Brutality

Lily, running at full speed, soon caught up to a small group of the fleeing Zeros. They were five of them. She jumped at the one that trailed behind the group and twisted his neck.

The others quickly stopped and shot at her but she used their companion as a meat shield long enough to pull out her grappler and grapple the next one.

Her moves were fluid and she ran around them with a burst of strength. She did a half roll and arrived in front of the next one, delivering a jab to the jaw that sent his head snapping back. Lily spun on her heels before ducking down to avoid the bullets.

She pulled at the grappled Zeros' member and made the metallic strings wind around his body. She then used his gun—which was already aimed at her belly—to pass the bullets to the other two. She only had to move her body slightly and use the momentum to turn the shooters arm so that he was facing his friends rather than her.

She smiled when she saw the terrified look in the eyes of the last standing member of the Zeros. "You didn't expect a girl to wipe the floor with you guys or did you?" she asked with a mocking smile.

She kicked him in the legs, forcing him into a kneeling position. She pulled a sharp knife from her belt and traced it around the man's masked face. "Let's see who's behind the mask."

She slipped the knife under the mask and ripped it apart, making sure that she ripped flesh and blood as well. "Now this will teach you to not mess with Richard."

It wasn't a man rather it was a young lady with large round eyes. Her breathing spiked. Immediately Lily saw that she was a girl, she grappled her neck violently making her choke wildly. Her hold only grew tighter and tighter and Lily's eyes reduced to slits.

"A woman…" she said looking straight into her eyes. "…and you have black eyes too."

She used the knife to cut a large wound on her cheek. The female Zeros member let out a long, sharp scream of pain and anguish. She panted heavily as blood trickled down her face.

"I don't want your blood to trickle," Lily shook her head. "I want it to squirt. I will make sure you don't recognise your face again."

Another deep cut opened up as the knife slashed through her forehead and turned to her other cheek. She whimpered and gasped. She couldn't even beg as her neck was being choked out of air slowly.

She clawed at Lily's hand trying to escape her hold. Lily brought the knife to her nose and smiled. "Are they more of you in the forest? Or better yet, are they more females in the group?"

With each word, she plunged the knife into her nostril and twisted it till blood rushed out in large volumes. She looked at the knife with a lustful expression. "You know, I hate women who try to ruin a perfect life of peace. I would really hate it if I didn't give you something to live by."

She plunged the knife into her left eye and twisted it gently till the eye fell to the soil, blood flew more and more. "Yet, I don't want to kill you now. What else should I do?"

She reached out to unbutton her black shirt which had the Zeros symbol printed on the chest area. She ripped the thick cloth apart with a wild expression. She wanted to go further but a voice pulled her out her state.

"Lily, stop!" Richard said with his hands raised up to show that he was harmless. "It's alright. Calm down."

Although he could take Lily in a fight as many times and still win, he knew what she could do when provoked. He had seen her rip people apart with her bare hands. She claimed to be skilled in torturing people.

Lily's eyes darkened. She dropped the knife and gave the lady a chilling glare. "How did I do this time, Richard?"

"A bit rusty on the edges but you're good." Richard said and watched as her eyes sparkled. She was happy and so was he. Over the years since Lily had become her secret bodyguard while pretending to be a cook he seldom sent her distress signals to ask for help and that had made her feel a bit useless.

It got worse after he was captured by the Zeros and Lily blamed herself for not arriving on time after he had sent the signal. Ever since then he hadn't asked for her help either. However, today he was happy that she was on time.

"I called the military with the emergency number and when they tried to contact your team they realised that your communicators were jammed. Reinforcements should be arriving soon." She glanced back at the bloody faced lady who kept clawing at her hand.

Her grip was still as tight as ever, if not tighter.

Richard approached her and delivered a terrifying slap to her face that her face snapped to the side and blood came out from all her wounds. Her only eye darted in panic.

"Who is your leader? Why did you attack us? Where is your base?" Richard asked and pulled on her bloodied jaw with one hand. He ignored all the pain in his body. This was his chance to get an answer to who the Zeros were and who lead them.

Lily released her neck so she could speak. This gave the lady a breathing space to smile bitterly. "I will tell you nothing!"

She bit down on something in her mouth. Richard pushed her away and jumped to the side while wincing in more pain. The lady exploded into bits of flesh and bones.

Richard looked on with wide eyes. His only chance in eight months to know more about the Zeros was gone just like that.

"I never knew she intended to blow herself up otherwise I would've ripped her mouth out." Lily sighed regretfully.

Richard struggled up to his feet. "It's fine."

Lily observed him for a while. "You're hurt, Richard. Here, lean on me."

Richard nodded and leaned on her and she supported his weight and began to walk out of the forest. "Thank you."

Lily nodded but said nothing.