The girl stood up and walked straight toward him, holding out her hand.
Her tactical glove was drenched in dark gore.
Nestled within the mess of blood, a small, golden object faintly caught the light.
Jerrick was still frozen in a stupor. He stared at the hand thrust toward him, then slowly raised his eyes to Serena's calm, impassive face.
In his mind, his mother's endless, worried lectures began replaying on a loop.
*"Your sister grew up in the countryside. She's had a very hard life."*
*"She's so small and fragile. It breaks my heart."*
*"She's easily frightened and incredibly sweet. Don't you dare bring your rough military attitude around her and scare her."*
"She's delicate. As her brothers, you need to protect her."*
*"Make sure you smile when you see her. I mean it, don't scare her!"*
...
Fragile?
Delicate?!
Delicate, his ass!
What part of this was delicate?!
She just dismantled a squad of Mutated Augments with her bare hands.
She just dug through a monster's brain without flinching.
Who was supposed to be scaring who here?!
Serena raised a perfectly arched eyebrow, studying Jerrick's completely shattered expression.
She wiggled the object in her hand. "Do you want this or not?"
Jerrick blinked slowly, lowering his gaze to finally register the bloody, metallic chip resting in her palm.
His mind belatedly caught up.
So that was what she had been digging for.
"Jerrick."
A sudden, brilliant smile broke across Serena's face. The way she said his name— warm, teasing, and carrying the unspoken weight of their blood tie-made Jerrick's heart leap into his throat.
It sounded so sweet.
He felt an immediate, overwhelming rush of affection.
Jerrick's hardened expression melted into something completely starstruck.
But then Serena's smile turned
slightly wicked, and she added without missing a beat, "I'm actually really terrified right now. Could you take this immediately?"
"Hurry up. I'm shaking in my boots."
Jerrick stared at her.
He met her amused, devastatingly sharp gaze.
His starstruck expression froze.
Terrified?
She just ripped a microchip out of a mutant's skull with a knife.
What exactly was she afraid of?!
Despite the absurdity, Jerrick rigidly hand and plucked
raised bi
still-warm, bloody chip from bol
Who
glove
He was still trapped in a bizarre state of shock.
He looked down at the chip, then back up at Serena's flawless face.
His worldview was undergoing a violent restructuring.
The Elyndor high command spoke of 'Serena' with absolute reverence.
Professor Harrison, a national
treasure, had practically begged her to join Marington College, publicly declaring her the savior of the
nation's academic future.
On the global stage, she was the Elyndorian Captain who annihilated the competition single-handedly.
She was the terrifying combatant who butchered high-tier Obsidian Augments without breaking a sweat.
She was the shadow orchestrator who obliterated an Obsidian Sun vault and handed the evidence to the military.
Any one of those titles was enough to shake the foundations of the country.
And all of them belonged to the exact same person.
And this person...
Was his biological sister!
His very own sister!
She really was his family!