"Tell me where they are." Adyr ignored his attempt at small talk and went straight to it.

"You should have asked who I am or who you are first. I have the answers to most of your questions, you know that, right?" The Mad Scientist exhaled in disappointment.

"I'll learn those in time. First, release your hostages so we can talk on equal terms." Adyr laid it out, careful not to give him control.

The Mad Scientist's smile thinned. "So you really care about them. Or you're very good at deceiving, good enough to fool even yourself."

In the next instant, Marielle and Niva were in front of him on the open rooftop, as if the space had folded them into being. They lay on the concrete, side by side, eyes closed and motionless like carved figures.

Adyr didn't move. Only his gaze slid over them with the same calm attention he gave everything, taking in the rise and fall of their chests, the loose hang of their fingers, and the steady, natural expressions.

They were more than fine. Marielle's missing arm was back, as if stitched on by a surgeon of miracles. Their skin and posture, the faint lines on their faces-all showed the mutation procedures had been completed successfully.

"Look. I didn't hurt them. I gave them the best treatment they could find on Earth," the Mad Scientist said, pointing at the two sleeping bodies.

Then his face hardened, and his voice settled into resolve. "But now that I see how much you care, I want to kill them."

His hand reached toward them, ready to pluck away two lives. Before he could, black smoke rushed over him like a living shadow, and a heavy whistle split the

air.

"Oh?" The Mad Scientist eased back as the stone staff swept for his face, turned with the blow, let it miss by a breath, then settled into balance, watching his attacker with cool interest.

"I don't care who you are." Adyr stepped in front of Marielle and Niva and lifted his staff. Malice poured across his body like ink in water, gathering into black dragonoid plates that sealed shut. "If you try to take something from me, it will cost you dearly."

Mad Scientist watched the armor, tracing every line as if cataloging a specimen. The faint smile on his face was now completely gone as he let out a heavy breath. "I see. This might be your prison."

With those words leaving his mouth, the world suddenly bled out of color.

Black and white swallowed everything before Adyr's eyes. Then the rest followed: sound thinned to nothing, and touch slipped away as if someone were shutting off his senses one by one.

What is this? The thought moved cleanly through the hush while the rooftop flattened into stillness.

He tried to move beyond thought, but nothing responded; his body lay distant and unreachable, with no finger to twitch, no breath to take, and no skill to return control.

Time hung motionless over the world and over his flesh. Only his thoughts kept their pace, a narrow, useless current telling him he was still inside that instant, still present, while everything else fell silent and still.

"Sorry for this, but it has to be done. I can see no other way." The Mad Scientist stepped forward through the frozen hush. He was the only one who showed no sign of the freeze-his hair gleamed like sunlight, and his eyes still held color in the washed-out world as he closed the distance.

He did not stop at Adyr. He passed him and went to the two bodies behind.

"I need you to save us from this prison," he said, calm and close. "But first, to do that, you must be freed from your own."

He kept his bright gaze on Marielle and Niva. And then a soft pop broke the silence.

Then a stream of hot liquid spilled over Adyr's back, sliding from his hair down the back of his neck and seeping through his uniform. It traced a burning path along his spine before pooling at his waist. The thick, metallic scent of blood filled his nose, and his body shuddered once as a faint thread of sensation returned.

With that faint control returning to his body, his mouth moved, and the words came out raw, almost feral.

"I will kill you."

Black smoke burst from his Malice armor in a wide ring, then climbed, spreading across the rooftop and up into the sky until everything turned to night.

The stone staff in his hands swelled, lengthening and thickening into a massive pillar of rock.

Rage burned hot inside him, but his mind stayed clear. He knew he couldn't harm the man with the insignificant power he had. So with the sliver of control he'd taken back, he poured his strength into the stone pillar and let it drop, aiming to crack the Player Headquarters from the roof down.

"Hey, hey, that's dangerous." The Mad Scientist caught the intent behind Adyr's movement and moved to stop him.

Time froze around Adyr again, locking his body mid-motion. The Malice raging around him faltered, thinned, and faded until every trace vanished back into his armor, returning the world to its previous stillness.

"I wasn't expecting you to try to bring it all down." Mad Scientist stepped in front of Adyr and met his crimson gaze.

It was apparent that he cared about the humans, or more accurately, the Player Headquarters, and didn't want it destroyed.

Adyr understood that as well, so his move was to destroy it to shake him and his plans. But alas, now he found himself in the same state again, unable to

move his body.

"I was just kidding, all right? Just trying to free you." Mad Scientist flicked his hand, and Marielle and Niva formed behind him once more, whole and

unharmed.

Adyr's eyes brightened at the sight, but his body stayed locked.

Mad Scientist kept time frozen and leaned in until his breath warmed Adyr's

face, his tone dropping and growing heavier.

"You see me as an enemy. Maybe you hate me. But know this. I'm doing this to force you to move, to give you the resolve you need. If you don't find it, fate will take everything from you... even what I spared today."

He paused, delving deeper into Adyr's eyes as if he'd found something there,

and spoke to it directly.

"We do not have much time left. So hurry, and find the power you need to meet

Her."

Then the world regained its movement, color, and sound, returning to its former state, and Adyr felt control flow back into his body.

But when his eyes went to the spot where the man had stood, there was no one there-only 2 bodies, Marielle and Niva, still sleeping peacefully on the ground.

"Was that the power of Rank 5 or...?" Adyr murmured, his thoughts settling back into their calm, calculating order as everything returned to normal. He didn't dwell on the man's last words. What mattered was the simple fact that he wanted to kill him for playing with him like this.

***

A/N: End of Volume III - The Breaking