Guardians of The Damned-Chapter 53: Death and Wish

She stared at her co-worker's charred body, unmoving. Her lips quivered. Then, slowly, she turned toward the speaker above.

"Why would you do this? Do you *know* who are you're messing with?!"

The light turned red.

The guards moved wordlessly. One pulled a thick, braided rope from his belt. The woman froze. Her bravado melted into sheer panic.

"No... no!" she whispered, backing away. She turned and slammed her fists on the steel door. "Help! Please! Someone help!"

No response. Just her own voice bouncing back.

Then—she felt it.

The heavy, suffocating presence behind her. Cold. Unforgiving.

She turned slowly.

Tears welled in her eyes. "Please... don't hurt me."

[We will not hurt you if you play the game. What does Synth plan with the artifact?]

"You don't understand... they kill traitors. Slowly."

Red light. Buzzing.

CRACK!

The sound was louder than a gunshot. The rope lashed across her side, throwing her to the floor. She skidded across blood-slicked concrete, gasping, body trembling.

The crowd flinched. Some averted their eyes.

She coughed, groaning, twitching in pain.

[If you tell the truth, we will protect you.]

Silence.

Then—someone in the crowd yelled out, voice trembling:

"We—we don't know the full plan! But... but there's talk of a massive brainwash—!"

---

CUT TO: INT. PRISON – SUNNY

Screams echoed in the distance. Red lights flickered like dying stars. Blood hit the floor. A body collapsed beside me.

"A massive sacrificial rite?"

I recited what Eve said, and suddenly, everything was connected.

"Vie is experimenting with children and turning them into artificial Honors. I thought they're going to use them as weapons, but no, they are gonna use those children as reactors."

My breathing slowed. I clenched my hands.

"Dozens of them– maybe more. Each soul capable of releasing decades of energy in a single outburst. Just one could power an entire country for five years. So what happens when you chain them to a single cause?"

I looked at the blinking lights overhead.

"They will have energy– dozens of times vaster than the sun."

FLASHBACK – MILITARY DEBRIEF ROOM

Sunny, younger, bored, sat in the back row.

A commander at the front sneered as he flipped through slides.

"Subject: The Priest. No offensive capability. Ability: Soul Eater—targets only shadow entities. Barely effective."

"Harmless. Practically useless."

"Moving on."

**BACK TO SUNNY – IN THE PRISON**

Sunny exhaled through his teeth.

"That Priest. Everyone laughed at his power. Killing shadows slowly, one at a time. But with fuel like this..."

He looked down at his palms.

"With reactors like these? He doesn't need to kill. He'll erase them."

Eve's voice crackled through the comms, quiet at first.

[They don't need weapons. They're already making one. Those children, they—]

She stopped. Her voice dropped, cold and sharp, laced with fury.

[Unforgivable.]

Goosebumps ran down my arms.

"We're not going to let that happen, Eve."

I could feel her rage simmer down.

[Whatever you do in there, do it quickly. We need to find the device and break it. They'll use it to transfer the children.]

"And we need to find Miem."

[Miem?]"

Her voice faltered—then changed as the pieces fell into place.

[Right. They'd need a medium to convert the souls into energy for the Priest... and who better than someone who controls mythical souls? That's why the Priest approached her before!]

A realization, bitter and bright, filled her voice.

"Eve, once you finish your work, go to her. We don't know what they'll do to her."

A siren wailed overhead. Red light bled through the bars. Footsteps thundered above—getting closer.

But I wasn't afraid.

[Roger that. We've extracted everything we needed here.]

"Good. When are they executing the plan?"

[One week.]

"Looks like we're pulling overtime."

I said it lightly, but the weight pressed down on my shoulders. Eve was strict about work hours. But if the city burned, who was left to pay her anyway?

[You said it. You owe me a beach trip.]

I chuckled bitterly. She ended the call.

Then, something crashed past us and slammed into a nearby cell. We stopped in our tracks. Dust choked the air for a few long breaths before settling.

From the wreckage, a woman emerged—battered, blood trickling from her head. But her face was calm, almost indifferent to the wounds.

I stepped forward, shielding Calvin and Clara. My eyes locked on hers, every sense alert.

She turned to us slowly. Her gaze landed on Clara. A small frown formed.

"You shouldn't be here. Get back to your cell."

I glanced sideways at Clara. She was shaking—then stiffened, staring at the ground. My brows furrowed. Clara could've taken her. So why...? What did this woman do to her?

"Whoa, don't act like you're her mom catching her sneaking out."

She looked at me—and in that instant, something flickered in her eyes.

Contempt. Like I was a stray dog barking at a queen.

"I wasn't talking to you," she said, voice towering and cold.

"Die."

She raised a finger. At the tip, a dark purple energy began to gather.

I smirked. Then shoved Calvin and Clara aside.

"Sorry!"

Smoke exploded between me and the S-grade Honor.

Inside the thick cloud, I dissolved into mist.

Now invisible, I saw her—wide open.

"You know," I said, my voice echoing from everywhere,

"you should've killed me when you had the chance."

"Smoke?" she scoffed.

"Tch. What a weak power."

She aimed down and released her energy blast.

"Aren't you a little quick to judge?

"Chill out, girl!"

The beam stopped—frozen—just 0.01 centimeters above the floor.

Her eyes widened. Her mind blanked.

Opening.

She'd inhaled the smoke.

I twisted it inside her. A spike—massive—ripped through her chest from the inside out.

Blood gushed from her mouth as she collapsed, eyes wide with disbelief.

"How...?"

"You should know why.

"You underestimated me... and didn't protect your insides."

I looked behind me. Clara and Calvin got up. I approached them one by one before we talked in front of the dying Honor.

"Clara, what happened? With your power, you can take her easily."

"I'm sorry." Her voice cracked as she apologized, hands trembling.

I froze, realizing I'd stepped on something I shouldn't have.

"It's okay," I said gently. "You don't have to answer."

My eyes drifted back to the S-grade Honor's corpse, and an idea sparked. I turned back to Clara, cautious.

"Clara... if it's not too much, can you access her memories? Maybe find a shortcut to your sister's location? But only if you're okay with it."

Clara didn't respond. She stayed perfectly still, shaking. I opened my mouth to say something else—

—when I felt it.

An overwhelming killing intent crashed down on me like a tidal wave.

My pupils shrank.

Someone was here. Someone fast. And they'd already launched an attack we couldn't dodge.

In that moment, my mind snapped into high gear.

Three-meter radius. I'm in the middle. Clara and Calvin on the edge.

The attack's already mid-flight. I feel the hairs on my arms stand. No time to think. Just act.

Puffy? No time to take a puff.

Wait—! The smoke from earlier!

I snapped control over the lingering mist, coiling it like a whip. With a sharp flick, I lashed it out, striking Clara and Calvin square in the chest—knocking them just far enough out of the blast radius.

Their shocked faces flashed before me.

Don't look at me like that, I thought. You'll make me feel bad.

Then—darkness.