The mountain of empty baskets is even higher. Duck and Danky, finally full, are sipping hot tea.
Duck set down his cup, the delicate sound of porcelain contrasting with the culinary carnage that had just taken place. He leaned forward slightly, a glint of seriousness piercing through his mask.
Duck: "Alright, now that we've eaten well, it's time to talk."
He paused, letting the weight of his words settle.
Duck: "First, congratulations on your promotion to the rank of Astroforge. That's good work."
Danky puffed out his chest, an arrogant and proud smile lighting up his face.
Danky: "Ah, you know... I am a prodigy, after all. Don't forget it."
Duck let out a small, mocking laugh, a sound muffled by his mask.
Duck: "I still remember our first meeting. You looked like nothing. So tiny, and with that look of a hunted beast..."
Danky narrowed his eyes, stung.
Danky: "Yeah, you can talk. Still, back then, I was already more stylish than you with your duck mask."
Duck's laugh was more genuine this time. He calmed down, then his tone changed, becoming more composed, though still tinged with a benevolent irony.
Duck: "Okay, more seriously... You've finished your Luminary training and are now a true Stellar Zenith, which is good. However, if you've returned here, to Goma, it's to perfect your real training. It's time to let you knead that raw strength raging inside you... and turn it into a perfectly controlled weapon."
He was about to continue, but his sentence hung in the air. His body, relaxed a second before, tensed imperceptibly. Under his mask, his gaze, which Danky couldn't see, had just changed. It was no longer amused. It was focused. Sharp. He had just sensed something that no one else in the restaurant could perceive: a fluctuation of Black Kara, powerful and dangerous, not far away.
Without a word of explanation, his voice became a dry, direct whisper.
Duck Bum Darly: "Come. Follow me."
He stood up without haste, but with an underlying urgency. He placed a wad of bills on the table, then gave a nod to the still-stunned owner.
Duck: "Thanks for the meal, chef. And sorry for the noise."
Before anyone could react, he was already outside. Danky, understanding nothing but knowing not to ask questions, followed without hesitation. Once in the street, Duck melted into the shadow of an alley. With a silent, powerful impulse, he leaped onto a wall, then onto a roof, with disconcerting agility. Danky followed, his heart pounding, total incomprehension mixing with adrenaline.
Their silent race across the rooftops of Goma quickly led them to the eastern district. Below, the bustle of the festival contrasted with the heavy silence of a dark alley. Duck stopped short, signaling Danky not to move.
Down below, the scene was already set: four bodies lay in twisted positions. Sitting on one of them, a Kageyami was dragging its black claws across its victim's flesh.
Two white figures had just landed at the entrance of the alley. Two Astroforges.
Danky: (whispering, clenching his fists) "They're going to get themselves killed! He's stronger than them!"
Duck: (his voice a glacial breath) "It's their mission. We only intervene if civilians are threatened. That's the rule. Observe."
From their perch, they saw the Astroforges engage in combat, they saw the Kageyami reveal its true power, and they saw the pillars of shadow erupt from the ground, narrowly missing the two Zeniths.
Then, the worst happened. The Kageyami, ignoring the two fighters, launched itself out of the alley, running at a terrifying speed straight towards the innocent crowd of the festival.
Duck's face, under his mask, hardened.
Duck: "There. He crossed the line."
His tone was calm, but his Kara began to vibrate, an almost imperceptible pressure that made the tile under his feet tremble.
Duck: "Stay here. And watch carefully how we handle a rabid dog."
Before Danky could answer, Duck had disappeared. He didn't run, he fell. A controlled fall, his body cutting through the air. Just before hitting the ground, an impulse of Kara changed his trajectory into a perfect straight line.
A calm, almost mocking voice descended from the sky.
Duck Bum Darly: "Hey. Where do you think you're going?"
He landed with disconcerting ease right in front of the Kageyami, cutting off its path.
He made an almost lazy gesture, as if sheathing two invisible blades.
Then, without anyone understanding how, the massive body of the superior Kageyami froze. Lines of cuts appeared all over its body, and it collapsed into a thousand pieces.
Duck sighed, hands in his pockets, without even looking at the result.
Duck Bum Darly: "You're in my city, you bastard. And here, no one kills without being judged. Not as long as Duck Bum Darly breathes."
The two Astroforges, who had prepared for certain death, stood frozen, breathless. Their eyes went from the remains of the monster to Duck's relaxed figure.
Astroforge 1 (whispering, full of admiration): "It's him..."
Astroforge 2 (finishing the sentence, with the same respect): "The man in the duck mask!"
From the roof, Danky let out an admiring whistle before jumping down with agility, landing smoothly a few meters from his mentor.
Danky Norland:
– "Wow, so fast," he thought, his eyes shining with excitement. "This guy is just too strong."
Duck, ignoring the admiration he was inspiring, turned to his apprentice as if nothing had happened.
Duck: "Come on, let's go."
They resumed their path, crossing through the festival crowd, which had barely noticed the incident, too absorbed in the celebration. As they passed a group of children, several of them stopped to point at Duck's mask, their faces lit up with laughter and curiosity. To them, he wasn't a fearsome warrior, but a funny storybook character.
Once they had moved a little away from the hustle and bustle, Danky, whose curiosity had been piqued, turned to his master.
Danky: "Say, I've never seen you without your mask... What's so special about it?"
Duck stopped. A silence fell between them, broken only by the distant music of the festival. Slowly, he raised his hand to his mask, his fingers resting on the edge, as if he were finally going to remove it. Danky's eyes widened in anticipation.
Then, with a quick gesture and a small, muffled laugh, Duck put his hand back in his pocket, leaving the mask firmly in place.
Duck: (in a mocking tone) "This mask was a gift from a friend. Back then, I was a young man, much more promising than you, in any case."
He paused, his tone suddenly becoming more introspective, almost nostalgic.
Duck: "But I was disrespectful. Arrogant. Because at the time, I had never known defeat. And that friend... was the first and only person to win against me. Even though he was, objectively, weaker than me."
(The world around them fades. The light changes, the sounds muffle. A memory takes shape.)
The image is of a young Duck, his face still beardless, kneeling in the dust of a training arena. He is breathless, covered in sweat and a few scratches. Facing him stands an old man. His face is blurry, indistinct, like a memory too old, but his posture exudes immense wisdom.
The old man hands him the duck mask.
Voice of the Old Man (calm and deep): "Even the duck, which glides proudly on the water, eventually dips its head to survive. No matter your grace or your power, there will come a time when you must bow, get dirty, or accept the fall to keep moving forward."
(The memory dissipates. We return to the present, to Duck and Danky in the streets of Goma. Duck's gaze is lost for a moment in the distance, as if he can still see the face of his old friend.)
Duck: "Since that day, I have never taken it off in public. And that's how people started calling me 'the duck'."
He let out a small sigh, a mixture of nostalgia and amusement, before resuming his walk with a light step. Danky followed him, silent, digesting this unexpected revelation. The mask wasn't a joke. It was a lesson. A constant reminder of humility.
The sun was beginning to set, painting the Goma sky in shades of orange and purple. The festival lanterns were lighting up one by one, taking over from the daylight. The atmosphere was peaceful, almost magical.
Suddenly.
A piercing whistle tore through the air.
A thin spear of black energy, swift as an arrow, shot out from the shadow of a roof, aiming directly at Danky's back.
It all happened in a fraction of a second.
Before Danky could even perceive the danger, Duck had pivoted. Without even drawing a blade, he struck the air with the flat of his hand. The invisible impact deflected the projectile's trajectory, sending it into a brick wall a few meters away, where it disintegrated in a cloud of black smoke.
Danky's heart raced. He recognized that energy. That aura.
"No..." he thought, his body suddenly freezing, adrenaline replacing the tranquility of the moment. "It's him."
Duck, however, hadn't moved. He slowly raised his head towards the roof from where the attack had come. His casual demeanor had completely vanished. His body was tense, ready. The air around him seemed to vibrate.
A silhouette was outlined in the twilight. Tall, dressed in black, his face half-hidden by a familiar mask.
The voice descended from the roof, calm, composed, and oozing with cruel irony.
Johan: "So we meet again... my dear Zeniths."
The image freezes on the three adversaries, poised for an inevitable fight.
END OF CHAPTER 24