Luka sped up and ran after the thief, but the crowd blocked him. He collided with someone at every step, slowing him down.
The rest of the group froze. If they lowered their guard or caution with Kyle standing right there, the consequences could be severe.
"He's getting away!" Luka yelled, struggling to slip through the crowds, but Asari, Rem, and the rest did not answer. They were staring intensely into Kyle's eyes, their swords ready at the tips of their hands, but not drawn.
For a swordsman, naming a sword is one of the strongest bonds between the swordsman and his blade. A sword is only named after the swordsman becomes an Eathlth and controls their Enza through that sword.
In the Soul Tamer Form, the user allows the sword to make decisions with them, to manifest in their body, and to be a part of their existence for a limited time. For a swordsman to reach the Soul Tamer Form, it means their relationship with their sword is no longer just a swordsman and his weapon.
Instead, it becomes a bond of spirit to spirit, interwoven with many complex and beautiful emotions. The sword is the one who understands its user best because it is part of them. Therefore, no swordsman would allow themselves to lose a sword that has lived inside them, understood their nature, and loved it.
The necklace and wristbands on Luka's limbs represent his sword through which his Enza flows. These bands and the necklace were given to him by his father before his mother's death. Therefore, even if these necklace were not his weapon, they were among his precious treasures.
In the continuing moment of silence, Rem moved, running quickly after the thief, leaving Asari, Ramona, and Nadya in front of Kyle.
Rem leaped with agile movements over display tents and walls, cutting through the crowds and surpassing Luka himself. As soon as Asari saw Rem move, and Kyle did not object, Asari and the rest quickly ran after him.
Luka looked up and saw Rem and Asari crossing between walls like forest monkeys, jumping from tent to tent and wall to wall, bypassing the dense crowds.
Rem got closer to the person who had Luka's necklace. As soon as he caught sight of him, he jumped to the ground and sprinted toward him.
Before Rem could grab the blonde-haired teenager, the thief shoved his feet toward the ground and leaped high. His jump was unnatural, even leaving Rem stunned by its height.
The thief jumped onto a building. Before continuing his run, he turned to Rem, gave him an annoying, arrogant smile, and continued running.
Slightly irritated, Rem rebounded between the nearby buildings until he reached the one the thief was on, continuing the chase, followed by Asari and Luka.
"Give back the necklace! It's not yours!"
Rem shouted at the thief, but he just replied with a silly chuckle and kept going. The irritation on Rem's face grew, so he crouched down and grabbed his sword.
"A Dance..."
Before the thief could blink, Rem was in front of him, swinging the Judgment Blade with intense Enza flowing from its edge. The thief's eyes widened quickly. He managed to evade the fast strike aimed at his chest by Rem's sword and quickly tumbled backward.
"Are you trying to kill me over a necklace?!" the thief yelled in shock, inspecting the burnt trail left by Rem's technique.
"You're the one who wouldn't stop..." Rem quickly shook the Judgment Blade, the rising aura faded, and he returned the sword to its sheath.
"But man, that's a whole different thing! That attack almost killed me!"
"But it didn't... I was sure you would evade it. That jump, and the way you dodged my previous attack... Are all people in Araniga this strange?.."
"That doesn't matter! But I won't give you this necklace. I stole it fair and square, and I won't hand it over easily."
"There's no fairness in crime..."
Rem had a cold, terrifying look. His words reminded him of what Williams had told him back in Arashia.
Luka and Asari arrived from the sides, cutting off the thief's escape routes. Asari drew Wind Path and spoke
"Give back what you took... and no one gets hurt here."
"And if I refuse?~"
"Then you die..."
"Scary~"
The three charged at the same time. Each aimed a deadly strike at the thief's vital spots, but before the attacks could land, the thief danced with the wind and evaded all the incoming attacks in a split second.
Before the three could collide, they stopped quickly and looked up. The thief had jumped high and was sticking his tongue out at them.
Rem grew angry and looked at Asari, who read his thoughts instantly and clasped his hands together. Rem used Asari's hands to jump high and pursue the thief.
The distance between them widened, and Rem was now higher than the thief. Rem pulled his sword back, the dark aura exploded massively, and the rot spread up to his shoulder.
"he told you you would die..."
"Black Slash!" With a swift swing, Rem unleashed a massive, cutting, crescent-shaped aura. The attack shook the atmosphere of Arigo completely and spread a disturbing feeling.
The cutting attack rushed toward the thief. In the air, he had no way to dodge, so he closed his hands defensively and shut his eyes.
No light reached him because the dark aura blocked it. He could feel his cells dying and his pores decaying, even his skin starting to crack—shatter, even—before the attack could fully hit him.
With a fast spinning kick from Kyle, who appeared out of nowhere, the attack aimed at the thief vanished. Rem landed on the ground and grabbed the thief, who had lost consciousness due to the pressure of Rem's attack.
Rem's hand was consumed by the rot up to his shoulder, so he quickly pulled out his glove and put it on, returning the sword to its sheath, which made the rot vanish. However, the exhaustion was obvious; his breathing was heavy, and he was covered in sweat.
"Don't try reckless moves... and tell me about every new technique before you use it, understood?" Asari said to Rem.
"Yes, Master."
The thief was in a bad state. The curse aura getting so close without any Enza to protect his body left him in a critical condition, but he could speak.
"You guys weren't joking when you said you wanted to kill me, huh...?"
"I wasn't going to kill you..." Rem answered. "But I was going to injure you badly so you couldn't move while alive. And when you die, you will decay and vanish into the air, and your family won't find a body to burn..."
"You're terrifying..." Asari said, looking at Rem with a scared and absurd expression.
"...."
Away from the scene, Luka approached the thief and quickly snatched his necklace. Then, he grabbed the thief's hand and bit it with all his might.
"Kaaah!!" the thief screamed in pain. Kyle, who was holding him, looked at Luka in astonishment, and everyone fell silent, turning toward him.
A few moments later, Luka released the thief's hand, which was swollen and slightly bloody. Luka looked at him with disgust, wiping his mouth.
"Don't steal again, you idiot!"
"Okay..." the thief replied, tearing up and blowing on his hand from the pain, wondering what kind of crazy group he had encountered.
Moments later, Ramona and Nadya climbed the stairs leading to the rooftop where everyone was. Ramona looked exhausted, but Nadya was jumping around without a single drop of sweat.
"H-Guys... are you okay?"
"Yes, we are. We got the necklace back, and Rem almost finished off the thief."
"Yeah! My brother Rem is the best!" Nadya yelled, not even looking at them, but she loved to praise her brother whenever she heard his name.
"You guys are terrifying," Ramona whispered, looking deep into everyone's eyes while wondering if coming with them was the right choice in the first place.
After the air calmed down slightly, everyone looked at Kyle, who had been just smiling the whole time without saying a word. Then Rem stepped forward.
"You. When we were heading to Arigo, the attack you launched at me was absorbed by the echo I wear... that means it was with the intent to kill... Tell us who you are!"
"Me?.." Everyone held their breath, waiting for Kyle's words.
"I am a member of the Araniga Border Special Unit... and of course, I attacked you with the intent to kill. You attacked me with the intent to kill first."
"What is the Araniga Border Special Unit?"
"I thought we were sharing information here; this isn't an interrogation, is it?" Rem's and Asari's expressions darkened. They knew Kyle was absolutely not just a normal person. Asari stepped forward and stood next to Rem, looking deeply into Kyle's eyes with a serious gaze.
"So, how about we play a game?"
"What's your game?"
"Three honest questions"
"Is that the game where each of us gets three questions, and the other must answer completely truthfully, right? Agreed~"
Asari smiled when he heard Kyle's words and drew Wind Path. He moved the Wind Path slightly in his hands, and transparent chains formed on its edge, a small blade like the one in Sky Prison, linking Kyle, Asari, and Rem's cores, the blade pointed toward their cores.
"I thought I'd let you lie without consequences. These are the Chains of Truth. Lie once, and you lose yourself forever. And don't try to deceive—the wind has heard the truth before..."
Kyle smiled arrogantly and nodded his head in agreement. The surrounding atmosphere became tense, and stress was etched on everyone's face. Ramona's heart pounded from the intensity of the situation.
"First question... Why did the King of Arashia create the Seven Ghosts?"
Asari gritted his teeth in anger, even though he had stopped asking such a question.
"To do all the deeds the King did not want to do officially..." The chain shook, but it did not pierce.
"So, you are criminals?"
"Is that your second question?" Rem's words made Kyle silent. He looked at Rem with a smile, but there was slight annoyance behind it.
"Okay. Our first question... What type of power do you use, and how does it work?" This was Rem's question.
"But those are two questions," Kyle tried to play with Rem's nerves and answered absurdly, but Rem immediately replied:
"Then deduct two questions!"
"Alright~ The type of my power is Enza, like everyone else, and I use it by making it flow through my body to do things." The chain shook violently, but it did not pierce either.
Rem's features darkened even more, but Asari grabbed his shoulder, telling him to calm down and think carefully, as they had just lost two questions.
"My second question... The sword you possess, Rem... what is its origin?"
Kyle's question was hard to evade, and any answer the chain felt was not entirely relevant would be considered a lie and destroy the core of the person lying.
"Its origin... forged iron made into a sword." Everyone backed away upon hearing Rem's answer. The chain shook violently, making the bodies of the three linked to it tremble. Rem felt the blade's point touch his core... but it did not pierce.
"But that's not the answer..."
"Make your questions more specific~"
"..."
"Now, my third and final question... Why did the King of Araniga form this special unit?"
"...To stop any invading Enza users from entering Araniga..." Kyle answered, but the blade touched the tip of his core. His eyes widened in tension, and for the first time, everyone could see Kyle's fearful expression.
"That's not the only reason..." Rem smiled, a smile that made Kyle's blood boil. He felt the immense pressure this young boy put him under with a question that held a long answer and could not be avoided by playing with words.
"Damn you..."