Zeke was in a dilemma; On one side, he wanted to continue living in the apartment and train in the park late at night, and on the other, he did not want to receive any Black Stars due to not following the new rules. Furthermore, as Erys would most likely be closed to all visitors, he wouldn’t be able to attend classes.

Eventually, after thorough consideration, Zeke decided to temporarily hold off his search for Amelia. Deep inside, he knew that she was most likely dead, but he didn’t want to believe that as long as no conclusive evidence was found.

As it was the last day he had complete freedom, Zeke first completed the Daily Tasks and then went to Kethra’s Arms. The usually bustling district was relatively empty and was patrolled by dozens of officers.

As dangerous as it was to wander around, Zeke hoped he would find any signs of the killer. Admittedly, he was still not confident in his prowess, but he still wanted to try one last time.

For two hours, Zeke walked from one spot to the other, venturing into the obscure areas that either had shady shops or were utterly devoid of people.

Amidst his search, he unexpectedly stumbled upon Vanessa. The ashen-haired girl wasn’t wearing Erys’ standard uniform and seemed to be patrolling the area too.

‘Erys is involved in the case too?’

As much as Zeke wanted to tail her to learn more, he gave up on that thought. Vanessa was one of the top students and attempting to follow her unnoticed was nothing but foolishness.

Zeke made an abrupt turn and distanced himself from the girl, heading to his ‘favorite’ spot, the same place where it all started.

As he got closer, Zeke saw two familiar faces; The first was a third-year student dressed flamboyantly and nonchalantly smoking a cigarette as he leaned against the wall. The second was the total opposite as he wore a clean black suit, a pair of rectangular silver spectacles, and stood straight, his sharp eyes looking around constantly.

They were James and V, Maxine’s best friends, students gifted with a prodigious talent that allowed them to stand at the top.

Before he was spotted, Zeke hid and controlled his breathing, trying to make as little sound as possible.

Fortunately, he did not have to hide there for long as a loud feminine cry echoed from the main road, making the two students hastily dash away to check the ruckus.

‘Will the killer really risk exposing himself with so many officers here? This seems like a-’

Zeke’s thoughts were interrupted by a barely audible noise coming from the very end of the backstreet. As he peaked his head, he was shocked to see a haggard Amelia crawl from a stack of wooden boxes. She frantically looked around then fled towards the opposite direction V and James had run off to.

In disbelief, Zeke snapped out of it and chased after her. However, he did not reveal himself as he wanted to see where she was going.

Soon than expected, it became easy to guess her destination. She was passing through alleys and making her way to Erys.

One more thing that Zeke noticed was the girl’s movement and speed. She was fast, faster than an average person, much less a Defect.

‘Why Erys?’

His curiosity notwithstanding, Zeke used ‘Life Motus’, teleporting right behind her.

“Amelia.”

He called her name in a relatively low voice. Startled, she turned around and saw the black-haired youth stare back at her. He covered her mouth and softly pulled her closer to the wall.

His eyes swiftly scanned her body, noticing the edges of the black crystalline ‘thing’ at the upper part of her chest.

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“You’re alive…”

He removed his hand and let out a sigh of relief.

“What are you doing here?!”

Her voice sounded half-surprised half-panicky.

“I was looking for you. I went to the warehouse but you weren’t there.”

“You should leave.” She muttered coldly as covered her neck and chest with her arms.

“What happened to you? You can’t expect me to leave after seeing… this.”

She was wearing an old and dirty dress probably picked up from the trash bin. He body had bruises all over, her eyes were blank and tired, and her face was dangerously pale.

“I’m fine. Just leave this place!”

There was urgency and slight desperation in her voice as she pushed Zeke in a vain attempt to force him to leave.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t help.” The youth gritted his teeth and lowered his head.

“I went to look as soon as possible but… I was late.”

“I told you it’s fine. I no longer need your help.” She paused for half a breath then added, “And I’m grateful for everything.”

She tried to run away but he caught her wrist and refused to let go.

“Why are you going to Erys? You need to be treated.”

With a strength stronger than his, she shoved his hand, her eyes narrowed.

“Zeke, it’s time for you to stop this. Don’t search for me and don’t try anything.”

After saying those words, she dashed out of the alleyway, leaving him alone and more confused than ever.

Before he had time to process anything, he heard a loud explosive sound, urging him to run after Amelia for the second time. He arrived at the back of a large building and saw Jonathan Stellar Link holding a middle-aged woman.

The man was expressionless as he glared at James, V, and Vanessa. Next to him stood Amelia, a sinister black lightning crackling and randomly striking the ground and the nearby wall.

“Not another step.”

Jonathan had a dagger made of black mist in his hand, its sharp tip inches away from the woman’s neck.

When he saw them stand still, Jonathan glanced at Amelia and motioned for her to leave.

‘She’s with him?’

Zeke suspended his disbelief as Amelia hesitated for a second then attempted to leave only for Vanessa to intercept.

A bone-freezing aura spread from the girl’s body, turning the ground into ice and, at an incredibly fast pace, creeping toward Amelia. However, much to everyone’s surprise, the light blue aura was stopped by a large arrow made of blue lightning.

Zeke appeared out of nowhere, standing between Amelia and Vanessa.

“Huh?” V, astonished, let out a gasp and stared at Zeke.

“What are you doing?”

Instead of answering, Zeke half-turned his body to Amelia. “Go… quickly!”

She heeded his words and ran away, but Vanessa wasn’t going to give up so easily. Icicles appeared above her, all shooting at Amelia’s back.

As there were too many projectiles, Zeke used more than half of his remaining Aether for ‘Spark’. The lightning orb spawned out of nothingness and once it was hit by the icicles, it let out a violent chain reaction.

Even after that, one of Vanessa’s projectiles managed to hit Amelia, piercing her back and almost making her fall.

With the rain of lightning bolts dancing around, Jonathan made use of this distraction to push the hostage into the chaos and turn into a black mist.

V charged straightforwardly and protected the woman whereas James stopped Zeke’s lightning using a large water sphere.

Before he could react, Vanessa appeared behind Zeke and pushed him against the ground, binding his hands behind his back.

“Hey hey, stop that! He’s Max’s brother!”

“I know that.” Retorted the ashen-haired girl as she snorted.

“That means you should let him go. Let him explain himself first.” Said James as he watched his friend calm down the hostage, who was in tears and shaking intensely.

Begrudgingly, Vanessa let go of Zeke and snorted. They were able to prevent another murder and the killer was almost caught, but Zeke’s timely intervention ruined everything.

While patting his clothes, Zeke got to his feet. He was being stared at by the three students, their eyes demanding immediate answers.

“The girl is also a student. She had nothing to do with the killings.”

“She was with Jonatha- I mean the killer. That makes her an accomplice.”-V

“I know her. She was most likely forced to do this.”

“...”

Vanessa was in a sour mood as she looked at him. In the end, she let out a heavy sigh and retracted her freezing aura, which had turned half of the area into ice.

“I wasn’t going to kill her. You didn’t need to jump in.”

“O-oh…”

With a half-open mouth, Zeke averted his eyes and maintained a brief silence. Maybe he didn’t think before acting, or maybe he let his emotions get the better of him.

“It’s the first time we’ve seen the girl. Admittedly, she was suspicious, but our plan was to apprehend her first.”

The more he listened, the more embarrassed Zeke got.