Chapter 226: Flames And Flowers

The greenhouse garden looked like a place from a fairytale. Exotic plants were arranged in coloured pots and a few plants also swayed gently even when there was no breeze.

The garden looked beautiful under the night of the moon.

"Careful, girls." Fiona whispered. After a confirming nod from her partners, they all began the most important task. Making sure the garden was destroyed in the blast.

Fiona, with practiced hands, planted the first of the bombs under a wooden bench that was placed there to provide a nice view of the flowers with the city as a backdrop.

Luna and Charlie went to different corners of the garden, placing the remaining bombs at different corners. Just as Charlie planted the last bomb, the silence of the night was shattered.

The sudden flare of an Aura snapped through the air like a physical force. Fiona's head snapped up to see the Flower Shop girls standing in front of the door.

"Now, I have to ask." Fiona walked slowly to the path in the middle of the garden leading to the door. "Who did you have to fuck to ascend to the fifth ring? The neighbor's dog?" Charlie and Luna snickered as they came up behind her.

Stephanie, who was wearing a flowing white gown with her red scarf around her neck and obscuring her face as usual, was flanked by her sisters, one in the green scarf and the other in the blue scarf.

Their eyes shone in the darkness, red irises spinning slowly and ominously. "You should not have come here." Stephanie's voice was calm, but everyone could hear the promise of violence as she spoke.

Fiona stepped forward, a superior smile playing on her lips. "And you should not have underestimated us, Stephanie."

And without another word, the night erupted into chaos.

The Flower Shop girls surged forward as the A X E girls leapt backward. "Catch me if you can, bitch!" Fiona laughed, just before she disappeared from view.

The Flower Shop girls split, blue scarf heading to the right, red scarf heading to the left and Stephanie heading forward. A thin glowing red thread appeared between them, connecting the three together. Any plant that the thread passed through was sliced off with no resistance.

The Flower Shop girls knew their opponents just as much as their opponents knew them. The A X E were illusionists, capable of weaving illusions that could fool vampires at any time.

The Flower Shop girls encircled the room, trapping the invisible girls inside the thread. With three words, Stephanie began the fight. " Marissa, Elle, Attack!"

The three women didn't hesitate for a moment. Marissa who wore the blue scarf swung her thread first with narrowed eyes, the line cutting through the air. There was a displacement of air as someone dodged and Elle struck. Searᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

There was a scream of pain and Luna flickered into visibility, holding the stump of her hand. Stephanie dashed forward, her red scarf fluttering dramatically behind her. The thread sliced through Luna, passing harmlessly through the illusion and sinking into and out of the glass panels of the greenhouse.

"Too slow." Charlie laughed and kicked Elle in the back, sending her stumbling into her floating thread. Instead of cutting, the thread stretched and catapulted her back to her feet, towards Charlie.

With widened eyes, Charlie ducked under a punch from Elle, whose green scarf whipped through the air, red thread trailing behind her. Multiple copies of Charlie jumped out of her and began dodging and dancing around Elle, disorienting her, making her strikes hit empty air or harmless duplicates.

Stephanie's Aura swept through the greenhouse in a pattern and several pods standing harmlessly, burst, sending white powder sweeping around the room. As the powder spread, the A X E girl flickered into view.

"What the fuck?" Luna looked around in confusion.

"You're in our domain, bitch." Stephanie snarled.

Now in the open, Fiona found herself facing Marissa, having to dodge her attacks. Her thread moved through the air like a living, flying snake, trying to encircle Fiona. Gritting her teeth, Fiona materialized a dense fog of illusion around her, masking her movements and cloaking her real position.

Taking cue from their leader, the remaining A X E girls shrouded themselves in the fog, creating a thick cloud in the middle of the greenhouse.

The Flower Shop girls leapt back from the fog, standing at a triangle with the fog in the middle. Their threads kept moving, spinning around them to create a triadic web that acted as a barrier and whirled around them like a deadly carousel. Their teamwork was impeccable, the threads creating a defensive matrix that was nearly impenetrable.

Within the fog, Fiona signaled to her team, and in sync, the A X E girls shot phantom fires at the Flower Shop girls, the heat seeming real enough to cause the trio to momentarily falter and their thread waver and collapse.

Seizing the moment, Luna launched herself into the air, her body twisting acrobatically as she aimed a kick at Marissa. The impact was solid, but the threads reacted instinctively, wrapping around Luna's leg and pulling. Luna's leg separated from her body with a spray of blood and tumbled away in haste.

On the left, Charlie used the distraction to close in on Elle. She feinted left, then right, her illusions multiplying her image until Elle was surrounded by a dozen Charlies, each mirroring the other's movements perfectly.

Overwhelmed, Elle swung wildly, her threads cutting through several illusions but never finding its true mark.

Stephanie and Fiona whirled around the room, threads spinning and illusions shattering. Just as she was about to be encircled, Fiona grinned and a massive, blinding light covered the rooftop.

"Now!" Fiona shouted. Luna and Charlie responded instantly, breaking away from their fights. The trio sprinted towards the walls of the greenhouse. Behind them, the Flower Shop girls, momentarily blinded and disoriented, struggled to regain their bearings.

As they reached the brink, the building beneath them trembled, the bombs planted below igniting in a controlled sequence designed to collapse the structure inward.

Without hesitation, the A X E girls leapt, shattering the glass of the greenhouse and escaping just as the greenhouse exploded.

They landed safely, rolling into the shadows of the neighboring building's rooftop. Turning back, they saw the whole building collapse in on itself.

The Flower Shop was gone.