Looking at the soldiers groveling before her, Sarah revealed a satisfied smile.
Although the Defense Force's sudden raid had been outside her expectations, she had used the opportunity to lead these soldiers away from the base, and at the same time seize control of them with the fail-safe she had prepared in advance.
That's right — from the very moment the plan to create the Filth Soldiers was set in motion, she had already left herself a contingency.
As the one who had proposed the plan, not even Iseult, for all her rank as Bishop, had any idea that Sarah possessed the means to control these soldiers.
"Now, all that remains is to wait for the day the moment ripens."
A flicker of sinister malice flashed through her slightly narrowed phoenix eyes. Though there had been rather many unexpected incidents recently, thankfully her plan was still proceeding in perfect order.
At that thought, she once again drew out the Sacrifice Core that Hartman had brought her, casually plucking off the tracker on it — long since disabled — and holding the flawless gem up to the moonlight to admire the radiance it gave off.
"Hmph, just wait and see what comes next."
"Watch how I take this loathsome world..." "...and burn it to ashes."
While Sarah was preparing her grand scheme, Hartman — who had earlier been conducting a deal with her — was in a situation that could hardly be called good either.
"Damn it, how could I be this unlucky!"
He had only come to do a bit of business. How on earth had he run into something like this?
And besides, how exactly had the Rebel Soldiers' intel been leaked? The Defense Force's operation had been far too swift as well.
But none of that mattered to Hartman. Right now the most urgent thing was to figure out a way to shake off the two grim reapers behind him.
"Don't you dare come any closer!!!"
Behind Hartman, Geno and Lycaon were hot on his heels, sprinting after him without letting up.
He'd finally managed to escape the battlefield where the Rebel Soldiers and the Defense Force were clashing, only to run into these two here of all places.
Geno needed no explanation, of course. Though it was strange that he hadn't turned into a Sacrifice and had even shown up here — but more than Geno, what truly frightened him was that white Wolf Thirren.
He had seen that figure before. That was the running dog of the Mayflower family, and the fact that he was hunting him down alongside the kid Geno meant the municipal system had already begun making moves against Ravenlock.
At that thought, Hartman's expression turned grim in an instant.
He'd only stepped out for a while, and yet his home base might already have been raided clean out from under him — it was honestly enough to make anyone crack.
Still, all of that was something he'd have to deal with later. Right now the most important thing was shaking off these two grim reapers on his tail.
As long as he could reach that place! As long as he could get there!
Shoving his underlings beside him forward one after another to serve as human shields and block the pursuit from behind, Hartman ran with both legs at full tilt, unleashing every last drop of his potential as he pressed toward one specific location.
There lay all the Half-Sacrifices he had smuggled out of the factory. Before entering the rebel camp, he had stashed every one of them there.
After all, showing up before The Exaltists carrying these things would be no different from telling them to their faces that he'd been peddling knockoffs!
And now, these inferior, half-finished products were about to become his last straw to clutch at!
"Damn it! This guy can really run!"
Geno furiously kicked away a Ravenlock enforcer whose face was full of panic. In order to make his own escape, Hartman had utterly stopped treating these subordinates as human, casting them aside without the slightest hesitation to stall the two of them.
Not that it did much good — but it had, at least, successfully slowed the pair down.
Geno swept another man flying with a single spin, and finally reached his limit. He signaled Lycaon at his side to fall back, then revealed his Ethereal true form to overawe the entire field, cleaning out every last one of the mob at the fastest possible speed.
Afterward he reverted to human form once more and called out to Lycaon to keep moving forward.
"Hurry, let's chase!"
Lycaon merely nodded without answering, though his heart was somewhat unsettled.
He'd witnessed it many times by now, yet he was still shaken by Geno's exaggerated explosive power.
Just imagine — someone who only a few months ago had been barely on par with you. You'd think him a formidable genius, only to discover a few months later that he had already surpassed you, and was still improving without pause. And the most terrifying part was that all of this had happened within the span of a mere few months.
There was a dedicated term for people like this — monster.
In Lycaon's eyes, Geno was that monster.
Just a few months ago he hadn't possessed such strength, and yet Geno... in the future he might even surpass a Void Hunter...
But that thought had barely risen before Lycaon shook it out of his mind. After all, no one could say for certain what the future held. And besides, even among Void Hunters there were gaps in strength; for the Geno of now to take that step was still too early.
Carrying these tangled thoughts, the two of them chased after Hartman's position without their feet stopping for even a moment.
At last, beside an abandoned building, Geno and Lycaon finally caught sight of Hartman.
"Hartman, you've got nowhere left to run. If you know what's good for you, come back with us quietly."
Geno called out sternly, admonishing Hartman, yet his body stayed poised to strike at any moment. After all, talk was talk — if he could be talked down, all the better; if not, then straight to force!
And Hartman, at this moment, was in an equally sorry state.
His originally pristine, brand-new suit was now covered in a layer of gray dust, his flashy red sunglasses had cracked apart with the frame bent crooked and askew, and his meticulously combed hairstyle had long since been blown apart during the flight, as tangled and disordered as a bird's nest in a tree.
Yet Hartman's face still wore a smile — a smug smile, to be precise.
"Nowhere to run? What foolish nonsense are you spouting now? The ones with nowhere to run are you two!"
As he spoke, Hartman interlaced his fingers and lightly snapped them.
Seeing this familiar scene, Geno's pupils shrank on the spot. He whirled around at once to see two familiar monsters lunging at him and Lycaon from left and right.
The same trick — this was the second time Geno had faced it.
But even knowing his opponent's intentions, Geno still faced an enormous choice.
Protect Lycaon, or protect himself.
It seemed a difficult proposition, yet when it came to Geno's choice — he wanted them both.
Rushing forward and arriving at Lycaon's side, Geno spread both hands, blocking one in front and one behind, and then conjured two Ether crystal shields before his hands that forcibly halted the assault of both monsters.
"Geno!"
Faced with the sudden situation, Lycaon showed a flash of alarm, but quickly reacted.
While Geno was mounting his defense, he leapt up through the gap between them, then drove both legs off the shields, borrowing the momentum to burst toward one of the monsters.
The power units on his prosthetic limbs roared and surged — with a single kick, Lycaon actually sent that monster's head flying clean off.
Seeing that Lycaon had begun his counterattack, Geno seized the moment, withdrawing one shield and reshaping it into a sword, swinging it down onto the body of the other monster. With a wet squelch, the second monster too collapsed to the ground.
The tide of battle had reversed in an instant.
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