Chương 114: CHAPTER 111 – Threefold Brutality

"Lance, I need to apologize." The duo leaped between the ruins, soaring through the air as they avoided the black pillars emerging from the concrete remains. Noel's vest fluttered in the air, ready to fly off his shoulders and leave him bare-chested, with only the suspenders loaded with dozens of firearms and ammunition. They landed together on the top of an apartment building, venturing down the stairs.

"For what?" Lance smiled, looking through the cracks at the gigantic grayish plain before them: a barren expanse of nothing but ruins and old metal poles, with what looked like an obelisk visible at the center, perhaps a decayed palace.

"During the vigil, I didn't mean to answer you that way." He lowered his gaze, moving away from the fissure to continue down the stairs. Lance followed quickly, sliding down the handrail while his companion's heavy footsteps echoed among the remains.

"But I don't need any apologies! If anything, I should have been more careful with my words. I think everyone carries a bit of weight on their shoulders." Noel stared at him as he slid down the iron, adjusting the black cloak on his shoulders. He laughed, gripping the metal buckles under Lance's confused gaze.

"You really are a strange person, Lance… And that's a real shame." They emerged from the ruins, resuming their leaps between floating stones and the metal remains scattered in the worn concrete, heading toward the obelisk where the signal pulsed.

"What do you mean? Should I be offended?" The boy smiled, grabbing onto the roof of a building that the singularity had scattered so much it had flipped it upside down. His black hand gripped the concrete, clawing into it and leaving him dangling in the void. Noel did the same, clinging to a nearby rock.

"No! I meant that people like you are rare! You're considerate and never put yourself above others, but you know how to commit, and you're always willing to do your best! You're great!" Lance stared at him, a bit dazed, pointing his index finger at his own face.

"I appreciate that you think so, but I believe everyone at NOIR holds me in a sphere far above my own…" Now it was Noel staring at him stupidly, slowly furrowing his brows.

"What do you mean by that? We have been doing great with you here!" Lance returned to being the surprised one before bursting into laughter.

"Really, I think you've got more trouble since I got recruited." Noel snapped his fingers with his free hand, nodding.

"But it's not true! I believe that for everything you've done, you deserve to be treated well." Noel now raised his thumb, trying to chase away the thoughts from his companion's face.

"I appreciate it, but I still haven't changed. That time I made a scene with Lautre, and only Mr. Ross managed to get me out of trouble at least a little. I'm still the same idiot who does whatever he wants and never takes care of himself." They both let go, landing on a floating boulder. The rock swayed slightly from the impact, destabilizing them.

"I think you're too hard on yourself." Noel smiled, hooking his metal hand onto another colossal fragment of ruins. Lance approached, gripping his robotic wrist before being launched with him toward their destination.

"You know we could have gotten there by jumping, right?" Lance smiled, sliding along the sandy gravel. Noel dusted himself off, smiling.

"And where would the fun be in that?" Lance chuckled, pointing at the monolith in the distance. He gave his watch a quick glance and nodded, starting to walk.

"The signal gets stronger over there. There'll be… Fun to be had." Lance grew embarrassed, immediately returning to marching as Noel's thunderous laughter grew closer.

"That was supposed to be a joke?! You're terrible at this, Lance!" He kept his gaze low as his companion's voice rose with every step, often with pauses so brief they made one doubt there had been one at all.

"Who cares if you want to follow your desires and help others! Always do what makes you happy, don't stop to think about what's right or wrong! Just think about whether it makes you happy and doesn't hurt anyone." Lance scratched his chin, shaking his head.

"The problem is that I can't do what I want without making others upset! Jeanne, Monica, even Lucas… I wonder how they don't hate me after all the times I come back to base half-dead." Noel sighed through his teeth, hissing.

"That's true… But how could anyone hate you?! You've done so much and never stopped for anyone. Everyone knows who you are, fortunately, in a good way." Lance shrugged, summoning the sword from Lachesi to help him walk on the uneven ground.

"Do you know one of the reasons I'm here?" Noel hesitated, reluctantly lowering his heavy head.

"For your sister, right? Not that you had a choice." Lance nodded, occasionally clicking his tongue.

"I use NOIR's resources to investigate more deeply, and having the opportunity to stay on Changeant's trail fills me with determination. Not enough to chase away the fear…" The boy clutched his chest with his right hand, nervously shaking his head from side to side. He turned toward his companion, this time smiling.

"But enough to give me the will to face it. I'm afraid of losing the people I love again… But I know I can become strong enough to prevent it." Noel darted closer, slapping him between the shoulder blades. He laughed loudly, heedless of the place or the importance of the mission. Lance shook his head again, this time laughing with him. After all, that was just how Noel was.

"We're similar in that. When I arrived here from the sea, I felt lost. My mother was already in a better place, and I struggled to fit in. People… Don't always know how to teach children about what's different from their little world." They walked, accompanied by the hum of pebbles displaced by the icy wind.

"It wasn't their fault, but in the little education I could afford, there was nothing that protected me. Sector II was a truly terrible place a few decades ago, not that it's changed much…" Lance nodded in agreement, remembering his own experiences.

"Unfortunately, yes. I don't know how much you've 'officially' frequented it, but Sector II is full of… Primitives, and I'm not just referring to their manners." Before them, the monolith grew ever larger. Despite everything, they had been marching at a constant speed for a couple of hours—for a trained Meta, far beyond any record achievable by a human being.

"You understand it wasn't easy… Not that I hold a grudge. Children can't understand how big the world is, but it's up to adults to teach it. That's another reason I'm here." Noel puffed out his chest, beating his fist against it. There was a strange veil of melancholy on his face, yet he kept smiling.

"Not that I had much choice after my father died. It was either die or be recruited." Lance listened, continuing to perceive that shift in tone, now less thunderous.

"Your father… What kind of man was he?" Noel furrowed his brows, simultaneously tilting his head toward his companion.

"He was a good person before my mother died… Then he fell into wickedness and did nothing but think about his work. We left the south of Turgnevet and landed here." As they spoke, they didn't realize they had reached a steep incline, marching inexorably toward the colossal gray column on the horizon.

"Turgnevet? News rarely arrives from there after they closed relations following the great plague." Noel nodded, drawing his blade to help with the steep climb.

"My nation's history is ancient. Originally it was a desolate wasteland, then it became strangely lush. I studied the history with my father, and no answer was ever found regarding that period." Lance pressed a finger to his temple, grumbling.

"So a second Dark Age?" Noel nodded, shrugging.

"More than a second, I'd call it the second part of the world's darkness. After all, history is always full of holes here and there. If there's a risk that a man's mind can crack in barely a decade, imagine over millennia!" Noel chuckled, and meanwhile a thought formed in Lance's head.

"Does it have something to do with Nikola and his companions? Those two were Metas. Despite the corruption, they surely saw the world of that era… And yet Nikola chose to erase it to protect us." A strong gust of wind struck him, kicking up a cloud of pebbles and dust. Lance covered his mouth, advancing as he stretched his armored arm through the grainy haze. He took a step and felt himself plunge into a crevasse.

Another gust of wind and he realized he was falling inside a crater, hidden by the horizon, where the colossal monolith stood.

"Damn it!" He channeled part of the Frequency into his legs, propelling himself off the wall. He struck the ground, sliding along the white sand. Behind him, the wall began to collapse, taking with it the remains of buildings fused into the rock. He ran his hands through his hair, breathing through his teeth with a hiss.

"Well, if you wanted to get noticed, you succeeded!" Noel appeared beside him, tapping him on the shoulder. Lance shook his head repeatedly, laughing.

"Good thing it's just the two of us! Maliard would have already beaten me!" They both burst out laughing, starting to walk again as they moved away from the dust cloud.

"You know... I'm scared."

"Yes… Me too." They nodded in unison, drawing their weapons simultaneously. They could feel the thick tension in the air, along with the faint, feeble cold that at times spread near their temples and sternum.

"Lance, I'm happy I met you. You and Hoku… All of NOIR helped me a lot." He stopped in his tracks, turning his gaze to his companion, who had halted a few meters behind.

"Noel… What's your dream?" The giant planted the tip of his chainsaw firmly, bringing his metal arm to his chin. He pondered silently in the air cut by the freezing wind, which cooled everything except his spirit. He gave a quick nod, raising Sazerac forcefully toward the white sun. All the muscles in his body tensed to hold that instrument, unjustly wielded by such a happy person.

"My dream is to be a firefly! My mother told me they are amazingly rare animals that can shine bright even in the darkest nights. They are made to unveil the truth, and I want to be strong enough to discover if my mother's stories were true!" He turned toward him, faintly applauding.

"So you want to be a historian!" Lance approached, jumping to give him a light slap on the back of the neck. Noel stroked his nape, smiling as he nodded with wide, faintly glistening eyes.

"Then we'll help each other! I already know where to look!" Lance gave himself a light punch to the chest before continuing the march.

"Let's go! You can't leave now!" Noel ran after him when suddenly a shiver ran down both their spines. An irregular shadow expanded around them, looming over the crater.

"Noel!" In an instant, the robotic hand slammed against the rock, exploding it into a thousand pieces. He had no time to recover before his abdomen was kicked. His body slid across the dust, leaving behind a trail carved by his boot.

"Tougher than expected! Where's the boy with the sword?!" A woman wearing an old bluish vest, her entire body wrapped in bandages, landed on the ground, surrounded by the rain of debris. Between the gaps of pale skin, violet crystals were visible; the only part free of them was the locks of hair slipping from her frayed reddish cap.

"Laure!" He turned his gaze to his side, finding himself face to face with the edge of Lance's blade. She smiled, stopping it with her index and middle fingers. She was hurled backward, along with crystalline shards.

"LANCE KLINT! WHAT A JOY TO SEE YOU AGAIN! ORGUEIL DU MONDE!" She smiled excitedly, licking her fingers, unscathed. A rivulet of saliva clung to her nail, making the boy's disgust grow and her smile widen. Lance was already resuming his guard, gripping the hilt with ever greater vehemence.

"What does Changeant want from this singularity?" His voice was rasping and measured, occasionally broken by the tip of his blade striking the ground. Laure raised her shoulders.

"I have no idea, and I don't care. I'm here because I want to be. Do I need other reasons?" Lance's face grew even more lined as a darting shadow materialized above her. A violent impact, followed by an even worse one, fractured the ground, pushing Lance away." An implanted relic? I didn't notice it last time." Once the smoke cleared, Noel's towering figure was visible with his fist, like a sledgehammer, above Laure's head.

The woman gripped the knuckles and palm of the prosthetic with her fingers, making both tremble.

"Was she always this strong at Machinamentum? It feels like pushing a building." Noel released his grip, retreating to the opposite side. Laure followed, appearing before him. Noel tried to counter, immediately finding his limbs locked.

"I'll say this now and never again… Move aside, brute. Types like you are anything but appetizing." The contempt in that voice and that smile only made Noel laugh, and in retaliation, he grabbed her forearms.

"What makes you think I'd have agreed to either?" From the flank, Lance emerged, his blade pointed at her throat. Laure smiled, opening her jaws. Iron and teeth clashed, stopping the slash. She was sent sliding through the dust, smiling. Despite his bulk, Noel followed, with Sazerac raised well above his head. The colossal mechanical saw plummeted onto her, cleaving the rock with a metallic roar. The crevasse expanded while she laughed, from above Noel's head.

"Too bad, the sun is still high." Her knuckles flew toward his head. Forehead and fist collided, fracturing the unstable ground and hurling both backward.

"I've got you." Lance appeared before her, driving the tip of his blade toward her. Laure kept smiling, having cut her index finger with her thumbnail. All the Frequency in the area shifted abruptly, sending a cold shiver through their heads.

"It seems fair to do the warm-up honors with a blade… Though I would have preferred to start with hands." A violet crystal saber crashed against Lance's sword, deflecting its trajectory. Lance kicked her in the stomach, bending his posture to avoid her blade grazing him. Laure immediately righted herself, bringing the sword in front of her. Noel reached them, holding the roaring Sazerac. The woman maintained that hateful smile. A trickle of blood ran from her lip, dripping onto the white bandages.

Her eyes vibrated red and blue, as the density of the energy around her only increased. Noel and Lance did the same, channeling their abilities. Their veins swelled, and their pupils trembled. The relic arm seemed to swell for an instant as its owner's gaze flashed yellow. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Come! Agents of NOIR!" Laure pointed the blade between the two of them, tilting her head.

"If you can't keep a lady company, how do you expect to become men in the eyes of life?" Everything fell silent, and the trio vanished, immediately followed by the hiss of blades and the roar of machines. Cracks spread across the ground, gashes elongated across debris and rocks while a laugh was lost in the wind.

"You've improved!" Lance grabbed her hand, pulling her toward him. A violent impact resounded across the plain. Laure's smile grew immeasurably as she squeezed the boy's fingers, mere centimeters from her abdomen.

"But it's not enough…" With equal force, she hurled him toward the monolith. He righted himself midair, extending his open palm toward her. Incandescent bolts wrapped around his fingers as he aimed at that witch." Harpune!" Dark lances, with twisted whitish shafts, flew toward her, hissing through the freezing air.

"Magnificent!" She raised the saber above her head, aiming at the sharp convergence. All her muscles tensed to deliver that slash when suddenly something grabbed her leg.

"Gotcha!" She immediately lowered her gaze, noticing the metal prosthetic anchored to her flesh. The iron cable shrieked, dragging her away from the energy darts and catapulting her into the ground.

"A decoy?" With all his strength, Noel hurled Laure into the rocks, sending up the slabs damaged by the blades with a thunderous crash. The impact extended for dozens of meters, spreading cracks across the entire area. With a metallic click, the hand returned to his wrist, and without hesitation, he charged into the haze. He sheathed Sazerac as he emerged from the dust, cocking his arm back.

"If I can get her away from here… Lance can use Lachesi!" Two sets of knuckles collided in the air, sweeping away the dust and debris. Laure smiled upside down, balancing on her free hand.

"A counterattack from that position?" Noel raised his guard. The second blow didn't wait, shaking the earth more than the first. With every exchange, Noel left a furrow behind him while Laure advanced, pelting him with straights and uppercuts. Every impact reverberated through his organs, shaking his tissues and capillaries. His bulk and guard couldn't fully filter those blows, and his wounds only kept piling up.

"You're not bad, all things considered, you know!" Lance launched himself into the air behind them, projecting Supplicium out of Lachesi. The heavy mouth of death immediately seemed to aim its barrel toward her, awaiting only the trigger's stimulus. A black spark crossed his arm, reaching the stock.

"Not now… Noel can't burn through his ability like this." As soon as her arms moved to pull back, Lance kicked the air, propelling himself forward. He aimed, pulling the trigger.

"There you are!" Laure spun around sharply, intercepting the bullet with the back of her hand. The casing, empowered by Lachesi, sheared through her hand and gouged into her shoulder, nearly severing the arm. Laure, destabilized, manifested the blade between her hands as she tried to intercept the colossus beside her.

"YOU WON'T!" Noel, gripping his chainsaw as if it were a club, carved through the ground, aiming at her. Crystals and snapping metal clashed, with the latter emerging victorious. Noel's eyes darkened as crimson veins spread across his skin. The impact hurled her toward the monolith, twisting through the air as a rain of blood mixed with the dust. Noel clutched his chest while Laure crashed into the monolith, breaking off a piece of it.

"Are you okay?!" Lance pulled him up, grabbing him from under the shoulder. Noel's skin was incandescent, pulsing unnaturally, and his panting was beginning to sound more like a hiss. He shook his head, straightening up as he wiped the sweat from his forehead and the blood from his lip.

"It's hard to concentrate my ability without losing control… But she can't fight anymore. The hit was too close to the core to—" A terrifying scream, like claws scratching the air, tore across the plain. The smoke on the monolith cleared, revealing Laure, holding her own crystallized intestines. She smiled, letting gushes of blood run down her legs. Slowly, her innards mended themselves, covered in that violet, gleaming film. Her hair began to color with a tricolor hue, becoming disheveled.

She laughed as her flesh knitted itself back together and she regained the strength to lift herself from the ditch carved by her silhouette in the monolith. In her eyes, for a brief second, a strange slit pupil manifested. Noel rose while panting, twisting the prosthetic unsettlingly. Lance returned Supplicium inside Lachesi, gripping the blade with both hands. Their eyes met across that vast distance, answered by the strong gust of winds. The woman smiled before vanishing, immediately appearing between the two.

A split, the air tensed, and the NOIR duo was hurled away.

"Shit! Her Resistance has already been activated." Lance halted his flight by driving his sword into the ground before launching back into the assault. He appeared before her, aiming a slash at her throat. Two fingers, and the air broke, displaced by the energy of that now-halted blade. Veins swelled beneath Lance's robes and on his forehead as he tried to move the iron trapped in Laure's grip.

"Sorry, but your lack of commitment won't get you anywhere." She moved her hand as if shooing away an insect, completely opening his guard. In less than an instant, Lance felt his insides twist and explode as Laure's knuckles dug into his abdomen. The boy was hurled away, vomiting blood as he clawed his nails into the ground to stop himself.

"This is our second meeting, and you still insist on holding back. You are a slothful person, Lance…" She turned toward him, finding herself face to face with the boy's blade. She quickly deflected it, exposing her flank as the heavy piece of iron spun through the air behind her. A golden glow shifted beneath Laure, aiming at her exposed skin." Einbrand." The impact lifted Laure off the ground, tearing away part of her abdomen with the force of the blow.

As she tried to right herself in the air, she was grabbed from behind. Bones fractured as Noel drove her downward, headfirst. Cracks spread around them as her head vanished into the monolith's rock. Suddenly, sharp columns of crystals erupted from below, slashing through the entire plain. The crystalline mass grew immeasurably, writhing its sharp extremities like tentacles. The monolith, riddled with cracks, began to lean.

"Impossible! A Starken shouldn't be able to manifest an Einflussbereich." Noel spun around sharply, pressing his arms against the gigantic crystal limb plunging toward him from the side. His body crashed into the monolith, instinctively rebuilding his guard. Laure appeared before him, striking him with a kick to the shoulder.

"An area of influence?! It's almost impossible to manifest one for someone of our class!" Lance accelerated, immediately reaching them on the vertical wall. The three, locked in a standoff, stared at each other, each waiting for the other's move.

"What's that bewildered expression? Don't you know how to do it too?" Laure smiled, stomping the rock with prowess, generating dozens of violet spikes. Noel's colossal body vanished from sight, closing the distance. They exchanged blows to the face, shattering the rock while Lance searched for an opening among the crystals.

"Something's wrong here… All the Frequency is asymmetrical. It reminds me of Eve…" The energy emanating from Laure was no longer her classic aura. Instead, it was becoming increasingly sinister as Resistance regenerated the tissues torn away by Noel's violent grips. The crystalline cocoon tightened ever more around the two, regenerating faster than Noel's shockwaves could shatter it.

"How much damn energy does she have…" Laure smiled, stroking her exposed, dust-covered tissues. In an instant, they had healed and her Frequency amplified once more.

"Use it, won't you? I'm talking about your ability." She pointed her bloodied finger at him, crooking it toward herself. Noel huffed, twisting his metal wrist.

"I don't think I need it… After all, we already have the numerical advantage." Laure chuckled, stroking her side.

"Strange. And yet you cared so much about finishing everything with that blow." Cold sweat ran down Noel's forehead as he smiled and slowly filed a nail against the compartment of his prosthetic.

"What's wrong? Maybe I've seen right through you? I'm sorry, but I'm not very good with surprises." As she spoke, the crystal behind her shattered, hurling dozens of violet shards into the dense air. Lance's fist, like a sledgehammer, hissed through the air. Her shoulder buckled under the weight, transmitting the force to the monolith, which fractured under the impact. Blocks of rock broke away as the pillar bent under the very weight of its own mass.

As Laure vomited violet blood, trying to regenerate, Noel detonated his body upward. He cut through the wind, silently, piercing through Laure's intestines from side to side. The moment his heavy boot touched the ground, Noel launched himself at her, holding a spike above his head.

"You're not… That boring." A new eruption of crystals struck the monolith as it collapsed, breaking it apart. Amid the debris, Laure and Noel exchanged blows, shattering rocks in the air and staining the dust with blood. No matter how many tricks he still had in his prosthetic, Laure kept becoming faster and more precise. In one of the exchanges, her knuckles missed his face, and she found her side pierced through.

"Shit! The worst possible opponent for the two of us! Think, Lance, how can you stop her?" Lance's black hand glided along the debris, accelerating to reach them in their brawl.

"If Noel transforms and doesn't kill her… Defeat would be inevitable, and if I had to resort to Eve in a singularity as big as this…" Lance shook his head, slicing through a boulder that cast its shadow over him. He resumed sliding along the monolith, watching them as they left brief spurts of blood behind them." Lachesi is the only solution… Hoping the singularity holds." Lost in his conjectures, Lance failed to realize that Noel was now at the point of exhaustion.

Laure's hand pierced through his side, emerging slick with blood.

"You have my excuses. You are indeed strong!" Laure smiled as Noel's lips tinged red, yet they didn't change their shape, remaining smiling. He snapped his mechanical arm forward, launching it toward a gigantic piece of rock. He vanished from her claws, while various greenish spheres enveloped her.

"What a dirty trick..." Numerous red explosions shook the crater, enveloping Laure in a dense cloud. With a single swipe, she cleared it just in time to see a dark shadow eclipse her. Laure raised her gaze, believing it to be yet another piece of debris, but smiled with relish.

"It's not the same I used for Dirac… But I'll make it enough!" A distorted cloud of black and white sparks enveloped Lachesi, extending to Lance's knuckles. The expression on Laure's face shifted, and she instinctively closed her arms toward her chest, hardening them with violet crystals." AUFPRALL!" The mass of energy made contact with the crystalline surface. Lance felt his arm burn and shatter while his body was flung upward.

Noel, before being blinded, cloaked himself with his black mantle, now illuminated by purplish highlights. A blinding white light covered the spectral archipelago, obscuring every other color for just an instant. Immediately after, everything was struck by a brutal gust, uprooting the remains of the buildings and shattering the small islets that drifted in the distance. A column of white smoke extended until it obscured the sun for a few moments.

Entire domes dismembered in the air, while groups of buildings disintegrated upon contact with Icarus's boundaries. Where they had fought before, a gigantic smoking hole now yawned, leading directly to the ocean below. Lance's strike had shifted the entire structure of the archipelago, pushing away and pulling closer what remained of the "regions."

"Damn it… Even holding back, Lachesi's potential is beyond my control." Lance was kneeling on a pile of rubble that had emerged from what remained of the ground. A trickle of blood crossed his lips, but he had enough strength to stand. He looked around, paling at the destruction, searching for Noel.

"If I can still move without having released Lachesi … Then that means I hit her." He sighed, walking toward the incandescent remains around the crater. That same strike had once devastated the very island where he had fought Dirac, the place where Lachesi had manifested. The boy smiled, thinking back to the past as he advanced with that sliver of satisfaction that kept exhaustion and fear at bay.

"Lance!" He turned his gaze to the side, noticing Noel emerging from the smoke, coughing. He smiled, running to meet him: his body was covered in wounds, but even without using his ability, he could regenerate. The prosthetic made a metallic click, resetting itself.

"If I hadn't used the barrier Maverick gave me… Lachesi is terrifying." Lance nodded, showing his arm covered in black scales.

"And to think it's not even fully manifested." Noel looked around, lingering on the gigantic crater that had pierced through the earth.

"Is she dead?" Lance swallowed, turning toward the disaster.

"Frankly, if I hadn't hit her, I probably wouldn't be here talking about it. My ability lets me recycle and absorb energy based on damage. If the blow had missed, I would have lost control…" Noel placed his heavy, bloodied hand on him, smiling as he always did.

"I know it was to help everyone, but putting yourself at risk like that won't help you prove yourself or give meaning to your actions." Lance averted his gaze, sighing.

"Anyway, well done!" He raised his thumb, grinning from ear to ear. Lance nodded, extending his fist. Without warning, Noel's arm fell to the ground. Both of them grew pale, while a feminine laugh echoed in their ears. In the puddle of Noel's blood, a dark refraction formed.

"I agree! Though I believe something important must be carried through to the very end, without regrets." Between the two of them now spoke Laure, drenched in blood and transformed: the violet crystals had become a deep, abyssal blue, while her ears had grown longer and her sclera had turned an unsettling yellow. Lance amplified the Frequency in his right hand as Laure kicked Noel away. In an instant, a lance of crimson blood pierced her chest, erupting outward and assuming an almost floral shape.

She smiled, gripping the substance.

"I'm sorry, but I truly am not as ordinary as you believe." With a single tap of her index finger, she shattered the blood lance and hurled Lance far away. The boy grabbed the ground, fracturing it further as he stopped himself.

"This Frequency … No… Could it be that she is…" Laure appeared atop a spur of rock, violently whipping the tip of her crystalline tail against the stone. Now that he could see her clearly, he could make out the golden claws and the canines protruding from her lips.

"I can feel your fear and your doubts… And I want to help you understand." She circled Lance, while strange and amorphous crystals sprouted from the crevices.

"I'm not exactly an evolved Meta… I'm more like what you call Irre … In short, I pushed beyond the human limits of Metas a long time ago." She smiled, baring her fangs, as the pale Lance got back to his feet.

"I don't think you've ever heard the name, but I come from Gevaudan, an old citadel that stood on the plains of Sector II before it became a lake. My mother and I were victims of a scandal." She gazed at the boy, chuckling.

"My mother was a prostitute, and I never knew my father. Croix was the name of a newspaper circulating at the time. My mother was a kind woman, but stupid. She was raped, treated like merchandise, and had to forgo medical care. She died apologizing to me, yet I didn't feel anything. Without a grave to weep over, my grief lost its meaning… And it became hatred. I hated my mother for threatening my freedom, and I hated Gevaudan for the same reason."

The more he saw Laure's smile grow, the more evident the disgust on Lance's face became.

"One day, a small singularity formed in the forest. Gevaudan was wiped out by a beast, but the incident was covered up as a phenomenon of mass hysteria. The truth lies far beyond that..." With her chest full of pride, she stared at the sky, stroking her throat.

"The Bête was me! My hatred for that filthy, idiotic place and for that whore of a mother was so great that I evolved beyond a common Helspawn! I awoke while swallowing the innards of that amateur doctor, and how sweet they were…" A sudden gust of wind interrupted the speech.

"That's just the knack of it... Maybe a bit of context will make you like me." The crystal exploded, fractured by an immense yet invisible weight. A shadow loomed over the boy's back. Lance had risen, holding a gigantic broken sword over his shoulders, its tip resembling a harpoon.

"If you are the beast, then I will be the hunter. Laure… You will lose your life here." A golden flame ignited in his harsh eyes, while Laure smiled with flushed cheeks.

"Didn't you want to save people?" The rock where she sat split beneath Lance's blade.

"Not everyone has the right to that… Or the will for it." Laure bit her nail, smiling with her canines bared. Lance brought Imago before him, clenching his teeth under the weapon's weight.

"Then come, hunter… Show me if your freedom is worth more than mine."