Underneath the starry night, the voice of XN's previous encounter lingered—
"…till we meet again."
Its presence was enhanced by her smile, captured in his left iris. The instance of shock lasted a while, until the ambience of the night was introduced.
A rallying sound gathered from the horizon. With it, a cloud of dust lifted, foreshadowing the source of the disturbance.
XN huffed, then spoke up, his tone calm and controlled.
"The night's already up. Scavengers are out."
His cold feature drastically contrasted with his disbelief.
He scoped around the hazy perimeter from the terrace for the amplifying stomping. The thuds were rhythmic, yet disorganized.
"Hm. Something's different with the sound."
"This pattern… it's uncommon."
The lights from the immense walls lit up his proximity, revealing a mass of humanoids. The wind carried their thumpings and shouts, like a war song.
From the opposite direction, the cold breeze conveyed the wrath of a distinct horde, running into the mass.
"Sounds like a war's preparing."
Scavengers were opportunists, besides being a territorial human species. With this knowledge, XN knew troubles wouldn't last just the length of the war.
"Whatever the outcome, they'll find this building."
There was only one thing to do.
"I need to get out of here."
He crouched to pick up the journal from the cold terrace, whose left page was cast into the shadows of the baluster.
As he closed the book, the filtered light that guided his sight split and reduced in diameter. Above him, three dark figures froze in the air for an instant. The light rays squeezed in between them, altering XN's vision.
"Hehehe. Going anywhere?"
A young boy with messy hair and a manic smile sculpted on his face rested on the hilt of his thin sword, blood draining from its edge.
"You coward! Who runs in the midst of a war?"
At his left, a tall, huge man with a necklace of large black beads stood. His voice was grave. On his left shoulder, he held a large, rusted sword. The bandage wrapped around its grip was used and dirty. Above the guard of the sword, a spherical space was designed into its flat.
Their presence was imposing, yet XN remained composed. The air was filled with the fencing sounds of clashing metals, accompanied by screams and mockeries from the scavengers.
Suddenly, the giant approached XN—crouched. The hot air from his ventilation blew on XN's hair, who remained unresponsive to his provocations.
"You're not going to piss your pants, are you?"
His long black beard spiraled on the floor.
"Hm? What's this you're holding?"
He seized the journal from XN. His round orbits opened wide as he tried, in vain, to make sense of the book held in his herculean right arm.
Underneath his hair, XN's features remained hidden. Frustrated, the huge scavenger assaulted him, his grip tight on XN's collar. The photo escaped from the leather of the journal, dropped by the oppressor.
Without warning, the floor began to shake violently, destabilizing the oppressors. In the agitation, a cold voice pierced through.
"The pattern repeats."
The atmosphere became dense and saturated with confusion as the oppressors wondered.
"Eh?"
"Say what now?"
Freed from the herculean grip, XN pursued his monologue.
"First, I get hurt. Then feelings hush."
"I lose control and—"
[Breathes out]
Fine threads of darkish purple energy stretched from his body as he released, in a grave voice, unexpectedly,
"…I prey on y'all!"
His left iris glowed purple as his words seeded uncertainty in the two men he encountered. Behind the foes, a slim profile stepped forward. His expression remained hidden underneath his bishie hair.
"Tell me—what are you, exactly?"
Each word was separated by a pause.
"Your genes glow different. I'm curious."
His two companions stood aside, making way for the slim scavenger who gradually closed in on XN.
"Glow?"
"Elaborate."
XN internalized before speaking out.
The breeze was humid with blood and sweat from the war underneath the terrace. The tings from colliding metals ceased, and the war songs declined, making room for the voices of the other two companions.
"Eyes has the Seer's gene."
"Alpha to lambda, human or Teras. He can tell just by observing you."
With his left hand holding his eyelids wide open, Eyes' concentric-circle eye was revealed—nebula black with white rings.
"And you… you are an anomaly."
The mention of this word raised questions, not just in XN, but also among the swordsmen. The voices gradually muffled while XN wrestled with his thoughts, trying to process the information.
"An anomaly, huh?"
"This isn't my first time hearing this word…"
"…where?"
All of a sudden, a memory resurfaced—Nice and Fionna in the lab. The scene incrementally developed into a slim adult researcher with goggles. The hall was in panic under flickering red lights, and on the monitors that decorated the room, 'ALERT' was displayed. Through the noise, an order traveled—
"Control the anomaly!"
Simultaneously, Eyes instructed his companions with the same order before vanishing, a trace of distortion lingering in his former position.
Sensing the threat in the air, XN rapidly snapped out.
The young swordsman sat on the baluster and sighed as he watched the distant troops exchanging swings and blows.
"Tsk! If Vlad had shown up with the cube, this war would've been over long ago."
His brows squeezed in discontent, a tone of disinterest reflected in his conclusion.
"I bet BLOOM got him. What d'you think, Mouche?"
"Eyes told us to—"
"That's not what I meant. Forget it."
He interrupted the huge scavenger—Mouche.
A white trace of breath condensed from the young boy as he gradually approached XN. The screeching sound of his blade against the concrete floor dangerously amplified with each soundless step.
His face twisted in controlled rage, filling the space around him with dense air as he exclaimed,
"Let's get done already."
At his left, Mouche stood up in a sumo stance. The floor underneath his bare feet began to break inward, succumbing to the pressure imposed by his threatening aura.
"Right then."
Mouche consented with his gravelly voice.
The gust released by the imminent threat brushed XN's hair, who remained unconcerned by the situation.
Something was different about his possession.
"It's weird. I don't feel fear."
"Yet somehow, I'm still in control."
XN pondered as a burst of speed leapt from the crumbled ground.
"I can't hear him eith—"
His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a heavy fist charged into his left cheek. The air thickened, and time crawled. In the bullet time, he saw the arm.
It was hairy—Mouche's.
Behind it, his large red eyes bulged out of widened orbits, steam escaping from the sides of his mouth as he propelled XN, who tumbled like a ragdoll.
Above the victim who lay supine, the massive aggressor fell from the sky like a meteor. The weight of his body concentrated on XN's abdomen.
XN's head bounced on the breaking floor as the aggressor fired punches into him. The voices around him muffled as he pondered.
"What is he doing?"
"Am I in a fight? Why don't I feel anything?"
The magnitude of the massacre sent out lashing winds. Behind them, the photo floated in the dreadful atmosphere, torn at the edges by the gale.
XN heard it. The tearing sounds resonated deep in his thoughts.
"Enough."
Without warning, Mouche skipped backward. A long laceration opened on his deltoids as his black sleeves fell off.
"Hm."
His eyes locked onto XN with a calculating gaze.
He watched him rise effortlessly. Once more, the air surrounding him was asphyxiating. Gradually, his purple eyes were exposed on his numb features. In the progression of events, his injuries slowly healed.
In the tense pause, the young swordsman leapt from the baluster with explosive speed. His sword aimed for a clean cut at XN's neck.
In a split second, he knelt, sabre poised in the air, in a saisei position.
"My sword is… lighter?"
Confused by the weight, the young man raised his gaze to the hilt—void of its blade.
XN remained intact, his eyes devouring the swordsman's confidence.
Suddenly, the uncertain aggressor breathed heavily. He was within XN's oppressive aura. Weaponless, he fell back, replaying the unsuccessful slaughter.
The wasteland was silent once more. The engines of hovering ships became perceptible again. The war beneath the terrace was settled. Yet the two aggressors felt threatened.
Not by XN.
"Vixen."
A familiar voice called from nowhere. The young swordsman trembled in terror as a strange presence occupied the atmosphere.
"You disobeyed my orders."
A figure walked from the shadows of the baluster—Eyes. His left eye imposed fear on his surroundings, dark aura stretching from his body as he positioned himself between the young swordsman—Vixen—and XN.
"I was clear…"
"Control, not kill."
The floor gradually draped in darkness, crawling over Vixen's body. His veins bulged beneath his skin in black, roots ramping up his face as his green iris bathed in blood-red sclera.
"Please… It… won't repeat itself."
His lungs forced out air in pain as he tumbled to his knees.
Mouche trembled in dread, teeth clenched, until finally Vixen was released. In the background, Vixen refilled his damaged lungs in an arrhythmic pattern.
"We're done here. Take him away."
Without hesitation, Mouche carried Vixen from the floor before disappearing into the blinding lights of the horizon.
At Eyes' right, XN watched as his hair concealed his concentric-circle eye. In the moist breeze carrying the remnants of the bloodbath, Eyes faded like a hallucination.