The observers were impressed. The camera lenses fell on them. Akachi was furious. People were dying in his path without him being able to do anything about it. Lives sacrificed for the sake of a greater ideal. Their blood weighed heavily on his head.

Only Fenyang knew how he felt. It was a burden being carried alone. An ordeal that could neither be denied nor placed on other shoulders. The maculelê fighter understood well what a burden without redemption was. Everyone wants to get rid of the weight, but with each passing day, the burden becomes greater and heavier.

Jabir stood in front of his opponent. He looked without seeing. He was blinded by hatred. He energized his arms. The Axé particles spiraled into his fists.

"Well done, kid. I'm going to smash your face into the concrete."

Vup! The sage jumped, crossed the distance between the two buildings, and fell on his opponent. Akachi realized what he was going to do. Jabir prepared a punch with his left arm.

"Hammer fist."

Adsa's son picked up the two sticks, concentrated Axé on the sticks. To defend himself, he placed them in an X shape and parried the enemy's attack. The old medium's repulsion was amplified on contact with the sticks. Akachi felt an enormous pressure on his arms. The muscles seemed to tear under the skin.

To reduce the pressure, he kicked at his opponent's flanks. The man jumped back and prepared for a second attack. Before he could hit his target, a purplish mist consumed the top of the building. It was impossible to see anything more than an inch. Jabir grumbled:

"Don't you dare get in my way, Nkechi!"

"Sorry, Jabir, but you've attracted a lot of unwanted attention."

The woman appeared in front of Akachi. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. His Axé was too latent, he couldn't control the emission.

"You should give us your Spiritual Key, Akachi, after all, we're on the same side."

Akachi took a step back, indicating that he wouldn't do that. He put himself in a defensive position. Nkechi rolled his eyes.

One of his copies appeared next to him. Akachi tried to strike the image, but it shattered into an electromagnetized mist.

"You are within my domain. I am one, and a thousand at the same time. You can't strike if you don't know which one is real."

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A Nkechi appeared and tried to punch the young medium in the stomach. Akachi resisted the attack, but another came up behind him and kicked him in the back. Azekel's grandson spun around and was punched in the face. A fourth came from the left side, but he managed to dodge it instinctively.

What's up, bro? You're being beaten like a punching bag, react!

Easy to say. This Axé fog confuses the senses. The Axé particles don't let you tell which is true and which is false.

Akachi decided not to be defensive any longer. She went after her opponent. Several copies of Nkechi appeared. They all laughed and moved unassumingly within the plasma mist. When they were hit by the medium's blows, they reconstituted themselves. The real Nkechi seemed to be too hidden to be found by random blows.

Adsa's son was unable to define a pattern in the copies that would differentiate her from the original. They were identical in gesture and tone of voice. All the Nkechi could hurt Akachi. When they were hit in any way, they would fall apart and reassemble themselves immediately after the attack.

"Give up, kid. Believe me, they're not just residual images, they're not an optical illusion. They can't be attacked, but if you fool around, they'll kill you. Hand over the key, and maybe I'll let you live, but only because you're cute."

"People like you shouldn't have possession of a Spirit Key, Nkechi."

"That's funny, I've heard that all my life. In my clan, mastering the Ofó is essential to becoming a sage. I've never mastered any of the charms, I've never memorized the old formulas. I make exclusive use of the basic properties of Axé in its various combinations. And to zero surprise, I've never been defeated."

The fact that she doesn't use any Ofó could be an advantage, Fenyang.

In fact, her becoming a sage with only the basic properties of Axé like you gives me the creeps.

I thought it would cheer me up.

The sea's not looking good today, bro.

An army of Nkechi formed and approached Akachi. He crossed his sticks in front of his chest to defend himself. The hundreds of bearers of the Spiritual Key of Evolution pointed at Azekel's grandson and in a tone of denunciation, declared:

"I had to defeat all the pretenders to the post in one battle, all by myself. I won this position on merit, I went through countless trials and won my place. You, on the other hand, didn't have to do anything. You didn't pass any tests. You're the one who isn't worthy of carrying a key."

⸎

Bang-bang! Fadala's pistols roared at Durojaiye. The androgynous-looking man seemed very unconcerned about his opponent. His whole body was enveloped in repulsive force spread throughout his body. He attracted it to specific points, forming massive plates of Axé that caused bullets to ricochet away.

The hitman was trying to find a blind spot in his opponent. Whole magazines of ammunition were fired at the sage. The plates were only visible when the bullets hit them, until then, they were invisible. Finally, the man from Ilê Apanyan stepped back. He took a cigarette out of his pocket, lit a lighter and started to smoke.

The strong smell of aromatic herbs filled the atmosphere, giving the gunman's face a smoky hue. His pupils dilated and so did his nostrils. He couldn't see the Axé enveloping his opponent, but he could feel it. The synesthesia generated by the active ingredients in the cigarette's herbs interconnected his five senses, extending his sensory range and perception.

The sage floated in a lotus position towards Fadala. He shook his head and said regretfully:

"Men who smoke are very sexy, but their breath is horrible!"

His voice had a high, rasping timbre, and the melodious diction sounded artificial. Fadala wiped his ear with a finger, adjusted his sunglasses and said:

"When you talk, it's like someone throwing shards of ground glass into my ears."

"Oh, what a cruel thing to say to a lady."

"Sorry, I'm not a gentleman, I'm a murderer."

Instead of shooting at the sage, he fired his guns in the opposite direction. Durojaiye raised his small defense shields, but the enemy came up behind him. Both pistols were pointed at his head. The medium smiled. Without moving, he emitted the Ofó:

"Compact Serpent Scales."

Fadala fired. However, his opponent was no longer in his sights. Before he could strike back, Jabir punched him in the ribs.