Chapter 31: Three Seconds
Levi stumbled down the hidden path, his shirt clinging to his back, drenched in sweat.
His mind wouldn't let go of it. You're welcome.
'Why'd she have to say that?'
He landed hard on solid ground, knees buckling before he caught himself. His breath came fast as he hurried out of the rocks, fumbling for the lighter in his pocket.
She could've attacked. But she didn't. Twice.
Once when he was broken and bleeding, and again just now. She let him sleep. Let him leave. No threats, no tricks. Nothing.
She was a Waster, just like him. Someone robbed of circumstance and preyed upon.
And here he was, about to collect on her head.
"No."
He clenched his jaw, forcing his thoughts back in line. She's a crazed killer. One act of kindness didn't change that.
Still—
Would she even make it to a trial?
The thought was a stone in his gut. If she was taken alive, she'd still end up dead.
He steeled himself, eyes locked on the break in the rocks ahead. Almost there.
With a final leap, he landed in the open and yanked the lighter free—
Then—
The world shook.
Pain erupted in his skull like lightning.
Levi dropped. He didn't fall—he collapsed. His hands clamped over his ears, but it didn't stop the sound. It wasn't just noise—it was pressure, like the air itself was caving in.
His own scream barely scratched the surface of the wail splitting the night.
Then—
CRASH!
A boulder smashed into the ground next to him.
More debris rained down, kicking up dust as Levi rolled away from the collapsing bluffs, ears still ringing, body still shaking.
The plan was fucked.
Suddenly, the vibrations stopped. The world still felt like it was moving—his guts twisted, his balance off—but the sound was gone.
He forced himself upright, knees buckling before he steadied.
"How do you fight that?!"
He'd seen his fair share of battle, but this was different. A force of nature, something beyond just blood and steel. He wondered, for a brief moment, if this was what the natives felt like.
Then instinct kicked in—run.
He took off, sprinting full speed, heart slamming in his chest.
Didn't take long to spot Edmond and Rufus—coming straight for him.
"What happened?!"
"She made us! Head back to Clearwater—don't stop, don't wait for us!"
Edmond's order came sharp as they rushed past him.
Levi froze.
He knew his part was done. He knew the plan. But everything in him was screaming to turn back.
"Shit! What do I do?"
His eyes flicked to the ruined bluffs. Then back to Edmond and Rufus.
He gritted his teeth, fists clenching.
"Goddammit!"
He turned, then ran. Steel in his eyes.
Behind him, Rufus skidded to a stop as Edmond kept going.
"Watch my back!"
He drew his sabers, circling the bluffs, eyes scanning the shadows for movement.
Rufus followed, slower, arm raised—his red eye glowing in the dark.
"Make your move, devil woman."
At Edmond's speed, he made it around the back of the bluffs in no time.
No Waster.
Then—rocks shifted.
He turned. Eyes locked.
There she was. Breathing deep. Red eyes burning like hellfire.
TING!
She barely got her arm up in time—the bolt slammed into her mangled limb, knocking her back.
She stumbled—off balance.
Edmond moved in.
Then—another bolt.
Just as it was about to hit—
All hell broke loose.
Crimson Song's chest heaved.
Then she screamed.
A tidal wave of sound ripped from her throat, billowing out in a thin, focused cone like dragon's breath. The air itself bent, distorted by the raw force.
Rufus barely had time to react as his bolt shattered mid-air.
"Shit!"
Throwing himself sideways, his hands clamped over his ears as the ground where he'd stood ripped apart.
The pressure hit like a hammer, his organs rattling from the force.
She turned.
The scream bent, arcing through the air—straight for Edmond.
He dove.
The scream passed just by him, tearing through the space. But as his feet left the ground, the fading edge of the blast caught him, wrenching his legs sideways.
The world spun.
Edmond hit hard, his breath slammed out of him. Dust exploded, his body skidding before he rolled, sabers still locked in his grip.
Then—silence.
Rufus shot forward like a jackrabbit, bolts flying.
'Three seconds.'
His arm vented steam, hissing as he moved, firing with every step.
Ahead, Crimson Song ducked behind the rocks, her throat glowing like heated steel as she repositioned. Her red hair flickered through the dust like a wave of blood.
"You alright?!"
Edmond was already back on his feet, sabers drawn.
"I need a gap!"
Rufus's eye burned bright for a moment, gauging the distance.
"Keep her busy!"
His legs tensed. He planted his feet, bracing, one hand steadying his bolter.
Edmond knew the stance.
Rufus needed just a moment—one clear shot. That meant keeping her on the defensive, keeping her too busy to focus.
There was one trick Edmond hated using. But it worked.
Light flickered behind the rocks—sparks spitting from her twitching augments. She was resetting, her throat cooling. In a few seconds, she'd be ready to sing again.
CRACK!
A rock nearly shattered her skull, slamming into the stone beside her.
She flinched, eyes flashing to the smoking spot where it hit.
Another step forward—
CRACK!
Another rock, right on target.
She smiled.
Her movements stuttered. She was no Goliath, and Edmond sure as hell wasn't David, but as long as she stayed pinned, Rufus would have his shot.
"This's why I told him to carry one."
Rufus felt secondhand embarrassment every time Edmond resorted to this. Just carry a damn bolter.
Didn't matter now.
It was almost ready.
Rufus steadied his aim, his arm glowing, trembling with the sheer force building inside. This was his trump card—his ace in the hole for when shit hit the fan.
Inside the chamber, a cluster of nine bolts was being forced together under immense pressure. The vapor condensed to levels that would've blown lesser steel to kingdom come.
'Compress… more. More. More.'
The bolts warped under the strain, their structures collapsing into each other, forging a single, deadly shot.
"Get back!"
Edmond glanced over just in time to see the amber glow pulsing from Rufus's arm, excess steam venting in short, angry bursts from his shoulder.
No hesitation. Edmond threw one last stone—CRACK!—then sprinted out of range.
The rock shattered overhead, raining debris down on Crimson Song. Her glowing eyes snapped upward, her face twisting—pure, seething rage.
She inhaled deep. No more aim, no restraint. Just destruction.
Rufus grinned, baring teeth.
"Eliza Darrow! Give this a try, ya out-of-tune, washed-up penny whore!"
BOOOOM!
Rufus's arm bucked, steam howling from the vents as the shot tore free. The force knocked his shoulder back, dirt kicking up around his feet.
The single, compressed bolt screamed through the air, glowing white-hot, the sheer friction igniting the space around it.
Crimson Song saw it—felt it—before it even arrived.
"EEEAAAAAA!"
Her scream ripped through the night, raw and all-consuming. The sound waves bent the air, warping everything in their path as they crashed headlong into the incoming bolt.
The impact was instant.
KABOOM!
A blinding shockwave.
The ground split, cracks racing out.
The wind howled, dust and debris spiraling into the sky as the two forces warred.
For a moment, it seemed like a deadlock—power against power, neither giving an inch.
Then, a second detonation erupted within. The bolt, still compressing under the force of the scream, snapped.
WHOOOM!
The explosion sent Rufus flying backward, slamming into a rock with a grunt.
Chaos.
And at the center of it all, the dust hung thick, swirling, hiding the aftermath.
A strained silence. The settling of stone.
----
Suddenly, Levi spotted it—the sudden flash tearing across the night sky.
"Holy shit."
The ground trembled beneath him, the delayed force of the explosion finally reaching his bones.
Then came the sound. A rolling thunderclap that punched through the desert.
His gut twisted.
"Fuck it. Plan went to hell anyway."
He took off. Faster than before.
Each sprinting step sent dirt flying, his speed building. The soft click from his wrist barely registered as his arm shifted, transformed. Steel locked. His arm readied.
He ran faster.
----
At the center of the blast, the world had been torn apart.
The sand was scorched black, rock shattered, the very earth peeled open. And stepping through the destruction like she had walked through hell and come out whole—Crimson Song.
She barely looked touched.
She had moved the instant she screamed, leaping back, letting her own force push her into cover. While the explosion ripped through the battlefield, she had waited, crouched low behind stone. Now, she walked forward, unharmed but burning with fury.
Giggling.
Rufus was slumped against a rock, his arm glowing red-hot. Vapor hissed from the vents, the metal struggling to cool. His eyepatch had closed again, shielding his augmented eye from the heat. He watched her approach, eye steady, exhausted.
'Three seconds.'
That was how long she screamed each time. Rufus had been counting since the start. Three seconds of hell. Three seconds of warning.
Now, as she moved closer, he was counting how long till her throat dimmed. A countdown of death flickering in the dark.
And those eyes—red as the devil's own fury—locked onto him.
Rufus forced a grin, the corners of his mouth twitching through the pain as she laughed.
"Don't suppose you'd sing me somethin' soft? Lullabies never hurt nobody."
Her laughing stopped.
His hand inched behind him, fingers creeping toward the knife on his belt.
"Imagine your throat's pretty raw from all that. Forget I asked."
Now that she was this close, he saw it—the ghost of who she used to be. Beneath the madness, beneath the ruin, she must've been beautiful once.
Now, she was something else entirely.
Bare feet, skin stretched too tight over her bones, hollow eyes that burned like dying embers. The flesh along her throat was darkened, scorched raw from her own power, but it was fading now, cooling back to something human.
'Thirty… thirty-one…'
And then, he saw it.
An amber cross, descending from above.
Edmond.
Vaporguard arms glowing in the weak moonlight, arms crossed, he dropped like the hand of judgment itself, aiming for her throat.
CLANG! TCHK!
She reacted somehow. One arm caught steel against steel.
But the other—
A scream.
Raw, primal, and human. Not the deadly wail, not the force that shattered steel.
Just agony.
She stumbled. Holding her severed wrist, she leapt away to dodge the next strike. Her voice was still caught in the air, but Rufus saw it.
Both men saw it.
The glow.
Building in her throat.
"RUN!"
Edmond lunged for Rufus.
And in that flicker of time, as Rufus looked up at him, he knew.
He knew they wouldn't make it.
He knew he wouldn't move fast enough.
And strangely, as the light in her throat swelled, as everything closed in, the last thought that crossed Rufus's mind wasn't of himself.
'Good luck, kid.'
He smiled.
Inside, Edmond screamed.
Crimson Song let loose her voice—too near to evade, too close to defend.
And Levi—
He attacked.