It was raining.

It was something that made Karil pull up the hood of his cloak, and while he didn't really mind the burning pain of the acid rain, his eyes did, and if his eyes minded, then he would have to mind.

As his fingers brushed over the surface of the cloak, he felt a texture that was much different than before.

It made him realize that the cloak he had found was nearing the end of its life.

With this thought in mind, Karil stood up and looked back towards the old city; in his line of sight, everything was as usual, and he didn't hear any loud noises or deafening, cacophonous shouts.

This meant that the Spectre had either successfully completed his work, or was still in the midst of it.

Either way, exposed or not, Khalil hoped he wasn't hurt.

He was very impressed by the Spectre's ability to heal itself, in addition to its strength, agility, and speed of growth.

However, Khalil still believed that there was no such thing as good in the world.

You can't have so much power and not pay for it.

Great strength leads to bulk and muscle stacking, and the pursuit of agility requires the shedding of fat and muscle.Superior explosiveness will make you crave more energy intake every day, and if you want to fly.......

Just look at the birds, a species that doesn't exist on Nostramo that has evolved even its skeleton into a hollow form in order to take over the skies.

And the Spectre.......

It had the most terrifying rate of self-healing Karyl had ever seen; in fact, it could hardly be called self-healing anymore, it was more like flesh and blood spontaneously bonding together after an injury, trying to get back to perfection.

They instinctively refused to break.

So what price did this power demand of a creature as obviously born in a laboratory as the Spectre?

Khalil had no answer, but he knew that no matter what, the Spectre could not die before him.

He closed his eyes, his thoughts interrupted by the roar of an engine coming from the other end of the clock tower, the sound was faint, but Karil caught it.

He turned his head to the brightly lit highway, a huge black limousine coming straight at him from the distance, and it didn't have what was called a 'streamlined' design, the shape of the car was rough and rugged, and all the glass was pitch black.

A bulletproof car?......

It was still a familiar remnant.

Kahlil stood lightly on his tiptoes, and after three light jumps, he jumped out of the clock tower and began to run wildly across the darkened rooftops of the old city.

He kept his eyes on the direction of the highway, the blinding incandescent lights blurred in the growing rain, and the sentries became dots in the distance, except for the car, which remained clear.

The acid rain made the air damp and foul-smelling, and he ignored it completely.

The raindrops hit his cloak and hood, causing a constant percussion that blocked his hearing, tiny and gradually accelerating, just like his heartbeat.

Blue light blossomed in his eyes, his muscles bulged, and the masonry beneath his feet crumbled into powder and dust in the acid rain.

Karyl Lohals came to the surface for a moment.

I could have been Nostramo's high and long jump champion if this star of the Eternal Night had hosted the games.......

In the darkness, Karyl smiled slowly.

He didn't like humor, and he hated telling jokes, but he would laugh, if only out of politeness.

-----------------

"How long has it been since we were last in Quintus?"

Jando Sklevok asked in a questioning tone, but his eyes were not on the two men sitting across from him.

In fact, he was sitting in his plush leather chair, enjoying a glass of red wine from the car's wine locker.

Whenever and wherever they were, most of Nostramo's nobles put pleasure first.

"We have not been to Quintus."

Lena Skolewalker replied icily. "If your big brain is still intact, Jando, you shouldn't have asked that stupid question."

"Ha......"

At that, Jandor laughed softly, "Your definition of stupidity is still so shallow, my sister.Your words sound more like a self-righteous fool muttering......Who do you think I mean when I speak of us?".

Lena Skolewalker narrowed her eyes, the ghastly scar on her face that ran the length of her cheek beginning to wriggle as if it were alive.

"Sooner or later....I will skin you for speaking out of turn, Jando," she said grimly.

"Have it your way - but I think we both know that of the three heirs Father has left now, you are the least likely to get the Black Stripe."

Lena's face quickly turned ironic after these words.

In response, Jando laughed indulgently.

He craned his slender neck and drained his mug in one gulp, the liquid, scarier than blood, slipping over his lips and disappearing into his mouth, the taste exploding on his taste buds and causing him to sigh contentedly.

Then he turned his attention to Elenae Skolewalk.

His eldest sister.

"Honorable sister....Do you have an answer to my question?"

Eirene pulled her eyes away from the darkened window, a full five meters separating her from Jandor, the sheer size of the car evident from here, but the distance did not make her gaze seem tempered.

In fact, the look in her eyes at that moment had caused the smirk on Jandor's face to slowly fade, and gradually his right hand went to the side of the seat.

"I wouldn't choose to shoot in the car if I were you, Jando."

Eirene said with a grimace.

"Father lent us the Pride of Iron for a reason; first, it can symbolize the glory of House Skolewalker to a certain extent.Second, it can defend against many kinds of weapons......including even bullets from the inside.".

"Then I can still use my knife," Jando said without moving.

"You can try," Eirene Skolewalker replied calmly. "But I cannot guarantee that the hand you use to wield the sword will remain intact."

Jandor's eyes narrowed as a second passed, two seconds passed, and he suddenly smiled loosely and raised his right hand again, then surprisingly apologized.

"I apologize to you, esteemed sister, and at the same time, I sincerely hope that you will answer your stupid sibling's little question....

"Twenty years ago."

Eirene replied quietly, turning her head to look out the dark glass at the night scene."Twenty years ago, we were here."

"Twenty years ago..."Jando nodded thoughtfully."That very infamous purge, was it?"

"Yes."

"That's pretty funny."

Jandor smiled again, "Seventy percent of Quintus' population disappeared in that purge, and I remember how I felt reading that record in the family library....I really hate that I wasn't there."

"Do you think you'll survive?"

Lena Skolewalker snickered, full of disdain, never letting go of any opportunity that might strike Jando Skolewalker.

"Six families were permanently removed from this purge, and one of them was the Lohals.You don't really think you can outsmart any of the Lohals in the art of using a blade, do you?"

"No, Lena.I never thought of it that way.In fact, if I could have been there....Even if I had to die, I would have been willing."

Instead of mocking her this time, Jando shook his head rather calmly.

He tilted his head back and looked out the sunroof that opened onto the roof of the car, and Lena stared at him, completely confused as to what this always arrogant fucking blood relative was up to.

Then she saw that Jando's mood was indeed getting darker and darker.

Suddenly, Lena felt a chill of evil, and this was not the first time she had felt incomprehensible to Jando's behavior.

"You really should belong to the Shivering Tooth or the Silver Winged Carrion....Jando, you don't deserve to be in our company at all," Lena said in disgust.

"Perhaps."

Jando Skolewalker looked at her and nodded noncommittally. "I give you permission to be stupid now, Lena."

"You-" Lena snapped, bouncing off the top of her seat and lunging at Jando. In that one moment, Irena turned her head.

In her line of sight, a smirk of triumph slowly bloomed at the corners of Jandor's mouth, while Lena's anger was evident on her face.

But somehow, in the midst of a scenario that had seen swords drawn many times before....For the first time, Eirene Skolewalker felt a sense of panic that came out of nowhere.

The next second, she got an answer she didn't really want.

"Boom--!"

Accompanied by a loud rumbling sound, the Iron Pride of the Skolewalk family was forced to stop in place by some force, and at that moment it was still a full eight thousand meters away from the first post of the Glory Governor.

Its heavy wheels were still turning, rubbing dark marks on the pavement that the workers had spent their lives repairing, but it was impossible for it to move even one meter further.

Something on her left wrist was buzzing with a low, urgent sound.

It was the warning of an engine failure.

Jandor and Lena fell together, but instead of rushing to fight, both of them uncharacteristically looked at their eldest sister, who had fastened her seatbelt and was sitting upright in her leather seat.

Eirene didn't pay any attention to them, but with a gentle but quick movement she unbuckled her seatbelt, pushed on the armrest on the right side of the seat, and the heavy metal door that connected the passenger compartment to the front compartment opened.

Behind the door were forty privates, armed and clad in pitch-black body armor.

Eirene rose to her feet and locked eyes with the leader of them.

With a slight nod, the privates released their waist restraints and the doors on either side of the front compartment opened spontaneously, and they stepped down immediately.

The heavy doors then closed again, as did the connections between the passenger and forward compartments.

The whole process was quiet, quick, and severe.

Seeing this, Jando couldn't help but whistle and said with narrowed eyes, "Father didn't tell me that the Pride of Iron was so big...... that it could actually seat so many people?".

"There are some things you have to be qualified enough to know, like it doesn't even need a driver."

Eirene's eyes had turned cold as she looked at her sibling."Cut the crap and get ready, Jandor.And you, Lena."

She said as she lifted the sleeve of her left hand.On that pale wrist was a small silver bracelet.Eirene pressed a few buttons on it, and the four seats of the passenger compartment spontaneously folded up, revealing the weapons that had been raised.

Jando whistled again, this time with a surprised look on his face.

"So many autoguns? And all that high-end stuff from Plame?"

Lena grunted and pushed past him to stand up, making her way to the seat, selecting a weapon on one side and speaking in a cold voice on the other, "Shut up, Jandor, and start-"

"--Target sighted, fire!"

Lena's words were interrupted by a sharp shout coming from outside the vehicle, and what followed was a dense roar of gunfire.

Thirty automatic cannons, handcrafted by the smiths of the Prym's Nest capital, erupted with a sound that was almost unbearable for human eardrums, and whether it was Jando or Lena, they all frowned, only Eirene remained indifferent.

But only she knew how fast her heart was beating.

...... What the hell is going on here? Why do I feel so nervous?

"Cease fire, cease fire!" the commanding officer of the privates yelled."Reserve fire team on guard, the rest of you change ammunition.Find him!"

"Him?"

Jando raised an eyebrow and joked."Just one of our attackers?I thought it was a missile attack on the Pride of Iron."

"Shut up, Jando," Eirene said quietly. "Pick up the weapon."

"Why, eldest sister?"

"Pick up the gun....And keep quiet."

Eirene said with one side of her head, looking up at the ceiling of the passenger compartment.

Although Jando's mouth demanded an explanation, his body grabbed one of the autoguns in front of him.

He stood side by side with Lena, both of them following Eirene's lead and looking up at the ceiling of the compartment; they didn't know why Eirene was doing this, but they wanted the answer.

Then they knew.

Above the sunroof on the roof of the car, a dark figure stared coldly at the three below.

Jando raised his gun violently - the next second, the figure disappeared in an instant.

In the passenger compartment, no one spoke, only silence fell. Acid rain fell over the skylights, hitting the windows, which could withstand high-powered gunfire at close range.

Eirene raised her hand, a cold sweat running down her forehead.

She pressed the bracelet on her left hand, then raised it to her mouth and whispered, "Watch the perimeter and the roof of the car, Helmut....Is the attacker alone?"

"Venerable Elenae Skolewalk, we see only a shadow."

"Remain on alert....I'll contact the Glory Inspectors to get them here quickly for support," Eirene said as she pressed a scarlet button on the unfolded armrest of her seat.

The Skolewalks never lacked for emergency measures.

"As you command, the Honorable Elenae Skolewalker!"

Outside the car, Helmut's voice rang out again, yelling over the bleak rain and rising wind, "You heard him! Stay alert, stay alert-"

"Bang!"

The carriage shook.

"Fire! Fire!"

"He's got Commander Helmut!"

Jandor's cheeks twitched, and he muttered a curse in a cold sweat in the midst of the bizarre chaos that had ensued.

"House Skolewalker will have you thwarted, aggressor, no matter who stands behind you!"

Commander Helmut's voice rang out of Eirene's bracelet with palpable hatred and anger, but the assailant said nothing, maintaining an eerie reserve as Helmut continued to threaten and curse.

Eirene took a deep breath, intending to maneuver out of this and use Helmut's life to test the assailant and come up with a possible message, but her plan failed completely before it even began.

Along with Helmut's sudden and resounding scream, a subtle sound of blood and flesh ripping began to echo in the passenger compartment in a continuous stream.

Above the ring road at midnight, miserable howls hovered over the heads of every member of the Skolewalker family.

"Damn it......"Jandor's cheeks twitched again."What is this, my eldest sister?"

Eirene did not answer, and the next minute was one of hardship and torment for all of them.

Time passed slowly, but no one spoke again; Jandor and Lena could hear the tiny breaths of the privates outside the carriage, could hear the sound of raindrops falling on their heads, while Eirene remained silent, staring at her bracelet in silence.

And then...

There was a burst of chanting from the end of the bracelet.

It was low, long, and distinctly somber.The tune was soft, yet it was as if a blade were rubbing against the delicate skin at the nape of the neck.