Everyone was frozen still for a few moments as they tried to comprehend what just happened. Smack talk, arguments were one thing, but to actually hurt someone who was supposed to be an ally with your Angelica… that was unacceptable.

“How could you hurt him like that…? We’re supposed to be working together!” Tian Long cried.

“Hmph. He looked like he was about to punch me, and I felt threatened. So… I decided to get him away from me a bit. Looks like I still can’t control my power all that well — sorry about that, I suppose.”

He had a nasty smirk on his face as he apologized, showing that he wasn’t actually sorry at all. Obo groaned and slowly rose back up to his feet, gritting his teeth in anger.

“Why… you…!”

Now, he was really looking ready to fight it out, activating his Pharaoh Angelica, and Hurricane’s four teammates stepped up before activating their Angelicas as well. The atmosphere tensed up, both sides ready to fight at any given moment.

Luckily, several peacemakers were present within the group.

“That’s enough,” Acaya interrupted. “Like Draco said… we are supposed to work as a group. I’m willing to just let what you guys did before slide… so long as we start working together from now on.”

“Ahh… I know what you mean now,” Hurricane chuckled. “You see, we actually barricaded that door to prevent the Ghosts from chasing us. I apologize about that, I didn’t think ahead.”

Once again, his apology was anything but genuine, and the evil twinkle in his eye could not be missed. The members of the Thousand Dragons Sect and the two Theocracy of Light Regiments were all fully aware of this, but none wanted to spark any more conflict after Acaya’s words. Making peace was the best option here, so long as the House of Crimson Moons cooperated.

“Are you willing to work together with us now, or will you keep going on your own?” Ashika asked, narrowing her eyes. “I don’t know about you, but if what happened at the entrance of the cathedral occurs again, you’ll want a Healer there.”

“Of course,” Hurricane replied, so quickly it was as if it was orchestrated. “But on one condition.”

At this, everyone frowned. Was he really making conditions, in this time and place?

Yes. Yes, he was.

“I believe that we should split into two teams, ten people each,” he said, to which Acaya raised an eyebrow.

“Okay…? That was what we were planning on doing anyway, if there is a need for us to split up — one Regiment paired with one Squadron, so that both Wraiths and Phantoms can be handled.”

“Naturally, naturally… but admittedly… I would like an opportunity to work with the Thousand Dragons Sect as well. That’s why, I propose we split our teams up.”

“… What?” Qi Ling narrowed her eyes, as Finn and Iris raised their guards. “That is so pointless.”

“Call us greedy if you want, but if we do have to split up, the House of Crimson Moons wants a shot at whatever treasure may be on either path. Direct orders of our patriarch — we can’t go against them,” a boy wearing headphones and a jacket — Ripple — said with a shrug. “Besides… I’m sure the rest of you would want a shot at more treasure as well, right?”

“…” Qi Ling shot a meaningful glance at Finn, but didn’t say anything.

“This is bullshit,” Obo cut in decisively. “Our Regiment has only worked together with one another in the past — to split us would lower our power by a lot.”

“I agree,” Iyesha added, folding her arms. “We’ve been trained to work together with our fellow Regiment members, so if they are split from us… we would be very unused to it.”

“Well… it’s either we do it this way, or we don’t work together at all and do our own thing,” Duke chuckled. “Pick your poison.”

“Tch…” Obo gritted his teeth and eyed the House of Crimson Moons with disdain. By this point, all three other teams were pretty fed up with them, but there wasn’t much they could do if they still wanted to work together.

“… Fine,” Acaya said after a while. “While I think you are being very unreasonable, at the same time, I can see where you are coming from. I will agree to your condition.”

“We will as well,” Ashika added. “I don’t like splitting our teams like this, but I would rather do this than having five less people.”

‘They just want the treasure?’ Finn thought in his head. ‘Yeah, right… they just want to have an opportunity to harm me in some way. But that’s fine by me… this is a good chance for me to get rid of them as well.’

“We’ll accept,” Finn said, surprising Qi Ling.

“W-What…?” She was confused on why Finn would accept this, since she knew he and Hurricane had some sort of conflict in the past. There was no doubt he would try to do something underhanded here… but Finn wasn’t afraid and instead sent Qi Ling a reassuring nod.

Receiving this, Qi Ling bit her lip and gave in.

“… We accept as well. But we have a condition of our own.”

At this, Hurricane smiled. “Let’s hear it. Since we made a condition, it’s only fair for you to make one too.”

[Fufu~ playing all nice and fair now, huh?] Zelestria giggled from inside Finn’s head. [The calm before the… ‘storm’, hehe~]

“First of all, each team must have ten people for it to be balanced,” Qi Ling said. “Next, each team must have a Healer, so that’s one spot taken for each team already. Additionally… our condition is that we will decide how to split our teams. Ace, Ivy, and I will be sticking together, while Draco and Reaper will be on the other team. No objections?”

Hurricane’s smile froze a bit on his face, but it quickly thawed as he laughed. “Of course not. That’s fine by us. In that case… for this group, we will have Duke, Jester, and I. That’s seven spots taken in total, leaving room for two people from the Theocracy of Light.”

“… Wait. Isn’t that imbalanced?” Qi Ling challenged. “There should be five Phantom Slayers and five Theocracy Regiment members on each team. Ace, Ivy, and I already make three, so you should only send two into this group.”

‘Qi Ling… she’s trying to protect me? Interesting,’ Finn thought.

Hurricane, naturally, didn’t want to lose in terms of numbers, but he couldn’t exactly continue to argue here without risking exposing his true intentions. As such, he had no choice but to give in.

“Yes, you’re right. Then… Shadow and I will be in this group. Happy?”

“… Hmph.” Qi Ling closed her eyes, her goal having been achieved.