Amity

Chapter 47: The Conjurer and the Puppet Master

"Oh boy, I'm so stuffed," Sakura said, holding Loyalty's hand as they left Restaurant des Dieux. Both Chris Blade and Joel followed beside, both content.

Chris Blade entwined his hands behind his head. "It's no surprise. You were inhaling those biscuits like none other. You sure you aren't pregnant?"

"Your manners knows no bounds," Sakura said coldly.

"We would have left sooner if you hadn't been complaining to the waiter to make your tea 'up to the Queen of England' standards. You don't even like tea," Loyalty interjected.

"Dude, what kind of British person hates tea?" asked Joel as he lit up a cigarette.

"The kind that was sent here to piss the world off." The others said nothing, only sparing a blank stare.

There was low, gurgling yelling in the distance; a familiar yelling that meant immediate danger outside of the school. Worse, it was multiple voices. Edge Walkers.

"Did you guys hear that?" Sakura asked.

"If I say no, will it go away?" Joel asked.

"This isn't the time for your stoner logic," Chris stated. He turned his attention to Sakura. "Where do you think you heard it from?"

"I-I don't know. Somewhere down the street." She said as she slid her daggers from her beltline. The rest of the team followed suit as she said "Be cautious, guys."

An alarm blared through the partially abandoned city. Following protocol, merchants allowed the few remaining citizens inside of their stores before closing and barring their windows and doors with iron gates.

The four silently dashed down the street, listening for any Edge Walkers calls. Nobody said a word as they scanned the area. The wind blew softly between them as they walked down the dimly lit street. "Wait," Sakura said softly as the alarm ceased. She held her arms out to stop the rest of her group. They could hear a low, gurgling growl down the street.

"That sounds like it's up at the square," Loyalty stated. "Do you think it has something to do with the last Edge Walker invasion?"

"Possibly- hey, wait," Joel said as Chris Blade dashed for the corner. He skidded to a halt, using the flat of his sword like a mirror to check the corner without being detected. The rest followed.

"Any luck?" Joel asked.

"It seems to be only one. I think it's sniffing the air or something. It looks like it's looking for something."

"Or someone," Loyalty said. "We should keep an eye on it, just in case it goes back to whoever summoned it."

"At any rate, we should get everyone else here," Sakura said. "Do you think you can call anyone?"

"I'm already on it," Loyalty said as he crept away from the corner, phone in hand.

Chris gasped. "Guys, there's someone else out there."

"What do you mean?" Joel asked.

"It looks like someone just appeared from a black curtain out of thin air. Holy hell. It looks like a demon."

"Demon?" both Joel and Sakura said.

"Yeah. Do you remember the kid that Dre reported seeing from his attack at the school?"

Loyalty snapped his phone shut before he walked back to the team. "You mean the one that possessed the principal?"

"Yeah," Chris confirmed. "It looks like he's out there. And he doesn't look like he's alone. This is bad. Holy hell, this is bad," Chris said, tensing his jaw.

"What's going on?" Loyalty asked.

"It looks like the boy is talking to the other guy. I can't make out what they're saying though. Wait-" His voice caught in his breath. Before they could ask what happened, they heard it. Multiple Edge Walker's cries filled the air, coming from the other side of the building.

"It's him!" he whispered. "He's conjuring the Edge Walkers!"

"What!?" Sakura, Joel, and Loyalty whispered in shock.

"Yeah. It looks like he's-"

"Alright, you mindless bastards," a voice said above the Edge Walkers, sounding as if he's speaking through a metal mask. "You heard the man. The King of Elements is somewhere in this town. I want you all to sniff him out and bring him back to us barely alive. Leave no stone unturned, no corner unchecked. If any of you decide to come back here without him, I will not hesitate on killing you." The Edge Walkers let out a roar before their thundering footsteps filled the air.

"Ah, shit," Chris said. "Get ready, everyone."

Loyalty tightened his grip on his double-bladed katana, taking a deep breath. The Edge Walkers were closing in on them. He exhaled as Chris sliced through an Edge Walker, roaring as he followed his team.

The four fanned out, taking down Edge Walker after Edge Walker under the blue lights of the lanterns overhead. So, that was their plan, then. They were here for the King of Elements. If that was the case, then that would mean that Aggaron had awakened as well. In the brief instance between running his sword through an Edge Walker, he looked over to where the conjurer stood. From what he could see in the darkness, he wore a black, long sleeve shirt that hugged close to his body. A silver mask gleamed under the light of the lantern, hiding his face from his nose to his chin. The boy from the school hovered beside him, his cloak flapping leisurely in the windless air.

"You foolish children," the boy snarled.

The four of them rushed towards the two, hacking away at any Edge Walkers that they could take out. "Do you guys think that you can handle the lightweight?" Loyalty asked as he took down a wave of Edge Walkers with a wide swing.

"A few dozen Edge Walkers? I think we got it covered," Joel called.

"Abraham. Show me the extent of your power."

"You got it," the other man said before he laid a hand on the ground. Black fire flowed from it onto the ground, where another wave of Edge Walkers were pulling themselves up through the ground.

"You just had to say something, didn't you?" Chris groaned.

"Forget about Abraham! Focus your attention on the Edge Walkers!" Sakura called, ducking and swaying from numerous claws threatening to run her through.

The boy laughed satanically. "This is an absolute treat. But, we can't have you getting too confident that you'll survive tonight." His grin widened as he raised his hand; the group looked on helpless as the blood-red ribbons surged out from his hand and began seeping into the ground. "Eh, what the hell. Let's have a frenzy!" The streams multiplied, looking as if the ground was being struck by thousands of bloody lightning bolts.

The air erupted with the shrieking of the Edge Walkers as their inky claws reached up from the ground. Loyalty cursed as he ran to regroup with his group. The black wave rose from the cobblestone street.

"Keep fighting!" Sakura yelled as she struck down two Edge Walkers. It hardly seemed to even put a dent in their numbers. For every one that they had killed, Abraham would conjure three more. It was apparent; she had to take Abraham out.