Chapitre 50: Hostages

"Huh...?!"

"Well, well, well... What do we have here~?"

The one in front of the group summoned two large cages, one made out of silver and the other was just a big dome made out of large and hard roots. Inside the silver-coloured cage was the baby Antheros the children encountered a while back. And in the dome were--

"--?!"

"What...? No way..."

The four children were in great disbelieve and shocked upon seeing their friends being tied up nicely in the root-made dome. Even if the dome was in the way, they could see their bodies being full of scars and some were even badly injured.

Horror and anger were in their eyes as they charged at the group in front of them without thinking twice.

"Yuzu-nii! Mizu-nii!!" the crystal-blue-eyed female appeared behind their leader, using two of her wings to slash the man's back.

"Seventh Wing! Eighth Wing...!"

They turned into spears as she slashed the man through immediately, "killing" him.

"Hahahahahahah, do you think you can kill me with such a simple attack?" his laugh filled the air as the flesh and blood that was left of him disappeared right in the middle of the air.

They didn't even touch the ground yet. Shizuka paid no attention to this and she repeatedly slashed the root dome. After successfully doing so, she teleports the injured students of class 1-6, as the other three attacked the group.

Sena was right behind the children as he too fought the unknown group. "Orion, child, form a contract with me," Sena demanded out of nowhere as the demand shocked the ash-blonde.

He kept his focus on the men as he quickly responded to the ghost, "Did I hear you right?! You want to form a CONTRACT with ME???"

"Yes, now hurry. We don't have much time," seriousness was in the ghost's voice as Orion quickly granted his wish. "All right! But, don't regret this later though!!"

Orion and Sena disappeared to the boy's Space as Vinnetra and Isseiris held the men off. Shizuka managed to teleport each one out as she did not have enough time to heal them. She quickly melts the silver cage while dodging attacks.

Barely moving the scared baby Antheros, she took a big hit to her back as she grunted in pain, ending up far from the scene.

"Can't have you freeing this little one now~" the leader from earlier turned out to be the one who shot her with the fire-based attack. He was nowhere injured or tired as he looked fresh and alive.

The girl assumed he used some kind of spell to replace the one she slashed before. Either that, or he used a duplicate of him. Getting up slowly with her back and hair burnt, she attacked the man in high speed.

|| Normal eyes could not see any of their movements as they seemed invisible to them. But trained ones could tell perfectly on what's going on between the two ||

The girl kept using various kinds of attacks, combinations, spells, movements-- anything she could think of. Only two "angel wings" were left and her spears were all used up.

All of her attacks were blocked by the man as he casually gave a lop-sided smile at the girl. Shizuka was struggling to hit him all the while ignoring the burning pain in her back. She failed to block one of the man's counter-attack and fell to the ground hard.

"Ugh!!"

She was unable to stand up as the pain on her back became more and more unbearable. She wanted to scream but decided not to as she glanced at the baby Antheros who was looking at her in worry. It seemed to recognize her as it called out to her, "Ngoouuungggg!!"

"Urgh!" Shizuka got on her elbow but failed to do so once again as the man stepped on her stomach, making her grunt loudly in pain and agony, "ARGH!!!"

Her back was burning from that previous attack and her being stepped on was not making it any better. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream louder-- but, she couldn't.

|| Crying was considered weak in her opinion-- she promised herself ||

"HehhhahehahahahahhHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!!!!" the man laughed crazily as their one-sided interaction caught the attention of others.

Vinnetra looked at them in anger whilst Isseiris did as well. They finished their opponents quickly, going to help the injured girl. They were prevented from going there as several men blocked their way-- AGAIN.

The boys had lost their patience already as they forced them out of the way. But of course, as always, they're not giving up, so they'll use any way they can to prevent the boys from getting to the two.

"Gah!!! You're persistent, huh?!" Vinnetra shoved them and hit them, but to no avail. Isseiris didn't manage to get to the girl through the air as the men were also able to fly.

"Grrr..." he growled lowly under his breaths as he eyed the injured girl in worry. 'Orion, Sena, where are you two...?'

The two appeared exactly as the two boys were thinking about them. The ghost was seen beside him with a different aura surrounding him, so they figured he formed a contract with the former ash-blonde-haired male-- which was exactly what he did.

"Sena Louphrise, the ghost who resided in the Forest of Mishs, and the former great knight of the Old Kingdom of Eupharatite, I order you as your master to defeat my enemies!!!"

"Fufufu~ Time to show my old, rusty skills, eh~?" the ghost summoned thousands of swords above the two, him and his master, as the boy supplement him with some magic energy, also known as mana.

"Ever Blades--!!!"

The two were not able to finish their spell in time as large meteors rained from the sky. Their eyes went wide as they took cover. The men were all laughing crazily as Isseiris reached for the unconscious students, casting a water dome over them.

Vinnetra looked for the girl as he found her lying on the grass not far from where he was. The man who was stepping on her was no longer there, but she still winced in pain as the boy lifted her to a more comfortable position.

"Hold on just a bit longer..."

He also cast a dome-like shield made out of his Blood Magic with thorns on the outside. The dome was big enough for the two of them, but he was unsure whether it will be able to defend them or not.

Sena grabbed his master as he also cast thousands of iron shields to protect them.

One would have to squint to see the man bellow the upcoming meteor. He was the leader that stepped on the poor girl earlier. His crazed laugh, along with his men's were heard filling the tense air.

"EHHEHAHHAHAHAHHHAHAHAH!!!! IT'S OUR VICTORY THIS TIME!!!"

[Sunday, 26th of July, 2020 (Real Time)]

"That should be all of 'em," Ryuusei and Ryoku tied the unconscious men down as the ones who had fire attributes burned the corpses of some of the dead men.

"Are there any more?" Allegris inquired casually whilst he took off his blood-stained white gloves.

"Nope. Looks like it's over," a man with dark skin and brown hair, known as Syndenour Lysen, replied composedly. He then buried the dead bodies with several others helping.

"I don't think it's over just yet, we need to find the children," Eito reminded firmly while the flashes of lightning on his body did NOT die down-- but rather, they got stronger.

The others felt the same way as Eito as they wasted no time to go into the Space. When they arrived in the Space, shock and horror were plastered on their faces as they stared at the scene before them.

"H-How could this be...?!"

|| To be continued… ||