At the flower shop
Aconé, who was training with his sword, stopped abruptly when a terribly strong smell reached him.
Someone's about to come in, he thought, placing his sword on the ground. They've killed someone before coming here.
Suddenly, two fiery swords appeared in his hands.
"I'm going to test the results of my training on you," Aconé declared, ready to strike.
But a firm hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
"You must be damn fast for me not to have sensed you coming," Aconé said, on guard.
"Normal, why would you want to smell me?" Tony replied with a sly grin.
"Oh, it's you! Come with me, two people are approaching, and one of them reeks of blood. They're probably coming for me," Aconé explained.
"And how do you know one of them smells like blood?" Tony asked, intrigued.
"Have you forgotten? I had to survive alone in the forest, hunted like an animal. My sense of smell and sight have sharpened considerably," Aconé answered confidently.
"Okay, but no, you're coming with me. Otherwise, we're fighting right here, right now," Tony shot back.
The two men locked eyes for a moment. Aconé eventually gave in.
"Fine, I'll come with you. But only if we leave them a little surprise," he said with a mischievous smile.
At the same moment, outside the shop
Verna and Aude had just arrived in front of the store.
"I'll go first, princess," Aude said.
"Do whatever you want," Verna replied nonchalantly.
Aude entered first, followed closely by Verna, who held a small ball of compressed air in her hand, ready to be used.
They noticed the front desk was empty and decided to head toward the backroom. At the door, Aude opened it slowly… only to come face-to-face with a strange creature, like a child made of lightning, surrounded by flames.
Aude knew his compressed air ball wouldn't stop such a threat, but he launched it anyway.
In the sky
"Come on, Tony, three, two, one!" Aconé shouted.
EXPLOSION
The flower shop erupted in a massive blast. The shockwave was so powerful that it damaged several nearby stores as well.
At the last moment, Aude had grabbed Verna and pulled her outside at lightning speed, erecting an air barrier around them for protection.
Moments later, they surveyed the damage. The flower shop was gone, reduced to a pile of rubble and smoke rising into the air.
"To think they tried to kill me… This is too big to be my sister's doing," Verna murmured. "Even if she doesn't like me, she wouldn't go as far as killing so many people to get to me. I need to be careful and find the culprits."
She paused, thinking.
"So, it's either: my sister, Rieze who hates the clan, or that so-called resistance group that's probably just arrived in town. The culprit has to be one of those three," she concluded.
In the northern part of town
Tony and Aconé had just arrived at Kelvin's place.
"This is where you're staying for now? Not bad, it's decent. I was sleeping in the back of the shop, so, you know…" Aconé joked.
Tony headed to Kelvin's room. When he opened the door, he found Kelvin lying on the floor, his eyes filled with tears but lacking the strength to cry or scream. His gaze was empty, filled with infinite sadness.
"Tell me, Tony, what's the point of living if everyone important to you dies one after another?" Kelvin whispered.
He looked Tony in the eyes and continued, "Anyway, I'll be gone soon too. I can't even feel my legs anymore. It's like they're not even there, even though I can see them."
Tony searched for the right words but was at a loss. Unlike Kelvin, he didn't have loved ones who gave his life meaning. His only goal had always been to become the strongest. But faced with Kelvin's pain, he began to wonder if being weak but surrounded by close friends wasn't more important than strength.
"You know, the man from earlier came by and told me about the last five years in the city of Polla," Kelvin continued. "She suffered, physically and mentally. She manipulated, hurt others, all to take control of the Detra family. And Princess Verna killed her, even though she herself was doubting her choices."
He paused, his voice trembling.
"If Polla had done all that just for money and forgotten us, I'd have been sad and angry. But learning that she did it for us too, that she planned to live with all of us… it breaks my heart, Tony. It hurts so deeply."
He sighed. "And you know what? Five of my friends have already died. I should be dead too. But that man said that, for now, I'm producing chaotic ether, and it's slowing down my fate."
"Then there's a way to save you!" Tony exclaimed.
Kelvin gave a faint smile. "Wow, you said exactly what he predicted you'd say. But no, normally, in two days, I'll be dead. That is, if you stay near me. He also said that trying to inject chaos into me would kill me instantly. So, please, don't do that."
He added softly, "But if you could carry me and put me on the bed, that'd be nice."
Tony complied, gently lifting Kelvin and placing him on the bed before leaving the room.
"Oh, I forgot," Kelvin called out before drifting off to sleep. "He said you and your friends have at least three days before the city turns into a battlefield."
In the living room
The atmosphere was heavy. Aconé had overheard the entire conversation despite the distance, and he could see Tony's face growing darker by the second.
"What are you going to do about the kid?" Aconé asked.
Tony shot him a dark look. "I don't know. I have no way to heal him, and he's already lost the use of his legs. Like you heard, staying away from him would only speed up his death."
"Face the truth, Tony. You can't save him, and we need to get out of this cursed city," Aconé insisted.
"I know. Tonight, we'll explain the situation to everyone. Anyway, Simone found a boat," Tony replied, resigned.
Meanwhile, at the port
Rieze was watching the boats, an enigmatic smile on his lips.
"Tonight, the bait will explode, the poison will dance, and the dead will follow," he murmured. "It's time to lure that giant lion."