Love System Redemption

Chapter 547: To The End His gaze flickered over to Nnenna, still unconscious under the tree, and the weight of his resolve hardened. No matter what happened next, no matter the odds, no matter the cost, he would protect her. To the end.

Behind him, Arthur's stance mirrored his thoughts without a single word exchanged between them. His face was impassive, but there was no mistaking the fury burning behind his eyes.

His hands were already moving, adjusting his position as his body coiled, ready for the fight. He, too, had made his decision: there was no backing down now. He was prepared to fight, even if it meant dying here.

The two of them were more than ready.

Somto's fist tightened as shadows dropped from the trees, one after another, until the forest floor swarmed with black masked figures. They had been there the whole time, hiding in the branches like patient predators.

"They really cprepared," he muttered under his breath, scoffing.

Arthur didn't reply. He just shifted his stance, the quiet set of his jaw enough to tell Somto he was ready to go all the way if it cto it.

Behind them, Nnenna was slumped against the tree where Arthur had laid her. Her chest rose and fell slowly, oblivious to the chaos about to break loose. She was the target, every masked man's eyes kept flicking toward her.

The first wave attacked.

Somto moved first, sharp and precise despite the lingering ache from the sonic wave bomb they had endured earlier. His muscles still felt heavy, his balance a fraction slower than normal, but that didn't mean he had forgotten how to kill.

Arthur matched him, a blur of elbows and knees, every movement efficient. But both men knew, they weren't at their best tonight. The sonic wave had dulled their reflexes, every motion costing more energy than it should.

The masked fighters were no pushovers either.

They moved like trained units, attacking in coordinated bursts, trying to break the defense and rush the tree. But each tthey got close, Somto or Arthur was there, shoving, striking, dragging them away from Nnenna's unconscious form.

"On your left," Arthur called out, spinning to block two attackers from getting behind Somto. Somto gritted his teeth. "I see them." They fought like that for what felt like an eternity, step, strike, block, step again. Their chests burned. Sweat ran into their eyes. But giving up wasn't an option.

Then, Somto spotted it.

A glint in the air.

"Bomb!" he barked, his hand already reaching to grab and toss it back, just like he had done countless times before in battle. But this one wasn't an ordinary explosive. It was a compact canister, and the moment it landed, he recognized the type.

Gas.

His stomach sank.

The enemy must have known his reputation, how he had once saved a whole squad by throwing every grenade back at the enemy. That's why they had timed this one perfectly, dropping it only seconds before detonation.

It hissed, filling the air with a pale cloud. Somto yanked his shirt collar over his nose, holding his breath. Beside him, Arthur did the same, eyes narrowing.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Three minutes.

They held out for as long as humanly possible, nearly four minutes, lungs screaming, every second a war of its own.

But eventually, their bodies betrayed them.

As the first breath hit their lungs, the world tilted. Limbs felt heavy, knees buckled.

Even sof the masked men collapsed where they stood, victims of their own weapon. Through the haze, footsteps echoed, slow, deliberate.

A tall man emerged from the depths of the forest, his silhouette cutting through the mist.

"Capture them," he ordered, voice calm but carrying a weight that made the remaining fighters obey without hesitation.

Dark shapes closed in on Somto, Arthur, and Nnenna's limp form.

The last thing Somto saw before blacking out was the man's face, half hidden under the hood... and the faintest, cruelest smile.

Not far from the forest...

Carl's blade dripped with effort, not blood, his arms burned, his lungs ached, but he didn't stop. Step by step, strike by strike, he carved a path through the swarm of black masked attackers.

Each one that fell only fueled the pounding in his chest. He wasn't fighting for glory. He was fighting for them. Finally, the forest thinned, and he broke through into the clearing where they were supposed to be.

He froze.

The ground was littered with bodies in black, scattered like discarded shadows. Sgroaned faintly, others lay still, but none of them were Somto, Arthur, or Nnenna.

Carl's breath caught, the sound of his own heartbeat drowning out the wind.

"...No," he whispered, his voice cracking.

His gaze darted across the clearing, desperate, searching. Every tree trunk, every patch of shadow Beca place they could be hiding. But the truth clawed at him, the three people who meant more to him than his own life were gone.

A hollow ache spread through his chest, heavier than any wound. He dropped to one knee beside an unconscious masked man, gripping the fabric of the attacker's clothes so hard his knuckles turned white. "They were right here," he muttered, as if saying it could change reality.

For a long moment, he just knelt there, breathing hard, forcing himself not to lose control. The Carl they knew wouldn't give up. He couldn't, not for family.

He rose slowly, his expression sharpening into something colder, steadier. The fear was still there, but now it burned into resolve.

Whoever had taken them... was not going to keep them.

Somewhere, far away from Carl's reach, Nnenna stirred.

It was slow at first, just the weight of her own breathing, the muffled thud of her heartbeat in felt healy, nevat her ears Her Body е head swimming as though she had been dragged from deep underwater. The world was still hazy, a smear of light and shadow. And then... her eyes began to focus.