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Ra was forced inside the Kitana house, the same building she had just left a few minutes before. Nora was holding the white-haired woman's hand and smiling, while Nero was talking hastily, even aggressively, with her father. For her part, the Kitana mother had reformed an ice blade in her hands and was quietly checking the inside. Nara knocked on the wall, grinding her teeth.

- Fucking hell, Moloch? Really, that Moloch?!” she shouted.

None of the Kemonos could believe that she was still alive, let alone that she had come here. Nora finally let go of Ra and smiled at him.

- Moloch is scary!” said the little Kemono.

Ra did not reply to her and turned her gaze to observe the family. Amir had rushed upstairs, while Nero was thinking on his side, sweating from the pressure they had just been under. Nara continued to grit her teeth as she watched the wall in front of her, her mother trying to calm her down. What surprised Ra the most was not the family's behavior, but rather Moloch's: why didn't she come and confront them? Of course, she had no interest in killing the Kitana family members, since she only wanted to end Ra's life, but now that they had all rebelled against her, Moloch would probably start to get angry at them. They were just hiding in a house that may have been solid, but Moloch could destroy it with a snap of her finger if she wanted to: so why didn't she come looking for it? Why did she stay outside? Ra was asking herself all these questions, but an even more important one appeared in her mind. She looked back at the little Kemono who was still smiling, an innocent look on her face.

- How... How did you do that?!

Nora questioned her with her eyes, while Nara turned back to her little sister and their guest. Nero sat down on the sofa and lay down, playing with her mouth while continuing to think. The little Kemono scratched her hair and asked Ra what she meant, which surprised her even more.

- You... I mean, you have...

- We're a strange family, I must say.

It was Amir Kitana, the father of the four Kemonos, who spoke these words. He came down the stairs and everyone turned to face him. Nero closed his eyes, preparing himself for the probably long discussion they were all going to have. He had angrily blurted out that they had a score to settle with Moloch, but he should never have said it: he knew it himself. Unfortunately, these were words that he would not be able to erase from Ra's and the others' memories. In short, one of their secrets would have to be revealed to everyone. He already suspected that sooner or later he would have to tell everyone, but he would have preferred it to be later, and in another context.

- What do you mean...?" asked Ra, addressing Amir.

The latter suggested to their guest to sit on the sofa, next to Nero, so that he could talk to her, but Ra refused. She pointed with her thumb to the outside and frowned.

- There's Moloch, a chick who can probably eradicate anyone she wants if she gets into a serious fight, right out there. There's no time to talk!

She knew Moloch better than anyone else in this house. In fact, Ra was certain that she was one of the people who had the most information about Moloch in the whole world. Yet they had not known each other for ages, but their fights and encounters gave Ra enough answers about her powers, about her existence, about her personality. Of course, Ra still didn't know everything about Moloch, especially about her purpose in life, but she didn't care about that anymore. She just didn't want to see Moloch again and for them to part ways forever. Unfortunately for Ra, this was not something Moloch wanted to do. They were enemies and this situation between them might never change... At least, not until one of them dies, succumbing to the other.

- That's right, we do. We have time.

Ra let the surprise change his expression and Amir asked Nero to let Ra sit down. The long white-haired woman didn't want to get upset, but the behavior of the elderly Kemono bothered her greatly. She grabbed her claymore and placed it on her shoulder, gritting her teeth.

- Look, I'm super grateful for all of you and I'll never forget your kindness, but unlike you, I know exactly who Moloch is. I know the extent of his powers and there's no way we have time to talk on a fucking couch!" she explained as she felt the anger growing inside her.

Nero stopped lying down to sit up and patted the seat next to him.

- I swear, Ra, we have time.

- Nero...!

- Ra!

Nero frowned and clenched his fist.

- What do you want to do, go out and face Moloch and her two henchmen? You think you'll win? You know her better than we do, so why do you want to keep fighting against someone you can never defeat, huh?!

Nero's question pierced Ra's heart violently. She made her claymore disappear and approached Nero with furious steps, but Nora jumped on the sofa and hugged Ra.

- Not getting mad!!” she said.

- Nora...

- I will accept acting as a traitor to our family, but I agree with Ra.

All eyes turned to Nara, who had since calmed down, and stood next to Ra with her arms crossed.

- Why are you convinced we have time?" asked Nara. I wonder why we're even not all eradicated as we speak.

- Moloch seems to be talking to the woman and the man. They are still a little further away,” Sara tells them before returning to her children and husband's side.

Nero and Amir looked at each other and Nora finally let go of Ra. The latter was not sure what she should do: listen and believe the two Kemonos in front of her or stay on guard and go back outside. She could also go to meet Moloch alone and hope to survive against her and the two people she brought back. It seems almost impossible, but she didn't have much of a choice: any moment now, Moloch would come looking for her and try to kill her. Ra could not involve the Kitana in this fight, which was none of their business. Besides, although they could be useful in fighting the man and woman who were helping Moloch, they could do nothing against Moloch herself. Ra was the only one who had a chance of survival against her. It wasn't just a matter of strength or power, but rather of Ra's very existence. Something she had not yet revealed...

- I guess I'll have to confess everything now…” Amir sighed.

He sat down on a chair and scratched part of his nose. His two daughters, his wife and the young human woman stared at the Kemono with great attention. Nero offered Nora to be in his arms while their father talked and she accepted with a smile. Ra did not want to sit down : as long as she didn't know what was going on, she would be on her guard. Amir began to speak, his head down.

- There's a reason we tell you we have time to talk. We're not foolish enough to underestimate Moloch, but we know she just couldn't pick us up here.

- Why?" asked Nara.

Amir looked up.

- Because around this house is a Longerian shield. A shield that repels anyone who is of the Longer race.

Except for Nero and the caller himself, everyone opened their eyes wide, including Nara. They had never heard of such a shield, let alone around their house.

- That's why Moloch was propelled backwards before she could attack you," explained Nero.

- I-It's not true...

Sara shook her head and clutched the ice sword in her hands. Amir smiled weakly.

- It's the truth, ahah. Any Longer that approaches us or is of a different race than what has been programmed inside the shield will be abruptly propelled backwards by an energy discharge that can kill a human without any difficulty.

He shrugged his shoulders.

- Well, Moloch must not have felt anything and was simply thrown backwards, nothing more.

Nara noticed that her mother was staring at her father with wide eyes. There was no anger in her gaze, only incomprehension and confusion. She could understand it: Amir had just dropped this secret information as if nothing had happened. Something that didn't even surprise Nero... because he must have known it already. However, that was exactly what infuriated Nara.

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- Why do you both know it, but we don't ?!” she shouted, addressing the two Kemonos.

It was a question that Nora also asked herself, and she didn't quite understand what was going on. Amir played with his fingers.

- Years ago, before I even knew your mother, I received a small box with a letter on the side: it was this shield with short, but very simple instructions.

- What?

Ra frowned. Amir continued without paying attention.

- I didn't know where it came from or who sent it to me, especially since it arrived at my house. Attached to the box was another letter, but with an order: "Do not discuss this with your parents."

- Why on earth...?" asked Nora, surprised.

- I have no idea. At first I was afraid of this mechanism, but as the days passed I decided to test it out of curiosity. It took me a few minutes to figure out how it worked.

- They say that the more functional a system is, the more complex it is. This shield proves that wrong," said Nero.

- You...

Nara stepped forward angrily, but Ra stopped her. Her eyebrows still furrowed, she stared straight at Amir.

- And so there is such a shield around your house now?

Amir smiles.

- Exactly. I put it in the basement, behind some cartons that you never touch, and it works perfectly without having to touch it. It doesn't need light or energy, just air. It acts like a tree, so it's perfect for us.

- A mechanism that absorbs CO2, uses it for energy and then releases O2?

- Why don't we know anything about it?" asked Nora calmly.

It was Nero who answered his question.

- Because it's a technology that comes from the Longers. Dad wasn't going to tell me about it either, I just discovered it by pure chance.

He set Nora down beside him and patted her head with a smile.

- I just tripped over the boxes and saw a strange object behind them. Dad couldn't hide it from me, but he asked me to play ignorant... for the rest of my life.

Nara clenched her fists, unable to believe what she was hearing from them. Her mother touched her shoulder and forced her to step back before she passed Ra and watched her husband.

- Is that all you're hiding?" she asked calmly, though with great sadness.

- I promised you, didn't I? I won't lie about anything in our relationship, but we have a right to our secrets. It may be wrong of me to have hidden the existence of

this shield all these years, but technology from the Longers is—

- A forbidden technology.

Ra finished Amir's sentence for him and walked over to him before pulling out her claymore and pointing the blade right at the man's head. Nora jumped off the couch, but Nero stopped her. Nara pulled out her sword, but Ra asked her to put it away without even seeing it.

- I have no intention of hurting your father. You took me in, you rescued me, and even now, when it is my fault that Moloch is at your door, you protect me. I may be angry and confused about how such technology came into your possession, but I will not touch a single bit of your father.

- Then why are you pointing your gun at him?! shouted Nara.

- Because I want to be the most threatening when I confess to him what I'm going to say now.

Ra shone her claymore in a blood red light. Her irises reflected the glow, making them threatening and piercing in turn. The woman's Aura oppressed all the Kemonos in the room, but Amir was the one who couldn't breathe very well because of the fear inside him. Ra held her claymore tightly, as if she was about to kill Amir in a fierce rage, but she would not betray her words. While staring at him with burning emotions, she warned him:

- Longer technology is banned for a reason. Never touch it again... or commit suicide for your ignorant act.

The claymore in her hand suddenly disappeared and the red glow that had made the room look macabre until then was no longer visible. Ra's white hair returned to its beautiful shine and Amir sighed with a laugh.

- I deserve it, eh?

- What's this about forbidden technology?" asked Nora, totally confused.

Nara turned to her and thought about whether she should answer her, but her mother was not so hesitant.

- The Longers' technology is attractive and powerful, as well as misunderstood, but it is forbidden in the entire continent. If anyone comes to us and learns the truth, we can all receive a death sentence.

- Even without using this same technology, simply possessing it can earn us death,” added Nero.

Sara turned to her husband and looked at him with a sad look.

- So why use it? You should throw it in the sea or destroy it...

Amir did not answer. Ra had not known him long, but if there was one thing she knew about this technology, it was that it could manipulate people's hearts: how could

you resist using such mechanisms? The unknown, a power and efficiency that humans could not reproduce… The Longian technology was simply too attractive, as appealing as money. Ra knew all about it. After all—

- I'm still disappointed that you don't trust us enough to tell us about it... Does Niro know?

Ra turned to Nara, who was holding her little sister in her arms, her eyelids lowered and her voice weaker. It was clear that her father's and brother's secrecy had hurt her, but the same was true for Sara. Nora, on the other hand, still had no idea what was going on.

- Niro doesn't know anything, it's just the two of us," Nero admitted.

- I see...

- Sorry. I was going to leave the shield there and just deny its existence, but I guess I should have admitted it sooner.

Amir stood up from his chair and bowed to his family.

- Lying to my own children and wife is unforgivable.

Ra was not concerned with this friendly affair, but she could feel everyone's emotions. Nero had not said anything yet, but her face expressed enough. Nora hugged her big sister back and asked her not to be sad, which made her smile. Nara stroked her hair, while Sara tried to take in everything she had just learned. Now that Ra understood why Moloch and his two henchmen didn't come for them, she wondered what they were going to do: as long as Ra was inside this shield, Moloch would be waiting for her, even if it would take years. She couldn't stay here forever, especially since this was Moloch we were talking about: even if Longuerian technology could stop him, it was only temporary. This "woman" would only have to ask for help or seek out the reality behind the mechanism before she could figure out how to stop it. If need be, Moloch would be the kind of person to come up with an unthinkable plan and lock them in their own shield forever, which would eventually kill them all. Ra was aware that Moloch didn't care if he killed her with his own hands as long as she eventually succumbed. It was clear that Moloch would rather enjoy herself with her and end her life with her own hands, but it was not an obligation or a desire that outweighed the others. If Ra were to stay in this house with the Kitana, nothing good would happen.

- We'd eventually run out of food, so I'd have to get out no matter what. In no way am I involving them any longer in this.

Ra conjured up her claymore and twirled it in her hands, drawing everyone's attention. She observed the outside from the corner of her eye.

- I don't have time to get into the shield you have, or how it works, so I'm going back there," she explained.

Nara turned around and Nora stirred in her arms.

- Raaah?! You're going to die, against Moloch!!” shouted Nara.

- Big sister is right!!! Not right!!! Bad Ra!!!!

Ra clenched a fist and turned around with a bang.

- I can't help it! You all want to die by my side? For what reason, even?

- We don't want to die! We don't want YOU to die!

Ra stopped dead in her tracks as Nora spoke these words. This one forced Nara to let her go and the little Kemono furiously approached the woman with the long white hair. Nora pointed at her with an annoyed look.

- You want to fight against Moloch, but you have to run away!!! Not die!!!

- Run away, you say?

Ra started to giggle, but finally burst out laughing. This reaction worried all the Kemonos in the room, but no one said a word. Ra took some time to calm down, with a little Nora asking if she was okay. The young woman apologized and stared at Nora.

- Run away, you say? As if it were possible, in front of Moloch.

- You've done it before, though, right?

- I never ran away from Moloch, I just managed to force her to retreat for a few moments before she came back, even more insistent than the last time.

Ra shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, his hands raised.

- The day Moloch gets so fed up that she decides to give everything against me and gets tired of having fun is the day it's the end for me, she admitted.

- Moloch is so terrible, isn't she... Who is she, really? Raa squinted and turned to Nero.

- Well, it's true that you mentioned having a score to settle with Moloch. Can I know what you were talking about?

- It's true that I want to know too!

A female voice sounded behind the Kemono. The latter was about to answer when he opened his eyes wide. In reality...

Everyone had the same expression. A scared one.

Slowly, Nero turned back to the source of the woman. Long hair of all colors shone on her head, but her physique and unforgettable eyes made her recognizable. Her cute, feminine voice was not representative of her real personality.

The atmosphere in the living room was so powerful that the windows shattered. The woman sighed and, for the first time in her life, Ra could see a weakly annoyed Moloch.

An expression she would never want to see again.

- You, the little Kemono. You'll die on the spot.

And Nora was pierced by an invisible blade, at the speed of light.