Chapter 358: Heroine Chapter: Glad I am a Siren [1/2]
Chapter POV: Josephine Benelli
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"It's not enough."
My voice began to crack at the realization.
[Limitless: 53.2 M | Savior 124 M]
[Time until Battle Harem joins the war: 19 hours, 40 minutes, 3 seconds].
Despite murdering everything from the sixth floor to the tenth floor, it was still not enough. My brain quickly began to think of worst-case scenarios. And all of them ended with Darling dying.
My body began to tremble. Pounding like a drum, my heart began to race. I tried to look at the board again to see if I was dreaming.
But of course it was real. This was the whole world after all. It was impossible to begin with.
Even though the US had the biggest economy in the world, it didn't mean that things were the same in Hellsgate.
I knew how much money the Vieux Riche of Europe had. Old money in English, it was a herculean task to fight against time. Even with Lilly and Aki emptying their reserves, it only amounted to 17 million.
Bella, for all her brains, was poor. Liv and Robyn were even more miserable. Jas supposedly had rich parents, but she spent most of her life as my maid. I, on the other hand, was both rich and poor.
As the only child of the Benelli family, I was literally an heiress. But that was before I was disowned and thrown away. With only a few minutes left, all I could think about at this moment was begging my parents for money.
Even after I vowed to cut all ties with them.
I was willing to trample on my pride and everything if they would help.
Compared to all that, Darling was worth more. I could no longer live without him. The day John Smith died would be the same day I did.
Pablo and Erika Benelli. The people from whose genes I was born. The two people I hated the most in the world after Clive Zanardi. The mere mention of their names makes my stomach turn.
I intend to kill them after I got stronger. As Specters, they would not be easy to kill.
I will never forgive them for what they did to my Nana.
It was because of them that I lived a life without love and meaning.
Envy filled my being every time I saw children happy with their parents. This feeling consumed me. The anger that followed was like a poison that tormented me.
All because these fucking people couldn't even spare me their attention.
But only they had the power to change the situation. We were missing over 70 million souls, or 1.4 billion dollars. Such a sum seemed large to average peasants, but to the Vieux Riche, it was an amount they kept as loose change.
'Should I call them? But I don't want to! They killed my Nana! I... I WILL NEVER FORGIVE THEM! But what about Darling?!
Darling is a big boy! Why do I have to talk to these people! I WOULD RATHER DIE!'
The voices in my head began to argue. Fortunately, Darling was near us, so Vela was not present. If she had been, she would have told me to plunder all the people I could. That would have been the next best solution.
My breathing became labored. Just the thought of asking them for help was enough to make me sick. But when I thought about saving my darling, I knew it was the only course of action left.
"Huff. Huff. Huff."
My heart began to ache as my vision began to blur. How pathetic. I claimed that Vela's Wolves had no place for cowards, but here I was, a fucking wreck over a measly phone call.
Suddenly a hand gripped my trembling hands. A gentle, soul- filled whisper reached my ears.
"{Jo. Calm down. Don't call them, there's no need.}"
Jas turned my face to hers as tears began to stream down my eyes. I noticed a soul cage surrounding Jas and me. My beloved sister knew I didn't want Darling to hear. It was because of such considerations that I loved her so much.
"Jas. Sniff. Darling. What if Darling dies? I can't. I just can't.
How can he fight alone for 19 hours? It's my fault. If only I were stronger! I should just die! I am so fucking useless. Jas!
Sniff. What should I do? Tell me!"
My sister said nothing and just hugged me.
I could feel that her heartbeat was similarly racing. If I knew that Darling would die if he fought alone, what more of a person smarter than me?
Experience tales at m v|l e'm,p| y- r
And my sister loved our man even more than I did. After a minute, she finally spoke.
"Don't worry, Tch. Why are my tears coming out? Don't worry Jo. We will figure it out. Just like we always have. When we are together, we can do anything!
We will create a way for Husband to stall until we arrive. It can be done! We will make it so!"
Between sobs, Jas made a stern face. The last time I saw her like that was during the Syrian war. I lost it on the first day, and cried in sorrow for the innocents who died.
Her words at that time were still very vivid in my memory.
"We will avenge them, Jo. We will make them pay. A thousand times over. Please be satisfied with that for now. We will survive this, you hear! We will survive!
You still have not found your Sir Knight, have you? So get up! GET UP! GET BACK ON YOUR FEET! WE NEED TO MOVE!"
With tears in her eyes and her body trembling from fatigue she scolded me. Forcing me to pull myself together.
Many of those civilians had families. Parents who would die for their children and toddlers who cherished their mothers or fathers. I envied their relationships and tried desperately to protect them.
But despite my best efforts, it was nearly impossible to fight chemical weapons with physical strength alone. My failure to save the civilians haunted me to this day.
Their faces as they died still gave me nightmares. Such a trauma would never leave you until the day you died. Funnily enough, Vela was the one who kept them at bay most of the time.
Back then, Jas slapped the shit out of me to calm me down. I was a nervous wreck and would just curl up into a ball and cry. Although I knew Jas was similarly terrified, she killed a part of her heart so I could keep mine.
We were only teenagers during the war, but Jas was my rock, funny enough, as long as she said it was possible, I believed her. It was true in the past and it was still the case now.
I hugged Jas, taking courage from her words, though I was still scared, I was no longer trembling.
"Got it, sis! We will devise the most brutal game of tag that has ever existed!" I replied in an energetic tone. That was enough. As long as I had Jas by my side, everything would be fine.
Unexpectedly, however, the soul cage was forcefully expanded the next moment. It wasn't broken, but more like someone had kicked open the front door.
"And here I thought you two were working out some kind of strategy?" An arrogant voice akin to a queen called out in derision.
A Brazilian with a long braid chimed in. "I told you, right? That nut job is extremely childish when she is forced into uncomfortable positions. Why do you think she gets along with Loliwashboard?"
"GET STUFFED YOU BIG TITTED COW! I am not an ankle biter! Oy you two, are we coming up with a plan or what?"
"All of you, please be more considerate. It seemed like we were interrupting a sister moment. Jo, Jas, I know you must be worried. But this battle is not just yours. It's ours. Remember, we are all here."
A white-haired teenager and a red-haired Amazon further added.