"Break the chains?! Is that supposed to be a joke?!" Laticia coldly laughed, having heard Albert's declaration.
She quickly twisted her left wrist, pulling the remaining chain whip as it slashed across, shattering part of the damaged quartz roof toward Albert and Clara. Albert merely smirked as Jetore launched forward.
"Chain bombing!!" Jetore shouted, naming his technique as he pointed his palm forward, out of which a series of ignited explosions were created, destroying the rubble and turning it to dust.
"I haven't gotten my revenge on you, you stupid bitch!" he declared, only for Laticia to smile creepily, though the veins bulging on her forehead showed her infuriation.
Behind Albert, Clara blinked, her eyes widened in surprise. She'd never expected that rookies, especially newcomers, would be this determined to stop a monster like Laticia on their first mission, no less. The prospect caused her to gently smile. *I see now, as always, your judgement was praise worthy, Carmalitta,* she thought, gripping part of her shoulder that was bleeding.
"You idiot! Don't be so confident!" Seracore scolded.
Only for Jetore to spit and shout back: "Don't tell me what to do! You damn weakling!"
Seracore's eye twitched as he stepped up, gripping his shield. "You wanna die or something? You shitty bomber?! I'll be more than happy to put you into the fucking ground!" Seracore blasted back.
Albert, however, had grown tired of the two. He walked forward, his hands in his pockets despite the tears and rips in his coat. He had a smug look on his face that was getting on Laticia's nerves, causing her red hair to flow uncontrollably as he walked and faced Jetore and Seracore, who were still busy arguing, even in the situation they were in.
"Alright then, if you both would rather argue over such petty things, then by all means! Continue! I'll take Laticia's head," Albert taunted, immediately catching Jetore and Seracore's attention.
Clara blinked before smirking. *Using their explosive egos to make them work with him, clever,* she thought before stepping forward, glaring at Laticia with disdain in her eyes.
Clara's wound received from her battle and strain was already beginning to heal, but the same could be said for Laticia, who at this point was almost entirely rejuvenated. Her crazed form unleashed tens of Chains of Subjugation that furiously slashed around her like the tentacles of an octopus. Her remaining chain whip connected to her left wrist was still sharp and ready to shred; the same could not be said for the one on her right wrist, which had shattered, its length drastically shortened to roughly two metres.
Laticia had a crazed smile, dripping saliva from her mouth, her breaths heavy. The two marks of the Enslaver from Second Tier burned on her neck as an aura of dominance radiated around.
*That's it, even though she's growing stronger and healing faster, it's taking a toll on her energy. She's even slowly losing it mentally,* Clara thought.
"ENOUGH CHIT CHAT!!! You either submit to my world or die!" Laticia loudly declared, about to swing her chain toward Seracore and Jetore, who flinched. Albert's eyes focused as all of them braced.
But suddenly, the already collapsing quartz flooring of the roof broke as a swarm of small spinning glowing blades emerged, surrounding Laticia like a thousand sparks. Her eyes widened in shock. *This… is?* she pondered for a mere second before Malikar's murderous form appeared behind her, his robes and long sleeves swinging. He held the handle of the Gladius qui Serpit, swinging it down with a menacing look.
"Enclosing Blades," he mentioned, naming his technique as the swarm of a million tiny blades spun and closed, encasing Laticia.
Albert's eyes widened. "What is that?!" he thought.
But suddenly, the swarm enclosed itself, seemingly swallowing Laticia as she screamed. Dust clouds erupted as the rubble shattered and blew, covering the area with smoke.
Clara was watching in shock, taking a step back. She recollected herself as her expression focused. *So that's the power of the Gladius qui Serpit, one of the twenty great scientific weapons from the Age of Discovery,* she thought.
Just then, Seracore hesitantly asked the question everyone pondered: "...So is she dead?"
Breathing heavily, Malikar pointed the handle of his missing blade forward as the swarm was attracted to the pull, conjoining together and reforming the blade of the sword. Albert could swear he saw strange metallic digital lines on part of the blade before it finished reforming.
**In the collapsed Auction Hall**
Dust from the breaking roof fell on Kiera's head as she shuddered, on her knees as Maddeline cradled Kran's dying form. The green light of her Passion Mark grew as his bleeding subsided. Maddeline was sweating, exhausted from overusing her power at this point, yet she didn't stop.
Beside them lay an unconscious Rennet, his body retaining some burns from his own tantrum earlier. Kiera gasped silently as she noticed his eyes flutter before suddenly opening. With a grunt, he pushed himself up, his wounds already healing.
"Where the hell am I?!" he demanded, to a comically terrified Kiera who backed off.
"Shut it, hothead. You've already caused enough trouble by burning down the fortress. You put yourself and your allies at risk, dumbass," Maddeline said with a strangely indifferent tone as her eyes stayed on Kran.
Kran didn't say anything, instead weakly watching the exchange.
"WHAT WAS THAT YOU—" Rennet started but lost his words as his eyes widened at Kran's wounds, which were being slowly healed and stabilized by Maddeline. He regained his composure slowly before gently cracking his neck with a thud. "So… what happened to Mr. Boss?" Rennet asked with a smug grin.
Maddeline's eye twitched as her teeth ground, but Kran answered: "Laticia Sendorlitch, our target. She was much more powerful and cunning than I anticipated. Though… part of my defeat is from my own… *cough* hesitation…" Kran said in a shaky tone as Rennet's expression turned neutral.
"Tck, what a lame first showing from a Crimson Stain! If you fight to kill someone, then you gotta burn every inch of hesitation to get the job done! Elite Marked Mercenary my ass!" Rennet projected with a scowl, shocking Kiera and angering Maddeline.
"You don't know a thing about—" Maddeline was interrupted before she could finish her defense as Kran spoke.
"You are right. I have failed… *cough* failed to kill Laticia, failed to complete the mission… hehe… it seems *cough* I've grown weak and subdued, a mere fraction of the efficient killer I once was," he said, shocking Maddeline.
"Hey! Don't talk like that! It's not your fault, you idiot!" Maddeline yelled, but Kran simply smiled gently.
Rennet opened his mouth to speak but closed it, uncomfortable. He hadn't expected the usually cold Mr. Kran to show such genuine acceptance and emotion before.
"I failed to be of use to Master Yura… even after all he's done for me… *cough* I was unable to carry out this final mission," Kran continued.
"...You bastard… don't talk like you didn't do anything. Think of the countless missions you completed like it was nothing?! The hundreds of criminals you killed for justice?! The thousands of lives you've saved… including mine… without you, I would've never found my place as a Marked Mercenary… so please… forgive yourself… Erenor!" Maddeline pleaded, tears welling in her eyes.
Rennet was silent. She'd never seen this kind of worry and sadness in Maddeline, who was usually so calm and cheeky—granted, they'd only known each other for a few days by now.
Kran thought silently before looking at his wound, which was beginning to close, though his face was pale. A moment of recollection grew in his eyes, his Passion Mark reacting as the energy flowed, boosting Maddeline in her effort to heal him.
"What is…" she said.
"You are right… I'd almost forgotten myself. I am Space Stealer Kran of the Marked Mercenaries… *cough* one of the seven Crimson Stains… I cannot die without seeing this mission to its end," he said with a soft smile.
Rennet lingered, his gaze shifting to Kiera, who seemed relieved for a moment. "Oi, Kirara or whatever your dumb name was, come with me!" he said to Kiera's surprise. "I ain't losing out on the action this time!!" he declared, fisting his palm with a spark of flames. He could hear shaking and lots of destructive movement above them—honestly, it was a wonder how the roof hadn't completely collapsed yet.
"But are you in any condition to fight?!" Maddeline asked.
"No shit! Never underestimate an arsonist's desire to burn things to the ground!" Rennet replied.
Kiera hesitated, slightly afraid, before nodding and standing, clutching her instrument.
**On the roof, with the battle**
Smoke dissipated as the silhouette of a crazed woman with long flowing hair could be seen, red-tinted chains dancing and thrashing in all directions.
Jetore sweat and stumbled back. "What the fuck… just what is this bitch?!" he said.
A sweat bead ran down Malikar's forehead as his eyes narrowed, not paying the bomber any attention.
When the smoke cleared, a horrifying sight could be seen. Laticia stood with countless lacerations and cuts along her body from Malikar's attack. Blood spilled everywhere as her knees shook; her guts could be seen, almost spilling out as smoke emerged from her. Her violent Passion Mark grew even larger and redder.
"Well, I'll be damned. You're one freaky bitch," Malikar said with a tired smirk.
"Lady Clara, is this another side effect of a Second Tier?" Albert asked in a hurry.
Clara shook her head in response and replied: "No, look at her chains… the physical ones."
Albert blinked and looked at Laticia's chain whips. They had tears and cracks covering the lustrous surface.
"What?!" Seracore demanded, pushing toward Albert, who tried to regain his composure in a shaky breath.
"It seems she spun those whip-like chain weapons in rapid succession, deflecting the brunt of that swarm of blades attack," he answered.
"HAHAHA!! IT HURTS!! Now that's what I call dirty… YOU DAMN BASTARD!!!" Laticia shouted as she flashed toward Malikar, breaking the quartz rubble, her flesh growing as her wounds closed in a horrific display of regeneration.
"Tck!" Malikar grunted as he twisted his sword to parry the winding chain. A clang sound could be heard as sparks emanated from the blow. The two engaged in a series of parries and clashes as Malikar repeatedly slashed the Gladius qui Serpit against Laticia's chain whips.
*Not just her regeneration… but her speed's also increasing!* Malikar thought as he ducked under the long chain whip that shattered part of the quartz flooring, repelling the tile off the side. He then appeared below Laticia and swung his blade. She flipped in the air, the blade slicing off a piece of her hair as red follicles fell.
Jetore, who was watching in shock, finally turned and asked: "Hey! Who the fuck is that navy guy? And what's with that freaky sword!"
Albert and Seracore looked to Clara for an answer too.
Clara sighed, holding her arm which was healing from a cut. "Captain Malikar of the Cryoharan Military… and that sword is the Gladius qui Serpit, one of the great scientific weapons of the Age of Discovery. The blade possesses the capability to split into a thousand flying minuscule blades that form a swarm, commanded by the wielder to shred its target… at least that's what I've gathered," she explained.
Jetore didn't seem surprised. The same could not be said for Albert and Seracore, who seemed shocked to their very core.
"You're kidding… THAT bastard's here?!" Seracore rhetorically asked.
"What bastard?! Who the hell?!" Jetore asked, only for Seracore to ignore him, to his irritation.
"But if he's here… that means the government's taking advantage of our raid to kill Laticia," Albert said before stepping forward.
Clara stretched as a cracking sound could be heard from her bones as her muscles flexed. A cold and menacing smile appeared on her face. "It doesn't change a thing… the objective remains the same. We'll kill Laticia, not just for the mission… but also to avenge Mr. Kran," she said.
"Tck, works for me," Seracore added.
Albert smiled cunningly, the coldness matching Clara's. "Then I'd like to propose we go with my plan, before it's too late. We can't let Malikar kill Laticia before us," Albert said, stepping forward.
Seracore was seemingly annoyed and irritated at the prospect of being bossed by a newcomer, though he listened regardless. Clara, however, smirked, confident as she spoke: "Go on."
Jetore comically raged as sparks flashed. "STOP IGNORING ME!!" he shouted.