A few minutes after Lilibeth Lawson exited the antechamber, the faceless man came in. In his hand was a smartphone with a video feed of that girl zooming through the tunnels, at a speed that was impossible for a baseline human to achieve.

"So, strength, speed, energy projection, energy crafting, telekinesis, and vanity," he said as he strolled towards Mauler's…mauled body. The blazing gold sword was still embedded at the back of the giant's skull and was merrily melting the bone, flesh, and brains. Mauler's body twitched every now and then as nerves fire off, or when ligaments and tendons knitted back together. His knees were already back to pristine condition, but since he had a sword in his brain, he couldn't do anything other than lie there.

"You're lucky she didn't behead you, huh?" the faceless man said as he crouched in front of Mauler's face. The monstrous human tried to scowl, but he couldn't control his muscles. In fact, the man probably couldn't see since the blade melted his eyes. His lips opened and closed sporadically and acid dripped from the corner, sizzling as it melted the dirt and rock. "But I'm not sure if that's even enough to kill you, old man, hehehe. Not that it matters much, huh?"

There was also the fact that the girl demonstrated incredible combat acumen. "Was she trained by Lawson guards or something?" the faceless man wondered. He had been a soldier before his Alteration and he wondered if he could fight the same way she did. He flipped through the different camera angles and focused on Lilibeth's face. It was…incredibly difficult to focus on anything other then her near-otherworldly beauty, but once he had his fill, he observed her expressions, or rather, the serenity that was plain on her face.

He slowed the video and magnified it at certain points. He saw micro expressions cross the girl's face, but there was never a hint of fear there. Only annoyance and disgust. But there was something else at the beginning too. Excitement. So…

But how did she gain that kind of experience? He would have to check and investigate. It would be easy in his other identity, but it would leave trails, too. He was wary of the Hidden Ruler who reigned over Neo Prism City where Lilibeth lived, or he could try his other sources. It could also be part of her Alteration, but he didn't think so. There was a difference when one's Alteration increased combat prowess, as opposed to being good at fighting from experience. Lilibeth's fight didn't have any mistakes. It didn't have rookie mistakes borne from overconfidence. She might be fast and strong, but she didn't overly rely on it. Then, there was her telekinesis. Her use was exquisite, especially with how she used it to bolster her body.

"A mystery," he grinned. The thought increased his desire to capture and conquer, but it was also quite likely that his colleagues were incensed. Especially the bulk currently suppressed by the energy projection. He closed the video and turned on the camera. He took several photographs of the embedded sword from different angles and different magnifications. The flesh around the blade was bubbling with heat, but he noticed that even when his hand was close to the weapon, he didn't even feel the slightest temperature variation. He even increased his thermoreceptors but he felt nothing. Still, he dared not touch it. For all he knew, it was some kind of dimensional energy, rather than simple plasma. Still, he could see that the blade was losing integrity every second. It would take a couple of minutes more for the thing to unravel, and he thought he shouldn't be too close when it happened. Right when he saw the edge waver, he jumped away from Mauler and even went so far as to hide behind a fold in the ground.

There was a flash of light, but that was about it. Sighing in relief, the faceless man stood up and watched Mauler's skull slowly—relatively slowly—regenerate. A couple of minutes later, the gigantic man was spewing curses and spitting as he rubbed the back on his head.

"Lost your head there for a minute, huh?" the faceless man laughed.

"Silence," Mauler growled. "Huh, a bigger challenge than I expected, but it only makes me want to eat her more."

"Sure you do," the faceless man chuckled. "I'm sure she'll taste wonderful, but don't forget, Doctor Pride wants a go first."

"There are many secrets in that body," Mauler said mildly, "but I will devour and assimilate everything!"

"You realise if she hadn't been in a hurry, you might have been beheaded."

"I know, but it matters not. Losing my head will only delay me, and…" he hummed thoughtfully, "sticking that sword in my head made me lose more time than just a beheading."

"Yes, you could have reattached it in that case. So, what now? Subduing her doesn't look promising at the moment, not with the lab just underneath the layer. You cause too much collateral damage, my friend."

"John, I'm not your friend, no matter what you think," Mauler said mildly.

The faceless man tilted his head and chuckled. "You know better than to use names."

"For you, it doesn't matter. You change features as easily as a woman changes her mind."

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"Tsk, misogyny? From you of all people?"

"It's not misogyny if it's the truth, isn't it?" Mauler said confidently.

"Don't you have limited experience with the opposite sex? Don't you wind up eating most of them instead? Heh? My friend, you're missing out on the real meaning of pleasure."

"Filling my stomach and gaining power…that is the true meaning of pleasure."

"Tsk. How long before you're ready?"

"Another minute. That sword is made for dimensional energies. It takes a while to regenerate flesh and bone."

"I'm surprised you're so cogent even with half your brain missing."

"Unlike you, plebeian, my consciousness is housed in my indomitable spirit, not my brain. That organ is merely responsible for bridging the gap between spirit and body."

"So you say, so you say."

"I am ready. Let us continue the hunt."

"Gladly."

__________

Yuriko wasted no time. As soon as she entered the tunnel, she felt the realm shift. It brought her to another partition in space, but one on the same layer as Scarlett. She could feel her friend clearly now. Scar was afraid, that much was clear, but underneath the fear was a determination to live.

The tunnel didn't lead towards Scarlett and if Yuriko's guess was correct, the maze aimed to winnow down the club members until only a few were left. She would not meet Scarlett until she reached the end. That was only if she followed the clear path.

She had no intention of doing so.

She gathered her Anima around her body, condensed it as much as she could. She even pulled back her perception and relied completely on the direction sense her Mien gave her. She oriented herself towards Scarlett and drove herself into the wall.

The solid stone resisted, of course, but her Anima was tougher than that. It helped that she layered the front with the Bladeless Sword, and she carved her way through the earth with the ease of a shark swimming in the salty ocean.

She couldn't move through it as quickly as she did in the open, but it was fast enough that she estimated she'd arrive near Scarlett in a couple of minutes. As she did so, her attention was caught by someone who emerged into the antechamber, who approached Mauler, and who began to taunt the hulking creature. He had the same voice as the one from the micro speakers.

She noted what he said, started when he approached her sunblade close enough that she could make out his features and saw that there was nothing but plain skin there. And she paused, then cursed when she realised that Mauler had survived her attack.

"Well, I didn't expect a single sunblade to kill him anyway," she muttered to herself. If anything, she would need to focus Radiant energy on his body for a long time to make sure he was completely dead, otherwise his incredible recovery power would bring him back to life. Considering he lived without a brain for a few minutes, it was the least she could guess. Still, her purpose wasn't to kill a terrorist but to rescue her friends. If she had enough time, or if she encountered Mauler in better circumstances, she would finish him off. A pity her incarnation body didn't have her true body's Radiant reserves. It was a slight regret, but then again, what she gained by using a different Ennoia to anchor her core made up for the difference.

"So his name is John, huh?" She would remember that…only, how common was the name in Astoria? In the university alone, just her classes, really, she knew five Johns. "So it was useless." Besides, John whatever-his-name-was, isn't really a priority. Sure, he was annoying, and the way he spoke was nearly impossible to ignore…huh, did he have some kind of social manipulation power?

Something to think about, but now, she was close.

Grunk!

She burst into a new tunnel right next to Scarlett, who jumped with fright and brandished her tire iron angrily, only to drop it when she saw who came for her.

"Lily!" Scarlett yelled and jumped at her. She hugged Yuriko tight as a leech, with her arms and legs wrapped around Yuriko's torso.

"I was worried," Yuriko said while she patted Scarlett on the back. She could feel the smol woman's tears and snot on her shoulder.

"Lily, Lily, Lily!" Scarlett cried. "They're dead! Sanders, Hannah, Josh… They killed them."

Yuriko's mood dropped, "Who did? You're safe with me, don't worry."

"I… I… Are we? Are you… You're glowing." Scarlett hiccupped. "I knew you were Altered, but how did you…" Her gaze moved from Yuriko to the hole in the wall. Well, there was a depression, molten earth and stone that looked like melted candle wax on the ground.

Yuriko just nodded. "I'll tell you later when we're safe."

"I…wait! I…I lost the match. I'm going to be taken." Scarlett's hopeful voice turned leaden.

"What do you mean?"

"We have to fight. If we lose, we'll be taken somewhere else. I…I don't want to go. I want to stay with you…" Scarlett was hysterical, that much was clear. But Yuriko also witnessed the loser of the fight, back when she was peeping from outside, disappear into the mists. She wrapped Scarlett with her Anima.

"No one is taking you from me. Now come on, let's get the others."

"No…you should run. You shouldn't have come here! You avoided the bad luck, but why…why did you come?"

"I'm not going anywhere," Yuriko said grimly. "And they're the ones who will pay."

She could feel it. The realm was trying to exert its rules upon Scarlett. With her Anima wrapped around the other girl, she was able to resist the pull. But the question was, should she? If she went with what the realm wanted, she'd reach the place the other club members were taken to. And if she read it right, the ones who won the little battles would be safe for now.

She allowed the realm to pull her and Scarlett, but she refused to be separated. It tried, but all Yuriko had to do was exert her Will. Whatever force tried to separate them gave up and simply pulled the two of them into itself. She felt as if she was being squeezed through a too-tight hole, but it was over before it truly got uncomfortable.

When her vision returned, she and Scarlett were inside a dank jail cell that was barely wide enough to allow her to stretch her arms out. She could hear sobbing through the barred door, as well as maniacal laughter. Scarlett squeaked, clutched at Yuriko, and nearly fainted. On the other hand, her Anima perception caught sight of her club mates on either side of the cell.

Yuriko huffed, then blew the door off its hinges. She carried Scarlett behind her with kinesis, but she remained wary. There were more enemies here, and with her friend in tow, she couldn't afford to remain carefree.

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