“Cough! Cough!”
Jean and the seniors suddenly coughed.
`F***, so she was talking about weapon modifications!`, Zito shouted in his mind.
Victoria was at a loss as well.
Zachariel wondered what happened to all of them.
In the midst of this, he noticed a familiar figure leaving the area.
`That angel from before. Where is she going to now?`
This intrigued Zachariel to follow her. He remembered that the girl had a special characteristic of affecting the mood of everyone based on her current mood.
`She must be trying to avoid that from happening, that’s why she’s going outside instead?`
“Uh, Zachariel, where are you going?”, Victoria asked him but he was too fast that he didn’t hear what she said.
“Where do you think that guy is going, Jean?”, Scarlet turned to him.
Jean hesitated.
“I don’t know. Maybe we should follow him? I don’t want to be labeled as a stalker.”
Scarlet laughed at this.
“Come on, don’t be too shy. Let’s go, let’s go. Let’s follow that guy.”, urging Jean by pulling his arms with her strong arms.
…
The angel walked towards the garden, right outside of the Imperium Palace.
On the way, Zachariel heard a sharp slap from a corner near him.
He stopped for a moment and walked slower. He increased his focus on his ears, trying to determine what was happening on the other side.
“You useless bitch! I told you to get closer to him! Be clingy to him! Have him trust you and protect you like a f****** little sister!”
Zachariel recognized this voice.
`It’s Kane. What’s this guy doing now? Reprimanding a servant?`
“My prince, I’m sorry. I realize that I cannot do as you wish. My heart only belongs to you. I only belong to you. I cannot go over and be intimate to another man! Otherwise, I-!”
Slap!
The feminine voice was familiar to Zachariel too.
`Diega. No wonder I haven’t been seeing her for days. It looks like she is extremely infatuated to Kane.`
Zachariel lost interest in hearing more of their conversation.
He stepped out of the Imperium Palace and set foot on the outside world.
Lune’s bright light shone down upon the Imperium Continent.
The night was calm, and so was the sky above.
It was a perfect time for one to relax and forget about everything that has happened so far.
Under the blanket of the night, Zachariel followed.
The angel stopped atop a bridge, which Zachariel approached.
“You shouldn’t be here.”, the angel said.
“And so do you.”, Zachariel replied.
The angel smiled, turning the atmosphere into a gloomy one.
“My existence isn’t appreciated, so why shouldn’t I be here?”, she argued.
Zachariel didn’t reply.
The angel took it as a form of mockery and continued.
“I can never be with people because of my ability. I am only a nuisance when I’m around them.”
“Have I?”
The angel was shocked at first but then shook her head.
“Not for now, but soon, you will. That’s always how things go for me.”
“That’s how things will go if you won’t tell me your name.”
The angel became solemn and didn’t talk for a while.
“Althea Quelsades, though you should forget this name while you can.”, she advised.
“Althea, huh?”, Zachariel subconsciously spoke.
Althea turned her face towards him, “It’s time for you to-“, when Zachariel grabbed her and jumped a few meters away.
Four throwing knives were stuck on the ground near where they were a second ago.
Zachariel landed smoothly on the concrete.
Althea panicked, `He touched me! The curse!`
…
[ Warning: Harmful curse detected ] [ Purging effects ]…
`Curse? No wonder she wants to stay away from people.`
Althea immediately pushed Zachariel away from her. She shivered in fear with tears streaming down her eyes, thinking of the agonizing death that Zachariel would soon suffer.
However, she didn’t hear any screams. Nor did she hear a loud thump on the ground.
`He- he’s still alive?`
“What are you doing?”, Zachariel asked.
“You, why are you still alive?”
“No time for that-“
Zachariel heard the throwing knives again. He grabbed Althea and rolled on the ground.
A dark-clothed figure with a masked face appeared on top of them. They held a sword and struck down.
`Shockwave!`
Zachariel’s spell blew the figure away and quickly stood up.
“We need to get out of here.”
Althea confusingly asked, “Why not go back to the Palace?”
“You think they would let me?”, Zachariel reasoned while blocking an attack with his dark shield.
‘Clang!’
“A throwing knife, and it’s covered with poison.”
He then realized that there were no Imperium guards in the vicinity.
`I have to take care of Althea. My mind tells me that these people wouldn’t let any witnesses go freely.`
He took Althea and vanished from the area.
Figures appeared from the shadows of the night.
If Cody was here, he would recognize that they were the same people who targeted his family a month ago.
“Follow them.”
The hooded figures trailed Zachariel, leaving only two behind.
“What about those three kids? Are they subjugated?”, the leader asked.
“No, we knocked them out and erased their memories.”
“I see.”
As the figures vanished, Victoria’s body shivered and opened her eyes. Beside her were the unconscious Scarlet and Jean.
She took a very deep breath while clutching her head in pain.
<Mistress, you should go back and inform your seniors!>
It was Hakkusha. She protected Victoria from having her memories erased.
“I know, but my head hurts!”
She grunted and held the pain, slowly and steadily standing up before making her way back to the Imperium Palace.
…
“Seniors!”
Victoria called out to them.
Edward noticed her first and narrowed his eyes.
“Victoria, what happened?”, he helped her stand properly.
Victoria breathed in a few more before having the strength to speak up.
“Senior Edward, Zachariel’s life is in danger… Also… Jean and Scarlet are… in the garden…”
Edward’s pupils constricted.
“Where is he now?”
“Towards west… in the direction of the Imperium Barracks… He brought with him an elden prospect named Al…thea…”, Victoria lost consciousness.
“Senior…”, Rainald stepped forward.
“Inform the eldens, and the…”
He wanted to say the Imperium guards but then realized that the incident happened near the Imperium Palace.
“Never mind, I’ll go over and get that brat to safety.”
He handed Victoria over to Cassia.
“Luna, Lina. Come with me.”, he gestured over to the twins.
<The rest of you, stay put and don’t put a word of this to anyone, understood?!>
…
Zachariel dashed in a western direction towards the Imperium Barracks.
“Zachariel, where are we going?”, Althea asked.
She didn’t expect that she would be implicated in such a dangerous situation.
Zachariel remained silent.
He noticed a small forest on the way and decided to go inside.
“Wait, stop it! Why are you not going to the Imperium Barracks and ask help from the Imperium guards!”
“Listen here, naïve girl. We were just in the Imperium Palace earlier and the guards didn’t even bother responding to it. What makes you think they would respond everywhere else?”
Althea was enlightened.
“Are you telling me that someone from the Imperium is planning to kill you?”
She didn’t get an answer.
Zachariel was too busy calculating things of what to do and where to go next.
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt something in the north direction.
`The Imperium Ward? What’s there? Wait… don’t tell me Iria’s awake now?`
If that was true, he was very lucky.
`Perhaps I could use her to help me get out of this situation later.`
He turned his head in front and continued forward.
`Damn it, a dead-end.`
Ahead of him was a large road where groups of Imperium guards patrolled.
“Zachariel, look! Imperium guards! We should ask for help!”
“Shut it, I told you already! Don’t blow our cover!”, Zachariel reprimanded.
It was at that moment that a group of rebels revealed themselves and charged at the patrolling Imperium guards.
A clash ensued, dragging Zachariel and Althea into the conflict by accident.
Zachariel wanted to backtrack but found himself surrounded by madmen. He had no choice but to put Althea on the ground.
A mercenary ran towards them, cleaving his big sword down on Zachariel.
Zachariel focused and projected the path of the mercenary’s attack. He sidestepped to the left and grabbed the mercenary’s hand, cracking it with great force.
“Ah!”, the mercenary screamed. He didn’t expect that a brat like Zachariel would have such strength.
Zachariel picked up the big sword and shut the mercenary’s mouth by beheading him.
He then grabbed Althea and led her out of the chaos. Unfortunately, the hooded figures didn’t give him a chance to do so.
They arrived at the scene at the most convenient time.
“Rain of Fire!”
“Glacial Spike!”
“Slashing Wave!”
“Piercing Wave!”
“Ring of Fire!”
“Breaking Punch!”
Numerous attacks were sent in his direction. For some reason, however, the attacks weren’t as powerful as they were.
“Vortex!”
Zachariel casted one of his powerful spells, sucking up all of the attacks, and bloated himself with a huge amount of mana essences.
“What just happened? Did he just absorb all of our attacks?!”, a hooded figure shouted.
Those were the last words he spoke as a darkness beam was sent to his location, vaporizing him to dust.
“Rebel! Die!”, an Imperium guard lunged at Zachariel from his back.
He easily dodged it and cleaved the guard into two equal parts.
A hooded figure appeared on his side, attempting to land a devastating punch on him.
Zachariel layered his weapon with dark mana essence and slashed it towards the hooded figure.
The weapon and the fist made contact but the attacker’s punch was nullified to a great extent.
The remaining force slid Zachariel for a few meters.
`Why is my attack so weak? How can a brat like him clash with me head-on, a diamond-level fighter?!`, the hooded figure questioned.
The attacks didn’t cease and continued to rain down upon Zachariel. He nimbly moved throughout the battlefield, dodging, blocking, and counter-attacking from time to time.
`What’s wrong with this brat! Why can’t we kill him that easily?`, another hooded figure thought.
Inside the small forest, the leader arrived.
“Why is that brat still alive?”, he furiously asked.
“Sir, the Imperium guards had that brat surrounded in front when the rebels attacked out of nowhere!”, one of his subordinates nervously explained.
The leader rejected such excuses.
“Even so, it shouldn’t be that hard to kill him! You are all diamond-level fighters, what’s taking so long to defeat a student like him?!”
The subordinate gulped, “Sir, it feels like our strength is being drained from us…”
Plak!
His head was crushed.
“Useless!”
The leader stepped forward and he immediately felt a strong weakening aura enveloping his body.
`What’s this? Is someone is helping this brat?`
He was unable to release 80% of his power, which, originally was at the grandmaster level.
He tried to step back, thinking that the aura was limited in an area around Zachariel but he was wrong.
`This aura has locked onto me! I can’t dispel this s*** either!`, he started to panic.
If Emperor Marcus knows that Zachariel was still alive until this day, he would be the one ending up dead instead.
“Does that brat know that we are weakened?”, he turned to his subordinate.
The latter shook his head, “He’s acting defensively, leader. If he knew, he would’ve already started a killing spree earlier.”
The leader nodded and looked at the scene in front of him. He noticed that things were finally calming down.
`No reinforcements from either side? Don’t tell that this area was sealed off as well? If that’s the case…`
He would have another chance in killing Zachariel. Though he thought that it was a bit strange for Zachariel’s backer to do this.
But what was even stranger was that Althea was ignored. No one charged at her, yet her heart and mind were in a complete mess.
It was her first time experiencing such a bloody scene.
She, who thought she had witnessed a true nightmare because of her past, became horror-stricken as she felt the life force of every individual vanish every passing second.
The cries for help, anguish, regrets, and fury. She heard it loud and clear and her heart and mind couldn’t take more of any of it.
`Why are they still fighting? Why are they not affected by my aura?`
“Yargh, die mongrel!”, an Imperium guard shouted, mercilessly beating a rebel with his blunt weapon.
He then casted a spell, “Fireball!”, turning the body into ashes.
Althea heard and smelled it up and close.
The scent of death.
She shivered and tumbled on the paved road. Fortunately, Zachariel caught her in time.
“Althea, we need to get out of here.”, he urged.
His words brought great relief to Althea.
That was when they heard a loud shout coming from the forest.
“You damn piece of s***! Where do you think you’re going?!”, the leader shouted.
Zachariel wanted to flee but the leader was faster.
He casted binding light and entangled Althea’s feet, pulling her towards him.
“Ah, help!”, Althea pleaded.
Zachariel reacted and tried to thaw it using dark mana essence.
However, another hooded figure blocked him from doing so.
Zachariel gathered qi essence and punched the person in front.
`Are the strength of these people this weak?`
He glanced at the leader far away, focusing his sight on him.
`His hands are slightly shaking. He’s afraid that I’m onto something, or I might be able to know something.`
He remembered what happened earlier and came to a conclusion, `Now that I think about it, these are Emperor Marcus’s goons so they are at least diamond-level fighters. If, until this time, they are unable to kill me, then that would mean…`
While he was in a trance, the leader sneakily casted crumbling earth and lava expulsion beneath Zachariel’s feet.
Unfortunately, for him, Zachariel had already realized the fact which he didn’t want the brat to know.
Zachariel suddenly charged towards the leader, gathering both qi and mana essence to his fists, and let out a breaking punch on the leader’s stomach.
Pak!
