Rachel pulled out a black umbrella in a fraction of a second and aimed it straight at Elie. It didn't take her long to realize—it was a hidden firearm.
Still sprinting, Elie dropped low to the ground, dodging the shotgun blasts, the bullets slicing through the air where her body had been a heartbeat earlier.
She stared at the fragile little girl in disbelief, shocked by her complete lack of hesitation to pull the trigger.
"You've gotta be kidding me.."
Rachel met her eyes with a cold, neutral gaze.
"No, my dear Elie."
Arthur leapt out of the car in turn, katana flashing as he launched his assault. Elie twisted away from the first strike and vaulted over the second.
Mid-air, she countered with a kick, but Arthur blocked it with his blade, sending him crashing down on top of the luxury car.
But in less than a second, he was already springing off the hood, charging at her again.
Elie barely dodged the slash, redirecting the blade just enough to avoid being cut. But as she tilted her head, checking the car's position in her clash with the would-be knight, she suddenly noticed...
Rachel was no longer inside.
"Where is she ?"
Without a sound, two small feet slammed into her from above.
In a face still just as impassive, Rachel looked down at her from her one meter forty plus Elie's one meter sixty.
"Looking for me?"
She seized Elie and hurled her straight into a nearby car, still mid-air. Landing gracefully, she brushed down the hem of her dress as if nothing had happened.
Elie's eyes widened, stunned by the girl's strength.
"What the hell ? how can someone your size…?"
She didn't get to finish. Rachel's black boots already filled her vision. Elie barely rolled away in time—only to meet Arthur's katana again, a blade that nearly cut her in two.
"Two against one, huh?"
Arthur said flatly.
"We're not fighter."
Rachel grabbed Elie from behind again. Her legs were still stuck in the wrecked car, but with insane flexibility she bridged backward, flipping Elie up into the sky.
In a calm, low voice, Rachel whispered:
"We're assassins."
Arthur raised his gun, aiming at Elie mid-air. The bullets ripped through the sky in the blink of an eye.
Time seemed to slow down as the bullets came rushing toward her. However, she saw them all coming. She did not lose her composure knowing that she could be pierced.
With a focused gaze on his targets, Elie attempted a new madness :
"Stop"
The bullets froze. Inches from her face. One right in front of her eye.
Down below, Rachel and Arthur watched, their expressions breaking for the first time.
"What?"
"You've got to be kidding me…"
Elie floated calmly in mid-air, looking down on the two assassins. A strange aura leaked from her, unseen by those around her, twisting like a tree caught in the wind.
Her eyes glowed faintly. She glared at them, voice sharp and commanding:
"I don't have time to listen to you."
Then she simply ran through the air itself, ignoring gravity, catching up to the cars in an instant.
Rachel, normally incapable of paling further, still showed clear shock. No army tech could let someone hover above the ground like that—especially not without equipment. Which meant… it was impossible.
Her voice trembled slightly despite its usual flat tone.
"Do we follow her?"
Arthur was pale too, disbelief written all over him.
"No one's gonna believe us anyway. Better finish the job."
Rachel jumped into a car and tore off, leaving Arthur standing behind.
"And me?"
"Take that wrecked one over there."
Arthur glanced at the vehicle she pointed at. The same one they'd rammed earlier, smoking like it was about to blow. And...that's what it did.
It exploded before he could even protest.
He sighed, deadpan.
"I'm so done with this life."
Meanwhile, Elie was back at her mother's side, sprinting effortlessly alongside the car. The extra vehicles that had appeared during her absence were already taken care of.
Her mind was restless and overwhelmed. She was already thinking about which route she should take or which vehicle she should dismiss. Knowing that her agents would come back again, she felt even more pressed.
And then...The worst arrived.
A helicopter arrived just above them. The noise of its blades filled the area. However, Elie noticed that it was one of the quietest he had ever heard.
Nevertheless, despite the noise, she also felt a great danger emanating from the aircraft.
The eldest had arrived.
Inside, standing calmly, was a man in a flawless suit. His haircut was sharp, the sides cropped short, the top slicked neatly back—every strand in place, a mirror of his inner discipline. His face carried a stern severity, and his deep blue eyes pierced everything they touched.
He didn't need to move. He radiated authority.
And when he spoke, his voice was cold, commanding like a superior addressing subordinates.
"I don't think you really managed to shake off my sister, but that doesn't matter."
Now head of the IGA, Lori had pushed the assassin's craft to its peak, just like in the Ichimaru era. He'd revived the same merciless methods once used on them. Even the orphanages weren't spared.
"Now, it's time to restore my honor."
Lori had become what he once hated most. That day, a light went out inside him, leaving only a darkness colder than ice. The IGA might have been the most powerful organization in the world but Lori himself was probably the coldest man alive, a perfect reflection of what Mathilde Royal had once been.
In an instant, grenades flew onto the road only to freeze mid-air under Elie's power.
His expression did not change at all. He had been informed by Rachel just before coming.
"I see. She was right. This is… ridiculous."
Elie lifted her gaze, but it was already too late. Lori was on her in less than a second.
"How can normal humans perform such feats? Is it because they fought Marc and Jin?"
In a flash, Elie was slashed across her entire body. That day, there was no denying it...
Lori was the number one assassin.
His voice stayed calm, serious.
"Christina seemed stronger than you.""Oh really?"
For the first time, Lori was caught off guard. Elie hadn't even flinched from the slash. And stranger still...she wasn't bleeding.
He stepped back, unloading several shots. But the bullets froze in midair again.
A faint smile curved Elie's lips.
"You know… I've fought someone who could loop time more than a million times."
Lori felt unease gnaw at him as she approached. Something was wrong. He couldn't put it into words, but the sensation was undeniable—strange, mysterious, profound, singular.
This wasn't like anything he had faced before. The most terrifying opponent he had ever encountered had been his master's son, Jin Ichimaru. That monster had been unpredictable, otherworldly. Rachel, Arthur, and himself had thrown everything at him, and yet—they hadn't even scratched him.
And now, the same sensation returned. That strange dominance over the battlefield, as if the woman before him had already seen one step ahead. As if she had a vantage point into another version of reality.
His assassin's instinct screamed at him. It was bizarre, overwhelming. Not exactly lethal—but an advantage beyond his grasp. He had wondered for long what made Ichimaru so strong. And now, facing Elie, he came to the same conclusion.
There was something else. Another dimension. Not just instinct, but an external force—a link to something greater.
And at that moment, his eyes widened.
He saw it. The aura around Elie. Flickering distortions, as if some devastating energy surrounded her, invisible gas burning around her form.
Elie noticed the change in his eyes. Her smile grew sharper.
"You see it? That aura behind me ? You see it now?"
Lori didn't move back. An assassin never retreats before his target. Yet it was there—unreal, but undeniable—and stronger than him.
Suddenly, Rachel appeared behind Elie.
Lori spoke again, steady but wary.
"I see...You've lived through much. But will that long journey really help you here?"
Elie didn't take even a second to respond, but with their speed of mind and movement, a second was a lot. Slowly, she opened her mouth and said seriously.
"We'll see."
Two against one. The fight was about to begin. But Elie still had to protect the cars.
She was calculating her next move when a violent gust ripped through the battlefield, sweeping everything aside.
Lori was hurled back, Rachel jammed her umbrella into the ground to anchor herself. Elie alone stood firm, watching the figure rushing in.
Marc...
He'd moved so fast she barely caught a glimpse. But that was enough.
Relief surged through her. He hadn't even looked her way, but she knew—he wasn't worried for her.
Lori's head snapped up, panic in his eyes.
"What was that?""I don't know."
While they scrambled for answers, Elie was already moving.
"Hey"
Rachel's vision filled with Elie's fist.
"Where are you looking?"
...
Marc sprinted toward the cars.He caught up with them in mere moments, only to see the sky swarming with helicopters above.
"This is going to be troublesome."
But just as he prepared to move, a streak of green light ripped through the air, slicing two helicopters clean in half.
It was stunning—and unsettling—how easily that beam had cut through metal, as if it were nothing but butter.
A third helicopter, gleaming white, descended above the chaos. Someone stood there—emerald eyes, an emerald blade that shone brighter than glory itself. Crystal hair whipped in the violent winds, and his gaze pierced the battlefield below. To him, everything here was beneath him.
Marc smiled faintly, relief brushing over him. Turcan had arrived.
"Well, look who it is."
The Emperor fixed his emerald gaze on Marc, cold and impassive as always.
"I expect you to show me the respect I am owed, Marc Zeymond."
To everyone else, the Emperor was untouchable. Only this insolent boy and his companions dared defy the impossible.
Turcan studied the battlefield for a moment, almost wondering if his presence was even necessary.
Marc's focus snapped back to the road as more vehicles joined the chase. He glanced at the Emperor.
"How much longer?""Two minutes.""Do I need to do anything?""No. Just stay out of my way."
The Emperor's eyes narrowed at the fifteen remaining vehicles and helicopters. A grimace flickered over his face, as though recalling something unpleasant.
"I hate naming my attacks… but Exorian once told me it would help refine them."
He leapt gracefully from his helicopter, drawing his blade in a single, elegant motion.
"So let's call this…"
Green light burst from the sheath, winds howling as they tore through the aircraft. The Emperor exhaled softly, focusing. Time itself seemed to slow again. Marc watched him—grace incarnate, eyes sharp, expression impassive, yet grotesquely magnificent. The man who stood on the roof of the world.
Turcan's lips parted.
"Exorian Slash."
In the blink of an eye, countless emerald cuts flared into existence—and vanished just as quickly.
A heartbeat later, everything was already done. Helicopters fell from the sky like flies. Men inside were severed—heads rolling, arms gone.
The ground vehicles were shredded, every piece of machinery sliced into fragments that scattered wildly across the road.
It had been swift. Ruthless. No one had even reacted before it was over.
All pursuers eliminated in a single strike.
Marc's eyes tracked the Emperor. Of course he had seen it. He'd seen Turcan's arm blur, blade moving faster than sight, carving through everything in existence. Hundreds of emerald slashes burned in the air before vanishing into silence.
Marc wondered, not for the first time, if Turcan truly belonged to this world or if he was a being from the other world. Someone capable of reshaping history itself.
One thing was certain: the Emperor's power could only be admired.
Turcan landed lightly atop Catherine's car. His eyes stayed locked on the horizon as he spoke, voice grave.
"Marc Zeymond. We're here.""I know."
They crossed the border that separated Zvenne from Garida. But Marc stopped just before to see if Elie was following them. Despite trusting his friend, he didn't know what treacherous trap Garid was capable of or if the being in his strange aura had simply manifested.
Panic tightened his chest. She was nowhere in sight. His breathing quickened until a voice rose behind him.
"Where are you looking, Marc? I'm here. Don't worry."
He spun, relief flooding him when he saw her already there. She had caught up long before. Her slightly pale skin and her face glowing like a ray of sunshine. Marc felt a bit strange when a beat in his heart seemed different from the others after seeing Elie's beautiful face safe and sound. His tension eased, the storm in his chest quieting.
Then he turned once more toward the border and beyond.That was where his friends waited. Where he had once lived.
His home. His school. His whole life had played out in Garida. Leaving it behind was heavier than he had imagined.
Yet truthfully, Marc had never felt fully at home in that country. His real home was only his family's house. The rest were just places he frequented some memorable, some awe-inspiring, others full of thrilling adventures. But his house had been his house. Leaving it behind hurt. But he had no choice.
At least his parents were safe—that was what mattered. As long as they were alive, he still had a home, even if it was a wandering one.
Still, Nathanael and Chris remained behind. Marc worried more for Nathanael than Chris, but he didn't want either to die. Not now, not after Chris had finally joined the adventure. That would be nothing but waste.
So he'd sent them a message. A small note not much help, perhaps, but at least an explanation. After all, they weren't the ones being hunted.
Marc sighed, then turned calmly toward his new nation.
"Stay safe. If you ever need me… you know where to find me."