Chapter 619: The Eyes That Never Blink ( 619 )
anwhile, in the third dwarven stronghold.
The afternoon sun cast long shadows across the quiet living room.
Inside the house Javier had secured for them, everything was peaceful.
Liana sat on a simple chair near the window, her posture straight, her eyes unfocused as she gazed outside. Her arms were folded tightly, as if trying to hold herself together.
“I miss young master…” she whispered.
Across from her, Gloria sat with a half-finished garnt in her hands. She had been knitting silently for a while now, the thread moving through her fingers automatically—but her focus was gone.
“… too,” she replied softly.
At the far end of the room, Felicia lay stretched out on a cushioned couch.
“…It feels strange without him here.”
The silence that followed wasn’t heavy. It was… lonely.
Liana’s fingers tightened slightly around her arm.
Gloria continued knitting, slower than before.
Felicia closed her eyes and spoke softly.
“…He better co back soon.”
Once again, the room was quiet.
The only sounds were Gloria’s knitting needles clicking, the faint breeze from the window, and the steady ticking of the old wall clock.
Liana, still sitting by the window, slowly relaxed her posture.
Her eyes softened.
A small, unguarded smile appeared on her lips.
She didn’t even realize she was smiling.
Her thoughts wandered—
In her mind…
She saw Javier, a little older.
No… much older.
No longer thirteen—but eighteen.
His voice was deeper. His presence sharper. That calm, confident air still around him—
but his features more mature, taller, and stronger.
His gaze just as steady. His smile.
She imagined standing beside him. Looking up into his eyes.
Would his hand feel different when he held hers?
Would he tease her less? Or more?
Would she—
“Liana.”
She blinked.
Gloria was looking at her with a raised brow. “You’ve been smiling at the window for a while now.”
Felicia peered at her with a curious look. “Were you… imagining sothing nice?”
Liana quickly turned away, embarrassed. “I-I wasn’t!”
Gloria smiled softly and went back to her knitting.
Felicia rested her head back down.
Liana, her cheeks flushed red, looked back out the window.
Outside, the stronghold had settled into a strange calm.
Not the kind of peace that cos after victory.
But the kind that happens after an invasion, when the smoke has cleared… but everyone still looks at the skies with suspicion.
Dwarven soldiers patrolled the walls with sharp focus.
Civilians moved quietly through the market streets, eyes watchful, steps cautious.
It was a pause between storms—
A silence that wouldn’t last.
Then she heard it.
The anti-air mana gun on the wall roared to life.
A deep, chanical sound—like thunder cracking across the sky.
Followed by the sharp firing of mana cannons in rapid bursts.
Liana moved before her mind fully processed.
She leapt to her feet and reached to her side.
In an instant, her white ore bow ford in her hand—sleek, glowing faintly with her mana as the elegant runes along its spine lit up.
Across the room, Gloria stood just as calmly.
She held out her palm.
Mana surged around her wrist as her signature war hamr appeared—
But this ti, she imdiately infused it with energy. The weapon pulsed, and its head grew larger, heavy enough to shake the floor slightly as she rested it on her shoulder.
Felicia, ever quiet, drew her twin blades from her back.
None of them said a word.
Their instincts were already in sync.
Liana turned her head toward the wall and narrowed her eyes.
On the upper battlents, she saw them—
Javier’s Puppet Knights.
Each one moved like clockwork, standing tall behind the mounted anti-air mana guns. Their joints clicked into combat stance, mana cores glowing brighter as they activated.
“WYVERN ATTACK!!”
A dwarf soldier’s shout echoed from the top of the wall.
Instant panic followed.
Children scread. Won ran. Shopkeepers slamd shutters shut.
Civilians scattered toward the bunkers as sirens blared across the stronghold.
But Liana, Gloria, and Felicia stood firm—calm, prepared, weapons in hand.
They had trained for this.
They were waiting for him.
And until he returned—
They would protect what mattered.
The sky trembled.
The anti-air mana guns on the battlents fired nonstop.
Barrels spun hot with glowing glyphs, sending round after round of compressed mana bursts into the sky.
It wasn’t just one or two shots.
It was every unit on the wall.
Fully manned. Perfectly synchronized.
All under Javier’s command.
Each Puppet Knight operated with chanical precision—adjusting their aim, recalibrating for wind, tracking fast-moving targets mid-flight. They didn’t hesitate. They didn’t flinch. They just fired.
From the sky—
the first shadows of wyverns appeared.
But before they could even descend—before they were within reach—
The barrage hit them.
Bright blue streaks tore through the air—
Explosions burst across the sky.
One wyvern tried to bank left—
But the shots hit it dead on.
Its wing was shredded, and it spiraled down in smoke.
Another rider raised a barrier—
It lasted half a second—
Then collapsed under fire from three different turrets.
Liana raised her bow, mana shimring at her fingertips.
Watching, her eyes wide with tension… and awe.
“…They’re retreating,” she whispered.
High above, the remaining wyvern riders saw enough.
They hadn’t even reached the third stronghold.
Their formation broke apart.
Without a single close-range fight, they turned in the sky—flapping their wings in retreat, leaving a trail of smoke and scattered feathers behind.
But the mana guns didn’t stop.
Javier’s Puppet Knights kept firing—relentless, precise, steady.
Not because they were driven by bloodlust.
But because they obeyed the command:
“Engage all aerial enemies until the threat is neutralized.”
Every gun on the wall.
Every automated turret.
All still active.
The third dwarven stronghold beca a fortress of thunder.
Felicia stepped beside Liana, eyes on the sky. “…So this is his defense system?”
Gloria rested her hamr on the ground, calmly watching.
“…Not a single one got through,” she said.
Liana didn’t speak.
She simply exhaled quietly… then smiled.
Then Liana saw it.
Above the clouds, partly hidden by smoke—
a large drone, sleek and silent, hovered in the air.
It was aiming downward—
Beyond the stronghold walls.
Mana rounds fired in precise bursts.
The barrels rotated, locked, and fired again.
Target after target, one shot each.
Liana narrowed her eyes.
She couldn’t see the targets.
But she heard it.
Faint at first. Then louder.
Screams. Dozens. Then hundreds.
Panic. Shock.
And then—
Silence.
Her eyes widened.
She stood up instantly, bow in hand, and rushed toward the door.
“Liana!” Gloria’s voice called out. “Where are you going?!”
But Liana didn’t stop.
She sprinted down the stone stairs, jumped across the main walkway, and climbed the interior stairs toward the battlents—her heart pounding.
Felicia and Gloria exchanged a look, then followed her silently.
By the ti they reached the top—
They stopped.
They froze.
Below the outer wall, in the shadow of the mountain ridge—
More than 200 human bodies lay scattered across the dirt and jagged rocks.
All of them wore black robes, faces masked, gear built for infiltration.
Every single one had been hit perfectly—head, chest, or throat.
Not a single wound was wasted.
Blood pooled across the stones, forming a slow river of red.
A soft breeze carried the stench of death upward.
Felicia’s eyes narrowed. “Assassins…”
Liana didn’t speak.
She simply looked up at the drone—still hovering—
its weapons cooling, its targeting core resetting.
A single Puppet Knight stood beside her on the wall, eyes glowing faintly as it watched the scene below.
Silent. Still. Unyielding.
Javier’s orders had reached farther than they realized.
He wasn’t just defending the skies.
He had protected the ground, too.
The drone hovered silently—
Watching.
Waiting.
Silent guardian. Just as he designed it.
“…Young master,” Liana whispered softly.
“You really think of everything.”
( End Of Chapter )
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