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Chapter 96 Ultimatum

Hanging from the top of the gate was an eviscerated and mutilated headless body.

The rest of the corpse, which was the head, was right next to it, pierced by a bloodied hook.

Zeke stood there, in absolute shock, for close to a minute. His hands were clenched into tight fists and his mouth was wide-open.

It wasn’t the first time he saw a corpse or a gruesome sight, but it was the identity of the corpse that caused him to have such an extreme reaction.

‘N-no… it can’t be. It can’t be.’

Zeke’s body twitched as he lowered his head and mumbled incoherently. His eyes were hollow and his face was dangerously pale.

The students were panicking and calling for help while the civilians notified the authorities.

Barely two minutes later, the Dean, Professor Nayro and even Solas arrived at the scene.

The Principal used his magic to lower the corpse to the ground. The elderly Dean covered it with a large cloth and shouted at the crowd to step back.

Meanwhile, Zeke was kneeling on the ground and staring down, still in disbelief.

Only when someone tapped his shoulder and helped him stand did he snap out of it.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

The ashen-haired Vanessa, who was as horrified as the rest, supported the shaky Zeke.

“This is not the place. Take him inside.” Said Solas.

The old man had a grim expression as he swept his narrowed eyes across the crowd. Alas, the perpetrator had already fled the scene.

“Sir.”

Nayro raised his long arm and pointed at the bloodied words written next to where the corpse was hanging.

‘I’m sure you can guess who’s next.’

They weren’t random words, rather, they seemed to be directed at a specific individual.

“Take him to Xavier.”

Solas ordered Nayro while he and the Dean vanished into thin air.

“Breathe calmly.”

Vanessa took Zeke to a secluded bench and patted his back as she softly muttered. She was trying her best to help him but he was totally unresponsive.

“I’m fine.”

After a while, he barely managed to squeeze these words before standing up and walking away.

Vanessa extended her arms in an attempt to stop him, but she stopped at the last second. Unable to console him, she had a pained expression as she gazed at his disappearing back.

Zeke didn’t know how he reached his dorm room, but he didn’t care. He closed the door and looked at Azmer, who seemed to be waiting for him.

“I’m sorry.”

“...”

Even then, Zeke didn’t react. He climbed to his bed, hugged his knees and just stayed like that.

Azmer tried to say something but gave up and just opted for silence. It was clear that his roommate wasn’t coping well. Then again, who would be fine when their friend had been brutally murdered?

“I know him. First year student, class B, Samuel Valort.”

Doctor Xavier covered the head and sighed.

Along with the President of the Student, Harold Grimes, Erva Erayne, Christopher Balrand and some of the members of the Special Investigation Squad were also present in the infirmary.

“I’ve brought him.”

The pink-haired Beatrice entered the room with the timid and bespectacled Alan behind her.

The youth was tearful and shaking fearfully, not even brave enough to meet the gazes of the others.

“He’s the victim’s roommate… and a witness, apparently.”

“I-I’m sorry… I’m sorry.”

Alan kept repeating the same words as he glued back to the wall and clutched his chest.

“We’ll talk to him.” V and James signaled each other before taking Alan away. It was clear that the youth was uncomfortable to be in the presence of so many, therefore, it was better to take him to a comfortable and welcoming space.

“Before the autopsy, I can’t know any details.” Stated Xavier as he put a cigarette in his mouth but didn’t light it up.

“Then what are you waiting for?” Retorted Erva, who was getting emotional over the loss of one of her students.

“I need the guardian’s approval.”

After a short bout of silence, the solemn-faced Christopher opened his mouth,

“Judging from the bloody left the murderer left behind, it was clear this was but the beginning. Neither Samuel nor his family were involved in serious stuff, at least not to the point of receiving such brutal retaliation.”

“This wasn’t done by a student. He was mutilated by an expert.” Added Xavier as he inspected the headless corpse.

Stolen story; please report.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Celestia Black clicked her tongue and continued, “The real target should be Zeke. He provoked the Vyrsan Family.”

“It’s too early to draw such a conclusion.”-Christopher

“No, it isn’t. Zeke and Samuel were good friends as well as roommates. Anyone in the school would know that.”

Celestia’s argument made everyone stay silent and ponder for a while.

“Did you inform Max? She should be with her brother.”-Celestia

“I sent her a message.” Replied the hooded John as he took out his phone again and called Maxine.

“No reply.”

“...”

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Either because they were busy with the murder or just wanted to leave him to grief, no one visited Zeke.

Eerily silent, he sat on his bed like a statue, undisturbed by the commotion happening outside.

Only when his phone vibrated once did he snap out of it and look at the notification.

“I know what you want to do.”

“...”

Azmer stood next to scary-looking Zeke and muttered those words. After what happened in the facility and his breakout, Azmer had to fully recover, but that didn’t stop him from returning to Erys.

“I’m not going to stop you.”

“...”

“But I’ll come too. Even though I wasn’t Samuel’s friend, I was still his roommate.”

Zeke walked away without offering a response. However, Azmer was surprised to see him speed away with an outrageous speed.

The only left in his wake were crackling lightning currents that dispersed moments later.

Azmer inwardly cursed and hastily chased after Zeke.

In fact, Zeke’s intention wasn’t to lose Azmer off his trail. In his current mental state, which was nothing short of turbulent, his only goal was exact vengeance.

The message he had just gotten was from the killer, the same person Zeke had briefly faced at the border of the Witch Association.

The crazy assassin wielding two sickles, an agent from the notorious and dangerous organisation known as Black Wing.

‘I’ll slice her up for you.’ Were the only words written, along with a picture of Maxine.

Due to his sorrow and anger, Zeke totally forgot about his older sister, who would have been the first to calm him down after the incident. However, even after the passing of some time, she was nowhere to be seen.

‘I need to kill him. No one… nothing will stop me.’

Zeke could have gone to Solas for help, but he didn’t. His whole mood had totally changed as he was blinded by vengeance.

Admittedly, he didn’t hang out a lot with Samuel, but he had still considered him as his first friend. He had helped him a lot of times and he didn’t deserve such a feat.

Zeke pushed away the overwhelming guilt that tried to consume him and rushed outside of Erys. Only then did he receive yet another message, which were coordinates.

“Where are you going?”

Within the small forest in which the Dean resided, Azmer, who was trying his best to chase after Zeke, was unexpectedly seen.

Celestia Black barred the youth’s path while eyeing him suspiciously.

“The whole school is under lockdown until the matter is deal-”

Before she could finish her warning, Azmer kicked the ground and circled around her. He didn’t even hesitate to shoot small fireballs to distract her.

A silver light glowed from Celestia’s eyes as she copied his ability and retaliated by raising a wall of white flames.

Seeing him in such a secluded spot, acting suspiciously and even running away, Celestia immediately gave chase.

Unfortunately for Azmer, he wasn’t physically strong and his speed was mediocre, at best. Within twenty seconds, he was pushed to the ground as Celestia locked his arms behind his back.

“L-let me go! Ugh… Stop.”

“Azmer Lorson, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Zeke…. He went on his own. Let me go!”

A burst of vermilion flames was unleashed from Azmer’s body, forcing Celestia to jump back and surround herself with the copied white flames.

“Where did he go? And why?”

“To kill the bastard, of course!” Retorted Azmer as he turned around and sprinted away.

Celestia bit her lower lips and hesitated for a couple of breaths before following him.

The sky was dominated by a sea of grey clouds as the weather seemed to worsen. Soon enough, it began to heavily pour and the rumbling of the thunder reverberated across the Sunken Metropolis.

Above the Headquarters of the Department of Defense, which was situated East of the city, there was a large spaceship.

“Permission to conduct an investigation?”

General Zhang looked at the document before throwing it to the side and glaring at the earthlings facing him.

In addition to the special Space Soldier from the event at the Central Square, there were two more people. One was an elderly woman whose helmet didn’t cover her facial features.

She was no younger than 60 years old but she had several stars on her outfit’s collarbone, indicating that she was pretty high-ranked.

The other was a youth who seemed to be her assistant, though he exuded an ominous aura that seemed to push the Ambient Mana away from him.

“General Zhang, this is the least you could do.” Rebuked the old woman as she sat down, looking relatively composed.

“We will not let you roam our streets. It was a mistake from both of our parts that the Ambassador was killed and we are in the midst of looking for the perpetrator.”

“That isn’t enough, General.” Said back the old woman as she looked at the messy weather outside.

“We know it wasn’t a Proto-Demon. You are the only nation on this planet that we are willing to compromise with. Otherwise…”

“Otherwise what? Are you going to attack us, Madam Jorie?”

“Ahahahaha! Of course not, General Zhang.” Madam Jorie shook her head and continued,

“We do not wish for war or bloodshed. We understand that we have many enemies, be it the Imperials, the Zyths, or the Witches, but, from a logical perspective, don’t you find it strange that the Ambassador was killed in your city? So far, he has been to more dangerous and exposed locations yet nothing happened. This makes me think that it was done by someone from here.”

“If that’s the case then we will find him.”

“That’s where the problem lies, General.”

The old woman walked to the window, her wide-open eyes reflecting the blinding lightning slithering between the clouds.

“I’m saying that, in the case you find the killer, you might be… hmm… unwilling to hand them over.”

The red-haired man pinched his temples and grunted in annoyance as she kept talking in a confusing manner.

Seeing frustration written all over his face, Madam Jorie smiled and explained,

“We have reason to believe that this was done by a System Holder.”

“...”

For a moment, Zhang’s expression changed, but he quickly composed himself.

“Oh? So you have someone in mind? Can you enlighten me?”

“First, tell me why you think it’s a System Holder.”

“Isn’t it natural, General? Whichever system it was, it wouldn’t want us to join forces.”

Zhang grinned and rebuked, “Or it simply doesn’t trust your kind.”

“Be not mistaken, General. The Systems are a blight upon all mankind… not just us.”

Right after saying that, she, her assistant, and the Space Soldier walked to the exit.

“I’ll give you two months, General. After that, it will be every man for himself.”

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Zeke arrived at a stretch of dry land as the pouring rain wet his clothes. His already messy hair stuck to his skin and fell on his face, making him look quite terrifying, especially with his hollow and desolate eyes.

“Zeke!”

Maxine was kneeling on the ground as a sickle was inches away from her neck.

The assassin, Kley, was grinning from ear to the other as he licked his lips and stared back at the youth.