Laticia barely had enough time to think before she felt the broken flooring beneath her shatter and split, responding to Albert as his fingers interlocked and moved through a series of hand signs in rapid succession, his Mark of the Architect glowing its brightest golden.
Albert grimaced as he turned to Clara with a complicated expression as he spoke: "Lady Clara, are you sure?" he said, an almost remorseful expression on his face that Kiera noticed as she rushed to Rennet who was groaning from the fresh wound in his leg.
"WHAT IS IT?! WHAT THE HELL? LET GO OF ME YOU WRETCH!!!!" Laticia shouted as the great trinity of desperation, fear and resentment clouded her judgement. She had caused this same trinity to affect many people throughout her life, and the time had come for her karmic retribution.
Clara held her tightly, straining her own muscles. "Yes! Do it!" she hissed to Albert.
Albert hesitated for a second before closing his hands. "Very well…" was the last thing he uttered.
Laticia shook violently as she battled with Clara. The ground beneath her shattered and split, stretching into a massive construct formed from Albert's ability that enclosed both her and Clara. Laticia coughed out blood as a response from a strike to the shin by Clara as her eyes wavered. She could see the last specks of light from the cracks of the construct fade as the rubble formed a large dome encompassing both Clara and Laticia in an instant.
On the outside, Malikar smirked darkly as he struggled to stand on the destroyed quartz platforms of the roof. *Now that's scary, but what did the silver hair say his name was? Erecus? Where've I heard that before…* he pondered, exhaling smoke as he lifted his cigarette. His expression darkened as though the man was simply annoyed by the grim events at this point. *I should've taken my leave,* he thought.
Meanwhile, Seracore had an enraged expression as he shoved Albert down with a grunt, carrying his large shield. To say he was pissed would be an understatement. After all, from Seracore's perspective, he had been the key to enacting the plan, but sacrificing Clara into the trap meant for Laticia was not part of the deal, especially in a deal he felt so reluctant to take.
"Explain yourself you damn rookie!!" he shouted, enough to take Kiera's attention, even Rennet paused despite his wound.
"Who the hell do you think she is?! Lady Clara's not some expendable sacrifice! NOW SAY IT! What the hell is that?!" Seracore yelled in a fierce tone as he pointed to the large transforming dome that now spanned almost larger than the quartz roof.
For a moment, no one spoke. Albert seemed hesitant, and almost ashamed as he curled his fists before standing up shakily and speaking.
"Dead Man's Chamber is a unique variant of another technique of mine called Executive Room. I used it for battle against Riko during our selection in the labyrinth… but it has a wide range of uses outside of combat, and it's a controlled simulation of the domain of architecture that I can manipulate freely, by transmuting and reconstructing available material in the area…" Albert explained, not making eye contact with Seracore who seemed even more irritated.
"I didn't ask about that, I'm asking about this shit!" he said, gesturing to the shifting warped domain born from the surrounding quartz that seemingly swallowed both Laticia and Clara.
Albert's hand shook for a moment with pure hesitation before he spoke. "...Dead Man's Chamber is different… because it's a technique that employs the same principles as Executive Room… but purely for the sake of going all out to slaughter a foe… I've only ever used it against an otherworldly beast… it's a technique that's practically guaranteed to kill its target… and it operates under my mental algorithm of commands… which I can't control in real time once it's activated…" he continued, pointing to his Passion Mark on his cheek.
Seracore's teeth grit as he grabbed Albert's collar shakily, prompting Kiera to step up, trying to help Albert but Seracore's eyes stayed focused on the architect.
"So if it's a sure-kill technique… why the fuck did you put Lady Clara in it?.." he said with a terrifyingly calm voice that seethed in anger and a dark expression.
Albert closed his eyes, not even pushing Seracore off, before answering: "because… Lady Clara insisted… that red-haired lunatic Laticia is a monster, with that Second Tier… and because of the mysterious boost in ability she's attained after injecting herself with some syringe, likely some drug we're not aware of… though the chances are small… it could've still transpired that she could have escaped that move… so Lady Clara insisted on forcing her and keeping her inside… even if it meant at the cost of herself."
With that, Seracore's hand shook as he let go of Albert before looking at the giant shifting distorted Dead Man's Chamber, his eyes widened. Kiera who was equally shocked put her hands on her mouth, tears forming in her eyes, not just at fear for Clara but also at the sight of blood everywhere and the shattered corpses of countless slaves lying about, littering the collapsing quartz roof of the auction hall.
**Inside the 'Dead Man's Chamber' cast by Albert's ability**
Within the strange dome was a different story. Laticia's heart pounded as she struggled, her Passion Mark illuminating the space with red light as her enhanced body began to heal itself at the cost of her energy through her ripped clothes. She spat blood before grimacing and looking around, her eyes narrowed as she tried to focus on her surroundings.
From her point of view, Laticia could see parts of the wall distort and transmute. Some turned gold, some turned to a form of sharp metal as everything rotated around. Suddenly, a gigantic ax formed from what was once quartz but now seemed to be metal, swung like a pendulum toward the red-haired witch.
Laticia jumped and flipped to the side, narrowly dodging the ax as it broke into a wall before being swallowed. Her gaze snapped with a gasp as part of the floor stretched and twisted, opening up into a trapdoor that collapsed beneath her as she struggled against gravity.
With a pained and irritated moan, Laticia flipped and fell downwards. Her scarlet eyes scanned the place; she could see the walls rotating and rearranging themselves. Her attention was caught however as she saw a spike trap below her as she plummeted. She grit her teeth and swung her right wrist as the chain whip attached to it slung forward and wrapped around a chunk of the twisting wall, allowing herself to swing forward, landing on a platform to catch her breath.
Suddenly, a cold menacing voice came from behind her causing her eyes to widen with a hint of fear: "You will answer for your crimes here and now."
Laticia gasped and looked back to see Clara who was standing on a shifting platform. Her gaze was locked on Laticia, looking down with cold hatred that matched Laticia's own hatred. The space around them shifted as colours changed. It seemed to turn into a dark chamber of traps; blades hung and swung from the ceiling. Beneath them, the floor had now shifted into lustrous working saws that would grind anything. Strange pipes formed and bent from the walls into a golden arc that seemed to unleash fire.
Laticia dodged the traps before slashing with a chain whip that shattered a bit of the wall before ripping through the platform Clara had been standing on, however it was too late.
Laticia jumped back. "W-what?!" she questioned as Clara suddenly appeared in front of her, leaving a trail of dust and smoke. The bleeding of her right wrist onto where her hand was before was still healing, but her shoulder twisted back. Her left hand was curled into a fist towards Laticia.
In an instant, her fist smashed into Laticia's face, cracking her skull as the witch was jerked back and slammed into the wall before coughing up blood, her cheek now heavily bruised.
Laticia coughed and struggled. *How?! What is she?!* she questioned in her mind, but before she could say anything, the strange pipes contorted and expanded before releasing a blast of fire onto Laticia who barely dodged by jumping out of the way.
*WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS PLACE?!* Laticia thought as she performed a series of swift movements, dodging falling blades and the moving saws. Her eyes widened as she felt her body suddenly get jerked back.
"What?!" she questioned, only to be horrified to see Clara having grabbed her chain whip connected to her wrist and pulled, causing Laticia to be dragged crashing into the spiked walls before being pulled out as Clara twisted and spun the chain, spinning Laticia's body.
"ARGHH!!! LET GO YOU BITCH!! I'LL KILL YOUU!!" Laticia struggled, her body having sustained multiple cuts and bruises now. But Clara merely looked at her with cold resolve before jumping forward, avoiding a swinging ax herself and rushing through the fire, sustaining burns on her back in the process, though she seemed far too focused to even care.
A bright red aura encompassed her as she punched Laticia before unleashing a stomping barrage of kicks that Laticia barely defended against before twisting and swinging her chain whip which Clara dodged. The chains slashed and broke part of the wall, only for the wall to reconstruct itself into spikes. The dome only became more deadly.
Clara ducked under the chain before spinning and angling her fist correctly. In an instant she pushed forward, punching Laticia's arm that she used to try and block. A crunch could be heard, followed by a scream from the red witch as her left arm broke and snapped.
"YOU INSUFFERABLE MAGGOT!" she screamed before slashing again.
Clara coughed, likely from her exhaustion, before dodging. She blinked as a blade fell toward her, ripping off part of her bandages wrapping her breasts and drawing blood. She grimaced before landing on a shaking platform.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS PLACE?!" Laticia shouted in fierce anger as she flashed forward, enraged, her left arm dangling. But suddenly the room flipped as down became up. Laticia flipped before slamming into a chunk that binded around her into a wire and attempted to crush her.
"CURSES!" Laticia yelled in frustration and pain as she broke herself free only for the platform she'd been standing on to flip as she was forced toward spikes. She attempted to dodge only for part of the wall to shift and transform into a turret that fired bullets.
Laticia swung and spun her chain whips in rapid succession as a series of clanging sounds could be heard as she parried the bullets in mid-air, only for one to break through her guard and shoot through her right thigh, drawing blood as she gasped. Simultaneously, she plummeted toward the spikes before straining to catch herself on another platform.
However, Clara appeared in a flash, with several new bleeding wounds on her own body, though she seemed hyperfocused on Laticia as she delivered a one-inch strike with her hand. Laticia twisted her body in response to dodge it as it created a cut on her cheek before she leaped back and slashed with a chain whip.
"Afraid? You should be. This is the hidden potential of Albert's Passion Mark. By manipulating and changing the structure of quartz chunks from the flooring and chemically transmuting the atoms, borderline alchemy can be done through his *cough* ability," Clara said as she dodged a series of chain whip slashes from Laticia before being caught by a wire that cut her arm as she moaned in pain before tearing it off.
The claim shocked Laticia as she dodged a fall of saws that slashed toward her.
Clara merely smiled coldly despite the unimaginable pain she was in as she struggled forward, staring down Laticia. "I knew there was more to his ability than manipulating surroundings ever since I watched him fight in our selection. But to think he had a technique this dangerously amazing is a wonderful surprise," Clara stated, though her knees began to give way.
Laticia's shocked expression grew into a cold scowl in response. "So you'd subject yourself to this pit just to drag me down with you?" she said, her eyes twitching with offense.
At this point, Clara's breaths had grown jagged as she struggled before dodging another pendulum-like ax, which cut off some strands of her hair. "Any day, you bitch," Clara said with a mocking dark smirk.
Laticia's rage had reached a boiling point as she grit her teeth but before she could speak, the wall behind her shifted into the shape of a shark's head, attempting to bite down and skewer and crush Laticia as she barely dodged. However, Laticia managed to jump away in time, but not fast enough. Her eyes widened as her foot was caught in the jaws as it was bitten off, severed as blood sprayed.