The cultist’s incandescent fist came down.
Harry didn’t even try to block it.
At the last second, his hand plunged into a puddle of still-wet mud, a remnant of his previous wall.
With a sharp motion, he hurled the matter right into his opponent’s face.
SPLASH !
A thick layer of mud covered the fanatic’s eyes.
“You…”
He cut himself off to instinctively wipe his face.
“…now you’re fighting dirty?”
Harry was just waiting for that moment.
Despite the pain still grinding his ribs, he planted his weight on his good leg and wound up his fist.
BAM !
His hook struck the cultist square in the jaw.
The impact was violent.
Powerful enough to make an ordinary man’s head spin.
But nothing else.
The fanatic didn’t even step back.
His face remained perfectly still.
As if Harry had just punched a block of granite.
The captain immediately felt a pain shoot all the way up to his wrist.
‘Fuck…’
‘He’s really a Superior Ascendant.’
The cultist slowly turned his head toward him.
Mud was still dripping down his forehead.
A contemptuous smile stretched his lips.
“Is that all?”
The contempt in his voice was almost worse than the flames.
Harry gritted his teeth.
‘Too resistant.’
‘My hit should have at least thrown him off balance.’
The fanatic finally retaliated.
His fist shot out.
Way too fast.
BOOM !
Harry felt a monstrous impact in his abdomen.
The air violently left his lungs.
His body was thrown several meters away before bouncing heavily against the asphalt.
“Argh…”
He rolled several times before managing to stop.
His uniform was now covered in dust and blood.
The crystal was still glowing in his hand.
The fanatic slowly approached.
Both of his fists began to ignite again.
The flames climbed up to his forearms.
The air vibrated around him.
“Take this…”
He wound up both arms.
“…Meteor Fists.”
The fire orbs spawned almost instantly.
One.
Then two.
Then four.
They swirled around his fists like small suns.
Harry struggled to raise his head.
His gaze went from the terrorist…
…to the crystal.
Then an idea crossed his mind.
A completely crazy idea.
‘You want this crystal…’
‘Then use it as a target.’
The moment the meteors were released…
Harry simply raised his arm.
The crystal ended up directly in their path.
“Keep it up you baldie…”
His voice was weak.
“…and you’ll leave empty-handed.”
The cultist’s smile vanished.
“What…”
His eyes widened.
“…madman!”
His finger moved immediately.
The meteors slightly changed trajectory.
‘He can still control his projectiles?’
Noah’s eyes widened.
‘So they don’t just follow a simple ballistic trajectory.’
‘He keeps manipulating them after launch.’
But the correction came a fraction of a second too late.
BOOM !
One of the spheres struck the crystal dead-on.
For an instant…
Time seemed to stop.
A crack appeared.
Then a second.
Then hundreds.
CRACK !
The crystal exploded.
Thousands of glowing shards were sent flying in all directions.
A sparkling rain swept across the entire intersection.
“Ouch!”
Noah instinctively raised both hands in front of his face.
Several fragments embedded themselves in them.
Tiny translucent splinters.
Not deep enough to be serious.
But enough to make him wince.
The driver let out a yelp too.
A few seconds later…
Silence returned.
Noah looked at his palms.
Fine red lines were already appearing around the shards.
“Am I hurt?”
He gently removed the first fragment.
A drop of blood immediately welled up.
“Phew…”
He let out a discreet sigh.
“…they’re just scratches.”
A superficial wound.
Nothing more.
The scientist observed the fragments with curiosity nonetheless.
They continued to emit a faint bluish glow.
Even after exploding.
‘Curious…’
‘The energy structure still seems active.’
‘As if each shard retained a portion of the original Astra.’
But a roar immediately interrupted his observations.
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”
The fanatic seemed beside himself.
His face was completely distorted by rage.
“You lunatic!”
Harry burst into a hoarse laugh despite the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
“I’m the one who should be asking that question.”
‘Shit, the crystal is destroyed.
I thought he would stop before.’
He pointed to the debris scattered on the road.
“Your attack is what destroyed the crystal.”
The silence lasted a second, then the flames around the cultist literally exploded.
“AAARGH!”
His anger seemed to raise the temperature even more.
The windows of the nearby cars began to crack.
“I’m going to kill you!”
This time, he was no longer trying to retrieve anything.
He simply wanted to massacre Harry.
The flames converged on his fists again.
Denser.
More violent.
Harry slowly got back into a fighting stance.
He knew.
This attack would probably be the last.
His.
Or his opponent’s.
The fanatic raised both arms.
The flames converged around his fists with a new violence.
The very air seemed to vibrate under the heat.
The cars still stranded on the highway began to give off a slight smoke.
Even the asphalt was softening.
“I will turn tou into dust !”
Harry slowly inhaled.
His body was bruised.
His ribs were screaming.
His Astra was depleting rapidly.
But he refused to back down.
Not as long as there were still civilians behind him.
Then…
A metallic sound rang out.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
Dozens of boots struck the asphalt simultaneously.
The cultist abruptly turned his head.
Harry cracked a smile.
“Finally…”
About a dozen agents appeared at the entrance to the highway.
All wearing the HMA’s black uniform.
Their weapons were nothing like ordinary rifles.
The dark metal was entirely covered in fine engraved grooves.
Inside these channels flowed thin filaments of bluish light.
Runes.
Alive.
Pulsating.
Each weapon seemed to breathe to the rhythm of its user’s Astra.
The squad leader arrived first.
“Captain Harry!”
He immediately noticed the state of the battlefield.
The pulverized wall.
The gutted cars.
The flames.
Then the crystal reduced to thousands of fragments.
“Are you alright?”
Harry wiped the blood flowing from his lip.
A predatory smile appeared on his face.
“Don’t waste time.”
He pointed at the cultist.
“Fill that bastard with lead.”
“Fire!”
“Yes, sir!”
The agents scattered immediately.
In just a few seconds, they formed a wide arc.
Their weapons were shouldered.
The runes glowed more intensely.
Noah observed the scene with fascination.
‘The weapons are reacting to their Astra…’
‘So they aren’t just firearms.’
A luminous charge traveled down the barrel of each rifle.
Then…
BANG !
BANG !
BANG !
A rain of bluish projectiles crossed the highway.
The cultist grimaced.
“Annoying pests…”
His two hands drew a wide circle in front of him.
The flames exploded.
WHOOSH !
A gigantic incandescent whirlwind rose around him.
A literal tornado of fire.
The rune bullets plunged right into it.
BOOM !
BOOM !
BOOM !
Each impact triggered an explosion of light, showers of sparks, waves of heat, and clouds of ashes.
For several seconds…
The highway disappeared behind a massive curtain of black smoke.
Impossible to make out anything.
The din was deafening.
The gunshots.
The explosions.
The roar of the fire.
Even Noah, despite being hidden behind a car, had to protect his ears.
The taxi driver, for his part, kept his eyes shut.
“My God…”
“Please make it stop…”
Then…
Silence gradually returned.
The gunfire ceased.
The smoke slowly began to dissipate.
The silhouettes of the agents reappeared.
The whirlwind of flames was gone.
In the center…
There was no one left.
The cultist had vanished.
Only a few scorch marks still testified to his presence.
Yet a voice echoed in the last wisps of smoke.
“I will remember you…”
A contemptuous laugh followed.
“…Agent Harry.”
“You’ll pay for this.”
Harry straightened up with difficulty.
“Honestly, no need to go to so much effort.
I was hoping you’d just forget about me.”
A young agent slowly lowered his weapon.
“Captain…”
He looked around.
“…it seems the cultist has escaped.”
Harry remained silent for a few seconds.
His gaze swept the buildings.
The rooftops.
The access roads.
Nothing.
Then he let out a long breath.
“I noticed.”
A hint of bitterness crossed his face.
But it vanished almost immediately.
His gaze shifted to the many immobilized cars.
Then to the civilians who were timidly starting to come out of their hiding spots.
“Fortunately…”
“…there were no collateral victims.”
That was the main thing.
He slowly straightened his shoulders.
His tone immediately regained all its authority.
“Clean up the damage.”
“Retrieve every fragment of the crystal.”
“And clear the highway as fast as possible.”
He turned on his heel.
“Pack it up.”
“Yes, sir!”
The HMA immediately got to work.
Some secured the perimeter.
Others meticulously collected the glowing shards.
A few teams were already directing motorists to the detour routes.
The chaos gradually regained a semblance of order.
Behind their car…
The taxi driver finally dared to raise his head.
He looked around.
Then his gaze fell on his vehicle.
His eyes widened.
“My baby!”
He leaped out of his hiding spot.
Noah immediately reached out his arm.
“Wait!”
Too late.
The driver was already running toward his taxi.
He slowly walked around it.
Touched the hood.
The doors.
The tires.
Then let out a massive sigh of relief.
“Ah…”
“Thank God.”
“You don’t have a scratch on you.”
He affectionately stroked the roof of the car.
As if he had found a missing loved one.
Noah approached.
He observed the scene with perplexity.
“But…”
“…it’s just a car.”
The driver looked at him as if he had just heard the biggest absurdity of the century.
“Have you ever owned a car?”
“No.
Why?”
The man placed a hand on his hood.
Then his face took on an almost philosophical expression.
“Because…you couldn’t understand.”
“There’s a special bond between a man…and his car.”
Noah blinked several times.
He searched for a rational answer.
Found none.
‘Curious.’
He decided to drop it.
The driver immediately regained his usual energy.
“Come on!”
He opened the door.
“Get in.
Let’s get back on the road.”
“Thanks.”
Noah settled back into the rear seat.
The taxi finally restarted.
The highway gradually opened up before them.
The driver let out a deep sigh.
“Finally…”
“We can move.”
He glanced in the rearview mirror.
“Remind me, sir…”
“…where are we going again?”
“To Nightsaint Hospital.”
“Right.”
“Right away.”
The car merged onto the cleared lane.
Meanwhile…
Noah was still looking at his hand.
The fine cuts were barely bleeding.
He removed the last crystal shard stuck in his palm.
‘Hmm…’
‘I hope this doesn’t get infected.’
Then another thought immediately crossed his mind.
‘That crystal…’
‘It looked a lot like the ones found in the heart of Holes.’
He had already read several scientific papers about them.
Extremely rare crystals.
Extremely expensive.
And yet…
No laboratory was yet capable of explaining clearly how they worked.
‘If terrorists are taking such risks to steal one…’
‘It’s because they probably have a much more important use than just their market value.’
This idea remained suspended in his mind.
Like an incomplete equation.
A new question had just been born.
And Noah hated unanswered questions.
A few minutes later…
The taxi slowed down in front of a massive glass and steel building.
The driver smiled.
“We’re here, sir.”
Nightsaint Hospital.
Noah paid the fare.
“Forget about the scratches.”
The driver winked at him.
“After what we just went through…”
“…this day almost deserves a little extra risk.”
Noah cracked a slight smile.
“Have a good day.”
He got out of the vehicle.
The hospital’s automatic doors opened before him.
He took a deep breath.
Then crossed the building’s threshold.
Without knowing it…
This visit was going to turn his life upside down.