Kairos looked down at the five people that had walked up. He couldn’t recognize most of them, but he knew for sure that one of them was Edward, beyond a shadow of a doubt They had simply been together for too long. Though they haven’t seen each other face to face for quite a while, it was like an instinctive feeling.
His eyes narrowed as he looked down, not sure what to say.
Edward also looked up, and just stared back at him silently.
Neither of them had any expression on their face, making it seem as though the two of them had just met for the first time.
Kairos also noticed something strange. The mana around them was acting strangely. In roughly a one hundred meter radius, the mana was unnaturally chaotic, seemingly vibrating and zipping about strangely.
This was the first time he had seen something like this before and didn’t know what it meant. Even when Tiana was controlling mana, she couldn’t do it like this. It seemed like she could only vaguely influence mana that was directly connected to her.
Kairos focused on where this distortion seemed to be coming from and noticed it seemed to originate from Edward. Though, not directly at his center. There seemed to be waves that rippled out from his pocket.
He guessed that he was carrying onto something that would distort the flow of mana.
Tiana called out to the people below.
“And what exactly are all of you doing here?”
Edward spoke up.
“We are the leaders of the town behind the scout team from earlier.”
Tiana raised an eyebrow when she heard that.
“Ah, came for revenge, now did you?”
Edward slowly shook his head.
“No, nothing like that. They overstepped their boundaries while scouting, and were naturally killed. It’s not their fault.”
Tiana blinked a few times.
“Then why the hell are you here? Just to give an apology?”
Edward cleared his throat.
“That’s part of it. We were thinking that it may be possible to have an alliance with one another.”
Tiana narrowed her eyes.
“And why the hell should I accept an offer from a pathetic bunch like you?”
The expressions of the other four distorted, but Edward responded without a change in tone.
“Because we have something to offer as a sign of sincerity.”
He pulled something out of his pocket, the same one that Kairos had been suspecting earlier. Within, was a pitch-black opaque stone. Just from looking at it, the stone didn’t exactly look all that impressive. If anything, it just looked like something a kid would pick up by a beach.
Edward spoke slowly.
“This stone can distort mana, making it so that people within about one hundred meters radius will be unable to cast spells.”
Tiana blinked a few times. Her expression softened slightly, but it didn’t seem to be a pleasant one.
“…Oh really?”
Edward nodded.
“I can toss it up there and you can check to see if it works.”
Tiana’s expression twitched.
“…Well what if it’s a bomb?”
Edward stared blankly back.
“Then maybe I should set it somewhere else, and you can get someone to confirm its effects?”
Tiana narrowed her eyes.
“It seems you have this all thought out. Seems a little fishy to me.”
Edward didn’t respond for a few moments.
“Then what do you suggest?”
Tiana narrowed her eyes.
“Hm… I don’t see why we should even agree to this alliance in the first place. You haven’t given any terms.”
Edward blinked a few times.
“I suppose the main thing is the proposition of trade, where we can agree on exchanging different items. On top of that, we can decide to support one another if one place is attacked. As for how you decide to support or if you support at all is up to you. Other than that, we can negotiate for other deals depending on the situation that comes up.”
Tiana raised an eyebrow.
“So you’re just telling me to trust you?”
Edward shook his head.
“Trust is something that must be gradually built up. Right now, we are strangers, but I’m hoping to become allies soon enough.”
Tiana bit the bottom of her lip. She was having difficulty saying that she was against this proposition. The alliance itself wasn’t something she cared about all that much, but from what Edward had said about the stone, it seemed like it would interrupt her own ability that connected her to the others.
As for Kairos, he wasn’t all that enthusiastic about making an alliance, but the black stone was nearly an irresistible temptation for him. After all, he knew that its effects were probably real just from looking at how it distorted mana around it.
That meant it would be able to stop whatever control Tiana had over him, and if he could get more of them, then he could give it to his other party members.
But despite everything, he kept quiet.
Perhaps if the person down there wasn’t Edward, he would’ve already spoken up and began negotiating. But when he looked at him, all words seemed to escape him.
Tiana slowly turned to him.
“…What’s your stance on this? Do you want to accept it?”
Kairos did not respond. Instead, he continued to stare at Edward. Tiana seemed a little frustrated with his lack of a response.
“I will assume that your silence just means no if you don’t say anything right now.”
Kairos blinked a few times.
“If I had to say, then I would want to accept this alliance.”
Tiana looked at him straight on.
“…Why?”
Kairos did not look at her.
“I don’t really care about the alliance between people, but I want that stone.”
Tiana stared at him blankly.
“Why do you want it?”
Kairos hardly moved.
“I think you know why already.”
Tiana fell silent for quite a while. After a few moments, she slowly turned to Edward. From the look on her face, it was fairly clear she was hesitating. But eventually, she let out a defeated sigh.
“…I agre-”
“Wait.”
Kairos raised his hand, cutting her off. Tiana looked at him strangely, but let him speak.
“Edward. I’m sure you know who I am, right?”
Two of the people in Edward’s group were Collin and Nola. Their expressions both distorted slightly when they heard that. As for the other two, they both seemed rather confused. From the looks of things, they weren’t filled in on the fact Edward knew Kairos, or why they were really making this alliance in the first place.
Edward looked up at Kairos with a passive expression.
“Yeah, Kairos.”
After that, there was a moment of silence. Collin and Nola both looked uncomfortable, while the other two of their group were discreetly whispering to each other, wondering if there was some sort of antagonistic relationship between Kairos and Edward.
Kairos eventually sighed.
“I almost thought you would never respond to me again, even now.”
Edward smiled bitterly.
“Honestly, I thought the same thing.”
There was another awkward silence, as everyone else in the group was wondering what exactly the relationship between the two of them was.
Kairos tilted his head to the side ever so slightly.
“It seems like you decided to make this alliance because you knew I was on it, or is that just my ego speaking?”
Edward shrugged his shoulders.
“You’re right on the mark… like always.”
Kairos blinked a few times.
“You really want to become my ally? Are you sure about that?”
Edward stared at him blankly.
“I can’t really tell, to be honest. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have avoided you for so long.”
Kairos gave a small nod.
“That makes sense. How about this then, I will let you decide whether or not we become allied. I want to hear from your mouth only, whether or not you want this.”
Nola and Collin both began whispering, but before they could say anything, Kairos shouted rather loudly.
“I don’t want any interference. I just want to hear his genuine opinion.”
Edward took a deep breath.
“I assume I’m not allowed to defer this decision to someone else?”
Kairos spoke flatly.
“I just want to hear it from you. That’s it. Can’t you do just that much, Edward?”
Edward looked up to him with a bitter smile.
“Alright, Kairos. I would like to…”
Kairos’ head suddenly darted to the side, and his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion.
“Nicole?”
There was a figure of mana that appeared next to him, but no body to support it. That immediately made him think of Nicole. However, there was no response as the figure suddenly leaped off the wall, heading towards Edward.
Edward furrowed his brows.
“What are you-”
He cut himself off once he saw that Nicole had suddenly formed in the air. She was casting the invisibility spell, but the black rock ended up disrupting her spell, causing her to reveal herself. Her eyes were widened all the way, while she had an axe pulled back. With the way she was looking at Edward, it was as though nothing else existed.
But not in a good way.
Both Collin and Kara immediately stepped up, bringing out weapons to try and stop her. However, Edward simply remained in place.
Both Collin and Kara launched their attacks, and Nicole didn’t even try to block them. Her body was about to be sliced in half.
But then, their weapons passed through, almost like she was a complete mirage. Both Collin and Nola were dumbfounded as they stumbled forth. They turned around to look at Nicole in confusion.
Nicole made no sound as she hit the ground, and swung her axe towards Edward’s neck.
Kairos frowned and shouted loudly.
“Nicole!”
Nicole froze in place, with her axe just a few centimeters away from his neck.
Edward hadn’t moved the entire time and just spoke casually.
“Hello, Nicole.”
Nicole stared back with furious eyes that seemed to be filled with flames.
“…Edward.”
Kairos let out a sigh.
“Stop, Nicole. Get back up here.”
Yet, to his surprise, Nicole remained rooted on the spot. Collin frowned when he saw this.
“Hey! Don’t think we can’t kill you! Every ability has its limitations!”
Nicole didn’t respond. Her head tilted to the side slowly, almost like it was a door that hadn’t been oiled properly.
“You remember what I told you, didn’t I?”
Edward slowly nodded.
“As though it was just yesterday.”
Nola furrowed her brows.
“If you dare touch him, you’ll regret it!”
Nicole ignored her completely, instead continuing to press.
“Then you remember what I said, right? Yet you dare show your face here again.”
Edward blinked a few times.
“Yes. Yes, I did.”
Nicole slowly lowered the axe, which made everyone else feel less tense, but Kairos frowned instead.
“Stop it, Nicole!”
Without responding, Nicole’s free hand suddenly shot towards Edward’s neck. She grasped on tightly and began lifting him up. Edward’s head tilted to the side from the excessive force, and the veins that suddenly appeared showed that the hold on his neck was far from light. Despite the fact blood began dripping down from his neck as the skin had torn apart, Edward did not fight back. He did not even lift up either of his hands.
Collin and Nola both cried out. They tried to attack Nicole, but every attack passed straight through her.
Collin cried out in frustration.
“What the hell is this ability?”
The other two people in the group tried to help as well, but were unable to do anything more.
Nola had a look of despair on her face.
“Edward!”
Kairos crouched down before leaping off the roof.
He slammed down on the ground with a crash, cracking the pavement. From there, he rushed to the opposite side of Edward so that Nicole could see him.
“Please, stop.”
Nicole could not hear him as of now, but she was able to tell what he was saying just from the movement of his lips, despite not being a good lip reader.
She bit the bottom of her lip.