PART THREE - AVENGER IN A HATEFUL WORLD

April 17th

Year 2120

The Gap

Southern Wastes, Gartaena

Kayline stared at Merdilen as he stood in the middle of their camp-turned-battlefield, three human corpses lying in the ground around him.

"What have you done...?" she asked in a whisper.

"I did what needed to be done," he replied. "They were monsters."

"Yeah, but still..." she muttered. "It isn't right."

"They were my enemies. They wouldn't have hesitated in killing me, so I didn't hesitate either."

"That doesn't mean it's correct," Kayline argued.

"I finally stood up to my enemies, Kayline," he declared. "I finally found a permanent solution for them. You wouldn't get it. You don't know how it feels like to be a Transmutator. You don't know how it feels like to get lynched whenever you enter a village. You don't know how it feels like getting your arm cut off. You don't know how it feels like being arrested by the very villagers you just saved. What's worse than all that, is being able to just bear with it, to man up, not doing anything else about it. Since I left my home, everything I have felt is hate. The whole world except for you is trying to kill me. Do you know how that feels? Do you know how it feels to not be able to do anything about it? Do you?"

"W-well, of course not, but..." She hesitated, not knowing what to say.

"It is terrible, to know your enemies can and will kill you and knowing that you can't kill back. I won't survive by being soft. I had always ignored that fact, but not anymore. Alvoren died because I was soft. Alvoren died because I didn't have the guts to kill my enemies. If I had started killing before, Alvoren wouldn't have died. And I am not going to die. I'm going to survive this world. By any means necessary."

"Having power does not give you the right to judge people," Kayline muttered.

"But if I don't judge, then who will?" he countered.

Kayline answered nothing.

"Go back to sleep, Kayline," he said. "It's not your guard shift yet."

She tried to argue something else, but couldn't think of anything else to say, so she did as told.

Merdilen stayed in his guard shift, pondering about what had just happened.

He had meant everything he had told her. He knew it to be the truth. But, he was afraid to change. He was afraid of what he would become if he followed that path. But he had no choice. Not if he wanted to survive. It was simple logic: if his enemies never died, they'd kill him eventually, as they'd have infinite opportunities to do so. Merdilen's arm had been cut off because of that. Alvoren had died because of that. And Merdilen wasn't going to die yet. Neither him nor Kayline. He wouldn't allow it. Therefore, if he wanted both of them to survive the journey, he'd have to be ruthless. Even if that might change who he was. He had to survive.

And, now with his Transmutation at range, he'd be able to. He didn't exactly know why he had been able to Transmutate at range back in the battle, but he had one theory: he had hate. Hate gave him determination, and determination gave him power. Merdilen had never been so powerful before. He didn't know if he'd be able to do it again. But, he would try. Tomorrow. Because, if he was actually able to, it'd be an invaluable resource in his fight against the world. And, being stronger meant that it would probably be easier to adapt to the new power he'd probably get when they reached the fortress.

It wouldn't be long now before they reached Morkilen Farenthar's fortress. It was hard to pinpoint exactly their location on the map because of the lack of information, but he knew it would be a week at most before they reached it. Their seemingly infinite journey was coming to an end. He didn't exactly know what he would do after he got the power. He was afraid to think about it.

But he knew one thing: for good or ill, everything would change.

Kayline couldn't go back to sleep. She just lay there in her bedroll, thinking. She kept thinking about the same thing. Merdilen... had actually killed people. Even if they were crazy and psychopathic cultists, they were still human beings. Whether they deserved to die or not was not up to any of them. But she was worried about something else. The Fergahnian army was Merdilen's enemy. Given the chance, would he kill all of them too?

Of course not, Kayline forced herself to think. He'd surely understand them.

Even though they were Kayline's enemies, she didn't want them to die. She'd once fought alongside the Anti-Transmutation Strike Team, even if she had deserted them in the end. She knew how human they were.

Had she been wrong to side with Merdilen? Was the rest of the world actually right? No, no, she couldn't think that. Those thoughts would lead to no good. This had been just one individual event; that didn't mean he would stay this way forever. Merdilen was right in one thing; she had to get some rest. So, trying to push her thoughts out of her mind, she fell asleep once more.

The next day, at the end of Kayline's guard shift, Merdilen woke up. He seemed to act normal, and while they ate breakfast, completely ignored the events of last night. Maybe he did feel regretful after all, Kayline thought. Maybe even ashamed. Whatever the reason, he seemed to be completely normal today, fully unlike the dark Merdilen she had seen the night before. She preferred him this way, but deep down, she knew they'd have to address the event eventually. Eventually. But not yet.

"Kayline, last night, I discovered something," Merdilen told her while they ate. "I discovered the reason the shadow monster riders always seemed to somehow find us. But first, I gotta tell you something. I-I Transmutated at range last night."

"You Transmutated at range? Wow!" she said, genuinely impressed. "How did you do it?"

"I-I think it's because I was angry," he muttered. "It gave me the determination to defeat those guys, and that gave me power."

"Oh. Merdilen... I gotta ask you something." She hesitated before going on. "If—when—we fight the Fergahnian army, or a subsection of it... Will you kill them?"

His face darkened. "I will treat them like they treat me. It is only fair."

"B-but you're way more powerful than them! You'd deal too much damage!" she protested. "They're humans, same as us."

"The last time I spared someone's life, my best friend died," he said in a serious tone.

"Do you want to become a monster?" she muttered.

"O-of course not," he said, his voice shaky. "But I don't have a choice. Not anymore. Neither of us will die. I won't commit the same mistake twice."

They ate in silence for a few more minutes.

Merdilen does not want to kill, Kayline realized. He feels forced to. And, if he got to Morkilen Farenthar's fortress, he'd get too much power to be stopped by anyone. She suddenly came to a realization. If Merdilen kept thinking how he was thinking right now, then there'd be a mass murder. The Fergahnian army wouldn't give up in trying to kill him, and he'd in return kill them. If the battle between mankind and Merdilen continued, who knew how many people would die before it was all over? It'd be absolute carnage. A mass murder.

"Hey..." she started. "Maybe... it is not such a great idea to go to that fortress."

"What do you mean?" he demanded.

"You don't want to kill. You feel forced to," she continued. "If you get all that power, then you'll be much more prone to killing than now. Maybe... maybe there's another way to survive. What if you retire? What if you go to some faraway village, where you can live in peace and happily ever after?"

"Do not ask me to do that. Do you want to make Alvoren's sacrifice mean nothing?" he accused. "Do you really want to give up on your hopes and dreams so easily?"

"Of course not, but I don't want to be indirectly guilty of mass murder either."

"Look, the Fergahnian army asked for it," Merdilen countered. "They are willing and ready to die. It's not like I am killing innocents or anything."

"Yes, but it's still mass murder," Kayline argued. "Besides... the whole world would be against you, more than it is now. Not only would the whole kingdom of Fergahn be after you, but probably every single kingdom in the South too. That's a lot of killing. Would you really kill all of them?"

"If they don't give up, I'll do what I have to do. But I won't die. ...Why are you asking me these things anyway?" he then asked, narrowing his eyes. "Do you no longer want to ally with me?"

"Of course I do! It's just that... I'm trying to make things right."

A few silent moments passed, until Kayline asked, changing the subject, "So, what about what you said earlier? About knowing how the shadow monsters always found us?"

"Right. So, I did some experiments during my guard shift last night, trying to Transmutate at range again," Merdilen said. "I wasn't able to, but I felt something else. I felt the presence of shadow monsters far away, farther away than I had ever felt them, and after all that, far in the distance, another presence. A powerful one, like the one I felt in your father when he was still a Manipulator, and what I feel in you. I think that that presence might be able to feel us too, and track us down."

"Ohh, it'd make sense," she agreed. "I can't feel anything, not even from you, but I'm guessing that's because I'm not experienced enough."

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"You're probably right," Merdilen said. "Anyway, as long as that presence still has its power, we're gonna keep getting attacked over and over by shadow monsters. The only way to stop that is by defeating that presence. From what I feel, it should be somewhere to the west of here."

"...Okay," Kayline nodded. "Let's go. But, please... try not to kill."

Merdilen remained silent for a few moments, until he finally said, "...I'll see what I can do."

They started walking towards where they felt the presence, and a short while after leaving their camp, got to a small village. They looked at it from afar, and noticed something. This was no normal village. All its buildings were taller than normal and crudely made, as if made in a hurry, with space to host some big creatures. Soon enough, they saw what the space was for. Shadow monsters, prowling around and populating the whole village, being almost as many as the villagers themselves. All villagers had strange black tattoos on their heads and shoulders, same as the ones they had met on other occasions.

"Of course," Kayline muttered. "The city with shadow monsters we saw the other day wasn't just one individual settlement. This is all a region with this terrible culture. A whole shadow culture."

"...Right," Merdilen agreed while they sneaked away from the village. "We gotta be extra careful here. Coming to think about it, we should probably keep moving around in order to avoid shadow monsters, but not actually approach the presence until it is asleep, so it can't feel us and be ready for us."

"Makes sense," Kayline said. "All right."

So, they spent the rest of the afternoon walking around, evading patrolling shadow monsters, until the sun set. They waited for a few more hours, and when it was about midnight, they kept going on their journey. Getting any close to the presence in plain daylight would have been dangerous, especially considering it had clearly been sending shadow monsters after them.

After a few more hours, after passing a few more shadow villages, they finally arrived at what seemed to be it. A massive city, completely dark. Not a single light shone on that city. It was all cloaked in the shadows. Made sense, after all, considering they seemed to consider shadow monsters superior beings. Apart from that, and the fact that all buildings were taller than they'd usually be, it looked pretty normal. Normal except for the massive presence emanating from it. It felt kind of what Merdilen sensed in Kayline, except that many times bigger.

"Do you have any way of knowing what kind of power this presence has?" Kayline asked.

"I don't really know," Merdilen admitted. "But it seems similar to what I feel from you, and considering it's the thing your father found in the fortress, I'd guess it's some kind of Manipulation."

"Gaseous matter Manipulation?" Kayline mentioned.

"Could be," Merdilen said. "I don't know. I guess we'll find out soon enough."

With that, they walked the last stretch towards the shadow city. It had no walls; no one would dare attack a culture that could tame shadow monsters. No one except for Merdilen and Kayline. Still, this was meant to be a stealth mission, as, needless to say, they would never be able to face off against a whole city by themselves. Fortunately, the city was big enough that, in the darkness, no one would see or care about two strangers in the night.

Still, they approached as silently and fast as they could, quickly taking cover behind a house. Terrifyingly enough, the streets were not being roamed just by mere human guards, but by the shadow monsters themselves. A quick stealth takedown would not work on them. If they were spotted, they'd die. But they had no choice. Not if they wanted to survive and evade any further shadow monster attacks.

They started to sneak through the shadow city with ease, evading the few shadow monsters they saw. On an occasion, they were almost spotted, but Merdilen used his Transmutation to make a small wall in front of them, hiding them from sight.

Soon enough, they saw it. A giant building in the middle of the city, taller than all others. It had some weird spires jutting outwards at certain points of the architecture, which seemed to have no purpose other than looking imposing. It succeeded. It towered over all the rest of the city, giving it a sense of power and superiority. And, within it, came the evil presence they had been searching for. The building reminded Merdilen of the House of Records, albeit this was a much more wicked and crooked version of it.

"Okay," Merdilen said, taking a deep breath. "Let's go."

They headed in a crouch towards one of the black walls, and as soon as they reached it, Merdilen Transmutated it momentarily into sand, quickly stepping in.

"W-whoa!" he exclaimed as soon as he saw the inside of the tower, swinging his arms around for balance.

All the lower floor of the structure was crossed by thick rivers of lava flowing in all directions, as if the place was built upon a volcano. Thin obsidian bridges crossed the room alongside the lava, held just above the deadly liquid. One misstep in that place would be mortal. Bracing himself, he walked slowly towards the nearest bridge, and after making sure Kayline was following, closed the entrance behind them.

Merdilen and Kayline walked quickly through the bridges towards a set of stairs at the end of the room, both wanting to get to it fast but trying to keep their balance. Fortunately, there were no guards in that room; no one would want to risk staying so close to lava for long. They were incredibly lucky in that sense: a battle in that place would be way too dangerous. Soon enough, they reached the stairs, and after breathing out in relief, started the long climb upwards.

It seemed that all guards were posted at the bottom of the tower, as they found no guards in the stairs while going up. In order to try to fight as little as possible, they'd check the top floor first. That was where the presence felt stronger.

"So it seems that this presence, whoever he or she is, is the ruler of this culture," Kayline mentioned.

"Yeah, seems like it," Merdilen nodded. "It makes sense, considering it had the authority to send shadow monsters after us and all."

"True."

As they walked, they noticed something. The walls were all painted, depicting scenes of a seemingly religious nature. Merdilen realized with a start he recognized some of them.

One of them depicted a man with his hands raised into the air, looking upwards, while hundreds of shadow monsters kneeled before him. Morkilen Farenthar, commanding the shadow monsters. The next one depicted two human beings fighting, each with a massive giant in front of them. Kateko Arthenmon versus Morkilen Farenthar. The last image depicted a destroyed world, both Transmutators fallen to the ground, and the shadow monsters roaming wild. The aftermath of the Transmutation War, and what the world would come to be.

"They seem to venerate the Transmutators too," Merdilen muttered.

"Well, it makes sense for them to venerate the shadow monsters' creators and masters if they venerated the shadow monsters themselves," Kayline said.

"Yeah. Still, it feels weird. It feels... wrong."

They kept going upwards, until the stairs came to an abrupt stop. In front of them were two massive obsidian doors, with intricate carvings and designs similar to the ones on the people's tattoos. Merdilen checked it. It was, predictably enough, locked from the inside. Merdilen pressed his hand against the lock, turning it into sand, and after receiving a curt nod from Kayline, pushed the twin doors open.

Inside, they found a royal bedroom, its walls lined with tapestries and other decorations. In the middle was a giant silk bed, in which a man they couldn't see well lay.

"Stop right there!" a guard standing at the other side of the now-open door exclaimed when he saw them. "You are infiltrating the holy bedroom of His Majesty Jrondelon Herdeen!"

Another guard came towards them. There were two of them, and although they were armed with swords, shields, and full iron armor, they were no match for a Transmutator and a Manipulator.

"Leave this to me," Kayline muttered. "You close off that entrance so no reinforcements come."

"Right," Merdilen agreed.

Using his Transmutation, he blended the two doors together, turning them into a single massive obsidian slab.

Meanwhile, Kayline attacked the two soldiers. She attacked with Manipulation-infused backhand strikes, which were so powerful that each sword knocked out a guard instantly by precise hits in the head. Both fell to the ground with a thump. In that moment, the presence, seemingly called Jrondelon Herdeen, woke up. As soon as he did, he got out of bed desperately, but instead of attacking them, he pushed the bed to the side, revealing something neither of them had expected.

A hole, going down to the lowest floor of the building. Jrondelon jumped downwards, not seeming to care about the dangerous height. Merdilen and Kayline rushed over, peeking into the hole. The man fell into a small lake, but as he fell, it seemed as if the water... engulfed him, embracing him and preventing him from taking fall damage.

Kayline jumped down the hole too, pushing Merdilen into it with her.

"Whoa!" Merdilen exclaimed, falling downwards at perilous speed and spinning wildly in the air. He had no control over his body. He wouldn't be able to Transmutate a safe fall for them.

"Don't worry," Kayline said, and before they reached the wet bottom of the hole, she Manipulated, the winds pushing upwards and slowing down their fall. They fell peacefully, both on their feet, immediately dashing in close persecution after the man.

But it seemed that Jrondelon's move hadn't been just a desperate attempt at escaping after all. He stood in the middle of the lava-filled chamber, stepping on the middle of the intersection between all bridges. He grinned maliciously. And then, he raised his hands, and... the lava obeyed.

All the liquid lava in the room rose and started to levitate in the air, obeying his hand motions, in a surreal image of destruction and power. Merdilen suddenly realized. Kayline was a gaseous matter Manipulator. This was a liquid matter Manipulator. And he was smart.

Does that mean there's a solid matter Manipulator too, somewhere? Merdilen wondered, but then immediately pushed those thoughts away. This was no time to get distracted.

Jrondelon suddenly motioned towards them with both his hands, and all liquid lava in the room flew towards them at perilous speeds. Both Merdilen and Kayline yelled, and Merdilen quickly Transmutated his clothes into solid full-body obsidian armor, which would block the lava off, but making it impossible for him to move in the process. The lava reached him first, but it flowed harmlessly against his hard obsidian armor.

The lava then reached Kayline, and she desperately raised her hands, Manipulating. The wind complied, flowing forward to push the lava away. It became a battle of Manipulators, Jrondelon Manipulating the lava to push it towards her, and Kayline Manipulating the wind to push the lava away from her. And Jrondelon was clearly much more experienced than she was. She wouldn't last long.

"Big push!" Merdilen called out to her, his voice muffled by the heavy armor. "Retreat!"

She looked confused at first, but then got it. Channeling all her Manipulation power into one big push, she yelled, pushing all the lava outwards, away from her. In those precious few seconds of freedom, Merdilen Transmutated his obsidian armor back into his usual clothes, and dashed for the closest wall, gesturing for Kayline to follow, the lava quickly coming up once more behind them.

Both jumped away from the bridge they were standing on and towards the wall, Merdilen ready to Transmutate it into sand to escape. Kayline used her Manipulation to push her above the lava, but Merdilen wasn't that lucky. He couldn't Manipulate. But, concentrating hard, he imagined his power flowing towards the wall, making a bridge towards him. In that desperate moment, Merdilen Transmutated at range once more, creating a bridge that shot out from the closest wall and under his feet, allowing him to not fall into the lava.

They reached the wall, and Merdilen immediately Transmutated it into sand, both of them dashing out of it. Merdilen blocked the wall once again, leaving on the other side a chamber full of lava and a furious Manipulator. But they hadn't escaped yet.

Waiting outside were about twenty shadow monsters, each with a rider, who had come by hearing the sounds of battle. Way too many for them. Thinking quickly, Merdilen Transmutated the whole wall of the tower behind them into sand, gesturing for him and Kayline to run to the side. As they ran, the whole tower, now missing a wall, toppled behind them, crushing under it all of the shadow monsters and their riders. Unfortunately, Jrondelon hadn't died in the wreckage, as Merdilen could still feel his presence.

Merdilen and Kayline disappeared into the night, escaping behind alleyways until they were out of the city. They kept running for a while, until they were certain no one was following.

They both sat down on the very outskirts of the city, catching their breath.

"A liquid matter Manipulator, huh," Merdilen muttered. "With a lava pit, no less."

"Yeah..." Kayline said. "How are we meant to defeat lava itself?"

"I... don't know," Merdilen replied. "We gotta make up a plan."

But he seemed troubled. Worried about something.

"What is it?" Kayline finally asked.

"I... realized something, during the battle," he told her. "If there's a gaseous matter Manipulator, and a liquid matter Manipulator, then that'd mean there's a solid matter Manipulator too, right?"

"Probably," Kayline nodded.

"Then... that would be a perfect counter for my powers," he muttered. "A solid matter Manipulator would be able to push away whatever I threw at him, not to mention any solid weapons. I wouldn't be able to attack him with anything Transmutated, as he'd probably be able to turn the tables by throwing it right back at me. I doubt I'd be able to take him on with my current abilities."

"Oh..." Kayline said. "You're right... But you have something he or she wouldn't have."

"What is that?" Merdilen asked.

"You have me," she said, smiling slightly. "Together, I'm certain we can take him."

"That's right," Merdilen agreed, now smiling too.

"Oh, and I think I've got a plan," she said. "I think I can hold off Jrondelon's lava with my Manipulation for a few seconds. If I push all lava away from you, you can attack him and defeat him in the few seconds that that'll grant you."

"You're right!" Merdilen said, impressed. "That'd be perfect."

"When should we attack?" Kayline asked.

"When he least expects it," Merdilen said, grinning. "In the chaos all the tower's collapse is causing. Right now."