Most of the Redemption Army soldiers who had infiltrated the town had only arrived in the past few days.
The Guards had long since noticed these unfamiliar faces and positioned their own men around them.
So when both sides dropped their disguises, the Redemption Army soldiers discovered, to their horror, that they were already in the enemy's sights.
Anyone with a weak will might have broken down then.
But not one of the Redemption Army soldiers who had infiltrated the market town surrendered.
They were utterly fanatical.
Many detonated the bombs strapped to their bodies as soon as they were shot.
Explosions rang out one after another across the town.
Such resolve left no room for doubt: these had to be the Redemption Army's elite troops!
And that was indeed the case!
To ensure this operation succeeded, Ena had deployed the troops under his direct command!
An ordinary Alliance unit would probably have routed by now against an army so utterly fearless of death.
But Number One had sent the Guards this time.
And so the outcome was a foregone conclusion.
As the gunfire in the market town thinned from a relentless barrage to scattered shots, then an occasional two or three, the battle drew to a close.
The Guards took one prisoner alive.
Against such ferocious enemies, taking one alive was far harder than killing one.
They removed the bombs from the prisoner and shoved him toward the makeshift airfield.
"Where is your commander?" Number One asked coldly.
But the prisoner merely sneered.
The soldier behind him pressed a gun to his head and loudly repeated Number One's question.
Pinned to the ground, the prisoner stared at the white-haired woman before him with bloodshot eyes and said:
"You'll see him soon enough!"
The woman frowned.
Just then, the earth