Chương 57: CHAPTER 56 - Lexa Worhol

Monica and Lexa stared at one another for a moment. From the atmosphere emanating from NOIR's Commander, Lexa understood immediately that she was in no mood for that friendly facade. She fixed her hair across her forehead, completely shifting her expression into something cold and cynical.

"I imagine this is not the place for pleasantries?" She asked, taking a step back. Monica nodded, pointing toward the platoon at her back.

"What are you doing here, Lexa?" She repeated, keeping her hands extended along her sides. Lexa sighed, turning toward her own vehicle.

"I have some business to do. With you, specifically." She answered, pointing her finger at Grayson, stretched out behind Monica, foam still at his mouth. The woman turned, exasperated, fixing Lexa with something near disbelief.

"You cannot be serious…" Monica murmured, with every intention of being heard by Lexa, who promptly nodded with a smile.

"Does it not strike you as unfair that you two always claim the best personnel?" The moment she heard those words, Monica stamped the ground with such force that everyone present lost their balance.

"Do you think this is still a game?!" She growled, clenching her fingers with force. Lexa raised her head, losing her composure for an instant this time.

"After everything we have been through together, do you truly think that I see it such a way? Do you truly think that is what that experience left us with?" Lexa resumed walking toward Monica, positioning herself before her.

"Do not speak of it as though you felt the same…" She growled in her face, raising her chin so that the greenish gleam of her eyes met Monica's directly. Lexa clicked her tongue, pushing Monica back with a single tap to the chest.

"My men lost their lives on that island too. They saw the horror that the Unnamed was, just as you did." Lexa cast a glance back at her troops. Monica remained silent, as did everyone present. She nodded.

"You were there too." Lexa sighed, turning her gaze back to the scientist, now surrounded by her soldiers.

"All I want now is to honour the agreements regarding Machinamentum's military strength and the Ruther Institute's Operative Core…" Before she could begin, Maliard sized her up from behind Monica, his eyes flashing almost immediately.

"You have made yourself quite a bit handsomer than I remember! But you have not lost your grim yet, I see…" She murmured, regret in those words, waiting for the reply of that man covered in wounds.

"You can stop being so formal. Use that acronym. It does not carry much weight anymore after that incident." He said, sweeping past entirely whatever else Lexa might have added.

"Come now, in business one leaves nothing out except the contract itself! At least the basics, darling." A clump of earth flew through the air, fluttering directly over her nose.

"One more word like that and I will see to laying the foundations for your confinement…" His gauntlet pointed directly at her face, lit by the bluish gleam of his pupils. Lexa smiled, raising her hands as though under arrest.

"I do not care if you are a Verwirrend. I will see to burying you if you use that tone again…" Lance listened to those words, stunned by the term.

"That woman is like Malcolm? She does not carry anything like the same presence, though. Perhaps it is because she is acting friendly, or perhaps she does not actually want to fight? Is this shadow her ability? If Maliard threatened her, does that mean he is confident he could beat her, or was he trying to appear superior?" The tentacles tightened their grip, putting a stop to all his reasoning.

"AAAAH!!!! THINKING ABOUT ALL THIS HURTS TOO MUCH!!! MAYBE JEANNE COULD GIVE ME A SIGN!" He immediately glanced at his companion, finding her busy following Lexa and Maliard with a worried gaze. Something flew past in front of her, but she remained utterly impassive.

"She is lost too! I'm done…" He resigned himself, continuing to stare motionless at the scene. Lexa nodded distractedly, murmuring something between her lips, bringing her attention back to the scientist.

"You would like to keep Grayson Dirac inside Machinamentum? Have you gone mad, Lexa?" Monica asked calmly, having fully recovered from her initial shock. Lexa nodded again, signalling for her soldiers to approach.

"I too possess the recipe for the compound, and besides, I would share any information. I am already aware of the patient's complications, but he could genuinely advance our research and work on our relics." The moment the soldiers approached Grayson's body, Maliard fixed them with a withering stare.

"Why him specifically? Some particular motivation?" Monica asked, rubbing her eye.

"He has the mind and the expertise needed to bring about a turning point for this world, and I want to be at his side when it happens. Besides, I doubt you would 'lend' me either of those two." Two thin tentacles pointed at Jeanne and Lance, indicating them without Lexa even bothering to look their way.

"This girl surely got quite the farsight…" Monica smiled, crossing her arms.

"So would it not be fair for Machinamentum, too, to have the right to recruit from the new generation?" Lexa continued, with enough scorn to wipe the smile from her interlocutor's lips.

"What makes you think I would let you take custody of Grayson?" Monica, calmly, took a step toward her own troops.

"The simple fact that you already have a Meta dedicated to research, and you do not have the security to keep a dangerous subject housed alongside your recruits." Lexa answered, smiling at the sight of Monica's face freezing into a thoughtful expression. With a nod of her head and a sigh, the woman conceded.

"On one condition… I want all the information you obtain from this man!" Lexa gave a signal to her soldiers, who immediately loaded the scientist onto a stretcher.

"But of course! There wasn't a need to specify it! What do you take me for? A harpy?" Monica gave a rapid series of nods, breaking Lexa's composure entirely. While Lexa attempted to strangle Monica, a sudden burst tore through the earth. Far off, toward the sea, a white line began winding through the dawn sky. That strange shape reached the ground, causing a second, tremendously violent burst and a great cloud of dust along its path.

"And that?" In a second, the wind disrupted her dress and hair, carrying off the flag on her vehicle with it as well. Monica lost her balance and fell onto Jeanne, sending her down along with her.

"It has been a while… Miss Lexa." A metallic click concluded those words, a glacial sensation spreading at Lexa's temple. The cloud of dust dissipated, revealing the man in the white fur coat, a revolver in hand.

"It certainly has been a while… Silent Death." Lexa smiled, shifting the barrel of the weapon from her temple to her forehead. Maverick sighed, lowering the pistol almost immediately.

"You still remember that foolish name? I still cringe when I hear it! Decades have passed since my last operation." He answered, taking a step back from her and falling into line with NOIR's ranks.

"Thank you for coming…" Maliard lowered his head, immediately receiving a pat on the shoulder from Maverick along with a smile.

"Mr. Maverick… Were you on the coast?" Jeanne asked, somewhat thrown by the engineer's presence.

"Certainly, at least until that column of light vanished from the island. It would have taken too long if I had waited for Round, so I simply threw myself off." He explained, stroking her dishevelled hair.

"Threw yourself?" Monica asked, thrown off balance by the trail of dust now beginning to vanish.

"Yes, from the roof I was shooting from… It's a bit hard to explain now." He scratched his head, putting the weapon back in his pocket. He looked around, catching sight of Lance and the shadow near the helicopter.

"Why is Lance… Being restrained by a shadow?" Everyone began staring at Lexa, who promptly turned to look at the poor boy held by those tentacles.

"Ops... I had forgotten about him…" She walked over, giving a signal with her hand to the shadow. The figure loosened its grip, allowing Lance a little movement.

"I have a gift for you… But let me check something first." Lexa seized his neck, slowly bringing her lips close to his skin. Lance felt her warm breath and her scent make their way through his sense of touch and smell. Suddenly, something warm and damp brought him back to his senses.

"The taste is decidedly better than I expected…" She smiled, wiping a drop of saliva from her own lips. She leaned in close to Lance again, this time leaving her lipstick directly on his cheek." A-After this, I am going to be s-stoned to death…" Lance murmured, exhausted, like a prisoner ready for execution.

"Why is that!? Was it such an unpleasant experience?" Lexa laughed, reapplying her lipstick.

"Pass me a rock, Jeanne…" Monica asked, promptly accommodated by the young woman, her arms already full of large stones and rubble. Lexa turned immediately, dodging the first rock.

"STOP! YOU WILL HIT THE BOY THAT WAY!" Maverick exclaimed, restraining the hands of both would-be stoners.

"Perhaps I overdid it…" Lexa apologised, snapping her fingers to distract herself from the grim stares of the two women before her. A man emerged from the airship, carrying a black and red box. The shadow released Lance, who fell to the ground, foam at his mouth.

"Please… Can people… Stop strangling me…" He spoke between sighs, seizing the soldier's suit to pull himself back upright.

"Has this happened before?" Lance coughed a little more and nodded, his cheeks flushed. The man slapped the case against his chest and immediately retreated inside the vehicle.

"Then take that relic as an apology for my curiosity…" Lance fixed Maliard and Maverick, waiting for their nod. Once he received it, Lance set the case on the ground and opened the latches. Inside the small but long container lay a thin, silver-plated blade with reddish trim. Despite the slenderness of the sword itself, the spine of the edge and the guard were extremely substantial, wrapped in a series of opaque cables. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"It is only a prototype we connected to the motor you see on the guard. It used to be an old furnace, corrupted during a singularity. Now it produces heat completely autonomously." Lexa helped Lance pull it from its case, letting it gleam beneath the sun's rays.

"Using the button, you can draw on the motor's energy to accelerate slashes through the exhaust along the spine, but it is still in the patenting stage…" Before she could even finish her explanation, Lance pressed the button to cleave a rock before him. A jet of incandescent steam drove the weapon downward, splitting the ground with unspeakable force.

"I told you that it's a prototype!"

"It does not have the same versatility, but if the balance and the material were refined, it could easily outmatch Gladiolus in raw power…" He murmured these words in astonishment before Maverick snatched it from his hand. He spoke to himself, striking the mechanism with his knuckles.

"Do you approve?" Lexa asked, smiling.

"Mediocre is a compliment, but I can work with it." Maverick answered with a smirk, tossing the blade back into the case at his feet.

"How rude!" Lexa smiled, walking toward her own aircraft.

"Are you an engineer too, Miss Lexa?" Another tentacle shut Lance's lips tight.

"First, I'm younger than your commander! Second, I studied a lot of subjects. I know quite a bit of everything." Jeanne had to restrain Monica's arm from launching yet another stone bullet.

"You are leaving without even telling us why you activated that accursed eye you have hanging in the sky?" Maliard asked, stamping his foot. Lexa stopped, turning to look at him.

"That was a safety measure… I was confident you would all survive." She answered with a faint smirk on that now cold face.

"This bitch…" Maliard whispered, sitting in silence on a pile of debris behind him.

"In any case, it was lovely seeing you all again…" She sat on the edge of the aircraft's loading hatch, rapidly approaching takeoff.

"How about coming for dinner at my place? To talk a little more?" This time her face changed entirely, as though she had grown young again, like a teenager. Monica stared at her in confusion, but decided to nod.

"You are still the only one who uses the Agency's channel, after all. If you mean it, send word." These were Monica's words, before Lexa vanished completely inside the airborne vehicle.

"I had not realised you were interested in that sort of thing, you know… That's quite the adult hardcore play!" Maverick said with a smile, tapping his shoulder. Lance immediately flushed, wiping away the remnants of makeup with the back of his hand.

"Lance, we need to work on this problem…" Monica began, shaking her head slowly.

"AS IF I LIKED IT!" The poor boy exclaimed, immediately bringing his hands before his face and shaking his entire body.

"Of course, Lance… Of course..." Maverick murmured with a smile, elbowing him repeatedly in the side. Amid Lance's desperate attempts to justify himself and Maverick's laughter, no one heard the footsteps approaching from behind them.

"Forgive the delay. Unfortunately, the galleries had collapsed." A man dressed elegantly, with a cane, had appeared among the crowd.

"MR. ROSS!!" Jeanne exclaimed, immediately running to check on him. Edvard seized her at once, calming her.

"Your hat… I…" Before she could finish, Edvard silenced her with a smile.

"It is nothing! It was not even my favourite, anyway!" He joked, releasing her and turning his gaze to Lance and Maverick.

"You were all excellent. Congratulations." He struck the ground with his cane three times, never letting his gaze leave the boy for even a second.

"How did the underground confrontation go?" Maliard asked, rising from his seat with exhaustion.

"Roman slipped away from me the moment Albus opened fire. The fight was fairly even, but I cannot shake the unease his words left me with." Edvard answered, lowering his gaze to the ground, supporting himself on his cane.

"What do you mean? Did you manage to obtain some information?" Monica asked, helping him back to his feet.

"Grayson Dirac was not the reason they began this operation… He was just a diversion." At those words, a weight fell over the entire NOIR team, who immediately began questioning that revelation.

"All of this… Was just a bait?" Lance murmured, biting his lip and clenching his fists.

"They wounded the Institute's director and recovered an artefact from the war… The Demiurge!" Maliard sprang up immediately, pointing into the distance, toward the remains of the mountains, still standing after the battle.

"Maverick, you are the fastest one here. Examine the reactor, and quickly!" Maverick nodded, stretching his back faintly. Immediately, the soldier vanished from sight, leaving only a cloud of dust. Several distant bursts began to be heard, and after a few moments Maverick returned, pale.

"Well?" Monica asked the moment he stopped flying. He cleared his throat.

"Maliard and Lance, in your report, didn't you describe a black shard?" He addressed himself directly to both of them. Lance nodded.

"I'm sure of it. The explosion happened because that thing touched the red fuel."

"Do not tell me…" Maverick nodded, and Maliard struck the ground with his gauntlet with force, shattering it completely along with a string of curses.

"Yeah, the lambdite shard is nowhere to be found."

"Now we are all present…" Edvard murmured, raising his cane toward the sky. In all that general disturbance, no one had noticed the shuttle above their heads.

"Round?!" Lance smiled immediately, waving at the masked butler, clearly visible through the ship's hatch. The whole group set aside the discovery for a moment. The pistons and the hot steam of the Diem raised a thin amount of dust as it descended toward the ground.

"You certainly took your time, old man!" Monica joked, gripping the cold metal to climb directly aboard the ship.

"Forgive her, Round. You know how she can be…" Immediately, a cloud of smoke entered the airship, quickly taking on Edvard's likeness.

"No trouble at all, sir… Unfortunately, this vehicle cannot always make use of the speed granted to it by Mr. Haia." Round answered with a slight bow. Lance, meanwhile, struggled to pull both Maliard and Jeanne upright.

"I would say we can finally go home." Maverick exclaimed with a smile, lifting a control panel directly from the centre of the hull. The doors snapped shut, forcing everyone to sit in the rows of seats.

"In any case, excellent work, both of you…" Maliard murmured, complimenting Jeanne and Lance, both seated beside him. The two exchanged a smile before returning to their original stupor. The iron ship cut swiftly through the sky, vanishing among the morning clouds above the bustling capital. Before long, the enormous monolith of Dielmon grew steadily larger on the horizon.

"They should be here any moment now." Arte gently set the silver tray on the table, directly before the scientist in his nightgown. Despite his height, even that robe seemed too loose on him.

"Thank you, Arte. I do not know what I would do without you." Lucas took the steaming cup and thanked the girl with a nod of his mask. He lifted the iron covering slightly, revealing his cracked, pale lips.

"Mr. Clerc does not want anything? It seems strange to me, you not drinking on an occasion like this." Arte immediately shifted her target, focusing on the gentleman seated with his legs crossed on the armchair. His attire consisted of shorts and a black tank top.

"Who put it in your head that I am such a drunkard?! I have a wager riding on this, and I need to remain as sober as possible!" He exclaimed, striking his fist on his knee, continuing to fix his gaze intently on the vehicle entrance.

"Knowing Monica, it is very likely they will come through there!" He immediately hushed Lucas, who had tried to ask him something. Suddenly, the door's light flashed, releasing smoke. The enormous mechanical gate opened amid the sound of pistons and gears, allowing the group entry. At the head of the group were Maverick and Lance, the poor boy leaning against his shoulder. Immediately after followed Monica, Jeanne, Edvard, and Maliard.

"Welcome back! I have already prepared all the rooms and asked the staff to keep quiet." Arte began with a bow, immediately taking the cane from Edvard, who smiled, struck by the gesture. Lautre fixed his gaze on Lance for a moment, taking quick sniffs of the air.

"Why do you smell of saliva and lipstick… Of excellent quality, I might add." Lautre asked the exhausted boy before him, who was slowly slipping toward the ground.

"Come on, Lautre! Can you not see he is about to faint?" Edvard added, immediately settling himself into the armchair opposite his own.

"You know I'm almost blind, right?! Oh, do not tell me, I thought he was bare-chested just for fun! At least now we are even." Lautre answered, almost shouting. His gaze settled on Lance again, and this time he managed to follow it.

"Tomorrow… Can you train me? It was in our… Agreement." Lance murmured before closing his eyes and staggering. He settled directly in front of Lautre, who smiled instantly.

"Cheeky little bastard…" He seized Lance, lifting his body directly onto his shoulder. With the boy on his back, he walked straight toward Monica.

"Pass her to me. I imagine she has collapsed too." Monica looked at Jeanne, her eyelids closed, her breathing slow and steady. With a smile, she passed her directly to Lautre, who lifted her onto his other shoulder.

"Arte, would you mind opening their room for me?" At his request, the maid nodded, following Lautre at a brisk pace.

"It is finally over…" Maliard pronounced those words before collapsing to the ground. Everyone watched him crash forehead-first onto the white floor.

"I am not carrying him!" Lauitre exclaimed, immediately resuming his walk down the corridor. Everyone exchanged a hearty laugh before going off to bed for their well-earned rest. Lautre left both Jeanne and Lance in their own rooms, taking care not to rest his gaze on anything but the bed. Once he had set the two of them down, he gave Arte a farewell and closed the door. The maid vanished into the corner, leaving him free to make his way toward his own room.

He took a step, but something forced him to stop, to give the door one last look.

"I am proud of both of you. Be sure to survive…" He murmured these words before hurrying away, leaving Jeanne and Lance to their well-earned sleep.