Their Mistake, Her Rise - Chapter 257: Chapter 257

Zoe had to admit—when she saw Shawn at that moment, disbelief flashed across her eyes.
She couldn't believe that after sending Charlie and Sean away, he had still chosen to return.
He knew how dangerous this situation was. It was just the two of them, up against a whole army of Team Quiver operatives. They had no advantage—only the very real possibility of death.
But he came back anyway.
For a brief moment, a complicated, indescribable feeling stirred in Zoe's heart. She had come to Clusia to assassinate this man, yet here he was, coming back to save her.
"Who the hell is that guy?"
"When did he show up? Was he the one who caused that explosion?"
As the Team Quiver members scrambled in confusion, one of their own came running from the forest, shouting a grim report. "Bad news! I just contacted the logistics team—the explosion took out our supply base. All the heavy weapons are gone!"
The terrorists froze, eyes wide, turning toward the man emerging from the hellish firelight—Shawn.
His eyes were ice-cold, his sharp features carved in grim determination. The fire behind him roared on, casting him in an almost supernatural glow. It was as if he were wreathed in light, unstoppable, untouchable.
Then, once the enemies stepped into his range, Shawn raised his weapon and opened fire without hesitation.
His expression was ruthless and arrogant. Against anyone but Zoe, he never showed mercy.
Half of Team Quiver's soldiers dropped in seconds.
"Take cover! Get behind something!" the squad leaders yelled frantically.
But there was hardly any cover nearby. With nowhere to hide, they were slaughtered by Shawn's relentless barrage before they could even think of fighting back.
Watching the carnage unfold, Zoe's eyes flickered with a different kind of light.
Knowing Shawn, his return could only mean one thing—her brothers had been safely evacuated, and Sean had likely already received medical attention.
The loneliness and despair that had weighed on her earlier vanished in an instant. Shawn's return had ignited her fighting spirit like a spark on dry tinder. Her eyes burned crimson with fury and renewed determination.
She had never imagined this day would come—that the man she'd always wanted to kill would one day stand beside her in battle. She thought that the world must have gone insane.
But something even more insane was rising within her—a wild, reckless fire that surged through every cell in her body. Her very soul screamed: if this madman was willing to fight, she would fight with him—no matter how insane it got.
She would go all in, and destroy Team Quiver—these bastards who dared to threaten Clusia.
Shawn's sudden appearance bought Zoe precious time. While Team Quiver was busy trying to fend him off, Zoe sprang into action.
She synchronized her attacks with Shawn—one striking from the outside, the other from within. In just minutes, the two of them took down over a dozen Team Quiver operatives.
Zoe picked up two machine guns from the ground. With the brute strength she had honed through years of warfare, her biceps tensed and flexed—she fired both guns simultaneously. Bullets rained down like a storm, tearing through the enemy ranks.
With no cover in sight, Team Quiver resorted to desperate measures, grabbing their half-dead comrades to use as human shields, retreating while attempting to fire back at Zoe and Shawn.
Meanwhile, Shawn began forcing his way through the encirclement, drawing closer and closer to Zoe. She too advanced toward him, step by step, until their backs met with a soft collision. Like a pair of outlaws bound by fate, they stood back to back, inseparable.
"Why?" Zoe asked quietly, her voice as cold as ice, yet the single word carried a storm of emotions.
She wanted to ask why Shawn came back. He could have just left. He had suspected many times that she might be Firefox—the mercenary sent to kill him. And yet, he came back for her.
What she received was Shawn's firm and unwavering reply: "Because you're the woman I've chosen to be my wife. As long as you stay, I stay."
As Zoe continued to fire at the enemies trying to close in on them, she turned her head slightly, stealing a glance at Shawn from the corner of her eye.
In that moment, she couldn't see his full face—but even from the side, his profile was the most flawless she had ever seen. Her heart skipped a beat.
Shawn, having emptied his magazine, threw his gun at two nearby enemies, knocking them down. Without missing a beat, he picked up a rocket launcher. With a deafening blast, several enemies sneaking up on Zoe were blown away.
"For you!" he shouted, passing the launcher to Zoe as they shifted positions. At the same time, he grabbed the twin light machine guns from her hands and unleashed two full magazines, mowing down a wave of foes.
Now armed with her favorite weapon, Zoe entered her element. Every shot she fired hit its target with deadly precision, taking out armored vehicles rushing in from the distance.
Zoe handled long-range offense, while Shawn charged in for close combat. Though they had never trained together before, their coordination was flawless—each subtle movement perfectly read and responded to by the other.
They were like a battle-born couple destined to fight side by side.
It was their first collaboration—Firefox and Shawn—but their chemistry was so seamless it left even the enemy dumbfounded. Fighting back to back, spinning and weaving through the battlefield, they cut down wave after wave of foes in mere minutes.
Each Team Quiver soldier was nearly on par with an Eminence Nexus elite, but before Zoe and Shawn, they were nothing more than fledgling birds facing a hurricane. One by one, they fell.
The scene was a stunning display of power and synergy. Team Quiver had no choice but to admit—these two were monsters. They would never underestimate them again.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Shawn asked with a grin.
Zoe smirked back. "Absolutely."
They didn't need to say much—just one glance, and they knew exactly what the other intended.
Then, something astonishing happened on the battlefield. Zoe and Shawn suddenly ran toward each other.
The Team Quiver members watched in confusion, assuming the two were about to clash—that their alliance had broken down at last. They thought their chance had finally come.
But in the blink of an eye, the gunshots rang out. Zoe and Shawn both turned and opened fire at the enemies behind each other. Team Quiver didn't see it coming—by the time they realized what was happening, it was already too late.
They had no idea that Shawn and Firefox had fought each other countless times before. In doing so, they had come to know each other's combat styles better than their own.