“What kind of monster are you?”

Nebula No. 4 was kneeling. Part of its cybernetic armor was destroyed. One of its arms had been torn off, and half of its face had been damaged. Throughout her body, electrical and semiconductor wires were emitting sparks. Blood dripped from the armor's maintenance fluids. In his trembling hand was the Spiritual Key of Evolution.

In front of him was Nkechi. She was lying face down on the ground. Her smile showed her satisfaction at that moment.

“What a shame, you're still alive!”

“No… it doesn't matter, I got… the spirit key…”

As he said this, he activated stealth mode, activated his thrusters and disappeared from Nkechi's sight. Before he died, he dipped the tip of his index finger in his pool of blood and wrote on the floor 'There are intruders at the party'. He turned his head to the side and died.

⸎

Akachi walked up the stairs. Every time he wanted to run, he felt a twinge in his muscles. His arms and legs felt heavier. He wouldn't give up. He was close to meeting his father again, he wanted to see Adisa's face again.

The rain dripped down his dark skin, the sensation of pain increasing. The torrent pouring down the stairs made walking slippery. The young medium felt a great danger lurking around the Judgement Stone. It was as if he was being watched by predators.

His knees weakened. The teenager almost fell to the ground, resting one hand on the rocky wall. He heard a repeated splashing sound from behind. He turned with his hands on guard.

“Fadala!”

The hitman approached carefully and helped the young man to his feet. He wrapped an arm around Akachi's waist and helped him walk.

“I feared for your life, my friend. The battle against your opponent must have been a great challenge. The wise Jabir is dead.”

“Dead? I didn't give him a coup de grace. I didn't want him to die.”

“He was very old, Akachi. He might not have been able to take the strain, that or…”

“That or what?”

“I believe there is a third force at work in this conflict.”

Akachi felt a shiver run down his spine. He was saddened to hear that old Jabir had died. He had been his adversary, but he didn't consider him his enemy. The gunman's words echoed in his head. Fadala was an agent of Ilê Apanyan, someone with enough experience to make such a judgment.

They continued walking with effort to where Nkechi's body lay. The sage was lying on the floor. On the wall, there was an inscription that was ruddy and smudged with rainwater.

“What's that?”

“The certainty that my suspicions were right. It says 'there are intruders at the party'.”

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“Men from Ojwang…”

“It could even be a general from the Phalanx.”

“They wouldn't bother coming in person, they'd send the Phalangites.”

“Even if they're not here, Akachi, they're close. They're taking advantage of our battles to execute us all.”

“Killing two birds with one stone.”

A huge burst of energy echoed in the air, followed by a tremor. The pair raised their heads to the sky. A dark dome appeared at the top of the Judgement Stone. Akachi untangled himself from Fadala's arm, raised one hand with his fingers over his forehead and tried to get a better look at the phenomenon.

“What is that thing?”

The mortician was amazed. He had traveled to the four corners of the world and seen admirable things. However, nothing had compared to his stay in Ilu Nla. Mediumship had shattered all his notions up to that point.

Akachi turned to Fadala. His face showed a sense of anguish.

“That's a massive sphere of Axé. I don't have enough sensitivity, but it looks like there are people inside.”

“Come on, Akachi!”

“Okay.”

The pair hurried their steps. Fadala didn't have a father, so he understood the will that drove Akachi.

Azekel's grandson walked up the stone steps with a single resolution: to hug his father. He hadn't planned what to say, he hardly knew how to react. If Adisa was in the dark dome, he would rescue him from inside, no matter what the cost, even if it meant his life.

After reaching the top, the pair saw Spin Bomb lying on the ground. She was wheezing heavily and the smell of gunpowder stunk up the air. Akachi noticed that she had taken off her gloves. On the back of her hands, there were scars that glowed red, as if blood had run down them. He ran towards her to help her up.

“Spin Bomb, are you all right? What happened?”

The firework sword maker had a jolt. With one hand on her chest, she pushed Akachi away.

“What a fright! You bastard. Ah, Fadala, you're there too…”

The mortician approached her. He helped her up from the ground. Unlike Akachi, he noticed that the scars were zimbas. Instead of being written with pemba, the chalk was conical and rounded. With the pemba, the secrecy of the Scratched Dot Magic was temporary. The magical characters had been made with pyrovragous scarification, that is, made on the skin with fire.

Feruzi had taught a variant of this mediumistic art called Fire Point Magic, using fundanga, the sacred name for gunpowder.

The zimbas in Spin Bomb's hands allowed him to guide the trajectory of his explosives that had a corresponding sign scratched into them, allowed him to detonate the bombs with the snap of his fingers from a distance, as well as controlling the wires with total freedom. This had been the result of his training with the ex-sage of Knowledge.

“I got here and heard a tremor. This dark ball appeared and I couldn't see anything else.”

“It must have tried to get in…”

“No way! I bombed the shit out of it and it wouldn't budge.”

“Let me try.”

Fadala raised his pistols and fired several shots into the dark dome. The bullets ricocheted back. Spin Bomb gave a high-pitched scream and threw himself to the ground with his hands over his head. Akachi hid behind the hitman.

The girl got up from the ground, grabbed the collar of the gunman's suit and screamed as she shook him:

“You want to kill us, do you?”

Akachi walked towards the dome, and Fenyang came up behind him. The Ori Guardian said:

This thing seems to have a life of its own.

I feel like my father is in there, my friend.

Entering this thing could be your death sentence, Akachi. But it's your choice, bro.

Fenyang, I'm very close to seeing my father again. I have many things to ask and many things to hear.

You have every reason to follow.

“Firm the spirit.”

The Ori Guardian was incorporated by the medium. The young man walked towards the dark dome. He held out his hand slowly. His fingertips stretched towards the mass of Axé.

Spin Bomb held his breath and Fadala kept his pistols cocked in the direction of the phenomenon.

Upon touching the mass of energy, Akachi was repelled meters away, and his Ori Guardian was disembodied. A dark smoke began to rise from his body. The young man soon understood what it was.

Fadala lowered his pistols and ran towards his friend. He helped him to his feet.

“What's wrong, Akachi?”

“That thing won't let any spirits in.”

Spin Bomb put his hands on his head and huffed angrily.

“Can we at least get in?”

“I think so. But there's no guarantee we'll be back.”

“Those who stand in the rain should get wet.”

The girl shook her head, and droplets of rain splashed everywhere. She filled her hands with several firework swords.

“Let's detonate!”

Fadala and Akachi looked at each other. There was no reason for optimism. But they would not be defeated. The trio stood next to the dark dome and, at the same time, took a step towards the inside of the Axé sphere.