He looked at Isaac, at the body like a volcano, at those glowing cracks.
"Lava." He sized him up. "You look like a living volcano."
Isaac raised a hand and watched the dark red glow flow beneath his skin.
"You look like a pangolin too."
Thomas grinned when he heard that, as if he had heard a particularly amusing joke. The scales shifted open and shut with his smile, making a rustling sound.
"At least I can still smile."
Marcus rose to his feet, and a thin layer of frost formed over the ground around him.
"What good is smiling? What matters is being able to kill."
Michelle turned around, the golden spikes trembling slightly with her movement.
"Killing." Her eyes narrowed faintly. "That's what we're best at now."
Kyle emerged from the darkness, the white eye on his forehead opening.
"And after we kill them?"
No one answered.
Layla walked over and placed a hand on Kyle's shoulder. The eyes on the back of her hand all looked at him at once.
"We'll deal with what comes after later."
The scorpion tail behind Karim stopped swaying, all of them pointing in one direction—toward Africa.
"Over there." His pupils focused. "They're waiting."
Hans raised his head, the metal antennae on his head trembling wildly.
"Eighteen thousand angels. Their energy is decaying seventeen percent faster than expected. In one month, three weak points will appear on the eastern side of Holy Light Bastion."
Martin's outline finally stabilized, becoming that of an utterly ordinary-looking middle-aged man.
"Then we move in one month."
Isaac turned and walked toward the edge of the trial platform.
"One month." His voice was cold. "Enough time for a nap."
Thomas followed him.
"You can sleep?"
"Even if I can't, I have to."
Leaning on his hunting rifle,