it! The captain's down!"
"Kill her! Don't let her get away!"
Then they came to their senses, grabbed their weapons, and rushed toward the girl.
"So you're not running away. You're actually coming toward me?"
'Yelena' smiled.
"Good. I needed to loosen up a little."
Her feet, wrapped in the symbiotic suit, stepped onto the thick snow without the slightest drag.
Through her own eyes, Yelena saw only her body weaving through the inspection squad. Her perspective shifted in sudden, dizzying bursts. Every movement was fast as the wind. Every strike landed on a vital point. Every punch carried crushing force.
Three minutes later—
The last inspector fell.
You Yi dusted off his hands and began walking toward the stunned villagers and the two surviving guerrillas.
At that moment, Yelena spoke up nervously. "What are you going to do? The one who made the bargain with you was me. You can just take my life…"
You Yi let out a helpless laugh and cut her off.
"I haven't done anything yet, so relax. I was just joking earlier. Your life is perfectly fine."
As he spoke, he returned control of the body to her and said in her mind:
"My name is You Yi. From today on, the two of us share one life."
Yelena froze.
One life?
Sensing her confusion, You Yi explained, "We're in a symbiotic state now. That means the two of us are bound together. If you die, then this life of mine dies with you. So don't worry. I'm not going to let you die."
Yelena fell silent.
She lowered her head and looked at her body, now completely wrapped in that black substance. It was not thick, but it felt warm.
And not only was the cold gone—even her hunger had vanished.
More than that, there was a strange feeling in her heart.
Won't let me die…
That feeling was almost the same as when her foster father, Buldrokkas'tee, had rescued her from the mines years ago.
Yelena asked softly, "Why are you helping me?"
The voice in her mind answered lightly, "Because you helped me too. You shared your life with me, so I have a responsibility to help you in return."
Yelena was quiet for a moment.
"My name is Yelena."
It was her way of answering him.
Her way of accepting him.
-------
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