Edmond and Tatyana descended over thirty meters near instantly, running down the ‘walls’ of jagged concrete and stone. Hardly an inconvenience, they were actually rather helpful as footholds aiding in their drop toward the bottom of the massive pit.

  They landed on a floor that was quite different, oddly smoother and still seeping enough fresh heat to warm up the air around them. Edmond looked around as he searched for Hellbound, and aside from the multi-colored, gemstone-like traces of magic minerals mined long ago, he noticed the glassiness gradually turning rocky from the edges of the floor and up.

  Such intense heat. Tatyana is one thing, but could I have even come down here without waiting first?

  The softly radiating light was almost misty in its appearance, undulating from the heat, the trapped air, and the dense prana around them. One that felt almost toxic, suffocating, and volatile. The perfect environment for any spellcasting, whether it be theirs or the enemy’s.

  The picturesque sight was quickly soiled by an explosion in the distance, drawing their attention. It was only the first of many, as two more followed rapidly, then one more, yet another… Varying in size, but universally loud.

  “I think we got him. This is probably it, so can I trust you to stick to the plan?”

  Tatyana muttered worriedly as she hurried forward, two steps ahead of Edmond. With a heavy heart, he recalled the brief conversation they had while descending into the pit.

  “We’re two against one, and that’s definitely our greatest edge, but that doesn’t mean we’ll simply rush him down together. Actually… I think you should stay back and wait, at least at the start.”

  Group combat tended to be greatly misunderstood at times. While it was true that two or more people fighting together would almost always have better chances of success than any individual among them, they were not simply adding their power together for superior results.

  Different abilities could vary significantly in their synergy, without even considering the basic strength of the people involved. A specialist in wide-coverage attacks would be unable to use their forte if allied with a close-range brawler, due to the risk of getting them caught up in their own attacks. A weaker combatant may have to be protected so they are not focused down, limiting the fighting freedom of their partner and possibly leading to disaster.

  Knowledge and experience between allies were also key, with the simplest personality clashes having the potential to create gaps in most strategies. Hell, allies could unintentionally get in each other’s way during battle and end up doing worse than they might do individually.

  In the direst of situations, it all meant no guarantees of survival, let alone winning.

  Tatyana surely knew this as well as Edmond did, bringing it up to maximize their chances of victory.

  He had no problems admitting she was stronger than him, with incomparably more destructive capacity at her disposal that, for better and for worse, could affect vast areas. If Tatyana was capable of harming Hellbound, then Edmond was not safe at all, which meant she would be unable to fight at her best if he tried to engage in close combat.

  Staying back was a given, but waiting? Certainly, his mid-range offense was inferior to hers, but not to the level he could not at least pressure Hellbound while Tatyana did the heavy lifting. Forgoing Edmond’s backup was definitely a loss…

  … If he could guarantee he would not hit her, that is. If he made a single mistake at a crucial time, would they be able to recover and turn the tables?

  Edmond knew better than to underestimate Hellbound that much, and Tatyana likely thought the same. With everything in consideration, her initial plan was not only solid, but ideal.

  He inwardly repeated that conclusion to himself, but his chest still became unbearably tight as his eyes darkened. Tatyana was the last person who would be dishonest in judging the value of his presence, one she had spoken of highly two times now, so it was not that he felt insulted. Rather…

  Do I really have to just stay put while the fighting is going on? When everything is falling apart like this?

  … Raw, painful frustration rattled every corner of his mind.

  And then, they finally arrived. Tatyana stopped her run, as did Edmond one step behind her. Roughly thirteen meters away from them stood Hellbound, very recognizable despite changes that only made him look all the more terrifying.

  There was nothing human remaining in his left arm, the one he had used to counter the diving attack from Sig and Tatyana. It was larger and thicker, almost like an elephant’s leg, only composed of spikes upon spikes of purple crystal layered in a manner that was nothing short of twisted. Still, there appeared to be some functional structure to it, one that allowed it to move with more and freer joints than ever, retaining a hand tipped with five claws over twenty centimeters long.

  His arm’s transformation radiated into his chest, flank and shoulder, jutting out in two large spikes behind the latter. Higher up, his neck was also affected, while his cheek followed into a full change of the upper right quarter of his skull, including his eye. Purple crystals of less consistent size and shape sprouted from several other places, and by looking at their distribution, Edmond began to think the overall size of Hellbound’s body may have also increased a tad.

  He could not help but shiver, face-to-face with something even worse than what he had prepared his heart for. As his gaze drifted away due to the creeping fear, he noticed something else.

  By the Unmasked’s feet, mostly at his left side and some others in front of him, lay the crumbling pieces of some creature… creatures. With skin like tar that had reddened from the heat and a white-hot, bubbling liquid flowing out as if blood. From the slightly cracked ‘glass-earth’ below them, most certainly connected to the recent explosions, realization hit Edmond sooner rather than later.

  Salamanders? I guess she sent fire elementals down to check on things when it was too hot for us to get in…

  And they had certainly done the job, seemingly being the ones that alerted Tatyana to Hellbound standing back up. At the cost of being crushed once he found them, that is.

  A one-meter-long upper half suddenly twitched, perhaps as a boon of its non-standard anatomy. But before it could so much as attempt an attack or an escape, the Unmasked’s crystalline arm fell on it like a giant hammer, producing another vivid explosion.

  Feeling it from up close this time, Edmond could not help but take half a step back, unwillingly focusing his sight back on Hellbound.

  Despite his left side being struck by scorching heat and raging winds, he stood right where he was with a completely unchanging expression. Edmond instinctively realized that the salamander’s actual attack would not have been of any more consequence.

  … But still… Sig’s dive was different.

  He finally noticed what his earlier dread had briefly kept hidden. Hellbound was undeniably injured.

  Traces of blood tainted his hair, chin and neck, as well as the sprouting crystals. It was not that his injuries were minor, but it was doubtful much more would remain considering the extensive burns that plagued his form. Some of his shirt and more of his jacket were significantly tattered, partly revealing even more wounds within.

  He clearly was nowhere near done, but the damage had piled up. He appeared to be in significantly worse shape than either Edmond or Tatyana, but the way in which he stood with perfect poise, breathed calmly and evenly, proved he was more than ready for that handicap. If it was one at all.

  “You brought him along?”

  Hellbound spoke with a similarly unchanged voice, indistinguishable from their brief exchange days ago. Without the need for loudness or any inhuman traits to match his appearance, Edmond noticed the power that could command people of any age or background.

  Why was he talking about him, though?

  “What does it matter to you?” Tatyana replied coldly, in stark contrast to the prana that had begun to make waves in the air around her.

  But Hellbound followed on without the slightest change in his tone.

  “To me? Nothing. It’s your mistake to bring someone who’s already broken to the battlefield.”

  His words felt like a judge’s sentence. They were no insult, nor an attempt to demoralize. Edmond heard nothing but the utmost honesty in Hellbound’s voice, and the effect was all the worse for it.

  What could he even deny? In truth, it was all too much. Let alone Finn, or even Claude and Kloel; potentially dozens of people may have been injured or worse, with merciless criminals on the cusp of gaining unprecedented strength and an even worse disaster about to take place before long.

  How could he not buckle when knowing all that? How could anyone remain composed when thinking about it?

  … Yes. Even Hellbound himself. Knowing that he was this calm angered Edmond so much that even being seen right through was of little consequence.

  “Do you have any idea what you’re guarding here!? That a rift to Nox is about to open!?”

  Hellbound’s eyes slightly widened at the sudden address, then he turned to Edmond. It was truly a glare worth cowering from, but he could bear it this one time.

  “I’m abiding by my end of the deal. That’s all there is to it.”

  “Then your deal is shit! It doesn’t matter if you’re a criminal or not, there’s no way getting these weapons will mean anything if more than a few demons get here! You should know better than anyone that it’s likely us cadets won’t be able to handle them, let alone the Thorns under you!”

  “That changes nothing.”

  The sudden strength in his voice, no matter how small, practically killed Edmond’s own.

  It was cold and uncaring, but there was something else to it. Something more emotional, more visceral than he expected, even if barely noticeable.

  “This is about survival. You should know that even with us, and others in the Empire and Shadow Spot trying to live like rulers of this city, one city is just that. Beyond this tiny mark, there’s those who could waste us without thinking twice about it, if their gaze simply landed here at the right time.”

  Edmond’s memories were thrust several days back, to that abnormal orientation ceremony. What Anastacia Marinca had shown to be capable of just as a demonstration, and she was far from the only one. Just for those he personally knew, there were Alexander and Alyssa as well; people who could bulldoze through this whole catastrophe in less than half an hour. No matter how many priorities they had to deal with, just one call for assistance at the right time was all that was needed.

  There was a reason why communication lines had been disabled, be they standard or magical. More than raw ability, that was necessary to pull off this kind of move. And even when carrying out lesser crimes, the presence of those lines at nearly every moment meant… Just how much thought had to go into every slightly meaningful action?

  Edmond found himself briefly overwhelmed at imagining such a life, and Hellbound was still not done.

  “Before anything else, survival is the priority. Even with that rift, I’ll live on, as I’m sure several others will. For those of us, the tools we obtain today will further help us survive, and those who can’t keep up are an affordable cost.”

  He was loathsome. Repugnant and callous, corrupted to his very core, and fully glad to let others fall to his level.

  … Still, there was not a single lie in his words, nor a hint of sadistic emotion. He was fully honest, confident, and fully accepting of the implications that came with his intentions.

  Hellbound was indeed no cartoon monster; he was a survivor, and utterly human. There was no way Edmond could ever accept a mindset such as his, but as much as he hated it and him, it was still an ideal he could comprehend.

  What kind of life had he led to arrive at such an answer? He could not imagine it, but it likely was their different experiences that resulted in their incompatible priorities.

  Hellbound’s existence was one in which he could only worry about himself, but Edmond had chosen to prioritize others. An option he could reject every day, every hour and every second he was conscious. Privilege.

  Was he simply fortunate? Blessed with the chance to take his own life for granted? And now, before him stood a man who had fought and prevailed without any advantages like that. More than his power, more than his ruthlessness and his frightening body; this thought terrified Edmond more than any—

  “And yet here you are, unable to even get this far if not for the blood of others fighting. Those Thorns you dispose of like low-value bills? It’s due to them risking their lives today, and every day they sell and do what you want them to that you can even claim to be some ‘ruler’.”

  Tatyana cut in, looking at Hellbound with disdain that shocked even Edmond. Not angry, not offended, but disgusted instead.

  Like looking at dog shit on the sidewalk.

  “They fear retaliation. They fear those ranked higher than them and they fear me. Through their own desire for survival, I can control an obedient, effective force.” It was somehow enough to make Hellbound show some annoyance as he explained further.

  “Then how about these people whom you fear so much? High-ranked knights, or even the top-rated international agents. People who have dedicated themselves to the survival of many more than just themselves, some of them my age or even younger. And yet, they could raze everything around us in the blink of an eye and end this tantrum of yours.” But Tatyana could not care less, speaking her mind smoothly and without any hesitation.

  As if she was not only speaking to him, but to Edmond as well, who felt his fear becoming steadily more bearable.

  Hellbound’s half-crystalline brow furrowed, tearing some of his own skin as he glared.

  “How arrogant and pathetic, to thoughtlessly mention people as if you know all.”

  But as intense as his eyes were, Tatyana met them with ease. In fact, she looked as if she could laugh at any moment.

  “All? Not really. But I do know now that you’re nothing but a rabid dog, with a narcissistic streak.”

  Not only Edmond, but even Hellbound was left speechless by her incomprehensible boldness. Fittingly, she followed her words without waiting for any reply.

  “It’s not like I need examples, you know? I can prove it to you. Is it just survival you care about? Then let’s see who survives here! You, the pathetic stray fighting only to crawl on the street one more day, or Edmond and I, who could have simply escaped from this whole nonsense and instead decided to crush you for more than just ourselves. If we go by your logic, whoever lives would be right, is that not the case~?”

  He had been absolutely correct before; she was indeed crazy, in a way that was somehow inspiring before anything else. Unbreakable ego, endless determination and an insufferable drive that caught everyone in her pace. That was Tatyana Nesterova.

  Edmond simply could not stop smiling.

  “Enough of you.”

  At least, until Hellbound’s voice resounded once more, followed by a stomp that made the glassy earth below him crack. With his speed a perfect match for his titanic strength, a simple charge was lethal enough on its own.

  Before Edmond could act, he had been struck in the abdomen… by Tatyana, rather than the Unmasked. It was not painless by any means, but he still recovered his footing with ease a little over ten meters away. Her intentions were clear.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Tatyana leapt out of Hellbound’s way in what may have been the same motion, drawing an elegant arc as her body spun back. Spell circles already at the ready, she unleashed two brilliant waves of flame with mere sweeps of her arms.

  The Unmasked dodged them as easily as Tatyana did his rush, but he had been forced to step back and to the side in the process, maintaining the overall distance from before. It was an unfavorable range for a close-range fighter, but even a man who had ignored the assault of several salamanders had to respect Tatyana’s fire that much.

  The girl landed with the grace of a roosting eagle, her expression that of a hunter who had completed every preparation. Her flames had yet to run out after her attack, with those that remained flickering and growing right behind, ready for any command from their master.

  “That’s more like it. I didn’t take you for the talkative type, but you really made me wait. Let’s see… I’ll probably need Blutgang at least.”

  The shadow she cast upon the wall of luminous heat looked downright grand, but what drew the most attention were the incandescent spots scattered across, rippling like the trembling surface of a lake.

  What even are those?

  Aside from Edmond, Hellbound’s gaze also seemed to flicker between Tatyana herself and her shadow. The risk-reward equation taking place in his mind could be anyone’s guess, but he seemed to believe a risky attack was preferable to allowing her any extra setup time, as he once again dashed forward with speed that could not have been a worse fit for such a huge body.

  Meteor-like flashes of flame split away from the larger mass before he even took a step, five of them this time. But Hellbound was now ready, moving in such a way as to smash away the first three with an outward arc from his crystallized arm, building up to an even more powerful frontal lunge that punched through the last two… on its way to Tatyana herself!

  She tried to dodge again, but his battering ram of an arm turned in a way that should have been impossible, aided by no less than four joints total in order to pursue her. With that snake-like flexibility, coupled with his speed, there was no way for even Tatyana to dodge now.

  And indeed, she did not, instead blocking the strike head on and causing the air around them to rampage outward.

  Edmond had seen enough to know that Tatyana’s physique was top notch, but seeing her directly confronting the attack from the massive Hellbound was almost ridiculous. He was likely over twice her weight before any crystallization, not to count whatever special powers he employed. Just how much prana was she actively fighting with?

  Even that question became a secondary concern once he looked at Tatyana’s hands, where she held the weapon that had met Hellbound’s arm. The red mist emitted by that longsword’s blade was unlike any knight weapon he was aware of, but his knowledge of Tatyana’s powers, their earlier conversation and the sudden absence of one of the glowing spots in her shadow led to a quick realization.

  An eidolon?

  Once completely inanimate objects that had been exposed to extreme amounts of dense prana, culminating in a unique reaction that granted them a primitive, yet truly independent will. Normally, a sword like that should not need or even want a wielder.

  But if someone could employ it, it had to be a Crowned One like Tatyana.

  Hellbound’s approach had been effective and calculated, but there was a limit to how much a fighter could prepare for true unknowns. His reaction after Tatyana’s block was remarkably quick, but not sufficiently so.

  Tatyana stepped in through the gap resulting from Hellbound’s committal lunge and brought the sword down with her dash, slashing his thighs as he withdrew. The split at the front of his legs sprayed blood all the way to her cheek and shoulder, but the slight loss of balance as his damaged legs stepped back on the ground was the prize.

  That small opening was enough for Tatyana to follow through, exceeding the speed of Hellbound’s retreat as her fist hit his abdomen with a dry, solid sound. The Unmasked’s feet left the ground as he was knocked back, though his impassive expression all but confirmed a lack of significant damage.

  Still, with her opponent airborne and restricted in his options, Tatyana continued her assault with an even stronger dash leading into a one-handed sword thrust. Hellbound turned his head to the side and avoided anything beyond a nick on the cheek, but Tatyana exploited even that as she leapt further in and grabbed at the back of his head.

  She pulled with all her might and brought both knees forward, hitting Hellbound’s face with such force as to almost echo. From her higher up position, her flexed legs suddenly extended, both kicking Hellbound back to the ground and allowing her to rise further.

  He’s fully open now!

  Almost as if she could hear Edmond’s thoughts, Tatyana unleashed what remained of the flames at her back without restraint, shaped into two roughly equal halves.

  In a merciless pincer maneuver, they reached Hellbound before he even landed back from the impact’s bounce. An explosion strong enough to make the far away Edmond step back followed soon after, blowing so much wind he instinctively shielded his eyes with his hands.

  He managed to keep them open and saw Tatyana back on the ground, aiming a piercing glare at the impact zone. It came as a great surprise when he saw the bleeding on her hand and both of her now partially exposed knees.

  Her offense had been close to flawless, exploiting every bit of vulnerability in her opponent without mercy, but she still failed to avoid injury of her own. The dull, heavy sounds in the direction opposite to her proved an even worse reveal, however.

  Edmond turned and saw Hellbound standing back up, enduring the remaining dregs of the conflagration with horrifying resilience. He was… not unscathed, with a cheek that seemed almost torn, as well as significant portions of the exposed skin on his shoulder, neck, calf and flank being truly charred. Even the copious bleeding from both his thighs was hardly impeded, despite being exposed to such intense heat.

  … No, that was not fully accurate. Sure, the wound from Tatyana’s sword had far from fully cauterized, but what caused the most bleeding was the tearing of flesh from new crystalline spikes sprouting out.

  Hellbound suddenly buckled, one of his knees almost hitting the ground. An almost slimy ripping and cracking noise reached Edmond’s ears as far away as he stood, and then he saw the Unmasked stand back up fully.

  Much like with his thighs, most of his other major injuries had made way for more of that purple crystal, either by piercing through or apparently growing from his very skin. Even without counting his left arm, a solid third of his remaining body was now covered in the thick and sharp growths. A body that seemed to have rearranged itself in various parts to allow for greater size, its height alone being at least thirty centimeters more than that of Hellbound’s unaltered body.

  Edmond had been frightened by him since their first meeting, and nothing had changed since then. But it was only after witnessing such a showing that he fully understood just what kind of opponent it took to make Tatyana doubt herself.

  “Lucky you.” His attention was taken away by her own words, spoken with venom-like disdain. “Most people, no matter how strong, start any battle at their peak and only weaken from then on. Such a basic rule of fighting, and yet you break it like nothing.”

  Could it have been the way in which she kept her own unease under control?

  Hellbound showed no interest in continuing the conversation, once more rushing for Tatyana while leaving a brief tremor in his wake. He was somehow stronger and faster than before, but still not enough to overwhelm Tatyana’s perception.

  She dashed aside so smoothly as to turn a master bullfighter green with envy, swinging Blutgang in a simultaneous motion. This time it was easy for Hellbound to block, but the brief loss of vision from protecting his face with the enormous crystal arm was not ignored by Tatyana, as she continued her assault with numerous blasts of flame.

  He may have predicted such an attack, or perhaps reacted from the mere change in temperature of the surrounding air; either way, Hellbound began to dodge before his eyes were even uncovered. But such a maneuver was inherently flawed, and so he got partially hit by the third fire spell coming his way. One more was avoided afterward, while the fifth one landed head-on.

  Searing heat washed over Hellbound, horribly burning parts of his skin and pushing him back. Several of the crystals protecting him had also begun to melt at their tips, but it did not even take one second for him to recover and lunge forward.

  His gamble… No, his read was rewarded as Tatyana was forced to block, unable to complete her follow-up strike. The resulting echo made Edmond wish he had covered his ears, and unlike before, Tatyana’s hands and legs now trembled as they tried to contest Hellbound’s increased strength.

  It was something else that made her eyes go wide, though. Due to his greater height and the unique way in which his arm could bend, Hellbound’s fist had Tatyana pinned down to the ground from above. While he was still only touching her blade, she was unable to move away from the pressure that steadily wore her down.

  But there was something even worse. The crystal that formed Hellbound’s hand had changed shape, grown more in the form of several spikes aimed toward Tatyana, inching steadily closer at a speed that was more than enough for this moment.

  An unavoidable death by skewering.

  No!

  Edmond raised his arm immediately, taking hold of as much prana as he could manage. No matter what spell, regardless of their earlier discussion, he had to do something. Anything!

  But right before he could shoot, right as the crystal began to dig into her arms, torso, waist… Tatyana exploded.

  Hardly a metaphor, her surroundings detonated in a massive, dense spiral of raging fire. Edmond was almost blinded, retreating immediately as he saw the flame go from orange to a pale yellow, then blue, violet… and finally that unique silver color. The scorching storm swelled and rampaged, engulfing both her and Hellbound as the surrounding floor turned glossy, with an almost liquid consistency.

  Holy shit!

  Edmond ran off as quickly as he could, instinctively fearing incineration. Only a second or two after he turned back, he saw a single dark spot, a figure that became more and more clear until finally exiting the twisted pillar of flame.

  Hellbound landed on solid ground with a crashing noise, accompanied by his own pained voice. It was no scream, or even a groan, but his breath was labored and hissed, which still felt rather underwhelming considering the state of his body.

  Sections of skin by his left side, mainly on his shoulder and jaw, looked almost like wax; opaque, grayish, like a dead person’s. New purple crystals had sprouted from the worst of those injuries and they had already melted into utter deformity, turning what should have resembled spikes into a mesh of jumbled scales. Nowhere was this more apparent than on his left arm, which while still entirely covered in the substance, had lost perhaps a fourth of its total mass to the heat.

  By a lot, the Unmasked looked more vulnerable than Edmond had ever seen him. But he was still standing, which meant…

  If too much time passes, he’ll transform even more!

  He was probably not the only one with such thoughts, as the dense whirlpool of flame suddenly separated as if commanded to.

  Parted. Split. Broke and ruptured. Many sections of the inferno began to come loose as its movements became more rapid, like a wild tornado flinging off fragments of whatever it tore through in its wake.

  Of course, the threat of this new event was massive.

  Hellbound ran off to avoid the thick trails of fire, and after some shock and making sure to head in the opposite direction, so did an already conditioned Edmond. The flames torched everything from the floor of the crater to its walls, and Edmond at last fully appreciated their use of such a battlefield as he noticed the fiery spots left behind.

  Where is…?

  Tatyana. His eyes answered the question in his mind before he could even finish thinking it, as he witnessed the girl clashing with Hellbound once more, around thirty meters away. She was different.

  Not quite because of her recovered initiative over the enemy, who was now on the undisputable backfoot as he struggled to counter both the scorching rain and her close-range assault at once. No, she straight up did not look the same.

  Most of her body was now covered by a strange material, mysterious in its nature that seemingly crossed both solid and gas, and arranged in an armor-like structure. There were greaves, there were pauldrons, as well as a chest plate and everything else that would be commonly expected save for a full helmet, which was instead replaced by a thick and seemingly layered mask that allowed her ponytailed hair to blow freely.

  It was incomparably more difficult to keep track of the battle while avoiding the remaining clumps of Tatyana’s hellish storm, but only a few more seconds of direct attention sufficed to let Edmond figure her new armament out.

  Dullahan.

  An eidolon type corresponding to the armors of fallen soldiers from much older times, corrupted by the malice-filled prana that brought them to ‘life’. A magical entity that was not often relied on as either a familiar or even a guard, and yet Tatyana had seen fit to wear one.

  Edmond was not sure if to be impressed by her being capable of the feat, or concerned about the circumstances that necessitated it.

  Was that inferno so uncontrollably hot even she needed extra protection? Or maybe she had no other option to survive his attack from before…

  No matter the case, Tatyana’s Dullahan had shifted the fight in her favor to an increasingly obvious degree. Seconds passed, and each one was punctuated by a slash at Hellbound’s chest, then a kick to his chin, following into a blazing stream that ruined the crystal arm’s gradual recovery.

  Not all of Tatyana’s attacks hit their mark, but her offense’s effectiveness was almost incomparably superior to both her previous efforts and any of Hellbound’s own. There were few openings for him to make his move, but even after the searing shower laid its last barrage, most of the Unmasked’s attempts either were underwhelming at best, or helped the girl pressure him further at worst.

  At first glance, such a development might have appeared rather strange. Tatyana’s speed was barely different from Hellbound’s, and while her strength had likely also increased from the Dullahan’s prana, she still clearly avoided contesting the criminal’s force the way she did earlier.

  Still, his terrifying arm continued to miss, his defenses were breached, and any attempts to retreat were ruthlessly cut off. Within a minute or so of uninterrupted combat, Hellbound’s attacks had reached Tatyana maybe three times, each of them shallow enough to be deflected by her Dullahan armor. As for the girl, she had unleashed over a dozen true strikes, only barely missing the enemy’s vitals.

  Hellbound’s endurance truly shone throughout the exchange. Had it been Edmond whom Tatyana fought, his jaw would already be shattered to bits, his mangled guts would have spilled forth, and his eyes would have burned to ash within their sockets. And for that same reason, it was Tatyana’s skill that terrified him even more as a mere spectator.

  The armor’s protection had been extremely effective, no doubt, but she was now outdoing Hellbound due to an undeniable gap in ability. Their battle had started as a pure contest of power, speed and wits, but after numerous clashes and ample time to figure each other out, Tatyana’s superior technique was an edge Hellbound could not match yet.

  The Unmasked was a fighter as experienced and intelligent as he was physically capable, this much was obvious from the fact he had reached Tatyana at all, and several times at that. He learned quickly and adapted constantly, but even the greatest intuition faltered when lacking a solid base of knowledge.

  Tatyana did not fall behind in terms of insight, and when coupled with the martial arts and sorcery she had properly studied, anything she learned about Hellbound could be exploited with an efficiency he could not measure up to.

  The toughness of his body greatly exceeded hers, by a much larger gap than the one in their skills. But even an advantage of such magnitude was practically negligible; if his attacks failed to land while Tatyana continued to pile on damage, that durability served only to delay an obvious result.

  … No way.

  Edmond shuddered as he realized the implications of such a thought. He had been a fool to relax for even an instant, no matter the dominance of Tatyana’s current position.

  After all, if Hellbound had proven anything, it was that ‘time’ was all he needed. Tenacity was his virtue, and survival was his blade.

  He could barely register what happened next out of sheer shock. The Unmasked narrowly avoided a slash that could have sliced off his arm, instead leaving a deep gap by his right collarbone; then, it was his turn to explode.

  As if his body was a compressed tornado, roaring gusts of wind burst outward in response to a deep, cracking echo. Edmond was forced to shield himself with his arms once he noticed the crystal shards in the air, flung far and wide in every direction with enough force to tear the skin on his hands, cheeks and ears.

  By the time he could look again, Hellbound had sprouted so much purple crystal it may as well have been armor of its own, layered and crossed on each place of injury as blade-like stitches. He also noticed the spikes on his shoulder had developed into a larger structure, vaguely similar to the skeleton of a bat’s wing. His other shoulder, which had missed the growths themselves just a few seconds ago, was following suit with a still smaller, yet comparable form.

  The cracking and tearing did not stop and only seemed to intensify as the criminal continued to move, allowing his limbs, torso and even jaw to restructure so that he grew past the three-meter mark. But it was the change on the latter that was the most shocking, since from his recently cut collarbone area, up his neck and to his cheekbones, the crystal spikes now covered everything.

  So seamlessly as to almost look natural, the jaw of a person had been replaced by the maw of a beast, bristling with crystal ‘fangs’ of irregular sizes jutting out in various directions.

  While Hellbound’s new transformation had taken Edmond and maybe Tatyana too by surprise, it had not interrupted the Unmasked’s counterattack for even an instant. The very outline of his body had changed, and in the middle of a combat exchange at that, but his abnormal fighting instincts led to movements that were just as smooth and even faster than before.

  His restored and improved left arm, almost as long as his increased height, swung with the freedom of a tentacle and the strength of a meteor. But Tatyana had already begun her retreat, perhaps having noticed some ‘tell’ preceding his transformation. Without so much as attempting to block or parry the strike, even the sudden increase in both its speed and reach was not quite enough to catch her.

  That was what should have happened.

  “Wh…!?”

  However, just when the tips of Hellbound’s almost forty-centimeter-long claws passed just short of Tatyana’s torso, something that should not have happened took place. A disaster that made Edmond’s voice leak out unconsciously.

  Right as Tatyana dodged, or perhaps right as Hellbound attacked, the purple crystals that had only been produced from the criminal’s body were now on the ground. Not as fragments torn off during the battle or after his recent change, but rather growing from the floor just as they did from his body, drawing a trajectory that roughly followed his attack’s and a fair distance past it.

  That Tatyana had the awareness to try and counter such a sudden threat was truly outstanding, but time was not on her side at all. When she had barely moved half of the distance needed to mount her defense, many spikes on the newly formed stream of crystal had extended well beyond a meter. Without being able to block a single one, the girl was struck head-on.

  The metallic echo of a heavy impact rang, and Edmond saw Tatyana being flung through the air like a sports ball. Trails of blood sprayed far and wide through cracks in the Dullahan armor, imparting him with a dreadful image of what might have happened had she not worn it.

  But he had no time to even briefly focus on that what if, as Hellbound followed up on her sudden vulnerability without any delay. Before he could cover the new distance between them, however, Tatyana raised her face back up while the surrounding prana swirled wildly.

  Countless silver embers ignited all of a sudden, then converged before her at an incredible speed to form a thick wall… No, a shield of scorching flames that were blinding to simply look at, barricading off Hellbound’s approach.

  Could it be… She flew further back on purpose?

  While Tatyana’s injuries more than proved the strength of the crystal sprouting from the ground, she indeed seemed to have been pushed much farther away than what a piercing hit warranted. But if she had somehow reacted quickly enough to try and block the spikes, it was plenty possible for her to weaken the impact by rushing off in the direction she was struck toward.

  It would explain why she had been struck so far away, thus giving her the brief instant needed to construct her lethal protection. One which Hellbound seemed well on his way to collide against, without a single sign of stopping.

  Inertia? Is he not used enough to his changed body to stop so suddenly?

  Edmond could not have been more wrong.

  Hellbound’s left arm had been drawn back, then lunged forward into the wild blaze in a way only feasible through conscious thought. It pierced right through, followed promptly by the rest of his body… with no hints of damage or discomfort shown as his jagged fist collided with Tatyana’s chest and face.

  “…!?” A gasp like a drowning man’s escaped Edmond’s lips.

  Clearly without any hand in her movement this time, Tatyana flew and spun across the crater like life itself had left her. Within a fraction of a second, she reached the ground and lost no momentum as she slid violently, finally crashing onto the crater’s wall while lifting bloodied gravel and dirt on her way.

  Edmond could not immediately see her through all the dust that had been kicked up in her wake, but there was no need for that. If anything, he was already horrified enough to almost wish he would not have to.

  On Hellbound’s end, he seemed to be downright invulnerable. The remains of Tatyana’s flames clung tenaciously to his body, but even now they had yet to cause him any visible harm. They did not even seem to pain him, as he resumed his rush without even attempting to extinguish them.

  Edmond knew what he was after.

  He’s not done with her!

  It was only logical that the Unmasked would not let such an opportunity escape his grasp. Tatyana may have already been out of commission or worse, but if she was not, she was the last person he would let recover.

  With his frightening speed, he would reach her in the blink of an eye. And once he did…

  Edmond did not allow his thoughts to fully form. Before any concrete image appeared in his mind, he had already raised his arm and aimed right between Hellbound and Tatyana.