The Alpha Academy students huddled beneath Yeshe's thirty-foot statue, Humanity's Savior, pressed back-to-back with their primitive weapons ready.
Nearby, Scar, Purple, and Julien took similar defensive positions.
Scar held his azure blade ready, Julien brandished a spear crafted from his own blood, and Purple's threads, invisible to the naked eye, spread throughout the area.
Everywhere around them, people lay unconscious on the ground.
"This is bad… where exactly are the bugs originating?" Scar asked, his eyes scanning through the area. He still couldn't see any bugs around.
Purple frowned. "I can't tell, but my threads are keeping them from coming any closer."
"Be careful, Purple. If anything happens, I'm here to protect you." Julien said, clenching his spear tightly.
How was it possible? A Daywalker or Dreamwalker this far into the district, completely unnoticed? It shouldn't happen. But as the seconds passed, Scar's focus shifted from Isaac's killer to the present danger. Soon, revenge was the furthest thing from his mind. Right now, he just needed to live.
"Move!"
A loud yell came from the direction of the Alpha students. Joel rode toward them on a hovering skateboard, moving fast. Before they could assess the threat, he'd closed the distance and was forcing them back.
Everything unfolded in a blur.
Joel pushed them down and screamed in pain. The next moment, the remaining Alpha students were shouting in terror, looking up as the thirty-foot statue of Yeshe toppled toward them.
Their frantic determination showed as they mounted their boards and struggled to right the massive statue.
A hopeless effort, but as humans, they refused to let their hero collapse. Meanwhile, Scar and his colleagues were still processing what had just transpired.
Confused, Scar got to his feet, but Purple and Julien immediately tended to Joel's wound.
"Can you manipulate blood? Can you make it clot? Stop him from bleeding, Julien." Purple asked in desperation.
Without hesitation, Julien extracted much of Joel's blood to reinforce his spear. Joel's screams spoke volumes about his pain, while Purple worked frantically, using her threads to perform makeshift surgery.
"What's happening?" The moment Scar thought out loud, something caught his eye.
To his left stood a figure in Supreme Academy uniform, dark-haired and poised with quiet confidence. Scar couldn't mistake him even if he tried. Amell. The first opponent he'd faced at the academy.
Something else about the scene unsettled him. Before Amell lurked a four-legged creature, snarling and drooling. Twin pincers protruded where tails might be, and its dark, serrated hide was pockmarked with countless small apertures.
Amell didn't hesitate. With a quick gesture, he shaped the sand into large bullet-like projectiles, nearly as fast as real ones. He targeted the Alpha students holding up the statue, knocking them off their boards.
Scar sneered.
Realization struck instantly. Scar wreathed his blade in dark flames and rushed Amell. Without so much as a blink, Amell fired even faster projectiles at him.
Scar reacted fast, batting aside two projectiles, though one still grazed his shoulder.
"Retreat, Scar! The Daywalker is the one producing those bugs." Purple ordered.
With an irritated sneer, Scar retreated.
"Why are you here? Aren't you ashamed to surround yourselves with humans? Or have you sunk so low that it no longer disgusts you?"
Amell asked, but before any of them could answer him, he concluded his curiosity.
"Actions define us. We are shaped by our surroundings. You chose to help a human, so you see yourself as one of them. Now you die."
Scar met him with a sarcastic laugh.
"How delusional are you? I defeated you without using my Inheritance. One kick to the balls ended the fight."
A soft smile played on Amell's lips. He crouched beside the Daywalker and patted it.
"This isn't the Generic Scarlet Kin you're used to. It's considered unique. Its origin is still unconfirmed. The academy kept it locked away… imprisoned. But I freed it."
The creature's irritation grew more fierce.
"It serves me now. The humans of Alpha Academy will die, and through them, our superiority will be proven once again."
Scar finally understood why no alarm had been raised. Amell had smuggled the Daywalker out of the academy. It hadn't entered from the creature territories, where the Moon Killers and Royal Knights would have noticed.
"This is bad. If anything happens to the humans, we'll be blamed too. The Supreme Council won't believe a damn word we say."
No sooner had Julien spoken than more bugs swarmed out of the Daywalker. The sheer number of them blocked out the sun, turning the sky dark.
Scar gulped bile.
"Stay with Joel, Purple. I will protect you." Julien said and began shielding Purple.
Amell smirked. With a flicker, the bugs were already heading for the humans.
Confused but driven by instinct, Scar charged forward like a man possessed. As he ran, desperately trying to figure out how to reach the victims, something awakened inside him. His blood felt like it was boiling.
Then it clicked. The Blessing! He'd absorbed it, which meant enhanced physical abilities. He leaped immediately, then stared in amazement as he cleared nearly ten feet.
'Whoa! This is sick!'
Typical. He hadn't thought through how he'd actually attack the bugs, and the realization hit him midair. He swung his sword through the cloud of insects anyway, but it accomplished nothing.
The instant he landed, he noticed the humans were breaking. The statue wobbled as some tried to escape, with the bugs hovering mere inches from their faces.
"You have to use your flames, Scar. Burn them!" Julien yelled.
Scar's heart immediately tightened. His flames? How?
He could manage the normal flames for less than a second before decay slipped through. Not only was using decay going to hurt his body, but he could be in danger. What if…? What if?
He broke into a cold sweat, panicking as if a blade rested at his throat. His hand went to his chest, confusion mixing with the aggressive hammering of his heart.
"I can't move… what's happening? Fear? This level?"
Fear wasn't new to him, but this? This transcended every frightening moment he'd ever lived through.
"Huh? What the fuck are you waiting for?"
Julien's words didn't register.
Scar understood that only his flames could save the humans, but his predecessors apparently disagreed. They'd died because of this power, and their remnant emotions were clearly trying to spare him the same end.
"Relax, guys. How long do you want us acting like cowards? Besides, the decay's flames now. I doubt Dain could tell the difference that easily." He muttered to himself awkwardly.
"We can't put an end to this death hunt without acting…"
He braced himself once more, resolved now.
The more he thought about it, the more certain he became that he had to use his Inheritance.
Without it, the humans would die. His colleagues would die. And if by some chance he survived alone, what would that be worth?
"As the old man said: do it first… apologize later."
Pushing past his emotions, he launched himself upward again and rapidly fired fireballs at the swarm. Several bugs disintegrated in seconds.
"Shit…"
His attacks weren't working well enough, but that wasn't the real problem. Some bugs slipped past and struck two humans. They crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
Could the flames flow through him like wind? Maybe. But his hands were already darkened and burned from using decay earlier. Channeling it through his whole body would only cause more damage.
Two more went down. Only three were left holding up the towering statue now.
"No excuses, Scar! You can heal from this."
He muttered under his breath, sheathed his blade, and launched himself upward again. Breathing hard, eyes squeezed shut in silent prayer, he prepared to channel more flames.
Fire exploded from his palms with devastating power, far more than intended. Nearby buildings caught flame. Scar? The sheer force hurled him into a wall.
When he opened his eyes, shock and confusion washed over him. Somehow, he sensed even his predecessors were stunned by what he'd accomplished. Fear had vanished. Now he felt only pride.
Seizing the moment while the Daywalker's insects decomposed around them, Julien rushed Amell.
Sand bullets flew at him instantly; he barely managed to dodge.
The next moments that followed, Julien kept Amell on his toes, making sure the dude didn't have any time to command the Daywalker.
Meanwhile, Joel brushed Purple away from tending his wound and, gritting through the pain, struggled upright.
"This is our territory… we don't need the help of Akumas."
Purple met him with a calm expression as though she'd seen her son acting rebellious.
Joel grabbed his board and his sword.
"I owe you, Akumas. But whoever stands before me in the Epic Competition will die."
He didn't wait to hear a word from Purple before flying toward Julien and Amell.
Amell maintained his assault, forcing Julien to deflect bullet after bullet. Getting closer proved impossible.
Joel pushed his board to its limits, smoke pouring off it as it made alarming sounds. Moving at breakneck speed, he watched for an opening. The instant he saw it, he drove his fist into Amell's chin.
The impact drove him into the dirt. Before he could recover, Julien had transformed his spear into chains and secured him. Purple swept in, her threads entangling both Amell and his creature.
"There's no need to tell you what my threads can do. I'm certain word has reached you." Purple warned.
Amell smiled as though he wasn't the captive.
"Aren't these the same threads Adisa escaped from? Don't worry… I'm not as strong as he is. I can't escape. Still, don't say what isn't true."
Purple scoffed.
Scar, meanwhile, collapsed on the floor, his hands dark and skeletal, looking like they'd been exhumed after months underground.
He'd been simply observing all this time, but now, his heart hammered at a rapid pace. Adisa. What if it were Adisa who killed Isaac? But why would he?
His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Royal Knights and Moon Killers. Within moments, they'd arrested Amell, contained the Daywalker, begun treating casualties, including Scar, shored up the statue, and started fighting the fires spreading through nearby buildings.
Scar was still lost in thought… there was only one way to find out. He needed to ask Mingle and Emma. If it were true, he'd kill Adisa with his bare hands. It wouldn't matter what his reasons were.