Ajax is now on his left knee in a state of anger and despair.

He doesn’t want to die. He doesn’t want to die. He can’t die here. He can’t...

He has to... he has to, at least, avenge her, right? He has to, at least... give her death some dignity, right?

Archbishop Andal Frasia’s arms start to crumble away.

All that remains are the frozen stumps of two half-destroyed upper arms. The freezing of the wound actually helps stop any excessive blood loss, preventing Andal from simply dying here. For now, he’s not in a critical state.

“Andal, step back to the door, I’ll restore your arms after I deal with him.”

“Y-Yes, your eminence, my god, this really h-hurts...”

“Andal...”

“Yes, I beg your pardon, I didn’t mean to take His name in vain.”

“Sigh... it’s alright... you’re really starting to anger me, boy...”

Cardinal Gratia Loqus speaks to Ajax in disdain and fury.

Ajax has to prepare himself to exact punishment. To give... death... to his enemy... the one who killed...

Ajax starts to panic at the thought of having to take another life.

Ajax has always... always tried... to be a good person. It was why Shaula came into his life. One of his good deeds.

Now... he had to turn his back on the person he had built himself to be... in order to avenge her...

Gratia stands between Ajax and Shaula’s bed.

Ajax witnesses Gratia take a new action. Cardinal Gratia raises his hands in preparation for battle. Ajax notices the air around Gratia’s closed fists shimmer more and more.

His hands were almost incandescent.

His hands burst into flames. Red-hot, brightly burning, controlled flames as if the Cardinal were wearing a pair of beautiful gloves made of reddish-white light.

The red flames turn bright-blue. Brighter... Brighter... Brighter...

Ajax recognizes that fire gets hotter the bluer it gets. He can instinctively discern that Cardinal Gratia’s hands could cut through Kinser like a red hot knife through warm bu--

Gratia sprints towards Ajax and attempts to strike Ajax’s head with his right fist. A strike to the head would end the match, wouldn’t it?

Ajax deftly avoids the fist, both in fear of an attack to his skull, as well as in fear of the truly strong fire of Gratia’s hands.

It might be hot enough to hurt him. Ajax didn’t know enough about his abilities to think otherwise.

However, that fist was too close for comfort. Ajax barely avoided it by jerking his neck.

Even with the energy he absorbed from Kinser, from the air in the hallways, from Gratia’s earlier attack on his entire body and from Gratia’s fist closing on his face just then, his reflexes, while greatly improved, still could hardly follow the attack.

Ajax tries to get up off his left knee and stands up fully, in preparation for Gratia’s next attack, a left uppercut.

Ajax pulls his head back. If he was milliseconds late, he might have been struck unconscious with his jaw broken.

Ajax pushes against Gratia’s left arm and forces him back slightly.

Gratia is unfazed. His anger is visible but not increasing. Ajax can see a small smile. Gratia seems to be... enjoying himself?

A battle junkie?

Gratia tries for a right hook to Ajax’s chest and Ajax attempts to cross his arms to block it.

Huh?

Ajax feels a kick to the left side of his left thigh. A hard kick that trips him and makes him fall to the ground on his back. Ajax scrambles backwards in panic at the sudden attack.

That right hook was a feint!? Shit, this guy is way more experi--

Cardinal Gratia jumps in an attempt to land a stomp on Ajax’s face, taking advantage of Ajax’s position on the ground.

Ajax dodges it however by moving his head to the left. He then raises his arms to protect his head.

“Moron.”

Crack.

“AAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!”

Ajax feels his clavicle shatter, along with his scapula.

Gratia has successfully used Ajax’s focus on protecting his head to stomp on Ajax’s left collar bone and shoulder with his right foot, wearing his hard shoes. But he doesn’t stop there.

“NNNHHHHHH!”

Consume him. Consume him!

Gratia stomps again on a position below Ajax’s left pec and destroys part of his rib cage. Ajax feels the urge to vomit. The broken ribs have pierced into his stomach.

Gratia notices Ajax’s left collar bone and shoulder reset and return to normal. Ajax doesn’t remove his arms from his head.

“How can you...”

Gratia has not seen Ajax heal and although he has heard already about Kinser and Creta’s death, he doesn’t know the details of their battle.

He doesn’t know your abilities. Consume his heat. Do it now!

Ajax thinks about freezing Gratia. Destroying his body and extinguishing his life from the surface of the world.

But... Ajax... a child like him... can he really take a li--

Ajax tries to scramble away from Gratia by pushing his legs forward against the floor, while still lying on his back.

Gratia uses his left leg to stomp on Ajax’s right femur. His femur shatters like splintering wood. The upper femur, the head of the femur which is locked into the hip breaks free from the hip as if his femur was dislocated.

The silver lining here is that this reaction by his body prevented his hip and pelvis from being destroyed as well. But still, Ajax will never be able to walk again on two legs.

That would be the case for anyone else, but Ajax’s vitality, his healing factor, at this moment means that even an injury like that heals in mere seconds.

Gratia is confused again. Ajax notices this, as well as Gratia’s hesitation.

Ajax uses this opportunity to frantically use his left leg to kick at Cardinal Gratia’s crotch.

However, the cardinal grabs this leg in an elbow lock and starts turning. Ajax leaves the ground and starts spinning in the Cardinal’s grasp.

The cardinal spins faster and faster before letting go.

Ajax spins in midair and finds his left arm and left knee penetrating a concrete wall, holding him in place like the nail that holds up a picture frame.

If he had hit the wall the wrong way when Cardinal Gratia threw him, his head would have been crushed and he... might have... died.

The cardinal has thrown Ajax at the wall where Shaula’s bed is, creating a new hole in it. He can see Shaula’s corpse on the bed in front of him.

Even though his head isn’t crushed, his left forearm and elbow are pulverized thoroughly. His neck is also bent at an angle that it shouldn’t be at.

His spinal cord, from his neck down has been severed, disconnected from the electrical signals being sent from his brain.

Ajax cannot move his body, or feel the pain of his arm and leg pulverized. But he can still see Shaula. He can still think.

Kill him. You have to kill him. It’s him or you. It’s him or you, you piece of shit! Kill him!

Ajax’s neck sets itself properly. A wave of dark, unholy torment throws him into turmoil. His mind has only been telling him one thing.

DO IT. DO IT NOW. CONSUME HIS HEAT. END HIS LIFE. DO IT NOW.

Ajax, having regained control of his body, slowly removes his mangled leg and arm from its position in the wall, onto Shaula’s bed, being careful not to disturb her body or touch her bare skin.

The wall doesn’t collapse even with holes in it like that. This building is a strong one indeed.

Ajax looks again at Shaula.

...Look. Look what he did to her... look... and you’re still sticking to your cowardliness? You pathetic child...

Ajax feels his leg reset in seconds. He stands on Shaula’s bed and moves to the edge of it, next to her.

Cardinal Gratia walks over slowly to Ajax, in full confidence of his inevitable victory. He doesn’t know about Ajax’s ability to absorb energy instantly through physical contact. Ajax’s ability to destroy a person in moments.

Now’s your chance. When he touches you... use it. Just protect your head and when his strike, when it lands on your body, destroy him... we... we owe it to... we have to...

Ajax is a person who doesn’t like killing, a pacifist. A person who believes in the value of life. In the immorality of violence. In the sanctity of existing in this world.

But he is also someone who doesn’t wish to be responsible for the pain of another. If he is the one inflicting pain, violence and death then he is the one people will blame. He will blame himself. He will be the one to blame.

If others are killed by third parties not under his control... that’s none of his business. That’s outside of him. He can’t stop the actions of others. So he won’t be responsible.

A truly cowardly man is Ajax, yet a man who wishes to be a good person, a moral person, a person with a code.

Even now, he’s fighting with himself, trying to talk himself into it. Trying to talk himself into abandoning his moral instincts. Like he had already done earlier.

The room gets colder in preparation for Ajax’s last attack on Gratia. Ajax has resolved himself to killing him. That is the only acceptable outcome.

But now that Shaula... is dead... what is the point in...

Ajax reaches his left hand for Shaula’s right cheek. He touches it. It feels... warm... warm... warm...

What? W-wa--

Ajax falls over the edge of the mattress onto the floor. His head rests at the edge of the mattress. He is unconscious in a deep sleep.

He doesn’t have to make the choice anymore. Whatever will be, will be.

Cardinal Gratia, right about to reach for Ajax’s head, a sneer of satisfaction dancing on his face, pauses.

He sees something. Something unbelievable. Something impossible.

Gratia jumps back to where Andal stands, away from Ajax.

It was his chance. His chance to defeat the spies. Abandoned.

“Cardinal Gratia? What happened-- oh... how is... h-how is that possible?!”

Cardinal Gratia Loqus and Archbishop Andal Frasia stare at the sight before them. A sight they have never seen before, at least, not in this context.

A naked woman sits up. She opens her mouth to speak.

“...Ajax?”