Chương 113: CHAPTER 110 – Celestial Apex

The Pietas' engines kicked up a thick fog of ash and dust, hurling debris and shattering it against the ruins. The only trace of movement in the entire area was the aircraft itself, landed in a clearing surrounded by the floating remains of military barracks and apartment buildings. Torn canvases and shreds of flags drifted in the currents in place of birds, and pebbles shifted by the strange tectonics replaced the worms.

As soon as the ship was anchored to the ground, the entire crew swarmed outside, shouldering their equipment. At the last metallic step, the Pietas camouflaged itself, becoming almost imperceptible, like a slight distortion in the air.

"Incredible… The entire Singularity is way bigger from the inside. I'm registering more rock formations here and a full 334, 600 kilometers of extension!" Maverick stared at his watch, dazed, holding the rifle strap firmly. Monica checked her device with the same expression, clicking her tongue.

"Let's advance over there. It should be beneficial to obtain a more central reference." She pointed her glove toward a glass dome, cracked and pierced by rock, with a metal skeleton barely visible from that angle. Maliard nodded, adjusting Compulsion and making sure his staff was secured.

"And what will we do there?" Hoku asked as they advanced toward an incline with a dangerous slope.

"I wouldn't have wanted to, but to cover this extension we need to split up. Based on the area, we'll decide on teams and agents." The man nodded, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he pressed hard into the ground to keep from slipping. A boulder fell from beside them, crashing near one of the buildings with a thunderous noise. They were already a dozen meters up, but the climb wasn't even halfway done.

"Hey, don't use your abilities!" Maliard growled, seeing Lance, Noel, Jeanne, and Lautre standing calmly at the head of the group, without even a drop of sweat.

"Not at all, I'm just walking normally!" Noel smiled, accompanied by Lance's nod.

"I used to make detours like this all the time when I was a courier! Sometimes even with wagonloads of packages on my back." He smiled, scratching his head while Jeanne hopped along beside him.

"And her? Who's going to explain her to me?" Clerc joked, walking backward to look at poor Edvard, panting and sweaty.

"I find it relaxing…" She said timidly, quickening her pace. Noel and Clerc smiled, running after her while kicking up so much dust they blinded poor Lance.

"I'm already tired of this operation…" Maliard murmured, helped by Maverick and Edvard with a pat on the shoulder.

"Come now, good humor improves performance! And I believe the success of this operation is in everyone's interest." Edvard smiled, using his staff to help with the climb. Maliard looked first at him and then at Monica, frozen in that troubled expression she'd worn since they'd departed.

"You're right… Think positive." With that, he sped up too, trying to catch up with the four. After an exhausting forty-minute climb, the entire NOIR team found itself at the gates, or rather, cracks, of the glass dome. The entire ground was somehow softer, evidence of the grass that must have once grown there. The rest of the structure was destroyed by debris and ruins that shouldn't have been there: poles, cars, roofs, and a white fountain with the remains of a bust.

"Incredible, Hel didn't leave anything untouched." Lance murmured, letting the earth crumble between his hands. Maliard pressed his boot into the ground, twisting the toe of his boot in the dust.

"After all, it was unlikely that organic life could adapt to Hel, especially in these conditions. The singularity still has the same climate you'd experience at this altitude. Only a Meta can withstand the conditions without equipment." Lance roused himself, stroking the remains of beams and concrete.

"Metas can unconsciously sustain themselves with the Frequency in the air, and here we're rich in it. Our capabilities will be amplified too, but with it, also the overload." Monica returned from the stairs, tightening the laces of her gloves. She stared at the group, shaking her head low.

"The distortion here is really high compared to the outside. Beyond the rubble, I can't see the center. Unfortunately, we have to split up from here on." She grabbed an iron bar from the ground, beginning to trace a large triangle. Slowly she began drawing circles, all of different sizes and scattered irregularly across the area.

"The structure we're in is in the bottom corner. The zone with the greatest coverage will be assigned to Noel and Lance. The rest will split into the surrounding zones. I'm entrusting you, Maverick, with the zone closest to the center. We'll regroup at the central core after the inspection. You're authorized to use your abilities minimally to speed up the investigation, but don't abuse them." Monica drove the pole into the ground, keeping it straight with her palm.

A ray of sunlight filtered through the ruins to illuminate her as she turned toward the group with a renewed expression: lips set straight, gaze steady, back rigid as she modulated her breath until it was imperceptible. Everyone nodded, shouldering their weapons, except Lance, who was still stroking the walls with the hairs on his neck standing on end. Jeanne noticed, approaching with her hands behind her back, busy holding the frame.

"Is something wrong?" He turned sharply, his eyes glowing gold, and Lachesi already manifested on his arm. Immediately, everyone felt the same shiver. Lance threw himself at Jeanne, pulling her away while raising his open palm toward the wall. In the distance, a thin black light was beginning to form above the rubble of a shack floating in the air. Behind it, an old ship, barely functional.

"Do you think it's a good idea to reveal our position?" David smiled, stroking a small pile of stones stacked on the spot, upon which he'd placed his cylinder. Malcolm smiled, raising his arm under the anguished gaze of Changeant, excluding Roman.

"Our presence is already known, after all. Might as well force them to accelerate. Besides, the march ends the same way for everyone." All the members felt the air grow sharp and taut as he lowered his finger." Guillotine." Everything standing in that kilometers-long trajectory was cleanly severed, cut through by a black, silent thread. Ed and Angel watched the entire archipelago split apart from that gesture, while Laure whistled with satisfaction despite the pallor on her face.

All the halves were disintegrated until the thread was somehow deflected, splitting into dozens of rays throughout Icarus.

"Not bad, Alpha, but you're not my opponent today. There are other plans for you." David gestured with his hand, opening various rifts in the air, each showing the same gray image of desolation.

"Now go to your assigned locations." They nodded, and Roman was the first to leap, sighing. Meanwhile, the black thread had pierced the dome, crashing against Lachesi. Lance, grinding his teeth as his arm lost feeling, tightened his fingers around that corrupted Frequency and snapped it. The filaments slashed through space, fraying the structure and beginning to turn it to dust.

"Evacuate!" Lance withdrew Lachesi, following Monica's order as he leaped through the rubble and the cracks that were beginning to form. He slid under a concrete column, continuing his run as corrupted debris plummeted into the void, dissolving.

"How did you know it was there?" Maverick used his rifle as a cane to guide himself through the devastation. Lance shook his head, pointing to the back of his neck.

"I always feel it when something's about to happen! It's like a terrifying shiver." Maverick nodded, dodging to the side to avoid a gigantic iron beam falling from what remained of the roof, now visibly consumed by that black film.

"Good to know! You have no idea how useful certain traits are!" He smiled calmly, grabbing Lance by the arm. He didn't have a moment to think before he found himself hurled by Maverick toward the exit, immediately followed by himself. He flew outside, coming to a stop against a white pedestal. Meanwhile, Hoku was tucked under Noel's arm, who was charging rather than fleeing the rubble, smashing through anything in his path with his arm.

"Thanks…" Hoku whispered, being tossed around by the continuous jumps. Noel smiled, raising a thumb with his free hand.

"We're not together this time, so save your sword for when you'll need it. This is nothing for me!" Hoku laughed, nodding, freeing himself from the grip to run at his side. He brushed Noel's flank with the pommel of his blade, nodding.

"Indeed, we're not together, but I know how strong we are! It'll be a success, so make sure you conserve your strength too." They both laughed, tripping into a crevasse and sliding down the eroded, dirty steps a short distance from the fountain.

"Guys!" Lance raised his hand, but instead of getting their attention, he found himself overshadowed by a dark shape. He turned to try to understand the source, but was struck by a column, and with it, Jeanne, atop the rubble. Maverick clicked his tongue and sighed, pulling him out of the debris. The island was beginning to crumble more and more, opening numerous cracks. One of them nearly swallowed Maliard, who was promptly grabbed by his sister.

"You know I can fly, right?" He pulled himself up, immediately resuming his flight. Monica turned toward him with narrowed eyes.

"Then why on earth are you running?!" Maliard didn't answer. He simply tracked all potential risks, starting from the crevasse behind them to the column that had recently crushed the ground at his back.

"Excuse me, aren't you invulnerable?!" Monica looked at him, shocked, immediately shouting. In front of them, an entire section of the dome was ready to collapse. Shards of glass embedded themselves at their feet like blades, as long as a foot.

"OF COURSE! I SHOULD ENJOY GRATUITOUS PAIN!" Maliard grabbed her by the shoulder, raising his right arm. Suddenly, a gust of wind manifested at his back, sending them flying toward the fountain. Monica landed in the middle, while Maliard fell onto Lance, who had just gotten back on his feet. Everyone regrouped as the island collapsed completely, kicking up a gigantic cloud of dust. The roar was terrifying, along with the haze that followed.

Coughing, Maliard tried to make his way through, colliding with Noel's back.

"Where are Lautre and Edvard?!" Before he could even get an answer, the fog was swept away by a devastating wind. The gust was so strong it hurled most of the team into the fountain basin, except Lance, who remained as if nailed to the pedestal where a statue had once stood. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Could you have held back, you idiot! And put on the armor!" A sharp voice shouted from atop the pile of debris. Beside the figure stood an armored silhouette holding what appeared to be a staff, but split in two.

"What's the problem? I had to test the new equipment, and I fight better like this! What's the point of wearing armor if my plan is not to get hit, anyway?" Edvard slammed his staff on the ground, walking toward the others with a hand pressed to his face. Lautre put away the tuning fork, which broke down into tiny filaments before retracting into his medical apparatus.

"I'm glad to see it works well!" Maverick smiled, immediately followed by a click of Lautre's tongue.

"If you and Lucas worked on it, it could only be adequate. It's light, the resonance is good, and it's easier to draw out. You're wasted at NOIR." He scratched his hair, embarrassed by the compliment. Monica grabbed his sleeve, pointing her finger at Lautre.

"Don't say that! The entire agency would be lost without Maverick!! Who would fix the kitchen then!" Immediately, all the pride in his heart died, leaving behind the shadow of a peculiar lackey's paranoia.

"Come now! Even without you, everything would be lost." Edvard smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder with a broad, elderly smile. Monica blushed, shaking her head.

"This isn't the time! We need to report to Lucas immediately and establish new positions." Everyone's watch vibrated, followed immediately by a bright voice.

"Already done. There are several additional energy traces in the positions previously confirmed." Lance breathed a sigh of relief hearing Lucas's voice so calm and resolute.

"For convenience, we'll designate the marked islands as Mu, Tau, Beta, Ursa, and Dri. Mu remains the one with the greatest extension and was the commercial district used to camouflage the structure. Tau appears to be a kind of laboratory, given the strange accumulation of Hel and its reduced extension. Beta and Ursa are twins and closest to the center, where the concentration seems highest. The greatest presence is at Dri, also located at a higher altitude than the average.

I suggest moving in pairs and then possibly separating. I'll stay on the line for updates and operational changes. Good luck." Lucas's voice faded, and a new light ignited in the team's eyes.

"I request permission to head to Dri personally. Malcolm must have launched the attack from there." Maverick stared ardently at Monica, showing the various vials hidden under his coat. The commander rested her gaze on Astrea, orbiting around his shoulder since he stopped piloting.

"Granted, but stay in contact for a possible retreat. Revenge isn't worth the operation, clear?" Her tone was severe, and the expression completely foreign to the classic Monica that Lance knew. He watched her from afar as Maverick nodded, shouldering his rifle and heading toward the strange mountainous peak to the north.

"Monica really is different on the field…" Jeanne murmured into his ear, having silently hidden behind him. Lance nodded, watching her give orders left and right. Her back was straight, her voice solid, and her entire bearing gave the air of a true commander. He thought back to all her speeches and their conversations and smiled. A strange warmth stirred in his chest, immediately extinguished by Noel's icy grip, who, smiling, pointed beyond the ruins.

"As planned, Mu has been assigned to us! Let's go!" Without the chance to refuse, Noel dragged him along, starting to march.

"And the others?!" Noel let him go, smiling, rotating the joints of his prosthetic like a propeller as he thought.

"Jeanne has been assigned to Tau, since it's probably one of the few zones containing liquid for her, or so Lucas says. Monica and Maliard will split up to cover Beta, same for Edvard and Lautre for Ursa. Hoku will run patrols, helping where needed. After all, he's probably the fastest among us!" Lance tilted his head, staring at Lachesi and then at Noel, completely confident.

"Though I haven't seen you use that thing on your arm, so who knows!" He gave Lance a light tap on the shoulder, making him stumble as they moved away from the collapse. Lance stared at him pensively, meeting that radiant gaze. He sighed and nodded.

"Don't worry, I won't be outdone!" He pointed his thumb straight at his puffed chest, laughing with his companion. The watch on his wrist vibrated, making him lower his gaze." Good luck - Sent by Monica." Lance clenched his fist, adjusted his robes, and gave Lachesi a caress before speeding up.

"Hey, don't leave me behind!" Noel launched into pursuit, clumsily drawing Sezarac. Elsewhere, Maverick had begun climbing a vertiginous rock face, using floating rocks for support. Shivers ran through his flesh as his blood boiled, perceiving a distinct metallic taste on the tip of his tongue.

"I hope you are itching for it too, demon." He smiled, pulling a bullet from the red chamber on his belt.

"It's been almost an hour since the fountain, and only now have we reached the investigation site. How damn big is this place?" Monica landed on a rock vaguely resembling a tombstone. Maliard followed in flight, adjusting Compulsion.

"We have to split up here. I'll go right." Without further words, he landed, heading toward a dark gallery covered in strange grayish vegetation. Monica nodded, proceeding toward a staircase illuminated by the cold sun.

"Monica!" She turned sharply, watching her brother wave with his free hand from his glove.

"Don't do anything reckless…" His voice came out weak but enough to make her smile. She raised her hand to return the gesture.

"I'll promise only if you promise first!" Maliard snorted, shaking his head and starting to walk again, this time with his thumb raised. Relieved, she clenched her fists and headed into the new biome. Everywhere across Icarus, forces were silently beginning to move. Portals manifested scattered across the singularity, tearing through the air as they vomited out their travelers. Seated on a throne of violet crystal, Laure sipped from a red chalice.

Her bare skin pressed against the frozen solid, barely warmed by the sun. She crossed her legs, stroking her throat as a red drop slid down her neck. She smiled at the horizon, rising without a sound.

"This place is so free… Maybe because it's near the apex of the sky?" The chalice shattered in her hands, transforming into a cloak. In moments, she found herself dressed in an old military uniform, with crystalline patches scattered along the sleeves and chest. Stripes of her usual tricolor formed at her hips, leaving only her sides and feet bare. She stretched, snapping her fingers.

"I'll wait, though I doubt a prince will ever come." Near Ursa, two figures separated inside the foyer of a grand palace, or at least that was the impression it gave, twisted by strange black thorns and grayish dust.

"Angel… Leave me alone, please." A man, his arm devoured by slimy dark tendrils, sat down on the only mound of ruins where the sun fell. His gaze aged as the rays caressed his unkempt beard, stained with strange blackish grease. His eyes were sunken into a face eaten away and gray. His back, once straight and noble, had thickened, bending him downward. He held a tattered, crumpled, greasy hat between his hands. The boy he was speaking to stopped, staring at him without expression.

"It will be done, Mr. Dostoj." He moved to turn, but the old man laughed and, without warning, threw a reddish velvet pouch at his feet.

"There's enough money to lead a life outside the archipelago. I made the exchange, and maybe Northest would suit you if you like the snow." Angel picked it up and examined it carefully. It was unexpectedly heavy and dense, emitting a metallic sound with every movement.

"Why?" The words emerged from his throat unlike usual. His voice held a bristling novelty: curiosity. Roman stood, adjusting his disheveled beard with his deformed hand. With every movement, pustules burst beneath his filthy robes, further contaminating them. Without warning, he appeared before him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"They were for Maica. Before she died, I promised her I'd take her elsewhere, to an academy. She was very good with engines and brushes, a true talent in both. She died alone, and no one wept for her. Only you and Laure paid her final respects. As much as I hate that harpy, it pleased me." Angel clutched the pouch to his chest, making it vanish into liquid shadow. Roman smiled.

"You could also leave with this money…" Angel murmured, watching the old man return to his post. The old man shook his head, tearing his sleeve to reveal the twisted, bubonic limb, with bones replaced by the tendrils sprouting from his ability. In his chest, a trembling greenish flame stirred.

"I've spoken with Laure. She doesn't agree with me, but it hardly matters. I'll die here. My mind is already starting to slip away. I feel only anger and regret for what my life has been… But at least on this day, I want to die free and on my own terms. These are the words of a poor, senile man." A gigantic blade assembled from tendrils and bones, splitting the palace they were in with a single slash. The wall crashed to the ground, engulfing them in a cloud of dust.

"The serum is driving me toward corruption, but it has certain positive sides too…" Angel saw him smile among the rubble as the blade returned to its deformed shape.

"I won't force you to follow my wish, but, Angel… Live on your own terms, if you will. You can do so much more. Don't bend. If it happens, don't break. And if you should fail, stitch yourself back together. Never stop walking the path you believe is right. You will find redemption." Angel stared at him attentively, with his back straight and his eyes fixed on his face.

"Thank you, Roman." The old man smiled as he watched him disappear. Once all the sounds merged with the wind, Roman shifted his gaze to the sun, slowly covering his forehead with his mutated arm.

"Soon… I'll be able to apologize to you in peace." A violent gust of wind enveloped him completely, swallowing him in the dust as he continued to smile. Far away, in an area that should have remained hidden from the world, Ed Guin stroked the roots of a tree that had emerged with effort into the singularity: black bark, roots covered in strange reddish liquid, and a drooping canopy horribly resembling entrails.

No fruit grew from that aberration vaguely resembling a plant organism, yet the man continued cleaning the roots in that space full of shattered capsules and old equipment. Sticky residue was slowly trampled underfoot. A shadow projected from the dimly lit entrance, stretching across the walls.

"So it's you… The one I'm meant to receive." Ed turned his tired, unkempt face toward the girl, armed with a scythe and with resolute eyes fixed on him. Her grip on the weapon tightened as she advanced. He raised his bulky limbs, lifting himself with a grunt." The Witch … A pleasure to meet you." She continued advancing silently, stopping only when the distance between them could be covered by a single leap.

"You're a member of Changeant, right?" Ed nodded, flexing his fingers until they cracked. Jeanne stared at him with a shadow of disgust on her face, feeling her chest burn.

"Have you come here to kill me?" The man smiled, awaiting some form of response from the girl before him. To his eyes, she looked perfectly normal, but the instinct that kept stirring in his innards repeated that the one before him was a wild beast, something the world should have buried.

"I'm not here to kill… As long as you don't obstruct our mission." Ed nodded, feeling the ground.

"Can't I say the same? Your mission would be more just than ours?" Jeanne tilted her head, tapping the tip of her scythe on the ground.

"You aspire to a world that won't make me happy." Ed didn't respond, proceeding to arm himself: two large pairs of dark gloves, covered in whitish, veiny tendrils.

"And yet you fight, causing pain in a world that already exists for others." Jeanne raised her scythe, slicing the air and resting it over her shoulders.

"I saw a new world arrive… It disgusted me. NOIR gave me a home, and there I decided who to follow so I'd never be alone again." Ed cracked his fingers again, smiling amiably. Snap Around them, dozens of tendrils manifested, nestling around them as if to form a parlor. Jeanne found herself sitting on a soft, fragrant plant. Jeanne felt cradled, yet her stomach churned, by instinct.

"We can chat first. After all, our mutual knowledge is meager." The man smiled, filling the room with multicolored flowers of countless shapes.