Talen jumped onto the roof of the elevator from inside, crouched atop it within the mechanical shaft and raised in accordance with its gradual ascension.

A hand on his ear, he momentarily searched his whereabouts as he awaited his partners’ responses.

“Hey, is everything alright? What’s going on out there?”

Back outside, Alora and Anthony faced the embodiment of their past in the form of their dead old friend, Uriel Barron. Illustrious was the one to move first, dragging a sword behind her while dashing ahead. Momentarily, she cloaked herself into the wind, until the promised time arrived when she would enact her attack after closing the distance.

But before she moved, the dead Prince’s lips parted.

“For my technique to reach maximum efficiency, I put certain conditions on it ten years ago. Anyone I thoroughly explain the rules of my Predestined Power to is allowed to see the Angels and whatever else I summon. But that’s not all…”

Once Alora’s sword cut through his aura, descending ever further until it reached the boundary that was his neck, the Angel silently hovering behind its master blocked the slash with claws mimicking demonic talons.

Its warped defense stunned the Enforcer long enough to temporarily halt the invocation of her technique and with the ascension of its other arm, she was struck across the bust. Launched back where Anthony still stood, he glanced at her only briefly before redirecting his attention to Uriel.

“What’re you doing this for! What’s the point of fighting us? For THE SAKE OF WHAT!”

Eternally frustrated by the ignorance of others, Uriel’s teeth clenched together.

“If you’re still so immature that you don’t understand the extent of my intentions, leave! This is no place for outsiders such as yourself. I wish I could say I was sorry, Anthony, but this is the way things have to be.”

Sighing, Tony grabbed his eyepatch. “I wish you hadn’t said that…”

Tearing it from his face not only revealed the hole in his head but a glimmer of red light shining in the depths that targeted Uriel upon its revelation. Alora watched from behind as Tony unleashed his formidable Predestined Power.

Looking at the hole in his head would send most to gag but that was the advantage. Peering further into the eyeless socket would reflect the bright-red pupil of Anthony’s signature Fate. Fate designed to decimate anything that looked into the center of the darkness.

Uriel’s eyes widened, beckoning the Angel behind him to defend his front and so it quickly did, crossing both arms. On impact, though, the destruction Anthony’s technique wrought was enough to strip the creature of its skin and feathers. Once it fell to the ground, all that remained were glowing bones and hissing steam.

The mastermind stepped over the dead summon and clapped, chuckling. “A fitting Power for one who holds the Disastrous within them. However, you must’ve expected that I’d use my familiar to guard after spotting your attack. For it to hit and decimate an actual human being with Fate of its own, you must have to fulfill about three or four conditions. Am I right?”

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Tony scoffed. “Do you even have to ask?” He smirking.

Alora side-eyed him. ‘Is it such a good idea to answer him truthfully? Well, I guess the advantage of surprise is gone. He knows my technique and he already guessed the extent of Tony’s. If that’s so… what’s next?’

“If I summon another one of my Angels that’s on par with the two of you, it’ll just drain my Fate and I’ll be cornered. And I don’t want to waste any of my fodder ones so I guess that only leaves me with one option.”

Uriel dashed ahead, ending his sprint with a leap into the air. He kicked Anthony in the chin and landed, watching Alora summon two swords. Throwing them both overhead, the conjured steel blocked Uriel’s descending hammer kick.

He backflipped into the air, momentarily hovering to allow multiple golden portals to manifest behind him. Numerous white fists as huge as giants came flying from the gateways to crash into Alora while she was already dodging and weaving. More angelic fists came crashing down, repeatedly imprinting their knuckles into the concrete ground before Illustrious groaned with a backflip. She carefully landed on one of the heavenly fists—blades still drawn and beginning her dash to the mastermind.

Despite her platforming’s repeated disappearance, though, her advance continued with clenched teeth. Uriel rolled his eyes, opening his palm and slamming it down for a similar angelic copy to send Alora back onto the ground.

She split the hand apart with one clean cut. Once she finished, she lunged in an attempt to slice Uriel’s neck. The moment the blades cut the air, his afterimage was sliced and the real version reappeared behind her. As she was struck from behind, she flipped back onto her knees and skid across the concrete—spotting Uriel skating her.

She spun both blades around her, allowing the aura to intermix in a haze of grey, simultaneously cutting the air to discharge slashes sharpened to the hilt. Uriel’s figure occasionally glitched, dodging the projectiles until reappearing fully with fists ready to strike Alora’s face. His knuckles struck the length of one blade before reeling back; blood drooling from bruised knuckles.

His palms opened, swatting the swords away every time they neared his neck. She kicked him in the gut and combined both swords to slash down with one big stroke that decimated the platform under.

The mastermind stood after rolling away, smugly smirking while Anthony raised to stand beside Alora resting the giant sword against her shoulder.

“You okay?” she asked.

Tony wiped the blood from his nose. “Fine.”

‘I probably won’t be able to land another lucky hit on Anthony. And Alora’s troublesome technique that relies on closing the distance is irritating. Plus, she hasn’t even empowered an Area yet. If she were trying, she could end this with one invocation. Perhaps I shouldn’t be holding back on them.’

Uriel grasped his coat’s collar and with one firm yank, he threw the jacket aside. As it flew into the wind, another thunderclap boomed across the skies—revealing the sleeveless turtleneck he donned underneath. Illustrious stifled a chuckle. Tony ignored the sound of her amusement.

“What tickles you?” the Prince asked.

She pointed. “You still have the other half of Tal’s necklace wrapped around your neck. You act all high and mighty about all this but you can’t let go of him either, can you? Even after whatever happened during your guys’ final meeting, you still have the gall to pretend like you care with that thing around your neck!”

Uriel turned silent. He carefully removed the jewelry from his neck, examining the pendant closely.

“I will tell you what I told him.” He stared into the depths of his former friends’ eyes. “I don’t need everyone to understand. The me I am now isn’t going to coincide with the past self you all remember. But… I’m never going to forget the times we had then. I will never regret the path I’ve taken, regardless of how it is to be away from everyone. Those memories mean more to me than you’ll ever know—“

The flames of Fate dormant within Alora started raging, eventually expanding to reach the tips of her toes—not to mention the top of her head. Pupils engulfed by the blazing inferno, Illustrious stepped forward, opened her left hand and spoke once.

“We’re done talking.”

While an unfortunate reunion was occurring outside the palace, Talen was surveying everything from the inside. Little did he know that by carelessly strutting through the halls of the castle would he eventually meet the little sister of his dead best friend. The instant he turned a corner and began to walk down the steps of the stairway, the boxer was left to ponder why such familiar Fate snuck its way into her nose as she entered the palace.