Weaponless, shielding damaged, and using up more Johrei stores than she would have liked, the woman known as Vera was running out of options. The Blackbirds were smart enough to decipher most of her abilities, though she still had enough for one more risk.

  And a risk it indeed was.

  Vera primed herself, releasing all of her stored momentum to reach typically unattainable speeds and shot herself forward toward Calli as her gatling gun was winding up. A few bullets shot out from the barrel, but seeing how Johrei shielding typically dealt with bullets a bit better than it did with objects of larger size and higher mass, Vera banked that her shielding would hold long enough until…

  Calli got knocked into the ground by Vera, who began using the harder metallic segments of her armor to pummel at Calli’s now flimsy Johrei shielding. It began to crack under the pressure as Calli noticed Vera’s shielding shattered in multiple places.

  She’s still keeping her shielding covered over her vitals however, Calli thought, annoyed at how careful Vera was, even in this situation.

  Pinned down, Calli didn’t have a way to break free from Vera, who wailed on her until her own shielding shattered and a right cross clocked her in the face, causing Calli’s vision to swim. Relentless with her hits, Calli began to lose consciousness as her face began to numb and her vision dizzied.

  “You’re strong miss. Strong enough to make me lose my temper. But be that as it may, I’ll put you in the ground, just like your friend Cyr. Just like I will with –,” Vera began, glancing up quickly, only to notice Aio, barely able to sit up, with the Lotus Blade in his hand.

  Before Vera could react, tendrils of Johrei exploded from the blade, puncturing Vera in multiple areas of vulnerability, though none hitting her vitals as her now weakened shielding shattered under the onslaught. Pierced in multiple places, she didn’t expect Aio to use her weapon like that, knowing the risk his attack would pose on his fellow Blackbird.

  She tried to move her head up to get a better look as she lay prone on the ground, bleeding from multiple points on her body.

  “Cyr? You…killed Cyr?” Aio said, dropping the Lotus Blade. Tears streamed from his eyes, and she saw into his eyes…anger. Surprisingly, none of the blades managed to hit Calli. It was as if the blades themselves were being guided towards a single target, which would normally be difficult if you weren’t a proficient user of the weapon.

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  Was he an Inner? Vera thought shakily, considering that option as Supplementors were known to have a strangely natural proficiency at utilizing the abilities of weaponry containing Enthipid cores, even those they’ve only touched for the first time.

  However, Vera knew Aio wasn’t, as she hadn’t seen the typical indicators of an Inner - the glowing chest during ability usage, or any indicators of bodily modifications needed to sustain Elite cores in an Inner’s body.

  She didn’t have time to ponder. In the distance, she noticed figures closing in on her. A tall man accompanied by another, and wondered if those were people from the village or not. In that moment, Aio began to close in.

  “You don’t deserve to live for what you did, Vera.” And, limping on one leg, he walked over Vera’s bleeding body, towering above her as she laughed.

  “Young hunter,” Vera remarked, coughing out blood in between her words. “You don’t even know what’s in that village do you? What all this is about?”

  Aio said nothing, but only raising his blade.

  “There are those amongst the Clan, the underground, the council who know the truth of what happened that led us to our current predicament. Killing me won’t change anything. The real Vera was long dead, and you’ll only live to see for yourself, exactly why no one should alter the status quo, of what it means, to join the hunt. Kill me, and you’ll lose a valuable source of information.”

  These words, mysterious, though vague, carried little weight to Aio, who raised the blade and began to plunge it down. Right before it connected with the woman known as Vera however, a voice rang out into Aio’s ears, causing him to stagger.

  “Lost one…” it said.

  In that instance, Vera’s eye widened. She heard it too. Throwing aside the surprise she felt at Aio’s bloodlust and commitment to the kill – she’s never misread a person, but she didn’t have time to ponder over the matter – Vera focused on the source of the voice. Calli however, was knocked unconscious during this time. The strange, otherworldly voice snapped the bloodlust out of Aio, who regained enough composure to abate his seething rage at his mentor’s murderer. Tightly holding Vera’s Lotus Blade, he stopped himself.

  “If you say you know something the Blackbirds don’t, then we’re going to get it out of you. You’ll act the guide, and then, you’ll die,” Aio continued. At that moment, Gravel and his team arrived, ready to help out Aio, noticing her prone body on the ground, staining the white flowers a crimson red.

  “Sorry we’re late,” Gravel managed to squeeze out. It was then Aio realized Gravel and his mercenaries were really bad at reading the situation, and, using the last of his energy to direct the hunters to restrain Vera, he collapsed forward into the patch of flowers, unconscious.