Noah didn’t answer.
His gaze remained riveted on the completely crushed hood of the sedan.
The man who had just crashed into it moved slowly.
His tactical jacket was still smoking as he tried to pull himself up.
A trickle of black blood flowed from his nose.
Too thick.
Almost viscous.
As if it had started to coagulate before even hitting the mangled metal.
Around his neck hung a metal badge, half-torn off.
HMA.
Noah’s breath caught in his throat.
‘He’s still alive…’
Then something changed.
The air.
A wave of heat suddenly swept across the intersection.
Not a feeling.
Not an effect of the fire.
A real, dry, brutal thermal pressure.
As if a massive oven had just opened a few meters away from them.
Even through the taxi windows, Noah felt his skin prickle.
His scientist instincts reacted before his fear.
‘Impossible…’
‘The temperature just rose by several tens of degrees in a few seconds.’
His brain immediately searched for a rational explanation.
Then he observed the injured man again.
‘Hmm…
he’s still able to move after a fall like that.’
‘He must be an Ascendant.’
‘Otherwise…
it makes no sense.’
At the end of the street, a silhouette slowly appeared through the wisps of smoke.
A bald man.
A small, neatly trimmed mustache.
A simple plaid shirt.
An almost ordinary outfit.
With one exception.
Both of his fists were entirely covered in flames.
Not ordinary flames.
These seemed to dance without any fuel.
They produced almost no smoke.
Their color oscillated between incandescent orange and an almost blinding white.
Noah felt his heart rate accelerate.
‘The Astra.’
‘It has to be Astra.’
His eyes remained fixed on the flames.
‘An Ascendant…’
‘I’m seeing one for the first time.’
For a few seconds, everything else seemed to disappear.
Then a scream brought him abruptly back to reality.
The driver of the pulverized car hurriedly got out of his vehicle.
“Fuck!
My car!”
He stared at the damage in horror.
“What am I going to tell the insurance?!”
Noah’s taxi driver burst into a mocking laugh.
“Hehe.
Serves you right, asshole!”
The car owner gave him a death glare before running off as fast as possible.
He was visibly not interested in the impending battle.
On the hood, the injured man finally regained his balance.
Straightening to his full height a solidly built one meter eighty-five, his face framed by a thick red beard still stained with blood he wiped the blood flowing down his chin.
“Fucking fanatic…”
His voice was hoarse.
“…you haven’t seen anything yet.”
The bald man continued advancing at a calm pace.
As if he were taking a stroll.
As if the dozens of terrified witnesses around him didn’t exist.
“Agent Harry…”
An almost benevolent smile appeared on his face.
“Why do you have to be so stubborn?”
His flames grew even more intense.
“Just hand over the crystal.”
He held out an open hand.
“It will serve a much nobler cause.”
Harry spat on the ground.
“Don’t fuck with me.”
His hand closed around an object he had been keeping against himself the whole time.
A crystal.
Slightly smaller than a soccer ball.
Its surface seemed translucent.
A faint bluish light circulated inside it.
Like a living liquid.
Noah’s pupils contracted.
‘A crystal…’
‘So that’s it…’
Harry tightened his grip on the glowing fragment.
“This crystal was extracted from a Hole at the cost of sweat…”
His gaze became icy.
“…and the blood of agents.”
“Keep dreaming.”
“I will never hand this crystal over to you.”
For a second, silence fell over the intersection.
Then the bald man’s face changed.
His smile vanished.
Replaced by an almost ecstatic expression.
As if he had just received a divine revelation.
The flames around his fists suddenly exploded.
The heat went up a notch.
The windows of the nearest cars began to crack.
The asphalt itself seemed to ripple.
“Noah…”
The taxi driver swallowed hard.
“This isn’t normal…”
“No.”
Noah’s gaze remained fixed on the stranger.
‘This temperature…’
‘It’s rising rapidly.’
The bald man slowly raised his right fist.
“Since you refuse to listen to reason…”
His voice vibrated with an unsettling fervor.
“…burn.”
He spread his arms.
“I will retrieve the crystal from your corpse.”
Harry slightly bent his legs.
“You can always try.”
As they faced each other, Noah carefully observed the flames.
They were unstable.
They pulsed.
As if their intensity varied to the rhythm of an invisible breath.
‘Hmm…’
‘Why is this energy fluctuating like this?’
‘It’s like…’
He immediately interrupted his thought.
His instinct had just screamed something at him.
He abruptly turned his head toward the driver.
“Sir…”
His voice remained surprisingly calm.
“I think we’d better leave.”
“I’m trying!”
The driver nervously hit his steering wheel.
“It’s blocked everywhere!”
The stuck cars now formed a total gridlock.
Impossible to move forward or backward.
Noah made a decision immediately.
“Then leave the car.”
“Huh?”
“Now.”
Without waiting for an answer, he opened his door.
The driver hesitated for a fraction of a second.
Then he followed.
Both ran to a parked car several meters behind the taxi.
They threw themselves behind the bodywork.
The metal offered them a semblance of protection.
Noah took a breath.
Then risked a look over the hood.
The bald man had just clenched his fists.
The flames condensed sharply into them.
His arm shot forward once, twice, and three times.
“Meteor Fist!”
BOOM!
A sphere of fire left his fist at a terrifying speed.
Then a second and a third.
Each projectile exploded against the asphalt with the power of a grenade.
Chunks of asphalt were sent flying in all directions.
The car alarms started wailing.
“Die…”
A new volley was fired.
“…heretics!”
The din was deafening.
The heat was becoming almost unbearable.
Even at this distance, Noah felt his face burning.
‘Incredible…’
‘These flames possess kinetic energy…’
‘These aren’t just incendiary projectiles.’
Harry took a deep breath.
Then violently planted both palms against the ground.
“Mud Wall!”
A dull rumble immediately traveled through the road.
The asphalt cracked.
The earth below seemed to suddenly come to life.
Before Noah’s stunned eyes, a massive mass of mud and rock rose in front of the agent.
The rampart grew before their very eyes.
Two meters.
Then three.
Then almost four meters high.
“Take cover!”
The first fireballs struck the wall the very next instant.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Each impact threw up sprays of scalding steam.
The mud cooked instantly.
The air filled with a thick cloud of dust and steam.
For a few seconds…
no one could make out what was happening on the other side of the rampart.
The mud wall held.
For a few seconds.
The successive explosions made it tremble, but it remained standing.
Thick steam rose into the air as the heat instantly transformed the wet surface into a blackened crust.
The fanatic observed the obstacle.
Then a smile slowly formed on his face.
“Do you really think that will be enough to protect you?”
His flames grew even more intense.
“Don’t underestimate me.”
His right fist slowly closed.
This time, Noah immediately noticed the difference.
The Astra was no longer circulating throughout his body.
It converged almost entirely towards his arm.
The flames compressed.
They stopped dancing.
As if all their power was condensing into a single point.
‘He’s concentrating his energy…’
‘This attack will be different.’
The fanatic slowly raised his arm.
Then struck the empty air.
“Go…”
A second.
“…Fire Comet!”
The orb that erupted from his fist was gigantic.
Three times larger than the previous ones.
It crossed the street in an infernal roar.
BOOOOOOM!!
The impact made the whole neighborhood vibrate.
The mud wall literally exploded.
Chunks of earth were sent flying in all directions.
Dust instantly covered the intersection.
Harry gritted his teeth.
“Fuck…”
But even before the cloud began to settle…
the terrorist had already disappeared.
‘Too fast.’
The man crossed the breach with a speed that defied all logic.
He slid between the debris.
Dodged two overturned vehicles, then leaped.
At that same instant, the flames left his fists.
They now enveloped his legs.
The fanatic was already in front of Harry.
“See where your stubbornness leads you.”
His body brutally pivoted.
His leg described a wide arc.
The flames left an incandescent trail behind them.
BOOM!
The kick hit Harry square in the chest.
The agent was thrown several meters away.
Like a ragdoll.
“Argh!”
Even at this distance, Noah heard the dull thud of the impact.
‘That was just a kick…’
‘Impossible.’
‘The power generated far exceeds human muscular capabilities.’
Harry was still flying through the air.
His eyes quickly swept the surroundings.
Then he spotted several civilians, including Noah.
‘Shit.’
‘If I fall here…’
He made a decision instantly.
His hands clapped together.
“Mud Wall.”
This time, the wall appeared behind him, smaller and more flexible.
A mass of viscous earth cushioned his fall.
Harry sank heavily into it before rolling to the ground.
He coughed.
Spit out blood.
Then got up despite it all.
The blow had propelled him to just a few meters from the car behind which Noah and the driver were hiding.
The driver paled.
“Why is he coming back here?”
His voice trembled.
“Does he really want to drag us into his shit or what?”
“Shut up.”
Noah immediately placed a finger in front of his lips.
“Do you want to attract the terrorist’s attention?”
The driver froze.
Noah took a deep breath.
Then raised his head very slightly above the car.
Just enough to observe.
The fanatic was advancing calmly.
As if victory was already assured.
“You’re still managing to stand.”
He slowly shook his head.
“But not for much longer.”
Harry was breathing with difficulty.
His arms were trembling.
His uniform was partially calcined.
Yet…
he still refused to let go of the crystal.
The fanatic raised his fists once again.
The flames immediately began to grow again.
‘He’s going to do it again.’
‘This time…’
‘At this distance…’
Noah instinctively calculated the possible trajectories.
The car behind which they were hiding.
Harry.
The fanatic.
The buildings.
‘If this attack is as powerful as the previous one…’
‘The debris could reach us.’
The driver was now sweating profusely.
“We’re going to die…” he murmured.
Noah didn’t answer.
His eyes remained fixed on the crystal.
Even in the middle of the flames.
Even in the middle of the chaos.
This strange stone continued to emit its faint bluish light.
A thought crossed his mind.
‘Why is a simple piece of crystal worth so many lives?’
‘What makes it so precious?’
The fanatic slowly spread his arms.
The flames roared.
“Die.”
The Astra rushed to his fists once again.
Harry leaned on one leg.
His gaze briefly met Noah’s.
A single second.
The scientist understood immediately.
The agent knew.
He knew perfectly well that civilians were behind him.
And despite his injuries…
He was preparing to protect them again.
‘Why?’
‘Why risk his life for strangers?’
Harry tightened his grip on the crystal.
His other hand slowly placed itself against the ground.
‘He’s preparing that technique again.’
‘But given his condition…’
‘How many more times can he use it?’
The fanatic wound up his arm.
The flames roared around his fist.
The air itself seemed to warp under the heat.
Noah felt sweat running down his temple.
His heart was beating so hard he could feel every pulse.
The world seemed to slow down.
The scientist.
The terrified driver.
The injured agent.
The fanatic.
The crystal.
Everything seemed suspended, then the terrorist’s arm shot forward.
“Die!”