**In the highest uppermost level close to the Auction Hall, with Riko and Trish**
Trish paced herself carefully through the extravagant halls that now reeked of blood. Her Passion Mark activated and glowed red, as did her eyes, which looked to be those of a wild red-eyed predator as she visually scanned the area.
Riko ran, keeping up beside her. "Hey! Where the hell are we even going?" he asked.
"To look for my weapon. Didn't I tell you? My ability lets me see through everything. I can visualize the layout of this place, and I can see exactly where they've kept it," Trish answered without even turning to face him.
The answer made Riko's eyebrows narrow, the goggles on his forehead shining. *A weapon? Are we seriously takin' a detour now of all times? That Laticia bitch could get away,* Riko thought.
Suddenly, the door they were passing opened as another one of Laticia's henchmen appeared with a club. "DIE, YOU BRAT!!" he yelled as he drew his club down toward Riko, who didn't have enough time to react.
Tracking the movements, Trish flashed forward. Her red glowing eyes focused on the tensing of the man's visible muscles and the direction as she could see its trajectory from her perspective. She lifted her left leg and blocked the club. Before the man could react, she flipped over him, grabbing his head from both sides before twisting it, killing him.
The man coughed blood before falling lifeless as Trish landed back on the floor. The exchange was swift and decisive but also brutal, something that made Riko step back uncomfortably for a minute.
"You didn't have to kill him," he said, clearly affected by Trish's quick action.
She did not return his sentimentality. Instead, she looked at Riko with annoyance. "You're a Marked Mercenary, aren't you? Act like it. He was gonna kill you if I didn't do what I did," she replied before resuming her pace.
Riko stood silently for a minute, looking down at his right palm covered by his fingerless glove. He grit his teeth. He remembered, after all—remembered his declaration to Felix in the selection days ago, when he said that he'd kill the bastard that took Zephyr's life, but that he wouldn't lose himself in the process. After all, he made a promise to Zephyr: to use his engineering talent to make a better future for everyone in the world someday. There was no way he'd back down just from seeing people die.
As such, Riko clenched his fists tightly before putting on a determined but hesitant smirk as he followed after Trish.
**Upper mid levels of the underground fortress**
The flames from Rennet's tantrum had caused much of the fortress to collapse and be reduced to ashes by now. Yet the fire still raged, reaching even greater heights as the wood-golden beams were set ablaze.
Albert ran through an opening, the hall behind him burning as Rennet's unnaturally aggressive flames followed. Behind him, Kiera ran with her instrument strapped carefully. Seracore paced behind her protectively, although his breaths were the heaviest as he held his massive shield while doing so. At the back was Jetore, who carried an unconscious Rennet on his shoulders.
"Why the hell do I have to carry this idiot!?" Jetore yelled, comically frustrated.
It only made Seracore taunt him: "'Cause the rest of us can actually do shit with our hands and can't afford to waste them!"
The words made Jetore's eyes twitch. "Oh SHUT UP! I'll blow your brains out, you fucking moron!!" he shouted in retaliation.
"Both of you fools, cut it out! We don't have time for either of your ridiculous egos!" Albert finally said, looking back at them for a moment as he kept his pace up, his breaths getting rough as he neared the peak of his stamina.
However, the sentence only pissed off Jetore even more. "FUCK OFF, ARCHITECT!!!! I ain't your underling! You damn extra!!" he exclaimed.
The comment caused Albert's eyebrow to twitch. "...Extra? What was that? Must be tiring to be as idiotic as you," Albert replied with a smug grin that had bite under the skin.
As they continued to bicker—now with even the usual calm and logical Albert fallen prey to Jetore's complaints—Kiera exhaled as she looked at them all disappointed. They were in a life or death situation, and yet Jetore's ego was the subject of conversation.
"Whatever the case, limit your speaking as much as possible," Albert commanded.
Jetore's voice entered a rough tone as he asked: "Quit tryna act like our lead—" His sentence was interrupted by Albert.
"You don't understand. We're exposed to a high amount of fire in a closed, underground, collapsing fortress, and that means little to no ventilation for the vast amounts of carbon monoxide the fires are producing!"
Kiera blinked before her eyes widened. She quickly covered her mouth as if to reduce her breathing of the gas. Seracore raised his eyebrow before understanding and ripping a part of his shirt to fold around his nose and mouth.
"What are you on about?!" Jetore questioned.
"Fire creates carbon monoxide—an odorless gas. In a closed-off setting like this, we're prone to carbon monoxide poisoning. That happens when the gas has been breathed in too much and builds up in the blood. It can cause death. Even if we're Marked Ones with natural resistance, even we can't delay the laws of nature forever," Albert said.
"THEN QUIT YAPPIN' AND GO!!" Seracore yelled before picking up a startled Kiera with his left arm as he increased his pace, pushing his shield up to defend them from the flames. His Mark of the Protector glowed light blue. "Pyro Protection!" he yelled.
Albert blinked in surprise as suddenly, a large reddish-orange shield cast over them before seemingly being absorbed onto them. Jetore could feel an outer layer encompassing his skin.
"What did you do?" Albert demanded.
Seracore clicked his teeth before speaking: "Shut it, rookie. Your arrogant vibe was already pissin' me off! But if you need to know, my Passion Mark is all about protection and defense. Its base ability lets me project shields, but it also has the power to give myself and others protection and immunity to things! Obviously, I picked fire for this shit!"
**In the collapsed Auction Hall**
Part of the floor shattered as Maddeline and Clara broke out, planting their feet down. From the sight of the destroyed stage and partially collapsed roof, as well as the many cracks and craters along the walls, Maddeline could tell there had been a battle here.
"M-Mr. Kran?!" Clara said in a panicked worry, catching Maddeline's attention as they ran up to find Kran's dying body.
His eyes struggled open as he coughed some blood and looked at them. "Clara… Maddeline… I'm sorry. I failed the mission… *cough*," he weakly said. The open tear on the side of his stomach allowed even more blood to spill out; part of his intestines were visible too, although the bleeding seemed to slow down, with part of the flesh visibly rebuilding—but not fast enough.
"KRAN! What happened to you?!" Maddeline asked in a frenzy before kneeling down, her eyes shaking as she examined him. *These wounds… they're… fatal… but why won't he regenerate fast enough? How could this happen?* she thought before gritting her teeth. She pressed her two hands forward, touching Kran's stomach as a green light emanated from them. Her Mark of the Doctor glowed a strong green as she closed her eyes and focused. *I need to stop the bleeding and restore as much blood and tissue as I can! Please…* she thought, a tear rolling from her eye.
"D-don't… don't waste energy on me… There was always a high chance this would be my final mercenary job… Deep down, you all knew I was losing my edge by now… I *cough* am just a shell of what I once was…" Kran said.
"Don't talk!" Maddeline scolded, her eyes glistening with tears.
Behind her stood Clara, whose fists clenched even tighter. The air around her shifted. Despite the obvious rage emanating from her, Clara's expression remained neutral, although with her left eye twitching. A glowing red aura encompassed her for a minute as the surroundings shook.
"Mr. Kran… I see you lost to the Witch of Chains…" she said in a terrifyingly calm voice despite her rage.
"I did. Forgive me… I'm sorry…" Kran replied.
"No! Don't apologize!" Maddeline interrupted.
Clara closed her eyes and turned her back. "Maddy… can I trust you to do what you can for Mr. Kran?" she asked in a calm voice.
Maddeline's breath hitched before she answered: "Of course I can. Who do you take me for?" The reply was almost met with a smile from Clara.
Her veins were bulging despite her seemingly calm demeanor. "Good. Now, Mr. Kran, as your assistant and right hand, allow me to avenge your defeat," she said.
"NO! Don't be a fool! Laticia is a monster! Wait for the *cough* rookies to return, and formulate a strategy! Better yet, escape!! The government is here too! Please! Lis—" Kran's arguing was interrupted as Clara's icy cold voice shattered the air.
"Mr. Kran, we're Marked Mercenaries… have you forgotten that? We dirty our hands and use the blessings given to us by Vesterious for justice… We were all wronged, feared by society… yet we fight on anyway… for the utopia that Master Yura wants to create… I refuse to cower and flee. FOR I AM DIAMOND FIST CLARA!! I WILL DESTROY THAT WHORE WITHOUT EXCEPTION!!!!!" Clara proclaimed, her calm voice turning aggressive and vengeful as she finished her sentence.
The room shook with her presence as her Mark of the Martial Artist glowed a bright red as she walked forward.
"....Very well, then… She's on the roof… Be careful," Kran said, closing his eyes.
**On the shattered, rubble-filled roof**
Laticia's blood-red hair flowed in the wind, a single drool escaping her mouth as she smiled maniacally. Her lustrous chains attached to her wrists reflected blood stains.
Her ears twitched as she heard footsteps. She twisted her head around and turned to see Clara with a hateful expression.
"...Laticia Sendorlitch," Clara said.
Laticia merely smiled. "Hey, Clara deary~" she taunted.
Before anyone could say anything else, suddenly the other side blew as a million shining dots scattered around. Malikar twisted and jumped down from above, landing in front of Laticia and Clara. His cigarette was still lit, but blood trickled down his forehead. The scattered small blades combined into the blade of his sword once again.
His orangish-golden eyes looked at Laticia first. *There she is… the Witch of Chains, Laticia Sendorlitch. The cause of all this mess. Just looking at the whore pisses me off,* he thought before diverting his gaze to Clara, examining the scratches on her body and the healing wound on her head. He could see her kimono half undone as her upper half was bare, with her breasts wrapped in bandages. *And Diamond Fist Clara? I don't get paid enough for this,* he thought before reaching up and lifting his cigarette from his mouth.
Malikar exhaled some smoke before speaking: "Now, you ladies aren't gonna make this easy, will you?"
Clara's eyes focused on Malikar and widened. "Captain Malikar of the Cryoharan military. I knew the government would send its pawns, but I hadn't expected it to be you. The fact that you're here means you got past Luca, didn't you?" she asked, her gaze darkening.
"It wasn't easy. And I doubt he's dead. The freak's body is way too weird for me to understand, ya know," Malikar replied.
"HAHAHAHA!!! I feel so warm and fuzzy!! So many have come for me! I feel so alive!!" Laticia loudly proclaimed. Her mocking laughter only got on Clara and Malikar's nerves alike.
*This is it, then… the three factions part of this incident clash right here and now!* Clara thought before dashing forward with swift speed.
"Hey, hey now! That's the government's prey!" Malikar proclaimed before flashing toward Laticia.
Laticia's eyes widened as she grinned creepily, jumping back, her chains dancing. "HAHAHAHA!!! Today's such a bloodbath! I love it!" she rejoiced.
Malikar smirked, a sweat running down his cheek. Clara's eyes focused on Laticia with hate before she smirked like a predator watching its prey.
"Winner takes all!!" all three proclaimed.