Not a second after, that insufferably high-pitched noise returned. It was not even loud, but there was something about its frequency that tormented Edmond’s ears all on its own.

  Almost enough for him to not hear the much louder ‘shattering’ sound right behind him.

  Did he just—!?

  Pain exploded on Edmond’s right elbow, forearm and calf. He did his best to dodge to the other side when he heard the first noise, but this time it was not enough. His movements were duller for some reason, unexplainable by his still healing injuries on their own.

  “That noise…”

  “Interested?” Throvim replied smugly.

  It was the key to everything, which only became clearer when Edmond glanced at his injuries and noticed glass shards embedded in the bloody spots.

  He had been paying extra attention this time and still did not notice a new spell being cast, or even a significant amount of prana gathering behind him. It was all that noise’s fault; it had not only caused the spear from earlier to explode into many bits to cover a bigger area, but also affected his equilibrium and made it harder to dodge.

  A complex operation that certainly made for a dangerous combo in battle, but how was he still so relaxed when pulling it off?

  Edmond chose to Throvim’s question, knowing that if he did not obtain real information, he would be killed or worse.

  “…!”

  He unleashed the prana he had gathered before not as a destructive stream, but as a wide wave guided by his arm’s arcing motion. The apartment was very large, but it was still on the narrow end as far as battlefields went and such an attack would be extremely difficult to avoid.

  But of course, Throvim showed nothing but the utmost calm as he countered perfectly again. The horrible noise echoed once more, and a guillotine-like blade cleaved through Edmond’s spell without difficulty, both opening a gap wide enough for Throvim to stand harmlessly in and heading toward him without losing any momentum.

  Here it comes!

  Trying his hardest to compensate for the sound’s effect on him, Edmond weaved to the side and past the glass guillotine, keeping it in his view even after dodging. This time, the glass shattered right as it touched the wall, accompanied by the high-pitched noise.

  There!

  Many glass shards flew for him again, but he was now ready with another wide wave of orange prana sent behind him as he spun on his good leg. Many of the shards melted away, and those that did not stopped in their tracks and fell harmlessly on the floor.

  “Oh, that wasn't too bad. I didn’t expect you to move like that with the injuries you’ve suffered, but I guess anyone can do something impressive once or twice in their life.”

  “Save it.”

  He did not want praise from someone like him in the first place, but to hear it dripping with such a belittling air only made it worse. Still, that was all the good that could be said about his actions.

  Edmond had defended himself from a surprise attack, but was no closer to Throvim himself. His ranged blows did not even reach his vicinity, which meant no opportunities to try and close the gap to overwhelm him in close quarters.

  Even worse, when Edmond exhaled from the exertion, he painfully noticed yet again how relaxed and casual Throvim still looked.

  It simply made no sense. Using layered and complex sounds to both manipulate glass and damage the enemy’s equilibrium was advanced sorcery, whether regarding prana amounts or actual technique. It was ridiculous for any sorcerer to do such a thing as if they were judging wine during a tasting.

  … Wait. If there was one sorcerer who could do such a thing, then it would definitely have to be…

  Throvim raised a brow, seemingly from what little changed in Edmond’s expression.

  “You figured it out? Well, I'll be damned. You’re two for two in guesses.”

  “The whole place, then? Runes within every wall, the ceiling… even your furniture?”

  He was a professor on runes, an international authority on runes, even. It made the most sense for him to exploit such skills to easily wield sorcery of any complexity level.

  Throvim smiled, and Edmond could not ascertain whether it was to mock him again or from being pleased by his guess, seeing it as further praise of his craft. Utterly infuriating.

  “Add my clothes to that mix. Honestly, you’ll struggle to find many of my possessions not being custom-made for rune-etching. Each a piece in my ideal sorcery structure, constantly gathering a massive prana reservoir so that whenever necessary, I’ll be more than ready…”

  He only had to raise an arm, and his claim was immediately proven by the visible swelling of prana across the apartment, so abundant and concentrated that Edmond was briefly unable to so much as draw breath.

  “Invading a sorcerer’s workshop is already a mistake. Invading mine is instead the fanciest suicide.”

  When that huge mass fueled another pulse of the dreadful high-pitched sound, it felt as if Edmond’s ears were filled with ice all the way to his skull’s insides.

  He did not kneel, but rather was forced down by the ringing pain, bringing both hands to his ears in a futile maneuver that was far too late. His shut eyes reopened to an almost incomprehensible blur of a sight, but he knew that this was only the first of a two-part attack. Even if his eyes failed him, he had to do something immediately.

  Edmond jumped aside, without any thought other than to avoid as much of the coming glass as possible. Hoping the randomness of his movements would at least make them a tad harder for Throvim to predict, he forced a hand away from his ears and threw whatever prana he had managed to build up.

  Even so, he felt many shards dig into him right after. Jagged edges pierced the flesh of his arms, forehead, calves, hips and more. Slightly relieved from not feeling any wounds to his vital areas, such respite would be swiftly taken away when a thicker spike pierced right into his uncovered ear.

  This time, Edmond could not even try to restrain a scream as he fell on his side, injured even further by the pieces of glass on the floor.

  “What’s with the whining, Bach? You were having trouble with your ears, so I helped you out a bit!”

  Not even the full extent of his willpower could stop tears of pain from seeping past his eyelids, but without anywhere else to go, the growing anger he felt toward Throvim at least helped him yank the glass off his ear, then rise back up. Even if not fully on his feet, his hands and knees could take the jagged floor for a while.

  With his gradually recovering vision, they were enough to notice the next lethal volley being prepared.

  “Come on, keep going! With some luck, only your limbs will be gone!”

  Needing only Throvim’s words as a command, the storm of glass was unleashed once again.

  Despite his body nearly begging him to stay still, Edmond knew he could not. Ignoring one form of safety to answer another, he mustered every bit of strength left in him and moved.

  He dodged the large spears, kicked away a blade or two, hurled hot prana from both hands and even took blows he thought to not be quite as bad on purpose, but it was far from enough.

  Sharp rain hit him time after time, staining the transparent material with crimson red. Only barely protecting that which he needed to survive from the relentless assault, Edmond managed to glimpse something even worse.

  Throvim Van Svelten had brought out a wand made of beautiful gemstone, raising it lightly as he prepared another spell. Such an arrogant sorcerer had decided to use an amplifier, despite having brought Edmond to his limit without the need for one.

  Seeing the prana bullet being readied, a similar spell to his own but on such a superior scale it may as well be called a cannon instead, Edmond realized what Throvim’s words truly meant.

  It would not be Edmond’s luck, but rather Throvim’s that would have him survive as a cripple. The demon within him was a good research subject, but it was only a bonus in the end. He was going in for the kill.

  Alarm bells rang deep within Edmond, with such intensity as to numb the pain from the glass ravaging his body. He extended both hands and pulled in as much prana as possible, as quickly as he could, concentrating it as much as it would allow. But was he even on time?

  The air itself seemed to twist between him and Throvim as the latter’s spell was unleashed, swallowing even some of the glass he had prepared before.

  Whether his own spell was complete or not was of no concern to Edmond anymore. He just threw whatever he had constructed at the hot, luminous mass in front of him as he jumped back, already knowing it was no match.

  The explosive clash of light momentarily blinded Edmond, and not a second after he felt himself blown away by a force that knocked any remaining thoughts out of him. His back hit the wall behind him for only an instant, that being all it needed for him to break through and crash into the next room’s floor among the rubble.

  Down on his face, cut up, broken and now burnt in several places, Edmond could hardly even twitch. If not for the pain he still felt, numb as he now was across much of his body, he may have wondered if he was already dead.

  He had survived, so his last spell must have offset Throvim’s slightly. No doubt the prana strengthening he maintained to the very end, as well as his frantic attempt to dodge some of the attack had also contributed, and yet all he could say for himself was that he was still breathing.

  His overall state was, in one word, miserable. He may have eluded death, but that was it. Fighting was now nothing but a laughable fantasy.

  “Still alive, huh? I guess that’s impressive enough, but if your only talent is a cockroach’s, what use does that even have?”

  It was quite surprising that he could still hear Throvim’s words. They were very faint, and he had failed to notice even his approaching steps, but the focus needed to understand them was all he could rely on to take his mind off the pain.

  “Honestly, why even try at all? If you’d just stayed in the hospital, I would’ve had no choice but to leave the city. You’re really fighting me until turning into this for a bunch of people you haven’t even met?”

  For once, however, Edmond was glad about this man’s love for hearing his own voice. Without that, he may not have been able to cling to consciousness for this long, as painful as it was to hear every word. Not in his body, but in his mind.

  “Sorry to break it to you, but thoe people are suffering and dying even as we speak! Stop it with the delusion that you really care about all of them; no one could handle living in this world if they felt that way, so how about you become honest with yourself for once?”

  It was not even a question whether Throvim was correct. If Edmond truly held such personal concern for every innocent who suffered, he would have gone insane long ago. No human could bear to truly feel in that way, regardless of power and genius.

  “What right do you have to judge me? I accept the sacrifices for my progress, just like you accept the pain and loss in the world. I’m at least capable enough to achieve something beyond that, so how about you—!”

  But as correct as he was in some things, he was completely wrong in others.

  Maybe Edmond was unable to truly care for those he did not know, but it went the same way for those people regarding those dear to him. Did that mean they were some disposable statistic?

  … That was not something he could accept, so how could he ever degrade others in such a way?

  Mom, Isolde and Max. Claude, Tatyana and Kloel. He knew and cared deeply for all of them. Meanwhile, he had only barely spoken to Finn. He could never honestly say he knew him… but he saw Ciara staying up late, alone, just to carve his name on the commemorative monument and grant him the honor he deserved.

  She loved him dearly, just like Edmond loved people she did not even know of. No matter how little he knew of someone, there would always be a person who would suffer from their loss. Was he supposed to neglect such feelings? Those he himself held?

  He could not. He would not. His personal affections were not the point, it was about a pain he feared far more than anything he was feeling now, and causing it to others was out of the question.

  But this did not matter to Throvim Van Svelten. As long as he reached his next personal achievement, everything else was irrelevant. His actions may have led to the safety of countless people, but he had also caused just as many to suffer, without any regret at that.

  Someone like that… There was no way he could do a better job!

  … Is that your answer?

  The abnormal voice from before echoed, finally reaching the forefront of Edmond’s mind. It had spoken up since a while ago, but he needed some time to understand its words.

  Was it the reason for Throvim suddenly going quiet? Edmond had seen traces of black swirling and spreading around his limited field of vision, but he thought them to just be the creeping danger of losing consciousness. Had Throvim seen the ichor too?

  Edmond managed to chuckle, thinking of Throvim Van Svelten being scared speechless.

  Yeah. It took me a while, but I realized what I needed to know.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Understood. Then, shall I assist you?

  A surprising offer was made. One he did not think he would hear again, let alone so soon.

  Last time was a failure, so my debt still stands. The situation is not nearly as favorable now, but I can still build up enough power for you to overwhelm that sorcerer, however briefly. Craftiness will be necessary this time.

  … How polite and responsible. Were they truly a demon?

  Veltis. That’s your name, right?

  … That is correct.

  Got it. Thank you for the offer, but I’ll pass.

  The voice went quiet. Edmond was not sure if he was correct, not relying on any particular sense to hear Veltis, but it indeed seemed like they were surprised. Quite funny.

  … I know the previous time was useless and you might be afraid, but if it is only this amount for a short time, then—

  Don’t worry, that’s not the case at all. It’s just that I can manage him by myself.

  Strength had returned to Edmond’s limbs, even to the leg that had been suffering since much earlier. As measly as the power he could bring out on his own was, he was more than satisfied as he pushed against the bloodstained floor, standing back up bit by bit.

  …? I do not understand. You have tried your best, no one will fault you for this, so just rest for a moment.

  I’ve heard a lot of that recently, and maybe I should listen more. But against someone as pathetic as him, there’s no need for you to be bothered.

  Veltis fell quiet once more. He could still feel their presence somehow, but they were not speaking anymore.

  The black ichor began to recede soon after, and once he was fully back on his feet, it had completely disappeared.

  Now, only Edmond and Throvim remained.

  “Wh-What…? What happened? Where did the demon go!?”

  His panic was very fun to see. Indeed, he had a lot to thank Veltis for.

  “I asked them to sit this one out. Don’t worry.”

  Throvim’s eyes went wide for a moment. Like, really wide. Edmond often thought it a bit silly when books compared eyes to saucers, but this time it really seemed fitting.

  After a solid second like that, they went back to normal, then narrowed slightly. Making way for a loud, long and genuine cackle.

  “No fucking way! Have you lost so much blood you’re delusional now!? Imagine letting go of your one chance against a true genius!”

  “Would you stop calling yourself that already?”

  Edmond finally said, too exhausted to even try to restrain the annoyance in his voice. And Throvim, for once, seemed to actually lose some composure. Was the topic this much of a sour spot for him?

  He almost felt mean while pondering that.

  “I’ve spent this last couple of weeks dealing with nothing but real prodigies. You’re impressive for sure, but to call yourself a ‘genius’ when they exist just doesn’t sit right with me.”

  “… You dipshit. What are you even talking about now!? Are you actually insane!?”

  Throvim’s very way of speaking had changed. The sheer rage he displayed was so extreme that Edmond almost broke into laughter again.

  “It’s not just me, though. Those four you worked with think the same, or at least Hilda does.”

  “… What do you…?”

  The memories were still fresh in Edmond’s mind. The girl he had known since so long ago, a real genius who had torn him apart worse than Throvim ever could.

  “‘It’s simply up to capable people to leave a proper mark’, that’s what she told me. I didn’t think much about it at first, but why would you stay behind in this world? Stuck with hardly any resources for your research, the constant risk of being found out…”

  He really was dull to have realized so late. Whether compared to Hilda, Tatyana or Hellbound, he still lagged too far behind.

  But when it came to Throvim? Edmond had no more doubts.

  “… Unless you didn’t stay. They left you behind, because you can’t cut it. That’s why you can’t even keep a hack of a knight like me down, and that’s why Hilda gave me that hint; because even she thinks I’m enough for someone like you.”

  Throvim’s fury seemed to fizzle a bit for a moment. It had not decreased in the slightest, but while it had been aimed entirely at Edmond before, it had now lost much of that focus.

  But alas, Edmond was the only target within reach at the moment. It did not take long for his attention to turn right back onto him.

  “Imbecile. Wishful thinking to the end.”

  Edmond laughed again. It hurt, but he did not regret it.

  “Maybe. I’m pretty sure she does still hate the day we lived through that rift, so it makes sense she’d want you burned to the ground sooner or later. But I don’t need her to know you can’t win against me.”

  “Fine! Then show me!”

  Throvim’s rage finally exploded.

  He raised the gemstone wand in his hand a second time, so that the next spell would be the last. But Edmond was more than ready, even taking Throvim’s own voice as his queue.

  Between runes filled to the brim with prana, a delicate sorcery structure and a wand he clearly did not use often, Throvim had actually made things quite easy for Edmond. The only real obstacle was finding the location of the runes he would employ, but while it had taken him some time to properly read the prana’s movements due to so many ‘distractions’, he had finally mapped a good enough layout.

  He raised his right hand and took hold of the prana around him. Incomparable in amount to that which Throvim could put out, the results of a clash would be obvious. But a contest of strength was not what Edmond looked for; all he needed aside from knowledge was speed.

  And judging from the meager defense he still managed to build in time for the earlier attack, so long as the spell was a simple one, he was indeed faster.

  ‘High prana density may cause volatile accidents’… Well, let’s put that class of yours to good use, instructor Van Svelten!

  Edmond sent out the prana he had gathered in several directions. Not to form a spell, but to join Throvim’s own prana used to activate the runes around them. Prana that was already unusually potent due to the gemstone wand, now bloated even further by Edmond as it entered the delicate sorcery structure.

  Meanwhile, he barely fished it out of his pocket in time; the single containment marble he managed to construct on his way to Throvim’s apartment. The first rune exploded before he could do anything else, but it was far enough to not reach him yet. He was in time for the rest.

  Let’s go!

  Edmond charged prana into the small dark gray marble as he threw it before him. The rubbery substance rippled and expanded, covering the area in front of him from ceiling to floor and nearly wall to wall just in time to block the many other explosions within the apartment, so numerous and quick that several overlapped.

  Throvim had not built up anywhere near this much prana to activate the runes, much less Edmond. But with the slight, unaccounted for increase in energy due to Edmond’s actions, the ‘circuitry’ that handled the prana stored within the runes had torn, decompressing and releasing the huge power reserve in a burst reaction. One that continued and compounded with every extra rune the explosions touched.

  Blistering air and fragments of torn material flew in every direction, a myriad of colors present in the blinding lightshow responsible for such. Coupled with his mangled ear, or perhaps in spite of it, the noise was nearly unbearable and seemed to numb his very bones, though he may have heard the traces of a scream within it all.

  He had tried his best to focus on the runes in front of him, those that his containment marble could effectively shield him from once they burst. But whether from the chain reaction or due to Throvim also using some of the ones behind Edmond, a few explosions around that area still managed to graze him through a meager, last second prana defense.

  Still, they were incomparable to the utter disaster taking place on the other side of the rubbery barrier. ‘Taken’ place, rather, with the once bulky barricade now reduced to a few half charred, half melted borders after only a few seconds. And the difference between the areas of the apartment it had once separated… was extreme.

  Little if any of the carminewood remained, the walls were peeled and cracked, none of the numerous decorations were recognizable anymore, and an already concerning amount of fire was slowly but surely growing toward the center of the apartment.

  All things considered, Edmond thought the damage to be rather modest considering the amount of prana that had just rampaged, but a sorcerer’s workshop was indeed as durable as he expected.

  Now, all he had to focus on…

  “Sh-Shit… Fucking, imbecile…!”

  … was the soot-covered, raggedy figure at the center of it all. Frail, unsteady, a man who had once looked so elegant now struggled to even stand up, his limbs like twigs actively working against him.

  You…

  Edmond wasted no time. For a brief moment, his countless injuries meant absolutely nothing, and he cared not for making them worse as he roared, then sprinted toward the barely held together Throvim.

  … stay down!

  He looked up as Edmond came close, glassy eyes widening for only an instant before a fist crashed against his face.

  People like Finn, and even Hilda… They can’t be at peace with people like you around…!

  A punch with such force that it itself burst with terrible pain tossed Throvim to and across the floor, some good distance at that regardless of the now uneven terrain. But Edmond was far from done.

  He rushed toward the downed Throvim before he had even stopped sliding and kicked his midsection with everything he had. He coughed as if his very lungs wanted to come out, then bucked reflexively, but that did not stop Edmond from pulling him up by his tattered shirt collar.

  Stay down already!

  Edmond punched him again, so strongly that he felt his knuckles beginning to crack. The shirt collar tore in his grip as Throvim was sent crashing back down, his once handsome face a bloated mess. But when Edmond attempted to regain his grip on the man’s shirt for another hit, he felt an intense, incorporeal shock forcing him back several meters.

  It was an almost laughably simple, desperate spell, but it certainly hurt as much as one would expect from a sorcerer like Throvim. Edmond only barely managed to remain standing, even when clinging to the wall with hand and shoulder alike.

  Still, the very fact he could still stand let him know how cornered Throvim was.

  Almost there… almost done!

  “You shithead! Do you have any idea of what will happen if you bring me in!? All the wonders I’m on the verge of discovering, life-changing wonders; people will never get to know of them! What can someone like you do to make up for that!?”

  Throvim cried out, his voice nearly equal parts panic and fury as one hand held his crumpled abdomen, while the other frantically felt around the wrecked floor, likely looking for his wand.

  One way or another, things would end within only a few seconds. And yet, even now, he really did not get it.

  Edmond gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes, calling prana to his hand one last time.

  “I don’t know… I really don’t. I’m not some superhero who knows all that should be done, but still… It doesn’t matter if I don’t have the answer yet—”

  He let go of the wall, swinging his hand forward at the same time. Prana bullets that were choppy and imperfect even for his standards were let loose, but at this distance, they still retained more than enough strength by the time they reached Throvim’s face.

  “…! You f…!”

  The hand that had been looking for his wand went instead for his lightly hurt, yet pained eyes, lips and whatever else, even joined by the one that had been on his stomach. The perfect signal for Edmond to rush forward one more time.

  Almost a human bullet, he crossed the distance separating them in barely any time, raised a leg…

  “—because your answer is simply wrong!”

  … and kicked Throvim’s head without hesitation.

  The rune virtuoso was once again flung back, this time the rest of the way to the wall, where he collided with the dullest sound before falling back on the floor. No voice, barely a twitch; this time, he was out.

  But Edmond could only see this very briefly as soon after that last strike, all strength left his body, to the point he could not even stand when his leg returned to the ground. Instead, he collapsed like a poorly made house of cards, falling on his side and staining the floor with crimson.

  Unable to see Throvim anymore, some doubt inevitably rose within him, but it was manageable as he continued to hear the growing deterioration of the apartment, but no movement at all from the downed instructor.

  He’s… out. He really is…

  Edmond had done it, somehow. Despite so many unbearable losses, this time he had won, preventing Throvim from hurting even more people. His escape had been stopped, and despite the apartment’s state, it was nothing that specialized trackers could not deal with when looking for evidence.

  Still, such a ‘state’ was an issue for other reasons. That being, the fact neither Throvim nor Edmond could move, let alone get away from its seemingly imminent collapse.

  The fire continued to swell and spread, the walls and ceiling peeled to the point bits of them fell with growing frequency, and Edmond even heard another rune exploding near the wall far behind him. More were sure to follow until none remained, eventually reaching both Throvim and him without them being able to do anything.

  None of it was unexpected. Edmond had relied on a truly desperate method to turn the tables, so it only made sense for the aftermath to be an uncontrollable disaster. He had relied on the workshop’s sturdiness so that people outside would not be hurt, but that meant nothing for the two people inside.

  Sooner rather than later, it would be the end for both of them. Thinking of someone else dying, even if that someone was Throvim, was still not something Edmond felt fully comfortable with, let alone happy about; but he could accept it for its benefit. Adding himself in, however, the prospect became terrifying, and the resignation from knowing nothing else could be done did nothing in terms of relief.

  He wished he could simply feel satisfied with his achievement, that he had prevented so much danger from reaching many people, but it was impossible.

  Weak. Cowardly. Pathetic. And most of all, selfish.

  How could he ever accept things ending here? It was frustrating to just think about it when there was so much he wanted to find out, so much he wanted to do. So much he needed to do…

  … and one thing in particular he could not bear to leave unfinished.

  He somehow remembered past the cloudy mass of black ichor; her outstretched hand beyond the closing rift, and his own deformed hand, so insufferably far away.

  Just the way he reached out now, pushing against the mercilessly sharp floor.

  Not… yet!

  Edmond rose, but only a few centimeters before he slipped and fell back down. An exhaustion worse than any pain flooded everything there was to him. His body was one thing, inviolably limited by energy and structure, but not even his mind was able to escape a mysterious ‘weight’ threatening to shut him down at any moment.

  I said… I swore I’d…!

  Even willpower had its limits, and Edmond was being made frustratingly aware of it. He pushed against the floor once more, but this time his body did not rise. And when he pushed for a third time, only one arm managed to muster any real strength.

  All the while, the fire spread closer to him, almost singeing the tips of his clothes. The explosions became more numerous, starting to numb even his better ear, while the next piece of rubble fell less than a meter away from him.

  He may have despaired, maybe even cried, or given up at his worst. But that was the last of it.

  No more fire. No more bursting and tearing. No collapsing. From one instant to the next, all was swept away by the silver radiance.

  Silver… again?

  “—Edmond!”

  Silver flame and a singularly valiant voice. Tatyana Nesterova, clad in a hasty mesh of normal clothes and wound dressing.

  “What happened here!?”

  “Throvim Van Svelten…”

  And she was not alone, accompanied by a much healthier-looking Kloel and Claude following soon after. The latter’s eyes narrowed at Edmond as he tightly held a cellphone, barely visible by the edge of his vision.

  “So you were right.”

  He had sent a single message after his talk with Ciara, simply saying he believed Throvim was the one behind the stolen weapons and would go look for proof. Claude had probably told Tatyana and Kloel as soon as he read it, and now they were here.

  Saving his life yet again.

  Edmond barely felt his body being moved and turned on his back, slowly and carefully even if in that clumsy, overly technical way. Tatyana had knelt or sat down next to him at some point, opening a small container with that tar-like medical gel as he began to speak.

  “He admitted it all, even… the rift…” His voice felt like sandpaper against his throat, but he had to force it at least for a little longer. “I didn’t… get the chance to record it, and I think my phone’s busted now, but if you—”

  “Stop talking, please. Fuck, why do you… Ugh, just stay still.”

  Tatyana’s frustration seemed to have gone full circle, as she forwent further words and focused only on applying the medical gel to his wounds.

  Edmond himself had no complaints about it, falling into silence as his glance drifted away from Claude.

  “Yes, I know. Trackers will dig up everything here, and he’ll be questioned as needed.” Thankfully, he understood the message, allowing Edmond to relax just a tad.

  “Medical staff are on their way already.” Kloel added, seemingly having called beyond Edmond’s awareness. “This is cutting it close, though. If I’d taken a bit longer to dismantle the barrier around here, it would’ve been terrible…”

  Barrier? Had Throvim built up something around the time he entered the apartment? It made sense, but Edmond had somehow overlooked it.

  “… It’s all good now. We made it in time, because of that message.”

  Edmond’s eyes shifted to Tatyana’s in surprise, her voice a mix of frustration, stress and anger, but also undeniable relief, and even satisfaction.

  … He really did not have much ground to argue against her now. But for once, whether from actual acceptance or simple exhaustion, he did not really mind.

  “Is he…?”

  “He’s alive, yes. Unconscious, but I doubt for much longer. We should restrain him while he’s out.”

  “Mm, got it. Just lend me a hand with this…”

  Kloel’s and Claude’s voices became increasingly faint, but not extremely so. As they approached Throvim though, and Edmond heard them less and less… He only hoped it would be the same from his end.

  “Tatyana.”

  “I mean it, don’t talk. You’re really messed up and—”

  “Please, I just want to… ask you for a favor.”

  He said it. Scarier than pulling a very large hook from his arm, or a spike of glass from his ear, but he did it, quickly enough to not allow himself the chance to take it back.

  And Tatyana, after a couple seconds of deliberation, finally made the slightest of nods, her gaze tinged with some annoyance.

  Edmond breathed in, then let his thoughts out.

  “I’ll defeat Hilda myself.”

  Turquoise eyes widened immediately, but he did not stop for even an instant.

  “I’ll make sure she pays as a criminal should… but I won’t let my friend get killed.”

  “… I understand.”

  “Still…”

  Tatyana’s look wavered slightly. Yeah, this was of course what she was concerned about. After all, nothing had been asked of her yet.

  This was the time.

  “… I’m not strong enough to beat her yet, not even close. So… can you help me with that? If you do… I think I might be a match for her, when the time comes.”

  Lightly swaying hair, as well as a frozen face. That was what Tatyana looked like when she heard Edmond’s request.

  Her lips were the first to move after, quivering slightly, then curving into an awkward grin.

  “When the time comes, huh? Well, she also has those three fools working with her, right? You’ll need someone to get them out of the way, probably…”

  One that was just so contagious.

  “Can you… help me with that too, then?”

  As was her chuckling, which soon came from him as well. Painful, hitched and dry, but better than any medicine he could ever receive.

  Such was the ‘superhero’ Hilda would have her big showdown with.