Chapter 176: Malachi Vs.

『"Kill me one time, shame on you. Kill me twice..."』

The Martyr’s sudden grin was almost unsettling to Amara. Not because it was malicious or cruel. Those were emotions she could have understood.

This was something else entirely. He looked happy. The expression of someone who’d found their calling and loved every second of it.

"Actually," Malachi said, rolling his shoulders, "let me rephrase that. Who wants to try to kill me first?"

"Huh?" Hiro raised an eyebrow.

Malachi sighed. "You’re all going to try eventually..." He began bouncing on his toes. "Might as well get the awkward introductions out of the way."

Raj grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Let me take a crack at it."

"Raj," Maya said quietly as her lantern’s glow intensified. "Secure the Anchor. Everyone else, defensive positions. Do not engage unless—"

The Martyr moved before she was even done talking. His instantaneous displacement caught them all by surprise.

Even with Intent Sight, Amara couldn’t track him.

One moment, he was standing twenty feet away. The next, he was inside their formation, his fist driving toward Maya’s chest.

Ethan’s shield manifested just in time to intercept the strike, cracking slightly from the impact.

"Nice..." Malachi whistled as he studied the cracks spiderwebbing across the barrier in his path for a second. "That’s what’s up, bitch."

He immediately leapt backward, landing several meters away before crouching low. Then he grinned. "Let’s run it again."

He pushed off the ground and shot toward them. But before he could reach the formation, a guitar chord rang through the battlefield.

BOOM!

A concentrated sonic shockwave erupted from Dante’s instrument and slammed directly into Malachi.

The force launched him backward, tearing through several trees. He hit the ground, skidded across the dirt, and rolled once before coming to a stop.

For a moment, he didn’t move. Then he slowly stood and shook his head, brushing dirt from his shoulder. "What the hell?"

His eyes narrowed at Dante. "What the hell, bitch?" He pointed at the guitar. "I’ve already dealt with sonic attacks before." He paused for a moment. "Yeah, definitely."

Dante raised an eyebrow. "Have you?"

"Yeah, bitch." He cracked his neck. "So why the fuck does yours still hurt?"

Malachi vanished, and Dante’s fingers struck the strings again, unleashing another sonic blast that tore across the battlefield.

Malachi was caught in it again. His body twisted violently as the shockwave battered him, sending him crashing through the dirt.

But before Dante could play another chord, something changed. The tattoos covering Malachi’s body began shifting.

Their patterns crawled across his skin, rearranging themselves as a strange glow pulsed beneath them. Then Malachi slowly lifted his head and smiled.

"Oh." He pushed himself upright. "I get it." He disappeared again.

Dante’s eyes widened. He forced himself to track Malachi as he came at them from the right.

The next chord struck Malachi head-on, and this time, the blast was even stronger. His body was thrown backward, but he twisted in midair, landing on one knee.

One of his hands hung uselessly at his side, the bones completely shattered by the force. Malachi stared at it briefly before he started laughing.

It began as a quiet chuckle. Then it grew louder.

"Oh, I see now, bitch." He looked up at Dante, his grin widening. "I see."

His tattoos shifted again. "Your shit adapts like mine." He tilted his head, rubbing his chin with his already healed hand. "Or my shit adapts like yours."

Malachi laughed again. "Okay. Okay, bitch..." The tattoos continued crawling across his body, their patterns changing faster than before.

Then Malachi vanished, crossing the distance before Amara could blink.

Dante’s expression hardened immediately, his eyes darting left and right rapidly. Amara couldn’t begin to comprehend how Dante was able to keep track of Malachi.

Sound drained from their surroundings, and he struck the now glowing strings with more energy.

BOOOOOOM!

The resulting shockwave was monstrous.

It tore through the battlefield with enough force to carve a trench through the earth, ripping apart trees and sending chunks of stone flying.

Hiro let out an excited chitter. "He did the thing, with the thing." He pointed at Dante’s Requiem.

Malachi was caught directly in the center, and his body ruptured under the force. Flesh and blood exploded outward as the shockwave tore him apart completely.

Silence fell.

Sophia slowly raised a hand over her mouth. "Jesus." She stared at the remains scattered across the battlefield. "This guy’s insane."

Amara didn’t answer. Her eyes remained fixed on the remains.

This should have been it. Three consecutive attacks. Each one stronger than the last. The final one had practically obliterated him.

Yet Amara couldn’t shake the feeling that they hadn’t won.

***

Yelena and Ishigami tore through the forest after Monet.

Branches whipped past them as the Painter moved effortlessly between the trees, her white coat barely visible through the flashes of sunlight and shadow.

Yelena vaulted over a fallen trunk, landing lightly before immediately accelerating again.

"She runs very fast for woman wearing... how you say, boots for very horny ladies?"

Ishigami’s expression remained completely blank as his strings shot forward, wrapping around branches and pulling him through the forest.

"Perhaps she’s motivated by the desire not to get caught."

Yelena glanced at him. "You don’t say?"

"Sorry..." Ishigami lowered his head.

Just then, a wooden brush flashed through the trees ahead. Monet glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "Are you two always this charming?"

Yelena’s eyes narrowed. "Stop running and find out."

"Tempting." Monet flicked her brush, and a tree suddenly bent sideways, its trunk twisting toward them.

Ishigami sighed. "Of course." His strings shot forward and sliced through the warped trunk before it could crush them.

The tree crashed behind them, and they continued giving chase without slowing.

"Bloody hell." Monet whipped her brush toward the ground ahead, and black paint splashed across the earth, forming a dark hole.

Yelena’s eyes widened. "She is doing the thing again!"

"Then we should probably stop her." Ishigami’s strings shot forward.