Chapter 21. Mutually Inclusive Evolution.

  The pommel plummeted.

  It was a solid sphere of heavy steel, accelerated by gravity, falling straight down toward the back of Laurent's head.

  X had discarded the weapon to become the vice, wrapping his legs and functioning arm around Laurent, clamping the Noble’s limbs tight. He was serving him up on a platter for physics to do the rest.

  There was no time for Laurent to harden his skin. No leverage to throw X off. The math was absolute. The falling weight would crack the Noble’s skull open like an egg.

  CRACK.

  But the vibration didn’t come from a breaking skull.

  X, pressing his chest against Laurent’s to maintain the lock, felt a sudden, violent shift beneath him. It wasn't the cold, smooth rigidity of steel skin. It was sharp. Expanding.

  Screech.

  The sound of metal grinding against glass tore through the air.

  The pommel didn't hit flesh. It struck a cluster of jagged, ugly protrusions that had erupted from Laurent’s neck and shoulder like a violent tumor, intercepting the steel ball inches from his skin.

  SHATTER.

  A burst of force—sharp and concussive—exploded outward from the contact point. It wasn't the elegant, humming repulse of a Clan Kris mage. It was a chaotic shrapnel blast.

  Because X was grappling him, he took the brunt of the explosion. The shockwave tore his grip apart, blasting him backward. His boots skidded across the broken arena floor as he raised his arm to shield his eyes from the dust.

  He lowered his guard, his breath hitching in his throat.

  Laurent stood ten feet away. He was unharmed. The sword lay on the ground, deflected.

  But looking at the Noble made X’s stomach churn.

  Jutting out of Laurent’s left shoulder and neck was a cluster of crystals. But they weren’t the translucent, beautiful diamonds of Clan Kris. These were muddy. Opaque. Veined with grey steel and looking more like a festering wound than a magical construct. They didn't float gracefully; they were fused to his flesh, vibrating with a sick, unstable hum.

  “Crystal… Resonance?” X whispered, the words tasting like ash. “You are Clan Ferrum. That’s… that’s biologically impossible.”

  Laurent didn’t look triumphant. He didn't smirk. He didn't gloat.

  His mouth twitched, the corner of his lip curling upward in a spasm of pure, unadulterated disgust. He looked like he wanted to vomit.

  He reached up, grabbing the jagged crystals on his shoulder with his steel hand and ripping them off. He threw the bloody, crumbling shards to the floor as if they were poisonous insects.

  “We aren't allowed to use the Technique of another Clan,” Laurent spat, wiping a trail of bile from his chin. His voice was low, trembling with a mix of shame and rage. “It violates tradition. It violates our biology. So, it is for emergencies only.”

  He looked up at X, his eyes burning with humiliation.

  “But…” Laurent unclenched his fist, the steel skin rippling back to flesh. “Losing to a Nameless has a consequence far greater than breaking a few taboos.”

  X stared at him.

  The realization hit him harder than the shockwave. The world seemed to slow down.

  If the Ferrum heir has Crystal Resonance…

  X’s head snapped toward the other side of the arena. Toward the pink cube where Noll had just trapped Illian with a crystal bomb.

  …Then the Kris heir has Heavy Metal.

  On the other side of the arena, the math wasn't adding up.

  In an enclosed space, the concussive force had nowhere to go but inward.

  It should have turned the arrogant Noble into a bruised, unconscious mess.

  BOOM.

  The explosion inside the cube was followed with smaller explosions from the concussive force.

  The smoke swallowed the entire cube. After which, it vanished.

  The next moment, Noll broke free from the crystals, on the verge of collapse.

  Yet he didn’t lower his head, watching the smoke fill the air. The crystals taken from the beasts inside the cave proved themselves to be very good detonators.

  Without another word, he forced pink substance into the wound, the construct fusing with torn flesh to staunch the bleeding.

  The arena held its breath. No one moved. No one spoke. The pink cube had done its job — the concussive force contained, amplified, detonated inward with nowhere to go.

  It should have been over.

  The smoke thinned.

  A figure stepped out of it.

  Illian Kris straightened his crooked glasses with one finger. His battle-suit was shredded. His hair was a disaster. A thin line of blood traced the edge of his jaw from a cut he hadn't noticed yet. But he was standing. His skin, for just one fraction of a second, carried the dull grey sheen of iron before it faded back to flesh.

  The audience saw it.

  Every last one of them.

  Illian knew they saw it. The silence told him. The way no one cheered, no one gasped — just that hollow, loaded quiet of several hundred people processing the same thing at the same time.

  Illian spat a wad of iron-tasting blood onto the shattered stone. He forced his voice to carry, layering it with calm he clearly didn't feel.

  “You miscalculated the explosive force…" He gritted his teeth. "Who am I fooling? Everyone saw that." His voice lifted — not shouting, just carrying. "Yes. The alliance between Clans Ferrum and Kris involves sharing Clan Techniques. So far, only we two volunteered to the program. All in an effort to evolve humans further than ever before."

  ***

  On the stage above, Clark gripped the balcony railing so hard his knuckles turned white. His face twisted in absolute disgust as he stared down at Laurent's bloody crystal shards and Illian's iron-tinged skin.

  He whipped his head around. Tim Kris was lounging in his velvet chair, smiling, taking a slow sip from yet another glass of wine.

  “What does that mean?” Clark barked, pointing a trembling finger at the arena below.

  Tim’s smile didn’t falter. He stood up, extending his hand, looking at him with those red hollow eyes.

  “That, my friend, is the beginning of a new world. Think about it! If we implement it across everyone in Altavia, our firepower will fly up! Ferrum’s durability with Kris’s firepower! Karyu’s fire with Vane’s water! Yumaki’s Soulmate Spirits with Fong’s Nexus-Blades! The possibilities are endless!”

  Clark looked down at the arena. At Laurent’s hands. At the bloody crystal shards on the floor.

  He then turned back to Tim

  “You are sick!” Clark shouted. “Me and the rest of the Council would never allow it.”

  Tim’s smile twisted into something more terrifying. The absolute joy of scientist’s discovery.

  “Oh, of course you wouldn’t. That’s why I went straight to Kadyn Francis. Safe to say, a chauvinist like him would be ecstatic about making humanity a superior race. That leaves eight more to convince. And if those two show their new limits here and now… the rest would see what I see. Then we can move forward with my plan. That’s the only way to ensure the survival of this world.”

  Clark shook his head, stepping back slowly. The shock gave way to something colder.

  “No.” he said, his voice surprisingly steady. “That’s wrong.”

  Tim’s face changed into a replica of sorrow. “A pity. But honestly? You wouldn’t be Clark Ferrum if you understood immediately. So, I just want you to watch carefully, before you draw your conclusions.”

  ***

  Laurent stood still, his eyes locked on the shattered stone as the weight of the moment settled over him.

  Then, he looked up. The shame was gone, replaced by a cold, unwavering clarity.

  “Well. Might as well," he muttered. "Gotta show what I've been working on."

  He unbuckled his heavy boots and kicked them aside. Raw, blue energy began to pool at the soles of his bare feet. It hummed violently for a split second before exploding downward in a twin pillar of repulsive light.

  Laurent threw his arms out, wobbling clumsily in the air as the blue rays lifted his body off the ground.

  He shifted his weight, bending his knees until the erratic wobbling smoothed into a steady, thrumming hover. A wild, exhilarated smile cracked across his face as he looked down at X.

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  “Alright. Here I go!” Laurent said, igniting another blue ray from his back, propelling him forward.

  X raised his carbon-steel sword, planting his feet and bracing for the impact. But Laurent didn’t strike. Instead, he banked hard, using the thrusters to rip a tight, high-speed circle around the Nameless.

  X was trapped in the eye of the storm. Recognizing the futility of trying to outrun a flying Noble, he held his ground, tracking the blur of blue light, waiting for an attack that didn’t come.

  The circling didn't stop. It accelerated.

  The hum of the Crystal rays deepened into a vicious, tearing roar as Laurent pumped more energy into his momentum. The radius of the circle widened slightly, and a horrifying realization locked the breath in X's throat.

  “Y-you… aren’t doing what I think you're doing, right?” X yelled, his voice barely cutting through the rising gale.

  Laurent didn’t answer. He couldn't. The sheer volume of displaced air was already tearing X's words apart before they could reach him.

  “You are trying to break the sound barrier, aren’t you?!” X screamed into the hurricane.

  Laurent kept flying in circles. At one point, to account for the loss of speed on turns, he leaped outward, widening the circle.

  The air became so dense it started to feel like water.

  This is the first time I have got this far. Just like Tim said, all living beings evolve faster and further when in stress-inducing situations.

  But that’s only the beginning! Laurent braced himself, pouring much more power into the ray on his back, propelling him forward with much higher speed.

  Air became even more dense, now feeling like a plastic wrapping him up. Laurent couldn’t breathe properly, so he didn’t breathe at all.

  So that’s it… the sound barrier. Just another wall on my path to become a star. Laurent ignited two more blue rays at his shoulders, trying to force the barrier to yield under his power.

  X… Noll… this day marks it. The beginning of our parasitic friendship. If you become harder to break, I will become stronger. If you become stronger, I will simply become harder to break. This way we can start it. Our Mutually Inclusive Evolution!

  Laurent braced his entire body against the barrier, using his fingers to tear it apart.

  I will be the first result of it!

  BOOM.

  Laurent broke through.

  The explosion tore through him, as the blood flowed out, hardened and broke down in mere moments. Yet Laurent didn’t show any sign of pain.

  His mind went completely quiet. The world ahead of him was wrong. Colors that had no names. Distance that had no scale. Smell of ozone coming from every direction. The only thing familiar.

  He was moving through something that had never been moved through before and his brain had no category for it.

  So keep up!

  His eyes blistered with rainbow as he looked at his opponent. Still standing there, still waiting for him.

  Laurent eyes locked on to X as he made a sharp turn, moving straight to him. Laurent saw him bracing himself for impact in slow-motion.

  Only one of us will walk out of here as a winner. Let it be the hardest one!

  Laurent braced himself, and right before he was face to face with X, he turned off the blue rays, letting the inertia finish the job.

  X raised his sword with his one working hand.

  And then, right before Laurent’s fist connected with X’s sword, he turned his entire body into steel.

  There was no sound. Only a blinding light that engulfed both warriors for a solid second.

  Laurent, covered in blood dripping down from every hole on his face, stood there like a statue. Frozen in the exact same pose as when he struck. X was on the ground, sent a few meters back. His sword was nowhere to be found.

  And then, a clap.

  The sound of air filling the vacuum created by Laurent’s attack. Sending him backward into a wall.

  X’s body twitched as his eyes opened. His body trembled as he checked his chest. A giant red mark. The injury that came from the clash.

  X let go of his sword right before Laurent’s fist collided with it.

  Carbon steel took the entire force of the punch, disintegrating into dust, while X only got hit by a secondary impact.

  As for his opponent… Laurent’s law breaking backfired. By increasing his mass eight-fold right at the moment of impact, he produced seven times his original kinetic energy out of nowhere. But the universe always gets its debts sorted. So, Laurent paid his. His capillaries burst instantly, forcing blood out of his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth under the sheer thermodynamic strain.

  X stood up, the ringing in his ears still fresh. He looked at Laurent, lying down, arms spread, defeated by his own strength.

  He then turned right, to see Noll and Illian fighting. The way Illian raised his fist, against Noll going into it with no defense.

  He started moving to help, before his peripheral vision caught a movement.

  X moved fast, instinctively out of the way. Right where he was standing a moment ago, there was Laurent. His entire body obtained a new color – red.

  “My friend.” X started. “You really need a doctor.”

  Laurent tried answering. The moment he opened his mouth, blood poured out, nearly choking him. He just smiled, pointed at his ear, and then made an ‘X’ with his hands.

  “I don’t have time for this!” X said, moving toward Noll, but Laurent moved with him, his hand raised for one more attack.

  ***

  Meanwhile.

  Illian started slowly limping toward Noll. He raised his fist as it turned the shade of grey.

  "You lose here, heretic. We need the proof."

  Noll's answer was the prosthetic.

  A sharp hiss, and smoke poured from the palm, hitting Illian straight in the face. He screamed, firing blind — blue rays tearing through the haze in every direction, wild and thin.

  Noll was already gone, crouched low on his hoverboard, threading between the scattered blasts.

  He noticed the size of them. Small. Weak. Nowhere near the ray that had nearly taken his head off earlier.

  He filed that away and kept moving.

  Then the smoke cleared. Illian raised his hand and held it — one second, two — before releasing. The ray that followed was a different animal entirely. Wider. Denser.

  Noll fired a grappling hook from his prosthetic into the arena wall, violently altering his trajectory just in time.

  The crystal ray carved a smoking groove across the arena floor where Noll had been half a heartbeat before.

  There it is.

  Noll pulled his hoverboard into a tight bank, putting distance between them.

  Crystal Resonance has two modes. At one’s choosing it releases either as a Mineral, or as a Ray. The longer the hold, the stronger both become. Simple. Almost elegant.

  He looked down at his prosthetic hand.

  What if I can replicate those properties?

  A deafening sonic boom ruptured the air, hitting with the physical force of a sledgehammer.

  The shockwave ripped across the arena like a physical wall, momentarily deafening anyone nearby. It violently knocked Noll off his hoverboard, which disappeared instantly, sending Noll spinning. Across from him, Illian was thrown to his knees, hands flying to his ears.

  Noll looked to his left, toward X.

  Before he could see what was happening, a blinding light engulfed both warriors.

  Noll closed his eyes, and exhaled. Before removing the pink pluck on his wound, channeling the energy into his prosthetic, silently and invisibly working on the recreation. The blood gushed out, immediately hitting him with nausea.

  Twenty… no! Five seconds is all I need. Until then, I must survive without defending.

  The blinding light died and Noll immediately ran. For the first time since forever, he actually put his weak legs into use. All to create enough distance.

  His running was sloppy, as if trying not to accidentally break the legs.

  “Where do you think you are going?!” Angry voice came from above. It was Illian, his skin the color of steel.

  He launched himself at Noll, clasping his arms into a hammer.

  Noll moved quicker. He turned around, pointing his gun on the ground, then jumped, before firing. Letting the recoil send him further than just running.

  Four more. He thought, before firing again in the opposite direction, just to not hit the wall.

  Illian missed by a heartbeat, but he didn’t stop the assault. Pouring all his rage and desire to end the fight quickly, he unleashed a dozen more crystal rays. All in specific directions to make sure Noll can’t escape all.

  Noll opened a chamber from his blaster, taking the last crystal from the cave he had left, before throwing it at one of the rays.

  The crystal absorbed it, clearing exactly one path. Noll ran to it, grabbing the crystal and putting it back into the chamber, before pulling the trigger.

  The charged crystal started overheating, becoming unstable, about to explode.

  Three.

  Noll threw his blaster at Illian. The blaster that will soon become a bomb. A far greater bomb, because of the molten metal.

  You have done me great service. For all ten years of your life. It is time for you to rest.

  Two.

  Illian’s skin rippled into steel, walking right through the explosion, straight to Noll.

  Illian raised his fist, ready to hit him with full force.

  One.

  It was done. He could now attack with his own Pink Ray.

  But Illian is in Heavy Metal form. His durability is too high for him to penetrate with just one ray.

  Noll looked to his left, where he saw bloodied Laurent still trying to fight X.

  A reckless idea crossed his mind as he smiled.

  He raised his left hand, aiming it at Laurent. He poured all his strength into this one gamble.

  And then fired. A pink whirlwind came out of his hand, big enough to consume Laurent’s entire body into it.

  ***

  Laurent saw it, immediately shifting his entire attention to a new attack. He didn’t even harden himself. Just smiled, jumped into it and punched the ray.

  For a solid moment, he was holding his own, but his body was already past his limit. No matter how much his will burned, his body just couldn’t follow.

  The pink ray sent him into a wall, where his body finally experienced rest.

  At the same time, Noll’s face connected with Illian’s fist, as his body was sent flying into the other wall.

  ***

  X and Illian were the only ones left standing. Illian, who just punched Noll and sent him flying, looked at his hand in disgust as the effects of Heavy Metal disappeared.

  X, who just saw Laurent’s body give up while his mind didn’t, who just saw Noll getting flown into a wall, was now looking at Illian with disgust.

  Then Illian looked up at X and smirked. The smirk of a guy who knew he would win. Just because X didn’t have a weapon anymore.

  Illian then looked down, and his mask changed into horror as he looked back to Noll in shock.

  X also looked down. There, he saw a small part of Noll’s pink substance crawling up his boots and over his pants. Carefully, methodically making him an armor.

  X’s face changed into pure panic. He looked at Noll. His jaw was dislocated after the hit, his face was bloody, yet both men knew for sure. If that pink substance still exists, that means Noll is still conscious. Silent. Fighting against the void, because succumbing to it meant X’s loss.

  By that time, the pink substance already finished the armor, fully covering X’s entire body, before continuing from the armor into the chain, and finally a sword. Three different items, all connected to each other, which is why they were considered one construct.

  X didn’t waste any time, jumping straight to Illian, who tried going for Noll’s lying body.

  Illian just barely managed to activate Heavy Metal.

  Yet, with just one punch, he was sent flying.

  X didn’t stop. He didn't give the Noble a fraction of a second to process the new math.

  As Illian flew backward, X whipped the pink chain forward. The construct wrapped around Illian’s ankle, pulling taut. X dug his legs into the shattered floor and yanked hard, ripping Illian out of the air and dragging him right back into the exact same fist.

  BAM.

  Illian was launched again. Again, the chain snapped taut. Again, X reeled him in.

  Three times Illian tried to gather mana. Three times X shattered his concentration with a blow that warped the air.

  Finally, X didn't punch him away. He reeled Illian in and tackled him to the ground, pinning the steel Noble under his full weight. He dropped the sword as it disappeared with the chain. He didn't need them anymore. And Noll realized that. X just raised his armored fists and began hammering them down, turning the arena floor into an anvil, punching the ever-living shit out of him until the steel started to dent.

  Each punch was harder than the last, as X was pouring everything he felt about Noll. Rage at Noll for so casually throwing his life away. Rage at himself for failing to protect him. Confusion at why his friend hated himself so much.

  Every single emotion landed on the Noble, as the ground beneath him started cracking, as the debris started flying around.

  X stopped only when Illian started tapping his palm on the floor.

  The moment he did, a strong voice filled the room. Kadyn Francis’s.

  “The battle is over. The winners are X and Noll, the two Nameless,” he said, clenching his fists, his disgust visible to the naked eye.

  Yellow magic disappeared, and with it, the spell Kadyn put on the battle.

  The moment Kadyn announced their victory, X’s armor disappeared, and he ran straight to Noll.

  He dropped to his knees beside the boy, his hands shaking as he desperately pressed his palms against Noll’s wounds, trying to stem the bleeding.

  “Come on, come on…” he pleaded, turning back to the audience. “He needs a Hippocrates, now!” before turning back to Noll.

  The footsteps answered him. X turned back, relieved, thinking that a doctor came.

  But it was not him. That man had golden hair, wore a golden suit, and had many golden accessories across his clothes. He looked glowing. Too glowing.

  Kadyn Francis himself dropped down to the arena and was now slowly walking toward them.

  Illian stood up, cleaned his battle suit from debris, and walked up to him.

  “Lord Francis, I am…” a golden light and the buzzing sound filled the room, and the next moment, Illian crashed into the wall.

  X stood up, as the only thing between Noll and Kadyn.

  Kadyn looked at him and smiled. “Still fighting? Admirable…” he raised his hand, palm facing X, as the golden light filled it. “But that heretic is coming with us. You are too.”

  Suddenly, the light dissolved.

  “No, they don’t.” a heavy voice filled the arena, as another figure entered it.