Jean followed the lantern lights as he sought Sayed's trail. There were no large black marks across the buildings, so Jean could be assured that Sayed had wreaked a path of destruction in his pursuit. That much was a comfort.

  "However, that means that the trail is cold, the opposite of Sayed's usual." Jean shook his head, looking to the sky for Eliza.

  She was his last hope.

  He had sent her out to scout for Sayed from above. Aherlow was a city that was large enough that he didn't want to search it all by foot, and Sayed could be anywhere within its borders. Having Eliza's undead eyes in the sky was the best way to search the city, even if Eliza had no eyes.

  It took him a few moments to peer through the gathering clouds above, with the light of a few stars guiding his way, but eventually, he spotted her. Her wispy white form was lit against the pale moonlight as she floated over the city, her gaze focused on the ground.

  She came down like a falling patch of fog, staying invisible to all eyes but his own as she came to a rest beside him. Jean reached out one hand and took her bony fingers in his own. She said nothing but pulled him along down the road. Jean followed, knowing she had spotted something on her aerial reconnaissance.

  Ahead of them was an opening in the tall buildings, and soon, Jean stepped out into a massive square. In the center was a pavilion, with several people out and about at night. Some listened to music played by a small group of musicians off to the side. Others enjoyed the natural scenery of the small park around the pavilion. Considering how late it was and how soon the sun would crest over Aherlow, Jean was impressed that people still managed to be out and about.

  However, that was not what drew his attention.

  To his right, a large crowd had gathered around a tavern. Jean didn't need Eliza to pull him toward the crowd. He could already see Sayed's grinning face over people's heads. He had found his friend right at the center of attention.

  "That's 'Sword Saint' Sayed, isn't it?" a man near Jean asked.

  "Just one of many tonight, ain't it?" the other replied. "We had 'Green Tea' Kagehime and 'Chosen One' Keita too."

  "Didn't he say he was working with 'Tin Man' Ortega?"

  Jean sighed, pushing through the crowd and toward the center. His bony body allowed him more of a sharp edge when cutting through a crowd, so no one stood in his way. In moments, he was at the center with Sayed, shaking his head.

  "Ah, Jean." Sayed waved to him. "I was unable to reach our quarry in the end. However, I came across the most strange encounter."

  "You don't say?" Jean smiled through gritted teeth.

  For once, he could understand the rest of the crew's frustration. They normally had to deal with the fallout of Sayed's tendency to run ahead without a plan, but now Jean had the job of cleaning up. If he had to be honest, he didn't envy the position.

  "We need to go now, Sayed," Jean said, glancing around the crowd. "I fear we will not catch our quarry tonight."

  "Aye, brother." Sayed nodded. "Though I cannot say that it was an uneventful evening."

  They turned into the crowd as they began back toward the Nighthawk. The crowd parted, giving way to their path but not dispersing. They watched over the two men with what seemed like nervous anticipation. Jean frowned.

  "I think it best we get out of sight." An unease crept up his spine.

  Ding. Ding. Ding.

  In the distance, a bell tolled quickly, like it was being shaken back and forth by a fearful hand. Jean's gaze followed the noise, and a man stood near a tall post, ringing a silver bell on the top with a long rope. The man wore a black and red military uniform, and Jean didn't need to guess who he was. He rubbed at his forehead with one bony hand as the man cried out into the night and pointed at both him and Sayed.

  "I do not think it will be that easy, brother." Sayed raised one hand, grasping the hilt of his sword. "We have a fight on our hands."

  "No, we have an escape," Jean said, holding up one finger.

  Thump. Thump. Thump.

  As soon as he said it, several boots echoed through the streets. Five groups of five men in red and black uniforms marched into the light from two sides of the square. They held rifles or sabers in their hands, and none of them looked particularly friendly. They confirmed Jean's suspicions, though he hadn't much room for doubt before.

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  "Corner them!" the men yelled as they started running toward Jean and Sayed.

  Jean had to make a judgment. It would not be as simple as running. If the Military Police were coming for them, they wouldn't just send these a few soldiers. The fact that twenty-five soldiers were on the streets was confirmation enough that the soldiers were waiting in ambush.

  The street he had come down was empty, but that could hide another ambush lying in wait. If he and Sayed stayed and fought, they could win, and then they would come at potential ambushers without being harried at their heels. However, that dismissed the possibility that the soldiers were there to buy time and keep them both away from the ship.

  "A blighted fate."

  Jean cursed that they had been drawn away from the ship by the two figures. He cursed that he had followed after Sayed instead of waiting at the ship for the swordsman to return. He cursed that he hadn't seen it as a possible trap before they confronted the men outside.

  Right or wrong, it didn't matter. All he knew was that they needed to escape quickly before the situation worsened.

  "Come on!"

  Jean grabbed Sayed's arm, pulling him along as he ran toward the ship. The soldiers began to merge together, following them. However, they were not the only problem. The crowd that had given way so easily before now milled about, confused. More people came from the park to see what was happening, clogging up the area more. He and Sayed were pushing through waves of a sea of people in moments.

  "Out of the way." Jean threw out one hand and sent Eliza down the path ahead of them, revealing her skeletal from the crowd's eyes. "Spirit Dervish!"

  Eliza went out, not in a kicking pirouette as she normally did, but in large sweeping steps with her arms out wide. One pointed to the sky, and the other to the ground below. She pushed away the crowd in a circle as she moved forward, creating space for him and Sayed to run freely.

  The soldiers still nipped at their heels, and the cleared crowd gave them the same advantage. While Jean only wanted to escape and return to the ship, it was becoming clear that they would need to deal with the soldiers first.

  "Unleash me, brother." Sayed clasped Jean's skeletal fingers and pulled them away from his shoulder. "I will clear us of our pursuers."

  Jean nodded, letting go of Sayed as the man dropped back. He drew his sword from his shoulder, the blade glinting in the lantern light as Jean watched. Eliza continued clearing the path ahead while Sayed prepared to handle the path behind.

  "Demon's Gale!"

  Sayed swung his sword in a single wide arc around his body, his blade bereft of the orange glow that signaled his curse as he cut through the air around him. It was a technique Jean had never seen before, and he couldn't help but follow every detail.

  The air around Sayed's blade continued as his sword finished the wide arc, forming a gale of wind around him. While Sayed had used similar techniques to cut through his opponents in a wide circle before, this time, his opponents were nowhere near him, and the wind continued to circle around him into a gusting tornado. It shot away from him and toward the pursuing soldiers like a bullet, cutting into their ranks and drawing them into the vortex.

  "Aah!" some soldiers screamed as they were raised into the air in the twisting wind before being thrown out over the crowd and into the distance.

  Sayed stood with his sword pointing in the air, his body angled down, and his free hand following the arc of his swing. A smile stretched wide across his face. He turned to Jean, giving him a wink.

  "A flying blade technique," he said. "Such a glorious day!"

  Hrrm.

  The smile only lasted for a brief moment as a shadow crossed over the two of them. A small slipship spun to a stop above them, its side tilting as it slowed down over Sayed and Jean. Long ropes fell from the ship, and ten figures repelled down those ropes along the path to the Nighthawk. A final figure jumped from above, foregoing the ropes and landing in a crouch on heavy black boots.

  She stood before Jean and Sayed, a spear in her hands at the head of the soldiers. Her long blonde hair flowed behind her in the wind as she gave a crooked half-smile to both men. She wore the same black and red uniform as every soldier in the Military Police, and her stark blue eyes sent a shiver down Jean's spine. It was like he was being watched by a predator, ready to hunt down its prey.

  The soldiers behind her wore black masks, each with a cylinder attached and only foggy goggles to see out of it. Jean had never seen anything like them before in every confrontation with the Military Police. Each bore a rifle with a round drum on the bottom.

  This was no ordinary group of soldiers. They were not fodder to be thrown away casually. They were an officer and her elites, ready to block Sayed and Jean from escaping.

  "I think this is a turn in our fate for the worse," Jean whispered, calling Eliza back to his arms.

  She looked around the soldiers, coming behind Jean and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Sayed took a stance beside him, giving his feet a wide base to charge forward. Neither of them would back down if it were a fight.

  "Shall we take them as one, brother?"

  "What makes you think it will be so easy?" The woman held up her spear in one hand. "Take the outlaws before they can come up with a plan."

  "Ma'am!" the soldiers said in unison as they stepped forward and leveled their guns at Sayed and Jean.

  "I think that answers the question," Jean said, opening his gate wide as he called on his curse. "Spirit Wall!"

  Bang. Bang. Bang.

  As one, the soldiers started firing at them, and Jean's curse answered the attack. A screen of purple energy drew itself through the air before him, cutting a zigzag pattern before crossing itself vertically and horizontally. Bullets slammed into his shield, but Jean held firm. He would hold the wall while Sayed attacked.

  Whoosh.

  At least, he thought that before the first of the bullets ripped through his energy and shot past his head.

  "Duck!" Sayed's hand slammed into his back as more bullets pierced through the wall.

  Thump.

  Jean and Sayed hit the ground together, but Jean knew they couldn't merely drop down. All the soldiers would need to do is adjust their aim. As they fell, he sent Eliza flying forward into the stream of bullets. He grimaced, but he had no choice.

  "Spirit Pirouette!"

  Thud. Thud. Thud.

  Eliza slammed into the soldiers as he and Sayed fell to the ground, her form ripping apart from the onslaught. However, her kicks still landed on the largely unmoving targets, sending their shots wide and out into the crowd before the guns flew.

  "Retrieve your weapons!" the woman yelled, and Jean looked up to see her stepping forward with her spear. "I will hold them here!"