Chapter 37: The Crimson Petal

Neo’s mind raced, calculating his options in the span of a single breath. Twenty-something armed men surrounding a narrow alley, no guards nearby, no way to call for help fast enough.

’Okay. Not good. Not good at all.’

One of the cloaked figures stepped forward, pulling a curved dagger free from his belt, his face hidden beneath the shadow of his hood.

"Just hand over the girl quietly, Do that, and we’ll let you walk away without a scratch, kid."

Neo’s jaw tightened. He didn’t recognize the man’s voice, didn’t recognize the crest, if there even was one, stitched anywhere on their plain black cloaks. Whoever sent them clearly didn’t want to be identified.

’They’re not here for me. They’re after Nora.’

That thought alone was enough to settle whatever fear had been building in his chest, replacing it instantly with something far colder.

"Not happening," Neo said flatly, raising both his hands in front of him, mana already gathering quickly around his palms.

The lead assassin’s eyes narrowed slightly beneath his hood. "Cute. Didn’t realize the Draven brat actually had teeth."

Neo didn’t waste any more words. He thrust his palm forward, releasing a sharp burst of frost that shot across the alley, freezing the ground beneath the two nearest attackers. They stumbled, their boots locking instantly to the icy stone, giving Neo just enough time to spin and drive his elbow hard into the ribs of a third man closing in from his side.

The alley erupted into chaos.

Neo moved fast, weaving between attacks with the same footwork Eiris had drilled into him over countless sparring sessions, ducking beneath a wild swing before countering with a sharp jab of condensed mana straight into his attacker’s stomach. Ice spread rapidly from the point of impact, locking the man’s joints stiff before he even hit the ground.

He kept Nora tucked carefully behind him the entire time, refusing to let a single attacker get close enough to reach her, even as more of them closed in from every direction.

’There’s too many. I can handle a few at a time, but if they all rush at once—’

A sharp blade swung toward his side. Neo twisted just in time, the tip barely grazing his sleeve as he retaliated with a quick burst of frost aimed directly at the attacker’s face, sending him stumbling backward with a pained shout.

He managed to drop four more attackers in quick succession, his small body moving faster than any of them expected from someone his size. But the numbers were starting to wear him down. His breathing grew ragged, sweat mixing with the falling snow against his skin, his mana reserves slowly draining with every spell he cast.

Then one of the remaining assassins reached into his cloak and pulled out a small, dark red pill, swallowing it without hesitation.

The moment it went down, dark red energy exploded outward from his body, thick and heavy, curling around his frame like living smoke. His eyes turned bloodshot, veins bulging visibly along his neck as his entire posture shifted, hunching forward with barely restrained aggression.

Neo’s stomach dropped.

"What in the world is that?!"

The transformed assassin lunged forward with terrifying speed, far faster than before, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. Neo barely managed to throw up a hasty ice barrier, but the fist that slammed into it shattered the frozen wall instantly, sending sharp fragments flying in every direction. The force of the blow caught Neo across the shoulder, throwing him hard against the alley wall.

Pain flared bright and sudden through his body. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself back onto his feet, blood trickling from a shallow cut along his temple.

’This is bad. This is really bad. Whatever that pill was, it’s giving him way more power than he should have. At this rate, I will exhaust whatever left mana I have.’

The assassin advanced again, and Neo barely managed to roll aside, another punch cratering the wall right where he’d been standing a second earlier.

Behind him, Nora watched everything unfold, her small fists clenched tightly at her sides.

She had promised herself, quietly, over and over throughout the years, that she would never let anyone she cared about get hurt in front of her again. And now, watching Neo struggle against an enemy clearly stronger than him, something deep inside her finally snapped loose.

Her lavender eyes, usually so blank and distant, sharpened with an intensity that hadn’t been there moments before.

She stepped forward, placing herself directly between Neo and the charging assassin.

"Nora, wait—!" Neo shouted, though of course, she couldn’t hear him.

A soft, eerie crimson glow bloomed from her palms, swirling gently at first before rapidly condensing into the shape of sharp, blooming petals made of pure crimson energy. They spun faster and faster around her hands, hardening into blade-like edges that hummed faintly with restrained power.

The assassin barely had time to register the shift before Nora moved.

She thrust her hand forward, and a spike of crimson energy shot out, piercing straight through his shoulder with brutal precision.

"AHHHH!!"

He let out a strangled scream, stumbling backward, the red glow around his own body flickering weakly under the sudden counterattack.

Nora didn’t stop there. She spun low, another burst of crimson petals slicing cleanly through the legs of two more approaching attackers, dropping them instantly to the snow-covered ground.

Neo stared, wide-eyed, frozen in place for a brief second.

’That’s it. That’s Crimson Petal. She’s actually using it.’

But as more assassins pressed forward, drawn by the sudden shift in the fight, Nora’s attacks grew wilder, less controlled. Her breathing turned ragged, her small frame trembling with every strike, the crimson energy around her hands flickering unevenly.

’Her power is affecting her emotions every time she uses it. If this continues, she may eventually lose control, and something dangerous could happen.’

Nora’s expression, usually so blank and composed, twisted suddenly into something far more volatile, flashes of fury bleeding rapidly into hollow, distant confusion, then back again, cycling faster and faster with every attack she landed.

She struck down two more attackers, her movements growing increasingly erratic, before her knees finally buckled beneath her. She collapsed hard onto the snow, her chest heaving, the crimson glow around her hands sputtering weakly before finally dying out completely.

"Nora!" Neo scrambled toward her, throwing himself between her fallen body and the remaining assassins closing in fast.

He raised his hands, forcing every last drop of mana he had left into one final, desperate ice barrier, his arms trembling from the strain.

’I can’t. I don’t have enough left. Please, just a little more—’

A shadow dropped silently from the rooftop above, faster than anyone could react.

One moment, the nearest assassin was raising his blade toward them. The next, his head separated cleanly from his shoulders, his body collapsing lifelessly into the snow before anyone even registered the movement.

Neo’s breath caught in his throat as the figure straightened up in front of them, twin daggers dripping with fresh blood, dark hair falling loosely across an all too familiar, expressionless face.

Eiris.

She moved through the remaining assassins like a passing shadow, her blades a blur of motion, each strike precise and instantly lethal. Within seconds, the alley fell completely silent, the last of the attackers crumpling lifelessly onto the blood-stained snow.

Eiris flicked the blood from her daggers before sheathing them smoothly, turning toward Neo and the unconscious Nora with the same calm, unreadable expression she always carried.

"You two... are you done with your little stroll?"