Chương 55: CHAPTER 54 – Fatal Calculation

The mist dispersed completely, leaving only Grayson and the sound of the waves against the rocks. He looked around, scanning every crevice of that landscape destroyed by twisted rubble and cracked earth. In silence, he sharpened his senses, managing only to catch a faint whistling expanding through his ears." My brain is beginning to overload. One more effort like that and I risk dying…" He murmured, almost disappointed, striking the palm of his hand against his temple several times.

A single rock broke that harmony of sea and wind, prompting him to turn. A boy, his arm wrapped in white bandages, smiled from atop the rocks. Other pebbles rolled across the ground, mixing with the dust.

"I doubt the others have fled, so what do you have in mind?" Grayson asked with a tired, pale expression. Lance leapt down from the rock, his eyes nearly closed.

"You speak far too well for someone who has lost his mind." Lance smiled, walking slowly toward him.

"Lamb… Do you truly think I have gone mad?" Grayson's face shifted quickly, leaving Lance stunned. That face, heavy with despair and pain, had just smiled"Lamb?" The question escaped the boy's lips like a verdict, unable to accept those words. Grayson nodded, almost as though confused himself.

"Is it perhaps you who has gone mad? It is your name, after all…" The hiss of the wind whistled in Lance's eardrums, dismayed and thrown off balance by the scientist's voice." So you are already so far gone..."

"Lance… If Grayson is a Berserker, the chances of saving him are nearly zero, in all honesty." Maliard, hidden in the shadow of a heavy concrete slab, spoke calmly and slowly. Lance nodded, reluctantly, while Jeanne listened in silence.

"His memories are distorted, and his behaviour will likely grow worse than it is now, but he is not yet beyond recovery." Maliard slid a small violet vial from a compartment on his gauntlet.

"The theory holds that if we inject the compound while he is unconscious, he should return to normal. It is not certain, but I doubt we could kill him definitively in his current condition regardless." A smile appeared on Lance's face before contracting into seriousness and resolve.

"Try to distract him while Jeanne and I prepare the trap." Maliard patted Lance, and he promptly emerged from the cover offered by the rubble.

"Well? How long do you intend to stand there staring into space?" Grayson asked, fixing the boy with a confused air. Lance shook his head, resuming his speech.

"Those words… In the facility… Are they still true?" Lance asked, stopping a few paces from him. Grayson lowered his head, fixing his gaze on the cracks around what remained of his shoes.

"Which words?" He murmured, not even addressing the boy directly.

"I... I don't remember... I usually don't forget things. Why now of all times?"

"Do not trouble yourself over it, but can you at least tell me how Erika and Lug are doing?" Lance asked, smiling gently this time.

"Erika and Lug?" Grayson raised his gaze to the sky, fixing it casually on the steadily lightening heavens.

"They are well, but it has been a while since I have heard them… Their voices have grown faint." He answered with a veil of sadness, returning his eyes to Lance.

"I understand. Would you like to hear them again?" These were the boy's last words, before a violent gust of wind enveloped him in dust. The scientist's vision blurred, obstructed by the greyish mass around him. Suddenly, a hiss carved its way through the haze, followed by a dull thud. Something had driven itself into the ground before him. A breeze swept away the haze, allowing the object to be examined. A dark shaft vibrated, lodged between the cracks. Its delicate movement followed the faint gusts of wind.

A second one fell right beside it, followed by a third and a fourth. Within a few seconds, Grayson found himself surrounded by those strange lances.

"In position!" Maliard shouted, springing up from behind the rocks. A thin beam of light, almost invisible because it was so fine, pointed directly at Grayson's leg. Jeanne gripped another iron shaft firmly, loading it onto a strange cord.

"Fire!" The sling of rock and adhesive fired off another shot, this time passing through Grayson's flesh. Bewildered, he watched the blood slide down to the earth before turning toward them, furious.

"I had not expected it would take eight attempts to make it work…" Maliard thought sorrowfully, rushing toward the sling. The weapon had been built using rock and Jeanne's ability. It had not taken long to assemble.

"This thing is completely unreliable!"

"It is ready!" Jeanne shouted, fixing her gaze directly on Lance. The boy leapt over the blocks of rock and iron, quickly climbing onto the cord of the sling. His back settled against the oily, damp fabric, making him shudder.

"Are you certain this will work?" The boy asked in a low voice, addressing Maliard. His tone was trembling and worried at once.

"This entire mission has been proceeding by trial and error, and only now do you ask whether something will work?!" Maliard fixed him with irritation, doing nothing whatsoever to help poor Lance, who was in the meantime being bound with a long, whitish adhesive. Grayson, having torn the shaft from his flesh, began walking toward them. Every step he took fractured the earth, cracking the ground still further.

"You have one chance, Lance. Aim for the horns." Maliard smiled, reaching his hands toward a protrusion. Within a few seconds, he found himself atop the mound of debris, nodding to Jeanne. The girl took the cord and pulled it taut to its limit, despite the trembling of her slender arms.

"A little more to the right... No, that way is too much…" Jeanne tried to direct the cable where Maliard was pointing, yet exhaustion began making her tremble and gasp.

"I trust you, so do not worry about me." Lance turned for a second, nodding as he spoke. He extended his finger toward Grayson and smiled. The girl nodded slowly, shifting the cord toward where the boy was pointing.

"FIRE!" Maliard shouted, distracting the scientist. Lance's skin began to tremble from the speed at which he cut through the air. In an instant he found himself airborne, bound to that thick cord of adhesive. The sky beneath his feet began to sink, as though every molecule of air were turning to rubber." Vergehen…" Lance's body emanated thin whitish sparks before vanishing. A violent roar released itself above their heads. An almost invisible silhouette bounced among the ruins, hurling itself at Grayson.

"What?!" The scientist managed only to move his body out of the trajectory. A cut opened on his forehead, staining the cord before him. A second crack, and the cord vanished, hovering in the air above him. A snap, and his back spilled blood onto the ground. The only thing his eyes managed to catch was a dark shadow. The cord tightened again, striking him full on." I cannot keep up with him… He is too fast!" He raised his gaze toward the constantly rumbling sky.

Dozens of bounces released themselves above his head, sending the cord shooting in every direction. He blinked, and suddenly something glacial crossed his abdomen. Lance let the sharpened iron blade fall to the ground, stained with blood. His face began to stain as the cord tightened again. The boy rose into the sky, vanishing once more after yet another bounce." Now I understand…" He pressed the flesh around his wound, cauterising it with a thin luminous aura.

He followed the cord with his gaze until it stopped on Jeanne.

"That girl controls the movement, and Maliard the speed. In my current condition, it is impossible to use Axcl." He immediately took a step back. The ground before him was cleaved open by Lance, who immediately resumed bouncing furiously around Grayson.

"I doubt, however, that you have any opportunity to lose your concentration." A new series of lights flashed through the air, aimed directly at the sling. Jeanne pulled the cord even tighter as Maliard fixed Grayson with wide eyes.

"If you abandon your positions, he will die, will he not?" The scientist smiled, raising his hand and resting his middle finger against his thumb. His hand fell to the ground before he could even snap his fingers.

"Got you…" Lance sprang upright with force, driving his fist into his face. A small fragment flew off from the flesh, vanishing behind him.

"So that is how things stand." Grayson murmured, seizing the cord tied to Lance's waist. The boy immediately felt his body bound by some force." Veil!" The gravity around them grew distorted, tearing both their skins to shreds. Thin layers of flesh tore away from Lance's face, trapped in that centrifuge of invisible blades.

"Not this time…" Lance's fist tore off another piece from his horns, stunning him. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"To hell with you and your nonsense!" His knuckles, soaked in blood, came down on his head. Grayson's body seemed almost to buckle from the force." Can one really keep going after all this madness?!" While he tried to understand how Lance could continue to strike him, despite the skin slowly being torn from his own body, the boy landed another blow. In that whirlwind of blood and wind, Grayson seized the boy's hair, pulling him close.

"Try dying, this time…" Grayson knee-struck Lance's abdomen, almost lifting him off the ground. Overcoming the pain and the incessant ringing in his ears, Lance struck the scientist's horn squarely, tearing off its tip.

"Is that all? All those solemn words, just to be mediocre, Grayson?!" His jaw trembled at the impact with Lance's bloodied hand. Slowly and at a steady rhythm, his skin continued losing pieces. His shoulders had been covered in blood, while his fingers began developing an unsettling whitish colour beneath the red.

"I can no longer feel my arms, the air feels sharp, and it hurts… Everything hurts so much." Lance struck Grayson again, breaking the exposed bones of his own fingers even further. A second punch raised the scientist's chin, exposing his throat.

"Ignore it… ignore it… ignore it…" In that whirlwind of forces, Grayson's head fell to his chest, bringing him to his knees. His eyes lost their colour, and one of his horns fell to the ground, shattering into gleaming dust. The storm settled, sending the debris and the bloody mist crashing to the ground.

"EXCELLENT WORK, LANCE!" Maliard leapt down from the rocks, charging at the scientist. Between his hands hissed a bolt, followed by a trail of bluish sparks.

"One of the horns has broken, but it is impossible that Lance can continue in that condition. I need only cover him and damage the horn as much as possible." In that great tumult of thoughts and ideas, a doubt surfaced in his mind.

"Will I be able to destroy it in this condition?" For the first time in years, Maliard recognised a sensation he had long since lost: uncertainty.

"MALIARD, STOP!" Jeanne's voice forced his eyes open. That single moment of doubt made it impossible for him to bring the reality before him into focus. Grayson had regained consciousness, following him directly with his gaze. On his finger, covered in blood and bluish crystals, a black sphere began to manifest.

"Do not tell me he can still…" The sphere detonated, enveloping Maliard and Lance instantly. The two were thrown into the air and pulled away by a white cable, while the ground beneath their feet began to rise and tremble against the sky.

"Dome…" Everything around them collapsed to the ground, splitting the earth and raising an enormous surface. Maliard slid through the rubble, gripping a shaft that had emerged from the rock. He looked down, his feet swinging above the surface of the sea.

"Had it not been for Jeanne…" Maliard shook his head, gripping the protrusion with force and pulling himself up. Before him appeared Lance and Jeanne, both their arms stained with blood.

"I see you are both well…" He smiled, raising his head toward the enormous mass of rock above their heads.

"I am sorry…" He addressed Lance this time, his hand still open and cut. The boy raised his gaze, fixing Maliard with a perplexed air.

"For what?" He asked, rising to his feet. The few garments left on him were torn, exposing his scars and wounds caked with dust and salt.

"If you mean the explosion… It was unforeseeable. I am only grateful Jeanne managed to pull us out." He pressed his forehead lightly, leaning on the rock to keep from falling.

"And besides, we still have one last chance! Not everything is lost." Lance extended his hand toward him, waving his fingers as though inviting him to take hold.

"I really am a fool, demoralising myself like this. I wonder what August and Monica would think, seeing me like this…" Maliard smiled, rising and gripping his hand firmly.

"There is a chance, but it all depends on you." He pointed directly at Jeanne, who fixed him with a tired, hollow expression.

"Lance and I will attack him head-on. You will need to pin him at that single point." Jeanne nodded, gripping her own wrist with her hand, soiled with a thin flow of greyish paint. In silence they exchanged a nod, all of them turning their gaze toward the core of debris hanging in the air. Grayson hissed a disjointed series of numbers and formulae into the air, drawing ever closer to the ground with every syllable he uttered. Before him emerged an enormous curtain of thick grey smoke.

Everything disappeared, trapping him in that heavy greyness.

"No further…" A force tore through the air, splitting the cloud in two. An electric sound began to echo through the void, like a thin hum.

"Get away…" The earth erupted, hurling a barrage of heavy shards in every direction. The greyish mist mixed with the smoke and vapours of the explosion. A bolt of lightning vibrated through the air, grazing his shoulder.

"AWAY!" Before he could even move his fingers, the entire mass of smoke clung to him. Everything fell to the ground like a carpet of thick, sticky paint. Jeanne pulled hard on the cords tied to her hands, bending the scientist steadily further. In that instant, Maliard and Lance burst from the remains of the mist, launching themselves at him shoulder to shoulder. In Maliard's hand gleamed a faint golden light, while Lance emanated a dark gleam around himself.

"I TOLD YOU TO GET AWAY!" A few paces from him, an enormous veil of energy blocked the path of the two. The rock was pulverised and the air distorted by the gravity.

"This time I imagined you had one last cheap trick…" Far off, from where the column of smoke had first emerged, a black spark wound its way through the rocks." Stornieren…" A dark, grim flash crossed the earth, disintegrating everything in its path. It passed through the two of them, heading directly toward Grayson. The bolt of darkness and the barrier of gravity collided with a deafening roar." Schwarzer!" The veil collapsed to the ground, opening the way to the conclusion of the battle.

Lance and Maliard launched themselves at him, in complete synchrony.

"This time, make sure you keep that mouth shut!" Maliard and Lance drove their fists into his face, tearing apart the column's bindings and fracturing his last horn. The impact made the air crack, sending the scientist flying. Lance remained standing, while Maliard slid to the ground. He raised his hand to the sky, smiling at the sight of the numerous scratches on his gauntlet. The light of the sun began to spread across the horizon, marking the start of dawn.

"It is done…" Maliard laughed, striking the ground with his fist. For the first time in a long while, a laugh escaped the lips of that battle-worn agent.

"Have we won?" Lance asked, calling on every last shred of willpower he had left to keep from collapsing to the ground. His arm had taken on a violet hue, masked by the greyish paint.

"Yes, we have won." Maliard answered, placing a hand on his shoulder and pulling himself up with force. The two exchanged a laugh, unconcerned by the incessant sound of footsteps drawing toward them.

"LANCE! … MALIARD!" Jeanne seized them both with force, pulling them together into a violent attempt at an embrace. Immediately their smiles transformed into agonised grimaces.

"Let go… Please…" Maliard implored in a thread of voice, pressed tightly against her. The girl immediately understood, releasing them both. Maliard breathed in laboured gasps as Lance fell directly to the ground, pale.

"Forgive me!" She implored, pressing her forehead to the earth. Maliard stared at her, stunned, shaking his head.

"Are you certain nothing came up amiss in your health checkup…" He murmured in a thread of voice, sending Jeanne into sobs, her eyes fixed on the ground.

"Dam— I meant it in a good way, come on!" He apologised, trying to lift her from her position. Lance had barely managed to get back to his feet, swaying side to side.

"Are your manners always this bad?" Lance asked, approaching him with a stern air. Maliard tried to apologise, swallowing his own words back down.

"Down…" With speed, he seized Lance and threw himself to the ground, pulling Jeanne down with him too. A white flash passed over their heads, crashing with a roar.

"I do not want to believe it…" Lance murmured, his lips trembling. In the distance, before his eyes, Grayson's figure had appeared yet again. A single fragment of horn remained on his face, now shattered like the shards of a vase.

"Do not… Come closer." The rosy tone left Maliard's face, almost draining it of life. His fingers fell limp alongside his arms.

"This is a monster…" He murmured, slowly bringing his arm toward his gauntlet. The remaining cylinders began rotating again, hissing white smoke. Before he could activate the mechanism, an enormous boulder fell before them, shattering directly above the scientist's head and collapsing all around him.

"Excellent work, all of you!" A woman appeared behind them, wiping her hands across her jacket, soiled with algae. She pulled a green leaf from her blonde hair and let it drift to the ground.

"Monica?" Jeanne murmured, raising her gaze. The woman simply raised her thumb and smiled, walking directly toward the scientist.

"I had imagined you much scrawnier. Honestly, you would normally be quite my type!" She announced with a satisfied expression on her face. In an instant, she bent to the side, avoiding Grayson's flash of light.

"At least physically…" She murmured with regret, swaying her head slowly. Grayson took a step back, almost instinctively.

"All this destruction, however, I genuinely cannot tolerate it. I will only bring you back to give you a stern talking-to…" Her face lost every emotion, her eyes every colour, and her lips every form of life. Her hair grew paler, almost as though it had turned to metal.

"Do not disappoint me, scientist." The earth split open, and Grayson felt Monica's fingers pierce his abdomen.