Ash: (narrowing his eyes, voice low and bitter)
"You think pretending to be human makes you anything like us? You really don't know a damn thing."
He stops.
The words feel wrong in his mouth.
Ash: (scoffs, to himself)
'…Shit. That's the point, isn't it? Imitation is already enough for you. For now at least.'
Advheurque: (softly)
"But I feel now. Isn't that where it starts?"
Ash: (sharply)
"No. Feeling isn't the start. Caring is. And you'll never touch that."
Advheurque steps forward, slow and deliberate.
Zayna stiffens.
Valker doesn't move — his hand already hovering near his weapon.
Advheurque: (curious, almost gentle)
"Then tell me, Ash… what is caring? Is it grief? Anger? Is it the way your hands shake when—"
Ash: (snapping)
"It's not about what I feel. It's about what they never got to."
(he nods toward the bodies)
"Their futures were stolen. You, of course, don't know the weight of that."
Ash lands his eyes on him, it's like he's trying to find out something.
He studies him.
His skin — almost right, but wrong. Too smooth. Too pale.
His smile never reaches his eyes.
Thunder rolls overhead.
The sky threatens rain.
Valker scans the exits — tense, on edge.
Valker: (thinking) 'What's coming next? I already know. But still…'
Then —
Something lunges at Advheurque, moving faster than thought.
It's Ash — black-gloved hands stretched out like claws, a living weapon.
Advheurque dodges, fast — but not fast enough.
With surgical, inhuman grace, Ash rips the arm clean off — not in a spray, but a heavy rupture, like tearing wet canvas.
Blood splatters the floor in heavy, ugly streaks.
Advheurque reels back, his face isn't terrified, but definitely not comfortable.
Ash: (cold, determined)
"Explaining anything to you is meaningless. You're inhuman. That alone is enough."
He tosses the severed limb at Advheurque's feet like trash.
"But for what you did to these people? I'll make it slow. I'll make it hurt."
Advheurque chuckles — but he's not looking at Ash.
His gaze slides to Valker instead.
Valker stiffens, a chill running down his spine.
Valker: (thinking) 'What the hell is wrong with this freak? Laughing and smiling like a broken toy… is he insane?'
Zayna tenses, uncertain whether to block or strike.
Advheurque: (to himself, lightly)
"Ahh, what the hell am I doing? I should've stayed hidden. Observed you from afar — like he told me.
But I couldn't help it.
Curiosity…. Curiosity always ruins things, doesn't it?"
His gaze cuts back to Ash.
He gives a quick and small nod — a silent "'til next time."
The air thickens.
The rain starts.
The ground… shakes?
Is it an earthquake?
No. Not an earthquake.
Something worse.
A roar —
A blur —
Something tears through the right wall.
The wall to their right doesn't crack.
It detonates.
A monstrosity bursts through — some unholy beast of steel and oil:
A black armored vehicle — massive tires chewing up the ground, hull scarred like it's survived a hundred wars.
It screams into the building —
Tearing wood, concrete, bodies alike —
A black tornado of destruction.
The air punches out of the room.
Ash shields his face instinctively.
A table — a body — the back wall — all smashed aside like toys.
It's fast, really fast, like a plane just bursts through, but not in a clean way.
It's fast like an avalanche — inevitable, heavy, and merciless.
Windows shatter.
Screams echo — not from throats, but from the building itself as it rips apart.
Ash fights to stay on his feet — bracing against the shockwave.
Then, as suddenly as it came —
—it crashes out through the far wall, and in two heartbeats, it's gone, vanishing into the storm.
Silence.
Ruins.
The taste of dust and blood hanging in the air.
Ash jerks his head around — searching.
Advheurque — gone.
Ash starts breathing heavily, for the third or the fourth time, in less than one hour.
Ash: (hoarse, furious)
"FUUUCK!"
He drops to his knees, fists hammering the ground.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Each impact leaves spiderweb cracks in the concrete, dust puffing up around him like breath.
Ash: (thinking)
'Why? Why the fuck did I let him go? Fucking loser.'
Valker stumbles forward, grabbing Ash's shoulders — trying to restrain him.
Valker: (pleading)
"Hey — hey — stop!
Don't kill yourself, goddamn it!
Didn't I tell you not to push it again?"
Ash shoves him off — not cruelly, just… detached.
He stares at the crucified bodies.
He shakes again — but this time forces it down.
Ash: (thinking)
'I should at least bury them. Even if it means nothing.
If you're dead… you're just dead.
But you were human once. Like me.
You deserved better.
I'm sorry.
I'm so fucking sorry.'