Chapter 110: Night Chaser

  Raito stood amidst the dissipating smoke, his chest heaving, scanning the wrecked infirmary room. Glass crunched under his boots. The night air rushed in through the shattered window, carrying away the stinging scent of chemicals but doing nothing to cool the rising panic in the room.

  "Go!"

  Yukari’s voice cut through the chaos, sharp and commanding. She leaned heavily on her crutch, her face pale but her eyes fierce. She gestured to the weirdly deep asleep Dr. Nezhat and the shell-shocked Malik.

  "I'll take care of Dr. Nezhat and Malik," she said, wincing as she shifted her weight. "My ankle is still injured, I will only get in the way of the chase. Go help Mother Lihua! She can't fight them alone while trying to save the Princess!"

  "Well, what are you waiting for, boy?!" Tanvir bellowed, stepping up beside Raito. "Let's go!"

  "Right," Raito nodded, his expression hardening. He turned toward the window, ready to... do something heroic.

  "Lift me up," Tanvir commanded, holding out his arms.

  "What?" Raito blinked, his momentum stalling. He looked down at the museum director.

  "My legs are too short for this speed," Tanvir grumbled, his face flushing slightly behind his beard. "You have to carry me."

  Raito stared at him. "You are the Quake Lord. Can't you... I don't know, ride a wave of earth? Or make a pillar to launch yourself?"

  "Do you want me to demolish half the residential district on the way?!" Tanvir snapped, gesturing at the tightly packed buildings outside. "We are trying to save the city, not flatten it! Come on, just carry me!"

  "Urgh," Raito groaned, rubbing his face. "Fine. But this is so embarrassing."

  He crouched down. Tanvir didn't hesitate; he scrambled onto Raito's back, wrapping his thick, muscular arms around Raito's neck in a chokehold. The weight was immense—like carrying a solid boulder wearing a vest.

  "Now, go!" Tanvir shouted, pointing forward like a cavalry commander signaling a charge. "Hi-yah!"

  Raito nearly face-planted from the sheer density of the man. Gritting his teeth, he surged forward—not toward the window, but toward the door.

  He bolted into the hallway, his boots thudding against the floorboards, and threw himself into the stairwell.

  "Why are we taking the stairs?!" Tanvir demanded, his voice bouncing off the narrow walls as they spiraled down.

  "Uhh..." Raito panted, taking the steps three at a time, gravity fighting him every inch of the way. "Because I can't really leap across rooftops like Lady Lihua can! I'm human!"

  He burst out of the infirmary's front doors and hit the street running.

  "Hopeless," Tanvir grumbled into Raito's ear.

  "You are the one who decided to use me as your personal transport!" Raito shot back, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he sprinted down the cobblestone street. "So stay silent and enjoy the ride!"

  "Just go left here!" Tanvir barked, ignoring the complaint. "I'll be your guide. Cut through the alley!"

  Raito swerved, his boots skidding on the stone, and dashed into the dark alleyway.

  Above them, in the distance, the night sky flickered.

  BOOM.

  A plume of fire erupted over the rooftops, painting the underbelly of the clouds in violent shades of orange and crimson. A split second later, a jagged bolt of lightning answered it, tearing through the smoke. The sounds of battle rolled over the city like thunder—a clash of titans waking the sleeping capital.

  "What was that?!" Raito yelled, gesturing vaguely with his head toward the distant explosions lighting up the skyline.

  "That's the signal of the party starting without us!" Tanvir shouted, tightening his grip around Raito's neck. "Run faster! That Red One is too reckless!"

  He peered over Raito's shoulder, his face grim. "What if the Princess gets caught in the crossfire? I hope she is still in one piece."

  "Turn right here!" Tanvir commanded, pointing a thick finger down a narrow side street.

  "Okay!" Raito gasped.

  He turned left.

  "I SAID RIGHT!" Tanvir roared, grabbing Raito's head with both hands and physically cranking it to the right.

  "Sorry! Sorry!" Raito yelped, nearly tripping over his own feet as he made a frantic, skidding U-turn. He corrected his course, sprinting down the correct path, his legs burning.

  Meanwhile, high above the city streets, the battle was raging across the rooftops.

  "SIT STILL!"

  Zhu Lihua roared, her voice echoing over the wind. She was in mid-air, her red qipao snapping behind her like a battle flag. She thrust her palm forward, and a condensed bullet of searing flame shot from her hand, streaking through the night like a comet aimed directly at the fleeing figure's back.

  "Clyde! Intercept!" Kaden shouted from the captor's grip.

  The massive hooded man didn't slow his stride. He spun mid-leap, his movements unnaturally fluid for someone of his size. From beneath the depths of his dark cloak, a jagged bolt of yellow lightning shot out.

  CRACK-BOOM!

  The lightning collided with Zhu's fireball in mid-air. The two forces met with a deafening explosion, canceling each other out in a brilliant flash of light and shockwave that rattled the tiles of the nearby roofs.

  "Lady Lihua! I'm also here!" Samira shrieked, her voice high with panic as she dangled precariously under the hooded man's other arm, watching the explosions bloom just feet away.

  "Sorry, Princess!" Zhu shouted back, landing gracefully on a chimney stack before launching herself again. "But don't worry! I'll take you back! Just hang tight!"

  The chase continued, a deadly dance across the skyline. The hooded figure bounded from rooftop to rooftop with impossible strength, clearing wide alleyways in single leaps. Zhu matched him jump for jump, her movements precise and relentless.

  "YOU!" Zhu yelled, gaining ground as they landed on a flat warehouse roof. "What do you need the Princess for?!"

  Kaden, peering over the hooded man's shoulder, grinned. The black dye was gone, revealing his true, vibrant hair color in the moonlight. "For a bargaining chip!" he answered, his voice smug. "And my own safety, of course! You wouldn't risk burning the heir to the throne to a crisp, would you?"

  Zhu narrowed her eyes, summoning another ball of fire but holding it back. "And that lightning," she demanded, gesturing to the hooded figure. "It's not a Core. Nor your own power. Where did it come from?"

  "Why should we tell you?" Kaden laughed, a manic sound that drifted back on the wind. "Hahaha!"

  Zhu aimed, calculating the trajectory. But the hooded man shifted his weight, twisting his massive torso so that the Princess was directly in the line of fire.

  "Tch!" Zhu exclaimed, dissipating the flames in her hand with a frustrated hiss. She couldn't risk it.

  "If you leave us alone, the Princess will be safe, you know!" Kaden shouted back, his voice taunting.

  "I'm not negotiating with you!" Zhu retorted, leaping across the gap between buildings.

  "Suit yourself!" Kaden laughed.

  They kept running, shadows flitting across the moonlit tiles. Zhu scanned the horizon, her mind racing. "Now... where are you?" she muttered, hoping for reinforcements.

  Back in the palace, the heavy doors of the throne room slammed open with a violence that made the guards jump.

  "He... he took Samira!"

  Malik stumbled in, his chest heaving, his face ghostly pale. He was shouting, but the sound was thin and terrified.

  "What?!" King Ahmed stood up so fast his throne scraped loudly against the dais. His eyes were wide with shock. Beside him, Queen Aleena gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Bob and Mila, who had been waiting for news, stood up instantly, their expressions hardening.

  "Who took my daughter?!" the King demanded, stepping down from the dais.

  "The culprit, Your Majesty."

  A steady, rhythmic tapping announced her arrival. Yukari hobbled into the throne room, leaning heavily on her crutch, her face set in a grim mask of determination.

  "Dr. Kadiem is the culprit," she added, her voice clear.

  "So Kadiem is the traitor?" the Queen exclaimed, her eyes flashing.

  "Yes," Yukari confirmed. "And his real name is Kaden. Not Kadiem. A Half-Sacred named Kaden."

  She took a breath, explaining as quickly as she could. "We still don't know his true motive, nor who he and that hooded man are working with. But Mother—no, Master Lihua—Sir Tanvir, and Raito are currently in pursuit."

  "Then we should also help!" The King turned to his captain of the guard. "Guards! Move out! Secure the city perimeter!"

  "Mila, please," Bob said, turning to his trusted bodyguard. His voice was quiet, pleading. "Bring her back."

  "I will help any way I can," Mila nodded sharply. She grabbed her massive greatsword from where it leaned against the wall, effortlessly hoisting the heavy weapon onto her shoulder.

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  She started running, her strides long and powerful. As she passed Yukari, she slowed for a fraction of a second.

  "Good job," she said. "I'll deal with the rest."

  And then she was gone, a blur of steel and determination disappearing into the night.

  Only Yukari, the Queen, the King, Malik, and Bob were left in the echoing silence of the throne room, waiting for news that might never come.

  In the maze of the lower city streets, Raito and Tanvir were still running.

  "Turn here!" Tanvir barked, pointing down another narrow alley.

  Raito skidded around the corner, nearly colliding with a stack of crates. "Why are we turning here?!" he gasped, sweat stinging his eyes. He gestured vaguely toward the flashes of light in the sky. "The explosion is that way!"

  "Shut up! I know what I am doing!" Tanvir snapped, tightening his grip on Raito's shoulders. "We are cutting them off! Now, listen to me!"

  He pointed a thick finger toward the end of the alley, where the buildings rose high on either side, creating a narrow canyon.

  "When I give you a signal, I want you to throw me up," Tanvir said.

  "Up... up where?" Raito asked, bewildered, slowing his pace slightly.

  "Just straight up!" Tanvir said, gesturing toward the sky. "As high as you can! Hopefully over the building!"

  "Huh?" Raito looked at the three-story building looming above them. "What made you think I have the strength to do that?! And you are heavy! I know because my back is starting to get sore!"

  "Just do it!" Tanvir insisted, shifting his weight. "Don't worry about the physics! Use your legs!"

  Raito sighed, a sound of pure resignation. "Alright, I guess."

  He stopped running, bracing his feet against the cobblestones. He reached up and grabbed Tanvir by the waist, readying the museum director in his arms like he was preparing to toss a particularly dense sack of flour.

  "On my mark!" Tanvir shouted.

  "I'm here."

  A voice echoed not in Raito's ear, but directly in Tanvir's head—a vibration he can only hear.

  "I know!" Tanvir shouted at the air, his eyes locking onto the sliver of sky between the roofs. "I am ready!"

  "Who are you talking to?!" Raito panted, looking around wildly.

  "Ignore that! Just get ready!" Tanvir commanded, his muscles coiling.

  "O... okay," Raito groaned, bending his knees, channeling every ounce of strength he had left into his legs and arms.

  "3.... 2.... 1... NOW!" Tanvir roared.

  "HRAAAAH!"

  With a heavy heave that strained every fiber of his being, Raito threw Tanvir upward with all his might. He expected resistance, the crushing weight of a boulder.

  Instead, Tanvir shot up like a cork from a bottle. He was suddenly, inexplicably light as a feather, soaring straight up into the night sky with dizzying speed.

  Raito stumbled back, staring up in disbelief as the short man goes up over the rooftop.

  Above the roofline, the chase was reaching its climax.

  "Urgh, she won't give up," Kaden growled, looking back at the relentless red streak that was Zhu Lihua.

  "Look forward," Zhu called out, her voice calm, a predator herding its prey.

  "Huh?" Kaden turned his head, confused.

  There, hanging in the air directly in their flight path, suspended at the apex of a jump that shouldn't have been possible, was Tanvir.

  "BOO! SURPRISE!" Tanvir shouted, grinning like a madman.

  He was levitating on the same plane level as Kaden and the hooded man. He raised his right arm. The dust and loose tiles from the surrounding rooftops flew toward him, coalescing in an instant around his fist.

  A giant hand of dirt, rock, and compressed stone formed around his arm, doubling his size.

  "TAKE THIS!"

  Tanvir swung. The giant rock fist slammed into the hooded man's face with the force of a falling meteor.

  CRUNCH.

  The hooded man, surprised by the ambush, didn't have a chance to dodge. He took the full brunt of the impact. His head snapped back, his grip faltering.

  "Kyahhh!"

  Samira shrieked as she slipped from his arm, tumbling into the free fall.

  "Clyde! How dare you!" Kaden cursed as he too was dropped, flailing in the air.

  Zhu saw the opportunity. Her eyes narrowed. "Got you."

  She dashed forward, leaping from the chimney stack. She intercepted Samira in mid-air, catching the princess securely in her arms. With the flexibility of an acrobat, she twisted, kicking off the side of a wall to kill her momentum.

  She bounded from building to building, a red blur, before landing softly, silently, on the cobblestone street below.

  "Are you alright, Princess?" Zhu asked, setting her down gently.

  "Ye... yes," Samira stammered, clinging to Zhu's arm, tears welling in her eyes. "Thank you!"

  "You're welcome," Zhu said with a warm smile. She tapped Samira's nose. "And please, don't tease my stepdaughter too much from now on."

  Samira nodded furiously. "I promise! Thank you!"

  A moment later, a grinding sound drew their attention. Tanvir was descending from the roof. He wasn't jumping; he was walking down a set of floating rock stairs that he was creating in real-time, step by step, looking incredibly pleased with himself.

  BOOM.

  A few meters away, the ground shook.

  The hooded man, regaining consciousness in mid-air, had grabbed the side of the building with claws that tore through stone. He used the friction to slow his descent, then caught the screaming Kaden just before he hit the pavement.

  They landed with a booming momentum that cracked the street, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris. The chase wasn't over yet.

  "Samira! Are you alright?!"

  Raito came running onto the scene, panting heavily, sweat pouring down his face from the sprint.

  "Yes! Lady Lihua saved me!" Samira cried, pointing to Zhu.

  At that moment, the dust cloud began to settle. In the center of the impact crater, Kaden and the hooded man stood up. They were dusty, but miraculously, barely injured.

  Kaden waved his hand, fanning the dust away from his face, coughing. "What should we do, Clyde?" he asked, his voice tight with panic as he looked at the powerful figures surrounding them. "The guards will be here any moment."

  "You. Run," the hooded man—Clyde—said. His voice was strange, mechanical and distorted, vibrating from deep within his chest. "The ship will be waiting for you. Our master is waiting."

  "What about you?" Kaden asked, hesitating.

  "Diversion," Clyde stated simply. "The intel you have is more important for Master. Go."

  "Urgh, fine," Kaden grimaced. He looked at his partner one last time. "You know what to do when they capture you." Shifting his body away from the scene.

  "I know. You don't need to tell me," Clyde said, cracking his neck with a sound like grinding gears.

  "He ran again!" Raito pointed out, spotting Kaden sprinting toward the edge of the city.

  "Then chase him!" Tanvir shouted the obvious, pointing a rock-encrusted finger.

  "Argh," Raito grunted, forcing his tired legs to move. He took off after Kaden.

  Clyde saw this movement instantly. He raised his hand, and jagged spears of yellow lightning crackled into existence, the air smelling sharply of ozone. He launched them at Raito's retreating back.

  CRASH.

  A wall of solid rock erupted from the ground between Raito and the lightning, absorbing the impact with a heavy thud.

  "Your opponent is me," Tanvir said, stepping out from behind the stone shield, his eyes hard.

  "He was my prey first," Zhu commented, walking up beside him, cracking her knuckles. "But I guess I can leave it to you."

  "Just watch and protect the Princess, will you?" Tanvir replied, not looking back.

  "Don't order me around," Zhu snapped, though she didn't move to engage. She stepped closer to Tanvir, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Try to get as much information out of him as possible. That energy from his lightning... you can sense it too, right?"

  Tanvir nodded grimly. "I know! I can sense it too. It feels... like her. I will make sure to make him talk."

  "Good," Zhu said. She turned to Samira, her demeanor shifting to one of calm protection. "Now, Princess, while the short, stubby Uncle Tanvir takes care of business, let's sit down over there." She gestured to a nearby bench, safely out of the line of fire.

  "Yes?" Samira said, confused but following obediently.

  "I AM NOT STUBBY!" Tanvir shouted over his shoulder.

  He turned back to the hooded figure, his expression darkening. "I believe Kaden called you Clyde, huh? It's your bad luck to be fighting me right now. I am roaring to let out some stress."

  The hooded man tilted his head.

  "O Quake Lord," Clyde said, his voice a metallic rasp. "You look down on me too much. Fear not. You will know..."

  He reached up with both hands.

  "...that your age has long gone. You old model."

  RIIIIP.

  Clyde tore the ragged hood from his body.

  What was revealed beneath made the moonlight shudder.

  He wasn't fully man, nor fully machine. He was a horrific, seamless fusion of the two. Patches of pale, bruised human skin were stitched and bolted directly into plates of dull, polished brass. Where a bicep should have been, metallic pistons hissed and contracted. His chest was a nightmare of gears grinding beneath a translucent ribcage, powered by a cluster of thick, pulsing tubes that glowed with a sickly yellow light, pumping raw energy like artificial blood up to his temples and down his spine.

  His left eye was human, wide and bloodshot with mania. His right was gone, replaced by a smooth, green glass visor that projected faint, jagged lines of light, locking onto targets like a mechanical predator. He was a grotesque monument to progress gone wrong, a construct built from flesh and scrap.

  "What... are you?" Tanvir asked, his voice losing its bluster, replaced by cold revulsion.

  "Your successor model," Clyde laughed, the sound mechanical and grating. "Hahaha!"

  "Successor model? What nonsense are you talking about?" Tanvir sneered, stepping forward. "Even I can tell you are not made by IT. You are nothing but a cheap copy. A scrap heap."

  "That may be so," Clyde said, steam hissing from joints in his shoulders. "But Master is constantly evolving. Soon... you, the other Lords, or even IT will be kneeling under him."

  "You..." Tanvir’s eyes narrowed. "How far do you know?"

  "As much as our Master knows," Clyde replied. His visor flashed. "Enough talking. Die!"

  ZZZT!

  He channeled the yellow lightning energy around his legs. The gears in his thighs spun into a blur.

  He blitzed.

  He closed the distance to Tanvir in a mere fraction of a second, moving faster than a human eye could track.

  "This is for the punch earlier," Clyde hissed.

  He coated his brass fist in a sphere of crackling yellow lightning and slammed a straight punch directly at Tanvir.

  THOOOM.

  The impact was like a thunderclap. Tanvir managed to cross his arms over his face in a guard, but the force was overwhelming. He was launched backward, his boots carving grooves in the stone before he flew off his feet, crashing through the wall of a nearby building in a cloud of dust and brick.

  A heavy, dusty silence followed the crash, broken only by the sound of crumbling masonry sliding off the pile.

  Then, a low, guttural rumble started from the rubble.

  "Puh."

  The bricks shifted. Tanvir stood up, pushing a massive slab of wall off his shoulders as if it were a woolen blanket. He spat a mouthful of blood and grit onto the pavement, his eyes gleaming with a terrifying, battle-hungry light. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, grinning through his dusty beard, revealing teeth stained red.

  "That packs a punch," he admitted, cracking his neck with a loud pop. "I'll admit... it appears you won't bore me."

  He started walking back toward Clyde, his steps heavy and deliberate. The ground trembled slightly with each footfall, the earth acknowledging its master. He looked unfazed, almost eager—like a child who had just found a new, exciting toy to break.

  "It's time to do some much-needed exercise," Tanvir rumbled, clenching his fists until they looked like boulders.

  Meanwhile, at the very edge of the city, where the cobblestones gave way to the packed dirt of the trade road.

  In a dark, narrow alleyway just before the exit of Kah-Kamun, two figures were locked in a desperate stalemate. The air smelled of dry earth and old refuse.

  "STOP!"

  Raito’s shout echoed off the walls, desperate and raw. He was inching closer, his hand hovering near the hilt of his sword, his chest heaving with exertion.

  "Just because you say that," Kaden panted, leaning heavily against the rough stone wall, equally exhausted but eyes burning with a manic defiance, "what makes you think I will listen?"

  "Why are you doing this?" Raito asked, his voice cracking slightly with confusion and anger. "This whole thing... the fire, the murder. Why?"

  Kaden sneered, wiping sweat and grime from his brow. "You won't understand. Someone who is wet behind the ears like you will never understand."

  He pushed himself off the wall, his eyes wide and frantic. "This place... this Kah-Kamun is hiding a terrible secret. With Master's help, I will unveil it! I will bring this place to its knees!"

  "STOP!" Raito shouted again, taking another step, the desperation in his voice mounting.

  "Saying it twice still won't change my mind, Detective," Kaden mocked, backing away toward the open road and freedom. "Or is it just a roleplay? Are you stuck in character?"

  "Stop!" Raito yelled, his voice vibrating with a strange, dark resonance that seemed to drop the temperature in the alley.

  "Are you broken, Detective?" Kaden laughed, a harsh, grating sound. "Did the run take all the oxygen from your brain?"

  Raito’s expression went flat. The light in his eyes died, replaced by a consuming void.

  "I said... STOP!"

  SHING.

  Raito didn't assume a stance. He didn't charge. He simply pulled Koenka from its sheath, wound back his arm, and threw the sword.

  The crimson blade flew through the air like an arrow, a streak of red light moving with fierce, terrifying speed.

  THWACK.

  "ARGH!"

  Kaden screamed as the blade pierced his calf, pinning his leg to the ground. He tumbled forward, slamming face-first into the dirt, dust billowing around him.

  "You... you crazy..." Kaden gasped, reaching for his bleeding leg, tears springing to his eyes.

  He looked back at the sword. Wrapped around the hilt, pulsating like a living vein, was a strand of pitch-black flame. It stretched all the way back down the alley, a tether of darkness, the other end held firmly in Raito's grip.

  Raito began to walk forward, his movements slow and deliberate. He yanked his hand back.

  The black flame tightened.

  RRRIP.

  The sword was ripped backward, tearing free from Kaden's leg with a wet, sickening sound and flying back into Raito's hand with a slap.

  "AHHHHHH!"

  Kaden’s guttural scream echoed into the night, a sound of pure agony. He clutched his mangled leg, writhing in the dirt, blood soaking the dust.

  "I already told you to stop," Raito said, his voice devoid of empathy.

  He loomed over the fallen man, his shadow stretching long and distorted against the alley wall. A smirk, cold and mocking, twisted his lips. He let out a laugh—"Hahaha"—that sounded nothing like his usual joy and everything like a predator playing with its food.

  "But you wouldn't listen," Raito whispered.

  He crouched down, bringing his face inches from Kaden’s, staring into eyes wide with pain and sudden, overwhelming terror.

  "You and I," Raito said, the black flame flickering in his eyes, "we will have a long talk."