Yumiel looks at Alpha, who is groaning, letting out his last breaths of life. She crouches beside him, places her hand on his head, brings one of her daggers closer, and moves it near his throat.
Alpha uses the last strength he has left to speak.
« No… Not like that, like a warrior. »
She looks at him but truly does not see what he could call "a death like a warrior."
With his last eye, Alpha sees her hesitation, clarifying what he means by "like a warrior."
« What do you do to become stronger ? »
« I drink the blood contained in hearts. »
« That sounds good to me. »
She brings her hand toward where his heart is, then drives her hand into his chest. His heart was deep inside; she pushed her arm in before finding it, pulling it out in one motion, thus ending his life.
His immense heart, far larger than her hand, fit in her palm; she had to add her other hand to keep it from falling.
Alpha's imposing heart beat in her hands; she squeezed it slightly before pressing it above herself. Euphoria began to flood her, but at the same time, a feeling of slight regret and pride mixed into it.
As if she could feel Alpha's fighting spirit until the very end. Once it was over, she could affirm that it was the most powerful thing she had ever absorbed.
Testing her abilities, she could now manipulate 3–4 L and about 5 L if she opened her senses. It was a major step forward. Then she casts a glance at the battlefield in front of her.
The wolves had lost, as she had predicted. Alpha's death had put them into a dazed state. She then looks toward the place where Alan had blown himself up, thinking about the two hearts she could have recovered.
At the same moment, Jack and Tāo arrive at that precise moment. In front of them lies Alpha's body, with Yumiel right beside him at his feet, a heart far larger than a human's.
Tāo did not know how to react, deciding to run toward her. Jack barely had time to grab him by holding onto his fur. Turning around, he looks at him as if to say: « What are you doing ? »
« Let's not jump to hasty conclusions, Tāo. »
Yumiel had seen the whole scene, but was waiting for him to come to her. Close enough, Tāo presses himself against Yumiel, growling.
« If your question is: "Did I kill him ?" I'm going to disappoint you by saying no. But on the other hand, he died like a warrior. » At least, that's her own definition, Yumiel thinks.
Tāo instinctively understood her words; Jack translated anyway before stepping to stand in front of the corpse. His crimson fur was beginning to fade and his size was decreasing.
Jack looks around, and especially at the helicopter embedded in the wall — or rather, the debris that remained after the explosion, as well as the flames.
« What happened here ? »
« A lot of things. And where were you ? »
« Let's say… a lot of things happened. »
« Great ! »
Yumiel moves closer to Tāo, before hearing a deafening noise in the distance. She understood that it was most certainly enemy reinforcements or something like that. Picking up Alpha's heart before coming to stand beside Tāo.
« Hey, werewolf. Or rather, Tāo — here, eat his heart, I'm sure that's what he would have wanted. »
Tāo gently pushes Yumiel's hand away. Yumiel grabs the back of Tāo's neck and brings her face close to his, able to see all his sharp teeth.
« Listen, now we're comrades, teammates. So, if you don't want to see us die, we all need to become stronger — you, me, Jack, you understand ? »
This time, he does not push her away, looking at the heart hesitantly, not knowing what to do. Jack takes Tāo's hand and places it on Alpha's heart, then pats him on the shoulder.
Tāo was sad, but not stupid, forcing himself to eat the heart, even though it disgusted him, even though he felt like vomiting, he did it.
« You should do the same, Jack. »
« I'd like to, but animal brains aren't for me. I tried once and I really thought my brain was going to fry. So I'm not taking that risk. »
In the distance, once again, helicopters were visible.
« All that's left is to find Alan and get out of here. »
« He's dead ! We have to leave now, come on. »
Jack was extremely surprised, before looking at what remained that could be considered a helicopter.
Yumiel was watching Jack looking at the helicopter, visibly lost in thought, then turning to Tāo, who was just as disconnected, staring at Alpha's corpse.
« ALL RIGHT, GUYS, LET'S MOVE ! »
Grabbing Jack and then Tāo, heading off to the other side of the battlefield.
Out of the ten seraphs deployed, seven were killed, one neutralized, one other reported missing in the forest. The last one stood before them. Or rather, behind them. Surrounding himself with the same energy as the others, which he called Ch'i.
Focusing it into his legs, he caught up with them, trying to strike Yumiel in the face. Tāo reacted by grabbing his arm, then biting down with his gaping jaws.
Screaming, he tried to strike him with his other free hand; Jack grabbed the other arm and tore it off, concentrating his Ch'i in his abdomen and making it spin. Yumiel had already seen that — passing her hand through his torso and ripping out his heart.
Alert: soldiers and helicopters begin to gather around them. The soldiers were not a problem, but the helicopters were. They would not manage to get away if they were followed.
Yumiel transforms several of her daggers into a large pool of blood, locating the house where they had been previously, connecting the two ends and coming out on the other side.
Coming out of the pool, Tāo began to feel dizzy, then he vomited on the ground.
« Ahahah, that's happened to all of us already. By the way, did that do anything to Alan ? »
« I don't know and I don't care, we need to find a way out and fast. »
Looking out the window, everyone began searching around, as if they suspected he was not far away. The helicopters were sweeping the area. If he set foot outside, he would be spotted for sure.
Returning to her pool, she concentrates, searching for the pool she had left in Harbin to connect to it. Watching her, Jack grabs Tāo so that he too is in the pool.
Concentrating, Yumiel no longer perceived the pool in Harbin; the only ones she could feel were the one on the battlefield, and the one to the east, surely the one in London.
Trying to establish contact with the pool in London, she ran into a kind of wall, like interference between the two. Opening her senses to their maximum, she felt as though she could link the two ends, but farther on she ran into the same wall.
In her mind, she had trouble imagining it; it was not exactly a wall, but rather a sensation that was blocking her. Continuing to try, she eventually fell into an abyss — a gigantic black hole at her feet whose bottom she could not see.
Yumiel opened her eyes before going any farther, breathing heavily without even realizing it, looking at Jack and Tāo, who were slightly surprised by Yumiel's reaction.
« I might have a solution… but you're not going to like it. Buy time if something happens. »
Taking her canteen, opening it and pouring all its contents onto the ground to widen the pool she was standing in, then she closed her eyes and concentrated to link this pool of blood to the one in London.
Glancing outside, Jack could see the soldiers starting to search the nearby houses, getting closer to theirs.
Yumiel tried to visualize her pool to connect the two ends, then once again ran into that kind of interference. Going against the current, she ended up falling into a hole, like earlier, dropping into an immense abyss where there was nothing but darkness.
Letting herself fall, she lost consciousness — or rather, it was as if she were waking up from a long sleep. She opened her eyes to see nothing around her except an immense wall, which seemed familiar to her.
The wall was bright red, a blazing red against that black space. At her feet, there was nothing but emptiness. Leaning forward, she could see her reflection, as if she were walking on black water.
She did not really understand, but it clearly had something to do with what had happened in the tunnel last time.
The more she observed the wall, the more she felt the need to climb it, which she eventually did.
She climbed, driving her hand into it to create handholds. Strangely, it was not hard. But when she reached the hundredth meter, a pressure came down on her, as if gravity had just increased. She almost let go, but managed to hold on.
The soldiers would not be long in arriving; it was only a matter of time. Jack positioned himself by the door, waiting, his feet still in the pool. Tāo spread his feet slightly, no longer touching the pool. Jack explained, stressing that he had to stay in it at all costs. Understanding, he repositioned himself close to it.
A soldier kicked the door in, entering inside. He saw a motionless woman with a werewolf beside her, before being grabbed by Jack, who slammed him against the wall and crushed his skull with punches.
A few seconds later, more soldiers ended up coming in. Jack tried to hold them back while staying in the pool; some managed to get in. Tāo rushed at them, slashing them with his claws while pushing them back, being careful to stay in the pool.
The situation worsened; soldiers poured in, and in such a confined space, it became hard to defend Yumiel. They quickly found themselves pressed up against her, surrounded by soldiers.
Suddenly, the ground shook and the house was struck by an immense root.
« Yumiel, I don't know if you can hear me, but now's the time ! »
The root came down on them; Jack held it back, pushing with his whole body to prevent it from crushing Yumiel. Tāo, for his part, held the soldiers back, preventing them from getting closer, getting injured little by little as he took blows meant for Yumiel.
Climbing the endless wall, Yumiel was beginning to run out of strength; the higher she climbed, the stronger that crushing feeling became. In the end, she did not know how far she had climbed. But she could not hold on any longer, falling into the void.
As she fell, she felt her mind becoming freer, more powerful. Trying to visualize the pool in London. Usually, she ended up hitting something that blocked her, but this time it was not the case, managing to visualize it.
All that remained was to connect the two ends, which she tried to do, bringing them closer, before tipping over as if her mind were being torn apart from the inside, then feeling pain in her body without knowing exactly where.
Outside, she was struck by one of the soldiers, whom Tāo quickly restrained. Jack broke the limits of his arm and struck the root, destroying it, then resumed a defensive stance.
Keeping her concentration, she succeeded. She connected the two ends. The two cables connected before vibrating, converging, and exploding.
Except that this time, it took time, surely because of the distance. It was as if one side vibrated and took time to vibrate on the other side. Then the same for the convergence. However, the explosion was immense — at least from her point of view, in her mind.
Coming out on the other side and landing in the living room. Jack and Tāo were there, close to her, followed by a few soldiers, who began to vomit before ending up dead at the hands of Jack and Tāo.
Yumiel was there, standing, looking at them.
« You see ? You can trust me, by the way… »
Suddenly, in her mind, her consciousness hit the ground, crashing and falling into that black water. As a result, she fell into a coma, collapsing to the ground.
Her body very quickly and naturally absorbed the blood that was on the floor; in less than five seconds, the pool of blood was absorbed into her body, leaving her unconscious on the ground.
The two looked at each other, then Tāo approached, saying her name for the first time.
« Yumiel ? »