Seeing that Vesti was still standing there at a loss, like a frightened little rabbit, Mo Chen knew the moment wasn't ripe just yet.
He stepped up to her, leaned in close, and whispered in her ear, "They broke the law, so naturally, they must be punished. This is for their own good—it gives them a chance to cleanse their sins and start fresh, to become better people."
"Start fresh?" Vesti lifted her head, puzzled. Her soft, misty eyes were filled with confusion.
"Yes," Mo Chen whispered into her delicate, fair ear, his breath warm and slow, "You're not killing them: you're saving them. And think… think about how they used to treat you."
"How they treated me…"
Vesti's gaze turned distant, as if her mind had drifted far away.
Back to her student days.
They tore her books out of spite, broke her chair, set fire to her clothes, even threw her beloved goldfish into flames and watched it burn to death…
Her eyes shifted—from helplessness to confusion, then from confusion to an empty void.
Yes.
It was all their fault. They were the ones who shouldn't have done it.
"That's right, it was all their fault," Mo Chen watched Vesti's blank stare and knew it was time to add the final push. "They committed a crime, they must be punished. Isn't that how justice works? Why should they get to do whatever they want just because they're privileged?"
Vesti's mind went blank, but her instincts told her—Mo Chen was right.
"Then… what should I do?"
Mo Chen pulled back from her ear, placing a steady hand on her slim shoulder. He smiled gently and said, "You're just defending yourself. No matter what you do to them, it's justified. And besides, this is my order."
To shatter the chains in her heart, harsh medicine was needed.
"R-Really? Is that… okay? But she's human…"
Vesti was beginning to waver under his words, but her kindness still made her hesitate.
Mo Chen raised an eyebrow and cut her off firmly.
"You're wrong. She's human, and so are you. There's no difference between Nikkes and humans anymore—you're equals now."
Vesti was stunned for a moment. But soon, her fists clenched tight, as if she had made up her mind.
"I understand, Commander."
She turned and stepped toward the flamboyant girl, who was now sitting collapsed on the floor, sobbing in fear.
"D-Don't come any closer!"
The girl had heard everything. Seeing Vesti approaching, her soul nearly left her body. She scrambled backward, only to find her back against the wall with nowhere to run.
"P-Please let me go, I know I was wrong. Oh—your bracelet, and your necklace—I-I'll give them back! I swear I'll never do it again. Please… don't kill me."
Trembling, she removed the bracelet from her wrist, trying to hand it over.
Vesti stood before her, face flushed with anger, her chest heaving with emotion.
"When we were kids…"
"I begged you with tears in my eyes, and none of you ever let me go. So why should I listen to you now?"
With that, and under the terrified gaze of the flamboyant girl, Vesti sprang forward and subdued her in an instant.
"Eep—!"
The flamboyant girl let out a shrill scream. Then came the long, drawn-out agony.
Vesti was one of the strongest Nikkes and part of the Absolute Squad. Her combat ability was second to none.
The flamboyant girl, on the other hand, was just a regular human—her cruelty had always hidden behind her identity and family background.
But Vesti didn't go for a kill.
She grabbed the girl's arm, twisted it behind her back, and whispered softly:
"Mm, I'll make it hurt a lot—just like it did for me back then. But no matter what, I won't kill you… I don't want to trouble the Commander."
Bang, bang—!
Crack, crack—!
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!"
Screams pierced through the banquet hall, interlaced with the snapping and cracking of bones and joints—the sounds of dislocation and reversal, as arms, elbows, and thighs bent into angles a human body was never meant to reach.
"Please, have mercy… AAAAAAHHH!!"
Under Vesti's expert joint locks, the flamboyant girl rolled on the ground, sobbing and snot-nosed, desperately trying to crawl away. But Vesti caught her wrist again and twisted it back—crack!—the arm dislocated instantly.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!"
Some time passed.
The flamboyant girl lay limp on the ground, barely breathing. Thanks to Vesti's skill, her injuries looked minimal from the outside, but she was foaming at the mouth, eyes rolled back, caught between life and death.
But she was alive.
Vesti looked down at her hands, dazed.
"So… strange…"
"She… was this fragile?"
"I used to think they were so tall… so terrifying."
"So this is it… so insignificant."
Then, after a moment of stunned silence, Vesti suddenly smiled.
"That felt amazing."
"It's like something inside me just… broke free."
Standing nearby, Mo Chen watched her radiant, satisfied smile and felt a slight chill crawl up his spine.
...Is she gonna get addicted to this?
He quickly stepped forward and gave Vesti a pat on the shoulder.
Snapping out of her euphoric trance, Vesti turned around and looked at him. Before Mo Chen could say anything, she threw herself into his arms without a word.
"Commander!"
Like a baby swallow returning to its nest.
Like a lost ship finding its harbor.
All the grievance pent up in Vesti's heart suddenly burst forth. Pressed into his chest, she choked out her words in a muffled, teary voice.
"Th-thank you…"
Mo Chen finally let out a breath of relief.
He gently patted her head.
"It's okay now. And if anyone tries to bully you again… just kill them."
At that moment, a Nikke unit suddenly burst into the banquet hall—it was Eunhwa and Emma's Absolute team.
Seeing the blood everywhere and the corpses strewn across the floor, Emma froze with shock.
Eunhwa, however, immediately spotted Mo Chen and Vesti. She let out a long breath of relief when she saw that Vesti was unharmed.
But then… she saw their posture.
Eunhwa strode forward, fast and purposeful. Mo Chen noticed her approaching and gave Vesti a quick pat on the shoulder. Vesti finally pulled back from his arms, wiping her reddened eyes, clearly a bit embarrassed.
"E-Eunhwa…" She quickly stepped away, flustered.