On the balcony, Eden waited, his gaze lost in the vastness of the nighttime desert.
Lamar finally joined him after his delay.
Without looking away from the horizon, Eden broke the silence:
“Lamar, can you tell me why you really decided to end your hunter adventures?”
Lamar sketched a smile, mechanically adjusting his cybernetic arm:
“To be honest… it’s not because Elena asked me to.
It’s just because…”
“Oh, come on, don’t be shy!
Out with it!” Eden nudged him gently.
“Elena is pregnant, that’s why,” Lamar blurted out, his expression softening.
“She’s expecting a child.”
“Oh… well congratulations, old friend!” Eden exclaimed, genuinely surprised and thrilled.
“Thanks.
You see… fighting Calamities is fine… but staying home and taking care of your family is even better.”
“I’m sorry for dragging you into this mess,” Eden murmured guiltily.
“You’re far away from your family because of me…”
“No, no, don’t worry about it,” Lamar replied, clapping him on the shoulder.
“As a final run, this is the best one.
We’re sitting on a balcony, and if a Calamity shows up… we beat it up!
What do you think would have happened if we hadn’t come here anyway?”
“Maybe they wouldn’t have even lasted this long…”
“On the contrary, I’m the one who should thank you,” Lamar cut in.
“Without you, I wouldn’t have met all these people… and I wouldn’t have crossed paths with Mr.
Bones.
All you have to promise me, Eden, is to protect Elena if anything happens to me.”
“What?
Did you have a vision or something?” Eden replied, trying to shake off the gloomy mood.
“Eden, promise me.” Lamar’s gaze was dead serious.
“OK… It’s a promise.
But you have to promise me that you won’t get married before I do!”
The two men shook hands, sealing their pact under the stars.
Just then, Mrs.
Bones’ voice echoed from the glass door:
“Dinner is ready!”
Everyone gathered in the lounge, the atmosphere heavy yet united.
Even Rick and Katy had finally broken their silence to sit down with the others.
Once the plates were served, Mrs.
Bones asked:
“Who could tell us a story to take our minds off things?”
Eden immediately pointed his finger at his friend:
“Lamar!”
“What?
But I’m super bad at this kind of thing!” the colossus protested.
Little Tony, sitting on his couch, raised his hands and signed:
“Mr.
Lamar… How did you lose your arm?”
Faced with the little boy’s insistent gaze, Lamar capitulated.
He took a seat facing the group.
Alya brought over a large white sheet which they stretched against the wall, while Eden plugged in a makeshift projector. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Placing his hands in front of the light, Lamar began to move shadow puppets with fascinating precision across the fabric.
His voice shifted tone, becoming that of an old storyteller:
“One day, when I was at the absolute peak of human strength and courage, I began a journey… A journey in search of an opponent stronger than myself, with a single goal in mind: to kill it.
I was young, naive, and I didn’t yet know what awaited me.
And above all… I still had both of my arms.”
On the sheet, the shadow of a ship tossing on jagged waves took shape.
“I was on that ship, alone, beneath a raging sea.
The wind was howling, and the water struck the hull so hard that upon impact, it could have shattered diamonds.
That was when marine Calamities rose from the abyss.
They stared at me with pitch-black eyes, spears in hand.”
Lamar’s shadow on the fabric mimicked the action.
“I only had a dagger on me.
I stabbed it into the wood to steady the boat and stepped forward to face them.
The battle began: them with their spears, me with my bare hands.
They charged, and one by one, I smashed them, even grabbing one by the feet to slam it into its neighbor!
Others threw their weapons; I caught them mid-air to send them straight back to their owners.
Seeing that they were getting pulverized, they called for their chief.”
The shadow puppet expanded massively, revealing a colossal, muscular creature.
“He was immense, far bigger than me.
He stood there, armed with two sabers.
Out of warrior respect, he threw one to me.
But I flung the saber with one hand toward one of his subordinates: upon contact with the blade, the monster began to melt instantly.
If I had grasped that weapon, I would have suffered the exact same fate.
The chief then threw away his second saber.
We were surrounded by his army, and the duel began bare-handed.
I was dominating him completely… until he opened his mouth.”
The monster’s shadow made a terrifying jaw movement.
“Whenever he closed his teeth, the water falling from the sky could no longer touch us.
His execution speed exceeded the speed of sound.
Things became ferocious: he unleashed sonic bites to tear me apart and destroy the ship.
And it was working.
Understanding his game, I stopped dead in my tracks.
He did too.
It was time for the final blow.
He opened his mouth wide for an ultimate attack, far beyond the speed of sound.”
Lamar paused, captivating the entire room.
“So, I closed my eyes.
He lunged forward at a breakneck speed.
Arriving right at my level, just before his fangs could close, I switched my stance and thrust my good arm straight down his throat.
The impact exploded his head from the inside.”
The audience held their breath.
“At that exact moment, I felt a silhouette behind me.
I turned around… nothing.
A noise in my back, I pivot again… still nothing.
All the enemies had vanished, even the chief’s corpse.
I went toward the controls to retrieve my dagger… and that was when I felt a freezing breath.
When I turned around, everything had gone black… except for two immense red eyes staring at me from the void.
And right then, I understood: it was him… the CALAMITUS.”
Rick brutally cut off the speech, crossing his arms:
“Bullshit.
Everybody knows that.”
“I’m not asking you to believe me, Rick,” Lamar replied calmly.
“I’m only asking you to listen…”
He picked up the thread of his story, the shadows darkening on the sheet:
“I couldn’t even distinguish the outlines of his body.
He just stood there, staring at me.
It’s the kind of gaze that paralyzes any man… but not me.
I started climbing to the top of the mast, armed my fists, and leaped into the void with a single thought in mind: kill the CALAMITUS.”
“And… did you succeed?” Sophie asked, hanging on his every word.
Lamar snapped the projector off, plunging the room into darkness, and sighed:
“Oh, my little girl… That day, I truly ran into something stronger than myself.
Because the very next second, I woke up in an unknown place with an arm missing.”
Everyone applauded Lamar to break the tension, and Tony signed with stars in his eyes:
“I want to become just as strong as you, Mr.
Lamar!”
At those words, the group’s expressions darkened again.
The antidote for the little boy was theoretically out of reach.
Eden stood up to restore their momentum:
“Tomorrow, we go back to the second base.
I just had an idea involving the lightning pylon.
Still ready for an adrenaline rush, old brother?”
Lamar smiled proudly:
“Always ready.”
Suddenly, Tony faltered and fainted once more onto the couch.
His condition was worsening at an alarming rate before his parents’ helpless eyes.
Part of his face was beginning to deform, taking on a strange texture, and his bloodshot eye was changing appearance.
The contamination was progressing.
The next morning, it was time for action.
Mrs.
Bones, Katy, Sophie, Sally, Rick, and little Tony stayed behind at the base.
To cover the sound of the engines at the moment of departure and trick the hearing of the sand monsters, Sophie and Mrs.
Bones armed themselves with pots and metal tools, making a hellish racket on the roof.
Meanwhile, the attack group launched forward.
Eden and Alya rode on the first motorcycle, Lamar piloted the second, while David drove the large utility vehicle, carrying heavy, mysterious equipment in the back.
Everything was going according to plan… until back at the base, the situation plummeted into horror.
Taking advantage of the noise outside, Katy slipped quietly into the kitchen.
With a swift, treacherous movement, she knocked out Sally, Sophie, and old Mrs.
Bones one after the other.
The three bodies collapsed onto the tiled floor.
Running toward Tony’s room, she grabbed the half-unconscious little boy, dragged him outside, and tied him securely to the back of one of the backup motorcycles before speeding off.
Rick, who was in the shower in his quarters at the time, turned off the water instantly upon hearing the sudden roar of an unscheduled motorcycle engine.
Sensing the trap, he dressed in a flash and rushed out onto the balcony.
Down below, Sophie had just barely regained her senses.
Stumbling, her head throbbing, she had just mounted the last available motorcycle and was attempting to start it, steering with immense difficulty.
Rick, his eyes black with rage, didn’t hesitate for a second.
From the top of the balcony, he took a running leap straight into the void, landing heavily on the chassis right behind the young girl.
“Move!” he yelled in a freezing voice.
Terrified by his dark glare and the impact, Sophie lost her balance and fell backward into the sand.
Rick instantly grabbed the handles, made the engine roar, and tore off into the desert at full speed in pursuit of Katy.