Chương 51: CHAPTER 50 – Nocturnal Resistance

Maliard and Lance took their positions before him, preparing to counter. Between the three of them resounded the sound of the ocean waves and the night wind. Dawn was still far from rising over the epilogue of their confrontation.

"You did well…" Maliard began unexpectedly, addressing Lance. The boy furrowed his brows, letting out a short laugh.

"I was not expecting a compliment at this point…" He answered, lowering his gaze. Maliard nodded, rolling his shoulders.

"Nor was I expecting to give one… In any case, this business of calling me Captain needs to stop immediately." The dry, sharp tone in which he pronounced those last words brought Lance almost immediately to his feet. Maliard smiled, rolling his eyes. In that brief exchange, Grayson disappeared from their sight. An instant later, he reappeared, followed by an incredible gust of wind. Lance and Maliard had no time to react before the scientist seized them both by the throat, slamming them violently to the ground."

This speed is unthinkable! He might rival even Bluette!" Maliard felt the rock fracture beneath his back, the violent impact striking his muscles. Grayson's lips moved to whisper something, but before Maliard could hear it, Lance moved." Salve!" An explosion erupted from his left arm, striking the scientist's face and sending him into the air. A jet of air sent him back to the ground, followed by a series of flame columns that erupted from the earth.

"I leave the close combat to you!" Maliard ordered, pressing his metallic arm against the ground. An enormous series of columns and lances shot from the earth, blocking Grayson entirely. The scientist's face immediately recollected its colour and structure, concentrating on the surroundings. The rock constructs collapsed on top of him, imprisoning him. He raised his hand out of the cage, but in that moment, Lance struck him through the rock, perforating his defences.

Grayson, still gripped in the sphere of rock, began to roll. Lance gave chase, striking the scientist again and hurling him into the sky. Maliard appeared behind Lance, holding a globule of bluish bolts in his hands." Schafft: Blitzschlag!" The sphere of lightning struck the scientist full on, raising a cloud of burning dust. Lance and Maliard exchanged a nod and leapt forward. A column of rock rose beneath their feet, directed straight upward. A burst of light emerged from the dust, destroying the column.

"Maliard!" Lance shouted, fixing him directly in the face. He nodded, lifting the boy onto his arm. A gust of wind began flowing around them, growing steadily more intense.

"Fly!" Maliard launched the boy, detonating the mass of air as propulsion. Lance cut rapidly through the sky beyond the dust cloud, striking Grayson full on with Lachesi. The impact scattered every trace in the air." Kneel!" Lance slid toward the earth, catching the scientist's leg at the last second. The force was enough to slowly tear away his own skin, but Lance only tightened his grip. Grayson, his eyes pressed flat and heavy with boredom and bitterness, raised his other leg.

"Blast away…" His skin covered itself in the ability Lance had learned to fear very well: negative mass. He moved to strike him when Lance freed himself from the yoke of gravity, smiling.

"You cannot manage too many phenomena simultaneously, huh? You need time to readapt…" A platform of air appeared beneath their feet, unbalancing Grayson. A thin sphere of violet Frequency appeared in his palm, ready to strike him." Add." Just before the sphere could pierce his body, the space between them widened. Lance noticed it was an imperceptible shift, but sufficient to render Verändern far from its potential.

"Has he understood that it is such a close-range move?" The sphere detonated, pushing Grayson away, scorching only on the stomach and face.

"If I can't manage to use the boost Maliard gave me... Then it's all useless!" Lance prepared to launch himself from the platform when a bluish cube appeared between him and the scientist." Ideal!" The shape exploded, expanding rapidly and striking Lance with its mass. Grayson gave chase, plunging alongside him with a golden flash. He was about to drive the energy into his heart when a red light appeared behind Lance.

"I hope you enjoy fireworks." The boy's body was swept to the side by the wind, leaving the bolt to collide with spheres of pure flames and liquid iron. The white moonlight was replaced by a reddish gleam, sufficient to colour the entire island.

"A shame those in Bayork cannot see it…" Lance murmured between one breath and the next, fixing his gaze on the crowns of golden sparks constantly expanding in the sky. Maliard struck him on the head with a well-placed slap.

"DO YOU PERHAPS WANT THEM TO DISCOVER WE ARE BATTLING AN ABOMINATION?!" Lance shook his head repeatedly, pressing the exact spot where he had been struck.

"In any case, did you see what I saw? I am fairly certain your vision is better than mine." Maliard smiled, directing his gaze toward the silhouette about to emerge from the remains of the flames. Lance nodded, rising quickly.

"His abilities all have a cooldown, and he cannot use them all simultaneously." He explained, gesturing to make himself understood. He traced numbers in the air with his finger, but Maliard fixed him with a puzzled look. Unable to save himself from the embarrassment, he continued his explanation.

"The strange acceleration and that dome remain, but for the rest, we should be capable of wearing him down." Lachesi seemed almost to vibrate, releasing a faint hissing sound.

"Do you think you can deflect one of those beams?" Maliard asked, fixing the bluish gleam continually expanding in the sky. Lance immediately recalled the blow that had sent him to the bottom of the sea.

"Well... I can try?" Maliard's mouth flew open as the temperature started to rise." Ray Burst." The two stellar masses collided, generating a beam of pure energy. Around them, gravity prevented them from moving, pinning them in the ray's trajectory. Lance placed himself before the beam, gripping the wrist held by his relic. The black metal and the bluish energy made contact, pulverising the surrounding ground. Thin shards of ice began appearing around them, only to become vapour moments later."

The temperature is unsustainable… Were it not for Maliard's layer of ice, I would already be burning!" The flow showed no sign of slowing. Everything around them was being engulfed in the corona of light and heat released by their confrontation. Then, without warning, a cut opened on Lance's arm, spraying a reddish mist.

"Is Lachesi feeding?" Lance realised, grinding his teeth and his fingers together. Maliard placed a hand on his shoulder, radiating a white light. All their wounds began to regenerate, even the ground at their feet reconstituted itself.

"I am restoring your original flow! Try not to make a mistake now!" Maliard released his grip. His face was covered in pain as he examined his own skin, slowly falling to pieces. Lance nodded, pushing the arm further into the burning mass. A violet halo expanded before them, slowly contaminating all the flow." Shatter!" With a sudden motion, Lance raised his arm with all the force he could muster. The beam, now turned black, split in two.

The serpents of energy struck the city and the sea, creating behind them an enormous smouldering furrow and a cloud of briny vapour.

"And with that, the first threat is neutralised." Maliard panted, striking Lance on the shoulder. The boy gasped, raising his thumb in agreement. Grayson gazed at them from above.

"Why..." His eyes suddenly opened.

"Why…" A distorted sound emerged from his lips as his entire body trembled. His figure seemed to fracture and dissolve into the air as he raised his head.

"WHY DO YOU KEEP ON LIVING!" He plunged like a projectile, striking Lance's fist full on. The ground between the three of them trembled. Lance pressed his arm tight, throwing Grayson to the ground with force.

"I told you…" Maliard appeared at his side, smiling the moment Grayson turned his head. A gust of air began forming between the two.

"We are more than simple numbers!" The blades of air struck the scientist, tearing away his flesh and his right arm. Lance caught him mid-air, slamming him back to the ground. A kick struck him squarely in the chest, sending him into the air again." Einbrand!" Lance fired his fist at him, concentrating the Frequency at a single point near his knuckles. Grayson had only a few seconds to register it, but his body understood faster.

"What?" Dismay crossed Lance's face as he realised he had struck the scientist's severed arm. His blow passed through it, reducing it to a mass of flesh and blood. The mass began to gleam, illuminating Lance's face." Origin." Grayson materialised at his side, driving a cone directly through his body. Lance found himself shifted from the projectile's trajectory, allowing it to strike its true target. Maliard's face was blinded by that light, moving by reflex." He used us as a distraction?!

How deep is his connection at this point?" Maliard regenerated the hole in his palm, pointing Compulsion directly at Grayson. The burst of flames emerged almost instantaneously, colliding against the thin disc of numbers before him.

"He has already restored Ideal …" He complained, increasing the flow of fire. Grayson took a step forward, widening the flames. The sparks remained wrapped around him like a mantle as he continued to advance.

"Do not think so little will rid you of me!" Lance's heel crushed him into the ground, collapsing the disc. The flames struck them both, but the boy emerged nearly unscathed. Grayson sprang back upright, raising heavy blocks of rock around him. The boy vanished from his sight, appearing at his back. A faint bolt gleamed between Maliard's hands.

"I HAVE YOU NOW!" The rocks around Grayson became sharp and pointed, permeated by an aura of incandescent air. Before he could disperse them, the spines pierced his organs. A rivulet of blood stained his lips, followed immediately by a grunt. Lance launched himself at him, channelling all his force into his legs." With this, his regeneration will slow!" The air around his leg was cut, as though his body were becoming a blade. Grayson turned his head, spraying blood and saliva.

A smile appeared on his lips as he whispered something." Minimum Dome!" A cube of numbers enclosed the two, making them vanish in an instant. Lance's blow shattered the rock, his skin immediately registering the glacial bite of the wind." The same ability with which he transported the Demiurge?!" He turned sharply, only to be struck by an enormous bluish wall. His muscles tried to resist, but without footing, they could give his body no help at all. His skin began to freeze as he rose ever higher toward the moon.

The surface was smooth, with no friction, yet so perfectly aligned and straight that even standing was difficult." Is he trying to separate us?" Lance wondered, driving his leg into the material and rising with difficulty. His hair began to grow slightly damp until the sweat started to harden.

"I will break this thing and arrest the fall with Lachesi. A few broken bones will not be a problem!" He raised his fist, preparing to strike the cube, then stopped abruptly. An enormous shadow covered him completely, drawing ever closer. His eyes lost their colour when they registered a second mass above his head. In an instinctive lunge, Lance raised both arms and took the impact.

"Damn, how heavy this is?!" His arms trembled as he tried to push it above his head, feeling the weight of that strange material against his skull. His legs began to tremble and crack the cube beneath his soles. Even where his palms rested, bluish chips began to fall." Tsk… He should be dead by now. How is that devil still resisting?!" Grayson kept pressing his palms toward one another, trying to bring them steadily closer. His fingers trembled, and rivulets of blood and sweat froze quickly on his skin.

He moved to close them further when, without warning, a bolt pierced his leg, severing it." At this altitude? Does that man have this kind of range?!" Grayson looked down, managing only to make out white clouds below. A second bolt collided with his back, piercing the barrier.

"Lightning has no mass if I am not mistaken." Maliard appeared behind him, closing a grip directly around his throat. His arm pressed steadily harder against it. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

"Why do you not activate your ability? Perhaps you will crush my arm before my blow detonates your heart. Go on, try it." He smiled, coiling himself ever tighter around the scientist. The metal on his arm began cutting their skin with every pull.

"In a few seconds, I will reconstruct a negative mass… The boy up there is certainly capable of sustaining it... But what about you?" At those words, Maliard laughed, releasing his grip abruptly. Grayson heard in the silence of the atmosphere a roar, followed by a rapid sound of footsteps and boiling water.

"You are a genius, really, but when it comes to strategy, you are an infant! If you can be taken in by a bit of chatter, how do you think you will rebuild the world?!" It was then that the scientist became aware of the bridge Maliard had created. A thin layer of transmuted air coated in ice. And it was through this that Lance Klint was able to free himself." Einbrand!" This time, the sphere of Frequency passed through Grayson's hand, passing through his abdomen in the process.

Grayson plummeted to the ground, barely conscious. Not even his talent and instinct could stem his haemorrhage. His numbers were distorted, fractured, and weakened. Maliard and Lance launched themselves at him, piercing through the layer of clouds with force. He saw them, wrapped in a mantle of lightning, and smiled. He brought his thumb and middle finger together, trembling faintly. The island at his back expanded rapidly. A few seconds more, and it would have struck the earth.

The two faces grew sharper and clearer.

"When was the last time I felt this engaged in wanting to solve something?" An image appeared in his mind. Before him was a woman embracing a man seated at a table full of papers and pens. She draped a blanket over him and kissed him, smiling with those thin lips of hers. A tear escaped his eye. He was now close to impact, with almost no ability left, and his mind worn thin.

"Now I understand... You must die so that I can disappear…" The lightning before his gaze stopped, appearing distorted. He was perhaps fifty metres from the ground, and yet it was moving so slowly.

"When I have solved it, I will be reborn…" His fingers snapped, releasing a dark gleam. The black flow of numbers and formulae struck the entire island, expanding across the seabed." Dome..." They all found themselves on the ground, the bolt in Maliard's hands shattered behind him. He fixed his palm, almost startled, empty and drained of energy. Lance found himself metres from where he had been. His legs lost balance, causing him to fall." Chaotic Biome…"

Grayson appeared before them, blood still pouring from his flesh and eyes. His appearance was even more worn and diminished than at the start. Lance stared at him in a grimace, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Does he want to kill himself with the overload?" Maliard murmured, channelling flames before him. Three reddish sparks appeared around the tip of his gauntlet, exploding almost instantly. The bursts were about to strike the scientist squarely when one of them vanished, and the others shattered to the sides.

"His veil is still recharging! What happened to the Schafft?" Grayson swept the smoke from his face, stamping out the flames that had spread to his feet.

"In this environment, there is no longer any order in things. You generate phenomena, don't you?" Grayson explained, then turned his attention to Maliard. His violet eyes, exhausted and flat, managed a faint gleam.

"I am sorry, but no result you produce will be the one you are hoping for…" Lance shot to Grayson's back, cutting across the ground. Gripped in his fist, a heavy and sharp pole of rusted metal.

"I shall watch you yield quickly then." He added, preparing to launch himself at him. He took a step and suddenly slipped, losing his footing on the ground almost instantly.

"What I said applies to everything, including friction." The scientist's blow sank into Lance's body, bouncing him along the ground.

"I am the exception…" The air before him distorted, pointing toward Maliard's face as he launched himself immediately after Lance. The ground before him was swept away by an unnatural force, but he was fast enough to sidestep. With a motion of his leg, he managed to strike a pole buried between them. Dozens of thin shards emerged from the metal irradiated by the golden light, striking both him and Grayson.

"I do not think you can cancel the possibility of me hitting you!" Maliard smiled, regenerating the wounds on his face. Grayson tore the iron fragments from his flesh with a grimace.

"One only needs to try again, does one not?" Maliard stamped hard on the ground, raising it in a column of spines and debris. A gust of wind shattered it in every direction, covering all three of them in a rain of sharp iron and rock fragments. While Grayson prepared to disperse them, Lance charged him from the side. At the same moment, Maliard leapt through the rain of debris, extending his gauntlet toward him." Axcl…" Everything slowed, and his body shot to the side.

Everything around him went empty, black, featureless. It lasted only a brief instant, but he felt his body almost shredded by that single movement. To Lance's and Maliard's eyes, the scientist had vanished. In the few moments that followed Grayson's blow to Lance, Maliard understood something." His position, his body… Everything is wrong." An idea occurred to Maliard. He jumped across the rocks, paying no attention to the numerous lacerations on his face and body. Grayson noticed him, vanishing from sight.

He appeared at his side, only to find a wall of flames before him.

"So I was right…" The heat struck his face, hurling him out of the dome, which collapsed immediately. Maliard coughed blood and smoke, without losing his smile.

"Lance… I have understood how to defeat him definitively!" Lance pricked up his ears, rising from the ground with effort. He tried to speak, but his mouth was full of dust and earth.

"His acceleration is something distorted that destroys his body for a very brief instant.... His senses cannot withstand it." Lance cracked his knuckles, smiling at his companion.

"So he cannot use it outside a straight line!" Maliard nodded, returning the look with joy.

"Exactly! I have a plan. Get ready, Lance. This could be your finest trophy." Maliard exclaimed, tracing a series of opaque, almost transparent paths in the air.

"I have never actually had a trophy, though…" Maliard struck his companion directly on the head, obliging him to open his ears to the plan.

"I am warning you, however…" Lance raised his arm, rotating it quickly to remind his companion what he was addressing. Maliard nodded, clicking his tongue.

"We do not have much time." He announced, sliding Lachesi to his side. Deep in the island, shaken by the confrontations above and below, a woman wandered alone through the partially flooded galleries. The dirty, stale water reached her knees, making it difficult to move.

"WHAT A BORE!" She cursed, striking the wall with her fist. She tore the remnants of black filaments from her shoulders, unable to determine whether they were the remains of shadows or viscous algae. She sighed impatiently, scratching her head.

"I need to get back to the surface and help them…" She thought, troubled, climbing over a tall wall of debris and metal. Her only light in that enclosed space, thick with the smell of decomposition, was her watch. Small streams of water slid from her sides, dulling the unsettling silence. She pointed her device into the void before her, discovering a second dome carved into the earth, this time without a trace of water.

"Perhaps there is a way back up!" She exclaimed in a sharp tone, jumping down from her foothold. The interior of the small plaza was covered in strange black bags and heavy iron trolleys emerging from the side galleries. Monica peered in with a smile, taking in the enormous blocks of rock obstructing the passage. She sighed, maintaining her joyful expression, then kicked the ground violently.

"EIFIBES THAT GREAT BIT—" She cut her blasphemies short, catching sight of something falling from the trolley. She approached slowly, examining the bag at her feet. She lowered her back, slightly uncovering part of it. A bone protruded: white with some greyish patches. Monica leapt backward, landing directly on her posterior in one of the few puddles present.

"I am sorry, gentlemen skeletons! Please do not place any curse upon me! I am still young!" She shouted, bowing her head repeatedly until it nearly grazed the ground.

"But if we are both centenarians, how can you be young?" Monica turned pale, catching sight of a tall man dressed in a heavy russet coat. His burgundy tuft with yellowish tones slid across his broad forehead, masked beneath his hair. The man extended his right hand, but was shaken by a violent and sudden tremor.

"A GHOST!" Monica shouted, striking him directly in the stomach. From his hand rose a single trembling finger, followed by some desperate sighs.

"Commander… It's me... Edvard…" He murmured with difficulty, drawing a deep breath. Monica wiped the tears from her eyes, concentrating more on his figure.

"What are you doing here?! Were Lautre and Maverick not supposed to come?!" Monica asked, stamping her feet. Edvard straightened up, swallowing all the saliva in his throat and wiping the remains of it with a delicate black handkerchief drawn from his pocket.

"Lautre decided that this time it was my turn to 'Clean up the mess,' to use his words, caused by this singularity. Maverick came as planned, after Lucas promised to help with the new engine for the Horizontium." Edvard answered, carefully replacing the used handkerchief in a small leather pouch tied to his brown belt.

"As always between you two… In any case, how did you end up down here?" Monica looked around, aware that no presence had followed her into this tunnel.

"I entered through a crater and activated my ability for safety…" He answered quickly, enunciating his words clearly, his back straightening still further as he spoke.

"SO THERE IS AN EXIT!" She smiled, making her way toward the tunnel from which she had come. Edvard watched her with perplexity, keeping his reddish eyes fixed on her shoulders as she drew closer to the darkness.

"In any case…" Monica turned sharply, her face pulsing and wrapped in pure fury. Edvard shuddered for a moment, as though he were now the victim of some paranormal event.

"DO NOT DARE MAKE ANOTHER COMMENT ABOUT MY AGE… UNDERSTOOD!?" The smile on her lips conveyed everything except comfort and friendship. He nodded quickly, immediately setting down the cigarette he had been about to light. Monica murmured something to herself and headed for the tunnel when she decided to stop her rapid steps.

"You said Maverick arrived... But where is he? I do not seem to smell him on you." She asked, fixing him with a curious but strangely mature expression. Edvard smiled, immediately reclaiming his tobacco.

"He is preparing to play his part elsewhere." With an elegant move, he ran the wheel of his lighter along his leg, sending the spark onto the cord. The flame took less than a second to light the tip of the cigarette.

"Really... You all make me mad!" Monica stomped the ground as a puff of smoke filled her vision. Far away, on the coast of the Seventh Boulevard, the young Lyetta was busy staring at the storm from the window of the prestigious Child Family's hotel: The Fox's Lullaby.

"It is certainly unusual to have a storm like this one at this time of year…" She murmured, feeling a sense of unease at the sight of those heavy clouds far out in the ocean. Suddenly, the bell on the counter rang, bringing her back to her duties as receptionist.

"Excuse me, I have a reservation under the name Simon Haia. Could you help me?" Before her had appeared a man with his arms stretched across the counter. His tall figure was wrapped in a long white fur coat, decorated with golden medals. His sharp grey eyes peeked out from beneath his black cap, alongside a few snow-white tufts of hair. Lyetta's attention fell on his broad shoulders and the heavy case strapped to his back.

"Room 8256… I will accompany you immediately." The man's nimble hands made the keys disappear from her fingers. Lyetta stared in bewilderment at his smile as he walked toward the stairs.

"Do not let me trouble your conscience over so little… A lovely young lady ought to rest on a night like this." A shudder crossed the young woman's body, repeated the moment Simon turned to look at her.

"Is the rooftop available by any chance?" He asked, pointing his index finger toward the golden, blue-lined ceiling above their heads.

"Yes, of course…" She answered quickly, not registering the faint flush of her own cheeks. A gust of wind stirred the crystal chandelier hanging above them, casting reflections of colour across their faces. Simon nodded, resuming his walk.

"Excuse me... What do you need it for?!" Lyetta burst out in a torrent of emotion, leaning her chest against the counter. The man took his first step on the stairs and smiled.

"I want to go star-hunting. Tonight is truly the perfect time." He vanished up the stairs immediately, leaving the woman stretched across the dark marble of the reception desk.

"But this night… Is so cloudy." She thought, fixing her gaze one last time on the dark, dense horizon, from which only the moon could draw any comfort.