Selene sat carelessly on the desert sand with an empty pot beside her, spilling its remaining contents onto the ground. She patted her slightly bulging abdomen with a satisfied smile.
"Damn, that broth was good! I never expected one of those guys to have such good culinary skills!" she exclaimed, wiping her mouth with the back of her gauntlet and not caring about staining her equipment.
She burped loudly but didn't care because there was no one nearby she wanted to impress. She savored the taste in her mouth before spitting on the floor.
"Let's see. I killed the big guy at the beginning. The blond guy got stabbed. I used my left gauntlet on the other guy. I doubt he survived. It remains to be seen if the guy with glasses survived.
Anyway, it never hurts to finish them off. I don't want them coming back for some reason," she muttered before standing up. But before heading to any of her fallen enemies, she walked to the only object in her field of vision that emitted a unique green mist.
"I don't usually see anything beneficial, but it's just a stupid box." Selene bent down to pick up the silver box, which was partially buried in the sand.
Because of this box, she had spent an entire week exploring ruins that had appeared in the desert while she was traveling through it. The box was also responsible for her decision to take revenge on the four men who had tried to rob her because of its possible value.
"I hope it's really something good! If it's another piece of junk, like when I found a wedding ring, I'll melt this metal down into a dildo and shove it up my ass," Selene complained. She waved the object in her hand in annoyance and tried to hear its insides, but there was no sound.
Was it just a metal box? Could it be opened? Was there something valuable inside, or was its value due to the strange metal it was made of? If the latter, she would keep her promise. After all, she had done something similar with a ring she had found in the past.
After playing with the silver box for a while, she approached the pale boy. His body was still unusually rigid, and his eyes remained open. A faint glow covered his skin, but it seemed to be fading.
"I never thought the paralysis of the left fist could last so long. But it's probably because there's no resistance. However, its harmful effect on the internal organs is too powerful, a true killer move.
I need to figure out how to regulate its power. What if I need to capture a live enemy? I can't end up killing them!" Selene muttered, mentally noting the changes she would make to her left gauntlet in the future. After all, it was only the first version.
Even though the man was visually incapacitated, who knew if he had somehow survived? She didn't hesitate, reaching her right hand around the man's neck and squeezing tightly.
She used not only the power her Glyphwork gave her but also her Noeia to control the muscles in her arm and exert even greater force. After ensuring the neck was broken, she turned the corpse over and repeatedly punched its spine, shattering it.
"It's good that they have a vehicle; there are undoubtedly power cells available. They'll be useful for getting rid of their bodies," Selene said aloud as she lifted the man's body. He was still alive, showing subtle movements.
"That's why it's important to finish off your enemies. If I let you go, you'll wake up, have an adventure, and seek revenge. I'll just be another stepping stone on your path to glory. That's how it was in fictional stories before the cataclysm," the woman muttered. She twisted her enemy's head completely around.
After confirming that his heartbeat had stopped, she continued punching his spine, just as she had done with the previous corpse. Then, she dragged the body and piled it on top of the others.
She did the same with the other two bodies, piling them with the rest. She searched their bodies and luggage, finding a good amount of money, communication crystals, and provisions that were of no use to her.
"Pure crap. The only valuable things they have are those Glyphworks, money, and what they took from me. But I never expected the big guy to have something like this." Selene looked at the bottle of pills in her hands, from which a red mist was constantly swirling.
"Stimulants! And the illegal kind, very illegal." The woman's pink eyes sparkled with excitement. She felt that this bottle was the best thing she could get out of this ambush, unless she could figure out what was going on with that silver box.
"With that red color, this stuff must hit hard. Good thing I got rid of that guy at the beginning. Now they're all mine...until I sell them for a good sum of money!" Selene exclaimed excitedly because making money could excite anyone.
Take one of these stimulants? She wasn't stupid! She could see the red fog representing deadly danger, so she wouldn't take any of these pills for anything in the world.
"Okay, now let's build a big, wonderful bonfire." Selene set aside everything she had gathered, rubbed her hands together, and walked toward the car, which was floating several inches above the sand-covered ground.
She skillfully removed two white metal cylinders from the machine. They looked simple, but she was careful not to squeeze them too hard because she didn't want to ruin anything.
When she returned to the group of corpses, she placed the two cylinders on the sand, making sure they wouldn't fall. Then, delicately, she unscrewed the tip of one cylinder before removing a second cylinder made of transparent material.
Inside was a fragment of gray glass called Vetro. Its color could be changed in various ways, but this did not affect its function or use. Because Vetro was so versatile, it was used for many things in the city; even communicators were made entirely of this material.
However, there was something resembling a liquid inside, indicating that the current sample was energetically charged to power machinery of a certain size, such as vehicles. This made it difficult to handle.
Of course, materials like this are well-protected. Even if she squeezed the coating surrounding this piece of Vetro with all her strength, she couldn't break it. As a Glyphworker, however, she was very delicate when it came to technology.
"A standard-quality specimen. Not as good as the one in my gauntlets, but it will do for creating some impressive fireworks," she muttered before continuing to work on the container.
She didn't have to do much; she just had to cause a small imbalance that would result in a big explosion. For others, this would be impossible, but for her, it was relatively easy because she possessed this knowledge.
After performing the procedure for the second time, both pieces of glass started buzzing. The buzzing was initially very low, but it gradually increased and became quite annoying for anyone who wasn't used to it.
By the time the noise was loud enough, Selene was already far away, carrying everything she had obtained. On the way, she collected the small drone she had used to spy on the group of men.
Was she covering her tracks? She was in the desert! The weather was quite changeable, and there were abundant creatures, so any trace of her presence or remains of her enemies would disappear.
At most, they would find the car, indicating that someone had caused trouble, but Selene didn't care. With a big smile on her face, Selene watched from a high dune as the energy crystals reached their critical point.
Then it happened. An explosion of gray energy soon turned into a fire that voraciously consumed the scattered corpses.
The wind stirred the sand and Selene's hair. She partially covered her face with her hand to prevent her eyes from being affected as she continued to watch the spectacle she had created.
"My work here is done. Now, let's see if any creatures are attracted by the commotion I've caused. Depending on what they are, I might have a nice breakfast tomorrow," she muttered before turning around and trotting toward her belongings with a wild smile on her face.
Revenge really was sweet as honey!
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Selene lay comfortably on the desert sand with the heat dispenser beside her. She had already stowed everything she had brought with her in her backpack or on her motorcycle, so now she was just relaxed on the ground, watching the shattered moon in the sky.
Her arms and hands were still protected by the cold metal of her deactivated gauntlets, whose LED lights were off.
Sleep had already come, but she didn't feel like sleeping. She was in a strange state where her body wanted to rest, but she remained alert.
"What could have happened to make the moon like this? A weapon? How powerful would a weapon have to be to do something like this?" Selene murmured, then turned her attention to the ring of debris surrounding her world, Cancri.
"Stories from before the cataclysm say that the moon was completely round. Its light was stronger, and it took on different shapes depending on the night.
At present, we only have half of the moon, which makes it impossible to appreciate those 'Lunar phases,' as those stories say," she continued talking to herself, hoping it would help her stay awake, but every couple of sentences, she ended with a yawn due to the immense sleepiness she felt.
When her eyes were half-closed and her mind was scattered, she glimpsed several orange mists in the distance. The sight caused all her sleepiness to vanish.
She stood up, picked up the heater on the floor, turned it off, and approached her motorcycle, where her backpack was. She put the bag on her back and stored what she had in her hand in the compartment of her vehicle. Then, she mounted the motorcycle and channeled her Noeia into the handlebars to activate it.
Usually, machines like this only need to be activated by an object that serves as a switch. However, she had modified this motorcycle to include enchantments, making it a Glyphwork in part.
She also made it much larger and rougher in appearance, unlike the stylized designs seen in the city. This adaptation perfectly suited it to the wild outside world.
Although it had no weapons, it had many compartments to store her supplies and the things she found on her travels that weren't too large. She even installed a small refrigerated storage compartment that she planned to use tonight.
Although the Noeia was sophisticated, its only real function was activation, meaning people unable to use this power could still drive it. But what prevented a Noetarch from stealing it?
The key that she left behind during the activation process! It could only work if activated in a very specific way; otherwise, it would just be an inert machine that could safely store a few pieces of meat.
There were ways to make a Glyphwork accessible to only one person, but it was very hard work that she only did with her gauntlets. After all, they were some of her best works, and she used them as personal weapons, so security was vital.
Once fully started up, the motorcycle rose a meter high, emitting a soft hum as the surrounding sand scattered in continuous circles.
"If there are too many, run away. If there are few, stay and deal with whatever comes," she told herself before leaning forward, accelerating, and causing the flying motorcycle to move.
After making an abrupt U-turn that kicked up a lot of sand, she drove toward the incoming enemies. She didn't know what kind of creatures they were. After all, even though this was a desert, it was teeming with monsters.
"Oh yes! If I get some decent meat, I must see how I can bring a portion to Morgana," Selene thought, remembering one of the few friends she had.
It didn't take her long to see what she was up against: Red-shelled Scorpions! These monsters were three meters long, not including their tails, which rose an additional two meters behind them, even when retracted. They had deadly stingers.
They were as tall as a large dog and had pincers capable of cutting a person in two if they caught them. They got their name from their shiny red shells, which darkened as they grew stronger.