“Once upon a time, deep, in the underground laboratories of Rus Uni Mordor, ok, Mordor, there was a doctor who…”

“Cut the c*, Ether.”

I looked at the dark shadow by the edge of the visible area.

Valencio’s offer had me intrigued enough to join them, and now I was in the war room to plan how the GRU will infiltrate and do their magic, but Ether’s sudden appearance turned everything into dealing with this nuisance.

“Relax, alright?” (E)

“I am yet to forgive you for 'that thing'.”

“You already burnt it, which makes us even!” The shadow gestured like an excited Italian.

“Whatever, just get the f* away from me.” I was about to start planning anew, but Ether didn’t shut up.

“How about you make use of somebody more suitable for silent kills?” (E)

“What? You’ve got another squad of hitmen on stand-by~?” I sneered.

“Even better.” He turned towards the darkness.

‘Rustle’

A rattling sound of scales reminded me of Stella’s original form.

The monster stepped out to the light soon enough.

“Why would you mention Stella?” I looked at its innocent appearance.

“You remember that the looks of little girls can be very deceiving?” Ether’s face was just a tone lighter than the surrounding darkness, but I felt like I had my sneer returned to me.

“Don’t drag her into your creepy fantasies.”

“Too late~.” At the sick f*’s words, the monster nodded.

“Stella, are you interested in doing something like murder? I don’t remember you liking it all that much.”

“Um.” (S)

“That is why we talked about all sorts of things that happened, and Stella decided to help~.” (E)

“In short, you bulls*ed the little naïve creature into this?”

“Well, yes.” Ether admitted it without an ounce of shame. One more entry into the book of grudges.

“Stella, it is not too late to refuse.”

“I already agreed.” Despite agreeing to something this crazy, it looked at me calmly and confidently.

In the end, I let the murderous bioweapon out.

Stella’s POV

Stella quickly approached the city walls. The night hid her approach from the ubiquitous watchmen, and allowed her to assess the best course of actions.

Seeing that digging would be a stupid idea, she started climbing the wall.

The monster’s claws were grappling onto the cracks of stone and cement. The steep walls were scaled with ease, and a long black head looked around the battlements.

Before the next patrol passed by, a black shadow crossed the entire width of the wall in a single leap and disappeared like a shadow.

Stella navigated through the silent streets and above on the rooftops, and in a few minutes was already by the palace walls.

The palace itself was within the ancient castle that was once the heart of this city. Its sturdy walls repelled way more than one attack, and the constant patrols left no choice but to search for another way in.

Stella found one pretty soon.

It was in a sewage pipe that led out of the castle.

The only obstacle for her would be the huge iron bars blocking the sewage from both sides of the wall.

She gripped two bars with her front legs, and with a creak the bars were bent to the sides, giving her enough space to squeeze through. The same was done to the other side.

Stella emerged in a little pond, and slithered out into bushes.

The gardens of the palace were filled with all sorts of smells. A particular one attracted her attention to the point her tongue creeped out to a path.

“What the heck is this…?” A human was passing by and his torch caught a glimpse of a meaty object being dragged into the bushes.

“That darned cat…” He continued walking, until he felt something touching him.

He had no time to shout before his throat was crushed by a long wet snake-like object.

A minute later, Stella continued approaching the palace, occasionally spitting out metal and bones.

The entrance to the palace proper was obviously closed but the brave monster was not exactly concerned, as she climbed up until she found an opened window. Her long body barely fitted into a small room.

After sniffing the air outside the room, Stella was ready to continue.