Several kilometres from Jericho, Lake of the Fireflies.
"You got here first, it's almost an hour before the agreed time." (Valerie)
"I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible." (William)
William got up from the cut log he was using as a seat. Valerie and William found themselves right in front of a medium-sized lake. Being far from the city, there was not a soul in sight except for the two of them.
Except, of course, for the thousands of fireflies that emerged flying from the trees, shining brightly in emerald green. Their light was dazzling in the deep darkness of the night. The only artificial light that could disturb these insects was the light from Valerie's torch.
William did not need light to see. His black centipede medal allowed him to see his surroundings as if it were daytime. The only drawback was that he could not distinguish colours very well; everything seemed monochromatic, black and white.
"I just have two questions before we begin." (William)
William took off his jacket, a new one from an expensive brand, white with silver trim. He didn't want to damage it, so he remained wearing only a long-sleeved white shirt.
"I only have one. I'll answer yours first, and then I hope you'll do the same for me." (Valerie)
"Go ahead." (Valerie)
"Who are you?" (William)
William asked his first question as he stretched his arms and grabbed his neck, looking as if he were getting ready to exercise.
"At this point, I'm not so sure, but my friends know me as Noah Brayan, 35 years old, engaged."
Valerie was somewhat surprised, but her facial expressions remained pleasant. She looked like an attractive older sister who liked handsome young men.
"The second and last question: what groups do you belong to?" (William)
William tilted his head to one side curiously. He could feel Valerie's gaze since he entered the Veleta. He was handsome, but not to the point of obsessing an attractive adult woman with whom he had barely exchanged a few words.
Enid and her friends would have a different opinion.
(I assume they are a group. I've only had problems with two possible members of some group, and I doubt this guy is part of a small gang.) (William
"I'm from TACS, The Artifact Collection Society." (Valerie)
"Now it's my turn." (Valerie)
(TACS, I'll ask Max about them later.) (William)
Valerie answered the question without flinching or hesitating, the night wind blowing a strong gust lifting Valerie's long golden hair, her tight denim trousers highlighting her plump thighs and wide hips.
"Do you know Ashley Bell?" (Valerie)
Valerie closed her eyes as she asked the question, though her hands did not stop moving. She lowered the cloth case she was carrying on her shoulder and calmly unzipped it.
"Yes, a few months ago I was in combat alongside her." (William)
"An impressive psychic." (William)
"What happened to her?"
Valerie's voice, now known as Noah, trembled at this point in the conversation. Apparently, Ashley Bell was a very important person to him.
"She died. I ripped her throat out when she tried to kill me." (William)
"That's all I needed to hear." (Valerie)
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!
Each of the shots fired from Noah's black Glock 26 was cleanly stopped by Titan with a couple of 360° spins around William.
(Hmm, I still can't cut a bullet, but stopping it isn't a big deal.) (William)
William wasn't faster than a bullet, but his dynamic vision and reaction time allowed him to see which direction Noah was aiming in a second before he fired, giving him enough time to use Titan as a shield.
"I knew it wouldn't be that easy. I've been watching you for several months." (Valerie)
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!
*Blood splatters*
Noah tried to be more erratic with each shot and fire as quickly as possible, resulting in one of the bullets grazing William's left arm.
"I couldn't get much out of him, just that you use a spear, you can extend your claws, modify your eyes, you're good at archery but without a quality bow it's useless." (Valerie)
"Damn it...!!!" (Valerie)
For a brief moment, Noah stopped completely. The sight of William's only wound closing in a second made him wonder if seeking revenge was a good idea.
"You shouldn't get distracted." (William)
That was enough. William disappeared from his position, sprinting at full speed and causing Noah to lose sight of him for a moment. Noah's next reaction was guided by instinct.
(Back off!!!....arrrghh!!!)
(Tsk, a little more) (William)
William's spear cut a long wound in Noah's chest, blood began to gush out, staining his low-cut shirt.
Noah clutched his chest, blood staining his fingers, and gasped in fear. If his reaction had been a second slower, his guts would have spilled onto the grass.
(Damn vampires, superior speed and strength of the demon...) (Valerie)
(Even after infiltrating Nevermore, I couldn't be sure what kind of Outcast you were...) (Valerie)
"When you suspected me." (Valerie)
Noah tried to stall for time while his hands hurriedly searched his pockets.
"From the moment I saw you, your scent was identical to Miss Bell's. You use the same perfume."
William answered the question, but did not stop. Noah lost sight of him again. He was busy drinking an emerald-coloured liquid from a delicate glass bottle.
*CLASSSH!!!*
William's blow was aimed at piercing Noah's stomach, but before Titan's sharp tip could enter Noah's back and exit through his chest, a thin layer of golden energy covered his body.
The sparks and golden flashes lit up the entire area. William frowned and backed away to a safe distance.
"So, that's its effect, a perfect physical barrier." (William)
"The bracelet is called the Light of the Fallen. We believe Napoleon used it in 1805 during the Battle of Austerlitz." (Valerie)
"His crushing victory against Russia and Austria, which dissolved the Third Coalition." (William)
"Thanks to it, Napoleon won and emerged without a single scratch. Neither cannons nor black powder rifles were able to pierce it." (Valerie)
(This isn't the best way to deal with a superior Vampire, I should change again.) (Valerie)
"Did you realise what kind of Outcast I am?" (Valerie)
Noah's wounds had healed completely, but his clothes were still torn, revealing the soft, white skin of Valérie's lower breasts. If any teenagers with raging hormones were present, they would definitely enjoy the view.
"Change forms." (William)
"Exactly." (Valerie)
(I caught the same scent on several students who couldn't take their eyes off me. It was useless to try to get rid of the scent after using it for so many years.) (William)
Noah's shape began to change, his muscles expanded, his height increased, his hair shrank until it was short and black, even Valerie's fashionable clothes changed to a traditional Chinese suit. He was a man now.
"Liu Feng, martial arts prodigy, it took me time to skin his body piece by piece to find out how it was composed... tsk." (Noah)
Skinning a body allowed Noah to know exactly how a specific human body was formed, the density of their muscles and their position, the hardness of their bones, where they were flexible and where they were rigid. This forbidden technique allowed him to replicate Lui Feng's body with 90% accuracy, thus retaining most of his combat strength, including some of his techniques.
It was completely different from the superficial transformations of other shape-shifters.
William wasn't very interested. He attacked Titan multiple times with cuts, thrusts, and stabs, but Noah was able to stop each and every one of them.
Sparks flew from the collision of metal against metal. Valerie had brought a long, single-edged Chinese sword in its case on her shoulder.
*Clank!!* *Clank!!* *Clank!!*
"Every few days I would go to your school to try to find out who you were, because my tracker marked you as the last person Ashley spoke to." (Noah)
"Weren't you ever attracted to Valerie? It was one of my best performances, I even changed my thoughts at times." (Noah)
"You talk too much." (William)
William's next attack was a downward slash with both hands, the force enough to cut his opponent in two, and Noah knew it. He used both hands, one to hold the hilt of the sword and the other to support the other end of the blunt blade.
*Clank!!*
Noah deflected William's cut to one side before counterattacking. The clash between the spear and the Chinese sword continued until a metallic crunch caused Noah to retreat.
(Damn, even this sword is struggling to withstand so many blows from a Mytril spear.) (Noah)
(If I had to guess, I'd say it's 95% pure, mixed with some Orichalcum to increase its hardness.) (Noah)
Noah's long Chinese sword was a treasure, an artefact known for its sharpness that should never have worn down even after centuries of being forged, but now it had a crack.
"I didn't want to have to use this, it will damage my sword, but I think it will be worse if I don't use it." (Noah)
"Tiankong Qiege!!!" (Sky Cut)
Those words were not the name of a technique or a skill, they were activation words, a voice command.
(That looks dangerous!!) (William)
William dodged hastily, deciding not to take the attack with Titan. A line of light seemed to detach itself from Noah's sword, a shapeless blade that seemed capable of cutting through anything in its path.
*Boom* *Boom*
Several trees were cleanly split in half.
*Crack*
The crack in Noah's sword grew larger, and some of the golden seals that glowed on its blade dimmed.
"I hope that killed the son of a bitch!!!"
Noah's breathing was heavy. The hand-to-hand exchange with William had tired him more than he imagined. Each attack had superhuman strength, each aimed at one of his vital organs, not to mention the speed of each attack.
*Grrrraaaar!!!!*
Noah knew that powerful growl and the wet breath he felt on the back of his neck were not a good sign, but he was too slow to do anything. The next thing he felt was the Grimm's powerful jaws clamping down on his head.
*Crystal Scratch.*
The force of the bite was such that the Light of the Fallen, the function of the object Noah had taken from the vault of The Artifact Collection Society, with the leader's permission for its protection during the search for Ashley Bell and Alexander Bell, trembled before the power of the Grimm.
(Tsk, it's still not enough to break this barrier.)
William hadn't panicked yet, but it was irritating not to be able to hurt his target. Of course, Noah hadn't hurt William either, except for the first scratch.
The Grimm's ethereal form allowed William to dodge the space blade that cut through everything in its path until it stopped, and his ability to merge with the shadows allowed him to make that surprise attack.
"SO YOU'RE NOT A DAMN VAMPIRE!!!!"
The second time he almost died had finally angered Noah. Before attacking again with a Sky Cut, William threw him like a dirty rag into some trees.
*Spit Saliva!!!*
The impact was so powerful that it made Noah spit saliva, feeling as if his back was about to break in two.
(Why did that affect him?...) (William)