Chương 85: CHAPTER 84 – Nova Astra

The trio and Changeant stared each other down with exhausted eyes. None of them were in any condition to continue the fight, and they all felt the weight of the overload. Roman and Angel were the only ones to step forward, brandishing their weapons. Clutched in the old man's fingers, a series of daggers; in the boy's, a standard-issue pistol.

"Put a leash on your hatred… I don't want to stain my hands again." Lautre moved toward him, swinging his tuning fork. Angel followed him with his gaze, catching sight of Lexa's figure drawing near.

"The only thing here that needs a leash is your tongue!" Roman vanished from sight, leaving a dark dust behind. Lautre and Roman clashed their weapons, fracturing the ground.

"Still this fast?" Lautre made his weapon tremble, snapping it upward and bringing it crashing down. The sound wave branched through the rock, cracking the entire room like glass. Roman was now in the air, gripping a thin lance of black bones. Lautre raised his head, bringing the tuning fork behind his back and bending his knees. They locked eyes, and both vanished. The impact shook the very air as both their arms trembled hard enough to burst capillaries.

In that merciless clash, Angel appeared at Lautre's back, aiming the barrel of his gun directly at the back of his head.

"Lexa, this one's yours." He smiled when suddenly the boy was forced to retreat. A black tentacle had emerged from the ground, immediately taking the shape of a copy of the director.

"Sorry, boy… But this is personal!" A dense, yellowish sludge gathered on her forearms. It took little for the substance to become a pair of curved blades, one per arm. The two sickles cut the air with every movement, and Lexa swung them to grow accustomed. After a few rotations, she closed the distance with Angel in an instant. His ear fell to the ground as his body slid back on a raft of darkness. He fired off a couple of shots, only managing to graze the edge of her swords.

Lexa stared at him with intensity, then clicked her tongue and kicked away what remained of the shadow bullets.

"Damned pests." She chased Angel, slashing through every shot fired at her. Lexa slid across the ground, leaving a trail of sparks from the blades. The dark clone emerged from beneath her, launching her toward the boy. She grabbed him by the throat, lifting Angel into the air and hurling him to the ground. From beneath him, a new tentacle appeared, striking him directly in the back.

"This is for all the people you killed today." Lexa walked slowly toward him, raising her forearm high, almost as if preparing an elbow strike. All the yellowish sludge gathered into a gigantic, sharp crescent. Lexa's eyes gleamed under the moonlight as she brought the blade crashing down. A heavy spurt of blood fell to the ground. Angel stared at the silhouette before him as his face grew stained.

"Laure…" Ascan murmured, while the woman smiled. Lexa realised she could no longer pull her blade free. A reddish glow appeared to her left, forming between Ascan's closed palms.

"This is the only chance." The scientist smiled, detonating a river of explosions, almost as if a single gigantic spark were rolling at insane speeds across the ground.

"You still mean to give me trouble?" Lexa's black clone emerged at her feet, wrapping her in its long arms. The explosion consumed the wall while Laure and Angel had fallen back to the rear lines. He was now wounded and exhausted. Laure could still speak but looked more like a corpse than a human being. The gash in her abdomen was regenerating very slowly, and only Ascan could treat her. Lexa emerged from her shelter, staring at the group.

Something immobilised her legs, squeezing her ankles and slowly dragging her into the ground. Roman laughed, kicking Lautre away and shooting toward Lexa. The lance in his hands broke, forming two new daggers. Her clone was still regenerating, and the blades on her arm had been ruined.

"One last shot." Ascan raised his finger, pointing it at her. Smoke, heat, and light bloomed from the tip, and tiny sparks began to dance around his bloodied hand. Lexa and Roman clashed, both now exhausted. His Frequency was still fairly high, still leaving him capable of fighting. He shattered her weapon, slicing off part of her arm in the process.

"Shit! LANCE, LEXA, COVER YOUR EARS!" Lautre drew in as much air as he could. The air fell mute, silent. The dripping of blood and the crackle of sparks could no longer be heard. Lexa's dark clone wrapped her ears, creating a membrane. Lance did the same, pressing his palms hard against the sides of his head." Pleurant!" Lautre screamed, sweeping away every piece of rubble and debris, breaking the columns and bursting the eardrums of anyone not quick enough to cover their ears.

Roman shrieked, immediately retreating with one ear bleeding. Ascan, stunned, fired his shot into the ceiling, causing an explosion above their heads.

"I can finish this. I don't want to be useless right now! Come on, body, get up and fight." In his desperate determination, Lachesi activated, vomiting a small silver cube. It was traced with tiny black veins, but for him, it was impossible not to recognise that object.

"Lachesi absorbed Supplicium? I don't know how, but I should be able to manifest a single shot!" The little cube snapped open, constructing with extreme speed the heavy revolver with the long, grooved barrel. A silver sheen wrapped it, while the strange dark veins pulsed violet. They vanished, and Lance felt the weapon charge. He caressed the trigger, and an instant later pulled it back. A dark flame burst from the muzzle as a bullet of pure energy travelled at insane speed toward Ascan's arm.

Lance got back on his feet, one arm trembling. It was unexpected, and no one could follow the shot, yet not a single drop of blood was spilled. The bullet vanished before striking anyone. A terrible pressure shook the hall as a greyish distortion corrupted the cold air. It opened like a hungry mouth, vomiting two dark silhouettes. Lance recognised them immediately, and his blood began to boil in his veins at once.

"You've finally shed that unpleasant appearance… Lance Klint." The man with long black hair smiled. His black eyes sucked the light from the room. The other, more battered and covered in blood and rock, went straight to Laure and Angel, administering a dark vial.

"MALCOLM!" Lance snarled, only drawing a grin from the man. Lexa immediately retreated, moving closer to Lautre. Both understood perfectly well that that man was a calamity, more than an adversary. A muffled sound reached Lautre's ears, snapping him back to his senses.

"Lexa, does this wall lead outside?" The woman stared at him, confused, but nodded repeatedly.

"Perfect… Blow it open." He smiled as the woman grew paler.

"C'mon, miss, do it! Trust my instincts." She sighed. A violet mass appeared at her feet, aiming a slimy arm at the wall.

"Go, Lilac!" A bullet of pure frequency smashed through the wall, exploding into a lilac cloud. Malcolm watched the plan with curiosity, advancing into the area bathed in the night light. Outside, a man wrapped in a heavy coat ran through the rubble, clutching in his right hand a glossy, slimy sphere. He picked his way through the debris, occasionally executing superhuman leaps. The sphere swelled with his blood, slowly opening wider and wider. He saw the explosion bring down the entrance gate.

"That imbecile either has a plan, or he trusted the first suspicious noise he heard?

"Maverick smiled, running over the remains of a building, aiming for the sky. He kept accelerating until he leaped toward the moon. Inside the tower, everyone saw a black silhouette cast its shadow across the white moon. A long iron rod anchored itself to his arm, tearing into his cornea and tying itself directly to his body. The weapon let out a hiss, signalling it was ready. Maverick saw Malcolm's figure in the distance, making him grin. The blood gathered on his arms was devoured by Astrea.

A black light connected the weapon's barrel to Malcolm's body. The night grew grimmer, and that weapon devoured space, making it expand into a cylindrical shape. Malcolm smiled, watching the light spread. Maverick nullified his barrier, channelling Verstoring before him. Astrea severed his arm, separating it from the rest of his body with violence. He smiled, regenerating it slowly.

"So you too… Have entered the domain of monsters!" Maverick clicked his tongue, feeling his consciousness slowly fading. His body began to fall into the gardens below.

"Astrea wasn't charged enough to completely separate space? It hardly matters... Regenerating a limb is more exhausting for Malcolm in this condition… I leave the honour of the fight to you now." His eyes went dark, and he plummeted among the green hedges, covered in ash. Malcolm turned his gaze, staring at his new arm. A sensation he hadn't felt in decades: the act of regenerating from nothing. He smiled, his gaze lingering on Lance and Lautre.

"Lance, get out of here…" Lautre laid a hand on his shoulder, promptly gripping the second tuning fork as well. Lexa moved closer to him, but her look carried the same message.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that. That boy is a necessary ingredient for our Client." Malcolm smiled, drawing slowly closer to them. His hair swayed hypnotically, like a mass of pure black.

"What are you saying? You'll die…" Lance stepped toward him, but Lexa started dragging him away. His strength was returning now, but it was still insufficient to resist her. Lautre turned to smile when he heard a horrible sizzle behind him. He threw himself onto the two, knocking them aside. From the door Laure had been watching with dread, a terribly massive beam of bluish light erupted. It ripped through the tower and smashed through the relic's outer wall, spreading a light into the night sky.

Everyone present remained unharmed, protected by Malcolm's barrier, which had erased the heat and radiation. The man smiled, watching the two figures emerge from the corridor, grimly lit by the molten iron. Lance's eyes widened at the sight of the platinum-haired man and the blonde woman at his side. Few of them realised the gigantic column of Frequency rising from his shoulders.

"It's similar to Lucas's, perhaps slightly less refined." The woman hid behind him, clutching his coat. Grayson smiled, giving a nod.

"Don't worry, Vea. Go to the central command. They will help you." The woman dried her tears and ran off, vanishing into the corridor. Now the man's attention was entirely devoted to the group before him.

"GRAYSON!!" Lexa and Lance shouted in unison, both overjoyed. Lautre stared at them, confused, altering his mental image of the architect to that of the young man before him.

"He's the Architect?! Way scrawnier than I thought." Grayson smiled, greeting him with a quick wave of his hand. The moment Malcolm moved toward them, Grayson turned and crushed the majority of the group. All the members of Changeant fell to their knees, pressed to the ground by an incredible, unnatural force. Malcolm, however, was immune, staring at him with his dark, grim grin.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Architect." Grayson took a step as well, leaving a trail of footprints in his wake. His presence was like the night sky studded with stars, something eternal that rises above everyone's heads.

"I am Grayson Dirac, the research director of Machinamentum. I don't know who this Architect-guy is." He found himself face to face with Malcolm, only a few metres apart. Both stared at each other, faint smiles on both their faces.

"Have you come to take revenge?" The area around them cracked even further as Grayson cleared his throat with small coughs.

"I'm only here to do the right thing… Killing you is the best way to do it." He laid his hand on Malcolm's shoulder, and immediately the man felt a violent force hurl him away. He flew through the debris, dusting off his shoulder.

"I can mitigate the kinetic effects, but the initial transmission is instantaneous? Interesting." Malcolm got up quickly, watching the man in the fluttering coat draw closer to him. His violet eyes now gave off a tangible glow. Lexa watched them, worried, when suddenly she heard a faint hiss.

"Why do you need to have a different model?! Is it working now? Lexa, can you hear me?" Edvard's voice reached her ear, slightly distorted and dirty but still audible. Lautre immediately recognised the sound, smiling.

"YES! Did you manage to get into the Leviathan's control room?" In the room, Edvard was trying to understand what the men and women around that strange heart of violet rock were doing. The shape was properly that of a human heart, complete with all the openings that would connect the atria and ventricles, yet the almost rocky skin and the constant pulsations made tangible the reality that it did not belong to this world.

"If I'm talking to you, what do you think the answer is? In any case, there's a fairly large energy trace here. What's going on over there?" Behind him, a column of reddish smoke rose. The gears began to ring as the entire control panel lit up, projecting an image of the entire structure.

"Perfect! Grayson and Malcolm are clashing, but space is limited. Even if it's dangerous… Overload the relic and move those two to another section!" Lexa stared at the black light emerging from the gigantic hole in the wall, slowly rotting the structure.

"What?! The Architect woke up?!" Edvard let himself drop into his chair, immediately lighting a cigar. Behind him, everyone began to mobilise.

"The procedure would involve completely sealing the zone until a full reboot. Malcolm and Grayson would be cut off from any form of support for about ten minutes!" A scientist added as soon as he heard Lexa's voice emerge from the speakers placed in the corners of the room. The woman bit her thumbnail, looking at Lance and then back at the clash.

"Mr. Ross, do it… I trust him." Lance moved closer to her, hoping Edvard could hear him. In the control room, there was consensus, and in the rumble of gears and the relic, everyone mobilised to enact the procedure.

"We trust the director! Grayson can win!" Levers, buttons, pistons were all activated to pump even more Taumite to the already operating heart.

"The only viable zone is the underground testing ground." Edvard stared at them, confused, as a gigantic rectangular portion beneath the tower lit up. It was almost as vast as the perimeter of the alternative dimension. A colossal simulation of a city like Bayork, used to test weapons and recovered relics. Its size was almost half the Archipelago. Edvard nodded, pushing the levers to highlight the room with the energy trace.

"We're ready here, Lexa." He clenched his fists, taking off the headset and bringing it close to his mouth. He took a deep breath and leaned forward.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! GO!" The whole room shouted, while Edvard blew out a drop of greyish smoke before smiling and pushing the lever. A series of sparks crossed the heart, which began almost to tremble at frightening rhythms. The energy branched everywhere in the structure, making the walls glow red and violet. The alarm shut off, and everything began to rebuild itself.

"Was this the plan?" Malcolm asked, his face dark with shadows. Grayson stared at him, lit red, smiling.

"I didn't have a plan, honestly. Just cause I'm a scientist, do I need to always be sure?" He replied as the entire room plunged into darkness. The ground beneath their feet broke immediately, almost fraying. Both vanished into the blackness. They fell into the void perpendicularly, never taking their eyes off one another. Suddenly, a white light flooded the duo, and they moved apart inexplicably.

Grayson saw the entire area from above as he fell: the sky was lit by a gigantic artificial light; on the distant horizon, large black and viscous walls enclosed the gargantuan city. Small buildings inside, taller and more sinuous ones outside, paved streets with cars and lampposts, all the furniture and services in their place, and a gigantic mountain as a border behind them, close to the black walls. Both landed on two tall buildings set in perfect parallel.

They were rectangular structures, towering and decorated with irregular hexagonal panels of black glass. Their impact broke the cement of the roof, making them notice one another.

"A Moonslicer? I haven't seen this technology since the war against Termìe ended." Malcolm rose from his crater, staring with joy at the immense column of energy before him. Grayson did the same, shielding his forehead with his palm against the sun.

"Strange, it's cold here…" A veil of condensation escaped his mouth as he watched the dark, dense Frequency corrupt the building opposite him. Their eyes met. Immediately, Malcolm's cores rotated within his flesh, pumping energy into circulation.

"I'll see to bringing you the End you so yearn for, demon." Malcolm grinned, gathering his ability at the tip of his fingers. The glossy, black slime with reddish smears began to float upward, then vanished and started flowing again.

"Everything will come to an end. Perhaps even you, in this very moment." Grayson's hands lit up blue and yellow, respectively birthing two stars. The ground beneath his feet began to melt as every shade of colour mixed in his eyes. On the surface, the tower was beginning to repair itself slowly but at a steady pace. Maliard's group had remained trapped on the lower floors, while Changeant slipped away through the opening. Ascan dropped something into one of the cracks.

"Thanks for the evening!" He turned to wave goodbye to Lexa and Lance. The boy tried to chase them, but the director stopped him, murmuring something. Lance thought it was an order, but he managed to read her lips." Please… Don't die, Grayson." A beam of bluish light sliced through Malcolm's building, vaporising the iron and clashing against the false sky. The molten remnants splattered to the ground, covering the cars in a blazing blanket. Grayson looked up, disturbed by the shadow cast by his opponent.

With a satisfied grin, he crashed down on him. He raised his fist, clashing against Malcolm's darkness. His arm began to disappear, but he managed to tolerate it. As the second building collapsed, Dirac and Malcolm plunged into the offices. For twelve minutes and forty-eight seconds, the battle between the Architect and the soon-to-be God of the End would rage. Grayson shook Malcolm off, kicking him among the interior columns. The man's body rose immediately, beginning a swift, violent exchange.

Malcolm struck him in the side, the liver, the stomach, and the heart, but Grayson kept counterattacking. He rotated his body, sinking his knuckles into Malcolm's face, but the difference in skill was notable.

"Decent." The man smiled, catching Grayson's ankle with a well-placed blow from his leg. The scientist lost his balance and was immediately struck in the face. He crashed into the floor, cracking it and bringing down the office furniture. Malcolm smiled, noticing a force squeezing his hand.

"I know you have no mercy for me…" A bluish veil wrapped Grayson's hand as he rose from the ground. His wounds had already healed, and his body radiated even more energy. Malcolm couldn't move, almost as if drawn to him.

"So see that you commit if you don't want to die." He couldn't stop the blow, being hurled backward. The windows shattered, and the ceiling began to tremble dangerously. Malcolm touched his abdomen, getting back up." He's coating his own fists with a centre of gravity? The information is contained within one another, and the barrier loses effectiveness." Malcolm smiled, licking his lips and walking toward him again.

"I'll have to truly acknowledge your determination." His hands coated themselves in slime, lighting up menacingly. They clashed again, this time slamming their fists together. Grayson's gravity was distorted, resulting in a violent uppercut straight to the chin. His flesh began to rot rapidly, but he didn't care about that." Origin!" A light flashed in the palm of his hand. Malcolm was blinded by it, and without realising it, he lost the index and middle fingers of his right hand.

Clutched in Grayson's grip was a thin blade of yellowish light, the purest form of matter: energy.

"Incredible. He's overloading the barrier using every possible variable." Malcolm smiled, bringing his intact hand to his side." In close combat, I have no chance. Perhaps in fencing." Grayson thrust violently, aiming for Malcolm's exposed throat. The blade shattered while Malcolm smiled, gripping an old rusty knife.

"I know what you were thinking, but I should tell you I've been a soldier for over a century." The scientist ducked immediately, watching the slash of black light pierce the building. Everything was severed, and the building slowly began to collapse. The black blade extended to the street, becoming a guillotine for everything in its path. Grayson grazed him with his palm on the abdomen, making him fly against one of the columns." SHIFT!" All the objects in the room flew at Malcolm, imprisoning him.

The ceiling began to collapse, first at the edges and then slowly drawing toward the centre. Grayson grabbed one in mid-flight, linking it to the column." NVM!" A horrible force was imprinted on his body, slowly crushed by the globe of debris. Grayson had managed to link the variation between multiple objects, turning that dome of cement into a compound of pure negative mass. But despite this, Malcolm didn't tremble.

"Good…" Malcolm vanished, letting the dome collapse completely. He appeared before him, almost as if teleported, his fist loaded at his side, ready to strike. Grayson crossed his arms, clenching as much debris as possible in his fists.

"... But you can do more." Grayson was hurled away, shattering what remained of the windows and plummeting from the skyscraper. He smiled, staring at Malcolm. The rocks in his hands became bubbles of incandescent light.

"Thanks for the ammunition." A burst of glowing explosions struck Malcolm, completely obliterating the building's facade. He steadied himself in the air, slowly pressing his palms together." KNEEL!" He snapped them shut, crushing the building in on itself, fusing floor after floor together. A cloud of debris rose into the air, darkening the artificial sun. The scientist landed, watching the entire building collapse. Beside him fell a large greyish chunk of cement and iron.

His coat fluttered as he was wrapped in the dusty fog.

"It's not over…" He laid his hand on the debris, slowly transforming it into pure light. The condensation escaping his lips began to vanish, driven away by the heat." Dodge." A voice whispered in his ear, and his body obeyed. Suddenly, a black scythe tore through the air, splitting the ground in two and severing the entire city up to the black wall. Grayson turned, pale, watching the building behind him slide over itself and crash to the ground. The earth folded on itself, crumbling in the process.

He immediately sensed the grim presence at his back.

"Come on, Grayson Dirac…" From the rubble, a black wing emerged, made of pure pitch with reddish tones. Malcolm rose, perfectly unharmed, his right arm wrapped in the slime of Verstoring and composed of dozens of small blades. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"This is the end for one of us, isn't it?" The scientist swallowed and took a step forward. The air around his hand condensed into a new blade of pure golden energy." Verstoring: Plague!" From the ground, several black tentacles emerged, each equipped with dozens of blades. On all of them appeared a disturbing skeletal mark, identical to the pulsating tattoo on his neck. Grayson launched himself into the attack, dodging every single blow from those creatures and clashing directly against him.

Their blades clashed, causing his light to vanish into the darkness." END!" The last sparks of light became fragments of rock, perfectly square and smooth. The scientist snatched them up at once, immobilising Malcolm with gravity, leaving him standing but slowed. He felt the corruption eat away at his legs, but it wasn't enough to stop him. He gripped the matter trapped between his fingers tightly. In the space of a few moments, it was compressed tens of thousands of times, becoming invisible to the eye.

"This is for Lug, you bastard…" Malcolm began to be sucked into that microscopic grain of darkness. His barrier couldn't process all the information completely, unable to nullify the attraction. He grabbed Grayson by the throat, but thin pieces of flesh began to fall into the gravitational well. The scientist smiled, grabbing him by the wrist and raising two fingers toward him. A white light began to shine." Negative Value Well." The entire surroundings were swept away by a shockwave.

Malcolm flew through the smaller buildings while Grayson dug into the asphalt, trying to regenerate his legs. The rubble had been hurled everywhere, stoning every object in the city. Even the mountain broke in half. Before them, there was only a gigantic crater.

"He attracted my body with that black sphere and then struck me? The barrier held, but the pace was overloading the majority of my cores." Malcolm emerged from the window of the small apartment building he had fallen into, regenerating his fingers and pieces of flesh.

"I'll exhaust his energy quickly while Ascan prepares our escape." The walls of the building began to rot as he descended the stairs to leave. He moved to open the door, but the entire wall collapsed inward. Malcolm was struck full in the chest by his opponent's knuckles, completely healed. He and Grayson exchanged a glance, clashing as everything collapsed." Shift." All the ruins, along with Malcolm, flew into the street.

He slid using his own slime while the scientist rose into the sky, hurling compressed ruins left and right. The soldier laughed, pointing a finger at them and slicing them into ever smaller fragments. The darkness divided them, sometimes eroding, other times shattering their surface.

"I have to stop him from modifying that barrier!" Grayson sprinted down the street, lifting the asphalt with a wave of his hand. Malcolm was wrapped in it but managed to get only a few metres closer before dark gashes tore the ground to pieces.

"My patience is not infinite, you filthy carrion!" Grayson threw himself sideways, forcefully grabbing a car left intact by the rain of debris. Numerous veins swelled on his arm as he lifted that car above his head. He hurled it, amplifying the throw with negative mass, aiming at his opponent. The man smiled, immediately slashing it in two with a gesture of his palm. The two halves fell past his back, but Malcolm was more focused on the frontal assault. Their fists collided, fracturing the ground.

Malcolm's feet were driven into the earth as Grayson's blow made him retreat. Malcolm smiled, nullifying his barrier and letting the scientist tear his fingers away. Confused, Grayson lost his balance.

"He nullified the barrier only on his forearm?" Malcolm grabbed him by the wrist, making it rot.

"This arena is so beautiful…" Malcolm struck him in the face with his own forehead. The impact lifted his brow, and meanwhile the corruption continued to spread across his body. In a snap, Grayson severed his own arm, but it wasn't enough to distance him.

"It would be a shame not to use all of it." His knuckles sank into Grayson's chest, hurling him through an entire building, destroying furniture and everything else in his path. He dragged the ground with him, crashing into some stairs outside a small shop. The scientist stood up, bloodied, regenerating his arm and right eye. Malcolm stared at him through the holes, wrapped in the dense black foam emerging from his feet.

"I can't kill him if I keep holding back. I think only four minutes have passed, and the Frequency in the air has already halved. If I can regenerate the frontal lobe and the core contained in the amygdala, I can hold out a few more minutes." Grayson stared at him intently, wrapping himself in all the frequency around him. Malcolm snapped his fingers, and a flood of black slime began to corrupt and devour everything before him.

The dark wave consumed everything in its path, breaking the foundations of the building into which he'd been catapulted.

"So it's not just an enhancement ability, but also area control." Grayson rose into flight, aiming his hand at the collapsing building. The rubble stopped as the entire mass was lifted from the ground. A spurt of blood exploded from his eyes as the entire building was hurled at Malcolm. The man smiled, raising his hand above his head and bringing it down almost immediately. The entire mass of ruins was slashed apart, and in the rain of debris and slime, the two met once more.

Grayson hurled himself at Malcolm, kicking him among the falling rubble, but it was suddenly torn apart. A barrage of black cuts wrapped the space, shredding everything. Grayson launched a volley of rocks at him, bombarding the entire street." Hakmes." A black light grazed Grayson, once again slicing through the few remains behind him. The scientist grabbed a rock and shot it into the sky, followed by a few clusters of stone. He stared at Malcolm at the centre of the destruction, raising his arm toward the sun.

Dark, amorphous pollen emerged from his palm, spreading across the sky." Ruine." The black rain made the ground collapse, burn, rot, trying in every way to stop Grayson's flight. One last black fragment caused the explosion of a building, engulfing the scientist in its blast radius. From the dense, greyish fog, dozens of golden lances exploded forth. Malcolm vanished from the point of impact, appearing at the edges of the crater, beside one of the rocks Grayson had thrown.

In that precise instant, that rubble vanished, leaving the scientist in its place.

"He swapped places?" He smiled before being violently struck on the chin by Grayson. This time the blow managed to consume the barrier, fracturing the ground." Entanglement!" Grayson swapped again, appearing behind him. In the scientist's hands, dark, perfectly smooth shapes began to form. Malcolm was confused, trying to grab them. His grip slipped, as if there were no friction, and he was brutally struck by them. The geometric shapes exploded like a spring, launching him into the street." Ideal…"

Grayson panted, letting cold puffs escape his lips. Malcolm got up quickly, wiping the blood from his lip. Grayson had already understood what to do. All those moves had been to bring him here.

"By reducing the radius to a minimum, I can increase the length. Instead of a dome, it will be a perfect cylinder enclosing this street. I'll make it my domain!" Blood clouded his right eye. The only thing that interested him, however, was the calculations needed to construct his technique. Malcolm launched himself at him, raising his arm and wrapping it in Verstoring. With every step, the rock was corrupted, consumed, and cracked. He was a few steps from Grayson when he suddenly felt something drop over him."

DOME!!" A wall of numbers, arranged in a net, wrapped them both, stretching out in the shape of a colossal cylinder as long as the entire city. His corruption began to slow, while before him the scientist smiled. The scientist ran toward him, brandishing a light. The two clashed, with the same result." Entanglement!" Malcolm was the target of the swap, separating him from Grayson by a few dozen metres. He tried to recover the distance, when suddenly everything grew more distant." Add…"

Grayson's brain was locked in a constant cycle of rupture and regeneration. His encephalon had already been rebuilt twice in five minutes and forty seconds since the start of the fight. At present, however, before him there was not a single obstacle that could block his path. Malcolm stood still, raising his guard and grinning with that vacant, inscrutable look. He planted his feet in the ground, tracing an imaginary line between himself and his opponent, wiping the blood tears from his violet eye.

The numbers linked together, manifesting as formulae and equations. Suddenly, before him was the basis of all accelerating bodies.

"Every being that increases its speed does so based on the time necessary for that increment to occur…" Grayson grabbed the numbers, breaking and reassembling them.

"What would happen if a body constantly added its speed for every minimal distance travelled?" Malcolm understood those words, understood why he had distorted space in the dome, and understood the scientist's plan. He raised the barrier, but nothing could react to such a blow.

"You are good!"" AXCL!!!" In the first instant, Grayson had already surpassed the speed deemed unreachable by any machine or human for the next five centuries: light. His forearm was reduced to its most elementary components upon impact. The asphalt liquefied; so much energy was transmitted. Everything at the city centre was completely demolished, despite the defences of Grayson's domain. The black walls caved in on themselves. Outside, the sound completely shattered the distant windows and fractured the rocks.

He panted, vomiting blood and feeling his head split open. His arm began to regenerate slowly, using the black gases in the air as an energy source.

"He's not dead… That bastard is still breathing." The black man emerged from the fog, the remains of his arm wrapped in slime and his gaze irradiated by a tenebrous light.

"Many years have passed since the last time someone without experience tore a part of my body away. I am disappointed, though… To see you already pleased with your successes." A reddish veil clashed against Grayson's cylinder, slowly corrupting its surface.

"You're not the only one who can expand your ability at will!" Malcolm raised his finger, grinning, destroying the ground beneath him and stretching the red dome toward the scientist. He began to spit blood and somehow felt his bones breaking and crumbling inside him.

"The corruption will devour your flesh sooner than you expected, Grayson." The general drew closer, brandishing the slime as if it were a blade, aiming a thrust directly at his heart. The scientist threw himself sideways, grazing the fragile walls of the cylinder. It stabilised for a moment, compacting around them." KNEEL!!" Everything within the sphere's volume was crushed by gravity. Malcolm lost his grip as the ground beneath him shattered.

He smiled, ignoring the dust in his eye sockets, and cleaved the air with his arm. The particles of the Cataclysm concentrated on his nails, stretching out." Zwerm!" A complex web of thin Verstoring threads stretched from his fingers, mincing everything before him. The cars were divided into small pieces before becoming dust. Only a strange multicoloured mass remained, like a rainbow. The shape of that stuff was complex, changing at every instant and infinitely.

First it looked like the tail of some reptile, now thorny branches. A hand emerged from that mass, grabbing him by the throat. Grayson Dirac, missing one eye, his lip torn and rotted, lifted him from the ground, penetrating the barrier. His arm was distorted, in perpetual wave-like motion. He smiled as a rivulet of blood ran from his nose." Fractal and Veil … The first allows me to enter a distorted space, while the other uses that space to make a membrane. You can't counter information you don't fully understand."

With force, he hurled him far from the crater, shattering the road, the buildings, and dragging dozens of pieces of debris with him. He swapped positions with one of them, sinking his knuckles into his skull. Grayson slammed him to the ground, transmuting the rock fragments into light. The entire area was bombarded, lit up with flames.

"Not bad." Dirac flew around the building, pursued by Malcolm's globules. Exchanging bursts of white and black light, the two ended up tearing through the building's facades. Malcolm catapulted himself inside, darting through and smashing through the windows just above the scientist. He aimed his fingers at his head, channelling the slime." Hakmes!" With a grin, he watched the black scythe slice the panorama before him, lifting a portion of the street from the collapse, but the scientist had vanished again.

The luminous mass appeared behind him, and he immediately felt it draw closer, despite not having moved.

"Space has been distorted again?" Grayson's torso emerged from the mass of unknown shapes, brandishing a fist wrapped in a veil of dark, perfectly smooth spheres." ADD and IDEAL!" The scientist struck him full in the face, with enough force to make him rebound and hurl him into the last tall building left intact at the city limits. A few moments before he smashed through the glass, Malcolm stretched a finger toward him, murmuring something with a smile.

Grayson was immediately drawn forward, almost as if a rope were dragging him away. He crashed shortly after him, finding himself in an old corporate office. Papers everywhere, smeared with paint and other unknown stains.

"Malcolm extinguished the information between us? So he can use his power to close the gap like this, huh..." Scattered among the light-wood desks and plywood partitions were also the old mannequins used for previous tests. Outside, in the empty corridor carpeted with bluish fabric, walked Malcolm. Both found themselves sensing the other's presence.

"Perhaps it's foolish to ask you now, but why does a being like you live?" Grayson stroked the wall to his right, feeling its surface. With every step, the glass shards crumbled beneath him.

"I'm a humble man. I await the end of all things. For that reason, I accept existence." Malcolm caught his reflection in a shard of the window, shattering it shortly after.

"Then would dying be enough for you? Or does your instinct drive you to bring death to as many as possible while you wait?" Grayson now scratched the wall, leaving a bloody trail behind him. Malcolm laughed, cracking his shoulders and back.

"Death is an entity common to every living being. A property that is the very foundation of living. The purpose of every thing is to die. Even a Meta, after a thousand years of continuous cycles, will take their own life, and that will be their death. However, death is not comparable to the End I seek." The scientist listened carefully to his faint, spectral voice as he continued to follow the wall through the destroyed corridor.

"If no one recognises your life, then in that case death is comparable to the End I so yearn for. Recognition and identity banish the total terror of death. What I desire is the extinction of this world's history." Malcolm smiled, remembering the screams in war and the smell of burnt flesh.

"What? You want to bring humanity to extinction?" Grayson turned pale, clenching his fists in revulsion.

"Nothing has more value than watching something reach its peak, abandon its fear of disappearing… And then see all its anchors of salvation severed, feeling the End arrive with every instant." Malcolm stroked the wall as he trampled and kicked aside the debris of rock and wood.

"Killing everything isn't enough. We must erase any trace that this world ever had us as its pioneers. Wrap the cities in flames and sink them into the abyss. Just like orphans, it's not enough to spare them because they have no family. As long as they have a trace, they won't be fully fit for the End." Grayson felt his stomach turn deep inside. His good soul hoped there might be a germ of hope for the man he was speaking with, but Malcolm would have nauseated even the abyss itself.

"The first time I met you, I told you that everything is subject to calamity. Your existence is confirmed by your roles, the history of every family living in this archipelago, and even the very origin of your powers. Nothing escapes the wave of Calamity." The air in the entire building was shaken by the union of those two spirits.

"Once everything is finished, will you die too?" Grayson asked, slowly transforming a piece of glass into a mass of pure incandescent energy.

"Certainly. Don't misunderstand me. I don't do it out of catharsis. I will simply bring it because I believe it's what satisfies me most." Both stopped, listening to the other's heartbeat blend with their own.

"Have you never thought that something might exist that will remember humanity despite its disappearance?" The scientist's thought fossilised in the memory of his visions, of that white desert and the grim smell of blood. Malcolm laughed faintly, almost as if hissing.

"Do you believe in God? Your statement is correct up to a certain point. Gods certainly exist, Grayson Dirac…" The mere anticipation of those words froze the entire building, making his eyes flicker violet.

"... But don't think they care about humanity. They too are carcasses that will disappear." Malcolm resumed walking, and Grayson followed him. They were slowly approaching a glass-walled corridor"My joy is to see this world vanish into oblivion and then take my own life, erasing any memory from this dull atom of total nothingness." Both saw each other, shoulder to shoulder, in the transparent mirror.

"I suspected that a person like you couldn't be saved." The glass broke, melted and corrupted by their blades. Malcolm felt the light disintegrate a few millimetres from his own face, while Grayson sensed the wall behind him being completely slashed open.

"Nor is there any salvation for you. You are a vessel, just like me." Malcolm grabbed the light with his hands, shattering it before Grayson could detonate it. He pushed him forcefully into the wall. He cracked his elbow against his throat, shattering the wall further.

"I detest stagnation, and you and I are an example of it. These marks that infest our skin are the wills of beings who oppose the End." Grayson drove him off, tearing away the entire corridor. He slammed him into the street, but Malcolm was still there, suspended on the dark remains of the building.

"I want to tear myself from the influences of Hel to continue mutating people until the End of everything. Grayson Dirac, join my crusade as well." He offered him his hand, waiting for an answer. A bluish light wrapped him completely, vaporising the surroundings. The beam was split in two, burning the entire area at Malcolm's sides.

"I suspected as much..." The man appeared before the scientist, grabbing him by the jaw and crushing him to the ground. By now, the Frequency was ceasing to circulate in his tissues. The environment was beginning to grow dusty.

"You are disgusting as a scientist. So much brain, yet you don't understand the importance of our plans." He raised his foot, lifting it above his abdomen. His face was completely devoid of any emotion. The face of a shadow.

"What disgusting science it is, that which doesn't improve the lives of human beings." Malcolm kicked him down, forcing him to smash through every floor of the office and crash into the foundations. With every floor broken, the cloud spread along the building, almost like a skirt. Grayson found himself staring at the faint light emerging from the holes above him.

"I hope at least that boy is of better use…" Malcolm raised his hand, channelling two globules of his ability. The masses began to spin and merge, emitting a luminous darkness, something inconceivable to the human eye. The light vanished, leaving room for this blinding tenebrae. Grayson stared at the energy gathering, trying to get back up." Move, move, move!" He forced his whole body, only managing to spit blood and feel his skin shatter. He bit his lip, trying in every way to get back on his feet.

"This is your determination? I understand it's your first time, but you should have a bit of spirit!" Time seemed to slow. The dust fell so slowly that one could count its individual components. Grayson stared intently at the figure seated with crossed legs on a colossal fragment of rock. He was a young man, but his hands were worn by old age and greased with a strange black fat. He could see the Frequency around him, massive and dense, in the shape of strange lumps and designs.

"Who the hell are you…" Grayson murmured, still feeling his body heavy, as if lead were flowing through his veins instead of blood. The man in the blue tunic smiled, pointing his withered thumb at his own chest.

"I am Nikola Ruther! First rector of science of this archipelago and first pillar of Erudition! Perhaps it's called Architect in these times?" Grayson stared at him, confused, covering his face with his hand. Nikola watched him, intrigued. He tried to speak, but Grayson cut him off, staring at him through a gap between his fingers.

"So it's true that I've become a vessel? That gods exist, other epochs, and…" Nikola silenced him, appearing behind him.

"I can't say for certain. I died way before the name Steehaven was even thought! I live in the memories of you two. I give you my knowledge and my instincts, but I am only a memory. The last thing my body did was remember my friends." His long hair brushed Grayson's forehead as he continued speaking.

"I can't answer everything, but I know you will become strong. The strongest of all of us. You're only limiting yourself. You can draw on everything you want. It will hurt, but you'll have to accept that you're no longer human and that you'll have to make many sacrifices. But you're a scientist, just like me, aren't you? What matters most to people like us?" Grayson managed to lift his torso, forcing strength into his palms.

"Discovering new ways… To help this world!" Tattoos of various mathematical and physical formulae began to carve into his skin. Wrapping his arms and staining his face, the pupils of his eyes became like a four-pointed elongated star. Nikola smiled, beginning to disappear.

"Become a man capable of facing the impossible… Grayson Dirac, III Form of Erudition." Nikola vanished completely, and Grayson realised he was still lying on the ground and the tattoos had only developed up to his elbow. Malcolm was still above him, ready to strike. Grayson realised that his body was already fighting against the overload and the removal of the limiter.

"I'll last barely a minute in these conditions." Malcolm saw the column of energy and smiled, observing the marks on his opponent's arm. The tears in his coat revealed the cracks of overload, and a strange blue light coloured his chest.

"When will you understand that constant mutation is itself stagnation?" The beam of corruption began to form when suddenly the entire building was wrapped in the dome of numbers." Chaotic Biome." Grayson smiled, and all the matter, all molecular existence within the domain, was embraced by chaos. Some fragments became liquid from atomic displacement, while others were completely excised. In a few moments, the entire building became a floating heap of varied debris.

Malcolm, suspended in the cage of rock, opened fire. The beam of darkness devoured the sky, exploding upward and piercing through everything, even the atmosphere of the dawning sky.

"Yours is a clear choice…" Malcolm and Grayson clashed among the floating rubble, exchanging slashes and punches at each other. The scientist grabbed his arm, hurling him to where the roof of the building had once been. From the hole caused by the beam of darkness, heavy blocks of rock were crumbling, but not even that roar could stop Nikola's words echoing in his head.

"I always believed an atom should be alone, immersed in that void. But now I can see the matter that populates that darkness. The inverse of what we are." Grayson appeared before Malcolm as he charged a new slash. A bluish sphere, smaller than a peach pit, formed before his index finger. Within it was a churning sea of black sludge, with tiny white globes inside." It really is marginal, what I can do with the power you've given me… But at least for one night, I want to be a good person."

The protective dome extended, colouring the underground blue." Perhaps I won't have the will to live long, but at least in that brief instant I want to keep my promise." The black mass shrank, and Malcolm brought his arm down, delivering his slash." Sea…" When two opposites graze each other, they disappear, but nothing in this world disappears without leaving a trace. Matter released all that energy at once, making the underground collapse. The tower's exterior began to shake.

Plates of rock lifted along with columns of blue light. It almost seemed as if luminous ice worms had emerged from the earth. The tower bent as everyone inside was catapulted in all directions. One of the scientists fell, tumbling over the parapet of the control room. He surrendered to the fall when Edvard suddenly grabbed him.

"INITIATE REPAIRS!" The tower began to tilt dangerously, and it was at that moment that the heart stopped trembling, giving one last, powerful beat. The entire dimension began to rebuild itself, overpowering the columns of light and straightening all the structures. The fires were extinguished, and even the external damage to the dome was healed. The interior was completely restored, and everyone present managed to steady themselves.

"What was that explosion?" Lexa murmured, crushed against the wall. Lance was beside her, his back against the wall.

"I don't know, but get off." Lautre murmured from underneath her. Without another word, he threw her off, getting back on his feet. He huffed, dusting off his shoulders. Before them lay the object Ascan had dropped: a mechanical seed of a grim pinkish colour. No one had approached it given the state they were in. Suddenly, the wall behind them opened, spitting out two bodies.

"Congratulations, Grayson. Now there's someone whose hatred is worth remembering." Malcolm got up from the ground, his face stripped of flesh. His black pupils animated the half-exposed, burned skull. Behind Lexa, the scientist rose, missing an arm and bleeding from the mouth, nose, and eyes.

"It's not over…" He fell to his knees again, vomiting blood and black sludge. Lexa immediately went to help him, noticing the dark gashes on his skin and the bloodied tattoos on his wrist.

"In the end, it was a clash decided by efficiency. But as of now, you haven't reached your acme." Malcolm saw the seed on the ground. He stomped on it with violence, and immediately pinkish tentacles began to emerge from it, taking root in the ground. He opened a black rift in the air, beginning to step through it.

"Soon you too will be able to take part in the grand beginning of this story, Lance Klint." He turned, partially regenerating his face. He stared straight into Lance's eyes, lifting the corners of his lips as little as possible. Lance raised his weapon, but he had already vanished.

"Grayson, what happened?! Talk to me, please." Lexa shook him, tears in her eyes, her hands staining with his blood. Grayson grabbed them, smiling. His eye was dark and swollen, but still shining with that clear light.

"I'm sorry, I…" Lexa embraced him, holding him as tight as she could and sobbing. The scientist returned the embrace with the single hand he had left.

"I can't regenerate this one anymore…" He thought, trying to close his eyes after one last glance at the void to his left, when suddenly a jolt broke the ground. A tentacle made of arms and skulls emerged from the earth. Many followed it, until the main body appeared.

"After this night I need to get wasted…" Lautre watched the trunk of that being form: a disgusting slime of fused bodies, animals, plants wrapped in a pink film with purplish veins. Six arms in constant motion across its surface, some with smaller tentacles like fingers, others with maws equipped with sharp black fangs. A gigantic pupil at the top of its body, almost like a head. Inside the iris, screaming skulls immersed in vitreous humour.

With every single step, a chorus of laments filled the room, at times losing pieces and regenerating them. Dark creepers with withered flowers emerging from its back tried to balance it. It was taller than the entrance terrace and was constantly trying to climb, melting the cement in the attempt. It screamed, as if in agony, vomiting bones and remains everywhere. Everyone stared at it, pale and terrified, and immediately the awareness spread that the end was not so near after all.