Vera was the one attacking them. Again.

  When they arrived at Harabel, Nifa immediately put on her badge and ran around warning the residents to stay indoors for the night. She warned them of an incoming Aberrant attack. Kiara didn't help her. She didn't want to be seen. This was where she grew up, but that didn't make it her home.

  Kyorei stood on the rooftops, overlooking Harabel with a frown. Kiara joined him up there but felt worried. Kyorei scared her. He seemed the type to lash out physically when he was mad. Even so, Kiara spoke to him.

  "So… you don't like Takari?"

  Probably not the best way to open a conversation with someone that Kiara heavily suspected was a sociopath. But she had no better ideas.

  "Got a problem with that?" Kyorei growled. Kiara shook her head furiously, and Kyorei continued.

  "He's frustratingly optimistic. I want nothing more than to defeat him. To take his title as Inner Rank 3. I don't stand a chance against the top two, but him? I'm so close."

  It reminded Kiara of Raven. How she wanted to defeat Valerie. To become an Inner Rank. But something told Kiara that this case was a lot more… personal.

  "Is that the only reason? You want his title?"

  Kyorei glared at Kiara. Lightning flickered around his figure. "What's it to you?"

  "N-nothing."

  "That's what I thought. Now go. They've arrived."

  It took Kiara a moment to realise what he meant. Following his gaze, she saw a familiar Deviant leading an army. An army of… hundreds. And they were being led by Vera.

  "Are you going to help?" Kiara asked Kyorei, because he didn't seem to be preparing himself at all. Kyorei raised an eyebrow.

  "I expected nothing more from Outer Rank 8. I'll help you once you prove why you deserve to be called the same thing as me: a Nexean."

  Kiara had a lot she wanted to say to him about that, but she kept her mouth shut. If his expectations of her were those of an Outer Rank 8… of Scott… then she should be able to impress him quite easily. She jumped off the roof to meet with Nifa.

  "He's not going to help until I impress him." She said through gritted teeth. Nifa just laughed.

  "Don't worry. He'll step in regardless. He's not going to just let you die. That said…"

  Nifa noted that Vera was the enemy.

  "...it wouldn't hurt to get revenge, would it?"

  Nifa assured Kiara that she would deal with the 200 Aberrants. How she intended to do that, Kiara had no clue. But in the meantime, her target was Vera.

  "Nifa. I can't beat Vera in a fight. She's so much faster than me."

  "So? Kyorei will save you if things go poorly. Use this opportunity to show those monsters that you aren't just going to rely on the Inner Ranks to win. Do your best."

  With that, Nifa headed towards the approaching army, Kiara hurrying behind her.

  "Vera!" Nifa yelled out to the Deviant. "Let's make a deal!"

  Vera had an angry expression on her face. She didn’t look like she was messing around. That said, she humoured Nifa. "What do you want, Nexean?"

  "Simple. You fight Kiara and I'll fight the army. You don't interfere with me, and I won't interfere with you. An easy victory for you, right?"

  Vera stopped in her tracks, mere metres away. That sounded like too good a deal. Kiara could see what Vera was doing. Luring Vera into a false sense of security.

  "Why?" Vera demanded. "How do you benefit from this? I can't trust that."

  "Kiara has been saying a lot of things at base about how weak you are and how she destroyed you in a fight. I want to see it for myself."

  Kiara's voice got stuck in her throat. "Nifa…"

  Vera looked angrier than ever. That lie was a blow to her pride. It wasn't a surprise that she agreed to the conditions.

  "I'll prove I'm not worthless. Don't get cocky."

  "Awesome!" Nifa exclaimed. "Let's do this one at a time, then. I'll quickly kill all your Aberrants, and then watch your fight. Stand aside please."

  Vera still seemed suspicious, but she honoured the terms. She walked over to where the Nexeans were and sat down.

  "You won't kill them all, you know. You're the healer, aren't you?"

  "I'll give it my best shot."

  With that, Kiara awkwardly stood next to the sated Vera. Vera didn't even spare her a glance. She just snapped her fingers, and, like animals, the Aberrants charged towards Nifa.

  Kiara wouldn’t step in. If Nifa was about to die, she said Kyorei would save her. Kiara glanced behind her, at the buildings. The residents had shut off the lights and closed their curtains. They wouldn't see anything. On a rooftop, Kyorei watched. He didn't seem to be about to step in. Did that mean Nifa was wrong? Would he just let them die?

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Nifa faced the first Aberrant, which was a few paces ahead of its brethren. Kiara held her breath, waiting to see what Nifa would do. The Aberrant slashed at her, and cut her cleanly in two.

  Blood spurted everywhere, as Nifa's body separated into her upper and lower half. Kiara wanted to scream. Vera just looked on, confused.

  "Can't say I expected mor-"

  Nifa's severed legs vanished in a green haze, and her torso glowed that same green. In an instant, she had legs again. Kiara tilted her head. What kind of regeneration was that?

  The Aberrant paused for a second, and Nifa raised her fingers, forming a finger-gun. She pointed it at the Aberrant, and its body was severed in two. An upper half and a lower half. The Aberrant didn't regenerate from that. It fell and died.

  "Well, that's unique." Vera watched as Nifa willingly jumped into the wave of enemies. Her body became a haze of green, and after a few seconds, half the Aberrants exploded. The incoming ones still didn't learn. One cut off Nifa's arms and found itself losing its own. Another stabbed her in the stomach, but a hole appeared in its own abdomen.

  A few moments later, the entire army was dead. Blood splattered everywhere. Aberrants were diced into all sorts of horrible pieces. The glow on Nifa's body faded, and she wandered back to Vera and Kiara.

  "Nifa… how did you-" Kiara couldn’t finish her sentence. Nifa cleared her throat.

  "You know how Katro is untouchable for a minute… it's sorta like that." Nifa's breaths were heavy.

  "It's a good thing you didn't bring more, Vera, or else this would have taken more than a minute. Also good that Aberrants don't learn."

  "That's a powerful ability, Nexean." Vera coldly complimented Nifa, who didn't seem to hear her tone.

  "Oh it's not all that… most creatures don't die to their own attacks, so it's limited. I also need to survive the hit in question, even for just a moment. Plus… plus it kinda… feels tiring."

  Nifa collapsed forwards, and Kiara caught her before she hit the ground. She was out cold.

  "That's a powerful ability." Vera repeated. She eyed the unconscious body of Nifa. Kiara shook her head.

  "Vera. We had a deal. It's just you and me now."

  "The deal was that I wouldn't interfere. I didn't. I can do what I want now."

  Vera raised her fist, about to bludgeon Nifa and Kiara to death, but a zap of electricity suddenly hit her.

  Vera jumped backwards in pain, looking for the oppressor. He was standing between herself and Kiara.

  "You haven't impressed me, Kiara. Now do something useful."

  Kyorei picked up Nifa without much effort and carried her out of harm's way. He stood next to her and watched.

  "Go on. Impress me."

  Vera looked scared, but also relieved that the Inner Rank didn't want to fight her.

  Kiara looked scared. Just scared.

  She slowly got to her feet and faced Vera. Last time went poorly, but this time… this time would go different, right?

  Vera's figure tensed for a moment, and Kiara barely reacted. She slowed down time as Vera went on the offensive, ducking a punch. Vera seemed surprised.

  "You're faster."

  Vera then tried to kick Kiara, but she jumped out of the way. It felt like she was moving through honey. Frustratingly slow but at least… at least she was able to keep up.

  Or so she thought. Vera grabbed Kiara by the hair and tried to keep her in place. Kiara reacted fast. She didn’t hesitate to withdraw a knife from her pocket and cut the end of her hair off. Freeing herself, she tried to put distance between the two of them, but it was looking poor. She was hopping away at half of Vera's walking pace.

  "Good one." Vera said. "Any more tricks?"

  "I think that one was passable."

  Vera jumped. Kyorei was next to her. He was leisurely walking around within her radius. At just… a normal walking pace.

  Vera's eyes widened. She hesitated, but tried to punch Kyorei. In a flash of electricity, he appeared behind her.

  "Slow." He muttered. "And rude. I was talking."

  "What is this?" Vera's voice shook. "Are you immune to my power?"

  "Hmm? What power?"

  "S-slowing you down..?"

  Kiara had been backing away the whole time, finally escaping the radius. Vera was using her power. Why wasn't Kyorei affected?

  "Oh, no wonder I felt a tiny bit strained. I thought that was just me. Well you see, Vera…"

  Kyorei grabbed her by the hair.

  "Even if you can make me a hundred times slower, you still can't hope to tag me."

  Kyorei's hand flickered with electricity, which ran down Vera's whole body. She yelled out. Returning to normal speed, Kyorei dropped her.

  "Pathetic."

  Suddenly, the sky went red. Kyorei and Kiara looked up to see a flare shooting into the sky above Nomun. Wasn't that where Shogai and Jade were? Kyorei smirked.

  "So they do need my help. I'll finish off here then."

  "Kyorei!" Kiara raised her voice for his attention, and he looked at her. His gaze wasn't any softer.

  "Fine." He muttered. "Yes. You did exceed my expectations. Don't get all loony about it. Say a word to anyone and I'll kill you."

  Kiara nodded. That was probably the best deal she'd get from him.

  "Let her escape if you want. I don't care. If there's a crystal here, she won't be in any shape to retrieve it."

  Kyorei withdrew his sword. Vera slowly rose to her feet.

  "What do you mean?" Her voice was filled with determination. "I'm not done yet!"

  "Yes. You are."

  From the skies, a blast of lightning struck Vera. Kiara covered her ears as the thunder shook Harabel, and her eyes as the lightning blinded her. Vera's body lit up as the clouds smote her. She screamed. Electricity ran across the floor.

  When Kiara opened her eyes, Kyorei was gone. Long gone. Meanwhile, Vera had been reduced to a burnt humanoid shape. Kiara blinked, and slowly approached the shape. It was breathing.

  She should kill Vera now. While she was so vulnerable. While she couldn’t fight back. But… and Kiara felt horrible for thinking this… she hadn't defeated her.

  Ever since she had joined Nexus, Kiara had wanted to change her ways. She was no thief anymore. She would not steal anymore. She couldn’t bear to go back to that lifestyle. So watching Vera lying there, vulnerable and helpless, defeated by Kyorei… this wasn’t a kill Kiara had earned. Every time she thought about the killing blow, it felt dishonest. Wrong. Criminal. If she let herself do this, she risked falling back into her old ways.

  Nifa was right. Kiara did want revenge. This… this just wasn't it.

  Kiara dragged Vera's body all the way to the tunnels, and left it there. She then went back for Nifa. She'd go back to base now. This was selfish. It really was. But Kiara felt like she had to bring down Vera herself.

  "I promise, Vera, that I will kill you before you can harm another soul." Kiara swore as she walked past the body and into the tunnels with Nifa over her shoulder. She could've sworn she heard Vera talk back.

  "I'll be waiting."