Chapter 40 : Ultimate Enemy

Power Stone.

A new energy resource developed by the now-defunct Alchemist corporation.
Its creation method was so secret that nobody knows the exact principle behind its energy.

Even a tiny Stone fragment holds immense energy, but its efficiency is so poor that it’s rarely used outside specific purposes.
Thus, despite its rarity, it’s not excessively expensive.

The only way to use Stone energy near 100% efficiency, with almost no loss, is by using the human body as an energy circuit.

Those who directly use Stones are called Stoners.

But direct use comes with side effects.
Using blood vessels as circuits, the potent Stone energy overwhelms the body, driving users to death.

Symptoms vary widely: blood evaporating from burning, hearts exploding, limbs necrotizing.
Most common is the brain overloading, causing mental collapse.

Thus, ordinary people avoid direct use, calling Stoners *“those who sold their souls to the devil.”

Even Stoners, who trade life for power, uphold an unspoken taboo.

Connect only one Stone.

Connecting two or more Stones simultaneously produces excessive energy that the body can’t endure, causing instant death.
In essence, it’s the most agonizing suicide attempt.

Theoretically, if one’s synchronization rate could handle such energy, multiple Stone connections might elevate the user to a godlike state, far beyond human limits.

Until now, it was merely an unrealizable hypothesis.

But a girl made it reality.

“…What did you do?”

Spade stared ahead, eyes trembling.
A silver-haired girl approached slowly, step by step.

Something was different.
Her appearance matched the girl he knew, but she felt utterly alien.

She didn’t feel human.
Instinct, etched in his genes, warned him.
The figure before him was a monster, not to be fought—he needed to flee now.

Swallowing hard, he forced fear aside, accessing his hacking tool.

A Stone wasn’t mystical magic.
It was an energy supply device, injected into the body via a connector—essentially a biological battery.

In other words, hacking the connector to control energy flow could neutralize a Stoner.

Of course, this tactic was hard to apply in combat.
Hacking a connector required close proximity, and by then, a Stoner would already have slit the hacker’s throat.

But now was different.

Spade had meticulously planned this day for ages.
He’d prepared shortcuts to hack Karen’s and Lapis’s connectors at will.

‘I’ve won!’

Unless she’d died before he spotted her, victory was assured.

“…Huh?”

The hack failed.
No, worse…

Crackle.

An electric hum sounded, and the hacking tool on his temple exploded.
It didn’t stop there—his implants and brain chip shut down.

He’d fallen to a Pure, a primal human.
Once called the greatest hacker among mercs, he’d lost his strongest weapon in an instant.

Combat will gone, Spade’s legs gave out, and he slumped to the ground.

Blue eyes, glinting in the shadows, looked down at him.

Step.
Step.
The sound of footsteps grew clearer.

Finally revealed, blue sparks crackled around her.

Spade, overwhelmed, couldn’t close his mouth at the supernatural, magic-like sight.

But Lapis wasn’t unscathed.
Purple blood dripped from her mouth and nose.
Burst capillaries stained her once-white eyes purple.

“…Why.”

A low question echoed from Lapis’s lips.

“Why did you do it.”

Spade, staring dazedly, unable to stand, answered hollowly.

“Because I thought it was the only way.
Staying on a sinking ship just gets you drowned with it.”

Chuckling bitterly, he added quietly.

“Looks like I screwed up bad.
My last bet was a total bust.”

“…”

Lapis didn’t respond.

Turning, she saw her sister tied up and freed Ruby first.
Holding the exhausted child tenderly, she glanced at the enemy.

Ruby sensed something wrong with her sister.

“…Sis?”

“I’m glad you’re safe.
Sorry for leaving you alone.”

“It’s okay.
You came back fine, so it’s fine!”

Her kind comfort drew a sad smile from Lapis, who stroked Ruby’s head.
Then, she spoke again.

“Sorry for leaving you alone.”

The same words, but somehow different.
Feeling an ominous chill, Ruby looked up at Lapis’s face.

Crackle.

A faint spark knocked Ruby unconscious.

Watching from the side, Spade asked, alarmed.

“What are you doing?”

“What’s coming isn’t good for a kid to see.”

“You still don’t get it, do you?
Your sister’s no ordinary brat.
Who do you think killed the bodies at her *feet?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

Frowning briefly at the unexpected reply, Lapis stared at him with chillingly calm eyes.

“Whatever it is, it’ll be less cruel than this.”

“…That’s the scariest threat I’ve ever heard.
Fine.
I’ll accept the price.
But first, aren’t you curious about your team?
I can tell you if you want.”

“If you’re trying to stall clumsily, quit it.
You’re the only living person around.”

Spade shook his head, denying calmly.

“Sadly, you’re wrong.
That’s not what I was waiting for.
Here’s a useless tidbit for the intermission.
Did you know White Wolf operates in pairs?”

As Lapis narrowed her eyes, grasping his meaning,

BOOM!!

A deafening roar shook the ground, and smoke rose, blocking vision.

Lapis set unconscious Ruby safely behind her, staring at a faint figure in the opposite smoke.

The large build distinguished this person from the snake-eyed man at Red Dog’s hideout.

As the smoke cleared, the figure emerged.

Blue long hair.
A sleek, refined man.
Wearing a coat uniform and holding a cane, his identity was clear.

Hound.
The leader of White Wolf.

He looked down at me stoically, speaking flatly.

“Are you the Stoner who killed the inspector?”

“And if I am…?”

“Doesn’t really matter.
I came to this sewer for one reason.”

A gem embedded in the cane’s handle began to glow.
Lapis recognized that color.
It matched the light from the Stone in her ring.

“I’m here to take back the fragment of my Stone you stole.”

The same Stone.
No, judging by its size and hue, his Stone was the original, and hers a mere shard.

The enemy would be immensely strong.
As the leader of the already formidable White Wolf, it was obvious.
The old Lapis would’ve been crushed without resistance.
But now was different.
She gripped the red Stone around her neck.

“Take it if you can.”

“Amusing.”

The conversation ended there.

An attack came without warning.
Moving so fast only a faint afterimage showed, she tried to react, but a seizure hit, leaving her open.

“Ugh…”

The man’s fist struck her solar plexus, twisting her insides with pain.
Spitting blood, trembling, she collapsed limply.
Hound clicked his tongue.

“Tch.
All that bluster, but pathetic.
Just a brat after all.”

Lapis, kneeling, vomiting blood, struggled to rise.
The man, now bored, watched indifferently.

Then, seeing sparks flash around her, his expression shifted.

Crackle.
Crackle—!

Lapis, panting heavily, muttered softly.

“Cause a ruckus, huh?
Fine.
I’ll do it.
I’ll make a damn mess!”

“Tch!
What are you…!!”

Sparks shot from her to the incinerator behind the enemies.

BOOM—!!!

With a deafening explosion, Rat Town turned to hell.