* Muv Luv Alternative - Briefing

* Umineo - Life's End

Chapter LXXIII: Highway Hellion

* Muv Luv Alternative – Briefing

The Black Faction had made their entrance at last, in a way that wouldn't go unnoticed for anyone.

Although they had technically been the last Faction to join the battle, it wouldn't be right to say they were late: they had been lying in wait long before the Red Faction had even arrived. While Neo Helios (such was the name of the floating temple of gold) was a boat in shape and function, it could also very much work as an aircraft or a submarine. However, because of Neo Helios' appearance, the Black Faction would have been easy to spot even hundreds of metres beneath the surface of the ocean. That was why they had employed a camouflage on top of that. It wasn't in Caligula's nature to hide though, so it had taken no small amount of persuasion on Alexander's part to convince him to go along with the idea.

Thanks to all that, it had been possible to approach the Ark undetected.

If one wondered why the Masters and Servants of Black had decided to wait before showing up, they might be surprised as to the reason. Honestly speaking, Alexander would have preferred following the plan they had etched together with the Red Faction – he was, after all, a man of his word. Thus, even if letting the Red and the White clash would give the Black an advantage, that was merely a consequence. It would have been just as advantageous to perform a pincer attack on the Ark, if not more.

At the end of the day, Alexander had chosen to wait because he was afraid.

If the Red and the Black had attacked together, they would not have met the same resistance – without a doubt, the White Faction would have focused on Neo Helios. But the latter was sturdy enough to withstand that kind of firepower, so that wasn't the issue. Rather, Alexander hadn't feared what they would have faced, but what they might have. Perhaps it was a ridiculous apprehension if he couldn't tell what he was wary of – but that was the power the unknown had over man.

Ivan Pedilefey.

Alexander's image of that man was mainly formed by what he had learned from Silvelune Arbonnaux. Aside from that, there was the fact that he was Ruler's enemy, someone worth being designated as a threat by the Servant of the Grail. And finally, there was what he had managed to glean from investigating his past. No matter the reality of it, what he was up against was the image formed by those elements. Thus, it shouldn't be surprising that upon seeing the Ark with his own eyes for the first time, his knee-jerk impression had been to keep away.

But regardless of his feelings, the Black Faction had to enter the fray eventually. Seeing as the Red Faction had managed to board the Ark, he had been forced to accept he had been concerned for nothing – that was when he had given the order to resurface. Incidentally, because the Ark had been tipping for some reason at the time, it had been at the perfect angle for Neo Helios to ram into it.

Now that the floating temple had embedded itself into the Ark's side, it was time to disembark.

This went not only for the Servants of Black but also the Masters: Alexander made it a point that anyone beside Caligula was to leave Neo Helios.

"You better have a good reason for this." Although she was already up on the Ark with everyone else, Silvelune still gave him a sour look. "There are some here who aren't fit for fighting."

"Trust me, you would much rather be here." Alexander looked at her, but his reply was meant for everyone around him. "We might be safe on Rider's ship usually, but this time it might become even more dangerous than the Ark."

As if to prove his point, the Pushpaka Vimana fired several laser beams in direction of Neo Helios. All of the Black Faction members were far enough from it that they weren't harmed, but this display of firepower was impressive enough to support Alexander's warning. Naturally, the floating palace didn't have a single scratch on it; conventional attacks were pretty much useless against it. Nonetheless, as long as it remained here it would attract the enemy's attention.

"When have I ever allowed to be safe?" Silvelune grumbled.

Then, without further ado she left, taking the silvery giant and Maria Argas with her. It was a bit hypocritical of her to complain about safety before leaving on her own.

(Or does she consider being alone safer than being with us...?)

It didn't really surprise him, coming from her. She did have somewhat of a point in that they would have to split up. Everyone understood that fact, and so the Black Faction split up without a word. Aside from Silvelune who had just left, two groups formed: Hatsuyo Toriyama also started walking off on her own, until Elena decided to follow after her. Then, there were Alexander, Loïa and Bruno who chose to stick together. Every Master was also accompanied by their Servant, with the exception of Caligula who couldn't leave his ship.

"I hear them fighting..." Chi You frowned while looking into the distance. "I held back for long enough, wouldn't you say, brat?"

"As if you'd ask for my permission." Bruno sighed.

Instead of answering, Chi You lept onto a nearby house and disappeared from sight. Bruno turned toward Alexander and Loïa with an apolegetic look.

"Sorry, I can't hold her back."

"Don't worry, it's probably better this way." Alexander could sympathize with him, as he had an unruly Servant of his own. "She would be looking for trouble no matter what, so she's better off on her own."

"She's better off but she's also our greatest strength. Without her, we're vulnerable."

"We still have two Servants with us." Loïa retorted while crossing her arms. "Caster might not be as strong as Saber, but she won't go down without fighting."

"If we still go down in the end, then it's a problem." Bruno allowed himself a second sigh.

They were not planning to look for conflict however. Just as the ex-soldier had said, Fuuma and Scheherazade weren't the most offensively oriented Servants in the Black Faction, but that also meant they were better at laying low. Not that Bruno's worries were unfounded but a gamble was unavoidable. Alexander was confident: with so many Servants and Masters gathered in one place, efforts to keep a low profile would pay out. And if they were found out anyway, they would fight for their lives.

With that risk in mind, the group entered the City.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Truth be told, despite this situation pregnant with danger, the Ark was awfully calm. This was of course due to the sheer size of this place; they could hear the sound of battling in the distance, but it was hard to even tell how close it was to them. If they simply kept roaming around these narrow empty streets, they might not ever come across any other living soul.

"Where are we going exactly?" Bruno asked.

"I can't tell you – I'm also discovering this place for the first time." The only thing Alexander had known beforehand had been the Ark's location. He couldn't miraculously whip out a map of this place, if such a thing even existed.

"Then what's the plan, Alex?" Loïa asked in turn.

"There's none."

When he said that, Loïa and Bruno stopped dead in their tracks. And when he turned around to ask what the matter was, he found them staring at him with round eyes, as though he had said something mind-blowing. But he was at a complete loss too until Loïa asked a second time:

"There's no plan...?" She asked in a weird tone.

"If there was, I would have told you beforehand, don't you think?"

"There's really none at all?" Bruno's voice was equally weird.

"What's gotten into the two of you?" In front of those reactions, Alexander could only blink with as much astonishment. "Is it really that surprising that I have nothing planned?"

"That's the understatement of the century!" Loïa replied. "You're always coming up with plans, even when no one asks you!"

"I have to agree with her, kid." Bruno scratched his head. "I mean, just a few days ago you were plotting an alliance with the Red Faction. I even thought once that you'd end up making pyramid schemes for a living."

"..."

Alexander could feel his cheeks reddening.

He knew perfectly well what they were referring to, but it was the first time they were saying it to his face.

"We're treading on unknown territory, it's not like I had anything to base a strategy on." He did his best to sound indifferent. But despite his best efforts, a smirk was appearing on Loïa's face. "Even if I wanted to, I don't have any information to go off. So I guess we're improvising this time."

"This is kinda refreshing, isn't it?" Loïa said to Bruno, but the latter replied with a shrug.

Well, that was how things were and there was no helping it, so Alexander turned around and resumed walking. Although, it was also an excuse to hide his face from them for a bit. He was already fully aware of his tendency to oversee as many things as he could, he didn't need to hear it from them of all people. Besides, he had already been told about the futility of his plans, and since he had been forced to acknowledge that fact himself he had thougth he would give it a rest for a change.

That was one of several decisions he had made.

"Don't sulk, Alex." It was clear from her voice that Loïa was still grinning behind him.

"I am not sulking, Mrs. Beddway. I am simply focusing on the matter at hand." He replied flatly.

"Do you really think you can use my own tactics against me?"

He was half-serious though: Fuuma had just issued a mental warning to him.

A warning which was extended to his two teammates when both the shinobi and Scheherazade materialized next to them. Even without that, they would have noticed at some point: there was a faint noise coming from somewhere around them. More specifically, it was a slurping sound as though someone was drinking from something – which, as they found out, was very much the case.

Sitting on the edge of a roof above their heads, a strange man was sipping tea.

"You aren't a Servant, are you?" Alexander asked the stranger, although he already knew the answer.

The reason why he was asking, however, was because Fuuma had only reported the presence of a single person. He trusted his Servant's senses, so that meant the newcomer was indeed all alone. His Servant must have been elsewhere on the Ark but that begged the question: why was he not hiding? To be on his own was one thing, but to willfully stand before a group of five people including two Servants required more than just confidence.

"Those are guests I haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet." The man finished his cup and gave them a toothy grin. "At this time of the day I would normally be holding a tea party, but I'm afraid you aren't here for that."

Both Bruno and Loïa had taken out their weapons and the two Servants were ready to attack at any time, but no one was initiating battle yet. As for Alexander, he was simply gauging his interlocutor.

"You're Ivan Pedilefey, aren't you?" He asked.

"Oh?" Ivan raised his eyebrows with pleasant surprise. "How are you able to tell with such confidence? Are we actually acquainted?"

"The fact that you've found us is already a good enough hint."

"Even though I could simply have met by coincidence?"

"That's a possibility, but if you just so happened to be in such an empty area, you would have been hiding. For you to come out in the open like this, you must have been looking to find people. And if anyone would be able to pinpoint someone's position on this ship, it would be its owner." There was also the fact that this eccentric man somehow matched the mental image Alexander had already had of him based on Silvelune's description. "Of course, that's just a theory. But since you aren't denying it, it must mean I've hit bull's eyes."

Ivan's smile widened.

Now that his teacup was empty, he crushed it inside his balled up fist – or so it seemed at first, but when he opened his hand again there was no teacup in any shape or form. Then, he stood up and spread his arms wide.

"Very well, very well! I suppose I should return the favour and make an educated guess: all three of you are members of the Black Faction, am I right?" He pointed at Alexander. "And considering what the three of you were discussing before, you must be a leader figure. Since that's the case, you must also be the one Miss Arbonnaux ran off to."

"..." As Alexander had thought, Ivan must have been stalking them for a while. Maybe ever since they had set foot on the Ark. "So it's just as she said; you are the initiator of this Holy Grail War."

"Oh my, so she's shared that little secret." Ivan shrugged without a care in the world. "Then, has she told you about her own role in all of this? Perhaps not, after all – she only used you and others as pawns to create the Black Faction."

"Frankly, I don't care." Replied Alexander. "What the relation between the two of you is doesn't matter to me."

Besides, Alexander didn't need Ivan's implications to suspect Silvelune was using him for her own interest. That fact had been clear from the very first time they had met, and they had worked together with full knowledge of what it entailed. Silvelune's relation with the kickstart of the war was also something he had been vaguely aware of, even if he didn't know the details.

She had just shown up one day and had offered Alexander a deal: she had been ready to let him participate in the Holy Grail War as a Master if he had been ready to help her make the Black Faction. Why exactly she had picked him of all people, he didn't know; most likely, she must have guessed New Edge would be desperate for a chance to get their hands on the Grail. What she thought didn't matter much however: they had made a deal, and each one of them had held up their end of the bargain.

She may have been a shady character with many secrets, but when she had come to him with her offer he had simply seen her as someone who needed help. As far as he was concerned, she was also a member of New Edge.

Ivan, on the other hand...

* Umineko - Life's End

"I see, I see! In that case, allow me to give you another riddle." The man with bicolour hair sharpened his gaze. Something peeked through the fabric of his clothes – many small and pointy shapes. "How am I going to kill you?"

"That one's easy." Alexander took out his handgun. "You won't."

The next moment, around two dozen knives erupted from within Ivan and shot out toward the group. But it was still at a speed humans could follow – faster than that, Fuuma summoned his chain and intercepted all of them. By the time the knives hit the floor, Alexander and Bruno had their weapon aimed at Ivan; they fired three shots, all of which hit him in the chest.

But Ivan didn't so much as wince, let alone budge.

The bullets had clearly drilled holes in his coat but no blood spilt from the supposed wounds. If there was any doubt, Ivan proceeded to do a somersault off the house he stood on – a spear emerged from his arm and was sung down toward Alexander's head. It was pointless to go after the Master when the Servant was still alive though: Fuuma blocked the spear with a knife and repelled the aggressor.

But Ivan was not deterred and immediatly went back on the offensive.

Even though he was matched against a Servant, his physical abilities were impressive. But he was up against an opponent who outmatched him by a margin: Fuuma failed to inflict a fatal wound on their second clash but he once again pushed Ivan back effortlessly. He then swung his chain which managed to wrap around the same arm holding the spear.

But when he tried to pull him in closer, Ivan didn't budge to everyone's surprise.

While resisting the shinobi's pull, the magus pulled out something of his pocket. It was a small vial containing a red liquid. Whatever it was, it quickly disappeared into the palm of his hand. The effect was instantaneous: Ivan's muscle mass doubled, which torn most of his clothes off. But that was far from the only change he went through – his pupils became slit, his teeth became sharper and there was a sudden increase in body hair on his arms and chest.

With the strength confered by his transformation, Ivan was the one who pulled Fuuma closer and he struck the shinobi's chest with his free hand. Fuuma was knocked away with such force that he would have flown over tens of metres if not for the chain tieing them together. Ivan used the latter to slam the Servant into the nearest wall as well. While that was happening, Alexander (who had stepped back with the rest of the group) tried taking another shot at the magus but only to get the same result as before.

"As expected, you're a complete freak." He clicked his tongue.

"Why, thank you!" Ivan laughed, although in his new form it was closer to an inhuman growl. "What do you think of this little display? With a bit of work, even a human can overpower a Heroic Spirit."

"I would prefer it if you didn't use your case as an example for the human race. Even you abilities aren't something a regular magus can use. On top of that, after destroying your own body so much, I'm not sure whether you should be so proud of yourself."

"... ... ...Oh?" Ivan's stare intensified. In this form, it turned into the paralyzing glare of a predator. "The way you're speaking, do you know about my ability?"

"I wouldn't show up here without doing my homework." And as a matter of fact, Alexander had done a thorough check of Ivan's background as soon as he had learned of his existence. "That you are a fugitive didn't make things easier; so instead of your past specifically, I investigated the incident that made you leave in the first place."

The 'incident of Ivan Pedilefey'; it wasn't very well known within the Clock Tower because of how short-lived it had been, as well as how long ago it had happened. Nonetheless, it had ended up with Ivan murdering his entire family and becoming a Sealing Designation candidate, and as such it had left traces for Alexander to find.

The Pedilefey family had been rather unremarkable despite having a respectably long history. They had sank to the ranks of young families, and so unsurprisingly the magecraft they had specialized in wasn't all that impressive: Combination.

It was a rather unorthodox method which consisted in combining two spells which were close in nature. For exemple, a curse with another similar curse, or rituals built on the same foundation. Even amongst the Five Great Elements there were some similarities, such as how both Fire and Earth had Dry features. A good comparison would be cross-breeding: by combining two compatible species, a superior third one could be created. In the same way, Combination coulf strengthen both spells by having them resonate with each other.

But even though the theory behind it was tremendous (especially from the point of view of small families hoping to make great progress in a single generation), the results were mediocre most of the time. After all, if it were so simple to combine spells to achieve a greater result, this technique would have been widespread among magi.

At any rate, this had been the state of the Pedilefey family by the time Ivan was born. Although he hadn't distinguished himself for most of his childhood, everything had changed after he had entered the Clock Tower as a student – all of sudden, he had started displaying an ability no other Pedilefey had ever achieved.

Namely, he had managed to combine things which were completely unrelated to one another.

And it wasn't only spells either: in one particular incident Alexander had learned about, he and his class had been assigned with making familiars of their own. What stuck out here wasn't Ivan's homework, but what he had done with it afterward – he had merged all of the familiars made by his classmates with his own. The monstrosity thus created had not lived for more than a few minutes, but it had been a remarkable achievement nonetheless for such an unexperienced young magus. This incident had been like a spark in a pile of gunpowder, and within a month the teenager had left the Clock Tower.

At this point, the magecraft displayed by Ivan was such a far cry from its original form that it might be called something different altogether. Or maybe his ability was the foundation on which the thaumaturgy of the Pedilefey's was based on; a long-lost golden age accidentally reborn with Ivan.

Regardless, this was Ivan Pedilefey.

"You've made a good demonstration of your Combination in the past minute." Alexander said. "The way you can store objects inside of your body, or that transformation."

"That's correct. Years ago, I've managed to steal the blood of a Golden Werewolf from a werewolf village. I don't have enough of it to turn all the way into the genuine article, but even so I can reach the level of a Phantasmal Beast!" Without a doubt, Ivan's new appearance and presence backed his words. "The tea I drank earlier is a specialty of mine, a combat drug. With those two combined, I am on par with a Ghost Liner!"

"Hence why you are confident enough to fight us on your own." Without Servants, there was no doubt that the trio would have been slaughtered with no way to fight back. "However, there's still something I haven't figured out: even if you can fuse two objects, it's not the same thing as a bottomless chest. With so many things merged with your body, you should be a bloated mass of flesh too heavy to even walk around."

"So you've figured that part as well, huh? Indeed, that is an issue I still cannot get rid off no matter how much I try. However, don't be mistaken..." Ivan lightly tapped his foot on the floor. "...I have plenty of room to spare. What all of you are standing on is also part of my 'body', after all."

"I figured as much. I suppose that explains how you're even able to maneuver this thing." Alexander sighed. This was a headache in and off itself. "But haven't you made a bit of an oversight?"

"Hm?" Ivan tilted his head.

"Even if you have power comparable to a Servant, do you really think that is enough to match them?"

Indeed, Ivan was being awfully carefree for someone who had a Servant right behind him. The magus had managed to overpower Fuuma and to knock him away, but that was nowhere near enough to kill. And although the shinobi was probably not as strong as Ivan at the moment, the latter wasn't the only one who could get stronger: before he could understand the meaning of Alexander's words, the chain still wrapped around Ivan's arm was brutally yanked backward.

Fuuma had also grown in size until he was of a comparable height to the werewolf-magus while he too became something other than human. The reason why Alexander had struck a short conversation with Ivan had also been so that his Servant could recover and transform into an Oni unnoticed.

This time around, the magus was the one who had the displeasure of being slammed into a wall.

Even now their power had to be more or less on the same level, but Fuuma was by far the angriest. And now that he had Ivan in a bind, the shinobi-turned-demon was battering him in blind rage. The pseudo-werewolf did fight back as well as he could, but his opponent's ferocity overwhelmed him; in the end, Fuuma locked him into a hold from behind so that he couldn't resist and he proceeded to choke Ivan slowly.

Yet even so, Ivan was smiling.

"I see... ! There was... that issue as well... huh...?" He stopped struggling and his body seemed to go limp. However, that didn't mean he had finally kicked the bucket. "But allow me... to point out your own oversight: ...if as the owner of the Ark... I can detect anyone's presence... then how do I hunt them down...?"

"...!"

Alexander didn't have the time to ponder about what he had said, for Ivan immediatly gave him a demonstration: his neck phased through Fuuma's arm. The same went for his body which the oni was holding in place and the arm that was trapped by the chain – as if nothing was hindering them, they escaped Fuuma's grasp and Ivan was free.

And, the next moment, he disappeared into the ground.

Yes, that was truly an oversight on Alexander's part, even if he could be excused by his lack of familiarity with Ivan's ability. In the first place, he had failed to ask himself the right question: since Ivan had gone to the length of creating such a massive headquarters, he would naturally need a way to move around fast. But even had he realized that, Alexander couldn't have predicted that it involved Combination, because this was a completely outrageous use of that ability.

No, in the first place, even combining physical elements together was a very unnatural and risky application of his power. Most likely, combining his own body with so many different objects was harming Ivan's health and physical integrity. Merging with matter in order to phase through it was even crazier, and every time Ivan resorted to it he was basically gambling his own life. Or perhaps that was simply the extent of his mastery. Using Combination on the physical plane – that was essentially manipulation on a molecular level. Ivan had to willfully move every atom of his body through the white stone in order to move, something only a natural-born genius could achieve.

But this was neither the time nor the place to admire his level of expertize: if Ivan had disappeared, it wasn't to run away.

And sure enough, the werewolf-magus's head emerged from the ground at Alexander's feet. It was too late to try and avoid him, he was already upon him. The spear was gone and instead of it Ivan was holding another small vial containing a transparent liquid. This time however, his intention clearly wasn't to absorb it; he meant to merge it with Alexander.

"Don't just stand there!"

Unlike Alexander, Bruno had the reflex to act and did so by pushing Alexander out of the way. Unfortunately, in doing so he ended up being the one standing in Ivan's path: the latter's hand buried itself into Bruno's side and then reappeared without the vial.

"Ghhh...!" The ex-soldier's face contorted in pain and he lost his balance. "Damn it...!"

In a single movement, he pulled his knife out of his sheath and swung it at Ivan's head, but the blade merely passed through his face without leaving a trace.

"Such devotion; you didn't hesitate to take the Water of Death for your leader!" Ivan laughed cruelly. "Well, such a small amount won't kill an adult man. You might find yourself suffering for the rest of your life though."

"You..." Blood rushed to Alexander's head. When his brain registered what Bruno had done, his instinct was to empty his gun into Ivan, even though it would be pointless.

"You can't defeat me."

He didn't have the time to do that however: the magus had a head start on him. Four minuscule objects peeked from within Ivan's hand and, before Alexander could recognize them as the four bullets they had fired earlier, they shot toward him. It was fortunate that Ivan couldn't eject them fast enough to pierce through bone, yet even so they hit Alexander's face with enough force to knock him over.

"Alex!"

He heard Loïa's voice. He didn't expect her to do anything though. She probably felt the same as he had done a second ago, but it wasn't as if she could act on it. Fuuma could do nothing despite his strength and Scheherazade couldn't try anything when they were all this close.

It was as Ivan Pedilefey had said.

No one here could do anything to harm him.

...

...

...

Actually, there was a way.

Alexander's brain was able to think calmly despite the sudden hit he had taken, and it was at this moment that he had an epiphany. Alexander felt a warm liquid trickling down his face and when he opened his eye he had to wipe off the blood. One of the bullet must have burt a vein above his brow.

"We can overload you."

When he heard those four words, Ivan turned his attention away from Loïa and back to him. Alexander stared him in the eyes with unshakable conviction.

"Even if you could absorb every attack thrown at you, your body has a limit. You're already abusing it simply by combining with this ship and all of the weapons it contains. If I had to guess, you're probably already at your limit when traversing matter. And if we force you to reach that limit, you'll drop dead."

Alexander couldn't really assume anything about Ivan's power, so half of that assertion were guesses. But it was a reasonable assumption, and the magus' reaction confirmed it: something changed in his gaze. It wasn't fear or panic, and to be honest Alexander didn't want to know how that freak was feeling. What mattered was that Ivan showed a sudden peak of interest.

Ignoring everyone else present, he approached Alexander who was still laying on the ground.

"And you believe you can do it?" The werewolf-magus bared his fangs. There was a disgusting wet noise and a Grail Shard emerged from his chest, brimming with light and power. "Do you really think the likes of you can put an end to me?"

"..."

Alexander didn't reply but the answer was clear in his mind: he could do it.

It was true that Ivan's presence was formidable, and the magical energy from the Grail Shard was making him even more intimidating; there was little doubt that this man had stopped being human already. However, looking at it from another angle, Ivan was threatening Alexander – when a wild animal tried to intimidate its opponent, it meant it was cornered. And in this very moment, the half-beast was giving the same impression.

It was also true that Alexander didn't have much he could overload Ivan's body with. Sacrificing himself or one of his comrades was out of question, of course – and since they had to force Ivan to combine with it, it wouldn't work anyway. On the other hand, there was something Ivan had no choice but to absorb: he had shown several times already that he couldn't dodge bullets.

Even if Alexander emptied his entire magazine it would probably not nearly be enough, and even if Loïa and Bruno did as much, they would probably come a bit short. More importantly, in the time it would take to shoot every bullet they had, Ivan could probably eject them as well. But at least, Alexander had the guarantee that the bullets would hit. What this meant was that, as long as he could load something into the bullet, he could make it work.

And as it happened, he did have something that could be channeled into an object – it was on the back on his hand.

Now, energy did not take much space physically but that part didn't matter as long as it was magical energy: magic circuits were directly tied to the body, and Ivan's must have been bearing just as much of a burden from the constant Combination. Alexander had five Command Seals in total. He would rather not use up the one reserved for Caligula, but he could afford to spend two from Fuuma.

If Ivan Pedilefey was hit by two Command Seal-powered bullets, he would have two options: either absorb it and fry his magic circuits, which would deprive him of Combination altogether; or take the damage and die. The only way for him to survive would be if he could somehow absord the prana into his flesh instead of his circuits. That being said, Alexander was ready to bet Ivan had never even tried something like that before, as keeping together a body made of pure energy would be too much.

Thus, he could say with confidence: if he and Ivan clashed, Alexander had a chance to win.

But if any part of that plan turned out to be wrong, he and everyone he cared about would be slaughtered.

"...!"

Although, in the end he never got to find out: instead of attacking him, Ivan suddenly turned his head with a look of surprise.

He wasn't paying attention to Alexander anymore, nor to any of the other four people present. Then, a smile more carnivorous than any he had displayed until now split his face in half.

"He's here."

And ignoring everything that had happened till now, he turned away and jumped up on a building. For a second, Alexander hesitated as to whether he should attack him while he had his back turned or be relieved that he didn't have to test out his theory. In that span of time, Ivan departed for good while leaving only this message to them:

"Please do you best to survive this day! The more people there are to witness my magnum opus, the greater my joy will be!"

And so it was that no one died during this encounter.

However, Alexander couldn't pretend to ignore this bitter aftertaste.

If he had to say whether this was a victory or a defeat, it was the latter without a doubt: ignoring the blood spilling over his eye, the leader of the Black Faction hurried next to Bruno who was lying down on the floor while holding his side in pain. If he asked him, the ex-soldier would probably say that it was nothing; there hadn't been any delusion that wouldn't get hurt in the first place.

But to see this familiar face pale and painted over with suffering...

"How did I let it get to this...?" Alexander gritted his teeth.

Thank you for reading.

That's all folks.

~Legends Storyteller