It was ten against two meaning that Sylvia and Drew had to get rid of five assailants each or at least create an opening if they want to make it to the roof. Gerald was three minutes away and if they sprint, it would take two. So they have to defeat all ten assailants or at least escape from them in a minute minutes. From their Otrio wavelengths, none of them appeared to be higher than High F-Rank or even Low E-Rank at most. If Drew’s intuition was correct, the cloaked figures must be high-ranking street thugs as they didn’t look like they were trained in a military institution. 

One thug charged right at Drew, throwing out a slow but sloppy punch. It was full of openings. Drew grabbed his arm with his left hand, pulling the assailant closer to him using his momentum. Engulfing wind Otrio around his right fist, Drew landed a solid blow to the assailant's stomach, knocking him out cold. Drew knew he couldn’t kill in this scenario cause that would mean dealing with the authorities, especially if he left ten bodies dead in the middle of the alley. Then again, he hasn’t killed anyone before and wouldn’t like his current identity to have a criminal record. By knocking the assailants out, they’d probably wake up in a few hours and then be on their way before suffering the loss of their failure for whoever they were working for.

Behind him, Sylvia was also holding out well, kneeing two assailants in the jaw causing them to collapse back onto the ground. She was holding out well. Then another assailant came charging at Drew with fireballs in both hands. Once again, he was full of openings so Drew crouched down, letting the fiery balls of flames thrusted at him to fly over his head but when he was about to kick the assailant in the gut, another that Sylvia has socked in the jaw earlier came dashing towards Drew from the corner of his eye. In an instant, Drew bent his body back into a backflip position. With his hands touching the cold stones, Drew propelled his body off the ground while retracting his arms causing the cloaked figure from the side of his view to slide right underneath him.

(A/N: If you can’t visual like it, it’s basically the guy with the fireballs on top, Drew sandwiched in the space between curled like a ball, and then the other guy that was knocked out but then recovered below Drew.) 

Transferring wind Otrio to his palms, Drew pressed his hands down into the assailant's back centimeters below, burying his face into the unpaved road below. At the same time, he wrapped his legs around the neck of the cloaked figure about him. Using the strength contained in his core, Drew moved his legs in the same direction as the fireball attacker’s movement, throwing him towards the cement wall of the building lining the alleyway. Unfortunately, the fireball attacker was able to react fast enough and flip himself around, ready to spring back at Drew who had yet to recover from his move. 

Before he could even have a chance to attack the defenseless Drew, a boulder the size of his forehead came crashing right into his face. His neck whipped back before smashing right into the wall of the building. 

“Thank you!” Drew hollered to Sylvia as he landed on his feet before kicking the defenseless attacker below him in the Johnson, causing him the ball up. 

“Don’t thank me yet,” Sylvia replied. 

While Drew was recovering, Sylvia had conjured a boulder out of Earth Otrio and kicked it at the fireball assailant.  Wiping him out of the battle. 

“Hey, in front of you!” Drew warned as three attackers jumped out at Sylvia. But before he could react, Sylvia stamped her foot on the ground. Before his eyes, Drew saw jagged spikes emerge from the ground, shredding apart the attackers' hoods. Through his peripheral vision, Drew saw a black Diamond tattoo painted onto the necks of the attackers. It seems they were part of some sort of group. 

At that very moment, Drew had found an opening. With the wave of his hand, Drew spent a hundred of his precious Krasos to generate a wind wall. The strong gust caused the assailants to stumble. Wind wall was a move Gerald had taught him as a form of stress relief from working on the Blood Poisoning Regiment. However, because Drew was limited on Krasos, the move was only to be used in an emergency which in this case, he was. Thanks to the invisible wall, Drew was able to create a larger opening for Sylvia and him to slip through. The remaining attackers tried forcing their way past the invisible wall but failed. Their feet ground against the uneven path. With only a couple of seconds before the opening would disappear, Drew clasped Sylvia’s hand, dragging her with him as he wall jumped onto the roof at an unforeseen speed. His steps were as silent as the subtle rustling of leaves almost as if he were dancing to some unforeseen tune that the staggered bricks along the wall were telling him to akin to a master pianist playing an elegant symphony.

No, he was the creator of that symphony. 

What he had displayed was too beautiful to even be considered a wall jump anymore. 

With a graceful landing, Drew and Sylvia made it onto the rooftop safely. 

“Smell ya’ later losers!” Drew taunted before whisking Sylvia away into the night. The Friends Day fireworks illuminate the sky in a variety of colors.

The remaining assailants stopped dead in their tracks as they could only watch Drew and Sylvia disappear into the darkness. The loud booms of the fireworks muffled their footsteps as they dashed along the rooftop. 

The assailant hissed.

“Dammit!” 

“Boss it’s okay.” One of the cronies reassured the leader, patting him on the shoulder.  “The targets were in the other group as predicted. The leader request us to regroup. We don’t need to waste time on the decoys.” 

“Alright, let’s head back. We need to stop them before they reach the train station.” 

>>>

With no pursuers on their backs, Drew and Sylvia ran as fast as they could across the rooftop, the people below them becoming a colorful blur. Out into the darkness, a spark traveled its way up through the air. Then came a loud bang. Where the colorful spark exploded into tens more as if decorating the sky similar to the stars in the galaxy. 

“The fireworks show had begun,” Drew observed while carefully balancing himself on the tiled roof. “It's a shame we can’t stay to watch them.” 

“Then let’s just admire them from afar while we’re running,” Sylvia suggested as bolted ahead of Drew towards the taxis.

As she approached the end of the building, Sylvia felt her foot slide. A loose tile underneath has slipped causing Sylvia to lose her balance.  Suddenly, she felt her body being tugged back, her foot regaining its position securely in the crevice where the tile formerly resided.  She turned her head to find the familiar Yellow Friends Day Magician standing behind her, gripping her wrist tightly. His holographic cloak fluttered in the night making the stars that decorated its hem come to life. 

“Careful,” The playful yet kind tone of the boy she knew well over the past few months even if his voice was distorted by his wristband pierced her ears. “Don’t wantcha falling here, Princess.” 

Sylvia lightly chuckled as she gently brushed off Drew’s hand that cuffed her wrist. 

“Thank you.” 

“Not at all,” Drew replied cheekily allowing Sylvia to balance herself on the roof. “Shall we continue?” 

Sylvia smiled, folding her arms behind her back. 

“Sure. Can’t be late for our ride.” 

And so the duo continued running, darting from roof to roof as the loud explosions from the fireworks in the background aligned with their steps. Flowers, stars, and even Friend’s Day mascots illuminated the sky. Their sparks granted life to the pitch-black sky speckled with stars that could barely be seen through the thick smog generated by the city. Below, the wandering eyes of the crowd glanced over at bright sparks dancing in the sky before falling, disappearing in the same fashion as a curtain signifying the end of a play. 

Drew glanced down at his wristband, a holographic screen showing everyone’s location had appeared. Each person represented by a different colored dot. It seems like the other group had split up at the next intersection. 

>>>

While the plan was to get Drew and Sylvia out of the bazaar first, the rest of the plan consisted of the remaining members of the group luring away the other pursuers from them. In the other group, Brix would imitate Drew’s combat style while Elias would replicate Sylvia’s. However, since Elias can’t use Fire Otrio, Brix would use her Ability [Look at This]. 

[Look at This] on of Brix’s Ability. It was a C-Rank Ability that allowed Brix to create illusions within a certain radius and only for a few seconds. Considering the fact that her illusion worked on the entire stadium during the Ozwarth Fashion Show, putting a couple of people under an illusion shouldn’t pose much of an issue. The catch to this Ability was that if the target isn’t fixated on a certain point, her illusions won’t work. Additionally, if someone has a higher mental fortitude than her, her illusions also won’t work. However, in a foot chase where all the attention was fixed on the group, this was basically the most ideal scenario for Brix’s Ability to work. 

By using [Look at This] Brix could turn Elias’s lumps of earth into fiery fireballs while Brix could disguise her wind walls as Drew’s [Aegis], giving off the impression that the pursuers were chasing the correct targets. Unfortunately for them, the figures they initially thought were decoys turned out to be their targets. By the time they would realize that it would be too late. 

>>>

“I see the taxis up ahead!” Sylvia pointed to Drew. “Which one are we looking for.” 

Drew opened up his text messages. Gerald had just arrived at the vicinity with punctual timing. 

“Taxi 106! To your right!” 

“Got it!” Sylvia replied reaching the end of the building the due was just running on top of.  The wide streets and towering skyscrapers of the steel city right before their very eyes. 

Transferring Otrio to their legs, the duo took a great leap off the roof. It was approximately a twenty-meter drop. Using his Otrio, Drew generated another wind wall which softened the duo's landing, allowing them to safely land on the ground without breaking any bones.  Due to all the street noise and the fireworks, no one noticed the two Friend’s Day Magicians running towards the bright yellow taxi. 

“127, 142, 106!” Sylvia exclaimed finding their ride. 

In a breath, Drew dashed over to the passenger door closest to the sidewalk. Embedded into the door was a scanner which Drew tapped on his wristband. Confirming his identity, the taxi door opened, and in true gentleman’s fashion, Drew gestured to Sylvia.

“Ladies first.” 

Sylvia climbed into the back of the vehicle, which was quite spacious contrary to its appearance, with enough room to seat five people. The was also a piece of plastic separating the driver’s cabin from the passenger’s with a small rectangular hole in the middle. 

Drew climbed into the back, shutting the door beside him. In the driver’s seat was the familiar face of the elderly butler who served him. Of course, Drew had to pretend he did not know Gerald. 

“Where to?” Gerald asked in a polite manner. 

“Star Military Academy Low-Class Dorms,” Drew replied removing his holographic costume. 

“Understood.” The old man nodded before driving off into the distance. 

“Sylvia, you can turn off the costume.” 

Hearing Drew’s voice, Sylvia took a deep sigh of relief, letting her Friends Day Magician costume vanish into thin air. 

There was silence between the two as they tried to process what had befallen them in these last ten minutes. Then, Drew decided to break the silence. There was no point in using the secrecy application on Gerald anyways. 

“Hey, when we were getting attacked. I caught a glimpse of something on the assailant's neck. I’m not sure if you saw it too or if I was hallucinating?” 

Sylvia placed her hand on her chin, her brows furrowed. 

“This isn’t good,” Sylvia muttered. “The black diamond you saw was by no means an illusion. It was real and I know very well who they are.” 

Drew’s eyes widened. 

“You do?” 

Sylvia nodded. 

“Yes,” she affirmed. “They’re a group called Soulstone, better known as Diamonds, after the shape of a Witch’s Soulstone. They’re what you can refer to as Miranda’s fanatical cult who will do anything and everything she wants as long as she says the word.” 

“If that’s the case, then it’s obvious who they’re after.” 

Drew faced Sylvia, his hands clenched tightly into fists on his knees. 

“You and me.” 

Sylvia tilted her head. A confused look had plastered onto her face. 

“Why you?” 

“Remember that ruckus I made back in January in the cafeteria? Also the scene I made at the auction house? In both of those instances, I humiliated Miranda. It’s been odd that she’s stayed silent for nearly four months but that wasn’t it. She was waiting for the perfect chance to get her revenge on us. She’s pretty petty, that Witch. Now the question is, how did she know we were in Pinat Bazaar?” 

“The Request!” Sylvia exclaimed almost as if a lightbulb lit up above her head. “Remember when the manager gave us those front row tickets for the fireworks show? That’s the only thing I can think about. Those tickets were bait so then we would gather in a desired location where the Diamonds could ambush us. Unfortunately, since we noticed the assailants early enough, we could escape. But I’m worried about the others.” 

Drew chuckled with confidence. 

“Don’t worry about them. We’ll be seeing them very soon.” 

>>> 

A pool of black blood formed under the black-capped leader’s feet. Though he was a street thug, he’s had his fair share of battles. But never would’ve he had thought he would be hired to get rid of Military Academy Students. Since they were first years, the black-capped figure thought that with numbers, completing the mission would be a cake wall. It would’ve never crossed his mind that he would be defeated. Yet he and everyone else was. No, it was a one-sided “massacre”. 

He grits his teeth, clenching his broken arm as he stared at the red Friends Day Magician whose holographic cloaking had faded away, revealing a domineering orange-haired guy who seemed to be staring into his soul. 

He trembled, not in fear of the person in front of him but at the realization that he had been fooled. The targets were gone. The backup had been knocked out. All his plans had been foiled and the last one he had to capture everyone in the group and use them as bait wasn’t an option either. 

“Shit-“ the black-capped figure hissed bitting down hard on his lip. 

“Hey,” Elias called to him, glancing down at another assailant whose black diamond tattoo had been exposed. "I find it funny that you guys knew where we were." 

The assailant shrunk back till he felt his back against the cold bricks. 

"Someone must've told you. No-" Elias continued flicking a pebble up in the air. "This whole thing was planned from the start. Man, I am surprised but it's a shame." 

Elias scoffed. His current demeanor terrified both Brix and Rider who had stuck with him. The guy before them wasn't the Elias they knew.

"They've seriously underestimated us. Now tell me," Elias flicked the pebble towards the black-cap assailant, knocking his cap and hood off to reveal his face. It was a guy, not much older than Elias with pitch-black hair. His looks weren't outstanding there was something familiar about him. 

Very familiar. 

An amused expression crawled onto Elias's face. 

"What do we have here?"