This is a summary of Greyashe Episode 18.

OP: OUTRUNNER

ED: Talim

Chapters covered: 34-36.

Van and Kani are shoved into a jail cell, and the clattering of keys informs them that they are here to stay.

Not if Kanesia has anything to say about it.  Before Van can adjust himself, She's already anaylizing the room for means of escape. After taking a look around for all the obvious venues, she then bends on her knees and examines the small bits of the floor in the cell that have become undone from decay. Van asks what she's doing, and with a reassuring smile, she replies that she's found their way out.

Lupine is enjoying his game of tag with his research subject, until Claire ducks around a corner and heads him off. Now that she has his complete attention, she informs him yet again that Den is dead. Lupine yawns and asks her why she's so obsessed over old news. Despite his flippant attitude, he already knows that Claire will leave here with nothing less then his head on a silver platter. He bemoans Claire to stop this, as he doesn't want to kill his precious experiment. Claire responds with a fiery blast to his head. Lupine is less than impressed, and asks if she's done ANYTHING to improve since she ran away, and then brings Den back up as if the last few actions didn't just happen. He notes that he had been looking forward to doing something about Den, since his whining about 'ethical treatment' had started to wear thin on his nerves. To drive his next point home, he points at Claire and congratulates her with a job well done. He was only able to convict Den of the high crime of betrayal because SHE ran away. Even if the man had nothing to do with her escape, there was more than enough suspicion going around to convict Den of having a hand in the matter.

Claire is unphased, and replies cool to Lupine. She already knows what happened, and will make things right by erasing Lupine. She rushes at him and then stops suddenly, drawing back to launch a huge flame. Lupine ducks and reaches forward at the goddess killer. She realizes right away that he's using the same chakrams that Radam had used in his fight against her.  She wryly comments that only Lupine would create something so cowardly. He snidely replies that it's only cowardice when you lose. Claire is at a major disadvantage, as her arms and legs are much shorter than his. Lupine manages to catch her off guard and tosses her a good distance away, into a building. The advantage of her short stature however, is that she can hide almost anywhere. Lupine comes searching, and is blasted almost point blank by a powerful fire blast. The chakrams have the adverse effect of drawing Lupine in, and since he wasn't prepared to defend, they end up being his weakness rather than strength.

...Or so Claire thought. The mad scientist is also a master at defensive magic, and has a defense incantation around his hands. All he had to do is place his palm in the direction of the flames and they are dispersed. Once again, she uses her size to her advantage and ducks between his legs, back out into the open. Claire hides in the crowd for a moment, before realizing that Van would abhor anyone being hurt by her battle.  ...Van would.....

Lupine strikes downward. The chakrams still work, and led him right to her. A person is gravely injured, but that doesn't affect his will to fight. He laughs at Claire and asks if that's all she's got. She becomes enraged, but makes her way out of the main street, and back into the slums again. Claire quickly realizes that she has to finish this fight quickly, or else more people will be hurt. Lupine's magic can decimate a crowd of people if used correctly, as gives his arms and legs blade like attributes, and when swung fast enough, can create a wave of destruction. She has no time to think of a counterstrike though, as Lupine emerges from a building on her right and slams her into the wall on her left. Tossing her up like a rag doll he slashes in the air, once, twice, three times. Claire manages to avoid the first two, but her movement in the air is limited. She uses her flame to propel herself downward like a rocket, and only loses some hair to Lupine's attack. She lands behind him, and after wrapping herself in flames tackles Lupine. He uses the incantation on his hands to catch her like a soccer ball, but miscalculates Claire's momentum. She's able to push him forward, and the two lurch forward a few feet.  She cranks up the temperature on her flame, and although Lupine's hands are protected, his body literally feels the heat. He throws her quickly, and retreats backwards, until he arrives at an abandoned, but wide space in the city. Claire soon appears, and to his surprise doesn't lunge at him...but begins....spinning?

Kani has taken the small bits of the floor and rearranged them slightly. She explains to Van that she plans on destroying the bars by using flash explosive magic. Although she can't actually use magic directly, the magic in the air sometimes affects objects on the ground, turning them into incantations. Her utilities and staff were taken away by the guards, but by arranging incantations in a certain way, sometimes they release bits of magic on their own. Perhaps the strife from the WITCHES and Challenger's battle had covered the decaying pumice with a fine dust like magic coat, and when arranged a certain way on the floor, the magic would cycle within the pattern. The cycle picks up speed every time it goes around, and once the pattern is broken, it would violently release into the air, in the form of an eruption, or in this case an explosion. This is all just theory, Kani admits, however, this is how young magicians begin to learn how to harness their magic, if their agape levels are not high when they are born. Using the flash and explosion, Kani hopes to leave the guards in such a daze that they can sneak out. Van nods in agreement, and hopes that he can help Claire soon.

Balls of flame dance in the air in rotating circles around the mad scientist and ex goddess killer. Lupine asks about the fireworks show, and Claire tells him that the view of it is beautiful from hell. Lupine sneers and asks Claire if Den told her that from the afterlife, and she lets the fireballs fly. They launch at him from several directions, leaving vapors of fire in their wake. Lupine stands surprisingly still and lets them knick at him slightly, before opening his eyes wide and blocking them with his hands and feet. Even as the speed picks up, he's able to keep up and send the fire flying. As the fireballs collide, they pick up even more speed, and finally begin to explode on impact. Lupine is genuinely impressed that his creation has learned how to manipulate her power this well, but doesn't find being defeated amusing. He quickly turns and slams a fireball into Claire who was going to take advantage of his preoccupation. She lands on her back hard, and Lupine steps on her face to keep her from escaping. The scientist laughs and claims that he's discovered that the sea known as stupidity isn't as vast as he once thought.  He had no IDEA that she was in this city. If she had stayed away from him, and lived her life quietly somewhere far away, she wouldn't be in this situation now. Revenge for the dead? Why? Would he be able to thank her for avenging him? He asks her what she really wanted, what she's really living for. Nothing. Nothing other than being the goddess killer. Finally he ends his tirade by apologizing, and asking if Claire would like to come back with him.

Claire's eyes widen. He had stolen plenty from her over the years, but...that was hers. It was a gift from someone who truly trusted her. Someone who had said he'd protect her. To hear it coming from those coarse, bitter lips...from him....

She wouldn't stand for it.

She couldn't.

An eruption of flames. Lupine is surprised and steps back. A fiery serpent stares back at him, growing from a column of flames billowing from her back. Her eyes are wide, emotionless, empty. She says slowly, methodically, like a killer with the upper hand, that he does not even have the qualification to call her that. Ever. The serpent roars and lunges for the surprised villain. The chakrams drag him in, and he quickly uses his own magic to slice them off....although this isn't quick enough, and the serpent swallows him whole. In a moment, he emerges, a baby from a hellish womb, coughing for air. He manages to run away from the serpent and the girl, but it isn't long until the serpent has caught up with him again. Claire walks behind it, her head tilted over in a questioning gesture, her emotionless eyes piercing into him. She then flicks her arm, and the serpent's tail thwacks Lupine, sending him into flight. He manages to catch the roof of a building and lays low there.

He wasn't sure how it happened, or who had awakened it, but her flame had regressed back into it's feral state. He had labored over the goddess ripper flame or 'Terra flame' to keep it from drawing in sources of heat and becoming more powerful, mainly because this would be the result. The user would lose themselves in a red hot euphoria, absorbing any sources of heat, and losing the ability to feel pain or even sadness. In a sense, Claire was now a goddess in her own right. Although in this case, the correct term would be demon. His mind ever scheming, he has already figured out how to defeat her. If he were fighting against a fire, he would lose. That much is obvious. However, He isn't fighting against a fire....but a being that can manipulate it. And just as this being could manipulate the fire...she too could be manipulated. Lupine smiles grimly as he knows that once he gets her attention, he'll have to go for broke and use his most powerful technique. He hates this technique however, as it causes the right side of his body to go numb. However, half numb is better than very dead, and he steels his resolve.

The serpent has found him once again, and lunges at the building he's on. Lupine jumps and strikes downward at Claire, but she quickly changes positions, and is at the serpent's head rather than it's base. She stares down at him with the same questioning expression, and then directs the flame to converge on him. His back is to her, and it seems that this struggle is over......or is it? Lupine lowers his voice to a menacing growl and turns slowly to face her. He says with a hoarse growl that he will not stand for any more foolishness. The flames that were converging on him suddenly stop....?!

Those eyes, that expression, the voice....she had heard and seen them all before. They were almost always followed by harsh beatings, or other forms of sadistic punishment. Drenching with enchanted rain, whippings by Challenger guards, being starved....and worst of all...being denied the right to see Den. Lupine would stop at nothing to perfect his flame, even if it meant terrifying and humiliating a little girl, and the worst part is....Claire still fears those eyes. She had entered this battle with her resolution at it's peak, and she honestly felt that she had nothing to fear. But memories are no one's property, and they wander in and out as they please.  Why...Why had they come now?

Before Claire can react, her flames are dispersed, and a wave of black destructive energy is hurling her way. Lupine used his 'Otherworldly Claw.' An attack that takes any magic lingering in the air and inverts it into a negative energy attack that could slice through even the elements. Luckily for Claire, her attacks had weakened him and by extension the attacks effectiveness. Yes, it now only left a huge gash in the building she's on, rather than cutting it clear in half. Claire's serpent is ripped in half however, and she seemingly takes a direct hit. Lupine is unable to confirm this, as she disappears after the smoke subsides. He drops to his knees and curses himself for going overboard, and sends his best wishes to Claire, hoping that she does well until they meet again; and barely manages to call for help before passing out in the street.

Kani's weapon is set, and she prepares to open the pattern. Van stands back, but then notices a blue substance on the bars. He had been so worried about Claire that he hadn't used his eye at all, and upon seeing this he tries to warn Kani, but it is already too late. The magic sparks and flies at the bars, but then is rebounded back at the young witch, electrocuting her.

Claire crawls along the ground, only barely managing to escape the Otherworldly claw by jumping off the building. Her legs are broken, as is her will to fight. Lupine was right. If she had stayed with Van, he would have helped her. Even Den had told her to give up on revenge. Why didn't she listen to them? She remembers bitterly how Van had proclaimed his intent to protect her when they first met.

Kani falls to the ground unconscious, and Van runs to her side. He calls out her name, but instead of getting an answer from her, he gets one from the guards who had been watching the cell ever since the two had been brought in. They had a suspicion that the woman before them was a witch, as her face and pale skin seemed familiar, but decided to wait for proof. The cells have all been magic proofed, and that's what rebounded the magic pulse. Holding Van down, they rip off her jacket, and get confirmation of her status when they see her tattoo. One guard gingerly picks the girl up, and walks out with her. Van struggles against his captors, and they laugh at his futile actions, saying that a WITCH here is as good as executed. Van becomes enraged and tries to grab his friend back, but is punched in the gut by one of the guards and then kicked back in his cell.

Claire can't even cry as she realizes that she has probably lost everything because of her wish for a fleeting revenge. Van's tears run down his face as he realizes that he has been relying on Claire and now Kani, because he can't do anything on his own. As if they are lying in the street together, or in the cell together, both of them quietly lament one true fact.

Being weak is painful.