The wound had soon healed, but that's not the point of the attack. Harker's blood was like liquid fire as it melted the ground and the ice underneath.
"Roland" moved fast to grab the hand once it was fully revealed, submerged in bloody water. The hand was very stiff, and wasn't attached to the body. It didn't grip the shard between its index and thumb tightly, but it was impossible to take it without breaking the hardened bones.
[Shard spotted! You have retrieved 3/13 of the Orb of Omniscience!]
As soon as he did take the Shard, the hand crumbled into nothing but ashes, reminding Harker of that old saying.
Harker knows that this must be Hanker possessing Roland. He most likely got into the ship through the 'gift' they provided to them. He felt so stupid, but there was no way to anticipate that he would change his mind about his suicide. And it was even more impossible to anticipate…..
That he would find the body of Henry Clerval under the same bridge where he jumped.
The coincidence was so crazy and aligned too damn well that it might as well be called fate.
Still, Harker had seen the signs. The obsession with flower language, the weird shadowy figures, and Roland's strange behavior.
When the wound had fully healed, Harker yanked out the harpoon off his chest and aimed the tip to Hanker's neck.
"Get out of his body right now." He said.
The former clone just laughed through his best friend's mouth. "You think threatening me with that would work? You won't be killing me, you'll be killing Roland. Then we'll truly be together, as I digest his memories into my own before they deteriorate with his dying body."
Harker smirked. "You should have learned better from Legion."
Hanker's smirk slowly disappeared when he said that, as he only realized how Harker's SS cells slowly creeped up behind Roland's body, and went to travel inside his ears. He convulsed, falling into the ground as foreign cells fought within him.
Harker put all his effort into dragging Hanker's SS cells out of the body. It was like their cells were all playing a game of Chicken Fight.
The pool would be Roland's blood and gray matter, while their cells fought to push each other off balance. Just like the actual game, it caused a strain on Harker, both physically and mentally. But it did the same with Hanker, as he soon lost grip of control on the body and gave way for others to take over.
"Harker! We need to get out of here soon!" Roland said, holding the Shard in his hand. "We have Malum now, we can't let Victoria find that it's with us!"
Henry Clerval, despite possibly having the least influence, managed to pop out one more time. "Edmund dear, are you alright? Your veins will burst if you keep pushing yourself."
Harker tried to ignore their voices since if he did, he'd lose his grip. He was sweating buckets as he gritted his teeth…..
And finally, he let out a loud cry as he expelled the last of Hanker's cells at last. "GRRAHHH!!!"
Black worms shot out from Roland's ears, both Harker and the clone's. To make sure he doesn't go inside Roland again, his SS cells shoved Hanker's into the cold water.
The icy coldness also had an effect on these superior, almost immortal cells, even though it wasn't as immediate as fire. Fire burns the cells, while ice freezes it slowly. It makes them weaker until they get compacted and harden, eventually sinking.
This was the fate that was supposed to meet Hanker. Though the water in London was less colder than in the North Pole because it was summer there, it's still significantly chillier than, say, tropical waters.
But the temperature here outside of Eden was at sub-zero. And so Hanker started to freeze a lot faster.
Harker could hear his voice as he interacted with his SS cells, trying to swallow them and fight for freedom in the cold water. But Harker was willing to sacrifice a few of his cells anyway to die with this clone.
"You think that getting rid of me would change anything? You have already sealed your fate the moment you started to look for the Shards, Hark. You're just sinking into the pit even deeper by getting rid of the part of you that's most honest. That knows the truth, the full truth."
Harker couldn't tell if Hanker was being genuine or he was just trying to mess with his head one last time. But if he was manipulative enough to hide his presence within Roland, then it's reasonable for Harker to doubt his last words.
"You're not the only part of me that can find the truth, Hank. You may know it already, but I can work my way through it myself."
At this, the part of him that was most instinctual and repressed, yet also intuitive, laughed sadly.
"Very well. Bury me once more, like you always did before."
And he did. Hanker was truly gone, frozen and sinking into the frozen lake. But his presence is still there, like a three-headed beast banished to remain alone in the dark pits with no warmth or light.
Harker breathed heavily, turning to Roland. He was so relieved as he let out a breath, and opened his mouth to speak—
When he realized the harpoon had struck him in the stomach, blood pooling in the area into a ring like a blood moon.
Roland's hands were the ones who did it, but it wasn't him. The dread and terror in his eyes were evident. Harker went towards him—
When he was swallowed by a black tornado, dragging him away and scattering him to pieces.
Harker soon realized what just happened. All along, it wasn't just Hanker and Henry Clerval who were possessing Roland's body with SS cells.
A third entity had hid very well, had waited for the right moment while everything was in chaos before she struck.
"Thank you for finding the Malum for us, Mr. Jones." The tent had broken down as the Ice Giantess appeared, gripping Harker tightly in her hands. "I don't understand why your blood would be the answer to all of it, though. But what I did learn from the screen that appeared before your subconscious , the one who claims to know the 'full truth' …."
"Is that the Malum had simply been part of something greater, and that you have 3 of its pieces now, correct?"
The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr𝒆e(w)𝒆bnovel