They fell into my trap. As soon as I reached the street—I turned on my heel and threw on a smirk, then slipped into one of Romeo's fighting stances. Letting myself flow into the fight felt natural, hopping lightly in place as I put my body into a constant stream of movement. They didn't notice the shift in my demeanor; they were far too enraged. Not that I blamed them. If someone walked in and pissed on my friend, I'd be out for blood too.

It wasn't like this was a duel, and they had the numbers. They stalked onto the road, fanning out to surround me before charging for an attack. Even with my Manifested Soul, I didn't feel confident taking all four on at once.

But I didn’t have to. Bruno sprang out from the side with an evil grin on his face. Flames crawled up his fists as he threw himself at one of the bastards, tackling him to the asphalt.

I seized the distraction and led by snapping a kick into the poor bastard I’d pissed on. My foot landed with a solid hit, which caused the guy to crash to the ground. The one with a shaved head came in from the side. He threw out a jab, but a quickstep me slipped out of reach.

It was time.

I smiled wide, tugging on my Soul. Energy rippled out of the roots in my body, and sparks of blue and red popped up from my shoulder—in a cascade of violent energy, two onyx feathered crows came into being. Their beady eyes taking in the scene in an instant, one let out a haunting caw. I’d hoped for all three, but I’d take what I could get.

Much like Fickle Fate, my Manifested Soul presented an element of randomness, conjuring one to three of these creatures with each use. The only conclusion I drew is that a deep part of me loved to roll the dice and play the odds, to let Fate take a bit of control. When I first discovered that on the island with Romeo, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry with the knowledge that the inconsistency of my abilities was due to me—yet I still remained powerless to correct them.

All I could do was accept it. The excitement of not knowing brought a spark to my life that I didn't want to dismiss entirely. Would I be lucky? Would my ability screw me? Every action led to a different change in fate and what might follow, and that called to me.

For now, for this fight, two out of three was plenty. I pushed out my desire to my Soul, and the crows launched from my shoulders in a powerful burst of speed straight into the sky. At the same moment, I pressed into the Crimson Eagle, who took a jab at me. He’d overextended while trying to catch me off guard.

I threw out a fist, clipping him as he danced away. His eyes locked on me—flicking upward to try to catch the crow. I didn’t give him a chance, throwing another fist, which forced him to scramble to block.

But I was the distraction, a bluff.

A crow barreled in from above, a pinprick of feathers that broke its perfect diving form to extend talons right into his face. Its wings flapped as the razor-sharp talons tore skin flaps out of his cheeks. The guy let out a horrible scream as it pulled away with a chunk of flesh.

My fist sliding into his face ended the fight, sending him to the ground to squirm around and try to stem the bleeding.

The last guy tried to take advantage of my focused assault, having positioned himself to rush my back. Watching the brutal attack on his friend made him hesitate—his mistake. My remaining crow dive-bombed him, trying to also land a blow on his face, though he was more prepared, throwing up an arm to defend against the talons. It wasn't enough; my Soul pulsed outward, activating Fickle Fate through the crow. Blue sparks ran from where the Crow dug into his arm, discharging the ability.

Ah, that was bad.

The guy slipped, but in a way that let him catch the edge of my Soul's wing. His fingers found purchase and ripped the crow down with him, yanking it under him and crushing it with his entire body. I grimaced; my Soul let out a pulse of debilitating shock at the sudden damage. My mind went foggy, and I pulled the crow back—bursting in a shower of blue and red sparks. I'd much rather withdraw it than take more Soul damage.

I swayed as he stumbled to his feet. The good luck discharged, but my body felt numb and stirred with exhaustion; I pulled myself together. Using my superior speed to charge in and snap a short kick into his face—throwing the guy onto the ground.

Couldn't win them all. I snapped another kick into his side while he was on the ground, and my remaining crow flew back to land on my shoulder.

After discovering my Crows could discharge Fickle Fate at a distance, I had originally reeled to think of the applications. Romeo's previous method of avoiding me as a counter was no longer as functional, but there had to be other benefits. I hadn’t yet taken the time to puzzle them out, but this live combat test already made me giddy to try new things.

With the two opponents pinned down, I turned to Bruno. The piss-covered guy was sprawled out unconscious on the street, and Bruno was currently bashing the other guy's face on the hood of a car, dents in the metal where he’d slammed the fucker’s face in.

But for some reason, the guy kept going—breaking free from Bruno’s grip and turning to him with blood running down. His veins popping out with an unhealthy black color. I couldn’t tell if he was a cultivator or a dumb mortal hooked on alchemy supplements. Either way, Bruno was grinning and ready to go for another round.

“Ya think we got time to waste on this?”

“This is a duel, Luca! Of course we do!”

I didn’t know how long this standoff would last, but all of the rest of the Crimson Eagles were down. I knew Bruno could handle himself. “I’m rushing ahead. Kick his ass, alright?” I jogged off towards the building, knowing he’d follow. The big guy had always been slower than me—with me in a new stage, the gap in our speed was all the more prominent. Suzaki fell into step behind me.

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“Right… I’m going to rush ahead, okay?” I jogged off into the building. Suzaki fell into step behind me.

“Y-your manifested seems c-cool,” Suzaki commented, managing to keep pace as we hit the stairs and rushed up.

“Aw, aint that special. Don’t think it’s the strongest, but I’m happy it gives more options.” There was a bang from above, followed by a scream. Our conversation cut off as I switched to taking two steps at a time.

I hit the top of the steps and saw Eve strewn across the ground on the far side of an office. A scrawny guy with taped glasses cowered in a corner near her. Meanwhile, Kayson stood firm in the middle of the room—cubicles broken and tossed aside—facing down a big dude with gnarled dreads and a Crimson Eagle jacket. Behind the obvious enemy was a hulking cyclops. It turned its misshapen head to one side as its single eye took me in. Its oversized knuckles nearly dragged across the floor. A Manifested Soul. Perfect.

“Luca, be careful!” Kayson yelled. Before I could think, the one-eyed danger advanced towards me. A fist cocked back, then rocketed towards my face, taking on a strange white glow. That wasn’t good, I stumbled back, but I’d moved too slow.

The fist halted in the air, caught by shimmering webs as translucent spiders wrapped around it.

Then the world exploded.

Concussive force blasted me onto my ass; the fist detonated without fire. But instead, a raw blast of power nearly had enough force to send me tumbling down the stairs. Suzaki caught me just in time.

His arms shook, trying to hold me until I regained my feet. My head reeled as if my brain was scrambled. The cyclops stopped advancing, arm still held in place by a bunch of newly added webs.

“What the fuck? That even fair?” It yanked its arm free but didn’t step any closer. It turned slightly to get an angle on Kayson too.

“I-I think it’s reached its range,” Suzaki whispered, gesturing to the frozen Manifested Soul. Its single eye shifting between Kayson and us—deciding what to do before lumbering back to its cultivator. About twelve feet away.

It had a short range. Then again, it seemed powerful.

Eve stirred to life on the far side of the room, groaning. I didn’t have the power to match this thing, and neither did Kayson. Shit. “Suzaki. I’m gonna make an opening. Get to Eve, and get her up, alright?” I whispered back to the scrawny kid. This might be painful, but if we were going to make any progress, we needed to work together. And Eve would be key to getting past this cyclops.

“A-are you crazy? One h-hit, and we’re done for.”

“Listen, I know ya have a brave streak. Okay? I remember what ya did in the Lantern District when ya ran out and saved the guy, despite that insane young master. You can do this. Take care of Eve.” I gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. He was shaking. “Be like your brother, alright?”

His eyes lit up. Perfect choice of words, the shaking stopped.

I took a deep breath, my remaining crow recovering and darting into the room. The enemy’s Manifested Soul took a swipe—but it was far too slow to hit my Soul. What I lacked in pure physical power, my Soul made up for in speed. It took a short bend—flapping and skimming along the side of the enemy and raking a talon against the cyclopes’ arm.

The man with dread grimaced, shooting me a scowl. It might not be substantial damage, but even tiny nicks to a Manifested Soul at this level were distracting. I slammed a hand on my chest—sparks of blue bursting in a shower. Perfect. I leaped into the fray, knowing I had at least one good attempt—trying to circle the cyclops with my Crow.

But the cyclops wasn’t overwhelmed and reacted as soon as I entered the room. Its fist took on a white glow, closing the distance to me in a couple of quick bounds. There wasn’t a way in hell I could get past and attack the cultivator directly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Suzaki sprint into the room and duck around the side. An emerald halo was already above his head.

But I couldn’t focus on the kid; the glowing white fist soared towards me. I meant to back peddle before it detonated—but tripped on a bit of translucent web. The cyclops’ fist soared right where my body had been—extending further than I thought its range was. It’d reached a good fifteen feet away from the Crimson Eagle. He’d tricked me.

The fist detonated above me. My body smashed into the floor, my jaw cracking against it. My teeth snapped together in an awful noise as I avoided biting my tongue off by pure luck.

But it’d missed.

I groaned—willing my Soul to counterattack, flying into the Crimson Eagle. Its talons dug into the bastard’s face—a growing favorite attack pattern of mine. The cyclops turned, rushing to defend its cultivator.

My soul jolted with an ache as the Crimson Eagle slapped my Manifested Soul—sudden and alarming enough to feel like I’d taken a blow to the chest. My focus slipped.

Eve brought me back to the world with a yell—her voice rocked through the room and tore a fresh and distracting burst of agony that pulled me out of the disorientation. Her voice rebounded and amplified.

I slowly got to my feet, seeing my Crow gripped in the Crimson Eagle’s hand, talons tearing into his arm as he tried to wring its neck. I called upon Fickle Fate, and they both showered in red sparks. My Soul slipped out of his grasp a second later, and the bastard stumbled back. Eve’s voice rocked through the room again, bringing ear-ringing pain as if someone shoved chopsticks into my skull.

Several translucent spiders climbed all over the Crimson Eagle’s leg, weaving a web as he tried to cover his ears. He took another step to get away from the deafening noise—but tripped over webs, falling and bouncing his skull against the ground.

Kayson seized the opportunity. Throwing himself on top of the enemy cultivator and bashed his head face several times, jerking it left and right until he stilled. The cyclops toppled over, crumbling to dust.

The screaming stopped, and the chaos of the office stilled. Blessed silence. My Soul returned to my shoulder, damaged but proud. I withdrew it—a burst of red and blue sparks. Thanks to the hits my Soul took, it was hard for me to focus on anything. I slipped to the ground and let myself lay there.

Bruno arrived a minute later, unhappy he missed the show.

Soul damage was a finicky thing. The world felt gray and lifeless, my body felt sapped from the strength, and unfortunately, Suzaki couldn’t do a damn thing about it. It would take natural healing over a few hours to recover. Romeo had promised training to cope with it, but we didn’t have the time.

It took an hour for me to feel better; during that time, Kayson and Suzaki went through and collected a bunch of paperwork. When I was up to it, I helped Bruno watch over a buncha of bound Crimson Eagles. Bruno slammed a fist into his face whenever the cultivator awoke to put him back out. Was it healthy for the guy? Fuck no. But it’s the only thing we could do; we didn't have any advanced tech. He was far too dangerous for a round two.

Our objective was to humiliate Crimson Eagles and gather info about their finances. And therefore, Kayson overruled Bruno’s requests to fight the guy fair and square. I didn’t get how following the money might lead anywhere productive, but Kayson was the one in charge, not me.

Eventually, Kayson declared we were done. Taking three binders and the reluctant accountant with us.