Standing in front of Faye, Nathan was more grateful than ever to have a mask that could hide his current expression.
'Was that her technique, or was it just that she's fast?'
Nathan hadn't been able to see Faye move, it had even been difficult for him to resist the attack that was intended to slice his head off.
The first time they had confronted each other just after leaving the realm, both Nathan and Faye were already tired from the previous fights they had had. In addition, Nathan had only survived because of Dilliard's and Byron's interruption.
He knew that Faye was of second rank, he just wasn't sure which category, although by comparing her with people he knew of second rank, he assumed she must be in the third category.
Even if that was the case, he knew that being Byron Aeterna's daughter, she had sufficient resources for her growth. Plus a clear innate talent.
To face Faye in serious combat would simply be suicide. Nathan would not have revealed himself in this way if he had not had his premonitions of death.
Nathan cleared his mind of unnecessary thoughts and quickly jumped away from Faye, at the same time summoning Adan's black fang to deflect the dagger that was coming deadly close to his back.
At no time had he forgotten about Tana and Lynn, who had been stunned for a couple of seconds, Tana being the first to react.
Seeing how, from behind Tana, Lynn raised her pistols, Nathan did not dare to take a shot from her.
He remembered well the properties of Lynn's bullets, which, although not directly lethal, were annoying.
Nathan dodged to the side, predicting the direction of the bullets, which passed by his body, leaving marks on the wall behind him.
At that moment, Faye attacked him again, taking advantage of the opportunity she had been given. And with no way of being able to even see Faye's attack, Nathan was cut down cleanly, ending his life.
It was fortunate for him that Faye attacked with the intent to kill, because Nathan was guaranteed to survive knowing where the almost invisible and imperceptible attack came from.
If Faye instead of killing him wanted to catch him, Nathan would surely have been doomed by now.
He blocked Faye's attack again, using as much essence as necessary. Nathan survived once more and looked down the street, smiling, knowing that he had bought himself enough time.
Faye also realized that the calamities were not far behind them, so she clicked her tongue and stepped back, giving Nathan room to recover.
Looking at the approaching calamities, Faye frowned and spoke without looking at him.
"You're lucky, but I want you to know that once I'm done here you're dead meat"
Nathan smiled behind his mask.
"Thanks for the warning"
Tana who was glaring at him with hatred, was about to attack him but Faye stopped her.
"Stop, we have more important things to do"
"Important?!" Tana pointed at Nathan. "He killed Gril!"
Faye didn't change her expression and continued to stare at the flurry of calamities.
"Remember where we are, we have priorities"
Tana was silent, biting her lips tightly while still looking at Nathan with clear hostility.
Nathan returned her gaze for a couple of seconds before ignoring her and looking at the Lynn, who was still staring at him with her guns pointed at him.
Nathan made Adan's black fang turn back into a helix, merging with his necklace, then he spoke.
"If you continue to hesitate, you will soon die"
Lynn trembled slightly.
Finally, finishing everything he had to do, Nathan turned his back on them and began to walk away.
Once he was far away, Faye clicked her tongue and grimaced, her expressionless face changing.
"Why does it bother me so much?"
***
On top of a building a few stories high, Nathan was wiping his katana with a cloth. Meanwhile, he watched the fight between the government agents and the calamities.
'You're lucky' Amelia said, with some annoyance in her voice.
Nathan was silent but did not deny her words.
'A single mistake would have cost you your life.'
Remaining silent, Nathan closed his eyes momentarily, remembering his brief combat with Faye.
'It was necessary... at least it went well'
'Necessary? Did you need to check something?'
Nathan scoffed lightly.
'You say that as if you don't know what goes through my mind'
'Hey! I've been trying not to read your mind lately! ...You know it's involuntary!'
Nathan chuckled lightly again, then looked back at Faye, who finishes calamities like she was taking a walk in the park.
'To your question, yes, I needed to check something'
Nathan finished cleaning his katana and put it back in its sheath, he folded his arms and continued to watch the fight.
'Both me and my brother have special abilities... But what about Faye?'
Pausing for a couple of seconds, Nathan continued.
'When I die, do I go back in time? Or is it just a vision of what will happen in the future?'
'So...' said Amelia.
'I never really thought about it, I just saw premonitions as an ability like any other... but apart from the technique there shouldn't be any inherent abilities in a person. So where did it come from?'
Nathan sighed, remembering the many times his premonitions had saved him.
'Since my brother also had premonitions, I thought it might run in the family, and while I have no way of checking if Faye possesses a similar ability, I can at least study her technique, and see if it has any bearing'
Down in the streets, this were beginning to fill with the corpses of calamities, and all the while, Faye seemed as calm as ever as she continued to kill more calamities.
So far, it didn't look like she had used her technique, which could mean two things. Either she was saving it, or, like Nathan's technique, it was not visible.
However, Nathan was still hesitating, remembering Faye's movements, a movement he was not even able to grasp.
Such speed was something you would see in a third rank, so either Faye was simply someone out of the norm, or her technique was related.
Either way, Nathan stood on the roof of the building, carefully watching his sister decimate the calamities.
It was then that something caught his attention, so Nathan sighed and looked back at Faye.
'All the calamities she's facing are second rank... How will she act in front of a third rank one?'