A full hour had passed since Edmond and company’s return from their meeting with Finn, this time gathering at Tatyana’s and Kloel’s apartment as it was closest to the Mageln café.

  Edmond had changed out of his suit, snacks and drinks had been served per Kloel’s insistence, and now the four of them sat by the couch and small dining table, much like they had done days before.

  Progress on their most current task was… inconsistent.

  “Maybe we could go with him being an undercover officer?”

  “No way. We don’t know what they’d use to prove their identity, and why would we know before the cops themselves in that case?”

  “Speaking of which, couldn’t the police have some real informants that have let them know about this? If one of us went to the station, we might be able to figure something else out. Or even better, get them to send their people out today, if only to keep watch.”

  “They could even reach some breakthrough if they don’t already know something about it. Yeah, we should go to the station tonight at the test.”

  That was not because of doubts over how to proceed.

  While they were not able to use Finn’s information all that easily, they did have the information itself. The most significant hurdle was cleared for them ahead of time, and the worst case scenario would simply mean full honesty and disclosure. The whole discussion over a front narrative, an excuse to present to the authorities, was something they could forgo without issue should push come to shove. Something completely unnecessary.

  ‘Unnecessary’ being the key word, which the group seemed to acknowledge, going by the priorities they constantly switched to, in terms of both actions and timing.

  The group… Edmond aside, that was.

  He had not taken a sip of his water or eaten from the chips in the bowl yet. In all honesty, he was finding it increasingly difficult to simply stay there, let alone partake in the conversation. He may have been the only one so concerned over the front story they had to think up, that which would keep Finn safe even when using his information, and as such, the dissatisfaction probably y with Edmond alone.

  It’s like they’re not even thinking about him…

  He sighed and leaned back on the couch, brow furrowed. The low importance they gave to the redheaded Thorn did not come as a surprise to him, but it did not make the fact any easier to handle when things were so dire.

  It was not like Edmond did not know why they needed to use the information quickly. The Violet Thorn’s pns endangered many people terribly and threatened to change the very bance of Seyfelt as a city, but it was precisely that reason that made him think about Finn all the more, and frustrated him when Cude, Tatyana and even the previously supportive Kloel seemed to just treat him like a secondary issue.

  Was he not a potential victim of the Violet Thorn’s moves too? Had he not put himself in even greater danger to give them a fighting chance, weakening the element of surprise?

  … No, he was being unfair.

  The three of them were doing their best, now even thinking of the best ways to counter different approaches by the Violet Thorn, whereas Edmond himself was still stuck on the mere narrative with which to alert the knights and the police.

  The fact he was still irritated, still stressed despite knowing that very well was yet another, equal source of frustration.

  “Should we expect a curfew to be put up?”

  “I doubt it. And even if they want to, we should try to convince them not to. Most cadets are way better at using powered gear than the average Thorn, so more of them being out means the Thorns have to be more careful.”

  “It’s not that simple. The Thorns are used to violence, they won’t be holding back and we have no idea how many there are. Guns are still an issue on their own, and we’re not even considering the Unmasked.”

  Edmond barely listened, struggling to retain much of what he knew was, by all accounts, very important to keep in mind. His attention wandered to the gray evening sky past the window, to that thin door with the unique knob, to Tatyana herself, to his phone… which just buzzed noticeably. Only it was not his personal cellphone doing so.

  Edmond’s attention had not moved there randomly, and it was his instinct to pull out the burner right then and there. But with another look at the group, another second of listening to their discussion…

  … he instead stood up from his seat, casually as he could, and began walking away.

  “Mm?” Tatyana voiced out inquisitively.

  “Restroom. I’d rather be the one talking to the police, and if it’s such a priority, it’s better if I go do it soon.”

  “You already have a cover story?” Kloel asked with surprised eyes.

  Edmond had to resist a frown from showing as he attempted to respond.

  “I don’t need to mention Finn unless I go into a lot of detail, right? Right now, I can just say I’ve seen Thorns with knight weapons. I’m a cadet so the police are likely to believe me, and I can even act like I’m afraid they might attack to steal more. I’ll come across as a real paranoid guy but that’s no problem.”

  This was not an excuse he had just come up with, but it was still one that did not fully satisfy him. Nonetheless, Kloel and the others seemed to not mind it nearly as much as he did, nodding after a few seconds before returning to their discussion.

  Edmond’s annoyance almost throbbed briefly, but it quickly subsided as he walked away into the corridor, toward Tatyana’s room.

  One of the two bathrooms in the apartment was there, of course, but most importantly, it was also where the bag with his suit was. Tatyana had been interested in fixing what she could since that first morning, but repairs were not what he was interested in now.

  Lifting the bag just to make sure the suit was still there, he did not even open it as he approached the still poorly mended window, then pulled out the burner phone in his pocket. The message that had just arrived… made him open the window up and throw the bag right outside, double-checking only so it would fall on the trees of the building’s small garden, rather than on some unfortunate passerby.

  There was an address he recognized on the text, and the password they had agreed on was also present. But what took over Edmond’s attention almost entirely was the body of the message.

  There was no real complexity, or any extra data. It was a single line, even; but that single line told him more than ten in other words.

  [help please I cant]

  At first, Edmond had completely forgotten about the password’s importance, and he wondered if he would have even cared should it be absent.

  He closed the window just how he opened it, with his best attempt at both urgency and silence. He thought of how little he knew about the upcoming conflict, about the people and even the violence he might face. The sort of danger that he could be throwing himself into.

  The man-shaped monster from that night appeared in his thoughts once again, and he could not help but stop his stride for a moment.

  … Am I going to leave him to them?

  He resumed his walk as easily as he stopped.

  Stepping out of the room, and then the corridor, he came across the sight of those three again. They were not talking much at the moment, but their expressions looked as worried as they were focused; enough to probably lose sleep over the issue come the following nights.

  … Edmond slowed down for a few seconds, then exited the apartment without saying anything else.

  He rushed as soon as the door closed behind him, and after one painfully long elevator wait and some more walking, he was out of the building.

  So, which tree caught it?

  Edmond turned and ran to the left, recalling the garden’s location from his earlier, higher vantage point. The grass was well kept, which alongside the gushing fountain, tools for casual exercise and children’s py, as well as the stone sculptures, could have made for quite the lovely ndscape. The small size of the whole thing, however, instead made it look extravagant and tacky above anything else.

  Four trees of various heights were spread across the garden, one alone and three grouped up. Edmond saw the bag he had dropped near the tter ones, not even caught on a branch but on the exposed parts of the roots.

  Caring little for the slight subversion of his expectations, he picked up the bag and set forth, slinging it over his right shoulder as he headed out of the property.

  He climbed and leapt upon a rooftop as soon as possible, not wanting to accidentally freak out random passersby minding their own business with his speed. Though in all honesty, neither keeping a low profile nor keeping people on the street comfortable were anywhere near the top of his current priorities.

  So Edmond ran. He sprinted and jumped and dashed across building walls and tops, knowing the pce he had to reach and seeing only time as his enemy.

  Some pain and general discomfort remained in several parts of his body, but at the moment, aside from his right forearm, it was mostly the after-effects from his blunder at the knight facility’s gym that bothered him. Whether from the efficacy of all the care he had received, or simply the effect of the medical gel when given enough time and rest, the traces of his injuries were not enough to meaningfully impede his advance anymore.

  “So, what are you actually trying to do?”

  Which only made Tatyana somehow catching up and speaking from his side all the more impressive. His foot nded perilously on the edge of a chimney at that moment, almost causing him to lose his bance and fall right on his face.

  “Don’t go breaking your neck, we just need to talk.” She added with sarcasm that did not fit her serious expression at all.

  Edmond bounced off the chimney prematurely, nding by the roof’s edge before following into a jump, then running up the next wall. Seeing Tatyana match his path toward higher ground almost simultaneously, he looked away toward the front and gritted his teeth.

  “We don’t. I said I’m going to the police station, so if you’re not helping Cude and Kloel you could just go alert the facility instead.”

  “No way you think I fell for that.”

  Edmond felt himself recoiling instinctively at her reveal, and without having to turn, could make a very good guess at Tatyana’s reaction.

  “… You did? Just what happened that’s got you so sloppy?”

  “You’re being so paranoid for no reason.”

  He heard Tatyana groan audibly, perhaps restraining a swear.

  “Am I!? Yeah, like you’re just going to use the bathroom in my room, not caring for how weird it looks and that you’ve only been using the other one until now. Oh, and it so happens to be the room you could get the bag you’re holding right now, while not even heading in the station’s way!”

  Edmond only grew more and more stressed. As she said, he had been sloppy. Even without the detail Tatyana brought up, he knew very well that his exit had been rushed, frantic and badly pnned. ‘Sloppy’ was the perfect word to describe it.

  But he had something much more important to think about. Something he could not afford to dey to think of a better pn.

  “Did the guy message you? Is that what this is all about?”

  Tatyana hit the nail on the head, and Edmond could not have been unhappier. He pivoted on his leg, then jumped to the right. Grabbing onto the approaching fire escape, he hopped up onto the next building.

  Obviously frustrated from his ck of a response, the girl clicked her tongue before speaking again.

  “You’re just… Whatever. I’m not saying you shouldn’t go if he asked for you, okay? But why sneak out without telling us anything?”

  She would not stop pestering him until she got a reply. He knew that much, and if slowing him down was what she needed to get him to talk…

  No. He did not want to think she would go that far, but he also did not want to test her. So he took a painful breath of cold air, and gave Tatyana what she wanted.

  “I already mentioned other things I’d rather you all be doing. Aren’t those the priorities? You wouldn’t even talk about Finn unless I brought him up.”

  Finally, Edmond turned to her as he spoke. As expected, her eyes narrowed aggressively, eager for confrontation.

  “That’s what you were thinking back at the apartment? That we just weren’t considering him at all? I know you get this tunnel vision when seeing the one poor guy in need of help, but seriously, he’s one among all the people who could get caught up in this issue!”

  “How’d I know you think of Finn as even one of them? Earlier today you were against just meeting with him; saying that he likely was some criminal asshole, that it wasn’t worth to even check if he needed help or—”

  Edmond could not continue. The way in which Tatyana’s eyes went wide open, like she had been made aware of some terrible, painful secret, made any follow-up words he had thought of vanish instantly.

  He wanted to say something else, in a completely different direction, but found himself at an absolute loss. It gave the girl time to frown, her pupils momentarily darting away as her lips pressed conflictedly.

  “… I… I made a mistake, you’re right. Two for two, go me...”

  “Look, I didn’t mean to—”

  “It doesn’t matter. This is something I need to realize on my own, and make up for. I know why you don’t want me to help with this, but… why not ask Baudeire? Or even Kloel. She also wanted to give the guy a chance, so why not her?”

  Edmond fell silent once more. Not because of finding no words like before, but because they were words he did not want to say. Still, he knew better than to waste more time, and forced a response out.

  “I’m healed up, okay? Not one hundred percent, but I can act on my own. You don’t have to keep babysitting me, and neither do they.”

  “Babysitting…? What kind of excuse even is that!? This is dangerous stuff you’re getting into, whether you’re hurt or not right now is not the reason we want to help!”

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake, can’t you see that just makes it all harder for me!?”

  Edmond had yelled out before he could even try to restrain himself, silencing Tatyana’s initial attempts to interrupt him. Not wanting to see whatever her face looked like now, he turned forward, gradually slowing down as they drew nearer to the address in the message.

  But he was far from done, like a broken dam.

  “It’s one thing to help me investigate something. I really appreciate you patching me up, and even giving me a pce to sleep. You helping me get stronger, in a better way… Everything. It’s much more than I can thank you all for with just words. But this just isn’t the same!”

  “How!?” She spat back, more in frustration than outward concern. “Don’t try to bullshit me. I even had to show you you’re not some weakling, for crying out loud. There’s no way you think any of us can’t make the cut so why not let us help with this!? Is it not enough that I already fought the Thorns with you!?”

  An image fshed past Edmond’s mind and stayed there, matching Tatyana’s words with such perfection.

  She was not dressed too heavily, but still matched the cold weather with a thick, dark green crewneck. So why was it that when so covered up, he could still see the wounds on her back as clearly as back then?

  I don’t have time for this.

  He stopped his run, knowing he should be changing into his suit before proceeding any further. Tatyana herself stopped by his left side, but Edmond refused to pay her any extra attention. Talking as they headed to the pce was one thing, but if he deyed the search for Finn now… Any embarrassment at changing clothes before her was irrelevant compared to the possible consequences.

  Only a strict, cw-like grasp on his upper arm prevented him from following through.

  “You’re not doing anything until we’re done here.”

  Her words stunned Edmond, with only a frustration that made him tremble as a repcement for his words. He turned to her, almost seeing red, and briefly considered fighting back.

  He was not stupid, though. No matter how highly Tatyana thought of his ability, she still did not speak of him as a match to her. If they fought, his chances were pathetic at best.

  It would not be a problem were she his only obstacle, but to think about facing the Violet Thorn right after, even if he somehow succeeded…

  By all means, she was outright forcing him to deal with her, which made him inch even closer to outright rage.

  “Do you have any idea what you’re doing now? Someone could be dying right now!”

  “And does that mean I should let you tag along!?” Tatyana shouted with anger that seemed painful, her grip on Edmond’s arm so strong his breath was briefly cut. “If you go into this on your own, let alone with your thinking as it is, you’ll just get him and you killed! So tell me! What else do I need to prove so you’ll let me help out!?”

  But that was far from enough to prevent his words from coming out, with a voice that spared no one, especially not himself, from its vindictiveness.

  “You fought them, you said.” He felt his throat ache, and not only from the cold breaths he drew in again. “You also got hurt for that. You talk of your mistakes so much, while completely ignoring mine.”

  “…? What are you even…?”

  Edmond could barely handle it. He no longer felt merely frustrated, but completely infuriated. How was it that he had to expin this to yet another person?

  “You’re right I have a tunnel vision problem, as well as many more, but what can I actually do about it? Knowing there are people out there in danger, being unfairly ignored, hurt or worse and yet they know they can’t do anything about it… It hurts so much. It scares me, and it won’t ever get out of my mind! I just want to help those people, to make sure they won’t feel hopeless like that, so what’s even the point if I just end up adding more of them to the pile!?”

  He stopped for breath and that alone. If not for that, he did not know how long he would have gone on for, but he did not have time to even ponder that. Tatyana looked at him… like he was a completely different type of being. Something incomprehensible.

  “You think if I get hurt helping you out… it’s your fault? You think you’re the one doing the hurting!?”

  Edmond did not reply. Nothing more needed to be said, no matter her disbelief. All he could do now was confront her eyes without faltering, and wait for whatever she wanted to say now.

  “Then where would you even put yourself!?”

  “…?”

  She went for something confusing, enough so that he almost asked a dumb question, but she did not need one to continue.

  “It’s true I just don’t think about the problems of strangers on the level you do. Most people don’t, and I can’t really imagine how someone like you feels, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care for the people I know. It doesn’t mean I don’t feel the same as you; just as stressed, just as scared and just as panicked when a friend decides to jump all alone into that danger!”

  Edmond could feel Tatyana’s furor. Enough frustration in her words to outdo the pain on his arm, spoken with such force to almost make him take a step back.

  “… You seriously don’t get it. Look, personal bias is not the priority here!”

  “Oh, so I’m biased now!? Then what’s your deal with this ‘teacher’ person!? Or the police!? I haven’t seen you compin about what they’re doing, or even about relying on the instructors to deal with the Thorns! Why is it all fine for them to help and get into the thick of it, but not us!?”

  Edmond stiffened up. An irrational desire to simply run off welled up inside him; he did not need to bear any of this. But Tatyana’s grip was uncompromising, without sck. No matter how much the implications tortured him, he knew he had to deal with her now, somehow.

  “It’s not like I asked them to take that responsibility… They’re not doing it because of me!”

  “Then is this just about your selfishness!?” She stepped in closer, and this time Edmond could not avoid pulling back. Her fingers promptly went so tight he thought they might break his skin. “What happened to all that worry you have for even strangers!?”

  Edmond forcefully stopped his retreat, not even due to the pain. He gred instinctively, defensively, but Tatyana did not stop her advance. Not until she was close enough for their shoes to almost touch.

  Not for any ck of strength in her expression, her gaze softened just a tad, and only then did Edmond notice he was again unable to respond.

  “I won’t tell you to stop worrying over people that way, or to stop acting on those worries. But both me and especially you know… it’s not a struggle one person alone can endure.” Her hand went tighter than ever for a moment, but then became somehow gentler than her first grip. “You’re changing nothing by trying all this on your own, other than pushing your concern onto others. Please, Edmond… If only to make people who care about you feel better, just let us deal with some of that struggle.”

  “…”

  Three seconds passed. Five, and then ten. No words were spoken at all, by Edmond or Tatyana. Even the air seemed to have stopped, the cold not even registering as either annoyance or comfort.

  Did they simply have no more wishes to express? No, that was not quite it.

  Edmond simply felt heavy. Weighed down by such a heavy sense of disillusion, which made way to something even he could not fully identify.

  “… Is that all you had to say? I’ve wasted enough time here.”

  Whatever it was closest to, it would have to be sheer rejection.

  Something in Tatyana seemed to shatter right then and there, but Edmond was beyond thinking any further on it.

  “You’re so full of yourself, thinking you know what’s best for me. You come here all on your own, Cude and Kloel nowhere to be seen, and want to give me that nonsense?”

  “Nonsense!?”

  Her rage was btant not only from her expression, but also from her hand, which again gripped with such strength he may have screamed in a different situation. Still, Edmond made no attempt to shake it off, letting his uncompromising gaze and words do all the work.

  “Did I stutter? You’re telling me to stop doing all this myself… Well, the same goes for you. You obsess over any of your mistakes, and will keep endangering yourself to make up for them, no matter what anyone tells you. Even now, you’re all fixated on what I’m doing because you can’t forgive yourself! Or should I say, you can’t stop wallowing?”

  “…! Edmond, you really—!”

  “Are you upset?” Edmond somehow forced a grin, even while not at all happy or amused. “Then just leave now. Do you need to hear me say it out loud? Well, I forgive you! I haven’t ever resented you for your mistake, so just let me do what I want! I’ve given you more than enough time to get over yourself!”

  Tatyana’s grip on his arm trembled. Her fiery eyes were as strong as ever, just as merciless as he had come to expect from them, but there was something else in them now. Something he could not identify for sure.

  “Are you seriously telling me this?”

  Edmond did not reply.

  He almost let himself gnce away, overwhelmed by what he was causing, but did not. Instead, he finally reached for her hand with his own… and put his utmost strength to make her let go.

  Tatyana’s gaze was one of real confusion, anger, and shock most of all. Her teeth seemed to gnash together, suppressing the welling emotion, but she managed to force out more words.

  “… You clueless imbecile! Fine! If you’re so amazing and don’t need any help then just—”

  “You’re still not done? If I wanted to watch a teen drama I’d stream it back at my pce.”

  The new voice’s invasion interrupted Tatyana.

  … No, it was not a new voice. As little as it was, there was some familiarity to it. Edmond had heard it before, and when both Tatyana and he turned, the air somehow felt ten times colder.

  A slender, smoothly curved build, with a hand of long, delicate fingers at her waist. Her otherwise well-cared for face now sported a still-healing scar, running from the center-right top of her lips all the way to her chin’s left, and that long, flowing hair colored in pink and blonde was an unmistakable tell.

  Wildcard.

  Edmond’s throat froze as if his body forgot how to breathe. Shivers rippled throughout him, and he felt an instinctive desire to back off and hide anywhere he could.

  But he was stopped by a stronger pressure on his hand. Tatyana’s own, which he had been pulling off him, was now gripping it tightly. Not with the aggression from before, but as if to counteract all of Edmond’s trembling with a feeling of security.

  Rather carelessly, in a reflex he could not stop, he turned… and saw her looking only at him. As if Wildcard’s presence was the lesser concern.

  Edmond took a deep breath before turning back to the Unmasked, but Tatyana did not let go of his hand. She probably knew that despite his best attempts to control his shaking, his nervousness had not decreased at all.

  And how could it? This woman, one of the most dangerous criminals in Seyfelt, had now seen him without his suit. Without his mask.

  Worst of all, beyond the way the woman’s eyes turned to him, not even like an insect but more like a piece of litter to be kicked aside, was a visible… understanding.

  “So you really were a kid. I’m getting so much from the pool—”

  “I’ll deal with her. You know what you came here for, so just run and go for that.”

  Tatyana whispered those words and finally let go of his hand. She then stepped forward, like a wall between Wildcard and Edmond.

  The Unmasked’s head tilted back slightly. Visibly amused, she spoke while stifling a chuckle.

  “No need to cover him, girl. That text you got? We’re the ones who sent it, so I don’t think splitting up is the best choice for either of you now.”

  Edmond only half-listened after a certain point.

  They sent the text? The call for help he thought came from Finn?

  The fact not only he but also Tatyana had fallen into a trap was obvious, but it was somehow still a secondary concern.

  After all, how had they sent the message? Only the burner he gave to Finn should have had his own burner’s contact recorded. And the password, which should only be known by him, the group, and Finn.

  Edmond thought more and more, and the chill inside him grew and spread so rapidly that he impulsively asked.

  “You just… No. Where is… What did you do to…?”

  He could not finish one idea before starting with another one, panicked thoughts overtaking every corner of his mind.

  But Wildcard appeared to understand perfectly, her expression a wholly vindictive type of delight.

  “If you’re asking about the limp-dicked rat, I can’t tell you much. All the rest of us got to check was the phone you gave him. Miasma got him so… It’s not really something I want to know any details about~!”

  From one moment to another, the chill within Edmond became blistering, painful heat. One that also did away with any remotely complex thoughts like embers in the wind.

  His fear and apprehension had not disappeared. They had not so much as shrunk, but something else had overtaken them completely.

  Something he had to do.

  He ignored Tatyana’s voice, shook off a hand trying to hold him back and lunged toward Wildcard. He just had to reach her; once he did, once he got fist, bde and spell on her… Whatever was needed to make her talk, he would rescue Finn and it would all be alright.

  It was not too te. She did not say he was too te. He could not be too te or else—

  —Edmond was less than a meter away from the Unmasked when his field of vision spun. His legs had left the ground, his arms were like loose shoeces, and his insides seemed about to burst from within him like a water balloon.

  He recalled the st time he had felt something simir, when he was punched by Hellbound, and his terror swelled when remembering his current location. How he might just fall all the way down to the street, to a fate with no guarantees that he could do nothing to avoid.

  His body flew for a split second before crashing and sliding across the concrete, but from luck that was nothing short of miraculous, he was barely stopped by the roof’s raised lip at the very edge.

  “…! A-Ahh…”

  But that was it for any upsides.

  What little movement Edmond could manage, the pathetic twitching he was allowed, was completely out of his control. Excruciating pressure radiated from the area around his liver toward everything else, like every organ in his body had ruptured into paste.

  He even started to doubt his very survival when the feeling of asphyxia only continued to deepen, no matter how much desperate effort went into his attempts to breathe.

  “Still alive? I honestly thought you’d be split in two, not wearing that costume and all.”

  Wildcard let out a small, frighteningly honest ugh.

  He could still somewhat move his eyes. Though his vision was blurred with tears, the enormous block of metal that stuck out of the roof tower, like an I-beam thickened to match its height, was impossible to miss.

  “Edmond!”

  Snapping out of her initial shock, Tatyana ran toward him before stopping suddenly. With enough force to make the rooftop tremble, four partially overpping bdes burst and spread out before her, ranging from three to five meters long and while reaching one in width.

  “That piece of shit can wait. It’s you I came here for, so be mindful of that—”

  Wildcard jumped to the left all of a sudden, higher than three meters.

  An arrow-like fsh of silver light briefly occupied the pce she had just been in, before bursting into exhausted dregs of prana and a cloud of smoke and dust. Not only the explosion, but even the trail of the spell caused the surroundings to heat up more than a summer day.

  Tatyana gred at the nding Wildcard with eyes just as fiery.

  “Want me to make you all symmetrical or what?”

  Wildcard brought two fingers together as her smile widened forcefully, enough for Edmond to think the scar on her lips would tear further.

  “You’ll scream before I’m done with you.”

  Tatyana’s pupils darted around without dey.

  The attack began the instant Wildcard clicked her fingers, with a dense lightning bolt sprouting from the building behind her. Tatyana stepped aside with time to spare, but a halberd of red-hot metal cut through the air in her path as she did so, forcing her to leap above it in a decidedly closer call. A blob-like projectile of misty prana waited in that direction, but the girl predicted right this time, countering with a brilliant bze from her left hand.

  The two spells collided into a mass of heat and noise that seemed to distort the surrounding air, while almost numbing Edmond’s eardrums.

  She can detonate her traps whenever she wants!?

  He squirmed desperately. Even moving his fingers was difficult, but he could still draw in prana to an extent. Gritting his teeth, Edmond strengthened whatever parts of his body still responded to his will.

  … It was not enough. All he managed was to barely turn, now ying on his side. The extreme effort did away with any control he had achieved before, and he felt bile and stomach contents pour out of his mouth erratically.

  Damn it! Just move! I can’t just…!

  But not all was stress for Edmond. After all, with his new position allowing him a better look at the unfolding battle, he saw Tatyana was holding her own quite well.

  In fact, it could be said she was dominating.

  Over a dozen of Wildcard’s traps had been triggered by now. A fming sword from above, a thick blizzard from the right, giant stone spears from above and below, a missile-like lump of light which turned back upon missing…!

  But no matter what they were, even while attentively covering for Edmond’s downed form, Tatyana managed to dodge, parry, counter, and twist away from every attack. Not only that, but with each spell she prevailed against, she drew closer to Wildcard herself.

  The Unmasked clearly knew she could not compete in close quarters, moving constantly in a hasty retreat from whatever direction Tatyana approached, but the task was clearly becoming increasingly difficult. Tatyana closed the gap more often, her own attacks came closer to their mark each time.

  After all, Wildcard herself was not Tatyana’s only target. Each spell she unched, no matter if it missed their initial target, continued to travel and more often than not, would trigger one or more traps of its own. With no traps, safe zones were created for her to move around.

  Their surroundings had been turned into Wildcard’s territory ahead of time. That was her biggest advantage, both her offensive and defensive power and what allowed her to keep away from Tatyana for this long. But it was being dismantled by the second, and once she ran out of traps, it would be over for her.

  A fist covered in silver fire barely missed its mark, but the condensed confgration reached beyond and singed the very tips of Wildcard’s hair and shawl. The Unmasked escaped from the immediate danger, but she had been brought to the corner of the rooftop. Right or left would only bring her closer to the enemy, and there was no more room to move back.

  Her only escape was up, and Tatyana knew that. The knight cadet’s motions were smooth, controlled and no slower for that, hinting at her having predicted and led things toward this outcome. She jumped high, back toward the wall of the neighboring, taller building.

  Edmond could see the outcome before it even happened. Tatyana would bounce off the safe zone, and whether Wildcard decided to jump or stay grounded, she would be tagged at st. She might withstand one of Tatyana’s hits, but there was no way she could resist the unavoidable follow-up.

  This was the end.

  Tatyana’s boots hit the brick wall, and—

  “…!?”

  A strident fre went off, worse than a dozen fshbangs at once.

  But… didn’t she clear that spot!?

  Edmond was already te to shut his eyes, but the suffering of his ears that he could not cover was much more of a problem. The numbing noise seemed to reverberate across his entire body, so much he thought his brain would melt and seep through whatever openings it could find.

  But within that sensory hellfire that had yet to wane, he somehow heard barely, yet undeniably distinct. A dry, striking and even sharp sound, or perhaps several. As unique as the noise of a bird being shot down, or a lizard being crushed underfoot.

  A suffocating sense of despair overwhelmed him, only growing further once he opened his eyes and saw, through the mesh of random colors in his vision that had yet to recover, the two silhouettes that approached.

  For only one walked, while the other was being dragged by an arm or leg, limp and defeated.

  A gleeful, repulsive voice reached Edmond’s ringing ears, but he could not understand any words before a merciless kick went for his face.

  He was out in a matter of seconds.