When Korrok told me the size of the reward, I couldn't deny to participate in that attack. He knew damn well how much more starstones I still needed, and I knew damn well he had enough for me to reach my goal, but Korrok kept giving me crumbs. A sizable payment was an opportunity I couldn't pass up, and even though the fear in me as we drove through the snowy forest screamed that it wasn't a good idea to continue, I didn't back down.
"All we have to do is shoot first." Korrok whispered at me, after seeing me jump in fright at every movement around. "We dodge, fire and collect the bodies. That simple." We would fire, but we weren't there to kill, since instead of bullets, our guns were filled with the same white powder that I poured over an Aulic at the Destruction District party. We were there to convert them. "And, when you least expect it, we'll be celebrating our victory."
I adjusted the mask on my face, a part of the armor that covered me like the other soldiers, impenetrable to the dust. Korrok didn't want those in his control to be contaminated by the metriona and shift their allegiance, after all.
"I bet you already planned it..." I muttered.
Korrok grinned, sharp fangs protruding from the corners of his mouth.
"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't so confident."
"I thought you were smarter, Korrok, than to trust human plans." I provoked.
"And I didn't think you were smart enough to come up with a plan I could trust."
"Apparently we underestimated each other."
"Yes." Korrok laughed. "But not anymore."
I silently nodded and headed towards one side of the enemy camp, while other groups surrounded it from other parts of its border. Korrok touched my shoulder with those claws and headed for another area, while I was responsible for this one.
I bent down and walked to the edge of a rock from where I could see the camp a few meters below, circled by Empire's soldiers.
I watched the perimeter for a few minutes, like an experienced hunter waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack, until I saw one soldier move away from the others. He searched the area through the white trees near the rock I was hiding in, moving far enough away from everyone so that when he would fall unconscious in the soft snow, no one would hear him. This was the perfect chance.
I aimed the barrel of the gun at the back of his head from afar and waited for him to stop walking, while my finger slowly pressed the trigger more and more... Until, when I knew I wouldn't miss, I fired.
The white powder flew from my gun and slammed into his bluish skin, penetrating the depths of his mind. He turned to me, so confused that the trigger in his claws lost its meaning. For an instant, I saw an abysmal emptiness fill his eyes, as if space had been torn apart inside his mind for beasts to invade, telling him the secrets the universe wouldn't have told me. In the next instant, he lost consciousness and collapsed, the sound of his pione body falling being muffled by the soft snow and his black sting, a pione's most dangerous weapon, dropping helpless to the ground.
I felt a smile spread across my face.
The attack on the Poison District had begun.