Chapter 1393: Intermission 3: Ayuru’s Awakening (3)

I looked at all of them, really looked this time, and it was obvious they had already prepared themselves long before I even settled into place. The moment their eyes locked onto me, there wasn’t any hesitation left in their movements. Each of them stood firm, already in their stances, already committed, like they had been waiting for this exact moment and didn’t plan on wasting it.

I took my time scanning through them one by one, meeting their eyes properly instead of just glossing over them. There was something different in the way they held my gaze. It wasn’t casual, and it definitely wasn’t relaxed.

They were serious.

There wasn’t even a hint of doubt in that. It showed in their posture, in the way their shoulders were set, in how none of them broke eye contact even for a second.

All of them were waiting for me to make the first move. It felt like they were expecting me to charge straight at them, like this was some kind of signal that once I moved, everything would start at once.

Sara wasn’t among them, by the way. Even though I had assigned her as part of the Shadows, she still preferred working alone. Teamwork clearly wasn’t her thing yet. She liked doing things her own way, at her own pace, without having to rely on anyone else. That meant there was still a lot to fix on that side.

Still, it wasn’t something that needed to be forced. Give it time and she’d eventually get used to cooperating with the others. For now though, it seemed like the rest of them wanted something else entirely. This felt less like a routine session and more like a proper showdown.

The Shadows were staring at me with an intensity I hadn’t seen from them before.

It wasn’t just focus. It had weight to it.

They were all serious. Completely serious.

The kind of serious that made the air feel heavier, like even breathing needed a bit more effort. There was a sharpness in the way they looked at me, like they had already decided something in their heads. For a brief second, it almost felt like they might actually try to kill me. That thought lingered just long enough to register, but instead of bothering me, it just confirmed one thing.

They were ready.

Then it happened.

Sandra and Isabelle moved at the same time.

There was no warning, no buildup. One moment they were standing still, and the next they were already closing the distance between us. Their movements were fast. Really fast. The kind of speed that would have caught most people off guard before they even realized what was happening.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have been able to react.

But I could see them.

Their speed was impressive, sure, but it wasn’t beyond what I could follow. Their forms stayed clear in my vision, their movements readable if I paid attention.

Sandra came from my side, her dagger already in motion. The angle of her swing was precise, aimed upward toward my neck with enough force to make it clear she wasn’t holding back. At the same time, Isabelle kept her distance, staying just out of my reach while raising her pistol. That thing wasn’t just for show. From what I knew, it had enough power behind it to pierce through metal like it wasn’t even there.

I didn’t move right away.

From my perspective, everything felt slower than it should have. It was like their speed didn’t match what I had expected from them. Not slow enough to be careless, but slow enough that I didn’t feel pressured.

I tried to summon Ayuru.

The motion was natural at this point. I reached out, already expecting the familiar weight of her hilt to form in my hand the moment she appeared.

Nothing.

My fingers closed around empty air.

That threw me off for half a second.

No response at all.

There wasn’t time to dwell on it.

I shifted my focus back to the fight. Sandra’s blade came in, and I moved just enough to let it pass, the edge barely missing where my neck had been a moment ago. At the same time, Isabelle fired.

The shots came fast, sharp bursts that cut through the air with a clean sound. I brought up Guardian to block them, expecting it to hold like it always did.

The bullets went through.

Right.

I almost laughed at myself for that. We had literally used Guardian as a reference point to measure how strong those bullets were supposed to be. They were designed to pierce it. Forgetting that in the middle of a fight was on me.

Still, it wasn’t enough to catch me.

I adjusted immediately, shifting out of the way and avoiding the rest of the shots before they could land.

Then Zes came from above.

Her presence was heavy even before she landed. Both of her hands were clenched tightly, her entire body focused into a single downward strike. It wasn’t just a punch. It looked like she had poured everything into it, like she expected it to end things in one hit.

I moved out of the way.

Her fist hit the ground where I had been standing, and the impact alone cracked the slab beneath her. The fracture spread out in a spiderweb pattern, lines breaking apart across the surface in every direction. Anyone caught under that would have been crushed without a doubt.

I wasn’t there.

At the same time I dodged, Juliette came charging in from the side.

She didn’t slow down. She didn’t hesitate either.

She came straight at me with her shield, using her entire body to push forward like she was trying to bulldoze through me. The force behind it was obvious from the way the ground reacted under her steps.

I moved again, slipping out of her path just in time. The way she passed by felt like a truck speeding past, something you definitely didn’t want to stand in front of.

Then came the projectiles.

They didn’t come from one direction. They came from everywhere.

It was hard to tell where they were even being launched from. One second the space around me was clear, and the next there were multiple trajectories closing in at once. The angles were awkward, overlapping, almost designed to corner me.

Dodging them wasn’t easy.

It felt like I was constantly a step away from getting hit. There wasn’t any room for careless mistakes.

Still, I managed.

Carefully, I kept moving, making sure none of them connected.

Then Robyn appeared.

She didn’t waste time either. The moment she revealed herself, she was already in motion, her sword cutting through the air as she aimed straight for me.

There was a noticeable difference in her now.

Her movements were clean and controlled. There wasn’t any hesitation in how she handled her weapon. The clumsiness she used to have was completely gone. Each swing had purpose, each step placed exactly where it needed to be.

She had improved.

They all had.

It wasn’t just their individual strength either. Their coordination had reached a different level. It felt like they had been training together for a long time, enough that they didn’t need to communicate out loud anymore. Their attacks flowed into each other naturally, covering openings, forcing me to stay alert from every angle.

It was getting harder to find space.

Harder to get a clear opening to move through.

Still, it wasn’t something I couldn’t handle.

I could keep up.

It just meant I had to put in more effort than before. A lot more, actually.

And that probably had something to do with Ayuru still not showing up.

That part kept sitting at the back of my mind.

Maybe I had relied on her more than I realized.

Right now, without her, it felt like I should have been doing something different.