Seryn finds himself face to face with Sileth, still wearing his magical bracelet. They lock eyes for long seconds. Then Sileth declared, head held high with a slight smile:

  “Look at you, do you think you can face this state? All this to project a scoundrel criminal…”

  It is with a hateful gaze, biting these lips, that Seryn answers him. Arix is my cousin and he is in no way a criminal! With the strength of his only arm still intact, Seryn launches a jet of water toward his opponent. This one however seems to counter these blows with ease.

  “It’s useless! Know that a long time ago I discovered another piece of crystal near the area where the first one was discovered. I retrieved it and have kept it secret until now; it makes me more agile, more powerful!”

  Gripping them both while holding his left arm, almost dislocated, Seryn replies.

  “You’re doing all this for yourself, admit it…!” ”Me? No… I plan to help you-know-who in his quest for crystals. Arix is only a puppet used by his parents to try to correct their past mistakes, a criminal just like them, wanting to control everything!”

  Sileth fully assumes the consequences that these words may have. However Seryn replies:

  The police will know what you are plotting. There is only one enemy in this story!

  Sileth nods, not moving a centimeter while several bystanders watch the scene, worried that the situation will deteriorate. Seryn then charges toward his opponent while throwing a powerful jet of water at him, which he blocks with his two arms, only being pushed back a few meters from his starting point. Sileth then grabs Seryn’s fists, delivering a knee to his stomach. The latter, under the force of the blow, falls to the ground. Sileth approaches, lifting Seryn’s head by the jaw.

  “Do you know why the police won’t do anything? Because they do not know the true power of a demon… Oh don’t worry, I won’t kill you, I will need you…”

  Several police cars arrive at the scene, the men pointing their rifles toward the Lothean on the ground, unable to defend herself and under Sileth’s gleeful gaze.

  Safe from view, Sly and Arix have now met two inhabitants of a hangar with a rather unusual appearance. The one with shells on his back, presenting himself as Big Jin, says he is happy to have guests despite the situation. He sits on a wooden crate after having served a tray of fruit to Sly and Arix, with a smile. He then stretches his legs before crossing them, watching the two individuals posed on an old dusty sofa. The noise of the crate echoes in the hangar, only broken by the sound of police sirens passing nearby. With his juice of fruit in hand, Arix raised his gaze to Big Jin and declares:

  “Thank you for letting us in. I don’t know what I would have become otherwise and… the crystal..”

  “Hehe, you’re welcome! And yes, the crystal is in good hands. You know, we have experience in there, we know the energy of these things, and a crystal like that must be the second time we’ve seen one.”

  Reply to Big Jin with confidence, crossing his arms before turning his gaze toward Youndu who seems to cover the golden crystal with a strange layer of metal and the aid of some tools. He therefore pays little attention to what is happening around him.

  “Youndu, blessed hard worker. He pulled me out of trouble more than once! We are best friends, nothing separates us!”

  While Sly continues to see his refreshing drink, Arix looks at Big Jin with astonishment; he is curious and wants to know more.

  “Do you mean that you have already seen a gold crystal like mine, on Trastarce?”

  This asks Arix. ”Yes…a terrible experience. It must have been worth a fortune, but some kind of spell protected it with tree roots and the mine in which we worked collapsed. We left after that…”

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  His facial expression changes radically; Arix now realizes that the crystal he owns, derived from the bark of a tree, is the same one Big Jin talks about. This surprises Big Jin, who remembers that the crystal he recalls was much larger than the one present here. At the same moment, Youndu stops his machines and brings back to Sly and Arix a crystal now welded into steel.

  “But…what had you done to the crystal?” Arix asks. Sly also spits out some of his juice when he sees the crystal placed on the coffee table in front of them.

  “Don’t worry, with this shell, no one will be able to spot it, it’s thanks to this that our machines entered the mines without problems; but this metal is quite rare.”

  Arix then remembers that it is the same metal as the door protecting his parents’ secret room. He cannot yet digest the fact that a bracelet of such power is in the hands of a monster. He does not want to imagine or believe that this camouflage method does not work, otherwise Sileth would have already found them.

  “You told me you wanted to leave by the port, it’s perfect I know someone who can help you… but let’s be careful.”

  Declare Big Jin before Youndu entrusts Sly with a bag that will allow them to keep the recovered crystals secret.

  “And the bracelet…? how do I intend to recover the other crystal pieces without this one?”

  “That’s right!” Sly and Arix declare at the same moment, under Big Jin’s thoughtful gaze. He then thinks for a few moments about a solution before answering them:

  “Then it seems there is a solution but we’ll have to talk about it with my friend up there… he is a merchant, you’ll see he’s a nice guy!”

  Saying this while pointing at the ceiling with his finger before showing his widest smile to the guests. Sly also smiles while turning his gaze to Arix. However caring for Seryn, they all head towards the space port in hopes of getting answers. Along a path, Big Jin leads them to stairs that could take them to the floating port above the city.

  “This port must have required considerable effort to build. It has been attacked several times, by the way. Humans use it as their landmark but they owe its energy to the old Lotheans. Oh dear, these humans… Well come on, mates, let’s go!”

  Then declares Big Jin, lifting his head to the sky. Impressed by the imposing structure, Sly cannot help but express his concern and whispers to Arix:

  “It’s not going to be easy with them…”

  “And these stairs either, by the way.”

  Replied Arix.

  After Youndu destroyed the grille with his powerful jaw, they decide together to climb the stairs to the top of the station.

  Once arrived, Big Jin turned his gaze around several times to make sure no guards were watching the surroundings. The cargo crates allow them to forge a path easily. Sly looks at the city from the platform, the howling wind then gives him goosebumps. Through an alley with pipes exposed on the walls, an strange door surfaces. Behind it, many stairs leading them to a large room resembling a bar. An individual then asserts himself to them, monitoring the entrance. Big Jin came to assert himself.

  “Caesar, it’s been a long time, man! I’m bringing along some friends, don’t worry, they’re pretty chill, they won’t cause trouble.”

  Caesar tilts his gaze toward Sly and Arix with a nonchalant air before replying to Big Jin in an equally enthusiastic tone:

  “Big Jin I’m not your friend, and a guy like you, we won’t find two of them, you may enter.”

  Saying so while removing a barrier and stepping aside, giving them a clear path to the entire room. They sit at a table for four, quite isolated from the rest of the room and the music.

  “Being born here, I’ve never seen a place like this! The world that’s here is crazy!”

  Then Sly declares, surprised by the size of the place. ”It’s because he is supposed to be secret. No human is supposed to know this endr-”

  They are interrupted by a charming human woman asking what they would like to take. Sly then wide-eyed at Big Jin who averts his gaze from the others to place the order:

  “It will be two Rométo and two Blast Gin please.” After taking note, the young woman lifts her gaze toward Arix for a few moments then returns to direct herself toward the bar counter as the volume of the music increases.

  “Many employees here are human for safety reasons. It’s not for nothing that I brought you here”

  He then leaned his head, whispering with his hand towards Arix and Sly.

  “My friend clandestinely transports criminals from point A to point B. He usually comes to take a break here. But for him to agree, you generally have to give him something in compensation, well… we talk a lot of business here, haha!”

  Youdu crossed his arms for a moment and shook his head, staring at Big Jin. He then pulls 35 Tgan from his pocket, representing a large amount of money on Trastarce. In a frustrated manner, Big Jin takes the money from Youdu’s hands, counting the bills again before declaring:

  “He will not take our money, we are worth much more than that!”

  Sly then intervened, turning his gaze toward Youndu. You’ve been quite silent, Youndu, since we met, is there a problem?

  “He won’t answer you, man. He has never spoken a single time since I know him. But we’ve still managed to become good friends, you just have to know what to do… oh I think he’s coming.”

  Declares Big Jin before turning his gaze toward the entrance of the bar. An individual with a belt, armed and elegantly dressed in brown has entered.