Tyrant's Stars: Parts Three and Four (3 page)

“I’m inside. Thirty seconds left—you don’t have much time. I feel it only fair to warn you that anyone whose DNA hasn’t been encoded into the Sacred Ancestor’s technology won’t even be able to touch the door. Keep that in mind as you make your attempt.”

Already the computer had drawn a bead on D with a dimensional-vortex cannon.

D stepped forward.

“Ready to die?” Valcua’s voice sneered.

Purple light fell from the ceiling straight down on D. The instant D’s form rose from it the light faded, becoming a single beam that penetrated the center of the door. Slowly it opened down the middle, allowing D to enter.

“Oh, my—not bad for a small fry!” Valcua said, his voice containing relatively little surprise.

This in itself was worthy of admiration. A person whose DNA was encoded into the Sacred Ancestor’s technology—that was tantamount to saying someone came from the Sacred Ancestor’s bloodline. But Valcua wasn’t shocked by this. And he himself had made it inside.

“But you’re three seconds late. The reactor will collapse in fifty-seven seconds, and neither Braujou nor Miranda can press the switch to stop it. Only the Sacred Ancestor could stop a meltdown.”

As D turned without a moment’s pause toward the reactor, he heard a sweet female voice say, “Collapse in fifty-one seconds. Fifty seconds ...”

Who had chosen that lovely female voice to inform them of impending death and destruction? Despite the pronouncements by the angel of death, D didn’t seem afraid as he walked with great strides to the front of the reactor.

“What happened to your left hand?” Valcua’s voice inquired mockingly. He’d said he was inside the reactor, but there was no sign of him.

Though it was regulated from a control room, there were also controls inside the reactor itself for use in an emergency. The reason D chose the latter was simple: the reactor was closer.

“When those three who didn’t know their place planned this citadel to escape my wrath, they needed the aid of the Sacred Ancestor to design this reactor. First came the reactor, and then the fortress was constructed around it. It is, quite literally, the source of life here. D, can you prevent it from becoming the cause of death?”

As the Ultimate Noble posed his question, D didn’t appear to look for him, but rather stood directly before the reactor.

The woman’s voice counted out forty-six seconds.

At that moment, numerous silvery grains rose up on all sides of D. In the blink of an eye, they covered D’s body and then disappeared in another blink. They had been drawn into D’s flesh.

At almost the same time, a green object appeared before D’s eyes. Although the slim and graceful woman’s hand was glowing green, it seemed somehow pale and white.

“Dear me,” Valcua exclaimed, and this time he couldn’t hide the hint of admiration in his voice.

D took hold of it with his right hand.

The female voice counted off, “Two seconds. One second.”

Nothing changed, except for the female voice ceasing its count. The fires of hell that only those of the Sacred Ancestor’s bloodline could control had been splendidly kept in check.

Looking up toward the ceiling as if nothing had transpired, D said, “Come out.”

It wasn’t a challenge. It was a command. A mere Hunter was ordering the Ultimate Noble to show himself.

In a tone that didn’t hide his surprise, Valcua said, “So, you have the blood of the Sacred Ancestor in you?”

However, he immediately retracted his statement, saying with absolute arrogance, “No, a drudge like you couldn’t be one of his descendants. I don’t know what kind of device you might have or where you might’ve acquired it, but this farce has gone on long enough. Die!”

D blocked with his sword the streak of light that plummeted straight down at him. The sparks burned D’s shadow onto the floor. Bounding to either side without a sound, the pair switched places, a fierce will to kill binding them together.

D saw the Ultimate Noble for the first time. Quite similar to the Hunter in terms of height and build, Valcua wore a golden cape. Given the hard, gleaming flecks that covered its surface, the garment seemed to be woven from some sort of metallic fiber. Beneath the cape, his torso and limbs were wrapped in lumpy pieces of bluish-green armor. His weapon was the golden light he gripped with his right hand. It wasn’t metal, but rather seemed to be an ionlike substance that had undergone additional chemical treatment.

Not bothering to change stance, Valcua called out, “D!”

His voice emerged from a screen of gold. His forelocks hung down to his chin, concealing his eyes, nose, and mouth, while the rest of his hair reached his waist.

“Nicely blocked. I imagine that is the proper response. Who are you, sir?”

D’s toes inched forward.

“My goodness! You send a chill down my spine—me, the great Valcua!—and make my blood run cold. Who knew there was such a man in the world besides
him
and myself? It would be a shame to kill you. D, will you not join forces with me? Of course, in order to do that, the traitor and the two children would need to be dealt with first. Oh!”

Valcua raised his right hand. His sword of light sent a stream of gleaming particles at D, and the Hunter held his blade up straight to parry them. The light was slashed down the middle.

There was no change at all to the sword D held upright, and from his present position he leaped over Valcua. There was a clang, and sparks went flying. The blade of D’s sword had been blocked over Valcua’s head.

Roughly three feet in diameter, his perfectly circular shield had the same golden glow as the Ultimate Noble’s sword of light. It hadn’t been concealed before—Valcua must’ve had the power to create it from thin air.

Light challenged light. There was no hesitation in D’s attack. Striking with breathless speed, D’s sword was dodged, parried, and countered with glowing thrusts as Valcua backed away.

As D parried one of these attacks, there came a momentary opening. The shield pushed forward. As if driven by the force of the wind, D leaped back. The glowing blade pursued him. When D deflected it, it broke off at an angle, flying up to sink into the reactor’s outer walls.

Before D had even landed, a red light winked on in the room.

“Damage extends to the third layer of shielding,” a mechanical voice informed them. “Repair systems operational. Level-five damage verified. Level-five damage verified.”

“Repairs are urgently needed. Repairs are urgently needed.”

“It looks as if not even the Sacred Ancestor's technology could guard against the Sacred Ancestor's destructive power,” Valcua said, his golden face upturned a little. There was bitterness in his voice. “As this destruction wasn’t at my bidding, there’s nothing I can do about it. I suppose I should leave before I’m caught up in the consequences. D, won’t you come with me?”

Even after their deadly battle, did Valcua still intend to win D over?

The outlines of his form became indistinct as he transformed into a gaseous mass that resembled gold and black oil paints swirled together. Once the air had assimilated it, D sheathed his sword and started walking toward the door.

“At present, repairs are under way. Repairs are under way. The damage has not been contained. The damage has not been contained.”

“A dimensional fusing is required. Development of the technology is under way.”

The stern voices of the machines came from behind the Hunter. They sounded frantic.

D was just coming out the door when he met a familiar face. Moving down the hall was his charred left hand.

“You’re late,” D said.

“What are you talking about? I finally silenced Sigma. Just look at the shape I’m in!”

“Did you destroy Sigma?”

“I can’t say that for sure,” it replied, its tone dropping. “At the very least, I left ’im so he won’t be able to ever send another terminal at us. But as for whether or not his main form has been shut down—”

“The reactor’s been damaged,” D said.

“What?"

“The damage was done by one of the Sacred Ancestor’s weapons. I need your help.”

“You intend to get even more work out of me? You’re absolutely heartless. . . like some kind of beautiful demon.”

Even as it cursed him, it made mention of his beauty. D had that effect on everyone.

Leaving his left hand, D walked toward the elevator. Seen from behind, he was an exquisite sight, befitting the stillness in the hall.

Even now, inside and out, a horrible battle to the death that burned everything down to the very atoms was growing even more intense. Within the fortress, klaxons had resounded for several minutes. The security computers that hadn’t noticed Valcua’s entry had awakened from the sleeplike spell that had been over them during D’s pitched battle.

Even in the fortress’s infirmary, security had its eyes and swords ready to strike down any intruders. Although this facility was intended in part for the trio of Nobles who’d constructed the fortress, there were also a number of sickrooms for any humans who served them. Behind a door protected by android sentries were Sue and Matthew.

Less than two minutes after D’s fierce battle with Valcua, another android was walking past the infirmary. Once it came to the door, it suddenly turned in that direction and headed straight for the children’s room.

“Halt,” the sentries said, raising the particle cannons mounted on their arms, but that did nothing to stop its advance. Blue and white lights focused on the intruder, becoming blinding, cracked streaks that clung to every inch of it. The android shuddered, tumbling forward before the memory banks of its control unit were destroyed. Still lying as it had fallen, it reached out with its right hand and touched the foot of the sentry in front of it.

A heartbeat later, the android it touched turned toward another sentry and subjected it to the same attack. Ignoring its compatriot as it too fell forward, the sentry drew a bead on the circuits for accessing the sickroom with its particle cannon.