In the morning the twins continued their training as usual. It had become a routine since Mathew's arrival. They had improved rapidly under Mathew's guidance.
"You know what Uncle Val?" Kael asked as the training was completed. "What?" Valerio replied with a question.
"It's kinda boring without working in the shop. I don't know if it's a good thing or bad thing that the shop is being renovated, we can't do anything for almost a week" Kael replied with a sigh.
Yesterday Raven's burger started to undergo some renovation. The renovations are estimated to last almost a week. So everyone had a week off away from work.
"Yeah, I'm bored too" Lyra nodded.
"Learn a skill or go do something. Don't get bored, an empty mind is a devil's workshop" Mathew said seriously.
"Manager, either you are making weird puns or quoting something profound," Lyra said. Mathew's personality was too inconsistent.
"Yep, that's me" Mathew replied with a nod.
"I wonder what Arthur and Ruby are doing this week?" Kael asked.
"Why don't we all go somewhere and hang out?" Lyra suggested instantly. She got a bit excited as she was also a girl and liked to do shopping and stuff.
"Yeah, that sounds good" Kael replied with a smile. They didn't have many friends growing up. So the twins got excited about hanging out with friends like normal people do.
"Uncle Val, we're gonna go hang out with Arthur and Ruby, we should be back by evening," Lyra said to Valerio excitedly. She noticed that Kael was already calling Arthur and Ruby to tell them about the plan.
"Haha, have fun and be safe" Valerio replied with a laugh. He suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked at Mathew.
"Mathew, how about we do some training?" Valerio asked.
"Haha, sounds good to me" Mathew replied with a smirk, cracking his fingers.
The twins left immediately after making plans. They didn't even stay behind to observe Mathew and Valerio's spar. They freshened up, got dressed and met with Arthur and Ruby.
…
Time flew by and it was almost evening. The twins returned with smiles. They were holding many bags in their hands and were conversing about something excitedly. They entered the shop and there was no one.
"Are they underground?" Kael asked in confusion.
"Sigh, how careless of them. Leaving the door open and going to the underground facility" Lyra replied with a sigh. The twins closed the door and went to the underground facility. They saw Valerio.
"So how was your day?" Valerio asked them, looking curiously at the bags in their hands.
"We had a blast. It was so much fun. We went to the mall, went to the movies, went shopping and did all sorts of fun things" Kael narrated excitedly.
"We should do this often," Lyra said with a smile, she was in a good mood as she loosened up a bit due to the tense situation in recent days.
"Yeah," Kael replied with a nod.
"We even got some things for you and the manager," Lyra said as she handed over a bag to Valerio. She looked around for a while and asked
"Where is the manager? We didn't see him upstairs also"
"Oh, he went out for a bit for something. Should be back in a while" Valerio replied as he looked at the bag given by Lyra when suddenly the ground shook violently.
"An earthquake?" Kael muttered in confusion.
"Stay here and don't come up. Someone strong is coming" Valerio said with a frown.
"Like those two who came that night?" Kael asked with a frown. He and Lyra looked at each other, their concern growing.
"Even if there were 50 of those weaklings, I won't even break a sweat. This is someone with some skill" Valerio replied.
"But Uncle Val-" Before Lyra could finish Valerio interjected
"I need you guys to hide here. I know that you guys have improved a lot but now is not the time" Valerio said as he looked at the twins with a serious gaze.
The twins instantly became silent as they clenched their fists in helplessness. Valerio instantly left the underground facility and went upstairs.
'Please don't let anything happen to the shop' he prayed. He reached upstairs when suddenly a figure came crashing through the window. Shards of glass flew everywhere.
Mathew got up and he shook off the shards of glass on his body. He spit some blood as he looked at Valerio with a helpless smile.
"What happened? Are you injured?" Valerio asked with a frown.
"It's nothing, I was just caught a bit off guard but those guys-" his eyes narrowed as he looked outside the shop.
"I already sensed them. Just hang back, I'll take care of these pests" Valerio said as he went outside the shop.
Two silhouettes were standing there emitting a pale red and yellow aura.
"Sorry, we are closed for renovation-" when a yellow projectile came towards Valerio's head at a fast speed. Valerio just casually tilted his head as the projectile missed the target.
"Couple of angry customers we got here, didn't think we'd meet so soon Piers and…Orion was it?" Valerio asked with a smirk.
"You dare mock me" Orion shouted, his face morphing in anger as he sent another projectile towards Valerio.
Valerio casually deflected it towards the sky as the aura projectile went off in the sky like fireworks.
"Good stuff," Valerio said, nodding his head in satisfaction as he looked at the 'fireworks'. "You bastard.." Orion seethed with rage.
"He's the same monster we saw years ago, hasn't changed a bit," Piers said with a sigh. "Oh my god, manager, what happened to you?" Kael asked in a panic.
"He's injured, this is bad, to think someone could hurt the manager to this extent," Lyra said in a hurry as she ran towards Mathew.
"I told you to stay inside, didn't I?" Valerio looked at the twins and asked with a sigh. "So these are the kids you took under your wing," Piers said. Valerio ignored him.
"It's okay you two, it's just I let down my guard a bit. You guys go back inside, it's not safe here" Mathew replied as he looked at the twins with a helpless smile. Mathew went outside the shop and stood beside Valerio.
"Oh, looks like he is also a fragment. Well, whatever, he's a weakling anyway" Orion said as he ignored Mathew and concentrated his gaze on Valerio.
"I wonder what will happen if we take those two kids as hostages, Piers," Orion said in a teasing tone.
"Don't you dare lay your dirty hands on them" Valerio narrowed his eyes as he said in a calm tone, but there was anger in that calmness.
"Don't waste time trash-talking Orion. Do it now, I can only hold on for a while, so finish your job and come quickly" Piers replied hurriedly.
"I've been itching to do this" Orion replied with a laugh when he suddenly snapped his fingers as he muttered
"Dimensional blink"
A strange black space enveloped them as it suddenly got split into two.
…
"Where's Uncle Val? He's not here" Kael asked in panic. He looked around and found there was only him, his sister, the manager and the guy named Orion. There was no trace of Valerio or that other guy.
"Looks like we are in some kind of subspace. I guess their grand plan was to separate us. Rather than worrying about Mr Valerio, I think we should worry about us" Mathew replied with a frown as he looked around the strange subspace they were enclosed in. He couldn't sense anything outside.
He noticed Orion looking at them with a malicious gaze.
"Watch me closely guys, this is also some kind of training" Mathew looked at the twins and said in a calm tone.
"Now…now blondie wants to take me head on? C'mon now, I'll make it quick" Orion said with a loud laugh, there was a look of amusement on his face.
"I better do that. If something happens to these kids, Mr Valerio will hunt me down" Mathew replied. He closed his eyes and opened them, there was a golden 'X' mark in both his pupils.
"Did he just-" Kael asked as he looked at Mathew in amazement.
"Yeah, he activated his eye. He's never done that before, looks like is about to get serious now" Lyra replied as she looked at Mathew with a deep gaze.
"Woah, scary," Orion said mockingly.
…
"Wow, I never thought that Orion would be stupid enough to take Mathew alone with him," Valerio said with praise.
"I don't follow" Piers frowned. He already felt some uneasiness when looking at Mathew before.
"Have you heard about the leader of the heavenly armies?" Valerio asked with a smirk. Piers didn't reply and seemed to be thinking about something. When suddenly his eyes narrowed as he asked with doubt
"Wait, don't tell me-"
"Looks like you're using your head nowadays. Yeah, he has the eyes of the Archangel. He's the one who possesses the fragment of Archangel Michael, the leader of the heavenly army and the strongest of the angels" Valerio replied with a smirk.