“Flo-,”

For a brief moment, Claire’s lips trembled, and she looked away before continuing with a resolute gaze, “No, Fiora. From now on, I will call you Fiora.”

With that, the newly named Fiora took back the short piece of chain she gave before. Right as her hand touched the chain, her armor vanished, and she returned to her previous form, complete with her tattered white dress. She has wrapped the chain onto her wrist, similar to a makeshift bracelet.

As she did, the ruined tower started to vanish, the familiar landscape of the road Claire escaped into coming into view.

“From now on, Claire, we are partners, our life bound by this chain. As long as I draw breath, I will be your blade.”

As the vow left her lips, Fiora’s eyes narrowed as she spotted the glint of a blade, and she pulled Claire aside into what could barely be called a hug. The dagger whizzed safely past, a few millimeters away from their face, yet Fiora remained unperturbed.

She threw a sharp glare to the direction where the dagger came, right as the attacker finally revealed themselves.

“Oh, you are quite the competent Incarnation. Want to be mine instead?” A blond, blue-eyed man took a step closer and asked. He was accompanied by another man wearing a gray, full-body cowl.

Shimmering white hair could be seen peeking out from his hood, while his face showed a scowl that may as well have been carved into his very being.

“I have no claim to knowledge about the world, but is it really an acceptable behavior to barge in the middle of two people having a conversation?” Fiora fired back, and she unwound the chain bracelet again, revealing her armored form after she placed the chain on Claire’s hand. “As for your request, I will have to reject.”

“If you are worried, don’t, I’ll treat you well. That bitch over there won’t even be able to buy enough food, and she owes me, don’t you think you should give me some courtesy here, Miss Claire?” he remarked with a smirk and continued, “I simply want my dues paid, and if you do give me your… new toy over there, I will forgive all your debts, Claire. Take it as a quick payment, too. After all, as pretty as you are, you’re simply not a good partner, if you catch my drift.”

Claire turned around, showing her enraged scowl, “Oscar, I paid the installment for the month, and you’ll clearly know if you actually bothered to remind your friends to not play cops. Do you need me to spell it out for you? Leave, and oh, I’m not giving Fiora to you, in case it’s not clear enough.”

Oscar’s expression darkened at the flagrant reply.

“Deci, eliminate them.”

The hooded man took out a handful of daggers without answering, and with a slight movement, the daggers were all flying towards the two. In response, Fiora waved her hand, revealing two long silver chains with pointed ends.

With a quick swipe, the chains swung in a wide arch, repelling the hooded man’s daggers.

“If I may know, are you two that unaware, or do you really wish to irritate me?” Fiora waved her other hand, revealing the other two chains from her gauntlet.

“If the latter is the case, shall we start? I am not fond of useless idle chatter, after all,” she asked with a smile.

Then, she didn’t wait. With a snap of her fingers, she created a thin red barrier over Claire, while she swung her other hand, directing the chains on her gauntlets towards the two.

In response, Deci lifted Oscar and jumped back, dodging the attack and letting the two chains pierce the asphalt walkway. A crater filled with cracks instantly destroyed the ground they stood on.

Deci’s expression did not change, and he placed his partner back on the ground, before taking out a handful of daggers. Unlike before, the daggers seemed to emit a trail of ghostly black smoke with each movement.

“Endless void, heed my call, lend me your power, Thousand Shadows!” Deci chanted, and threw the daggers, letting it pierce into the ground all around him. The smoke from the daggers seeped out into a sea of black, before all coalesced into clones of himself right down to the smallest detail.

“Go!” He ordered, and the clones all lunged forward. The daggers on their hand glinted with light from the moon.

Fiora lunged forward as well, and slammed her body onto the nearest clone. In an instant, a crunching sound was heard, and the clone was tossed away onto the closest wall with its neck broken in a painful angle. A clang resounded in the air, before the clone dissipated into black smoke.

Then, she clenched her hands, and the ruby claws on her gauntlets glowed in a reddish light. A heat wave spread through the air, along with the scent of smoke seeping from the ground she stood on. The chains attached to her gauntlets also glowed with heat, and they floated around her, the pointed ends all directed towards the enemies.

Fiora stood in place, and with a twitch of her finger, the chains all flew towards the horde. They moved in a zig-zag pattern, stabbing the clones while following those who managed to escape. Within seconds, not even a third of the clones were left.

One of the clones then jumped up and outstretched both hands in a hugging motion. In an instant, from where the clones fell, black daggers rose up, all pointed towards Fiora and Claire. Without the glint of metal, perhaps the knives would have looked like a suspended rain.

“Got you.”

With a gleeful smile, Oscar said from afar. As if he refused to hear it, Deci chanted, “Wisp Storm.”

At his command, the daggers all rained down in one sharp, precise movement.

Fiora simply smiled as her chains moved following the slight twitches of her hands. The four chains moved so quickly they turned into blurry silhouettes, each repelling the daggers and throwing them in every direction. Deci att

As the successive clangs of colliding metal started to let up, one of the chains separated itself from the others.

With a slight nudge of Fiora’s finger, the chain flew at lightning speed towards Oscar’s direction.

He was unable to dodge, and the sharp end embedded itself through the side of his stomach and into the wall behind him. As blood dripped down from the wound onto the pavement, a grunt of pain could be heard, and Claire looked up to see Deci’s lips twisted into a pained grimace. Dark stain pooled on his cloak from the side of his stomach.

Right at the same place Oscar was stabbed.

“Would that be enough of a reminder not to test my patience again?”

Deci jumped back to Oscar’s side, his daggers out in a protective stance right as the latter was about to speak, “Enough, Oscar, I’ll be damned if I go back on my promise to follow you to the ends of the world, but you bit just a bit more than you could chew here.”

Deci’s voice sounded curt, and Claire could see the glint of sharp canines beneath his lips. “Well, miss, if there’s nothing more, I’ll take my leave. You got lucky this time.”

Without giving them a chance to answer, Deci carried the injured Oscar on both hands and sped off, his black cloak disappearing into the dark alleys.