Dominion's End

Dominion's End V3C7: Thirteen, Part One

Dominion's End Volume 3: Ice-Bound Splendor and Majesty

Original novel in Chinese by: 御 我 (Yu Wo)

Chapter 7: Thirteen, Part One—translated by Michimochi (proofread by EvlNabiki; C/E edited by lucathia; additional edits by Elkin)

Jiang Xiaotian frowned and turned to look at me. With that expression on that little face, he was definitely going to say "no".

"Give your little brother a chance to practice." I spoke first, "If I fail, then you could pitch in. Wouldn't that be fine?"

Jiang Xiaotian hesitated for a moment at my proposal before nodding.

Thirteen was watching us this entire time. Although the two armored bears were poised to fight, they didn't seem like they were about to attack. I think that Thirteen is interested in us and isn't in a hurry to make his move.

This wasn't a good sign. Thirteen might have the leisure of observing his enemy precisely because it was a child's play to deal with us. Ah Nuo and the Lieutenant's men probably weren't in a good place- or at least they didn't pose any threat to Thirteen. I only hope that they haven't been wiped out.

If the elite troops who had gone in first were annihilated, then the reinforcements would probably follow them in death. Even if there were still soldiers outside, they were neither elite nor bold enough to enter as reinforcements. So what's there to expect from them? This shelter's probably a goner. In the worst case scenario, it could even become the hunting ground for Thirteen's aberrant underlings.

I raised my ice spear, only having time to add one layer of diamond ice. The outer eyelid might be impenetrable, but the inner eyelid was not. However, the opponent definitely knew this too. It'd be difficult to accurately strike at this weakness. Directly freezing the two armored bears wasn't going to be as easy as sealing spiders with ice either. The two bears didn't seem fazed by the fact that they were currently standing on ice...

Wait a second, did Thirteen step on Blackie because he can't handle the icy coldness from the floor?

This was a real possibility. Although Thirteen couldn't possibly be weaker than the armored bears- in the world of aberrants, strength was respected, while intellect was as worthless as dirt. This was even truer in the beginning stages of the apocalypse. As such, intelligent aberrants that stayed alive were few and far between, and only the mightiest of aberrants could lay their hands on them— Yes, even in the later stages, intelligent types were unable to rule and could only depend on fighters. One could only conquer through brute force.

However, not all aberrants could resist the cold.

What if I ignored the armored bears and directly attacked Thirteen? In any case, the opponent probably wouldn't sit back and watch the armored bears get killed. If I had to face all three opponents anyway, wouldn't it be better if I picked the target at the start and got rid of this bastard who was susceptible to the cold? Then, dealing with the armored bears wouldn't be a big deal anymore.

As I was evaluating Thirteen and mulling over his possible weakness, waves of a woman's mournful shrieks rang out. While the shrieks didn't sound close, they were actually able to penetrate through the walls of this research center, transmitting all the way here. They were closely followed by the sound of a baby's thin, sharp cry. The two mixed together, making my hair stand on end. Could this be the crying baby that we heard in the beginning? Is it Maternibaby?

I listened—it didn't sound normal, like it was a bit desperate. Maybe the other troops were in a better situation than I thought. Hopefully they'd finish off Maternibaby just like this. In the later stages of the apocalypse, killing one of Thirteen's generals would make someone world famous!