“How far until we get to her?” Robert yelled out to right behind him. Patrick was already clearly exhausted since he wasn’t built for speed. Forcing himself to keep up with Robert made him exert more energy than he would’ve liked.
Elliot, who was on Patrick’s back, yelled right back, “Just a few more minutes! She’ll be there just keep moving forward!”
As empty as everything was, it made Robert question just how much power the Rising Syndicate really had. Seeing that he, Patrick, and Elliot were all new students, Mason was the only person out of the four of them who had any info on them.
“How did they do this, Mason? Just how screwed are we?”
Mason sighed, “They’re a mid-sized organization but they’ve been rising through the ranks the fastest. The core members of the syndicate all have large-reaching connections throughout the entire city so a lot of students who have ties to them are forced to listen to them. Based on the sheer number of people they actually have, they’re equal”
“That means?” Patrick didn’t hear much of it as he was fully focusing on trying to keep up with Robert the entire time. He needed Mason to clarify even further.
Mason looked back, “It means that they have a lot of people! They’re cornering us as we speak so the faster we get to Fiona the safer we’ll be. If they manage to block us off before we reach her then we’ll be in a world of hurt!”
Patrick scoffed, “Worst case scenario we wouldn’t have to deal with that psychopath.” He visibly had a terrified expression as he emphasized his last word. The mental image of that person was more than enough to send a chill down his spine.
At this point, Mason got curious, “Psychopath… who are you talking about? Did you get on a senior’s bad side?”
Robert immediately cut him off, “Don’t remind me. Just shut up, talking takes up energy.”
Mason’s curiosity was doused as soon as it was ignited. Even so, he kept this mysterious figure at the back of his mind. He kept his mouth shut as he was in the boat right now. Although he could’ve just hidden in the Student Body Committee booth, he didn’t know how safe it would actually be. Rules were rules but what if they managed to circumvent the rules? Rather than leave it up to luck, he would rather join the group in running away.
Since Mason didn’t need to place his attention on doing anything, he looked around hoping to find anyone at all. A few minutes passed of constantly running away until Mason finally saw a figure in front of him.
“There’s someone there! Wait… he’s part of the Rising Syndicate!” Mason’s voice caused the group to finally realize just how massive it really was.
“Why are there so many people? This doesn’t make sense! Why are they going so far for this?” Robert raged, contrary to the tens of people he expected, there were hundreds. Although they weren’t all strong, in fact, they were so much weaker than they expected, around Elliot’s level, the sheer amount of them made the entire group shiver.
“I didn’t know they were going all out for this. This is bad, real bad,” Mason started hyperventilating, the worst-case scenario that he anticipated came true.
Robert gnashed his teeth, almost tossing Mason aside, “Mason, what’s happening? If you don’t tell me right now then I’ll throw you aside! Now, talk!” The numbers were increasing, even their backside started filling out with numerous members.
“I-I…” Mason slapped himself, trying to come to grips with what’s happening right now. This one movement brought him back to his senses, “They’re planning on making a statement. They’re going after me…”
“You? That makes it a whole lot easier,” Robert grabbed Mason by the arm and threw him in front. “You can take him! Leave us alone!”
“W-Wait! F-Fiona’s right there, right? Elliot?” Mason tried to look back at Elliot on Patrick’s back. Patrick was already panicking, what more Elliot? He was already frozen in shock, this was well beyond what his mind could comprehend. There were too many things at play for him to properly analyze, leaving him frozen.
“Elliot!” Mason desperately screamed, at this point, Elliot, the person who tried to sign up and prevent a girl from being harrassed was his only hope. He had a good heart, Mason had no other choice but to believe that Elliot would come to his aid.
Patrick looked behind him, only to realize that Elliot’s face was frozen stiff, not even Mason’s screams could reach him. Although he could analyze everything at a calm pace earlier, this was apparently too much for him to handle.
Robert scoffed, “It’s not like you’ll die. Stop crying about it and take it like a man!” He bashed Mason’s weak will. In Robert’s mind, although Mason would get beaten up, there were rules in place that would make sure that Mason lived. Even Arin’s one-sided torture was healed right back up without any issues.
Mason immediately teared up, “That’s the point! They’ll kill me! I-I… I don’t want to die!” He reached out, grabbing Robert’s thighs, hoping that Robert would change his mind. Tears flew down his face and even mucus started dripping down his nose. If his face was called anything it would be the face of despair.
“Kill… you? Aren’t they afraid of the consequences?” Robert now suddenly took this even more seriously. Even Arin didn’t dare kill anyone, for a syndicate to blatantly provoke Seal Academy was well beyond Robert’s understanding.
“That’s why they’re only sending out nobodies! If they kill me then at worst the entire flock gets punished. The people above won’t be affected at all! With this… with my death… they’re showing off their syndicate’s power. Please, please, please… I’m begging you… don’t leave me…”
Robert’s tough exterior suddenly shattered, he had always believed that no matter how cruel this academy was, he would remain safe. Although there were people like Arin who mercilessly tore flesh and shattered bone, at the end of the day, he would still survive. Now that death was real, he had a change of heart.
Robert looked at Patrick, “Patrick…”
“Fine!” Even Patrick had a change of heart. Bullying was fine and all, it was the core concept behind Seal Academy, violence against violence. But for them to actively take a life, it was far too much. As cruel and merciless as the City of Sin was, with countless deaths and conflicts arising by the day, facing the scenario itself was an entirely different matter.
Patrick put down Elliot who was still dazedly looking at the distance down. He glanced at Elliot’s eyes and grabbed his hair making Elliot face him. “Listen here, here’s the plan. After they come in closer, I’ll throw you over the hoard and you make a run for it. Find Fiona and get us out of this mess. Got it?”
“Uh…” A bit of focus returned to Elliot’s eyes.
“Got it?” Patrick’s voice deepened, this was an actually threatening situation. With his life on the line, and entrusting it to a person that he bullied before, he felt unbearably uncomfortable. Despite this, it was their best chance.
“I’ll make space. Elliot, you have three lives riding on you. If you fail this then I’ll break every bone in your body!” Robert exhaled and leaned in closer, he used a calm tone to ensure that Elliot wouldn’t panic.
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The hoard of students came in rushing. From their initially slow walking speed, they increased their pace the closer they got to the group. When they were twenty meters away from them, they were all essentially running.
Robert made his first move, running at the west-side horde at full speed, easily mowing down countless students. They were all so physically weak that a single punch was enough to knock them out, the problem was the sheer amount of syndicate members swarming them.
“Now!” Robert shouted as he quickly paved a path for Patrick to run through. Without hesitating, Patrick followed right behind, carrying both Mason and Elliot, bulldozing through the weakening resistance of the horde.
As if Robert was a bullet piercing through flesh, Patrick ran right behind him, pushing through countless people.
“I can’t go any further. Do it!” Robert felt his arms weaken from this intensely short period of combat. Patrick threw Mason in between him and Robert while he mustered his strength to throw Elliot over the horde.
As Elliot flew across countless people, his sense of reason finally came back, “Ahhh!” He screamed at the top of his lungs but as he saw that he was in mid-air. As he descended, he saw the thick crowd thin up. With Patrick’s full strength, Elliot actually managed to get past everyone, landing on his stomach. The impact caused him extreme amounts of pain yet he immediately stood up, with how many times he had been punched in the gut, he developed that tiny bit of pain resistance to pull through.
“Get him!” One of the Rising Syndicate members screamed out as a small segment of the horde parted ways, trying to capture Elliot. Fortunately, their plan caught the syndicate members off-guard, letting Elliot get an extremely huge lead.
Even though this 15-meter lead was immense, Elliot was already pretty bruised up so his maximum speed was much less than these well-rested syndicate members. Elliot gasped for breath with every step, trying to push his body to the limits.
Finally seeing people, he shouted, “Help!”
“Don’t interfere with this! This is Rising Syndicate’s business. Everyone who joins in will pay the price!” One of the people chasing Elliot immediately shouted out, trying to prevent anyone from ruining their task.
As soon as the surrounding people heard the name ‘Rising Syndicate’ they immediately looked the other way. The current clubs and syndicates here were mostly small-scale ones that weren’t anything special. Other than a few eccentric syndicates that had malicious intent, no one important was here.
Most of the medium-sized to large-sized clubs and syndicates had high standards as to who was allowed to enter their organizations. As such, they would only really start recruiting after a month or so has passed when they actually have a grasp on who was worth recruiting. Other than background, one also needs to have sufficient strength and motivation to pursue power.
Compared to a medium-sized syndicate, everyone here was not even worth mentioning. Elliot tried to look around, only to realize that no one was even glancing at his general direction anymore. Even so, he gritted his teeth running at full speed to where Arin was. He didn’t think of what he had to say, nor did he even fathom Arin rejecting him, all he had on his mind was to find Arin and hope that he’d make a move.
Robert… Patrick… Mason… don’t die… Despite this situation leading up to this point, Elliot only had good intentions.
Elliot glanced right behind him and felt his soul get crushed. They were only 7 meters away from him now, the headstart distance he had was basically cut in half. Things weren’t looking great for him. Based on his vague memory, he was only halfway through where Arin was.
Back at the horde, Robert rested his hands as Patrick came forward, picking up a student and using his body as a weapon to swipe away the nearby students. This caused the person that Patrick was using to be bloodied and unconscious.
“Robert, you alright?” Patrick threw the body he was holding back to the crowd. Giving him a few moments of respite before another wave came right at him.
Robert kicked two people in quick succession, pushing them back, making the bodies he kicked away a small blockade. Bodies were now starting to pile up all around them. Robert wanted to use these bodies as some sort of obstacle yet his plans were quickly dashed as he saw people start moving the unconscious bodies back. Taking them out of the equation further makes it difficult for Robert and Patrick to fight on.
Robert was gasping for air, trying to keep fighting on. As he went for a syndicate member’s head, his attack missed and hit nothing. This gave the syndicate member enough leeway to land a hit on Robert’s side. Robert gritted his teeth and kicked him one more time, finally connecting. This was the first injury he had taken this fight yet it already served to show just how desperate it was for them.
He was already weak from getting healed from the clinic, adding on the fact that he ran with Mason on his back for an extremely long time without stopping, the fact that he could even stand was a miracle. From start to finish, other than small gaps, he had never gotten a single break. As his body was weakening, his accuracy dropped, and even his vision was starting to get blurry. One mistake was all he needed to make before he dropped to the ground.
“I… Patrick? You good? I need-” Robert was using all he had, trying to communicate with Patrick but this momentary lapse in focus was all it needed for him to be put out. A syndicate member saw this opportunity to get to Robert’s side, accurately hitting him in the jaw, and knocking Robert out.
“Robert? Robert! I’m coming!” Patrick had an easier time with his muscular build than Robert’s agile and lean body. All he needed was one hit and they were knocked out. He heard Robert’s cry for help and looked back. Seeing that his friend needed help, he ignored everything else, even incoming hits on his back to aid him.
Robert clenched his fist and knocked out the person who hit Robert unconscious. After getting his revenge, Patrick picked him up and started using him as a weapon, breaking the syndicate member’s ribs, and bones and even tearing away at his flesh.
Mason was terrified, he was initially stuck in between Patrick and Robert, creating a small 8-meter diameter circle where they could move around. But with Robert out of the picture, this circle was even smaller, as Patrick had to take on the burden of protecting two people at once. Things weren’t looking great for them at all. At this rate, they would get slaughtered before Fiona could home.
Elliot was still running away at breakneck speed, from the distance, he could see a small gathering of a few clubs and syndicates creating a small commotion. Oddly enough, these bunch of random organizations were all seemingly both terrified and disgruntled at the same time.
There was only a single meter left before the syndicate members could even reach him. This was the final stretch if he could get close enough to Arin’s resting spot then he would be safe. Desperate, Elliot saw a table in front of him and knocked it over right behind him, trying to gain any form of distance.
This apparently worked as Elliot could hear a few thuds right behind him, which gave Elliot a slight sense of ease. He could see it, he could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. He was only a few more steps before he could reach him. It was finally time.
“Not so fast, friend,” A man with a ponytail appeared right beside Elliot, grabbing his face, and covering his mouth. “I don’t know why you went here but I can’t let you wake him up. Any deviations to the plan will have severe consequences in the future.”
Despite the man’s lean build, Elliot could feel overwhelming strength from this one hand. Elliot was so close, he was right there, he could even see Arin still peacefully sleeping on the bench. The pursuing Rising Syndicate members finally caught up, they were all out of breath but immediately tried to greet one of the higher-ups.
Noland put his finger up to his lips, signifying that they should keep quiet. Unfortunately, one of the pursuers didn’t manage to catch this gesture on time.
“At-” Without hesitation, Noland came right in front of him and grabbed him the same way he grabbed Elliot. He then put pressure on his hand, slowly crushing the man’s mouth as he silently cried in agony. Noland then let go of his grip on this random syndicate member and tapped him on his forehead, knocking him out.
The rest of the syndicate members didn’t dare speak up after that. This was the consequence of not following commands, they would be brutally beaten down without mercy.
Noland waved his hand, gesturing for the syndicate members to go away. They followed Noland’s orders without question and disappeared from his sight. Noland brought Elliot away, slowly taking his time as he left the vicinity.
Elliot was losing hope, his mind was starting to think of erratic things as he was desperate. Everyone’s lives were banking on him yet there was nothing he could do but be taken away.
Is this really how it ends…? Elliot internally questioned.
Noland was taking his time, walking away with Elliot within his grasp. He saw Elliot’s mind slowly catch up to the fatigue that had accumulated within his body, at this rate, everything that they were fighting for was for nothing.
No… I can’t let this end like this! Elliot raged on, finding the will to do what he needed to.
Elliot opened his mouth and bit down, causing Noland to be caught off guard letting Elliot go for but a brief moment.
Yet… this brief moment was all Elliot needed, “ARIN! WAKE UP!”
“You little…” Noland immediately grabbed Elliot one more time, hoping that he caught him just in time. When he grabbed ahold of Elliot, his shaky mentality solidified one more time as he felt safe. “Hah… just in time.”
An ominous sleepy figure rested his elbow on Noland’s shoulders, “Time for what?” This figure then yawned as he lazily stretched his other arm.
Elliot saw his salvation, for once in his life, he cried out of sheer relief.