Chapter 61: Assault II

Something ago…

Emma had visited the Grand Library regularly ever since promising to help Scar with his Inheritance. She kept to her routine religiously, reading at least a book a day to find straightforward information about Flames of the Unknown.

Today was no different. In fact, she intended to finally read a book she’d been pondering for quite some time.

Thanks to her Inheritance, Kin of Thoth, her knowledge of this world and the world beyond was unparalleled, but expressing it to someone through another’s words was the challenge.

Ophelia Magenta had written most of the books and even recreated some ancient tablets, which was no small feat, but Emma remained unconvinced.

It wasn’t Ophelia’s dedication she questioned. It was what the books actually said.

Before the Red Day, the world had no shortage of beliefs. A story about a single individual could branch into countless versions, each one held with absolute conviction.

Conviction alone doesn’t make something true. Somewhere beneath all of it, there was only one truth, and that was the truth Emma intended to find.

That wasn’t the only thing giving her pause. She was being watched… had been since she started reading. At least one shadow trailed her at any given time, and she had no illusions about why. She knew what they suspected. Opening that book would only prove them right.

Time wasn’t a luxury she had. She’d promised Scar a month, maybe two, and she’d have everything he needed. Hesitating wouldn’t save him. And this book was only the beginning. What came next was riskier, and she had no choice but to see it through.

When she finally worked up the nerve and took the book, she lost herself in it almost instantly.

Then…

It happened fast, faster than anyone could follow, and strange enough to root them all in place.

No one in the library acted. Not one of them could even say what they would have done if they tried.

Perhaps she had been too naive. Too certain that wanting something badly enough made it possible. But her efforts had amounted to nothing.

She didn’t know what was happening, didn’t know where she was being taken… only that she was blindfolded and restrained, and that all of it had happened in a matter of seconds. The speed of it was almost the worst part.

The fight cost her a dislocated shoulder and nothing else. She healed herself instantly.

When she could finally see again, the sight that greeted her stole whatever she had left.

Yellow lightning. Blonde hair. An amused smile that suggested he’d been enjoying every second of this. She let herself go still. Some battles announced themselves as lost before they even began.

The person standing before her was Luccy. Ranked 112th among the Moon Killers, and the same one tasked with watching Scar. Even the thought of running felt pointless.

Luccy’s lightning wasn’t just destructive, Emma was sure of that much. It paralyzed. Anyone it touched simply stopped, and that was that.

The building was abandoned, not that it mattered. What mattered was Luccy and what Luccy was willing to do.

Luccy wouldn’t kill her, that much Emma was fairly certain of. But there was a wide and unpleasant distance between killing someone and letting them walk away unscathed.

More irritating than anything else was Luccy’s mouth. She never stopped talking and never said anything worth hearing. Not how long Emma would be kept here.

Not what they intended to do with her. Nothing valuable, just the kind of bragging that crawled under your skin and stayed there.

But Emma didn’t need answers from Luccy. She already knew. Keeping her here served a purpose, and that purpose was time.

Time to hunt down every record, every trace, and every thread that led anywhere near the Flames of the Unknown and make sure none of it survived.

The moment it clicked, she wanted nothing more than for someone to come. If they failed, if those records were gone, Scar might never learn the history behind his Inheritance. Never harness its full power. That thought was worse than anything Luccy could do to her.

Then, almost as if something had been listening, Amber heard. She didn’t take it seriously at first. Emma disappearing into her research wasn’t exactly news, it had happened before and would happen again.

But then her father came to her. Arthur Rover, asking personally. That changed things. Amber understood immediately how bad it was.

She was ready to go alone, but Valentine had other ideas. Dark short hair, a temper to match, and the kind of skill that made her words difficult to argue with.

Valentine was a Royal Knight and Amber’s friend, in that order on most days. She vouched to come along, and that was that.

Amber’s impatience was its own presence as they moved from place to place, exhausting every option. The Grand Library was low on the list.

Emma was the kind of person who rarely needed to look anything up, which made visiting feel almost pointless. But when everywhere else had come up empty, Amber and Valentine made their way there anyway.

There, they were told about what happened.

“She disappeared in an instant. The only explanation is a speed-type Akuma. The damage to the tables confirms it.”

Valentine heard it and was already moving past it: a few quick conclusions, a few locations offered up without hesitation.

“Adapting someone like Emma would be nearly impossible. She’s devoted to the Sun Phoenix, supposedly since the beginning of time. And it’s unlikely anyone would kidnap her only to abandon her in plain sight. We should concentrate on the more obscure locations.”

She wasn’t wrong, and Amber knew it. Emma was her father’s subordinate, loyal to a fault, and anyone foolish enough to lay a hand on her would answer for it.

That alone was reason enough to move fast. Amber jumped on Valentine’s suggestion without a second thought.

They moved quickly, and soon they sensed the sinister presence of multiple Akumas gathered in one spot. They’d found the right place.

Amber was the first to rush in. Her black outfit turned red from collar to boot as she drew her twin short swords. With a swift flash step and overwhelming presence, she sliced off an Akuma’s head in one clean swing.

Hope flared in Emma’s eyes when she saw Amber, but the sight of blood trickling down the fallen Akuma’s neck sent a wave of nausea through her.

Valentine didn’t want to be left behind. She raised her two guns, the third most powerful weapon Mikeal had created, and joined Amber against their final opponent.

Fortunately, Luccy was absent. Amber had killed the tier-7 Akuma quickly enough, and now they were down to a tier-6.

When the fight started, Emma threw up. Maybe she felt secure enough now to think about something other than surviving.

Despite the tier-6 Akuma’s awakened Emotional State, he was clearly outmatched by Valentine and Amber.

The cloth Amber wore was called Heaven’s Garment, the second-most-powerful of Mikeal’s four creations. It could shift into four colors, each granting her different abilities.

The black color offered defense, which Amber used constantly, even when not fighting. Red granted agility, paired with her brutal nun training, she was unstoppable. Green was for healing. Finally, white combined all three powers.

Heaven’s Garment wasn’t for just anyone. Its strength depended on the wearer, and one wrong move could destroy them from within, particularly with the white form.

Despite Amber’s composure and elegance which made her resistant to this, even she had never used white.

Valentine also carried the Infinite Mage. In humanity’s early days after the Red Day, guns seemed like the obvious choice against the Scarlet Kins.

But conventional firearms proved useless, and large-scale weapons only summoned greater Catastrophe-level threats.

Mikeal put that knowledge to use. The Infinite Mage was a pair of guns with infinite bullets, powered by the wielder’s emotions. They could still fire without emotional fuel, just not as powerfully.

It was almost pitiful watching two Blessing masters like them face a mere tier-6. With Luccy around, the story would be different.

The poor boy could activate the first two forms of his Emotional State. Whenever he transformed his hands and legs into bulging, muscular weapons, Amber was simply too quick and skilled for him to react. She sliced off his limbs countless times, but he kept regenerating.

Valentine took a different approach, focusing on exhaustion. He regenerated in seconds, but she kept him occupied, dividing his focus between defending against Amber and constant healing.

He made the fight worthwhile, but eventually his energy ran out. Valentine capitalized immediately, a single bullet to his neck shattered it completely, sending his head tumbling to the ground.

After the fight, they freed Emma and took the severed heads, proof that Amber would bring before the Supreme Council.

Currently…

Mingle, Julien, and Scar were relieved to be safe. They finally understood the full scope, not only was Scar’s life in danger simply for existing, but anyone who helped him would become Dain’s enemy.

“It makes no difference. They won’t be able to kill me. I was made for this.” Emma said with a big grin.

Scar responded with a wary smile.

He knew how to tip the scales in his favor, he could do it right now, but his stubbornness always won out.

The plan was simple: eliminate Adisa, rejoin the Rover family for protection, then work toward becoming a Moon Killer. That would postpone his death long enough to grow strong, maybe even strong enough to end the hunt for good.

Hmph.

’Purple said Haven knew someone who could assist us… didn’t she? Then the next step is obvious; I need to reach Haven.’

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