Nothing. That is all the young man could see. "Where am I...?" he said, but no words came out.

  "Why is it so dark...?"

  Then a sudden realisation washed over him, "I-I... can't feel anything"

  "Oh, you are finally conscious!" an unfamiliar voice rang.

  "Who is that?" the man said to himself.

  The voice ignores his questions and continues to speak,

  "Hmmm...seems it took a bit of his memories as well. Is it already at the final stage? I did not expect it to be so quick. This complicates things..."

  "Can you hear me?"

  The voice suddenly spoke again,

  "Oh, my apologies, I recently gained the habit of speaking out loud. To be honest, I have been stuck here for so long, I feel I have somewhat changed. But that's of no importance right now, I am Tenmei Daragoneir. I do not know how much time I have, but I am going to revive you."

  A bright light is suddenly growing.

  "It seems that you are the only one who can help me..."

  Confused by the rush of information, the man still had questions.

  "Hold on, wai-"

  The light continues to grow...

  "It has been so long since I have seen the world, I cannot wait!"

  "Wait! I still have ques-"

  The darkness around him has nearly all but vanished...

  "It is about time that we move on...

  "I SAID STOP, I-"

  "Right, Agami?"

  Blinded by the light, it slowly fades away. The man wakes up and looks around him, seeing that he is sitting on the rubble of a destroyed coffin. The room is dark, but there is slight illumination from the cracks of the door above the stairs. "Am I...In a cellar?" he thought to himself. Regaining feeling in his legs, he slowly stands up and makes his way up the stairs. He finally makes it up and pushes up the cellar door. It doesn't budge. "Dammit, can't catch a break can I." With his right hand, he punches through the door, but unfortunately misses the lock, and with the new hole, there is a bit more light. He looks back and sees an uninteresting burial vault. "Ugh, what happened to me?" He then punches again and successfully breaks through the lock and opens the cellar door. Stepping out of this hole, he finally steps into the light.

  His eyes adjusting, he realises he is standing in the middle of a graveyard. Unsure what to say, he begins walking. The silence in the graveyard is absent to him as his head is full of questions. His thoughts are then interrupted as he stumbles over an empty bottle and barely manages to catch himself.

  " Please be careful, you were only just revived!" said the voice.

  "Oh, sorry, I was just lost in thought." the man said apologetically. He then turns around to greet the stranger, but to his surprise, there is nobody to accompany the voice. "I am over here." Looking toward the voice, he sees a white floating flame. "Huh, that's cool." He thought to himself, but as if being spoken to, the voice says, "Thank you, unfortunately, this is the best form I can take since reviving you, but glad it serves to benefit someone."

  Realising the flame is alive, the man suddenly finds it 'less cool' and more of a bad omen. With the influx of issues he currently has, he feels that a floating talking flame is the least surprising issue. "Are...Are you Tenpai?"

  In a slightly disappointed tone, it responds, "It is Tenmei, and yes, you are correct."

  In a moment, it quickly swirls around him, excitedly bouncing around the place, a type of energy that is foreign to graveyards.

  “Dear me, I can hardly wait! I have been stuck in that vault for so long, I felt it was becoming my universe.” The flame begins slowing down, surprisingly, it has not set anything on fire in its excitement. It speaks again, regaining its composure, saying, “Steady now, Tenmei. Do not forget the boy.” It then returns to the man, “I apologise again for that unsightly behaviour. I am sure you have plenty of questions. Please ask, and I will do my best to answer them.”

  The man, ignoring the sight of a bouncing flame, pauses and thinks. Questions upon questions were swirling around his mind. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, and smiles, “Huh, never thought the air would smell so nice.” Scratching his head, he takes a look at himself. He notices that he was wearing a suit, albeit damaged from wear and tear, it was still in decent condition to be worn in public, although he may be mistaken for a homeless person. He looks at his hands. They were wearing gloves. The left one is only dirtied, but the right one is damaged, even more so due to breaking the vault door. Through the holes, he can see his dark hand. Its nails of that belonging to a dragon, covered in a hard skin that can be mistaken for obsidian. “If only you weren’t like this”, he thought to himself. Snapping out of his gloom, he realises the flame was flickering patiently. “Ahem, dozed off a bit there, my bad. So my question, ummmm…I guess my first question would be, what happened to me?”

  “It appears that you died, mainly from using energy that your body was incapable of producing at the time and tapped into your life force to supplement the energy gap, somehow pushing past your natural limiters. For what or why, I cannot tell you as I do not know, only you would know the answer to that.”

  Trying to recall, the man's head pulsates, and a memory flashes through his head. He can see a man and a woman crying over him. “WHY DO YOU DO SUCH STUPID THINGS!” the man's voice yells, while the woman barely says anything.

  “Ugh, I can remember the pain for some reason,” the man grunts.

  The flame then moves closer, “Do not overexert yourself, your mind at the moment is very fragile and right now, you are susceptible to brain death.” it then pauses and resumes, “While I may not have the power to read them, I do have the power to at least hold them off until you are more ready. Please hold on.” The memory then slowly fades away, the pain, going along with it. “ Unfortunately, I cannot do much else except stop some memories, but it should not be for too long, as I am confident you will recover soon. So, let us move on to another question.”

  The man, not questioning and blindly trusting the flame, pauses again to think for a moment. “Who exactly are you?”

  “As I told you before, I am Tenmei Daragoneir. I accelerated your revival as the Inheritance is becoming worse, and you are the only one with the capabilities of stopping it.”

  The man looks confused and says, “The Inheritance? What is-”

  “HEY! WHAT THE HELL’RE YOU DOING LOITERIN’ IN THE GRAVEYARD!” Suddenly, the gravekeeper walks towards them. “If you don’ have any business…” his words trail off as he sees the broken grave vault door.

  The gravekeeper then looks and comes to the wrong conclusion. Trying to save the situation, the young man says, “Okay, I know what this looks like, but I know Tenmei here will vouch for me. Right, Tenmei?”

  “Uhh, boy. He can not see me.” replied the flame.

  “Oh. I see. That’s unfortunate.” The young man puts his hand on his chin, thinking of how to get out of this.

  “You’re one of those crazies, aren’t ya. I’m callin’ the orderlies t-” The man is interrupted as the young man immediately sprints away.

  The gravekeepers shouts trails off as he sprints away and eventually he stops once he finds a suitable bush to hide behind.

  “Really…huff…huff…not…my day,” he says, struggling to fight off the exhaustion.

  “We can not linger here for too long, it is best we travel behind the trees until we are far enough.” Tenmei then pauses. “Hmmm, let us see what we have here. I will be right back.” The flame then flies off, the young man too busy catching his breath to notice or care. After a few minutes, it quickly returns. “That was a little too close, but I managed to find some direction. Follow me and try not to stick out too much.”

  The flame then began flying away, and all the young man could do was follow it. They slowly trudged through the forest, making sure to stay far away from the road to not be noticed, but not too far to lose track of it. As they continued, the sound of sirens moved past them. Looking back momentarily, the man says, “I guess he wasn’t bluffing.” and continues. As they continued their stroll, the man just looked around, taking in the sights, bored already of trying to figure out what was going on. This silent tour is then interrupted by Tenmei, who says, “We should almost be there. Not far now, Cor-… I just realised I forgot to inquire about your real name.”

  “My ‘real’ name?” the man replied.

  “Well, to be honest, for the past couple of years, I just nicknamed you Corpsius. Hehe, quite clever if I do say so myself.”

  “I suppose he’s not used to telling jokes.” the man thinks to himself while laughing along. After the laughter dies down, the man says, “As much as I like the nickname, my actual name is Agami Stilmur. I was born into a rich family but was raised by servants.”

  “I see. Unfortunate that one's parents are too busy to raise them.”

  “No, it wasn’t like that…I…I don't want to get into it.”

  The two then become silent for a brief moment before it’s interrupted by a deep sigh from Agami.

  “Alright then, change of topic. Where are we going?” Agami asks.

  “While you were hiding, I looked around and found a sign telling us that Phanasma is along this road, although how far, I fear I do not know.”

  Although the flame has no face, Agami can sense a bit of worry in its voice.

  “Well, we shouldn’t be too far.” He reassures the flame,”I can hear some faint noises of traffic, and…” he is interrupted as he sees the tip of a skyscraper peeking through the trees ”-and it seems we are nearly there!” Agami then starts to jog barely containing the excitement pumping through his veins, he shouts “Come on, I’m starving!”

  “Hold on, please practise caution!” Tenmei blurts as he tries to keep up with the excited man.

  “Finally, something familiar!” He thinks to himself, the memories of him visiting the city with his parents flooding his mind. In a world that doesn’t make sense, he was seeking something that felt familiar.

  “For someone who was recently resurrected, his stamina is impressive.” Tenmei thinks as he follows behind the now-sprinting man. “Hmm, the name ‘Agami‘ and my right armament? The odds suggest my hunch is correct. But for now, let the poor boy have his meal. I will talk to him more later." As the spirit finishes its thoughts, it realises that Agami is slowing down and coming to a full stop.

  “What is the problem?” it asks.

  Agami, in shock, replies, “I just realised, we don’t have any money. I even checked my pockets, and there was nothing.”

  “That could be an issue.”

  “Maybe…” He pauses. Thinking for a moment ”Maybe we could ask someone to cover us and then pay them back later?” he says, sounding as if he is questioning the validity of his own plan.

  “That is a plan, but do you not require an excessive amount of food to replenish what you have lost? I doubt anyone here would be willing to cover the bill for something like that.” poking a hole in the starved Agamis plan.

  “Tch, can’t say you failed if you don’t try.” Agami replies, with a newfound fervour burning in his eyes. “Let’s go!”. He then resumes his sprint towards the city.

  Reaching the city, he looks around frantically, grabbing the attention of some worried pedestrians. He runs up to a woman and asks her if she would be willing to buy him food, but she rejects him on account of the wildness in his eyes. He then goes to a lone man, yielding the same result. He repeats this insanity while Tenmei watches from afar, afraid that if he interrupts, he will be Agami's next meal.

  “Ah, well. I cannot say he lacks passion.” The flame nervously chuckles to itself as it watches the chaos unravel.

  After a couple of hours of failure, Agami finally slows down and rests on a nearby bench, accepting defeat “Maybe some restraint would have helped.” He tells himself.

  “I am more surprised that the orderlies were not called on you” Tenmei says as it gently floats towards him.

  “Hey, you said you’re looking for some food?”

  Agami then immediately turns in the direction of the voice. A man wearing black shades and a suit as flashy as his smile then slowly walks to them.

  “Oh, look. Fortune has favoured you, and a good Samaritan is willing to lend assistance.” Tenmei says gleefully.

  As Agami looked at the man, the only thing running through his head was “This guy is the definition of shady.”

  “Shady? Agami, you should learn to be more trusting towards your fellow man, or else friends will be far and few for you.” Tenmei replies, scolding Agami.

  The man then sits next to him, the perfume of the man overpowering Agami’s hunger-sharpened senses. The man then quickly looks around before turning to face him.

  Then suddenly, “Oh, I’m annoyed.” raced through Agami’s mind.

  “So listen, I can help your situation, but you're gonna need to do a favour for me.” The man then reaches into his breast pocket and pulls out a lighter and a cigarette, taking his time to light it.

  “He is really testing my patience.” Agami thinks, his annoyance skyrocketing at an astounding rate.

  “Have patience, please. He is offering us help in our time of need.” interjects Tenmei, doing his best to quell the starved Agami’s impatience.

  “A special associate of mine has recently fallen on hard times due to a certain fanatic. Many of his people have lost faith in him, thinking he is a little, how do you say, inferior. So we are looking for someone willing to do a quick but risky job for him. Do that and you will leave with a full belly.” As he finishes, he takes a final drag of his cigarette. Tossing the stub at a bin, far off the mark.

  As Agami considers the proposition, he slowly stands and quietly walks over to the stub, picking it up and throwing it in the bin. He then finally replies, “This stinks worse than your perfume.” But realising his limited options and that he is almost out of energy, there is only one option. “What do you need me to do, and how long will it take?”

  The man gives a wide grin, “Now you’re talking my language! Wait here, I’ll be right back.” He then walks and disappears into an alley.

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  “I wonder what we will be helping with?” Tenmei says, oblivious to the situation.

  “Whatever it is, I hope he doesn’t take too long.”

  After a few moments, he returns, carrying a neat parcel in his hands, holding it out as soon as he stands in front of Agami. “I need you to deliver this to a person in front of the Sand de’ Royale hotel.” He then points to a skyscraper in the distance, where the tip of it looks as if it's made of a dark gem, as if wanting to write in the sky, ”You can’t miss it. Once you’re there, look for a man, sort of your age and height, wearing glasses and a frown. When you find him, the codeword is ‘999 more to go’. Got it?” He then pauses, waiting for Agami to give him some sort of signal that he understood. Agami then slowly nods his head, and the man resumes, ”Good! Then, when you’re done, you're gonna head straight here. Don’t talk to anybody, don’t look suspicious. If someone is dying on the street and they need you, they’re already dead to you.”

  Agami takes the parcel slowly, worried about such a vague description, trying not to question it too much to preserve what little morality he has left. Before he turns back into the alley, the man looks back one more time, his smile replaced with a scowl. “Oh, and if you think of talking to the orderlies, just know- we’ll be long gone. And the only person suffering is the poor kid waiting at the hotel.” Then, as if the last few seconds never happened, his smile returns and he laughs, saying, “Now make sure to have fun.” disappearing again into the alley.

  “Let's just get this over with.” Agami groans, immediately breaking into a sprint towards the hotel.

  “You are quite the eager one, Agami. Already aiming to finish this in record time.”

  Ignoring Tenmei’s compliments, the conflicted man runs and pushes through the crowds, preoccupying his mind by focusing on reaching the target location. After several exhaustive minutes, he reached the front of the hotel. He takes a look around and notices that there are groups of people gathering and the hotel is preparing for a spectacular event. However, he cares little for the festivities and wishes to exchange his guilt-ridden consciousness for food. He looks around and sees a man with glasses. Before he can walk to the man, Tenmei flies in front of his face. “Hey, didn’t the man say he was your age and had a frown?” Agami then looks again and sees that the man was wearing a bright smile and was a senior, prompting Agami to say, “Oh, well, age is just a number, maybe he meant that he was my age in spirit.”

  “You are being reckless. I understand you are unhappy with this, but if we are to do something, we need to do it right. We did give our word, did we not?” The flames on Tenmei look a bit more intense as he lectures Agami.

  “Yeah, but-”

  Tenmei then interrupts, saying, “No buts. We either do it the right way with our best foot forward, or we disgrace ourselves.”

  Feeling slightly ashamed of his recent behaviour, “You’re right. I am sorry.” He pauses as if in thought and continues, “It’s just that I want this whole day to be over. I just got resurrected and need to wrap my head around it, but ever since the graveyard, I haven't had a moment to absorb it. I thought it would be fine if I just went along, but honestly, I understand it, but I haven't fully accepted it yet.”

  Tenmei’s flames calm down, feeling sympathetic for the young man “I understand your plight and am sorry for not taking the time to address it. It’s easier for me to accept as I am used to it, but I must have forgotten how daunting it is to be responsible for the world. Let us accomplish this task, Agami. Once we are done, we will have some well deserved rest before we return to fixing the world.”

  Agami gives a weak smile and a nod at Tenmei before returning to search for the recipient of the parcel. Unfortunately, the movement of the crowd is too rapid, making it nearly impossible to identify someone who fits the description. “Where did all of these people come from?” Agami thinks, feeling his motivation being tested.

  Then a hand is placed on Agami’s shoulder, and says, “Excuse me, are you looking for me?” Agami immediately turns around to face the stranger. He notices that the stranger is a man his age, with brown hair and wearing glasses. His skin is slightly pale, and his eyes are sunken, as if hope and joy were foreign to him. Although his face was whispering despair, it was overpowered by clothing which gave him a regal and formal look, as if he belonged to the people entering the hotel. Suddenly remembering the code word, Agami immediately blurts out, “Only 999 to go.”

  The man's eyes widened for a moment, as if he had heard tragic news. But it quickly subsides as he chuckles to himself, saying, “Makes sense.” Agami stands there, staring in confusion at the man. The downtrodden man looks up, saying, “Tell him that it will be done. Thank you for the delivery.” he holds his hand forward. Agami, standing awkwardly, realises that he is waiting for the parcel to be handed to him. Either it was the bizarre situation or the hunger, but it felt as if he started to struggle keeping up. Agami gives it to him. The man then looks at Agami and gives a nod before walking into the crowd and disappearing.

  “Why does it feel like…this was meant to happen?” Agami thinks to himself.

  “What do you mean?” Tenmei asks confusedly.

  Walking back to the man who handed Agami the parcel, he couldn't help but be filled with mixed feelings. While he felt it was the only choice, could there have been less consequential paths he could have taken? Continuing, the music from the hotel began fading, and the crowd grew thinner as he reached the meeting point.

  "Are you alright?" Asked Tenmei.

  "I don't know, between this hunger and guilt, I can't get my thoughts straight," Agami replied, a despondent look on his face as he walked along. He continues along the road quietly until he finds the flashy man sitting on the bench where they first spoke, busy on his phone.

  Seeing Agami walk towards him, a grin appears on his face. Nothing like the smile he had shown upon their first encounter. "Heh, knew you had it in ya. My associate is quite pleased, but unfortunately, his situation has just gotten a bit complicated." He stands up and stretches before continuing, Agami indifferent to it as he doesn't have the energy to react "Well, guess we'll have to wait and see what happens. Come along, it's time for me to fulfill my end of the deal." gesturing for Agami to follow him as he begins walking.

  They walk together through the streets. Not saying a word to one another, the silence between them occasionally being broken by the man's poor whistling of a tune. He then stops outside the door of a well-lit house and opens the door for Agami.

  "After you."

  The wooden floors of the house creak as Agami steps foot into the building. The walls are painted in a calming grey and there are few decorations strewn about. Looking to his right, the door is open ajar where after Agami enters, in front of him is a table laden with platters of food. Without a second's hesitation he rushes towards it, only focused on consuming all in his path.

  "Glad I ate before stopping by, or else I would have gone down his path tonight." The man chuckled to himself before taking out his phone.

  He dials a number and calls someone, holding it impatiently up to his ear.

  "Tch, don't tell me you got caught, Ken." Cursing his luck and tucking his phone away.

  After all the food was sufficiently eviscerated, Agami stood up, content and ready to face the world again. However, Tenmei just floated there, having witnessed a rare sight, only being able to mutter, "What did I just witness?" Of course, not every rare sight is something you want to see.

  “So what now?” Agami asks as he looks to Tenmei, as it was obvious that he didn’t expect to make it this far.

  “Hmm…wait. This feeling.” Tenmei pauses and suddenly shoots around the room for some unknown reason.

  “Sorry, were you talking to me?” The flashy man responds, unaware of their ethereal guest.

  “Agami, ask him if somebody else is here!” the flame asks, suddenly impatient.

  “What, why?” he responds confusedly to the brightening flame.

  “Ah, shoot, should have known you were on Dreamer before I picked you up! The clothes, the behaviour, and of course the eyes!” says the flashy man, coming to his conclusions as he witnesses the apparently lucid Agami.

  “I can sense a benefactor nearby! It is getting stronger!”

  The flashy man then pulls out a pistol and points it at him. “Well, guess I deserve this for being a bit too positive.”

  “Uhm…Is there someone else in this house?” Turning as he says this, he then notices the gun, and there is an awkward silence in the room. “Were-...were you about to shoot me?”

  “Well, yeah. You’re clearly on Dreamer, and I can’t afford to have loose ends.” he says, not showing a sign of compromise in his voice.

  “It is getting stronger, Agami!” Tenmei shouts, clearly becoming more aggravated and ignoring the situation, “Find out quickly if he knows about a benefactor!”

  “Calm down, Tenmei! We have bigger issues at the moment.” Agami says, trying to calm down the flame. He then returns his attention to the suspicious man, “I am not on any drugs, especially this Steamer you keep talking about!”

  “It’s Dreamer, and the number one sign of usage is hallucinations and delirium, the signs you are currently fitting.” the man says, fixing his aim to Agami’s temple.

  “I’m not! I just have this floating spirit that only I can see an-” Agami pauses, realising that he isn't helping his case. Before the man can respond, Agami quickly interrupts, knowing that now is a situation of life and death. “Look, you don’t have to believe me, but right now he is freaking out because of some benefactor or something?”

  “Benefactor?” The man looks at him, his face now moving from one of hostility to concern.

  “Yes. He-…” Catching his breath back, he continues, “He’s saying something about it and getting stronger nearby.”

  “Oh, no.” he puts the gun away and runs to a window.

  The room is silent as he observes the surroundings outside. Agami slowly feels an intense pressure, suddenly frozen in place. He feels that if he were to run now, he would be walking into the jaws of a lion.

  Tenmei then floats to the front of Agami, breaking the atmosphere. “Agami, be prepared for a fight.”

  “A fight?” Agami asks confusedly, suddenly feeling his heart beat harder.

  “Unfortunately, I did not get time to explain this to you, but for now, this is all you need to know. Your right arm is an armament that is meant to fight against these spirits. I am assuming that along the way, it lost its power, so it is not as effective as it should be. To help, I will possess your ar-” Suddenly, Tenmei was interrupted by knocking on the door. They both look before Tenmei hurriedly resumes. “Blast it all! No time. Just trust me and listen to what I say.” He then brightens and flies into Agami’s right arm, giving it a sudden, yet gentle, glow.

  The man then slowly walks to the door, taking out his gun. He then puts his left hand on the door handle while the right stays behind, holding the gun in case the situation calls for it. As he opens it slowly, the man quickly peeks to find a burly man wearing a neat Dijon coloured suit with white stripes.

  “Surprised to see me, Senzo?” The man says as if greeting an old friend.

  “Sir?” Senzo pauses, stepping away and clumsily holstering the gun, taken aback by the sudden appearance. “What are you doing here?”

  “Aren’t you going to invite me in?” he asks.

  Senzo then slightly bows down with his left arm extended, akin to a servant welcoming their master after a long journey.

  “That’s better.” he says, taking a step into the house and walking towards the dining room. The one where an anxious Agami stands, waiting. Watching.

  “Don’t be fooled by his words.” Tenmei’s voice ringing through his head.

  He opens the door, and enters. Immediately making eye contact with Agami. Senzo rushes in quickly after, pulling a chair at the head of the table for the man to sit.

  Taking his seat, he opens his mouth and says “Senzo, this table is filthy. Clean it up while I have a chat with this young man. Oh, and prepare some coffee for me and-” he then pauses and turns his head to him “What would you like?” asking Agami politely, gesturing for him to take a seat opposite him.

  “I’ll have tea with 2 and a half sugars, thank you.” stating his preferences, Senzo hurriedly starts cleaning the table and preparing the beverages. While Senzo fulfilled his new role as a waiter, Agami carefully took a seat, maintaining eye contact with the man, as if he would strike at any moment.

  The man smiled for a brief moment and calmly took off his gloves. “Now then, my name is Byron. I heard you assisted our little Ken on his trip to the hotel. That was some good work.” He then pauses, the room only filled with the sounds of Senzo rushing in and out, cursing under his breath about Agami’s appetite. He then continues, “Due to recent events, we are currently looking for more people to join our little association.”

  “Association? Why would I want to do that?” Agami asks, feeling his right hand grow a bit more tense.

  The man, “It is quite obvious, is it not? Benefactors and their members are growing in number these days. Eventually, it will become a situation of the minority not being involved with them, then subsequently, oppressing those without.”

  Senzo then takes away the final pile of dishes and immediately places a kettle full of boiling water in the center, retrieving two teacups and placing them in front of those on the table. One with tea for Agami, and coffee for the man. He then stands by the wall, making sure to remain out of sight while the conversation takes place.

  The man takes a sip before continuing, “Well done, Senzo. It is exquisite.” Then, turning his focus back to Agami, “We are offering you a choice here. Our benefactor is much kinder than most and only asks for your loyalty and assistance in future endeavours.”

  Agami then takes a sip of the tea. “Tch, I forgot to mention the type I like.” he thinks to himself.

  “Focus on the situation, Agami!” Tenmei reprimands.

  “I am.” Agami thinks to himself.

  “What do I get out of this?” Agami responds to the man.

  “Why, you will receive comrades, money, respect, and the power that you never would have thought of attaining. Furthermore, as our numbers grow, you can expect more benefits.”

  Agami pauses again, an uneasy feeling washing over him as if the idea doesn’t sound right to him. After a few moments, he speaks again, “Would it be possible to speak to this benefactor?”

  “Hmm, still need further convincing, I see.” He then pauses and looks over to Senzo. “What do you think?”

  “Well, we are hurting for members right now. And what's worse is that weird cult is aiming to cull the boss’s numbers since he made that comment…” Senzo responds.

  Byron lets out a chuckle. “Yes, he does have a mouth on him.” He then reaches into his breast pocket. “Unfortunately, our boss needs to hide himself in this form to avoid attracting attention nowadays.” He then places an orange metallic cube on the table. “You may come out, sir. I guarantee your safety.”

  The cube then begins shaking, becoming increasingly violent. With its shakes, orange smoke then begins oozing from the cube, eventually covering the table. A light then shoots from it, where the cube begins morphing. It slowly becomes slightly transparent and takes the form of a man. The spirit has the face of a refined middle-aged man and It looks more refined than Byron's. The clothes he wears are those of an older man who wishes for everyone to acknowledge his wealth.

  “Phenton!” Tenmei’s voice says, as if encountering an old nemesis. “Agami. I know this uncouth man and can guarantee you he is up to no good!”

  Agami's right arm is suddenly feeling stronger.

  Phenton then opens his eyes and looks closely at Agami. “Hmmmmmm, Yes. He could work. We will definitely show that boisterous clown if we have more strong men like this.” Lost in his thoughts of revenge.

  Byron interrupts, “Forgive my rudeness, sir. But shouldn’t one greet first?”

  Phenton then snaps out of it, “Oh, yes. My sincerest apologies. I am Sir Phenton Barrymore, and I am the leader of this fine association. Apologies for my poor manners, but I have been eavesdropping on your little discussion. I understand your initial worries, but worry not, as we act in good faith. What Byron has said is true, each benefactor has their own agenda, as do we, but ours is not as extreme nor treacherous as theirs.” He then pauses, taking a deep breath and recollecting himself, or pretending to at least. “Due to your recent merits and our current situation, I am willing to offer my power to you if you join. And I would be remiss if I didn't tell you of the opportunity you are being presented with. Since our group is quite small, when I rise to power again, you will be remembered and will rise up the ranks faster. Why very soon, you shall command your own group of people!” he then puts out his hand with a wide smile. “So what do you say?”

  The room then grows silent, Agami reaches for his tea and takes a sip. His hand begins gripping, the cup then begins cracking. The cracks begin growing until the cup breaks in his hand. Senzo then takes a fight ready stance, and Byron's eyes narrow, his smile gone.

  Agami finally speaks, his voice sounding as if it is struggling, “You say such sweet words, but for some reason, they make me feel sick. Call me crazy, but this whole operation…this operation feels…WRONG!”

  Before they could react, Agami then places his hand under the table and flips the table, the scalding water blinding Byron.

  “The Gunman!” Tenmei shouts while Phenton watches, surprised and unsure of what to do in the active chaos.

  As if in perfect harmony, Agami crouches and surges forward under Senzo's eyes, and with Tenmei’s coordination assisting his aim, delivers a powerful uppercut, knocking him out as it connects.

  The whole ordeal is over in seconds..

  “We need to vanquish Phenton before Byron recovers!” Tenmei hurriedly tells Agami

  “How do I do that?” Agami asks, walking toward the panicking spirit.

  “It is simple, we make contact with it using your right armament.” It replies coolly.

  “Okay, let's wrap this up!” Agami shouts, lunging towards Phenton with his right hand reaching out towards him.

  His hand then surprisingly makes contact with Phenton.

  Confused and suddenly afraid, he whimpers, “You-you can touch me?!”

  Agami’s hand then suddenly lights up, Phenton screaming in pain as he is being absorbed by the armament.

  A muscular hand then reaches through Phenton and grabs Agami by the collar and lifts him. Agami is forced to let go of Phenton, then struggles to get the figure to let him go. Once the smoke clears, the figure is revealed to be Byron, having the face of someone ready to kill. Phenton then takes the opportunity to merge his energy with him, yelling, “KILL HIM! I’M NOT SURE HOW HE CAN DO THAT, BUT THIS MAN IS TOO DANGEROUS TO ME TO BE LEFT ALIVE!”

  Without a moment of hesitation, Byron nods and begins squeezing harder, strangling Agami. Struggling for air, Agami realises that with Byron's strength, he isn’t going to strangle him, but is aiming to crush his windpipe. Tenmei immediately senses this and makes Agami punch his left arm. Upon impact, it delivers a powerful blow, where Byron's left hand flies up and literally gives Agami some breathing room. Byron then grunts in pain, while not letting go of him. Agami begins feeling pain in his right arm, likely due to the feedback from the punch. Tenmei then repeats this and does the same to the right hand, this time more powerful, as the impact causes the house to shake slightly and windows to crack due to the sheer pressure.

  Unfortunately, this didn't come without consequences as the feedback from the punch severely damaged his right arm. Agami landed on his feet, struggling for air, while the man yelled in pain. With a slight distance between them, Agami in his mind realised he wouldn't be able to knock him out due to the height difference. In an instant, he reached for the kettle and threw it at his left leg, forcing it back and making Byron take a kneeling position. Agami then sprints towards him. He then uses Byron's right leg as a stepping stone and smashes his face with his knee, blood spurting from his nose as it lands. Byron collapses to the floor while Agami tumbles from his spectacular finisher.

  Agami lies motionless on the floor, although he had won, his body was barely responding to him as he exhausted his energy. Phenton's spirit then reappears and tries to fly away, but with the last remaining energy, Tenmei uses his power to drag Agami's body and reaches Phenton before he gets too far. The absorption then resumes, His spirit slowly being absorbed. Agami watches exhausted on the floor. Motionless. Unflinching. He watches as Phenton screams in horror as his spirit is being consumed. As the Agami watches this, the only thought that passes through his head is “What happened while I was gone?”