Lied reached at last the voice’s source – a man in his 20s. He was joined by Naomi and Susumu, both chasing after the boy with light green eyes.
Their futures connected, linked by the same thread of fate, the trio faced Martyr, therewith entering the climax of the first Arc!
“Hah. Haha. Hahaha!”
The half-frenzied man was unable to hold back his laughter. To Martyr, the whole situation was truly hilarious.
“Who... is this person...?” Naomi felt uneasy.
“That color pattern... it can’t be?!” Susumu focused on Martyr’s clothes.
“Hehe, the name’s Martyr. You’re... aaaaah, the detective who uses Visibility that Varius mentioned. So, figured something out yet?” Martyr addressed Susumu sardonically.
“’Visibility’...?” the detective muttered.
Martyr left him wondering as he stared at Naomi for a few seconds, not saying a word.
“The clock is ticking and I have no business with you two…”
Martyr vanished and reappeared in front of Lied, startling the three of them.
...
Lied found himself once again in his only sacred space, or so he thought until recently. Now that he remembered, Varius called this place…
“’Soul’. My... mind.”
“Eh, it’s actually pretty standard. Well, appearances can be deceiving.”
“Enough. I’m sick of these little games of yours. What do you really want from me?!”
“Right... let me clarify what I said earlier. What we desire, no, what I long for, isn’t yourself, but what’s inside you.”
“That’s...?”
Lied turned his head to look at the apple. Martyr walked quietly towards Lied who stood by the basket.
“Yes. The heavenly apple... the Adam’s Apple!”
“The... ‘Adam’s Apple’...?”
“It’s hard to understand though. ‘Untouchable’? How, if I’m this close? ‘Wait for the development of his spirit’? Why put off what can be done now?” Martyr glared at the youth “Development... de facto, you seem to have a certain spiritual aptitude. For a human, of course.”
Lied began to recall some memories to this day: the death of his parents; the face-off with Zechariah, the assassin; the mysterious woman that saved him; Varius, Zechariah's accomplice... Within these events, the encounter with the white hooded man and his words that strongly resonated in his heart:
“(...) will you face it? Your own destiny?”
Lied took a deep breath in and let it out. His wrists snapped.
“I don’t understand anything. I don’t know what I want, and I have no idea what my life will be like from now on. Deep down I’m still a bit lost... about myself” the teenager looked up “At least I’m sure of something: I have a destiny. I may not know what, but there’s something waiting for me in the future. I’ve made up my mind. This life... I’m going to live it. My own destiny... I’ll seek it. Where it will take me, beats me. But as long as I keep moving forward, I will definitely find... a place where I belong.”
“Then what?” Martyr smiled scornfully.
Lied beheld the Adam’s Apple one last time.
“I don’t know what it means to you guys, but this apple, somehow, has been at the center of the changes in my life. I feel I need it if I really want to understand who I am. And that’s why... I won’t let you take it!”
Martyr’s smile faded away, giving way to anger.
“You’ll protect it... with your life at stake?”
“I will not die.”
“Those eyes...” the blonde thought as Lied strove with unwavering determination.
Lied had a familiar aura that daunted Martyr. Yes, it reminded him… of the Leader. Martyr went on the rampage, his killer instinct came up.
“THEN LET’S SEE YOU TRY!”
The man raised his left hand covered by a bandage. That’s when roots grew out of the floor and halted his hand to their surprise. Someone else popped up in the soul. Dressed in a red hood, slightly older than Lied, he stayed in a squatting position.
“WHO’S THERE?!” Martyr asked.
...
Lied hung motionless, pale-faced, while Martyr was simply gone.
“W-What happened?” Naomi said.
“This is... like the other time...” Susumu said.
“Hey, Lied! Say something!” Naomi shook Lied hundreds of times.
“I’m afraid it’s useless.”
“Eh...?”
“Unfortunately, the only thing we can do now is wait. Wait... for their return...” the detective comforted her.
“Lied...” Naomi merely looked at Lied.
...
Lied and Martyr remained gobsmacked. The silent red cloaked figure acted according to his drive as a thick mass of tough roots grabbed Lied out of Martyr’s reach.
“Damn it... somebody had to spoil the party before it even started” Martyr said.
“Too hard... what the hell is this...?” Martyr couldn’t tear the roots out of his hand.
New roots bursted into Lied’s soul space rushing towards the target. In order to prevent worse evils, Martyr was forced to put all his strength into breaking the origin of the branching roots, thus be able to dodge the attack. The rough use of force hurt his bandaged hand and blood spurt out.
Lied could barely see faint sparks in the air. He looked over the red hooded figure, the hood draped over his face. He was like a robot.
Martyr did his best to get close to his opponent. However, the high intensity in addition to the attacks speed didn’t allow an opportunity to arise. Things would get more complicated as the strike radius increased all the way from one end to the other of the soul. The blonde was stuck against the wall, a wave of roots captured him. He couldn’t win.
“Untouchable, huh? Damn true…” Martyr smiled a smile of acknowledgment.
“Amazing... he completely cornered him!” Lied thought.
The red hooded figure stood up, what seemed to be a necklace under the hood shuddered. Meanwhile, the wall on which Martyr was subdued warped. He struggled but to no avail.
“So this is my limit.”
Martyr flashed him a glorious smile before being gobbled up by the bowels of his mind. Persevering, he managed to come back temporarily from the abyss thanks to his tremendous willpower. Even the red hooded was taken aback. A physiological change stood out particularly – his eyes showed resentment and a great feeling of revenge. Eyes... of a snake.
“HAHA, WE’RE JUST TAKING A BREAK... THE BATTLE ISN’T OVER. THE TRUE FIGHT... IS YET TO START!”
Martyr’s time ran out. Lastly, he pointed his finger at the Adam’s Apple…
“I WILL DEFINITELY WIN! THE ADAM’S APPLE... WILL BE MINE!”
