Chapter 52 - Exposed
Mourning the death of his comrade on a battlefield, Ross never saw this phenomena coming. While his eyes can no longer produce any tears, his expression remains lifeless like the corpse he's still holding on to.
But unexpectedly, his eyes widens in surprise as he saw the remnants of Claire suddenly growing back.
"Wha—whaaaaat!?" He crawled away and continued to watch Claire's body slowly regenerating ot its original form. "What the heck is happening!?... i-is this real!?" Ross doubted his eyes.
Was this him imagining things?
He pinched himself and felt the pain.
That confirmed this moment a reality. "No way!!..." he was still in disbelief while watching it happen.
And as Claire's face was done regenerating, her hair grows back to the same length it always had. Her left arm that was damaged was also repaired. When the regeneration was done, it appeared like nothing ever happened to her.
Though this have made Ross in a state of confusion. "...i-it's done?... i-is she really coming back to life!?" He rubbed his eyes and minutes later, Claire's body flinched.
"She's moving!!..." he gasped, surprised that Claire is really resurrected from the dead.
"...no way..." Ross was too freaked out by this situation that a decapitated head that fell near him didn't bother him at all.
Slowly, her eyes open and gazes at him. "...Ross?" Those were Claire's first word after coming back alive was his name.
Ross fell speechless for a moment, and Claire who realized what just happened sat up right in panic and nervousness. Now that she's been found out, how will she handle this?
"R-Ross..." she repeats his name, anticipating what he is about to say.
"Claire... just what on Earth are you?...—" as Ross asked, Claire's instinct made her pounce on him and strangle his neck.
"C-Claire!!" Ross struggled to get her off of him, but she was determined right there to eliminate any witness of her coming back to life.
Her eyes watched Ross struggle until he stopped breathing, but after getting rid of the evidence, another problem arised for Claire to deal with.
"...h-hey!! Are you out of your mind!? Why did you kill him!? That guy is an ally!!" Seeing a fellow E.D.L. soldier made this fellow concerned.
"Shit, one problem after another huh." Claire muttered as she got on her feet. "No matter, I'll just kill you as well." She then beheads this person in a flash, only to be seen by a few more people.
"You!!..."
"What the hell, why is she killing our people!?"
"That woman's from the special infantry troop!!"
She began to sweat and had her shifter katana ready to kill these few other witness, having in mind that a few more dead people won't be that suspicious on a battlefield.
"Y-Yeah, a few more wouldn't hurt... right?" She was unsure of her choice as well. But more and more people kept witnessing her treacherous acts as she continues to murder E.D.L. soldiers here and there.
"Hey!! Get that traitor!! She might be an ally of the I.E.A.!!" A captain from one of the armored brigade intervened, many began to chase her down and left her with no choice but to run away.
"Fuck, fuck, fuuuckk!!!" Claire's mind got all messed up after making those awful mistakes. "DAMN IT!!" She can't believe that all her efforts so far might come to naught.
"Get back here, you traitor!!"
"That woman is a traitor!! Kill her!!"
She can hear the people that was after her is calling her out and spreading the word of her being a 'traitor'. Some even started shooting at her and got her on the left leg which made her stumble and fall. "Ahh!"
"We got her!!"
"Kill her quickly!!"
Then as these soldiers were about to reach her, Claire cried out of frustration. "No!!! No!! This wasn't supposed to happen!! NO!!!" From there, she knew it was already over for her and she had no one else to blame but herself by making such a stupid mistake.
"DAMN IT ALL!!!" She screamed.
"Tie her up immediate—" but before the soldiers can get to her, they were blocked by someone they wouldn't dare cross. "What is the meaning of this!?" He's incredibly mad finding allies shooting at Claire.
"Sir Raphael!! That woman must be killed immediately under the order of Captain!!—"
"What the hell, don't be ridiculous!! Why would anyone order to kill an ally!?" Raphael turns to Claire and quickly tends to her. "Claire!! Are you alright!? Did they hurt you anywhere!?"
"R-Raphael..." as Claire saw Raphael's face, hope sparked for her. "...t-they were chasing me!! They're trying to kill me!!... A-And look, they already shot me on the leg!" She cried and held on to his hand.
Knowing Raphael's weakness, Claire used it to her advantage and started drawing plans at the back of her head to get herself out of this mess.
After seeing her injury, Raphael glared at these soldiers. "YOU MORONS!! WHY DID YOU SHOOT HER!?"
They tried to explain, but Raphael doesn't even want to listen. He threatened to shoot them all down as well for hurting Claire, but the Captain who ordered to kill Claire approached Raphael. "Mr. Raphael Novick!! Put your weapon down!!"
"YOU! What the hell are you trying to do by ordering others to kill a helpless woman!?!"
"That woman isn't helpless as you think! She killed several of our men, we suspect her to be a spy from the I.E.A.!!" Explaining their reasons to Raphael were all futile as he would blindly side with Claire no matter what.
"Tsk!! You're all cowards teaming up against a woman!!" Those were his last words to them and brought Claire somewhere safe to treat her wounds.
She clings to Raphael while being carried, and those who watched her being taken away were left enraged with the fact that a traitor got away with Raphael's support.
"Don't worry Claire, I'll always be here to protect you." Raphael told her. For now, she was able to rest easy though she still has to deal with the aftermath of the mess she made when the war in the eastern coast are all over.