The knife stopped mid-air.
No, it didn't stop itself. It was caught by someone.
Alice had stepped out from behind Chris. She didn't move fast, but it looked like she had simply... appeared in the path of the blade.
She held the knife between her index and middle fingers, gripping the blade casually. The poison hissed against her pale skin, but didn't seem to affect her.
"Rude," Alice whispered. Her single visible eye glowed with a ghostly, pale green light. "We do not throw cutlery indoors."
She crushed the knife with her fingers. It snapped into two pieces.
The Hub went silent again. But this time, it wasn't the silence of anticipation, but the fear of the unknown.
The other three members of the Blaze team, the Healer, the Mage, and the Tank, stepped forward.
Weapons were drawn out one by one. Staffs began to glow in their hands. The air temperature rose rapidly as Ignis's aura turned the place into a furnace.
This wasn't a petty fight anymore. It was more like a party wipe waiting to happen.
Julien looked at the five B-Rank hunters surrounding them.
He looked at Chris, whose arm was trembling from holding back Ignis, then looked at Alice, who was radiating a dark, necrotic coldness that clashed with Ignis's heat.
If they fought here, they would surely lose. Julien knew that.
Chris was strong, but he was outnumbered. Alice was a Necromancer without souls to fight for her. And Julien was... Julien.
He had to end this.
"Wow," Julien said loudly. His voice shook slightly, but he forced a laugh. "I didn't think the strongest party in District 9 was so shameless."
The crowd murmured. Ignis's eyes snapped to Julien.
"Shameless?" Ignis spat.
"Five against three?" Julien gestured to the glowing mage and the tank.
"Ganging up on a newly formed party in the middle of the Hub? Is this how Blaze clears dungeons? By bullying rookies because your ego got bruised by an E-Ranker?"
He looked around at the crowd, making eye contact with the hunters watching.
"Is this the 'Hero of District 9'?" Julien shouted. "Trying to blind a merchant because he wouldn't give you a discount? That's not strength, Ignis. That's pathetic behaviour."
The crowd started murmuring again.
"He's right. That was a cheap shot." "Lyra threw a poisoned knife? At a civilian?" "That's low, even for Blaze."
Ignis felt the shift in the room.
He was arrogant, but he wasn't stupid. His reputation was his currency. If he slaughtered a rookie team in the Guild Hall, he would lose his sponsorship. And mainly, the higher-ups in Blaze would kill him instantly.
Ignis gritted his teeth. The veins in his forehead bulged out.
He yanked his hand back. Chris let him go, stepping back to shield Julien.
Ignis glared at Chris, then at Alice, and finally landed on Julien. His golden eyes were cold, promising payback.
"You have a sharp tongue, kid," Ignis said softly. "Let's see if it can save you in the ground."
He signalled his team. Lyra sheathed another knife she had palmed. Everyone else followed, putting their staffs and swords away.
"Let's see how long you can survive by yourselves," Ignis spat. "Before you get yourself killed."
He turned on his heel and marched toward the exit, abandoning the VIP lounge. His team followed, casting dark looks over their shoulders.
As the doors swung shut behind them, the pressure in the room vanished.
"Whoa..." a hunter nearby breathed out. "Did you see that big guy catch Ignis's hand?" "And the creepy girl? She caught a knife! With her fingers!" "Those guys... they aren't normal."
The cheers started slowly, then grew. It wasn't the worship they gave Ignis, but the respect for the underdogs who stood their ground.
"Let's go," Julien whispered, grabbing Chris's arm. "Before they realise I almost peed my pants."
They pushed through the crowd, ignoring the pats on the back and the questions. The three of them exited the Hub and didn't stop walking until they were three blocks away, hidden in the smoke of the industrial sector.
Julien slumped against a brick wall, sliding down until he hit the pavement.
"I need a drink," Julien groaned. "I need a drink, and I don't even drink."
"That..." Chris leaned against the wall, wiping sweat from his forehead. "That was close. Too close."
Julien looked up at the girl standing calmly beside them.
"Alice," he said, his voice sincere. "Thank you. If you hadn't caught that knife..."
Alice blinked, her single eye glowing softly in the smog. She shrugged, adjusting her bonnet.
"I am simply repaying you for the ribs," she said. "We are a party, right? Parties protect their assets. And you are the one with the credit card."
Julien chuckled, despite the pain in his knees. "Right. The credit card."
"We made an enemy," Alice added, examining her fingers where the knife had struck. "A powerful one at that. The orange man will not forgive this."
"Now what?" Chris asked, looking down at Julien. "We haven't even opened the shop officially, and we've already made an enemy of District 9's top dog. We can't go back to the Hub and register the shop without the clears. We are stuck in this place."
Julien closed his eyes. He replayed the scene in his head.
The speed of Ignis. The sheer, overwhelming power. If Chris hadn't been there...
"He's not all wrong," Julien said quietly.
"Who? Ignis?" Chris asked.
"Yeah." Julien looked at his hand, his weak, trembling hand. "He said I was a liability and I'd get you killed. And back there... I just stood still. I couldn't even see him move. If we go into a Red Gate like this, I'm dead weight pulling you guys down."
"You talked him down, though," Chris argued. "That's your power."
"Talk is cheap when a monster is eating your face," Julien countered. He stood up, dusting off his pants.
His eyes were indifferent. The fear was gone, replaced by a cold determination.
"So?" Chris asked. "What's the plan, Boss?"
"We train," Julien said. "We go back to the basement. I want to see my stats and see what this System can actually do."
He looked at the Eternal Rest Apothecary in the distance.
"We have a few days before the deadline. We need 10,000 credits for five dungeon clears. And most importantly, we need to get strong enough so that next time Ignis raises a hand, I can break it myself."
Chris grinned.
He cracked his knuckles.
"Now you're talking. Let's go grind."