Greyashe chapter 366 is entitled "At the speed of death."

Previous chapter 365: Killer intent.

-Short summary-

As Van's titanic struggle begins, Kani and Guy find themselves up against a strong opponent of their own.

-Long summary-

It was as if the small but noticeable explosion at the palace above served as a signal for the things that followed. Kani and Guy both still ingrained by instinct look upward at the source of the noise for just a second --not long enough for it to be considered a folly, but long enough that their battle ready momentum is jostled slightly. Even though they know why they are here and ostentatiously why Van is here, the sheer weight of their actions now and later is only now weighing upon them. Should they fail, it not only means the end of them, but everything. Are they being selfish in assuming only they could stop the sentinents? Perhaps, but the fact remains that no one else has taken on the responsibility, and they are of an elite class that has no need for magic. Although if one were to ask them how elite they feel right now, the answer would be "not at all". Right now they are in the den of the enemy, and for all intents and purposes are naked and ripe for the picking. The only option they'd have if they came upon a crazed magician is fighting, and while the sad truth is that Kani could serve as a human shield since she is impervious to magic, both of them would rather not have to result to that tactic.

So feelings are mixed when they happen upon a familiar person in the wrecked perimeter below the palace.

"Happened upon" is somewhat inaccurate however, since it's clear from the man's relaxed demeanor as he examines a skull that he found in the wreckage that he had been waiting for them. So more accurately it might be better to say that they arrived on schedule for their audience with a certain individual. Even as they come into the clearing he continues his examination as if they aren't there. Guy and Kani immediately recognize him, and accordingly shift into a fighting stance and thought process. This is not someone they can run away from and hope to keep their lives.

Not from Luge the swift.

He wears a dirty pair of jeans and a red and black flannel shirt, his red hair is unkempt and spiky, he has a trail of dried blood running from a wound on the side of his face, and his hazel eyes are hardened yet tired from obviously not getting enough rest. Luge looks up at them from his reclining posture and gives them a small smirk before offering the skull up to them. He comments that they really are amazing to have come all this way with their skills....or lack thereof. That being said, he can't let them continue to wander around unfettered since they've now run into each other. It'd look bad on his part, and he's already got quite a bit to answer for when he eventually shuffles --no, speeds off this mortal coil someday. Kani and Guy trade glances briefly and return their eyes to Luge. To be frank they didn't know what to expect, but this certainly wasn't it. Luge is lucid, calm, and even a little bit charming. As someone who uses agape they would have thought he would be as insane as the other magicians in the area.

Luge picks up on this and spreads his arms as if he intends to plead his innocence. Yes, he doesn't fit the mold of magicians gone crazy but to be honest, who's to say he's completely sane? He is sitting in a pile of rubble looking at a skull, and hasn't been sleeping lately. Maybe, just maybe like people insanity is relative. For one person's stark raving mad, there's a silent festering insanity for someone else. Though that begs the question of how one knows they're insane. When someone else tells them that they are? When something feels off from the inside? It's all so very metaphysical really.....and dependent on the fallacies of human nature. Why they could be considered insane for coming here despite knowing they have no magic ability of their own. Though, they all have to be insane to use something that's invisible and has an essentially unknown nature as a part of their daily lives without asking any questions. For him he had just accepted magic because everyone else had. No big reason behind it really...he hadn't even meant to become so good with wind magic that the Kaiser mage himself would notice and offer a position in his cabinet. Everything had just fallen into place for him with minimal effort. It was a little annoying to be honest.

Luge rises and rubs his hair with increasing speed as time goes on which turns Kani and Guy's wariness into full on alertness. Was he insane then for taking such a destructive power on because that's what everyone else did? Or is he insane now for not being insane enough like they had become after the recall had hit? The one time where it would have been nice for things to simply fall into place, they just don't. it's incredibly unfair wouldn't they say? Then again they say that hell is other people don't they? Which means to say he wouldn't be insane if he were alone, or at least he wouldn't have to think about it so much if he didn't have to deal with other people. Strife is other people, power is other people, and even death comes down to other people. In short, the fastest way to be rid of this problem --and all problems is to erase other people.

Before they can react, Luge is already upon them using a cross between wind and lightning agape to manipulate his speed. Guy tries to face him head on, but at the last moment thinks better of it and dodges to the left out of the careening Luge's way. The insane magician charges and ricochets from a plank shaped piece of debris up into the air and lands behind the two allowing him a second shot at them. Kani quickly leaps forward and spinning her staff like a shield intercepts Luge's charge. It is then that a curious thing happens to her instead, and rather than flying off after being hit by Luge coming at her with his speed, he instead stops and the wind whips around the two. Kani looks up at the magician and he really is being held back by her staff! Her mass and size isn't nearly enough to bring the charging Luge to a complete standstill like this, so how can this be happening? Luge grins at her obvious confusion, and comments that he knows all about her abilities as an "unloved". The direct application of magic is meaningless to her as agape refuses to acknowledge one who has "died". As such even if he were to charge at her with his abilities, they'd simply be diverted away from her. This means then that he'd have to think of a different means of fighting her, wouldn't it? Luge winks, and asks her to wait for it.....

Kani leaps back and gives herself a quick examination, noting that she cannot seem to find anything wrong with her body. What then could he be talking about? Guy jumps into the fray and he tries to smack Luge in the back of his head, but he leans to one side and dashes off in that direction out of Guy's reach. Guy growls and comments that they won't be able to even touch the guy unless they manage to slow him down. Kani nods in agreement, when suddenly her staff breaks, and she coughs up blood. Guy despite himself turns and asks if she's okay, which earns him a high speed tackle from behind. Guy goes flying into debris and slumps to his knees, as Kani looks on helplessly, unsure of what is happening to her. Luge speeds over to her and grabs her arm as she turns to escape him. With a vicious smile and low voice, he states that even the "unloved" have a weakness, and that is the "passive" effects of magic usage. When she blocked him with her staff, she blocked out all of the wind magic and grounded out a good amount of the impact, but what she can't redistribute is the effect it has on the terrain. Kani coughs again and looks down at her stomach which is bleeding, and she realizes that when Luge had stopped, the debris kicked up in his wake had hit her in various places, and shattered the staff. Yet the effect on her had been so delayed.....why? He still has another ability that he's not telling them about, and it could be that this is the one they really have to beware of.

Her vision dims and she finds it difficult to remain on her feet falling backwards in a mid faint, but caught and held up by Luge who holds her arm with a degree of unnerving gentleness as he looks down at the barely conscious woman with a a look of unrestrained malice.