Jill: "Thank you."

Lily: "Douitashimashite~"

Jill clumsily accepted the cup of hot ginger-tea and took a small sip while the blonde girl sat beside her on the bed, holding her own mug. She was no longer covered in the bed-sheets, instead she was wearing trousers and a shirt that was at least two sizes bigger than her, apparently belonging to the scientist. After taking yet another sip, she raised her eyes upon the man standing near the workbench while arguing with the green-haired girl.

Gabe: "Yes, that’s it."

Kay: "So, she is your old advisor, who was originally a fairy, and whom you resurrected from the dead by dragging her Soul Core information out of the Universal Core while matching it with the imprints you collected and reorganized and… and… Whoa…" The black-clad scientist patiently waited for her to digest the news. "So that armor was…"

Gabe: "A sort of Soul Core incubation chamber."

Kay: "I… have nothing to say. This is…"

Gabe: "Amazing?"

Kay: "Impossible!" Kay exclaimed with a red face. "How did you even create enough Black Ether to make a copy of…"

Gabe: "Hey! I told you, she is not a copy. She’s the real thing."

Kay: "But that’s just impossible! It goes head against the primal principles of the whole Core-system! It goes against everything you wrote in your books!"

Gabe: "Hey, I was the one who discovered the whole Core-business, so I can break it any time I want to."

Kay: "What!? That’s not an argument! By this logic Newton should have been able to break the laws of thermodynamics just because he was the one who first wrote them down!"

Gabe: "Well, maybe he could!"

Kay: "… What?"

Gabe: "Prove me he couldn’t! Come on, I’m waiting."

Kay: "What are you talking about?! It’s you who have to prove it to me, not the other way around!"

Gabe: "Well, isn’t someone cheeky tonight! In that case…"

Jill quietly watched the two for a while then turned to the blonde girl quietly sitting by her side.

Jill: "Say, Lily?"

Lily: "Hai~?"

Jill: "… Are you sure those two are not related?"

After a brief moment of confusion she shook her head.

In contrast to the still lively girl, Jill slightly shrugged her shoulders. She was still utterly confused about what exactly happened to her. What little she could figure out of Gabe’s and Kay’s conversation said she was ‘resurrected’, though what that exactly meant was yet to be elaborated on. Apparently a long time, possibly a couple of years has passed since she last closed her eyes. She was also at a place she has never seen before in a body that she felt was her own yet was completely different from how she remembered herself, and she was quite sure she had never seen the two girls before.

She took another good look at the two, at which Lily slightly tilted her head with an amused expression.

Jill: "(Just what are these two doing here?)"

According to him they were not related to Gabe, so… Maybe the others? For example, if Kay was Pabloc’s daughter, it would at least explain how she could go toe to toe with the man on the science-front… but Lily? She seemed way too innocent to be related to either member of the group. And there was a bigger question: exactly how long was she out cold? These girls seem somewhere around ten years old, but Gabe only looked about a year or two older than the last time she saw him…

Jill: "This just makes no sense…"

Lily: "Nyu?"

Jill: "Oh, sorry, I didn’t want to startle you…"

Instead of answering the girl kept intently staring at her face.

Jill: "What is it?"

Without warning an almost blindingly sweet smile bloomed on the blond girl’s face, taking her completely aback.

Lily: "Jill-san, you are pretty~!" Before she could even process what she just heard, Lily abruptly frowned. "Oh, I almost forgot! Jill-san, can I call you Jill-san?"

Jill: "Excuse me?"

Lily: "No… wait, you are with Gabe-sama, so you should be called Jill-sama, right?"

Jill: "Are you sure you want to call me that?"

Lily: "Oh, you are right! I should actually call you Ouhi-sama!"

Jill blinked a couple of times and then tried to smile, thought the actual expression ended up more as an awkward grimace.

Jill: "Let’s… Let’s just stick with the first version."

Lily: "Hai, Jill-san!"

Jill: "(I was so wrong; she is weird enough to be the kid of any of those guys…)"

Lily: "Nyu?"

Jill: "Nothing, I was just…"

She tried to carefully turn away and took another sip from her cup, but instead she almost knocked herself in the nose with it.

Jill: "Ouch…"

Lily: "Are you all right, Jill-san?"

Jill: "Yes, I’m just a little clumsy right now… I’m just too big." Seeing the girl’s confused expression, she hastily clarified; "Oh, you see, I used t-"

Then said clarification was promptly interrupted by an indignant voice.

Kay: "STRAIGHT CURVES!? That doesn’t even begin to make sense!"

Gabe: "You better stop shouting little lady, or you will get spanked!"

Kay: "Don’t try to change the subj… Wait…" All of a suddenly Kay’s expression hardened as she glared at the scientist. "Why am I even arguing with you about the Core-theory!? Soketsu might be in mortal danger right now!"

Gabe: "Wait… I said spanking and your mind immediately associated it with Soketsu…? Did something kinky happen while I wasn’t looking?"

Kay: "I said don’t change the subject!"

Gabe: "But you just did!"

Kay: "Yes, but this is serious! We have to help them!"

Gabe: "Oh come, on. They are big boys; they can take care of a few intruders."

Kay: "But…"

The scientist got down to one knee and looked the girl in the eye.

Gabe: "Listen Kay. It’s Pabloc and Soketsu that we are talking about. One is an engineering genius and field tactician with a high-grade telekinetic power and the other is a probably the strongest melee fighter on the planet at the moment. In this room we have three girls and a scientist who can’t do anything without his armor."

Kay: "But your armor is right there!"

Gabe: "… That’s beside the point."

Kay: "How is that beside the point…!? That is the point!!!"

The scientist calmly stood up, passed by the outraged girl and reached out for the third cup of tea on the night-stand beside his bed.

Gabe: "Listen, my point is this: There are less than ten people in the entire world right now that could pose any real threat to those two. If the guys they are fighting are not one of those, then there is no problem, and if they are, then we would only get in their way." Seeing that Kay didn’t refute his claims the man nodded to himself with a thin smile. "I’m glad you understand. So…"

For a moment, Jill looked at the scientist expectantly, hoping that he would finally tell her what’s going on, but instead of that he just gulped his drink down in one go and grabbed a few tools from the pile on the workbench.

Gabe: "Phew… time to fix that damned door!"

With that, he suddenly left the others behind and started tinkering with the half-open door mechanism while Jill kept staring at him with a disappointed look. As she had no idea of the situation she didn’t know what to ask, so she decided to wait for the scientist to speak to her on his own, even if he seemingly avoided her. In the meantime she quietly took another sip from her mug. It was sweet… yet somehow bitter at the same time.

~~~

Soketsu: "[On your right!]"

Pabloc: "Hha!"

The scientist’s figure shot through the air, twisting out of the way of the blade swung towards him, then immediately turned around and blasted the area with a hail of the fist-sized debris swirling around him.

Right before the rain of projectiles could hit him the mercenary’s figure suddenly disappeared. He kicked the ground under himself with such force that it broke the concrete floor. In mid-air he swung his scythe towards the closest wall and its blade sunk into it as if it was cutting wrapping paper. Using this leverage he pushed himself to the ceiling and kicked himself off once again. He was heading straight for the scientist when…

Soketsu: "[Dive to the left!]"

Soketsu: "Haaaa!"

… a blinding flash of blue light filled his vision. Soketsu literally exploded out of the scientist’s shadow with several sigils shimmering across his body, the brightest being the one on his right fist. It was burning with viridia and was just about to burrow itself into Adhi’s abdomen…

Adhi: "Hya!"

… when the man abruptly contorted his body and managed to knock the fist aside with the shaft of his weapon. The strength of the punch has sent the mercenary flying back, yet Soketsu’s deflected fist still had enough power behind it to dig its way into the concrete tunnel wall with the kinetic force of a gauss-slug.

While still in mid-air the man raised his scythe, getting ready to strike at the momentarily defenseless Soketsu when he heard the now-familiar whistling sound of rocks and concrete cutting through the air.

Adhi: "Ugh!"

He immediately pulled his weapon back and rolled out of the way of the incoming projectiles, then he jumped onto his feet and disappeared behind a corner with speed that was almost too fast for human eyes to follow.

Pabloc: "[Are you all right?]"

The man forcefully tore his fist out of the wall, leaving a hole that was about two times the size of his hand behind.

Soketsu: "[Yeah, but that was my best shot. He is too fast, I cannot get close enough to hit him.]"

Pabloc: "[He is roughly as fast as you were when you were fighting Gabe though…]"

Soketsu: "[The circumstances are different.]" He transmitted before he spat to the side to clean out the dust in his mouth. This battle was troublesome. This was their fourth clash yet neither side managed to even scrape the other. "[Just who the hell is this guy?]"

He was less of a man and more of a monster. This was the first time either of them has ever seen someone move so rapidly for so long and his precision with his weapon was downright unearthly. The scientist quickly ran through the data he assembled during these encounters. Out of the three of them he had the greatest range but without his balanced blades he could only rely on the debris lying around their feet both for offensive and defensive purposes, severely limiting his potential. Soketsu on the other hand was using the same hand-to-hand technique he was famous for before the Devastation. His sigil-enhanced speed and strength, combined with the special sigils on his fists made him into a one-hit killer at close range.

As for their enemy… he was devilishly fast and agile. He moved around with insane speeds and, to make things worse, had a weapon with a relatively long range. His scythe might have seemed like an awkward weapon, especially in such a tight quarters, but it had a fearsome ability: apparently it was able to cut through matter without the slightest of effort, making Soketsu almost useless in straight-up battle, as getting too close to him was almost suicidal. Thankfully their opponent only took potshots at him when the opportunity arose, focusing mainly on Pabloc. They tried to use this strange preference to create an opening before, but this plan just failed the third time in a row.

Soketsu: "[They are moving down west on the corridor behind the one next to the station entrance.]"

Pabloc: "[Wait a second… Are you using it?]"

The man turned to him while flexing his fists, revealing his left eye burning with a green light.

Soketsu: "[My Mystic Eye of Depth Perception? Yes.]"

Pabloc: "[… I told you it’s not depth- but extra-sensory perception. Or you can just call it clairvoyance or...]"

Soketsu: "[It’s the same; the important thing is that it tells me where things are in 360 degrees in all three axes.]"

Pabloc: "[No it’s… Right, it doesn’t matter. How long can you use it?]"

Soketsu: "[I made a sigil that lets me turn it on and off consciously, but it’s still eating my viridia like crazy…]"

Pabloc: "[I understand. We should put this tactical advantage to good use before you run low. Let’s move, and keep me updated on where he is.]"

Soketsu: "[Got it.]"

With that, they both started moving down the corridor while their ‘conversation’ didn’t even suffer a jolt.

Soketsu: "[Why is he running around like that?]"

Pabloc: "[Like what?]"

Soketsu: "[It’s like he runs through every hallway without getting too far from us.]"

Pabloc: "[… He must be scouting the facility. Damn, he’s trying to even the playing field by mapping out the area.]"

Soketsu: "[So what? Even if they know the layout, they cannot catch us off-guard as long as my eyes work.]"

Pabloc: "[Maybe, but right now we are forced to play the defensive side. This is our home ground, meaning the knowledge of the area is one of our advantages.]"

Soketsu: "[Then let’s interrupt them before we lose it, shall we?]"

Pabloc: "[Without a plan?]"

Soketsu: "[Oh, I got one all right. Just try to create a small opening for me. With my eyes on, I think I can pull off something.]"

Pabloc: "[Pull what off?! At least tell me what-]"

Soketsu: "[!!! No time! He is coming! Get ready!]"

Pabloc: "[For wha…!? Argh! Okay, I’ve got your back.]"

Just as he sent that last message, Adhi suddenly appeared from the third intersection on the right of them and started running towards the two, although his movement could only be called running for the lack of better word. It was not just the floor that he was moving on. At one moment he was running on the ground, and at the next moment, he was on the wall, then jumping off the ceiling, then back on the other wall, doing all of that with such speed and fluency that all the scientist could see was a blurry dance of shadows. Still, he instinctively extended his hand, and with it hundreds upon hundreds of pebble-sized chippings flew out at the incoming opponent.

The mercenary once again swirled his weapon around with speed that, by the scientist’s estimates, could very well had been breaking the sound-barrier, and deflected all the shots that were aimed at his body while he let the rest flew by him. His precision was downright frightening, but the hail also forced him to slow down for a moment. Seeing that, the scientist immediately pressed his attack. By this point, he ran out of sizable debris that he could immediately send at him, so…

The man was suddenly flung back by a strike reminiscent of a punch to the face, except that it hit his whole upper-body and face at the same time. He quickly regained his balance and immediately started running towards the scientist once again, like nothing happened.

The scientist immediately flung himself towards the man, baffling him for a second. Using this momentary opening he franticly avoided the blade swung towards him, slicing the air just inches away from his head. As they passed each other, Pabloc immediately whirled around and pointed his hand at his opponent. The effect was quite spectacular. Adhi suddenly flew into the air like a ragdoll, as if he was uppercutted by a huge, invisible hand. The scientist then raised his other hand, but…

Pabloc: "Ow---!"

His opponent suddenly broke free and gracefully landed on his feet. As he did, a fistful of sand fell to the ground with him, spreading all around the floor like a cloud.

Pabloc: "Damn!"

Pabloc let out a small curse under his breath. His opponent not only realized his last trick but they now knew that his power can be disrupted with only a small disturbance in the surrounding Ether. Things weren’t looking good for him, made worse by Adhi suddenly kicking off the ground and lunging at him. The scientist’s brain-cells suddenly kicked into high-gear as he saw the scythe mercilessly approaching his neck, creating the illusion of the flow time slowing down around him. He had already called back the pebbles he previously used, but they would not reach him in time to be of use. The sand was still charged, he couldn’t manipulate it just yet. If only they were under the open sky, he would at least have the opportunity to utilize his ability to fly properly!

His mind hysterically scanned the premise for anything that he could grab and hurl at his opponent all while his body desperately tried avoiding the incoming strike. The situation seemed hopeless, and just as he was about to give up his eyes opened with revelation as hand flailed out yet again, his power carrying a small object from his chest-area.

Adhi: "Uah!?"

The item flew straight and hit Adhi right under his left eye. The impact was small, but it was just enough to startle him long enough to let the scientist slip under the incoming blade. He tried to put as much distance between himself and the scythe as possible immediately after they passed by each other, but…

Pabloc: "Tch!"

… his opponent swung his weapon blindly behind himself, although it couldn’t have been more accurate even if he was looking.

Pabloc: "For the love of…!"

He had nothing left at this point. If he had more space to maneuver then maybe, just maybe, he could have been able to outmatch him, but in the narrow hallway he was a sitting duck, flying or not. As such…

Pabloc: "Aaaargh!"

… he rushed his opponent yet again. The mercenary was right in the middle of turning around when the scientist flew right into his scythe’s way. It seemed like he had no way avoiding the attack, but Fortuna was on Pabloc’s side this time. It was more of a reflex than anything, but as he lashed out into the direction of the weapon he managed to kick the shaft away while only being grazed by the blade, which was a preferable alternative compared to getting sliced in half. Using the same momentum he delivered another kick with his other leg, this time at the abdomen of his opponent. It caused little to no damage, but it still had just enough strength behind it to finally push him out of the immediate range of the mercenary. It wasn’t much of a relief though, as his opponent furiously raised his weapon yet again. And just then…

Soketsu: "[Give me a back!]"

He reflexively obeyed the voiceless request of his comrade. He pulled his neck back, stabilized his spatial position and only a moment later he could feel a weight violently pressing against his shoulder.

Soketsu: "Haah!"

The man who excused himself from the battle until now suddenly jumped over him and kicked himself off the scientist’s body.

The mercenary was visibly shocked by their reckless tactics, not small part thanks to the fact that Soketsu was jumping right into the trajectory of his swing. On the other hand, baffled as the man had seemed, the blade of the scythe made no bones about the issue. In fact, the fervor of the strike might have even increased in response of the sudden counterattack. It was not a huge stretch of imagination to already see Soketsu sliced in half. Except…

The air in hallway suddenly rang out with a deafening bang. Soketsu’s left fist met with blade of the scythe head on and, insane as it might have seemed at the moment, it came out on top. The ornate weapon and her wielder were pushed back by the small blast created on contact. Soketsu on the other hand…

Soketsu: "Eat this!"

He extended his right hand, and delivered a tremendously powerful lariat at Adhi’s neck and upper-chest area. It was sadly nowhere as powerful as his previous punch, but thanks to Soketsu’s strength-amplifying sigils it still had enough raw force behind it to send his opponent flying as if he was hit by a speeding truck.

The mercenary flew back in the air with a low groan, conscious and thinking of his next move even after such a powerful strike, but before he had the chance to counter, Soketsu was already rushing after him. The moment Adhi hit the ground he immediately rolled onto his feet and once again swung blindly at his opponent. Soketsu barely managed to get out of the way, but by the time he was about to land a proper hit, the scythe was upon him yet again.

Soketsu: "Shit…!"

He desperately threw his left hand into the way of the blade once again, and just as before, the two had blown each other apart with a small explosion followed by a loud boom. This time it was Soketsu who was not ready to take the blast and was thrown back by the force of the explosion. He quickly regained his balance and took up a defensive stance with his left hand extended.

For his surprise, his opponent did not continue his assault. It seemed like the mercenary was inspecting something behind him, then after a few moments of contemplation he suddenly turned tail and disappeared with a flash before Soketsu could even raise his voice.

Pabloc: "[Are you all right?]"

Soketsu raised his left hand again. There were two shallow cuts on it, one on back and one on his palm, but neither of them seemed serious.

Soketsu: "[I’m fine. My hand got a little worn down but at least my counter worked.]"

The scientist quietly floated beside him with a curious expression.

Pabloc: "[By the way, I’m not trying to be ungrateful, but couldn’t you enter the fight a little sooner? I know we decided you only attack when I create an opening, but I was in the thick of it back there.]"

Soketsu: "[Sorry, I was working on this.]"

The man lightly flexed his wounded hand and a small, purplish sigil shone up on its back.

Pabloc: "[Yes, I was just about to ask what that was about…]"

Soketsu: "[It’s a… well… Even I don’t really know how it works. … Don’t look at me like that. I just realized that scythe used portal-cuts, so I created a fake-portal tuned to it around my hand hoping that it would disrupt it.]"

Pabloc: "[Portal-cuts?]"

Actually, that made sense to the scientist. If there was a very thin, string-shaped oscillating portal in front of the edge, it would explain how it could cut through everything, although ‘cutting’ was a gross simplification in this case. The portal displaced the matter right in front of the edge and so all the blade had to do was to force the already separated halves apart. Quite ingenious. Too bad it was something they had to face.

Pabloc: "[I see. Where are they now?]"

Soketsu: "[Wait, let me see… They are still nearby, but it seems like they are standing still.]"

Pabloc: "[I see… They must be waiting.]"

Soketsu: "[Waiting? Waiting for what?]"

Pabloc: "[Don’t bother yourself with that, it was just a hunch.]"

Pabloc promptly floated back to the point where he was downed a few seconds ago. For a few moments he intently stared at the surroundings until he found what he was looking for.

Pabloc: "(There you are…)"

As he extended his slightly shaking hand, a small, black wire-frame flew into it.

Pabloc: "(Geez… To think that this is the thing I landed the first clean hit with… Lily is going to kill me for breaking one of her gifts again...)"

It was the twisted and broken frame of his glasses, the lenses shattered and laying in pieces on the ground at his feet.

Pabloc: "[Okay, I only wanted to get these. Let’s go.]"

Soketsu: "[Let’s go? Where?]"

Pabloc: "[What do you think? We are going on the offensive this time around. We don’t have all night and these short skirmishes are getting old by now. Lead the way.]"

The man hesitated for a moment, but finally started moving.

Soketsu: "[Okay, what’s the plan this time?]"

Pabloc: "[Same as before. I create an opening and you will use it to strike them down. The only difference is that we are going all out now.]"

Soketsu: "[All out?]"

Pabloc: "[Yeah. I’m going to create the mother of all openings for you, and you will use it to end this battle in one stroke.]"

Soketsu: "[Wait, are you serious?! That’s your whole plan?]"

Pabloc: "[Yeah. As I said, we are low on…]"

Before he could finish his last sentence, a shadow flashed by them and both of them instinctively jumped out of the way.

The place where they were running before was carved up like a freshly plowed field, except that it was not soil but solid concrete. There were at least a hundred cuts on the ground and the walls, and the mere prospect that the mercenary did this with one lunge was terrifying.

Pabloc: "[Weren’t you supposed to track them?!]"

Soketsu: "[What the…? He wasn’t there a split-second ago!]"

The mercenary raised his scythe yet again, with clear distaste on his face.

Adhi: "Seriously now, why can’t you just stay put and bleed out like normal people?!"

Soketsu: "[Bleed] out…?"

Pabloc: "[Don’t mind that, it’s just a small cut I got in the previous…]"

Soketsu: "What the hell?! Why didn’t you say something about this you lunatic!?"

The floor under the floating scientist was covered with a viscous red liquid. Blood; and lots of it.

Pabloc: "[Don’t worry about that now.]"

Soketsu: "What the hell are you talking about? At this rate you are going to bleed out within minutes!"

As he took a closer look, the source of the blood was mortifying. There was a huge, gaping wound on the scientist’s left shin, and it was alarmingly deep. Just a few more inches and he would have been one limb shorter right now; and yet he acted like it was just a small prick.

Soketsu: "Dammit, we have to stop the bleeding or…"

The scientist let out a heavy sigh and gently pushed his worried comrade aside. At the same time, the telepathic communicator flared up with the amount of relayed information.

Pabloc: "[Listen, we have no time for this. I’m holding the bleeding back with my power and the pain is manageable, so I’m going to be okay for a few more minutes. We have to do something while that lasts. Those two are dangerous. They were able to pretty much overwhelm us in close-combat. If I’m out of the picture, they are going to take you down in seconds.]"

The ex-Rover bit his lower lip in frustration but couldn’t argue with that.

Pabloc: "[They are faster than us, so there is no point in running. They have pretty much cornered us here, and our only valid option is to go on the offensive and take them down before I become incapacitated.]"

Soketsu: "But…"

The scientist’s glance became extremely sharp which immediately silenced Soketsu. For a few moments the air was extremely tense between the two, then…

Pabloc: "[I’m going to create that opening for you.]"

His voice was weak and slightly shaking, nothing like the sharp and direct thoughts he transmitted up till now.

Pabloc: "[You hear me? I. am. going. to. create. that. opening. I want you to use it to its fullest. End this whole idiocy in one go. Use that old ninety-percent specialty of yours if you must.]"

Soketsu: " [I’ll... I'll need some space for that.]"

Pabloc: "[I’ll take care of that too. Are you ready?]"

The man finally nodded, even though he had a really bad feeling about the scientist’s words.

Adhi: "Are you done eyeing him? It's really creepy."

Pabloc pulled a long face then readied himself as the puddle of blood at his feet started growing at a steady pace. He concentrated with all his might, getting rid of the unnecessary actions, like the suppression of the bleeding, and putting all his power into the only task he had to accomplish.

His face contorted as he suddenly propelled himself at his opponent with absolutely inhuman speed. He didn’t care about the G-forces of the acceleration, nor the impact when he collided with the mercenary. Actually, he probably had no time to do that anyway.

The mercenary was completely flabbergasted by the sudden assault, so much so that he only just managed to hitch the scythe in front of himself, but for no real avail. The scientist’s body hit him with enough force to take him off his feet. Pabloc pushed on like a battering ram with rockets strapped on its back, taking the mercenary with him to a flight right until the man managed to get a hold of himself and kick off the scientist.

Pabloc landed on his back with a huge thud. Since he poured everything he had into this single rush, he had no strength left to soften his fall. The impact, coupled with his already severe blood-loss has almost knocked him out, but he was somehow able to retain his consciousness. He also managed to get on his feet and stand upright even though his knees were shaking, his wound was throbbing like crazy and his body was getting colder with every heartbeat. Still, he was relieved; he survived the first phase, now the second phase will be child’s play.

Pabloc: "[Get ready for my signal.]"

There was no answer, but he could feel Soketsu’s smoldering will on the other side. He was angry at the scientist’s reckless behavior, and he couldn’t blame him. There was no time to explain things to him after all. Nevertheless, he managed to create a good distance for him, now he only needed to force out the perfect opening

As he raised his head, he could see the mercenary scrambling onto his feet as well. As he analyzed the situation, the scientist’s lips curved into an amusing smile. Apparently his landing was still softer than his opponent's, testified by the shallow imprint of the mercenary’s body on the wall and floor.

Adhi: "Tch!"

After scooping up his weapon, Adhi turned to the scientist.

Adhi: "How reckless."

Pabloc: "Well, excuse me for…" He reached for his nose then suddenly realized that there were no glasses to adjust. He paused for a moment and then let out a hearty chuckle, much to the mercenary’s surprise. "Oh, sorry. I didn’t want to ruin the tension of the moment, I was just reminded to a bad habit that I can’t get rid of."

Adhi: "… Bad habits die hard."

Pabloc: "True enough."

Adhi: "How about you?"

The scientist couldn’t help but smile at the taunting question.

Pabloc: "Do you care to find out?"

Right at this moment, a sly smile rose on the mercenary’s face. Then the face itself disappeared. It happened in an instant. The man moved quicker than ever before, his scythe slicing through the air faster than sound.

There was only a small splatter of blood. At least smaller than one would expect.

Adhi: "What the…?!"

Pabloc: "Hehehe…Krgh…! He. Gotcha."

Soketsu: "PABLOC!"

Pabloc: "[NOW!]"

The voice in the man’s head was not just some signal, it was an absolute order. It was all that Soketsu needed.

Soketsu: "UAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!"

He lunged towards the two with a primal howl, his right hand flaring with a brilliant blue light and a scorching heat that could give even the seven flames of Hell a run for their money. He rushed through the space between them in the blink of an eye, appearing in front of the mercenary as if he burst out of thin air, his extended hand burning with equal amounts of raw Ether, Viridia and rage…

~~~

Gabe: "Kay, could you hand me the big wrench?"

Kay: "‘Big’ wrench?"

Gabe: "The biggest one, I just need to hit something with it."

Kay: "… Here’s a hammer."

Gabe: "Oh, thanks. Where was I? Oh, yes…"

In the workshop, nothing has changed. Gabe was still repairing the entrance. Kay was giving him a hand every now and then while arguing about Core-mechanics. Lily was still… well, Lily.

As for Jill, she was still confused, lost and, by now, really irritated. The man barely talked to her and avoided even eye-contact, even though she was just like a fish out of water. The only reason she didn’t stand up and grabbed him by the collar yet was because she felt really weak and wasn’t even sure she could stand with this body.

Speaking of body, she looked all over herself once again. It seemed like her face was the same, as far as she could tell, but everything else… She was apparently a human, just to name the most important change, not to mention the silver hair and the other, cosmetic differences in... measurements. It felt like her own body, but still, she wanted to know why she was like that already.

Suddenly, the girl at his side jumped up as if she was shocked with electricity. For a short moment she just stood there with eyes wide open, then…

Lily: "… GABE!!!"

The two other females in the room involuntarily shuddered hearing Lily’s tempestuous yell. At the same time, the scientist threw the hammer aside with only a slightly dazed expression. For a moment the two of them were solemnly looking at each other, right until the man broke the silence.

Gabe: "Are you trying to say what I think you are trying to say without saying a word?"

Lily: "Yes. He is down." The little girls answered with a harsh voice, prompting the scientist to let out a tired sigh.

Gabe: "Great. Just after I told you guys that there is nothing to worry about…"

Kay: "W-what? What happened?"

The man’s expression suddenly became somewhat grave, but just as he was about to answer, Lily’s uncharacteristically harsh voice cut him off.

Lily: "Pabloc. He is dead…"