With every heavy step, the tension increased.
Nir swallowed his saliva, on alert for anything that man might do. Step after step, and with each step, the pressure on Nir increased.
The man approached until only a few steps separated him from Nir. With serious, blood-red eyes, he looked at him indifferently, then extended his hand saying:
– "Are you a friend of Lex? It's a pleasure to meet you. Lex always talks about you."
The moment he heard the name "Lex," Nir was overwhelmed with anger; just hearing the name was enough to enrage him.
Lilith stood silently, watching the situation, visible worry on her face. Suddenly, she felt a new pain in her head.
She lifted her head to see Nir jumping at the man with a punch, but the man dodged it easily, removed his gloves, then grabbed Nir's shoulder… and Nir exploded?!
His body turned into dust. Lilith couldn't handle the scene and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
She shut her eyes in shock, and when she opened them, she found herself standing as she was, with Nir still next to her. He hadn't shaken the man's hand yet.
The man smiled and said:
– "Are you going to leave my hand hanging like that?"
Lilith quickly understood the situation, and she extended her hand to shake his, saying with a nervous smile:
– "I apologize on his behalf. His hand is injured and he can't shake hands…"
The man looked at her with a frightening gaze:
– "I see. I apologize for my lack of understanding. I made a mistake."
Nir stood puzzled by Lilith's action, wondering to himself: Why did she say that? Despite his questions, he chose to stay silent to see what she would do.
– "Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Michael Astor. Now, excuse me, I have a lot of work."
He turned around and said to the man who came with him:
– "Let's go."
The mysterious man left quietly, passing through the transparent wall. While passing, Michael asked:
– "Sir, may I ask a question?"
Michael nodded his head:
– "Yes, go ahead."
The man fell silent for a moment, then said:
– "Why did you come here? You said you wanted to check on the prisoners, but that's outside your duties."
Michael answered calmly while walking:
– "I came just to visit Judge holl, after hearing he was here. I didn't know Nir was here."
The guard asked him in surprise:
– "Do you know Nir?"
– "I know him, but not personally. I only heard about him. He's the one Judge holl likes the most, and I wanted to see him for the first time."
– "And what do you think of him?"
Michael suddenly stopped and said:
– "I think he's a fool. An idiot who can't suppress the intent to kill, nor hide it. Surely, his end is near. But that white-haired girl is interesting… do you know anything about her?"
The guard responded after thinking:
– "Lilith… currently, all I know is that she's part of the 'Star Thieves' group. Other than that, nothing."
Michael placed his hand on his chin and said:
– "Star Thieves, huh... Look into her more. I want a full report by tonight. After yesterday's incident, this place seems full of interesting people."
The soldier stood at attention, placed his hand to his forehead, and said:
– "Of course! I'll send you the full report tonight, Vice-Judge holl!"
***
On the other side,
Lilith collapsed to her knees, panting heavily:
– "I can't believe it… we survived."
Behind her, Nir said in a surprised tone:
– "Survived what?"
Lilith looked at him then turned her face away, memories of Nir's explosion replaying in her mind.
– "I don't know how to say this… but I think I have some kind of superpower."
Nir was silent for a moment, then said sarcastically:
– "Yeah, of course, and I have a robotic arm!"
Lilith stood before him and screamed:
– "No, I'm serious!"
Nir shouted back:
– "Serious about what? A superpower? Seriously? Do you think we're in a superhero story?"
Lilith stuttered while trying to maintain her confidence:
– "N-no, I'm serious! Before I shook his hand, I had a vision… I saw you try to punch him, he dodged the punch, removed his gloves, grabbed you by your shoulder… and then… then you exploded!"
Silence fell for a few minutes, broken by Aso's hesitant voice:
– "B-but why would Nir punch him?"
Lilith answered:
– "I don't know, ask Nir."
Both Lilith and Aso turned towards Nir, waiting for his reply.
He said hesitantly:
– "W-well, actually, his words made me angry, especially about me being a friend of that Lex guy… b-but even so, I wasn't going to punch him!"
Lilith looked at him skeptically:
– "Like when you almost broke the arm of the guy who spilled juice on you?"
Nir stammered:
– "B-but he started it! He really provoked me… okay, maybe I would have punched him, but… how did he make me explode just by touching me?!"
Lilith thought for a moment and then asked:
– "I-I don't know… Aso, do you know anything about this?"
Aso answered after some thought:
– "I heard something similar… they say that Mr. Michael, when he goes on solo missions, no bodies of his victims are ever found. Some even say he eats them or something..."
Nir sighed:
– "Well, it seems you really do have a special ability to see the future… can you use it now to find out what I'm about to say?"
Lilith replied:
– "Actually, it seems that my ability activates automatically without my will."
Nir asked her:
– "Is this the first time you've used it?"
– "No, it activated twice before: once at the festival, and once during our escape..."
– "And do you feel any strange symptoms when it activates?"
– "Actually, I get a headache… and—"
She suddenly stopped as she remembered two strange dreams she had recently.
– "Also, I've had strange dreams lately…"
Nir asked:
– "Strange how?"
– "In the first dream, I was in a forest, and at a young age, it was raining, and I was crying a lot. Then a black figure like a shadow hugged me, and before I could lift my head to see it… I woke up."
Nir and Aso tried to think of an explanation, but to no avail.
– "And the second dream?"
– "It was in an endless flower field, and I was also a child. I saw the same shadow sitting by a tree reading a book. I approached it and asked why it was there, and it replied in incomprehensible words, but I felt comfortable as if I understood it."
Nir and Aso thought again, but Nir felt a headache from overthinking:
– "Seriously, what's the deal with these dreams?"
Lilith said:
– "I don't know, but it must be related to my new ability."
Aso thought deeply and whispered:
– "Maybe it's him…"
– "Huh? What did you say?" Nir asked her.
– "No, nothing, just…"
She was interrupted by the sound of an explosion outside the cafeteria.
The three of them ran outside towards the source of the sound, while Aso thought to herself:
– "It can't be… has the time come? But why didn't he inform me?"
They arrived outside and saw a big hole in the wall, with prisoners rushing toward it.
Within moments, guards began emerging from the hidden walls and surrounded the hole.
– "Step back! Return to your cells!"
Lilith thought it was over, but suddenly, another explosion occurred, this time right above them. The ceiling exploded, and large chunks of rocks began falling.
The three ran away, but were separated by the chaos. Lilith went one way, and Nir and Aso went another.
Lilith stopped and looked back, witnessing a horrific scene: dozens of prisoners and guards under the rubble, some dead, some crying for help. She had narrowly escaped; had she been a little closer, she would have ended up like them.
Her knees shook and she said fearfully:
– "Oh my God, what is this… Nir! Yes, I must find him, he must know what to do!"
Moments later, she heard another explosion.
Lilith ran hysterically, without any thinking.
She felt numbness in her knees but forced herself to continue, tears of fear and worry falling from her eyes.
She didn't know what to do, as "Sani" was the one who usually planned, but now… he wasn't here.
Her constant reliance on his meticulous plans had caused her to lose the skill of improvisation.
While running, she spotted a man with blond hair and tanned skin calling her to enter one of the rooms.
Without thinking, she ran toward him and jumped inside.
The room was strange, she hadn't seen it before, but she didn't care. Her only concern was survival.
Upon entering, "James" pressed a button on the wall and the entrance closed.
– "What are you doing? There are people outside!"
Lilith screamed while lying on the ground, panting and pleading.
James replied coldly:
– "We can't leave the door open, the police will enter and catch us. We're planning to escape… are you with us, or shall we throw you out?"
Lilith looked around and understood she was in the secret rooms Aso had told her about before, and they were filled with strangers.
She swallowed her saliva and said nervously:
– "O-okay..."
Everyone started running behind James, who was carrying a map showing the way inside these rooms.
While they were running, everyone suddenly stopped, causing Lilith to stumble against the person in front of her.
She looked ahead and saw the surprise: Vice-Judge holl, Michael, standing before them.
She whispered fearfully:
– "M-Michael?"
Michael faced James and said in a voice full of confidence:
– "All of you, I'll count to five… if I see anyone still in front of me, their end will be here."
Lilith swallowed her saliva, trembling, about to cry from fear.
Michael started counting:
– "One! Two!"
But James interrupted him mockingly:
– "Three, four, five… just hurry up!"
Lilith was stunned by his behavior:
– "Doesn't he know who's in front of him? Or is he just that reckless?"
Michael gritted his teeth in anger and said:
– "This is disrespect, you scoundrel. I tried to be generous and let you retreat quietly, but you crossed the line!"
James replied challengingly:
– "Oh, so you're strong? Try to stop me. We're about ten here, and you're alone… what will you do? Beat us all at once?"
Michael began removing his gloves and said in a cold tone:
– "You left me no choice… prepare yourselves, because you won't be buried after this."