Noble knew the mont the vessel entered the room that Harlow had been taken.
The other Masters did too, albeit for a different reason. Harlow was careful. Even if she had opted to ignore the special knock, she would have co silently through the rock wall instead of busting down the door.
The unyielding hatred coming from the woman only confird to Noble that her instincts were correct.
The monster was among them.
As horrifying as the realization was, she didn't panic.
If the vessel wasn't going to imdiately attack, the professor would take the ti to get Teran, Lonzo, and Fir out of the way. They would be the easiest targets in whatever was about to happen.
Granted if Noble died, there was no way for any of them to escape, but that was a long-term problem, not an imdiate one.
The Skinwalker wanted to travel with them. Either Jet's bold escape had spurned it into action, or it had seized the easy opportunity when one of the mbers was separated from the group.
As Noble feared, it had been watching and tracking them, waiting for the perfect ti to strike.
And the plan would have worked, except that the Skinwalker had never figured out one tiny detail—that Noble could sense it.
That made so sense. Unless it had been able to hear while it was inside the runic prison, Noble had never revealed that she could detect the Skinwalker in front of it.
The Nightmare Creature had had over a million successful battles since the last ti the Master had seen it.
Strolling in, the fake Harlow was ready to lull yet another set of humans into a false sense of security.
Only it didn't.
"Close your eyes," Noble frowned. "And don't open them."
Harlow tilted her head. "That is a strange plan. Do you think if you can't see those things, they won't be able to hurt you?"
But Noble and Coy had already shut their eyes. Chip's face contorted. His ears and nose grew to monstrous proportions, absorbing his sense of sight completely.
The grotesque sight should have been enough to make any person shiver, but instead, laughter filled the room.
Harlow's smile turned dark as her voice morphed.
"Ah, I see. Is that how it is? Master Noble, this is not a children's ga. There is no hiding, only seeking. You never stood a chance."
Fear coiled around Noble's middle as the Skinwalker said her na. It sounded familiar with her, almost friendly.
But there was nothing friendly in the words.
"Not very sporting of you to give us no chance." Noble flashed a smile as she activated her second sight. "Perhaps you could count to twenty and then co after us."
She knew her words would never be heeded, of course. Noble needed half a second for the Zenith to finish manifesting.
But the Skinwalker did not give her that mont. Harlow lunged forward and the bunker exploded with activity. She aid for Noble, missing her and demolishing the couch in the middle of the room.
Hearing the sound, Coy's eyes opened and he ran straight at the abomination with his sword raised.
Harlow batted him aside, or at least she would have, but her hand caught only air.
The vessel spun and caught the staff of Chip's Kama Yari, ready to crush the powerful weapon with her bare hands.
Only she didn't get the chance.
Seeing the opening, Noble's Zenith ca down with frightening force from behind. Harlow was not wearing armor, and the seasoned duelist found its shoulder joint with ease.
The blade sliced through the soft flesh and dug around the bone, eting minimal resistance.
Harlow's Awakened body was no match for the superior strength of the Zenith. The severed arm released the Kama Yari and slid across the room.
Chip spun his weapon before stabbing it deep into Harlow's chest.
Harlow choked and sputtered blood. Droplets dripped down her cheek.
The burly Master grinned fiercely.
"I know she's not here anymore, but that felt good," he said to no one in particular.
'Don't count her out yet,' Noble warned through the mory. She wished she could tell Coy the sa, but she doubted that the one she could see was the actual man.
Harlow's shocked expression twisted as a sinister laugh escaped her lips.
"Is that all you've got?"
She pulled the weapon from her chest and swung it with her left hand at Chip. He barely dismissed it before it crashed into his head. Instead, Harlow's fist crashed into the wall, causing the whole structure to rumble.
The concrete pillar cracked, revealing the pink stone hidden inside. A few more hits like that would bring down the antiquated bunker. That didn't sound like an appealing prospect.
They needed to act quickly.
Using the eyes of his decoy, Coy blazed forward to lop off Harlow's head. While he couldn't tangibly interact with the world, the second body of the man could still perceive and give those senses to Coy's primary form.
So although his eyes were shut tight, Coy's aim was precise and deadly. The edge drew close to the target and for a mont, Noble dared to hope that he might succeed.
His blade ca within a milliter of the woman's neck before Harlow ducked and raised her elbow. The action was a blur and it wasn't until the vessel gripped the hilt of Coy's sword that Noble was able to intervene. Using her Aspect, she pulled Coy out of the way of the incoming crushing head butt.
He landed on his feet out of harm's way while Harlow's head made another dent in the wall. The vessel didn't notice the wound or check that her skin had been torn away to show the bone on her forehead. Instead, she held up Coy's weapon.
With strength beyond a re Awakened, she crushed the hilt of the sword and sent fissures along the blade. In an instant, the sword dissolved into a rain of sparks.
Coy's weapon was destroyed.
But the vessel wasn't done.
Wiping the blood from her mouth, Harlow ambled toward the severed arm. She picked it up and held it to her side. Turning around, her smile widened.
'Oh no...'
Through her second sight, Noble watched in horror. Coy was summoning a pair of Sharktooth daggers while Chip's Kama Yari was taking shape once more. There was no way to make it across the room fast enough to pin down the woman, and even if they did, would it do any good?
Noble tried to use her Aspect to rip the arm away from Harlow's grasp, but the vessel was not about to let its appendage go.
The white bone of Harlow's skull beca covered with a fresh layer of flesh. Her chest wound rippled as the skin and bones began to repair themselves. The woman's heart, which had been ripped apart by Chip's decisive blow, began to beat again. The shoulder, too, reford. The edges of the clean tear reached for the torso, sealing closed as the detached bones reconnected. The freshly attached arm flexed and stretched.
It all took place in less than a mont and in a blink, Harlow's body was whole and unblemished once more.
Noble's mouth opened in disbelief. How had it done that? So monsters could heal themselves, but this was sothing else entirely. The thing was invincible!
Harlow's eyes glistened like two mirrors as she clicked her tongue.
"Nineteen...Twenty." She shook her head slowly. "You had your sporting chance. Now...it's my turn."
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