Out of all the things Asana expected to hear from Narvel, that wasn't it. She tried laughing at first but only snorted out blood.
But that didn't stop her. Her laughter became louder.
"Oh, I hate you more now," Asana uttered at the end, however, there was no vitriol in her tone or gaze. If anything, it was as though she was surprised rather than aggrieved.
"The feeling's mutual." Narvel raised his Velocitronic gun, bringing her attention to it. The form of the gun had been damaged after the charge-up shot that he made. The weapon had melted halfway. "This costs a lot of money you know."
At the same time, Armand and the others couldn't help but conclude that Narvel was very weird. They soon closed the distance and formed a circle around Asana.
"Now, tell us who put you up to this," Armand asked.
There's no way she's going to survive this. Staring at the gaping hole on her chest, he knew that no human being, Egomaniac or not, could survive this… at least not in conventional ways.
"Who put me up to this? Do you think anyone could make me do what I don't want? You youngsters, I wonder how you think." Asana chuckled, subsequently coughing out more blood.
From her answer, one would think she planned all of this herself. But Narvel refused to believe this, after all, he had heard a woman giving people orders on what to do. The only reason he could act before they began.
"What about the other lady?" Narvel asked.
Asana stared at him for a moment. "What other woman?"
Her expression matched her confusion, one would think she had no idea what Narvel was saying. But Narvel didn't buy that, even though he had called her a bad actress, it was actually the other way around.
When it came to just her, one would be fooled by her acting without knowing any better. It wasn't for the other "Scientists" Narvel wouldn't have figured that there was something wrong about her.
Seeing his expression, Asana gave a bloody smile. "I don't think anything I say now would convince you otherwise. You would only listen to what you want to hear."
"Then tell me the truth, you're dying anyway."
"I'm dying?" She stared at Narvel as though what he said was shocking.
This time, everyone around frowned.
Asana didn't seem to care about her state. It was as if she didn't recognize the possibility of death. She started laughing again.
"Little boy, what's your name?"
"Narvel… Anderson."
"Oh, an Anderson? What a surprise! And you're not an Egomaniac…" She frowned, as though something wasn't adding up. "Maybe you're from another Anderson bloodline."
Her words confused Narvel. She spoke as though she knew his family, only deflecting his nonplusses with her last statement.
As far as Narvel could remember, none of his family members were Egomaniacs.
His face morphed into a frown.
"Nonetheless, you have a strange mind." She added. "As for the rest of you, I'll remember your faces. You all have unique and strange abilities, don't die early."
"You're one to speak," Nyla mocked.
"The irony, huh?" Asana gave a bloody chuckle. Her eyes travelled to the briefcase in Nyla's hands. The Idra Conduit?
"Is there anything else you would like to say?" Armand asked. He didn't want to continue wasting time here with a dying person. Moreover, he had already concluded that Asana wasn't going to give them answers to their questions.
Armand felt that it would be better to end her misery.
"Yes…" Her gaze went back to Narvel. "Anderson boy. I'll see you in hell… but, you'll have to go there before me." Asana smiled wildly as the life in her eyes slowly faded.
Her words sounded threatening, but to them, it was like an empty one.
A few seconds passed and she didn't move.
They exhaled.
None of them realized that they had been holding their breaths.
The pressure that they felt from Asana right before she was shot by Narvel was still deeply imprinted in their minds.
It was beyond anything they had ever felt from another Egomaniac.
Even Egomaniacs at the Apotheosis level can't replicate that pressure. But it's impossible for her to have been in a stage higher than that. Though Apotheosis Maniacs aren't impervious to Velocitronic charges, they wouldn't be so easily killed with one shot. Her body had the durability of a Maniac comparable to me, but her Idra…
Armand reasoned. He was deeply disturbed by the pressure she exuded.
Just when they thought all was well, Asana's supposed dead body moved and winked at them, setting off ripples of energy that they couldn't intercept.
The ripples passed through them, not causing any harm, however, the briefcase in Nyla's hands shook fiercely.
Reacting as fast as she could, Nyla threw the case as far as she could.
Boom!
The briefcase exploded.
Sending ripples of shockwaves that contained powerful Idra.
Right before the shockwaves reached them, from the corner of his eye, Narvel saw Tomas's body transforming into his steel form and heading for him.
The shockwaves slammed against Tomas first, before pushing right past him and hitting Narvel. It was so powerful that it swept the entire team off their feet and flung them apart.
Landing on the ground and rolling alongside rubble, Narvel could feel his bones break. Not only that, he could sense something ravaging his mind. It was so painful that the pain from his bones being snapped seemed numb.
…
"It's been two days already for God's sake! What are the Government and the Federation doing to solve and rectify this incident!?"
A loud, masculine voice came from a wall that looked like a TV.
"How could so many criminals invade a city in Earth's capital!? If this isn't blatant evidence of the Government's complacency, tell me what is! Over 2000 criminals, made their way to the Convention. A place crowded with Federation Officers and the Police Force. And yet, they were made to look like a fool!? If it weren't for some bounty hunters from the Police Force, the casualties would have been catastrophic!!"
The man shouted. He seemed furious.
"I understand your feelings, Mr. George," A female newscaster seated opposite George started. "But we all have to think about other factors, like how none of the dignitaries were harmed, despite being held hostage. Some people say that these criminals hitched a ride to Earth on those dignitaries' Starships, I mean, how else would they have invaded the planet without the Government knowing? It is a crime to search the vessels of a dignitary when they're visiting."
George paused and looked at the woman. "Do you even hear yourself speaking? Have you been initiated into the leftist wing where they cook people's brains and force them to be stupid!?"
"I'm not stupid, Mr. George,"
"Then why speak like one!? Do you not know the underlying repercussions of what would have happened if everything that transpired two nights ago had gone according to the plans of the perpetrators? Earth's Coalition would openly be preparing for war against several monarchies."
"Be careful not to say things that would get you indicted! Are you trying to say that Earth's Government conspired with criminals to—"
"I'm not trying! I just did!"
Things became heated between the two, when suddenly the broadcast went off.
Dropping a remote on the side, Narvel sat up on the mattress and looked around a bit. He was in a hospital and had just woken up.
He had been listening to the news broadcast and from it, he could tell that somehow, Asana's plans to take the entire building down had been foiled. He couldn't tell if it was his teammates who achieved that, after all, he had passed out after the explosion.
It could likely have been them, as Egomaniacs had stronger bodies compared to normal humans.
I'm still alive… He folded his legs and looked at the white roof of his hospital room.
I would have died… if it wasn't for Tomas shielding me from the full brunt of the explosion. Why though? Narvel wondered.
For all he knew, everyone in his team hated each other's guts, most especially him. And yet…
At the same time, Narvel recalled the ravaging pain he felt in his mind right after the explosion. Just as he thought of it, he felt a warm energy flow through his veins.
As though there were blocked pathways in his body, he felt like he was breathing better. His senses also became sharper.
"What is this?"
Shocked at his state, Narvel panicked a bit internally.
Deep in his heart, he could feel a desire tug at his emotions and senses. Though it was indescribable at first, it soon turned into something he could understand.
Freedom.
Be free.
This energy flowing in him was encouraging—no, demanding that he be free of anything and everything. He felt an immense urge to indulge in this desire, so much so that he hadn't noticed that a part of him had been resisting and it was pushing him to the brink of madness.
His pupils had turned crimson.