When Marc opened his eyes, he was in the cave he'd seen with Nathanaël. He was aching all over, even though he'd only received a single blow to the abdomen. He lifted his T-shirt and saw a large black and red mark on it. Marc didn't want to look any longer.
Looking out over the cave from where he stood, he saw Elie lying unconscious on the floor. After checking that she was all right, he stood up and looked at her hands. His aura surrounded him. It was the first time he'd seen it. A dark, gloomy aura. Much less dark and gloomy than that of the man in black.
"Am I an evil being like him? "
Marc didn't want to think about it too much. But suddenly, he remembered all those people he'd killed.
"Perhaps, this is the manifestation of our murders? People's anger."
Suddenly, Marc saw his aura change. Hundreds of hands grabbed him. Deformed faces stared back at him.
"Why? Why?"
They kept repeating. Marc closed his eyes. The voices wouldn't go away.
"Get out."
The voices wouldn't go away.
"I'm going to make it. So get out."
"I'll never see Diane again."
"Get out, I said."
"Marc."
Marc opened his eyes. The voices disappeared at once. Elie looked at Marc with concern.
"Are you all right?"
Marc looked at Elie with a look filled with regret. But he didn't want to flinch in front of her again. He had to get over it. Finally, he smiled.
"Don't worry about me. You're the one who fainted."
"You kept saying 'get lost', and you want me to believe everything's okay?"
"Yes."
Elie looked at Marc. She was worried about her partner's condition. However, she quickly changed her train of thought. They had to get out of this world.
"What do we do now?"
Marc didn't answer immediately. He could only go back home after taking such a massacre. If the man in black was watching, they couldn't get in.
"I'm going to check out the village. You stay here and wait for me. If he shows up, jump in the water."
Elie understood Marc's plan very well. She didn't want to leave him alone.
"I won't let you go alone. You're really going to die this time."
"You almost died last time. I'm the one holding up the most. So logically I should go on alone."
"Marc. Think for two seconds. Imagine if everyone in this world was like him."
"I'd run."
"How? He was so much faster than us."
"I've got Nathanael's sword. It seems everyone who enters here gets major changes. Nath's sword was clearly able to counter it. If it doesn't, I'll run. I promise."
Elie knew she couldn't reason with Marc. But Marc knew he couldn't reason with Elie. She stood up and stepped forward.
"I'm coming with you."
Marc looked Elie in the eye. It was impossible to resist. His dark gaze met his friend's determined gaze.
"All right."
The two left the cave and headed down the mountain, checking to see if he was following them. Fortunately for them, the man in black didn't show his face. They arrived at the sort of town at the foot of the mountain. Marc immediately recognized the strange breed of white being who had attacked him and Nathanaël.
"It's them. We'll be careful."
"Okay."
They positioned themselves where he could observe the city. Marc took a good look at everything. The city was much larger than any known city. The buildings rose to monstrous heights. It floated on a cloud that was at ground level. What intrigued Marc was that no one was there. Apart from the beings in white who made their rounds like soldiers, there were no real inhabitants. Some of the buildings were misshapen.
"It's empty."
"Yeah. If it's just them, I can beat them."
Marc wanted to emerge from his hiding place but stopped himself. Someone had just come out of one of the houses. Strangely, he seemed to have seen him somewhere before. As if this guy had lived in his world before.
"I think it's all right. He lives alone on a mountaintop. He won't make a move from here."
Marc could swear he'd seen this person before. The language he spoke was clearly not his own. But he understood everything. Suddenly, someone else began to speak. Someone who was in the house.
"You should watch out for him. He's really not clean-cut."
"I know. Speaking of which, what would you do if you had unwanted guests."
Marc and Elie flinched. They quickly realized they were the ones being talked about. Stares seemed to be coming from everywhere in their direction.
"I don't know. Should we punish them?"
Their eyes turned to the two teenagers. Marc and Elie stood up as the beings in white began to pursue them.
"Maybe he should learn to hide their aura."
"Hush. He'll find out."
Marc and Elie ran toward the mountain. The beings in white followed in their wake.
"Elie, don't stop. I'll slow them down."
Marc knew he was much weaker than the man in black. He slowed down as Elie noticed him slowing down.
"I'll help you."
"You really are."
The two faced the groups of white beings.
"Oh. They've decided to fight."
"That means they've been here long enough and they know it."
"Let's see what they're capable of."
Marc was the first to step forward. A white being leapt at his face, but he dodged and landed a heavy blow to the stomach. The white being spat out stars and black matter. Marc had no time to celebrate his blow when a second being holding a spear tried to thrust it into his heart.
"Careful!"
This time, Elie kicked her hard. It was an front kick she'd learned in her class.
"Wow."
Marc realized he didn't have to worry about her. The white beings swarmed in. Marc dodged and retaliated. Elie took all the ones Marc didn't have. He even tried holds he'd seen on TV. He knew that the longer he stayed there, the stronger he became. Marc began to understand his true strength. Each blow he landed became stronger and stronger. The white beings stopped attacking Elie and concentrated on him. They had spears, swords and daggers, but nothing could stop Marc.
Elie watched the fight. Marc seemed to take pleasure in cutting them down. He even perforated the belly of one of them. He deflected daggers and swords, shattered spears... She was even surprised when she saw several of them with rifles and snipers. Marc had taken a few bullets, including one in the thigh, and he even began to dodge them. His evolution was frightening.
After about ten minutes, all the white creatures were on the ground.
Marc wiped his bleeding mouth.In fact, his whole body was bleeding, but Marc couldn't really feel the pain.The beings in white may have been on the ground and ko, but they were all looking at Marc with starry eyes.Their eyes that seemed to contain the universe. Suddenly, they all opened their mouths.
"Aregis."
The word echoed again in Marc's head.He held his head in his hands, but nothing helped.The pain was immense.Marc was about to faint when Elie shouted loudly."Stay with me, Marc. Don't collapse now."
Marc slowly raised his head.He saw Elie about to cry on her knees beside him.Again, he smiled.
"Don't worry.Those jackals knew exactly what they were doing, but I'm staying stronger now."
Elie had laid Marc down and put his head in his lap.
"Yes. You're strong now."
Marc turned his head. He saw the person who had come out of the house and spotted them, advancing towards them.
"Be careful, Elie."
"I know."
Marc looked at Elie, surprised by the tone of his voice. His gaze had gone from sadness to anger in less than a second.
"I'm warning you already, if this is about you fighting, you're going to have to expect the worst."
Marc felt shame rising. Elie wasn't very good with aftershocks, and she didn't look at all capabl of fighting.
"At least she's strong."
"I see. I see."
Marc and Elie couldn't see what the stranger saw. He put his hand behind his neck.
"It's complicated. Good. I'm going to let you go this time even though he might hurt me. I don't want any trouble, besides so I'll send you home."
"Wait a minute. We didn't get all our answers."
"You don't need them and I'm not going to give them to you."
Marc and Elie looked at their opponent. He was very handsome and seemed to be known by everyone. They had long black hair with a lock that hid part of his face. Yet his clothes were very simple. An apple-green shirt with white flowers, a little too baggy, and baggy jogging pants too. He seemed so relaxed that Marc and Elie were taken aback.
"I've seen you before, haven't I?"
At Elie's question, he laughed. His laugh, too, was beautiful and harmonious.
"Of course you have, of course you have. My name is Mirades. Oh no, that's right. In your world, I'm Known."
At these words, a blue light enveloped the teenagers. Marc couldn't even move and didn't try to challenge, but Elie tried to reach out.
"Wait."
Even so, the light enveloped them completely and they found themselves in a vast expanse of land. Marc and Elie didn't understand where they were until Marc noticed Nathanaël's car.
"There's no more field."
Everything had become dry and hard. Marc could no longer see any puddles on the horizon. Nathanaël started running toward them.
"What happened?"