In the Eighth District, in front of an abandoned building, Raven stood beside Iris and Lionel Gray. Raven drew the handle of the Wave Blade from his long coat, and as soon as it touched the air, water extended from its edge, forming a sharp blade. The three advanced inside. The moment they crossed the threshold, Valentine Crow appeared. He was sitting in the corner, and as soon as he caught sight of them, he rose slowly, then lowered his hat in a dramatic motion and said:
"Finally, you've come."
But Raven didn't give him the time to finish his sentence. He attacked quickly, his sword roaring with a sound like waves. Yet what happened in the next moment was bewildering: the blade pierced his body, then the body vanished like smoke.
From the opposite corner, Valentine's voice rose again, as he appeared standing in another corner:
"Can't you tell illusion from reality? How disappointing, Raven."
Raven growled and turned swiftly, then lunged again, attacking thoughtlessly. His sword cut through the air again and again, but Valentine vanished and reappeared, fading and returning.
Iris spoke sharply, watching the scene with worry:
"Calm down, Raven!"
But her voice didn't reach him. His eyes were unstable, his movements erratic. His fingers were clutched so tightly around the hilt of his sword that his knuckles turned white.
She muttered, unable to hide her tension:
"Something's wrong."
Even Lionel, who rarely showed interest, furrowed his brows and watched closely. Valentine wasn't attacking, only dodging. It looked as though he was merely toying with Raven.
While Iris stood, lost in a whirlpool of thoughts, a calm voice came from behind her:
"Aren't you going to help your comrade?"
She spun quickly toward the source of the voice to find Valentine standing a few meters away. Sparks of faint fire rose from her fingers, then she fired a quick flame shot at him. It struck his shoulder, leaving a light burn mark.
He slowly lifted his coat sleeve, wiped away the dripping blood, then said mockingly:
"Not a bad reaction."
Iris began firing a series of light flame shots, deliberately lowering their power to avoid setting the entire place ablaze.
Valentine's hand extended in an unnatural way, from it dangled distorted human faces.
That hand shot toward her with tremendous speed, but she leapt aside with agility, rolling across the ground to evade the strike. Valentine's hand smashed into the wall behind her, shattering it under the impact.
He gave her no chance to catch her breath, attacking again, his arms twisting unnaturally. In the next moment, Lionel dashed from the side, delivering a direct blow that sent him flying outside the building. Iris hesitated briefly before following them.
Meanwhile, Raven was chasing Valentine or at least what seemed to him to be Valentine. But every time Raven's blade pierced his body, he vanished in a flash, only to reappear in another corner.
"Stop running!" Raven shouted, pointing his sword at him. "Fight like a man!"
Valentine appeared again in another corner of the room, and as soon as he materialized, he said:
"Fight like a man? My dear Raven, if I fought you seriously, I'd end your life within seconds."
Raven snarled in anger and rushed again with reckless swings, but Valentine vanished yet again, reappearing a few steps away, leaning against a nearby wall:
"But I do have a question that puzzles me: why have you suddenly become so obsessed with revenge?"
Raven didn't answer. He wasn't in the mood for twisted dialogues. He charged again, sword raised, but Valentine vanished before the strike landed.
This time, he appeared atop a wooden crate, half his body immersed in shadow, then continued calmly:
"Was it seeing me inside that warehouse that lit that fire in you?"
Raven shouted unconsciously:
"You tampered with my memories!"
"Tampered with your memories? And why would I do that?"
With a voice saturated with anger, Raven said:
"What do you mean?"
Valentine approached further, holding his chin with his hand:
"Ah, I see now… someone really did tamper with your memories! Well, what do you say? Want to see the truth with your own eyes?"
Before Raven could retreat, Valentine vanished and reappeared directly in front of him, just one step away. He stretched out his hand and placed it on Raven's forehead.
Raven had no time to react, and soon he froze in place. At that moment, waves of memories flooded his mind: a warm home, a laughing mother, a father holding his small child in his arms. The images were clear this time, unlike before.
Memories of his father shouting at creditors, taking blow after blow, desperately trying to protect his young son. The father whom Raven thought had abandoned him.
In that instant, Raven realized the bitter truth: his father hadn't abandoned him he had defended him until his last breath.
Raven fell to his knees, drained of strength, but the memories didn't stop they grew clearer. His mother's and father's once blurred faces became sharp now.
And as soon as he saw those memories, he realized the slave trader the one he had slain with his own hands had been his father.
Valentine still stood before him, watching in silence.
***
Meanwhile, Iris and Lionel were battling the real Valentine Crow.
Iris lunged forward, quickly raising her hands and unleashing a barrage of concentrated flame shots, followed by consecutive fireballs.
While Valentine fended off the flames, Lionel moved swiftly, exploiting the distraction. He approached from the right side, brandishing his long staff with its sharp tip, aiming for his opponent's blind spot.
But Valentine, with his bare hand, blocked the fiery assaults effortlessly. In a flash, he turned toward Lionel, then pushed him away with his palm.
Lionel slammed against a stone wall and fell harshly to the ground, but immediately rose again, clutching his dislocated shoulder.
Iris raised her arms once more, this time gathering a massive fireball between her hands, which grew larger, brighter, and more intense. Then she hurled the blazing orb straight at Valentine's chest.
Valentine calmly lifted his middle and index fingers, passing them before him. The flame split cleanly in two and scattered in the air without touching him.
Valentine said:
"Is that the best you've got? I was hoping for something more exciting."
From his entire body, gigantic arms covered in eyes sprouted, stretching toward Iris and Lionel. At the end of each arm was a massive, toothless mouth.
Lionel leapt back to dodge, while Iris sprang into the air, firing a chain of flame shots from above. But the arms coiled around her, one seizing her ankle and yanking her to the ground with such force that dust exploded in all directions.
Lionel cut the arm holding Iris's ankle with his metal staff, severing it from Valentine's body. It fell writhing and shrieking yes, shrieking. From that grotesque limb rose cries like howls.
Iris hit the ground, blood spilling from a wound in her shoulder. She gave herself no rest, closing her eyes, raising her hand, and releasing a fiery wave that incinerated the severed limb, which had started twitching again unnaturally.
But that severed arm was only the beginning. More and more arms emerged from Valentine, spreading and multiplying in every direction, slithering toward Iris and Lionel. Some were thin like snakes, others massive.
Lionel shouted:
"Burn them all! Don't let these abominations get close!"
She snapped back while flinging fireballs at the arms:
"Can't you see I'm busy?!"
Lionel swung his staff furiously, slicing through one arm, then another, but their numbers only grew. For every arm cut, two sprouted in its place.
One arm lunged at Lionel's neck, but he ducked at the last second, spun around, and drove his sharp staff into the arm's middle, pinning it with all his strength against the wall. It writhed and screamed before Iris burned it with a fireball from behind.
Valentine approached, his eyes glowing red, his twisted grin slowly widening. Just as he was about to raise his arms for another attack, Lionel pounced from behind, driving his staff straight into his chest with force.
At the same time, Iris unleashed wave after wave of fire blasts, one after another, without pause.
Valentine blocked the assaults with his countless arms, writhing around him like snakes. Yet Lionel's staff had already pierced his chest. Still, Valentine let out no groan, not even a sigh of pain. He only smiled.
"Oh… that stings a little,"
he said. Then, without warning, his arms lashed out like blades. One struck Lionel violently, hurling him to the ground.
Then Valentine turned to Iris. All his arms shot forward at once, from every direction. Iris dodged some, but others struck her shoulder and legs.
She screamed, then released a wide fiery explosion, burning and charring most of the arms. She leapt clear of the rest, rolled across the ground, dodging the final strike.
At that moment, Lionel stood again, facing Valentine head on. He took a deep breath, gripped his staff firmly, then moved fast leaping right, then left, evading Valentine's attacks.
Valentine asked with curiosity:
"Why do you fight? Isn't this play written by your master?"
Lionel answered:
"And at the end of the play… you must die."
Valentine chuckled, then said:
"Die? If your master wanted me dead, he should've at least sent actors with more talent."
Lionel raised his staff and said:
"I alone am enough to kill you."
Valentine laughed mockingly:
"You? You've got a good sense of humor. I see why he kept you close. But if you were enough, he wouldn't have brought these two jesters along with you, don't you agree?"