"Miss Andrea, please stay still"

"N… no"

​​

Andrea struggled to get up from the bathroom floor, hugging the walls as she tried to lift herself up with her trembling legs. "We… we need to find Evans", she muttered.

"He took off"

Harvey said as he entered the bathroom and quickly assisted her up, "I tried to chase him but… I suppose you already know the outcome of that", he said before chuckling awkwardly.

Hearing Harvey's words, Andrea could not help but let out a huge breath, "N… no", she muttered, shaking her head numerous times. Beatrice and Harvey looked at each other before assisting Andrea to the sofa. The sofa's covers were now in threads and missing chunks of foam.

"The healer will be here soon", Harvey said as he gently lay down Andrea on the tattered sofa, "Van will be alright… he is strong"

"No", Andrea weakly shook her head, "You don't understand…", she whispered.

"Miss Andrea?", Harvey and Beatrice could not help but tilt their heads.

"Evans…", Andrea continued to speak even as her breaths grew weaker, "Evans doesn't know when to stop…"

"...What do you mean?"

"If no one stops him…

...He might kill someone"

"...What?"

***

"Gah!"

"I… will be the one asking questions"

Although Van's quiet voice and the screams of the man he just stabbed in the leg overlapped, the shout seemed to be the one that was being drowned out in Lucas' ears. It whispered through his ears like the thumping of a minotaur's hammer.

Lucas couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows as he stared at the boy. He already had an idea who the kid was. He was probably the owner of the house they made a mess of.

But to catch them this fast? Sure, he already showcased his speed when he single-handedly sliced the feet of Lucas' men without them even getting the chance to dodge, but finding them this quickly was a different matter. They made sure to take the path where there were little to no people to even see them.

"So… who are you guys?"

Van's voice once again whispered in Lucas' ears.

"You think I--"

"Gah!"

Before Lucas could even say four words, another wail resounded in the isolated street. Lucas could not help but blink a couple of times as Van suddenly stabbed another one of his men in the leg, this time, it was Desmond, the first one who dropped to the ground.

"Who are you?"

"W--"

"Gah!"

Once again, before Lucas could even answer, Desmond let out a stuttered scream as Van rotated the knife that was lodged in his leg.

"Who are you?"

"M… my name is Lucas", Lucas could not help but stutter as he stared at Van's hand, who was still twisting the knife without even batting an eye.

"Were you sent by Geral--"

"Yes, yes we are!", the one that answered the question was not Lucas, but the whimpering Desmond, "P… please, d… don't move the knife anymore", he pleaded.

"I see", Van said as he casually pulled the knife from Desmond's leg, which made him cry out in pain once again. The two other men that were groveling on the floor could not help but flinch, thinking how lucky they were that it wasn't them that was in his position.

"I actually already knew", Van let out a slight chuckle as he looked at Desmond straight in the eye, his eyebrows trembling uncontrollably, "You were there"

"W… what?", Desmond could not help but open his mouth in confusion. What did he mean by that? "D… do I know you!?"

Desmond looked at Van from head to toe, and now that he was looking at him clearly, he realized that he was wearing NYSA's uniform.

"You do", Van said as he stood up, "...And now you will never forget me", he said as he stomped on Desmond's wound.

"G...kha!", now, even if Desmond wanted to shout, he couldn't even do so as the pain crawled throughout his body, not allowing any sound to come out from his mouth.

"I just don't get it, though", Van continued to speak, "Why… why would you even try to destroy my house", he muttered, not even looking at anyone as he did so.

"Why attack Andrea?", the tone of Van's voice was starting to sound frustrated as he slightly groaned, "Aren't all of you System Holders?", Van said as he clicked his tongue, his head looking towards the sky. "Andrea is just… Why would you even do that to someone weaker than you?"

Seeing Van suddenly lost in his own thoughts, Desmond, who was wheezing on the ground, took this chance to move. But instead of crawling away, he rushed towards the Van, using his fingers that were now as sharp as knives to push him from the ground.

"No!", Lucas shouted. Remembering how fast Van moved earlier, Desmond doesn't have an inkling of a chance to even touch a fiber of his clothes. But alas, his warning was too late.

With his [Time Perception] skill turned on, Van just casually stepped aside as he watched Desmond fly towards where he previously was. Van, however, was still somewhat lost in thought. The image of Andrea being tied up repeated in his mind over and over again, helpless… scared.

Van's whole body started shivering as the weight in his chest grew too much for him to handle. He wanted to scream, but the feeling in his chest was just too tight and the only thing that he could let out was a deep breath.

And without even knowing it, his hand moved by itself. Slowly stabbing the knife through Desmond's back before turning off [Time Perception]. The knife easily went through Desmond's back, sliding through it due to his own momentum of flying forward.

The blood that splattered towards Van's face was like a trigger, a trigger that fired up all of his emotions.

With Desmond lying unconscious on the ground, seeing his helpless face, Van was finally able to let out a scream, with Desmond's blood slowly dripping from his face.

"Why would you even do that!?", he roared, repeating his words over and over again as tears slowly trailed down from his face.

"Why!?"

"She wouldn't have been able to hurt you even if she wanted to!", Van screamed endlessly as he stared straight at Desmond's unmoving eyes.

Smoke was already coming out of Desmond's body, slowly floating in the air and compressing, until it wriggled, forming into an Orange Flame.

"So why!? Why would you do that!?", Van, however, did not even seem to notice it. His trembling eyes were now only filled with frenzy, the calmness that he had before was completely gone.

Lucas, who initially wanted to attack Van, could not help but take a gulp as his four arms hesitated to move.

Gerald made a mistake, he thought. Lucas knew of Gerald's… eerie tendency to be violent against those who looked weaker than him. Gerald was crazy, most of the senior guards in the Lauder estate knew of that.

Gerald woke up something that they shouldn't have, and Lucas and his men were responsible for pulling the trigger.

This boy in front of him...

...was probably more insane than Gerald.