Harker felt that he himself was slowly freezing, and he struggled. The Ice Giantess just smiled.
"Now imagine how much power of creation would the full piece hold. We thought that Edmund Walton had taken the whole fruit, but he had actually only taken a small bite. How very fitting."
The freezing felt the same way as burning. It was so cold that it burned, that it made the small cells 'combust' and explode within itself.
But somehow, that was the least of Harker's concerns. He could still see with his dismembered eyes that Roland was bleeding to death, while he had no idea what happened to Mina and Joan. And the bodyguards were still waiting for the signal, out in the sea on a ship.
The fate of the world was in his hands, his burden to carry even if he would rather succumb to his personal pain and suffering.
Harker tried his best to have some SS cells squeeze out in between the gaps of the Ice Giantess' fingers. But her own cells enveloped it in its icy grip.
ραпdα n?νa| сom "I would behave if I were you." She lightly chuckled, but her face remained expressionless. "The only reason why I haven't erased you from existence yet was because I still need to know where you kept those other two Malum. I would heal your friend for you if you tell me, and perhaps I can send him, my sister and that blonde girl on their way."
Harker responded to her with a bitter scoff. "You're lying. You could just consume me in order to gain my memories. You're just playing with your prey before you deliver the end."
Victoria the Ice Giantess frowned. "That's not true. I cannot consume you, just like how the ice cannot consume fire. It doesn't work that way. It can kill fire, but not consume it."
Harker realized that she was right. Legion could have just eaten him, but he didn't. Instead, he put up with that fight despite being the stronger one of the two in terms of both strength and control over this kind of ability. And he lost, almost deliberately, it seemed.
So this was the reason.
"That doesn't mean that you are invincible. I can kill you, but not consume you. So I'm leaving you a choice." She tightened her grip. "Show me where the other two 'Shards' are. Or die along with your friends, while I find them myself."
Harker tried to think of a plan with the very few seconds he had left. Mina and Joan were still alive, since Victoria used them as a bargaining chip. But he doesn't know how hurt they were.
Still, they couldn't be as much worse as Roland. If he doesn't act soon, Roland's life would be gone.
"Heal him first, then I'll tell you where the Shards were." He said.
Victoria shook her big blue icy head. "No. It doesn't work that way, Mr. Jones."
"Then I'll tell you where one of the Shards were, and you heal him and release him. After that, I'll tell you where the other one is if you promise to let Mina and Joan go too."
The Ice Giantess considered this, her eyelashes that looked like they're made of fine strands of snow fluttering as she blinked. Then, she nodded.
Harker frowned. "How can I be sure you'll fulfill your promise later?"
Victoria spoke softly: "I fulfill all my promises, don't I? Back when we also bartered like this. I am not a villain, Mr. Jones, and I have an integrity to uphold. It's the only thing separating me from Legion, how I maintained my own identity. While Legion easily accepts everyone else's identity, both the good and the bad.... I want to stay as my true honest self."
Harker thought that he was so tired of hearing his enemies claim they're honest. And he hated how it was true every single time.
He too was honest for most of the time but…..
For his survival, he needed to make an exception.
"The first Shard….. Is within my bedroom. In the third drawer in the vanity, it's two broken pieces that I put together after gaining it from two demons." He said.
Victoria can't verify this information because she couldn't feed on Harker's memories. So she based it on his tone, which sounded genuine enough.
She released several SS cells from the tip of her icy fingers into Roland's wound. She first took out the harpoon, then covered the large hole it made on his solar plexus. Luckily, it wasn't on his chest and didn't hit anything vital like his heart, lungs, or spine. But he would have bled to death within a few more minutes.
Roland gasped loudly as he was healed, and looked at the worms with pure hatred and disgust. It was reasonable for him to dislike those things as they have invaded his body several times without his knowledge, and tried to take control of him like a puppet.
"Harker…. Don't believe her….." Roland said. "I saw what she did to Mina and Joan. She gave them away to—"
The worms suddenly wrapped around his mouth, silencing him. Roland's eyes widened as they lifted him up, and carried him out.
"They're taking him back to the ship where you came from." Victoria said. "Now for the second Shard."
Instead of answering, Harker first asked: "Since when did you know? Since the start?"
Victoria didn't say anything for a while, her blue lips closed into a thin line. Then, she confirmed it.
"Yes. But it doesn't count as a lie, if we don't consider omission as a lie. I simply didn't say anything as you tried to infiltrate my group. You're not really good at concealing yourself as much as I or Legion do, concealing your abilities. It's not just that we acquire them, you know. They are like new features in our appearance, and can be seen by those like us."
Harker cursed. So it was because he still had low Concealment. He wondered how he could raise that one in the next Ability Ascension.
"Second Shard. Now." Victoria said.
Harker almost told her about it, when he realized that the moon wasn't shining its usual silver glow tonight.
They were so focused about Victoria and Eden that he had forgotten this was the night of the Super Blue Blood Moon. And he saw a flying figure passing overhead.
He remembered what Roland said, and understood now.
"The second Shard….. Is with me."
Victoria frowned. "That's a lie. I have scattered your cells to pieces. I would have seen the Shard—"
"The Shard is not a metal that can't be mixed with our cells when we Shapeshift. It's like our clothes. It's an organic matter, even when its composition makes it seem like it's not." Harker said. "I have kept it with me, just like Edmund Walton kept it within an icy lake."
Victoria furrowed her brows, as if determining how truthful he was. But Harker's tone was just as truthful as before.
So she did try to look for the Shards among the cells. As she focused on combing through every single one of them…..
Harker began to feed on her.
Ice cannot consume fire. But fire consumes everything. He will consume Victoria until she burns and gets banished from this paradise.
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