All Chapters of Every Death Makes Me Deadlier: Chapter 21
- Chapter 30
77 chapters
Chapter 021
The sky had deepened to a flat, heavy grey, and the lights of Tullane Township were coming on one by one in the distance. A thin sliver of moon pushed through the cloud cover and cast pale light across the fields."Time to move," Caleb said. His hands were trembling slightly, and not from the cold.The reaction was immediate. Faces that had been tight with exhaustion and caution loosened into something closer to relief. The men had been sitting in the dark for hours, cold and hungry, and the sight of those distant lights was enough to override almost everything else.Thomas, standing close to Soren, was one of the few who hesitated. "The lights are still on in those buildings," he murmured. "If we go in now, won't we...""Relax," Fisher said, already moving, bent low at the waist. "Snyder was guessing. For all we know, those are still our people in there. Stick with me, Thomas. First thing we do is find the kitchen." He didn't wait for Caleb to give the order. Ho
Last Updated : 2026-10-26
Chapter 022
Soren took the stairs fast.Thomas was on the floor, sprawled on his back in a spreading pool of blood. The heavy wooden table he'd dragged up as cover had been punched through in several places, and the rounds that made it through had found him. His chest was soaked red, the uniform fabric dark and wet, and his breathing was the shallow, rattling kind that didn't have long left in it.He raised one hand when he saw Soren come down. His arm was shaking badly, and he managed to lift it just enough to point at the window before the effort gave out. "Outside," he said, barely above a whisper. "Someone's..." The word dissolved into a cough that brought blood with it. His hand dropped. His eyes went still.Damn it.Soren didn't stop moving. He dropped low, stayed away from the windows, and pressed himself flat against the wall beside the front door. Outside, footsteps were closing in, more than two sets, moving with purpose. He couldn't get a count through the noise.<
Last Updated : 2026-10-26
Chapter 023
The gunfire outside was loud, but Soren had gone still enough inside to hear past it.Someone had come partway down the stairs and stopped. Then the footsteps had retreated back up, slow and deliberate, trying not to make noise and failing. He'd heard it clearly. One man, going back to the second floor.He came through the rear window in a single movement, pulled the door shut behind him, and took stock of the room. Three M1915 stick grenades had gone off in this space over the course of the last hour, and the sitting room showed it. The furniture was matchwood, the walls pocked and scorched, nothing left of the original layout that could be identified at a glance.He kept his rifle on the stairwell opening and didn't move toward it. Instead he backed to the rear window again, eased his head out, and looked up at the second floor. The window above was dark. No silhouette, no rifle barrel, no sign of anyone watching from it.He went back out through the window and
Last Updated : 2026-10-26
Chapter 024
The first mistake had been misreading the environment.Standing on the second floor of that building, looking out at the moonlit plain, Soren had understood something he hadn't known before. Once the fog lifted, the tree line was clearly visible from the town. Every movement the column had made on its approach, every crouching silhouette and whispered order, had been readable from the windows of Tullane Township the entire time. The Ivory Army hadn't opened fire immediately because they hadn't needed to. They'd been waiting for the column to step deeper into the kill zone before closing it.The second mistake had been overestimating the column's discipline.Nearly half the men were wounded. They'd been marching for hours without food. The promise of a warm fire, a meal, and a place to lie down had been enough to override every instinct that should have been telling them to slow down and think. A tired army walking toward what it believed was friendly territory wasn't
Last Updated : 2026-10-27
Chapter 025
"This is as far as we go on foot," Soren said.The column had halted at the edge of Tullane Township's outer approach, close enough to make out individual windows in the nearest buildings. The fog was still thick, but it was thinning at the edges, the first grey light of pre-dawn beginning to bleed through the cloud cover."Not a single sign of fighting anywhere on the approaches," Thomas murmured, scanning the ground ahead. He swallowed. "You were right. They've taken it back."Having heard Soren's account of the interrogation, Thomas was now reading threat into everything he saw, which was exactly the right instinct for this situation.Caleb was less composed. The anxiety on his face had been building for the last hour, and it was close to the surface now. "If they recognize us before we're close enough, this whole thing falls apart.""They won't," Soren said. "Not before we fire the first shot. That's all the time we need." He looked back at the column, a
Last Updated : 2026-10-27
Chapter 026
Out in the open, a sniper with the high ground could reshape a battle entirely. But Tullane Township was no longer open ground. It was a maze of stone walls, narrow alleys, and blind corners, and Soren intended to use every inch of it.He led the assault team into the nearest building at a run, coming through the door fast and low. The Ivory Army soldiers inside had no time to react. The rooms were cleared in seconds.Soren shoved the Chauchat M1915 into Thomas's hands and unslung the G98 Mauser rifle from his back. "Get two fire teams on those clock tower windows. I need that sniper's head down. Don't let him breathe."Thomas nodded and moved. Soren took the stairs three at a time.On the third floor, he pressed himself against the wall beside the window and eased the rifle barrel onto the sill. Below, Thomas had already split the force into two elements, both pouring sustained fire at the upper windows of the clock tower across the street. The volume was enough
Last Updated : 2026-10-27
Chapter 027
The notification faded, and in its place came something else: a quiet replay of the last several hours, tactical decisions and their outcomes cycling through his memory with a clarity they hadn't had in the moment. The concepts that had been instinct during the fighting were settling now into something he could name and examine. He hadn't studied command. He'd learned it the hard way, in real time, with real consequences, and apparently that was enough to register.Level one. He'd take it.He pulled up the achievement panel as he descended the spiral staircase.[Total Wipeout: 48/100. Sharpshooter: 30/30. Undying: 3/5.]The Sharpshooter achievement had completed without him noticing. He thought about it for a moment and understood why. Every time he dropped a target, he'd put a follow-up round into the head as a matter of habit, a confirmation kill. Apparently the Career Instance counted that. He filed it away and kept moving.The small square at the center
Last Updated : 2026-10-27
Chapter 028
The clock tower was no longer a defensible position, and both of them knew it.Soren turned from the window. Behind him, two of the seriously wounded had dragged themselves upright against the wall, reaching for the rifles propped beside them. The cannon fire and the grinding of tank treads had done what pain alone couldn't, pulling them back from the edge of consciousness and into something older and more stubborn.Caleb put a hand on Soren's shoulder. His voice was steady. "Go. They need you down there more than I need you up here.""You should come with me.""Someone has to stay with them." Caleb held up the rifle in his other hand and gave it a small shake. "My shooting is good. You said so yourself."Soren looked at him for a moment, then nodded. He pressed the last M1915 stick grenade into Caleb's hand. "Don't do anything heroic. That's not your style. After I leave, blow the staircase. It'll buy you time.""I'll be fine." Caleb took the grenade w
Last Updated : 2026-10-27
Chapter 029
[Career Instance complete.][Mission settlement finished.][Congratulations — two achievements unlocked: Sharpshooter, Undying.][Three Career Points awarded.][Incomplete achievement: Total Wipeout.]I'm... back?Soren stood motionless in the ship's hold, unable to process it. He'd expected another restart. Instead, he was here — same dim space, same diesel smell, same rolling motion of a vessel at sea. The sound of gunfire was still in his ears. The weight of a rifle was still in his hands, except there was no rifle."Hey." One of the four armed crew members had noticed him. The man sauntered over with the easy contempt of someone who had never once been surprised in his life. "You stand up like you've got something to say. You need to raise your hand first, didn't your teacher tell you that?"Laughter from the other three.Beside Soren, Evan's right hand had already closed around a thermos. On his other side, Howard was qui
Last Updated : 2026-10-27
Chapter 030
The cargo ship was registered under the Aurelia Dominion. Its owner was Ronan Vale — born on the mainland, raised abroad, and by now more or less Aurelian by habit if not entirely by temperament. His Mandarin was functional, if slightly accented.The shipment was straightforward: a consignment of electronic cigarettes, bound for the Sunvale Republic on behalf of a wealthy Aurelian principal."If I'm not mistaken," D-6 said, "electronic cigarettes are illegal in Sunvale. Prohibited under import and export regulations."Ronan nodded. "Correct. That's precisely why they came to me.""So this is smuggling," Soren said."Essentially. I have a contact at Sunvale Customs Bureau — someone with a flexible interpretation of their duties. For shipments below a certain volume, the inspection process can be navigated. It costs money, of course. Their appetite is considerable." Ronan gave a rueful shake of his head."How much cargo, and what's your cut?"<
Last Updated : 2026-10-27