The fire was gradually extinguishing in the streets, releasing residual particles that glowed with an intense scarlet hue.
"Where could he have gone? Do you think Eirian vaporized him?" one of the thugs asked.
"Hahaha! That would be brutal!"
But while they boasted about their false victory, Alioth was already moving.
The boy made a gesture with his hands, which Abzu immediately interpreted.
The gelatinous mass of water formed a staircase with its body, and he used it to climb onto the roof of a house.
Carefully, Alioth moved across the charred roof tiles.
'I don't think the owner will be pleased that they destroyed his house like this.'
The white-haired boy thought as he observed the thugs from above.
There were 5 boys and the girl on the ground. The latter hadn't moved this whole time. She just lay on the ground without saying anything.
'Is she really alive?'
He wondered, though she must be. The dead gave off a different color.
A color he couldn't even name.
"Hmm? He's really nowhere to be found. Did he escape? Or did we really kill him?" the blue-haired one asked, peering out of the alley.
Upon hearing those words, Eirian's face changed.
"Dead? Do you really think I killed him?" he said, his voice trembling. His face had become pale imagining it.
The fire spirits pulsed weaker and weaker, dissolving in the air until leaving no trace.
Eirian received some pats on the back from the biggest thug.
"Don't worry, boss. He was surely just a demon. Killing a wolpertinger would be more pitiful, hahahaha."
Alioth clenched his jaw at those words. However, that was the truth of that world.
In that world, it wasn't only the Vanir; there were also fairies and demons.
Fairies were people who had evolved spiritually to protect themselves from azoth, a great plague that ravaged the world.
While demons were creatures that had been mutated by azoth but had managed to preserve their sanity.
All of them lived in "harmony" in Caelestia, the last kingdom of humanity. An enormous structure protected by a shield from azoth.
However, the Vanir saw fairies and demons as inferior and enslaved them. That tyranny lasted a long time, until a rebellion occurred and the state decided to give them "rights."
Though discrimination hadn't ceased much.
"Bah, maybe he just escaped. No need to overthink it. Anyway, wasn't that your mission? Kill a demon or something?" the blue-haired one asked.
Eirian nodded somewhat uncomfortably, his gaze fixed on the ground, as if it weighed on him.
'It's true. I must intervene.'
Alioth made a series of gestures with his hand as he threw himself off the roof.
Abzu followed him, dividing into three. One part of his body fell to the ground and swelled to cushion Alioth's fall.
The other two parts fell on two of the thugs, forming two bubbles around their faces.
'That's it, block their air passage,' Alioth thought.
In that world oxygen didn't exist, but air did.
It was ironic, but even in another world, air remained indispensable for living. Ka was vital energy, a flame that needed to be constantly fed.
For this, air was indispensable. This element had to be constantly consumed to prevent the vital flame from going out, and therefore surrounding two people's heads with water was lethal.
"Huh? What was that?" The oldest one turned around, seeing how his companions' bodies writhed as they suffocated. "No way! The bastard is still alive!"
The other two also turned around, but it was already too late.
Alioth was already escaping with the girl in his arms, surprised at how light she was.
"Don't let him escape!" the blue-haired one shouted, pointing at Alioth with his finger.
A bright electric blue tattoo shone on the back of his hand. Though he couldn't aim, because the two spheres suffocating the thugs burst, releasing a thick fog that blocked his view.
"Shit, chase him!" the frustrated boy roared. "Don't think those tricks will work twice! Dianysmastra: immaterial rectilinear pulse!"
The tattoo on his hand shone, and from there came a blue arrow-shaped trail that pierced through the fog... though nothing relevant occurred.
An uncomfortable silence settled, until the oldest one decided to break it.
"Was something supposed to happen?" he asked sarcastically. "Don't tell me you wanted to dissipate the fog with that?"
Small specks of light began to pulse with blue and green colors, while another uncomfortable silence settled.
The blue-haired one seemed embarrassed.
"It doesn't matter now! We have to follow him before he escapes!" the boy ordered, running through the smoke to hide his embarrassment.
"Do we follow him?" another thug asked, catching his breath.
The oldest one nodded seriously.
"We'll split up and find him. He can't have gone far."
And with those words, the group of thugs separated and began running through the city streets.
Small particles of blue light gradually faded from the air. The alley was now safe.
"Mission passed," Alioth's voice said.
The boy began to descend from the roof, using Abzu as stairs, still with the girl in his arms.
After descending, Alioth gently placed her on the ground.
"Phew, sorry. It's not that you're heavy or anything, but carrying you for so long ended up tiring my arms," the boy mentioned as he stretched.
His body was very weak. It was something he had accepted over time.
"You should rest a bit too, Abzu. You've worked hard today."
Upon saying that, the small water sphere jumped onto his shoulder, then slid under his tunic.
"Are you okay? Do you need anything?" the boy asked again, looking at the girl.
The poor girl should be around his age. She was thin, and her pale skin was covered in dirt.
She was surely homeless or something worse. She hadn't even moved from the position Alioth had left her in. She just stared at the ground with a lost look.
"Okay... I guess you're not very talkative... Mmm, do you have a home to live in or something?"
The question hung in the air, unanswered.
Alioth let out a sigh.
"This is going to be really diff—"
"Take this!" a voice then shrieked, interrupting Alioth mid-sentence.
Before he could react, the boy received a powerful punch that sent him flying.
The boy felt his jaw crack under the force of the blow.
He flew through the air and fell face-first against the ground, breaking his nose.
As soon as he fell, the boy sat up on the ground, completely startled.
Had the thugs returned? Why hadn't he heard them?
Though upon seeing his attacker, his surprise only increased.
It wasn't any thug. It was a girl, a blonde girl dressed in the same white tunic as him.
The girl's green eyes fixed on Alioth with a severe gaze as she extended her arm to point at him with an accusing finger.
"Your misdeeds end here, villain!" the girl declared, as her hair waved in the wind.
Alioth was left speechless.
Who was she?