Chương 123: 36 - VACUUM OF HATRED

When Mitas Corlander walked into a room, the room became a vacuum, emanating with smoke oozing from his skin. Now, in this tight space within these long corridors, as soon as he stepped out of the elevator, the air became difficult to breathe, and the act of standing became a heavy burden. But that didn't stop his stepdaughter from standing square with him, eye to eye with a feral hatred pasted on her face. He slowly turned his head, smelling the blood coming from his left.

German Casas was dead, lying face down on the cement ground, body contorted hideously from the jolt of a gunshot to the back of the head. Corlander knelt and closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Tyene watched him strangely when Vienna grabbed her wrist.

"We're going," Vienna pulled her away, continuing their sprint down the hall. But Corlander had no intention of letting them go. With a flick of his hand, a flurry of metal pieces flew past the two women to form a wall blocking off the end of the hall. It stopped them in their tracks, despite Vienna kicking at it. She immediately searched a satchel around her waist for something she could use to break it. But it was Tyene who stopped her.

"Don't worry about it." The redheaded woman turned to see Corlander calmly approaching them.

"He was more like a son to me than you ever were a daughter," he said with a touch of sorrow in his eye.

"And you killed him."

"Stepdaughter." Tyene corrected.

"But that makes sense. You always loved your company more than you did your family."

"Love? Don't speak to me about love," he stopped walking and gestured towards German's corpse. Tyene didn't look.

"He loved you despite my advice against it. That kind of love wasn't meant for people like us. It blinds us from reaching our full potential… and yet he did it anyway. Now look what love has done to him." Vienna continued searching for a way to break through the wall as Tyene crossed her arms, a look of disgust on her face.

"Get off your fucking soapbox. Don't pretend you ever cared about anyone more than yourself." Corlander sighed, exasperated.

"It pains me that that is what you truly believe about me… I cared about your mother and, by extension, you as well. But purpose is something hard to describe to people who don't have it. Most people at some point in their lives are faced with the impossible choice of purpose against love. In hindsight, most people would cave to their personal happiness and that of the ones closest to them. But for the world to continue turning, some of us must choose purpose."

"Is that why my mother had to die? For your purpose?" Corlander made her face as if he wanted to laugh.

"Is that what all this is for? You think I killed her. It was a car accident, Tyene. And yet here you are coming to conclusions in your own head that you have no evidence for… The thought is childish, as was always your first instinct, but I'll commend you. You were someone who I always believed lacked purpose. And I can see on your face how much your new purpose means to you. Perhaps if your anger had been directed to more productive channels, you would've been a greater use at my company than I imagined.

Like German said you would be." Tyene had been gritting her teeth so hard that a sharp pain coursed along her jawline.

"Vienna," she said quietly.

"What are the odds of us surviving this encounter?"

"Unlikely. Our best chance is to prioritize escape."

"No can do. I'm gonna kill him. It's what I came here to do. I'm going to do it… just one time."

"Corlander raised his chin.

"It finally seems like you and I are on the same page for once." Corlander attacked, driving a chilling blast of condensed frost forward. Tyene raised a hand back, and the ice blast was met by another of the same size and power. The two blasts met in the middle of the hall, spreading a sheet of frost over all the concrete in the room. Suddenly, the room was freezing. Despite the thin pajamas Tyene had been wearing, she stood firm with an eager smirk.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Corlander's eyes glowed with their monstrous red, and he prepared another attack. This time it was gravity, which threatened to haul down both women like a giant boulder suddenly dropped on their backs. But Tyene didn't move, unaffected. She held her arm, and it was Corlander who was forced to a knee, feeling an unbearable pressure on himself. Though he stood again once he scanned her and realized what was happening.

"Very clever," he said.

"A mirror loot coupled with time dilation. One copies whatever power I use, while the other slows down time enough that you can make it seem like you're using it at the same time as me. A thoughtful counter. You've come prepared."

"Weren't you the one who always talks about being the most prepared person in the room?"

"I'm almost touched that you took the time to listen. But my advice won't save you here. I'll be taking those loots as well as the Loot Thief."

"One of his loots must be able to identify whatever we have equipped." Vienna pointed out.

"We won't be able to surprise him." Corlander extended both hands, sending out simultaneous attacks of metal shards and a jolt of lightning. Vienna threw herself in front of the attacks, looking to shield her protectee with her body. But Tyene tapped her on the shoulder. Suddenly, the attacks slowed, the speed of the lightning being reduced to that of a diving eagle. Quick but dodgable. She and Tyene both managed to get out of the way of the attacks, rolling in opposite directions.

"Don't worry," Tyene said, on her knee.

"As long as you're next to me, we can slow things down for a few seconds to give us some breathing room."

"My lady, I must insist we focus our efforts on escape. This isn't a fight we're prepared for. I need to get you somewhere safe." Tyene stood.

"No. I'm royally pissed off, and I'm not going anywhere." Corlander attacked again, shooting a broadsword at her as if it were a bullet. Tyene mirrored the sword, taking it in her hands and deflecting the sword away.

"I can beat him. But I need you to feel my rage, Vienna," she said.

"But ma'am…"

"I'll make it up to you next time." Vienna reluctantly nodded and searched her pockets for the loot they had collected before all this. She equipped one as Corlander watched, curious as to what else his stepdaughter had in store. The dark-haired woman slowly started to stand as the familiar smoke started to surround her. Not only that, but tiny bursts of cobalt-colored lightning seemed to shriek around her body, and when she looked up, her teeth were gnashing.

"You will not hurt her…" she moaned. Corlander cocked his head, scanning. He'd never seen such a thing before, but he could analyze its properties. His vision gave him no name but a description in his head.

"Corruption of a wild beast. User feels no pain while being imbued with enhanced strength and speed. In exchange, the user's mental functions are heavily debilitated." Suddenly, Vienna shot forward faster than a bullet, her body surging with dark energy and rage as the halls began to steam, melting the frost from the walls. Corlander quickly used his gravity loot, stopping her sudden burst in its tracks as she thudded to the ground so hard that it cracked.

But a moment later, she stood and slowly lifted herself under the heavy weight, walking to him at a crawl. Behind her, Tyene was applying her own gravity. He lifted his other hand to attack her, but hesitated when he saw her doing the same. Instead, he took a moment to reanalyze his situation as Vienna continued marching slowly at him with uncontrollable energy, growling like a wild bear. Suddenly, Tyene burst the gravity in Vienna's favor, allowing her to leap at Corlander at full speed.

When they connected, an explosion went off as Corlander's blast of energy sent them both upward through the basement ceiling and the roof of the entire mansion. The storm outside was at its peak, showering them with endless rain under the dark sky. Corlander had thought that having the distance of flight would give him the advantage. But the rage was unrelenting. Vienna launched, attacking as if her hands were clawed, trying to decapitate him.

Every time he would fly away from her, Tyene's use of gravity allowed Vienna to fly after him. He steeled his skin, meaning when Vienna hit him, her attack only bounced off. Though she didn't stop, despite the clear damage it was doing to her hands. But it had come close to tearing through his defense. Too close. Suddenly, his skin erupted with large spikes from his face that punctured through her hand, causing her blood to spray across his face. She didn't seem to notice.

"Feel no pain." Corlander thought as Vienna hit him with a heavy fist to the side of his head, which knocked him hard to the ground. The attack threw him off, but before he hit the ground, he applied his gravity instead, floating just above the grass of the mansion. Vienna kept charging, and Mitas launched a plume of wind that shot her far to the other side of the lawn. But she just continued to get up.

Not only that, but it seemed to get stronger, the energy around her creating a barrier that the rain couldn't touch. And suddenly she let out a vicious, deafening scream.

"What is that creature?" Corlander said. Tyene floated down from above, using Corlander's own flight loot to do so.

"That is my rage for you, embodied in the very woman you sent me to keep me caged in. I heard someone once call it Rage loot. But you can call it retribution."