“I heard you say that stupid call and response thing you have going. Now spill your guts or I will”. Cleo seemed to glow like an ember, lighting up the narrow alley that they were inhabiting with a soft red light. Her aura was domineering, and seemed as close to a Heaven ranker that one could get without actually being one. Physically she might have been smaller than the man she had pinned, but her aura alone was too domineering for him to deal with.
“I... I don’t...” The Lupe man gasped out in the air before trying to remove Cleo’s hand from his neck once more. Before he even had a chance to continue Cleo hit him in the stomach. The sizzle of his flesh being seared away was too much for him to bear and he screamed out. Spit spattered all over Cleo’s face but dissolved before anything touched her, she was simply producing too much heat. Moving her hand up and bringing the heat with it, the man could do nothing but scream. He could not even beg for his life because the words would not come out. Needle-like stabbing pains were coursing throughout his entire body, and locking his muscles. He could barely even open his mouth, and now that he had it was stuck there in an unending grimace.
“Are you going to tell me what it means now?”
“Yes, yes...” He replied breathlessly as the searing pain abated and quietly pulsed in his chest. Cleo pulled her knife out and held it against him. She could see he was distressed, but she could not, would not care. This man was part of the reason why she had spent a year of her life looking for the man she loved and she became more angry about it every day. It was not the same anger that she felt in the beginning, but it had morphed from the gloomy smog that seemed to cover her into a raging fire of vengeance propelling her to greater heights. She had long since accepted the elements as part of her, but she was still not quite ready to take the final step towards becoming a Heaven ranker without Law being there. He was her flint set that would spark her into life, but he was missing and so she could still only smoulder.
“There...s a chapter... a chapter... house in Allercanti... it's a short... short building that sells...” The man gasped as the pain Cleo was putting him through did not abate. He bit his lip until it bled before continuing, letting the blood freely flow down his front. “Sells... weapons. Please... I have a fam... ily...”
Cleo growled, before covering his mouth with a flame ignited palm and sealing it shut forever. She watched coldly as the man struggled for breath through wads of flesh that had been burned together, before he finally came to a stop, eyes bulging and face purple. Only then did she touch the fallen man once more and turn his body to ash. She shuddered before wiping her face with a piece of cloth that she had pulled from her storage ring and walked out of the alley towards the region of the town the man had spoken of, quickly touching her ring to get into contact with her friends.
Normally she would make sure the message was directed at the pointer rings of her specific targets, but as she would not stop until all of her enemies lay dead and Law was back with her, she simply sent the message about the location of her target to the entire group. There was little question about whether Yun would be there, but as for Winoa, Louisa or Jim, that was up to how they were feeling. They cared about finding Law, but none of them had as much to lose as her or Yun. He was neither their brother nor their lover, but despite that they would still prioritise hunting for him above most other things.
She walked through the streets of the town until she reached the section known as Allercanti. It was a busy region of the town that specialised in the processing of raw materials into usable parts for the tailors and smiths of the town. There were some shops at the end of the street, but for the most part the entire area was full of buildings that rumbled and smashed in the background. It was a perfect cover for the screams that would be occurring from the shop in the near future.
She walked up to the end of the street and was confronted with seven shops, all of them were unmarked but with open doors. As she looked at each building she got an idea of the contents of each place, finally stopping on the fifth building of the seventh. She was about to step inside when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Yun and Winoa there behind her.
“Are you coming in?” She asked, before turning back to the shop.
“Wait a minute. The others are coming. We will do this together, perhaps we can finally find some answers to where Law is actually being held,” Winoa replied before grabbing hold of Cleo’s arm. “Don't go in on your own. It never works out well, you know this”.
“But they might get away,” Cleo moaned, her face painted with a combination of apprehension and rage. “I can't let that happen, Win. I have to go in”.
“They won't escape,” Yun said firmly, looking onward at the building. He smiled as he drew his needle and a thin band of metal that he wrapped around his left arm. He smiled before looking behind himself, which Cleo and Winoa could not help but follow, only to see their last two companions approaching at speed. Winoa wiped her forehead in relief before letting go of Cleo. Almost immediately Cleo rushed into the building, quickly followed by Yun, having Jim pull up the rear and closing the door so there were no prying eyes or unfortunate accidents.
They stepped into a quiet room with a Lupe man at the counter. As he and Yun locked eyes, they both growled and launched themselves at each other, Yun’s needle piercing straight ahead. The Lupe batted away the blade only to be met with ropes of violent lightning that wrapped around his body and a renewed thrust by Yun.
The Lupe tensed and shattered the lightning coiled around him before summoning a pair of cicada wing thin scimitars. With each movement of the blades in the Lupe’s hands the very air seemed to crystallize and shatter into shards of ice, pushing Yun back a few steps. Raising his scimitars once more, the Lupe began sending wave after wave of frigid mana towards Yun without giving him the chance to breathe.
Yun moved left and right, sometimes blocking the blades with his own and other times sending out a thin bolt of lightning to shatter a coupe of the blades at once, frowning as he did so. It was obvious to those watching that Yun was saving up for something, and that each bolt was delaying him. Finally, rather than wait for his metal coil to charge up, he dove forwards and discarded his defence in order to pressure his opponent. Two thin cuts appeared on his shoulder as he thrust forwards, with thick globs of blood seeping down his chest. His blade tore through the air like a laser, pushing into the Lupe’s chest. The Lupe growled before clenching his muscles tight and swinging down with his weapon. Unfortunately for the Lupe the blow did not connect, as Yun leapt back the moment he felt resistance against him pulling out his needle. Instead, Yun took three steps back and growled at the Heaven ranker before him.
“I didn't expect to see you again so soon,” he said, anger smouldering behind every word he spoke. The Lupe man laughed in response.
“Honestly, I feel the same. My team has been hunting for you for a long time. I never expected for you to just show up on my doorstep. Thank you, you've saved me a lot of time by bringing your friends here. We need a few spares for the ritual”.
“I've improved a lot in the time we've not seen each other, I'm more than your match now”.
“Well I guess the proof is in the product, eh? Don't worry. I'll take you all to meet your friend in due time”.
Yun growled before signalling to Cleo and the others to clear the area while he made a distraction. It was one they had used regularly with Law when they were in Spirit, as both boys had an ability to get out of trouble with relative ease. He gave a wide, toothy grin before raising his right hand and pointing menacingly at the Lupe.
“Why are you grinning?” The Lupe said. “I may have your sword stuck in me, but I have your sword”. He stopped as he watched a sword like the one in his chest appear in front of Yun, bloodstains and all. As the man looked down he noticed the rapier had disappeared from his chest and the wound was now bleeding freely.
Yun flicked his right hand down, removing the blood from his rapier, and raised his left arm. The coil on his arm was pulsating with energy now, and it seemed like whatever he was charging for was now complete. There was a flash of bright light and a bolt of electricity rent through the air, striking the Lupe in the chest and knocking him through the roof of the building. He slammed his hands into the floor and forced himself off the ground, after his opponent and leaving Cleo a free route to begin eradicating the Saints that were holed up in the building.
Taking advantage of the movement of the Heaven ranker, Cleo and her friends stormed down the stairs and prepared to beat Law's location out of anyone she came across. It was not the first time they had done this, but they all hoped it would be the last.
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