Lian's looming threat left Ron and Nox with no choice but to stand their ground.
"Why are you doing all of this?" Ron whispered, his voice trembling.
"As collateral," Lian replied flatly.
Nox took a sharp breath. "Do you hate us?"
"I did. At first."
Ron studied Lian's calm demeanor. "What do you mean by that?"
"Yes, I hated you both in the beginning, but now..." Lian's voice cracked, sounding as though his vocal cords had withered along with the tears he never shed.
"Now, that feeling has turned into a hollow void."
Outer whimpered softly. "Lian."
Leuliang turned to Outer and offered a bitter smile. Outer fell silent, haunted by that expression.
"Hollow?" Nox repeated, stunned.
"Nox!" Ron barked, trying to keep him in check.
Lian didn't budge. They stared at his back; he looked as fragile as dry wood, ready to snap.
"I'm sorry," Lian said, the words heavy with genuine remorse.
Ron's jaw tightened, his breath hitched.
This is what people would call insanity, Ron thought.
"For what?" Nox snapped back.
"For making you orphans." Leuliang's gaze was vacant, fixed on the massive crater that was once the heart of Vellion City.
Outer reached out to touch Lian's hand but hesitated and drew back.
"Why tell us this now?" Ron asked quietly.
Nox began walking toward Lian. Ron tried to grab his arm to stop him, but Nox brushed him off and kept going without a second glance. He grabbed Lian's shoulders and forced him around to face him.
"Why didn't you just create a chasm and end us?" Nox demanded, releasing his grip.
"It wouldn't matter anymore," Lian said.
In a flash of anger, Nox swung a punch at Lian's face.
"Stop it, Nox!" Ron screamed.
Outer didn't move.
The punch stopped mere millimeters from Lian's haggard face. Tears began to stream down Nox's cheeks.
"Why didn't you dodge?" Nox grabbed Lian by the collar.
"Why are you apologizing? Why do you still have sympathy? Why do you look so damn sad?" He let go of Lian's collar. "This is just another game of yours!" Nox hissed.
"What reason would satisfy you?"
Nox flinched and took a half-step back, his face twisted in frustration.
"If you had stayed the villain you were a moment ago, it would be so much easier to hate you," Nox whispered.
Ron clenched his fists and took a deep breath. He walked up to them, stopping a pace behind.
"I can't forgive you for taking our parents from us," Ron said firmly.
"I understand."
Nox fell silent as Outer watched them like a silent witness.
"But I know now... You're just as much a victim of this world as we are," Ron said, bowing his head slightly. "I'm sorry for pressing you back like that at the hospital."
Wiping his eyes, Nox suddenly yelled, "This is so annoying! Why are you guys acting like this? You're making me feel like the bad guy here!"
"You are mean," Lian chimed in.
"What!?"
"Have you forgotten pushing me at the hospital?" Lian reminded him.
"That..." Nox glanced at Ron. Ron simply nodded.
"Fine... I'm sorry for being aggressive, but it doesn't mean I forgive you for everything, Leuliang," Nox muttered, flustered.
"Suit yourself," Lian said with a faint smile.
Ron shifted back to the matter at hand.
"What's your plan now?"
"I need to find Serenity," Lian stated.
Outer bared his teeth in a slight grit.
"Serenity?" Nox tilted his head. Ron closed his eyes for a moment.
"Care to explain, Leuliang?"
"Before that... call me Lian."
Lian looked both of them in the eye.
"Alright," Ron agreed quickly.
"Fine by me," Nox added.
"Did Bhairin send you after me?"
"What makes you think that?" Ron raised an eyebrow.
"Just a hunch." Lian shrugged.
"Yeah, he did," Nox admitted.
"So, who is Serenity?" Ron asked.
"A World Observer," Lian replied, turning back to the crater of Vellion.
"A World Observer?" Nox narrowed his eyes. "What the hell is that?"
"That's just what she calls herself," Lian said.
"So we're going in blind? No real info on her?" Ron pressed.
"Pretty much," Lian said, starting to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Nox called out.
Lian didn't answer; he just kept walking.
"Nox, we're escorting him."
"Escorting, huh? Sounds better than following."
The two followed closely behind Lian.
***
After two hours of trekking around the rim of the crater, the roar of engines and the wail of sirens grew loud. Lian's lips curled into a smirk. Bhairin, you're early, he thought.
"Outer, you ready?" Lian sent the message telepathically.
"Ready!" Outer replied eagerly.
"Blondie! Champ! Play dead!" Lian shouted to them.
"What!?" Nox stopped in his tracks.
"Just do it! We're in danger if you don't!" Ron commanded.
"Blondie is so high-maintenance," Lian muttered under his breath, glancing at Ron.
Nox and Ron dropped to the ground. Seconds later, military police vehicles and armored transports swarmed the area. Bhairin stepped out with an anti-terror squad, shields up and rifles leveled. They closed in until they were barely six meters from Lian.
Bhairin spoke through a megaphone: "Leuliang Esculenta, you are under arrest for the destruction of Vellion City!"
Outer bared his sharp white teeth, his blank white eyes fixed on Bhairin.
Bhairin caught sight of Ron and Nox lying motionless. Useless brats, he thought.
"Outer, strip them of everything," Lian commanded, staring Bhairin down.
Outer grinned. "Their clothes too?"
"Hah... no. Just the weapons, the cars, the armor, and Bhairin's megaphone... Oh, and put a chasm between me and them."
"As Lian wishes."
In an instant, without warning, a massive fissure tore through the earth. Everything Lian had listed vanished as if erased from existence.
"What happened!? A chasm! Where did the cars go!?" the squad erupted in panic. "Our gear! Our weapons are gone!"
Bhairin stood frozen, his hand still shaped as if holding the megaphone that had just vanished. "How is this possible?"
Ron, lying on the dirt, could hear the chaos clearly. Lian is a terrifying enemy to have, he thought.
"Psycho," Nox muttered softly.
Lian burst into a fit of laughter. Outer joined in the delight.
"Outer, show them who you really are!" Lian said, grabbing Outer's hand.
"AAAARRRRGGGGHHH!" Outer let out a deafening roar that vibrated through their skulls.
"What a piercing howl..." Ron groaned, clutching his ears.
"My eardrums..." Nox winced.
The soldiers froze. Sweat poured down their faces and their knees shook as they watched Outer emerge. He looked like a living cloud of black smoke, with jagged white teeth and hollow eyes, floating slowly across the chasm.
"Run!" someone screamed. The squad broke rank immediately, scattering like insects. They abandoned their posts, leaving Bhairin standing alone, paralyzed with fear.
Outer drifted up to Bhairin and opened his mouth, exhaling a chilling breath into the General's face.
Bhairin's shaking hand seized a stone and flung it blindly at Outer. "Get away from me, you demon!" But his struggle was futile; the stone vanished before it could reach Outer.
Bhairin collapsed instantly, looking as though the very soul had been sucked out of him.
With the soldiers gone and Bhairin unconscious, Lian walked back to Ron and Nox.
"Blondie! Champ! Get up!"
"Yeah, yeah," Ron said, rubbing his ears.
"Stop shouting," Nox added, shaking his head.
Lian pointed a finger at the fallen General. "Look at him. Look at your weak General."
"He's out cold," Ron said flatly.
"And?" Nox challenged.
"Do you really want to keep taking orders from someone that pathetic?" Lian asked coldly.
Outer chuckled.
"No," Ron answered immediately.
Nox blinked, looking at his brother. "You serious, Ron? This morning we were still saluting him."
Ron took a breath. "He was just using us as experiments, Nox."
At the word experiments, Lian winced as a sudden headache spiked.
Outer began to howl in distress.
"Outer, calm down," Lian whispered, pulling the entity into a hug. Ron and Nox watched, mesmerized.
It looked like a parent comforting a crying child.
"Lian, they're all evil," Outer whimpered.
"It's okay now," Lian said softly. Outer eventually settled.
"Thanks, Lian."
"Yeah. Just don't howl like that again."
"Outer won't."
Lian released the hug, and Outer vanished from the brothers' sight.
That thing... Outer... it's like his emotions are physically manifested, Ron realized.
Ron glanced at Nox, who was still staring at the spot where they had been. "Nox? You okay?"
Nox didn't answer at first.
"Nox!" Ron nudged him.
"Ah—yeah. What?"
"You were staring. What is it?" Ron whispered.
"Lian... he's like a father to that thing," Nox said instinctively.
"I suppose so," Ron smiled faintly.
Lian turned to them, his gaze sharp.
"What are you two whispering about?"
"You actually have a soft side," Nox noted.
Outer beamed invisibly.
"You said Outer was your friend," Ron added. "But I think it's more than that."
"He is a part of me," Lian replied.
A heavy silence fell over them. Then, unnoticed by the others, an octagonal symbol began to glow faintly on the palm of Lian's right hand.
To be continued...