MM - Chapter 135 - DESTINY’S CATALYST

Vaneese of CronGate

- Somewhere in Carter City -

Vaneese stared at the message, her heart unwilling to beat for long moments as pain squeezed her chest: Jerred was dead. His was the least likely to fail of all the teams she sent. Their target had been one of the most vital in the city, and Raine KongRu being there in advance was one betrayal too many.

Like salt in an open wound, she received a ping about a live vodcast from Alyxson Qorren. Vaneese watched it, and every word was another dull blade forcefully pressed into her aching flesh. The fakeness of it all was enough to drive her to madness; as if such a well-rehearsed broadcast wasn’t planned in advance.

Exactly as expected, Raine KongRu was heralded as a savior, battling back against the mysterious oppressors attacking the city. Supposedly, Alyxson was in the middle of transferring Belehorn Tower’s title to Astra Infernum when they were ruthlessly attacked, a lie only the masses would eat, seeing as the ambush was in the building's lobby. Vaneese released a pained moan as Alyxson spoke of the champion who saved him. Saved him by killing her Jerred.

Vaneese closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her limbs trembled, unmistakable violence simmering just beneath the surface.

Torune did it on purpose. He knew I was getting close to Jerred instead of his precious Marco. Belehorn Tower was slated to be my new headquarters, and losing it is my punishment… 

“I’ll show you what it means to be punished,” Vaneese’s whisper dripped with venom. Her words broke the dam holding overwhelming emotions in check. Her fists came to her sides, and she threw her head back, releasing a scream packed with primal fury. This time, her master had gone too far. When Vaneese was capable of rational thought and movement again, a plan took form. She couldn’t make an obvious move herself, but her loving master had foolishly delivered all the pieces she needed.

By now, every forum across the city was buzzing about Raine KongRu and Astra Infernum’s recruitment event. While the baptism had stolen the show temporarily, Vaneese was positive the event would become the ray of sunshine Torune always meant it to be. However, the most prominent detail of the event was the one that would be their undoing. The open sharing of martial techniques directly violated everything the Coalition of Masters stood for: they would not remain idle if informed by a reputable source such as herself. 

Vaneese’s fingers moved with blazing purpose, composing a message to her contact within the Coalition. The masters they sent would be enough to throw a boulder in Torune’s plans. She wasn’t done there, not by a long shot. Since Astra Infernum was clearly meant to be in direct opposition to CronGate, to her, Vaneese had to keep up appearances. She activated an official public vodcast using CronGate’s name, ensuring the feed reached the Tafell assassins.

Her words carefully painted Raine KongRu as the target they’d been sent to find. She didn’t care if it was true: the man needed to die. Now, all she had to do was sit back and watch her enemies eat each other alive.

Raine KongRu

- Carter City -

Undoubtedly, the autonomous vehicle was one of the most significant results of technology's inexorable advance. Faster than the ancient technology it replaced, thousands of times safer, cheaper, and, best of all, operable even during a city-wide emergency. Raine’s taxi sped down streets clogged with panic. The AI navigated the moving obstacles flawlessly at speeds a regular human would balk at.

Mel sat beside him, fingers nervously twitching ever closer as though afraid he would deny her. Having derived enough pleasure from watching her adorableness, he placed a hand atop hers. The feeling of soft skin and gentle warmth was slightly outdone by her shy glance and giddy grin.

Then, Mel’s thoughts turned serious, their gravity reflected in her expression. She spoke softly at first, quickly gaining momentum, “I… really don’t like that guy. Why did you offer him such a good deal?”

“Alyxson?” Raine questioned. She nodded, and he answered without putting too much thought into it, “For someone without a lick of martial training to get so far requires incredible foresight, shrewdness, and the ability to pick his battles well. That kind of person is useful, even if they aren’t trustworthy. Besides, knowing he isn’t trustworthy makes it easier to watch him.”

“But he’s going to have so much control over your guild!” Mel’s voice was loud in the small cabin.

Raine smiled, correcting her, “Our guild. Sure, Alyxson might hold some sway over day-to-day affairs at our outside HQ, but he has no power in ZionLine. Allowing him to continue management of the building in exchange for fronting the onboarding costs was a good deal. You'll see. ”

Technically, the fifth tallest skyscraper in the city now belonged to Raine. Unofficially, Alyxson Qorren would continue managing the building, keeping six of the top floors for his own use. Considering the scale of his operations was about to be slashed to a fraction by CronGate, that was all the space he needed. Their agreed price was slightly higher than Raine’s initial offer, but he never expected that low-ball swing to actually hit.

Mel hid her smile at being included, trying her best to maintain an ill-fitting frown. The two expressions clashed, looking downright hilarious. Raine squeezed her hand, and the smile won by a large margin. She spoke from the side of her mouth, turning away, unable to look at him without grinning like an idiot, “I still don’t like him.”

“Good. You can help me keep an eye on him. He’ll definitely pull something once he doesn’t feel like his life is in danger.”

“Okay! Uhm, how am I supposed to do that?”

“We’ll talk about it later; we’re here.”

Mel had to pretend she didn’t know where ‘here’ was. She read the name aloud, hoping she added the right amount of confused, “SoulGen? A biology center?”

“Close enough. Pharmaceutical R&D. Don’t be fooled by the exterior,” with the state of the city, Raine was ecstatic someone had the intelligence to close the exterior gate of the facility. The car pulled up to the security booth, and Raine rolled down his window.

“Sorry, sir. We’re locke-oof!” The guard’s head received a solid thwack from behind.

A more senior guard bowed low to Raine. His hand, still on the rookie, brought the younger man down with him, “Apologies, Mr. KongRu. I’ll have this open for you immediately.”

“Whose idea was it to close the gate?” Raine snapped.

“Sorry, sir! That was my fault. It won’t happ—”

“Great job,” Raine’s 180-reversal to praise had the guard’s brows hiking to his hairline, “Name and salary?”

“Uhh, Stevensenn, sir. Markus Stevensenn, and seven thousand creds?” Why Markus sounded so unsure about such a simple question was a mystery.

Raine chalked it up to nerves, “Well, Markus Stevenseen, closing the gates is exactly what I would have done. Keep up the good work. I’m bumping you up to fifty thousand annual. If you don’t see it reflected by end of day, contact Mrs. Rasmusin.”

“T-thank you, sir! Mr. KongRu, sir!” Raine cut him off again, this time with a simple tilt of his head toward the still closed gate. Markus snapped off a quick salute, then slammed his finger on an AR button only he could see.

The inadequate chain-link gate rumbled to the side, and the taxi zipped inside. The gate closed behind them. Before Raine got distracted, he messaged Mrs. Rasmusin, directing her to increase Markus’s salary and not let him go when they replaced the rest of the security.

“That was… nice of you?” Mel questioned suspiciously, knowing Raine's greed well.

Understanding where she was coming from, he released a bark of laughter, “Credits and gold make the world go round, but few things are more valuable than good employees. What’s the point of being tight with my finances if I don’t spend them in the right places?”

“Being tight with your-Yeah, that’s one way to put it,” Mel trailed off, shaking her head.

The taxi parked itself. Raine hopped out, holding the door for Mel, “That reminds me, we still haven’t figured out your official position in Astra Infernum.”

She walked beside him, no longer carelessly strolling but scanning every direction like she always saw Raine doing, “Can we hold off on that for a bit longer? I don’t know anything about being in a ZL guild.”

“That’s fine. Let me know when something that sounds interesting comes along. If you want to hop around a bit, that's a great way to learn,” Raine was careful to hide the conniving glimmer in his eyes.

Inside the lobby, a breathless Mrs. Rasmusin waited near the receptionist's desk. She bowed, along with the three other staff members inside. There wasn’t another soul in the room. “Mr. KongRu. Thank you for coming. We’ve been worried sick with everything that’s happening. Is it as bad out there as it looks?”

He nodded gravely, “Worse. I suggest staying here tonight if possible. Let all the staff know they’re welcome to do the same, full pay.”

“Thank you, Mr. KongRu!” All three spoke in unison, bowing again.

When the secretary moved to lead him, Rain stopped her with a flick of his wrist, “I know the way, Mrs. Rasmusin.”

“Right. Of course,” she looked troubled, hesitating.

“Unless there was something you needed to discuss?” 

She glanced at Mel, and he nodded reassuringly, “We can talk later.” Hooking Mel’s arm, he guided her to an elevator and set their course for the underground labs.

Don’t want to stress her out with whatever Mrs. Rasmusin wanted. Mel might be the only person in this world I actually trust. Well, besides Mom. Damn, I really need to call her.

Mel’s toes curled at the shame of having access to his surface thoughts and not telling him. [No! There’s no reason to feel this way anymore. I only use his thoughts to help him now, to protect him from, well... people like me. But the bad ones! Celeste said the doctor here was no good. I've gotta be on top of my game. No more spacing out!

The lower floor was a shadow of its former self. Many of the labs had been gutted, their obfuscating glass walls removed for easy access to the heavy equipment inside. A few retained their original look, Pamalaiha's lab 18 among them.

Raine passed his watch over the door's control. It opened with a hiss. He entered first, spotting the doctor leaning over a table. She wore her usual clean room lab coat and mask, obscuring most of her features.

The doctor straightened as Mel leaned around Raine's broad torso for a peek. She stumbled a step upon seeing Pamalaiha for the first time. The young, curvy doctor had the most beautiful blue eyes Mel had ever seen. Her every move exuded a powerful, deadly grace that drew the eye but also raised the hackles. This woman was as dangerous as any beast she’d fought in ZionLine.

In fact, seeing the doctor reminded Mel of the first time she caught sight of Raine; the similarities in the perilous nature that clung to them was uncanny. Mel swallowed hard, mouth suddenly dry.

[Trapped in the same tiny room with both of them?! Danger! Melbelle's in trouble. Ohmygosh, please don't say anything stupid.]

Unaware of Mel's predicament, Raine introduced them, “Dr. Pamalaiha Shroufand, this is my… partner, Melani Feladay.”

The doctor's slight accent and harsh tone were like a velvet-coated whip in Mel's ears, “I told you your presence was unnecessary. Why have you come? I am at a pivotal stage of production. Further delays will cause deviation in the… product.” Pamalaiha narrowed those glistening blue eyes on Mel, who gulped again, heat rising to her cheeks.

Raine nodded as though everything was going to script, “In that case, we'll stay out of your way until you finish.”

Mel is the perfect solution for this particular problem. With how quickly she learns, just watching will be enough for now.

Pamalaiha’s lips twisted in thought, then she crooked a finger toward Mel, beckoning. “Very well. Since you are here, you can assist me with the next step. Four hands will be faster than two, even untrained ones.”

It was like the doctor read Raine's mind with how easy she made it for him. Hiding a grin, he tilted his head at the hiding girl, “I've got a few things to deal with. Mel, can you help her?”

“What?! Me?” Mel's timid squeak was the opposite of the impression she wanted to make. 

She was about to deny his request out of instinctive fear, but Pamalaiha's whip-crack voice invaded her skull, scattering the little self-reliance she'd developed recently, “Come!” Pamalaiha turned without waiting to see if Mel listened.

[Oh, dear Lord. She even sounds like him. Cooked twice in one day? Is this heaven or hell?]

“Yes, ma'am!” Mel hustled to follow and was quickly set to work grinding a strange-looking plant with a rustic mortar and pestle. The little bowl and grinding tool couldn't have looked more out of place in the high-tech lab. 

The bluish fibers were incredibly tough. Mel was soon sweating. Her muscles ached, straining to make any headway. Seeing movement, she looked up at the doctor, instantly devolving into a deer in headlights when those damnable blue eyes pierced her. Thankfully, the doctor nodded encouragingly before resuming her task of carefully moving liquid from one vial to another, one drop at a time.

Mel's heart fluttered, and she wanted to curse, something she vowed in her soul never to do again. She was doing it again. How could she not? Pamalaiha's voice gave no room to deny her, and Mel wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Being told what to do by a domineering voice was like relaxing on the beach to her. The harder she ground the stupidly tough root while thinking about the doctor's encouraging nod, the better she felt.

Her one previous romantic experience had been an absolute train wreck. She blamed it all on a VRVod she got her hands on as a budding teenager. Before that fateful day, she hadn't even really considered there was a difference between boys and girls. Obviously, she knew there was, but it didn't really click. Mel barely remembered watching the short clip for the first time; such was her absolute immersion. It wasn't until years later that she learned what soft BDSM was. It was too late. She had already fallen too far into that hole to climb back out. By the time she was old enough to date, her fascination had grown into a full-blown fetish. Which, of course, led to her picking the wrong kind of psycho.

After a long break to ‘get herself together,’ she met Raine. Earlier that day, at the gym, was the first time in her life that she took the romantic initiative by giving Raine what she knew he wanted, even if he didn’t verbally ask for it. In a way, it was just another form of submitting to his desires, which was right up her alley. Nothing in the world felt as amazing to her as giving her all while submitting. It was pure pleasure that filled her brain with fluffy clouds. And so, she ground the root all the harder.

Raine wasn't the least bit surprised by how quickly Mel adapted. In the past, she always excelled at the jobs nobody wanted to do. Any new task thrown her way was attacked with great relish. She was no different now, surpassing the doctor’s expectations while under pressure. 

Raine’s plan had been simple; if Pamalaiha couldn't find someone trustworthy, he would give her the only girl he knew he could trust. After all, their contract was all but signed. Then, Mel's trustworthiness would become infallible. Raine wasn't entirely comfortable signing that cursed thing, but the clauses he added made it barely acceptable. 

Mel would be a slave in a way, just like Raine was for so long. However, that didn't mean she would be treated poorly, far from it. Mel would become a queen within Astra Infernum, gaining authority that rivaled his own. 

Over an hour, Raine watched approvingly as Mel gave her all with every little task. She was so into it that she forgot he was there. A goofy grin was plastered to her face the whole time, even when wiping the sweat from her brow. Mel was amazing, a visage of perfection, and Raine couldn’t have been more thrilled to bring her along for the adventures in store.

While Raine alone knew the batch of ReGen Mel was helping to create was bound for her, neither of them fully grasped the implications of her taking it. For it would be the catalyst that reforged her destiny, inducing her transformation into a powerhouse the likes of which would shake the foundations of ZionLine. She would become the first of Astra’s Pillars, an unstoppable existence: a nightmare to all who opposed her. They would call her, The Slayer of Stars.