Not long after the teleportation took place, the attacks on the people began. Everyone on standby was on the move, simply killing people and destroying buildings.
There was no sign of Adrian, Alice, Celine, Julian, or Sue. Everywhere I went there were just... random people who were terrified.
Well, it was near impossible to run into anyone I knew when the city was really big. But still... I tried. And again, on one of the random streets...
Suddenly, I found a bullet flying in front of my eyes.
Caora was already hovering over my body. I had fixed my disability from the mont I first landed in the city, so it wasn’t hard to see the bullet, nor was it hard to catch it in mid-air.
I tossed it aside without a care in the world, squinted my eyes, and turned back to where it had co from. That’s how I saw about four people taking cover behind one of the cars that had turned on its side. All of them had the barrels of their guns pointed at .
I stopped flying, landed on the ground, and approached them slowly, deliberately tapping my cane on the ground.
The four opened fire on at the sa ti. But none of the bullets reached . Sith was manipulating the winds around , changing the trajectory of all the bullets.
One of the four quickly realized that the bullets were useless. He pulled out a grenade and stupidly threw it at .
I didn’t even care about the grenade. In fact, I deliberately let it explode in front of , used the cloud of dust that rose into the air to cover myself, stretched a little, and rushed to where they were.
The first one was pinned to the ground with a single kick to the head.
I grabbed the second’s gun, twisted it. As he tried to pull the trigger, his gun exploded in his hand.
The third, who was also the one who threw the grenade at , pulled out a knife and swung it at . I hit him hard on the arm with the edge of my cane, and as his arm broke with a crackling sound, blue flas enveloped his whole body and burned him, accompanied by his screams.
The last one... he was looking at with eyes full of terror.
But I didn’t care. I ca in front of him, then got down on one knee.
"Saligia... right?"
Even though the man was stiff where he stood... he could barely nod his head in acknowledgnt.
"Do you have a target?"
This ti, he just shook his head from side to side.
"Hmm... got it."
They must have a goal. Only... this man has no authority, so he knows nothing.
He probably doesn’t even know that I’m at the top of Saligia’s wanted list. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have attacked in such a... simple way.
I hit him hard on the head with the side of my free hand, maybe he fainted, maybe he died... it didn’t matter.
I stood up and started flying through the streets again, using the winds.
I neutralized all the Saligia mbers I saw, I killed them... I tried to protect ordinary people.
And yet...
"Where are they... Where can they be? Where could they have teleported to?"
The people I was looking for hadn’t changed.
*******
My headache was just starting to go away. Even though my vision had improved, it took a lot of effort to make sense of what was happening around , even though I could see.
The teleportation... had shaken my body from head to toe.
I tried to rember what had happened just before.
Adrian and Alice were behind , so I didn’t know what had happened to them, but Celine, Aiden, and Sue were walking in front of .
I couldn’t see any of them near now, and if the teleportation was random... the chances of us finding each other in this big city were slim.
My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by what I saw the next second. A... building slowly falling onto the road in front of . with dozens of people underneath.
"Hey, watch out!"
I quickly used my mana. I created a do of ice over the people who couldn’t escape in ti to protect them, supporting them as much as I could... and then the building finally collapsed completely.
There was a huge cloud of dust. The building that fell was six stories high, it was also large... It was hard to keep the do of ice intact.
But I sohow did it.
Feeling that the do of ice I had created was not collapsing, I tried to move it slowly.
I moved it far enough to create a gap between the debris, while I moved closer to it and then created a gap on my side.
I reached out my hands to all the people under the do and started to take them out one by one.
"I am Julian Virhen, please all of you calm down and listen to !"
Saying my na must have done so good because so of the terrified people turned to .
"A terrorist attack is taking place! Please hide sowhere until Cevilian sends help and support, and if you see any soldiers or policen, try to get to them quickly! Go, go, go! Don’t stay where you are and wait for your death!"
I clenched my teeth, my fist.
With so much chaos in the city... what I was doing was like moving a handful of sand in the middle of the desert.
But I would do what I could.
As a noble... my existence demanded it. To help as many people as I could, to protect the future of them.
"Ah..."
Also... I have to look for the others.
And then I paused, and I couldn’t help but sigh as the thought ca to .
I don’t need to... look for those two, do I?
I’d better prioritize the others...
And when is this damn watch gonna make a proper call?!
*******
I drew my spear aside with a swift movent.
The mana that surrounded it suddenly shot out, unleashing trendous power with its folded weight. It moved like a horizontal guillotine over everything in the path in front of . And... cut.
Right in two.
The people who attacked and the other people, several buildings, cars...
Everything.
Once I was sure that the threats blocking my path had disappeared, I slowly looked back at the person who had been following . And she... fixed her eyes on like the darkness of night.
"All we’ve done for almost ten minutes is run, Alice. Are you... sure you know where we are?"
She was the one who explained the situation to after I had co to my senses. It was... scary to think that everyone had teleported to a random place. Especially when I wasn’t even sure where my own location was.
But Alice knew.
Even though she had been very quiet from the beginning... she was always sure where to turn.
"Yes, Adrian. I’m sure."
Her eyes slid behind . She quickly drew the bow she held in her hands, then a transparent arrow materialized in her hands very quickly and she let it go.
The arrow went through the side of my head and struck one of the attackers in the center of the forehead as he tried to get up from the ground. He had probably managed to throw himself to the ground and dodge my attack... but I couldn’t care less.
Alice... had killed soone. Without changing her expression much, simply.
I had killed soone too, yes.
But... sohow I didn’t expect that from Alice.
"Co on, let’s keep moving. We’ll soon be in the city center."
The city center...
I didn’t really rember a place like that around there. But I didn’t try very hard to rember...
Why would she lie to anyway?
"Alright."
I gripped my spear tightly, tearing my eyes away from her and looking ahead.
If we reach the city center... everything will be so much easier. It’s the first place anyone who cos to help and support will go, after all.
And... maybe Aiden, Julian, Celine, and Sue will be there too.
With that thought in mind, I kept moving forward.
I ran for minutes, with Alice.
I saved a lot of people along the way.
I killed a lot of attackers.
Finally, about ten minutes after the last conversation between Alice and ... I slowed my pace slightly.
When we reached the middle of a street that seed relatively empty compared to the chaos in the whole city, I stopped completely. And the sound of footsteps behind stopped.
"Hey, Alice..."
I squinted my eyes, slowly turned around... back to exactly where she was standing.
She was there, her eyes were still on and her expression was very calm.
"You said we were... close to the city center."
Alice turned her eyes to the floor for a brief mont, her expression thoughtful.
"I think... I got confused, I’m not sure."
I took a deep breath in, then let it out the sa way.
"Alice..."
Instead of looking back at her, this ti, I turned completely in front of her. I looked into her eyes and she did the sa into mine.
"You can’t confuse a place like this... with the city center."
I saw her grasp the bow in her hand a little tighter, her mana accelerating inside her body. Like it was ready to be used at any mont.
"What... are you doing? Or trying to do...? Also..."
I pressed the shaft of my spear to the ground, raising my voice slightly as my expression turned serious.
"Why... there are people hiding everywhere and they are all looking at in particular?"
After my words, first those on the side of the road, behind the cars, were revealed. Then those inside buildings, upstairs... even those hiding in the rubble.
For so many people to hide in one place at the sa ti... it had to be pre-planned.
At the sa ti, they had to be sure that the person they were going to attack would co to their hiding place.
And... they had to take into account both of the people who ca between them.
"Alice..."
She... can’t be, right?
"I ask again..."
She wouldn’t.
Alice... she’s not like that.
"Why... why are you so calm? Why... in the middle of all these people, you’re closer to them than ?"
I tried hard not to let my eyes twitch. I did my best not to swing my spear hard around.
She helped ... countless tis.
She helped to keep my aim straight...
She helped understand what I really wanted.
She kept from wearing myself out chasing an impossible goal.
Why... why would she do that?
"It’s simple, actually..."
Alice took a few steps back, moved closer to those who surrounded , and raised her bow.
And...
"Because..."
She pointed at .
"Those are the orders."
Ah...
Reviews
All reviews (0)