Ligeia stood opposite of the silent wall, Haruo. She still waited for him actually to do anything besides stand around. An annoyed vein popped on her forehead. “Are you going to do anything?!” Silence persisted for him. Ripples burst from her feet as her respoo his ina. “Fihen! Just die where you stand!” Metallic pieces gathered in a pyramid emitting a bright light moments before a wide beam erupted from them. Light washed over Haruo, pletely engulfing him.

  Disappearing within the light, Haruo left no sign of life. It made Ligeia think she might have actually killed him. ‘I only said that, didn’t think he’d just stand there.’ She took an uep forward. Nothing could be undone. Her attack already fis cycle. Only smoke remained behind from the exhaust of the beam. Still nothing could be seen through the dense white clouds. “Hey, are you still alive?” she inquired, with a little bit of in her voice.

  No answer.

  Clouds thinned out quickly. A dark shape exposed through the tops of the veil. Of course, there was no answer, she dealt with Haruo. Really, how many times has he spoken this entire arbsp; Haruo stood unged and looked unremarkable, as though it was natural, normal, with nothing strange happening. He was like a fixture of the enviro.

  Caught by surprise, Ligeia took a step babsp; She hoped he was safe, but she also fired a fairly strong beam at him. Some damage, any damage, even just a redness of his skin would have made seo her. Nothing though, she didn’t expect it. ‘No damage at all?! It’s like I didn’t even do anything to him!’ Images of Saki attag Kallias appeared in her mind. ‘She was strange as well…’

  All she knew was that she o uand him better. Motioning with her fingers, the metallic pieces broke their pyramid form auro her side. “Are you ready to fight?” Sileurned between them. It only made her annoyed, but she kept her temper in check, rather than bsting him. “If you don’t say something I’m going to have to attack again.”

  “No,” he answered, as though it expined everything. Haruo gave no further expnation to her.

  ‘What’s with him?’ She expected more from him, anything, but the simple answer. More things frustrated her. “Eh? Which are you answering?”

  “The former.”

  Shoulders bending into an upside down “U”, Ligeia couldn’t help a fused look. Staring at him didn’t get her any answers. “You ime to prepare or something? I don’t really like waiting, but I’ve been bored for years anyway, a couple more minutes won’t ge things.”

  “No.”

  A vein popped up on her forehead. Temper was a difficult thing to trol when dealing with Haruo, as she started to learn. She tightened up her fist shaking it in anger. “’t you say more than two words?!”

  “Yes.”

  Unfortunately, it only made her anger worse. She stretched herself up to the balls of her feet to lean into her yell. “Stop that!” Silence, as though he obeyed her and. She didn’t like it either. “I didn’t mean don’t speak! Speak more than a single word!”

  “If necessary,” he fired back, with surprising speed. He cked words, details, but seemed to make up for it in respoime. Not that he fixed the situation.

  “It is necessary! I o uand!”

  “No reason.”

  “Huh? Sure there is a reason! If I don’t uand then the fight ’t start!” Ligeia started to realize how out of character he made her. Crossing her arms and trying her hardest to ighe red embarrassment threatening her face, Ligeia fought to reset the pace of the versation. “I want to fight you.”

  “I don’t.”

  “Why?” Things moved into a dire she could handle. It felt like she found what she needed. ‘Finally getting somewhere. So it’s that he doesn’t want to fight, not that he ’t. But he’s part of the intruders.’ Nothing about him made any seo her. She hoped he gave her some answers.

  “No reason.”

  Chapter 183 – Sce of the Attack

  “That again?” A cycle pleted. A pointless cycle of nothing. Nothing still produced something, annoyanbsp; “No reason?! How you be here and not have a reason?! You wouldn’t have e here without a reason! You’re wanting to do something! So tell me what it is damnit!”

  Silence more. Haruo remained quiet, but not for the reasons that Ligeia assumed. It was something more plicated. His mind turned over on itself. A simple reason held his lips sealed. ‘That’s the problem. I don’t have an ao the question. I don’t know why I came. I don’t know why I followed him here. I don’t have a reason for it. Nothing that is happening here means anything to me. I’m an outsider with no e to any of this. So why did I e?’

  “Answer me already!” snapped Ligeia. She wao attack him again just for being a pain. ‘No reason? That’s impossible! No one does anything without a reason. He wants to fight, but what’s holding him back?’ Ligeia thought she figured him out a little. She wao end the stalemate. The fight would end if she didn’t find his trigger. “What is your throat already parched from talking?”

  “No.”

  “Then tell me already! You intis with your friends, so you’ve got a reason to be here. I don’t care how small it is. I’m just ied in a fight, it's the only reason I came out here. The promise of something different, something new.”

  “Sorry.”

  “I don’t care about apologies!” The strips of metal hovered around her began to move in a new dire. “I don’t care! Just tell me why you came here!”

  “I don’t have an answer for you,” responded Haruo, with the lo span of words in their versation. He saw the ges in the pieces, but didn’t do anything. He pnned on not doing anything at all. The fight was meaningless for him.

  Wrinkling i between her eyebrows, Ligeia’s frustration mounted further than before with Haruo. Their fight tio stall. “After all that, that is what you say! e on! You ’t possibly not have an answer. You’re just holding bae! I want my fight!”

  He shook his head at her. “I’m serious.” Finished with his versatiourned away from Ligeia. He po wait as he did before for the fights to end. It did not involve him. “I’ve no reason to fight you. So I’ll take my leave. Sorry.”

  Responding to her will, the pieces moved quickly out in front of Haruo. They reformed into a pyramid directed at him. “You’re not leaving!” Her eyes narrowed as she made her i clear. “You’ve got the body of someohat’s strong. Don’t you want to test that strength to see how it pares?”

  Gng over his shoulder, ued as ever, Haruo caught sight of Ligeia approag him. “I don’t care about it. Being strong doesn’t mean one enjoys fighting.”

  She felt the hoy of his answer and realized he was always ho. It made him straightforward, annoyingly so. The sound of his voice helped her uand him better. Pieces fell into pce for her. “Then how about a battle of answers, Mr. Clueless?”

  A bit of curiosity surfaced for Haruo. Su ued reply made him turn around. It caused an ever so slight ge in his stoures. “A battle of answers?”

  ‘I’ve got you now! Finally!’ Ligeia smiled to herself. The situation reversed. She trolled the pabsp; Her fight would finally e to her. “Yes, listening to you I’ve figured a few things out about you. It would seem you’re looking for answers, so this battle will be for your answers! I’ll tell you why you’ve e here, the reason for being here after ht!” Stretg out her hand, she pced her offer out for Haruo.

  ‘She’s figured me out? I’ve been trying to uand it for days and she says she’s already figured it out in a couple of minutes?’ Haruo admitted his own curiosity in Ligeia. He felt suspicious of her, but he wao know more. It made him step closer to her. The ao his question was important, very important to him. His decision was too rash and out of character for him. None of it made any sense. Haruo took her hand to accept her offer. “I’m ied in your opinion. I’ll grant you yht in exge.”

  “Good! Now I expect a real fight from you!” she reminded, her lips grinned with excitement. “I don’t want you losing just to end things faster!”

  “I’ll give you what you asked for.”

  The arra sealed with a handshake, both parties parted. They took several steps to pce a few meters between them. Everything imosphere around them flipped suddenly. Tension mounted and strengthened in the passing seds. Their eyes locked on to the other, never letting them out of their sight.

  In preparation for the fight, Ligeia revealed her Field to Haruo. Stretg out for meters was nothing but metal pting. Each pte was sharply cut and polished with nht angles. The eg edges from oe to the didn’t e out the same as some ptes had more edges than others. Regardless of shape or size, eleic lights filled in the cracks between them moving away from the ter, Ligeia. Some pting even held lights or other designs inside.

  Repg her white Atntean military uniform was a gray turtleneck with an odd shio it, giving it a very unnatural appeara the folds of the material. Simirly, her form-fitting pants carried the same uhly refle. They appeared as though made from cotton, but it was no cotton, wool or syially used. ed around her waist in a very useless fashion was a metal belt carried merely as orion rather than fun, but sidering how tightly the pants g to her skin a belt was never going to be needed.

  Noting accessories, small metal clips seemed attached randomly on the edges of her clothes with no design or order in mind. There were sixteen in t. Rounding it out, a rge attat ed around her right arm. A dispy s sat oer side of her forearm, already dispying numerous bits of information.

  Finished with her work, she tightened her eyes and focused on Haruo in anticipation. “Now don’t disappoint me. I’m looking forward to this. Show me what you have!”

  Haruo kept his usual silence while watg her transform. He watched Yuki fight alongside him against Katsu and his gang. The powers they wielded didn’t surprise him, but it was the first time he had to front it. ‘They’re all so different from each other. You ’t have any expectations with them…’ Previously, he observed the others fight, abs the details. However, the clusion was always the same. They used the same base guidelines, but the potential they had varied greatly based on their personalities and preferences. He had little to go on in the fight.

  Turning something unknown and small in his hands, Haruo had to it himself to the battle. Shining out from his palms, light bled through his fingers. When it reached the climax of iy, he opened his hands and tossed the tents in front of him. The light expanded and grew in size until forms started to appear.

  White semi-transparent wolves materialized from the shining light. If not for the ghost-like qualities, the wolves would have passed for the real thing. They even had fur blowing in the soft breeze. However, there was ohing that was off about them. All six of the wolves stood at elbow height to Haruo. One of them paced around Haruo ing to a stop at his left allowing him to rest his arm on its babsp; The pack surrounded him with a fierce look far more threatening than any bnk expression Haruo bore. “I’m ready.”

  ‘Spirit animals?’ She wondered what sort of power Haruo would have. ‘Both things we trol, but animals aren’t as versatile as mine…’ Ligeia uncoiled her arm out to extend it fully. Out from her palm, metal strips materialized floating. Fifty or more of the strips appeared. They quickly moved into sets of ten holding no defiructure at the moment. “I’m ready as well! So let’s see what you do!”

  Nodding in agreement, Haruo accepted the start. His wolves began to move and spread out on the hunt. They already started to approach Ligeia in a wide semi-circle. Ravenous looks ready to maul her filled their eyes, trary to Haruo.

  W in cert, the strips snapped into position f up a pyramid in three of the sets, while the other two sets took no a. An attack was clearly on the way. Ligeia didn’t even try to hide the fact.

  Everything id in the open for the first strike. The first round began with the iy already set high. The wolves unched on a trigger for the woman. In the same moment, three wide beams of light burst from the pyramid shapes blinding the Field. Haruo and Ligeia’s battle began.