Edmond Dantes' body blurred as he stepped lightly as if gravity and air itself bent to his will.
Each footfall pressed against solidified currents of wind, lingering just long enough to hold him aloft like a phantom on invisible scaffolding.
His shadow flickered across the scorched battlefield dashing and indistinguishable from the smoke and embers around.
"Lost Vengeance." he murmured in cold and adult tone.
Reality seemed to shiver with the syllables, as if answering his call. The line between truth and illusion wavered.
Through the shifting haze, he created phantasms of the world's failures; echoes of cruelty, loss and betrayal. All tangible enough to trap the mind in doubt and hesitation.
With a final step, solid air popped behind him. Edmond stood directly above the chaos of Cagaro's rampage.
His eyes swept over the scene like a conductor preparing the next movement.
Edmond Dantes adjusted the brim of his top hat. Letting it fall to the side as his light yellow hair caught the flickering light of the flames.
Golden penetrating eyes.
Cagaro marched forward like a tempest incarnate, each swing of his fists, each step forward, a perfect symphony of violence.
Arcee tried to intervene. Her voice was firm yet pleading but Cagaro only shook his head, eyes hollow yet resolute.
"Don't disturb me." he said, his tone had more sorrow than anger and the world seemed to quake under the weight of his intent.
Caius tensed, ready to leap in but Arcee's hand on his shoulder held him back.
Edmond's gaze never wavered off. He activated "Wait and Hope", a subtle ripple emanating from him brushing against the waves of Cagaro's emotions.
Beneath the pure wrath and destruction, he discerned layers of grief, disbelief and disbelief-stricken loyalty.
Cagaro's body moved with precision but his posture, curve of his shoulders, slight hesitation before certain strikes, betrayed a mind trying desperately to reconcile something intolerable.
Edmond spoke softly,
"You are not here by instinct alone how I can understand." He stepped closer.
"This fury… it is not born of your nature. You were forced into it, manipulated by grief and illusion, shackled by despair you did not create yourself. You do not belong to this rampage. Am I right?"
His golden eyes held Cagaro's like a lighthouse cutting through storm-dark waves.
"I see your heart, child. The betrayal you could not forgive. The loss that should not have been yours to bear. But destruction is not the answer always, though it always was. There is a path beyond this, if only you allow yourself to feel it. If you don't feel good, none can make you feel good."
Cagaro's swings slowed, if only slightly.
Edmond's perception told him; there was hesitation and within that hesitation lay the possibility of reason.
Edmond's shadow danced along the scorched battlefield as he stepped closer to Cagaro, his golden eyes glinting with calculated mischief.
"You know," he said, tipping his hat back slightly, "I once lost a fortune, my friends, and my patience all in a single day or perhaps a moment. The trick is knowing which of them are worth chasing and which are better left in the flames."
He looked at his hat.
"Though I must say, your performance is impressive. I haven't seen a physical body move like that without a hint of thaumaturgy in years."
Cagaro snarled swinging his fists terrifyingly.
Edmond barely intact. Going onto thin solidified wind, "Lost Vengeance" allows him to step and dash on solid wind. Each solid wind remains only for 3 seconds after stepping on it. Letting him pivot and twist elegantly around Cagaro's blows.
"Ah, yes, that was quite the punch."
Edmond quipped as he dodged a rapid hook. Making the momentum of Cagaro's strength carry him forward. Only to counter with a precise jab that barely grazed the Impaired's ribs.
"You remind me of someone who once tried to ransom the seas themselves, a little ambitious fool."
Cagaro growled, muscles coiling, speed unrelenting. Edmond's movements were a blur, stepping lightly on temporary solid air, deflecting strikes with dagger precision.
"Look at you, spilling so much anger. Don't waste it. Go in electricity office. It might help the poors."
Edmond teased, narrowly avoiding a brutal swing, "and for what? The guards you have torn apart… they had families too. Brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers. But crying for them now is pointless. They are gone and your wrath only prolongs the misery."
Cagaro paused mid-swing, golden light reflecting off Edmond's eyes. "You don't understand!" he roared, trembling with raw emotion.
"I do," Edmond said softly, his tone slicing through the tension. "Your power is not vengeance; it is grief in motion. You are not defined by the blood you spill but by the reason you stop. The world you seek to fix cannot be rebuilt on the corpses of those who lived, no matter how 'necessary' it seemed. You feel their absence, yes but use it to control your fury, not fuel it."
Cagaro's fists slowed. Edmond continued, stepping lightly in circles,
"The chaos is done. The survivors are here. The rest… let them rest. You are stronger than a mind enslaved by grief. Prove it. Breathe. Think. Move forward. I— no, we believe in you."
Cagaro's eyes met Edmond's. The first glimmer of understanding piercing the rage.
Cagaro's fists lowered slowly. His breathing steadied in broken intervals. Each inhale dragged him back from the edge he had nearly fallen into.
Edmond watched the shift, golden eyes narrowed with quiet satisfaction.
"Well, that went far better than my last argument with an angry man. That one involved prison walls… and significantly worse cooking."
Edmond tipped his hat once toward Arcee, giving a half-bow as if leaving a theater stage.
"Your turn now. Try not to let him redecorate the walls again with red paint and ragdolls."
Before anyone could respond, Edmond stepped onto a ripple of solid wind and vanished upward in a streak of motion.
He landed beside Henry with exaggerated grace, spinning once as if completing a performance.
"Well," Edmond sighed dramatically, "good news. Your friend has stopped turning people into modern art."
He leaned slightly closer to Henry lowering his voice in mock seriousness,
"Bad news, my coat is now emotionally exhausted. I believe it has witnessed more tragedy today than most priests."
Then another grin crept across his face.
"Next time, remind me to charge extra for calming rampaging giants. I usually bill by emotional damage… and today was expensive."
Henry didn't even look at Edmond when he landed.
"Shut up." he muttered flatly.
Edmond blinked once then placed a hand dramatically over his chest.
"Ah. Such cruelty. After I just prevented your dear ally from redecorating the building with internal organs."
"…You talk too much."
"I was having fun. A man must entertain himself between life-threatening responsibilities. Otherwise, existence becomes unbearably dull."
I summon you for work. Not for jackass commentary."
Edmond tilted his head thoughtfully. "Curious. That is not what you said the last time."
Henry's brow twitched slightly. "…Don't."
"Oh no, we must remember it." Edmond continued with growing amusement. "That delightful incident when you miscalculated your cooking and burnt everything. Specifically the gluteus maximus to what I can only describe as experimental cremation."
Henry's face stayed still, but his jaw tightened.
"…It was an accident." he muttered.
"Accident?" Edmond scoffed. "You incinerated an anatomically significant muscle group. I could not sit comfortably for three days. Three! Days!"
Henry shook his head faintly. "…You exaggerate anything. I can just unsummon you after the work is done. Why need to sit?"
"I understate, If I were diabolical which I occasionally am... I would have charged interest for pain endured. Perhaps even composed a formal complaint to the laws of physics themselves."
A tired silence settled between them as they heard a sound.
Then both of them looked upward at the same moment. A low mechanical thrum grew louder overhead.
Wind from spinning rotors pushed dust and ash across the ruined floor. A searchlight cut through the broken sky above them.