CHAPTER 21

In the middle of a silent night, a loud shriek was heard in the whole mansion, waking everyone from their dreams. The moment the sound reached Hanan's room, his eyelids fluttered open, and a foreboding feeling pounded his system.

His instinct moved before his mind, and he ran for Hirayon's bedroom with alarms ringing in his mind, combined with the shriek that he heard louder and louder as he neared his son's room.

When he reached it, he hurriedly opened the door, and there he saw the creature that caused the whole mansion to wake and be on their toes.

Neki was continuously shrieking but stopped when he saw Hanan. He then silently stared with eyes conveying something Hanan couldn't understand.

But when his eyes led to the bed with only Neki a top. His eyes hurriedly scurried the whole room together with the pond beneath. But no matter how hard he looked, no signs of Hirayon could be found.

As the realization dawned on him, his chest rose in madness, and his livid eyes looked at Neki with raw, killing intent.

"Where's Hirayon?" He asked as he stepped toward the snake. His every step was full of Aura to the point that the sturdy floor of Hirayon's bedroom started to shake.

As if the creature was immune to the killing intent and intense pressure Hanan was emitting, Neki crawled around the bed, circling an area. To others' eyes, he clearly wanted to say something, but to a father whose son was missing after only a few weeks of being together with him, Neki's action was plain crazy with no underlying meaning at all.

"Chief! What is that noise?"

Zeno said with a frown as he entered the room. When he finally saw Hanan's state and his stare burning holes into Neki, he immediately held Hanan's arm to try to stop the man.

"Chief, you can't kill the Auveast. The young master will be sad," Zeno said and immediately looked for the child who could calm his chief.

He looked to his left and right, and at the floor beneath, but he couldn't see the Hirayon.

"That's strange. Where's the young master?" Zeno murmured and looked at the snake again.

When his eyes met Neki's black orbs, he shuddered as he felt like he saw smoke in his eyes. Its usual black iris seems to be darker and clouded.

Hanan shrugged Zeno and quickened his pace toward the snake.

"Where's my son?" He firmly asked while walking, but the snake circled the bed again.

When Zeno heard Hanan's question and realized why his chief was mad, he gulped and looked at Neki with accusing eyes. His initial thought was that the snake did something for his chief to question the creature, but then he found it strange that the Auveast just kept on circling the bed, even ignoring the heavy pressure that Hanan was emitting. To a normal Auveast, they would be already shaking in fear.

"Chief, I think he wants to say something," Zeno said, stopping Hanan.

When the raging chief finally realized that the creature was acting odd, he closed his eyes and used another ability that allowed him to feel every bit of Aura in his surroundings.

He then felt Zeno's Aura, the rich pond and waterfall beneath him, the creature who surprisingly had an extremely pure Aura, and the remnants of a Mist Aura that he wasn't familiar with.

When he opened his eyes, he stared into the air where he felt the traces of Aura, and immediately made a conclusion.

"He's kidnapped..." he mumbled, and his mind stopped. It sank to him what kind of situation it was, yet his mind didn't work the way it normally would.

Zeno heard what Hanan mumbled and instantly ordered the guards that were waiting outside the room.

"Hurry! Check the parameters! Look for the young master!" Zeno yelled, and the knights scourged the whole mansion and outside it. Looking for any clue that could bring them to where their young master was.

"Chief! Why are you just standing there?" Zeno yelled, waking Hanan from blanking out. Zeno could understand what Hanan was feeling, but they were not in a situation they could take their time. Every minute counts, as the kidnapper could be getting farther away from their reach every second.

With Zeno in the lead, as Hanan was still unable to think straight, the knights checked every room in the mansion, the facilities outside, the nearby buildings, and even the dark sea that surrounded the whole territory. To their disappointment, nothing was found, and Hanan decided to contact the chief of the Mist Clan.

After a minute of continuous ringing, a groggy middle-aged man from sleep answered the call. He was squinting his already small eyes at first, but his eyes widened when he saw Hanan's rigid face and piercing silver-blue eyes. "Hmm? And what do I owe-"

"My son, he's kidnapped," Hanan cut with penetrating eyes. He was observing the chief as he was the main lead as of now. They know nothing else about the kidnapper aside from the fact that he is from the Mist Clan.

They tried to find the kidnapper by searching and rewatching the surveillance cameras in the mansion and outside, but he couldn't be found. When they checked the camera inside Hirayon's room, they only saw the child deep in sleep, and the next second, he was gone. Hirayon literally vanished in thin air, and they have no other clue aside from the Aura that Hanan felt.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Auras differ from person to person. It is difficult to differentiate, but an oddities' Aura will always have a trace of the element that they can use and have a high affinity with. That is why even though only remnants were left, Hanan was sure that it was from the Mist Clan, with the element of Mist lingering on the Aura.

The man in the hologram raised his brow. "He was what? Wait, why are you calling me?" The Mist Clan chief asked, needing clarification about the situation. He was pretty sure that Hanan would not go his way to announce this to him and ask for help as he is not that close with the Water Clan chief.

Hanan's jaw clenched, "The remaining remnants of Aura have Mist element."

The Mist Clan's chief stilled for a moment before what Hanan sank to him. "What?!" he yelled and stood up from his bed, waking up his sleeping wife. He did not expect that the prime suspect of this could be from his clan.

'Is he serious?! What the hell is happening right now? Who would even dare to sneak into the Water territory with Hanan being its chief?! What's more, they even did it after introducing the boy to the entire Diwana!'

"I'll help with the investigation," the Mist Clan's chief immediately said, telepathically waking his secretary, who was staying in the next room. He didn't even question Hanan's judgment and just ordered his secretary to lock the territory for investigation.

When the call ended, the Mist chief let out a sigh before explaining to his wife what the lockdown was all about. He was sure it would be a massive case, and since the Aura with Mist element was used, he was sure he would be busy the next few days.

'Well, better be busy that handle the consequences of Hanan's wrath,' he thought, and the image of young Hanan who singlehandedly destroyed hundreds of monsters came to his mind, making him shudder and fear his future.

Back in the Water Clan territory, the knights were already in the entire region, above and below, trying to search for any trace of the culprit and their young master himself.

Unfortunately for everyone, it took them six hours to find the last place the Mist oddity was. It was a few kilometers outside of the city, deep in the forest, which was already restricted for the residents to enter because of monsters.

Even with the sun already high up in the sky, Hanan's mansion remained dark and cold. Hanan himself tried to search where the kidnapper could have gone, but his search was the same as everyone else's.

He had already contacted other territories to watch their borders, including the chief of Space Clan, to get records of the people who had used portals. Unfortunately, he couldn't stop the use of portals as it would require permission from all chiefs, but he could at least receive the records.

Although this was clearly the problem of the Water Clan, the other nearby clans responded quickly, as this could lead to wars.

It has been an extremely long time since the peace was constructed for the entire Diwana, and they want to protect it at all costs. But now they are on their watch as a war could break anytime with the Water Clan chief on the lead. They are all aware of the man's personality and what he is capable of.

That is also the reason why the chief of the Mist Clan moved immediately. He is aware of Hanan's personality and the fact that the Water Clan is the biggest source of Monster Cores.

There are a lot of forests in every territory, but the Water Clan not only has vast resources in the land and water, but they also have a military capable of killing ruthlessly. Another reason why chiefs are wary of Hanan as they know that the knights in the Water Clan are nothing to laugh at with their ability to fight in land and water.

"Dewan, I need you to help Rehan," Hanan said while darkly looking at the dim sea outside the window.

'I should've moved faster,' Hanan thought as he returned to watch the dark sea when he was left alone. He was criticizing himself for not taking action immediately. Considering that he is Hirayon's father, it is normal for him to blank out and be in denial, but his action earlier was a huge letdown for a perfectionist like him. He was even admonishing himself for not tightening the security in the mansion and allowing the culprit to penetrate their system, controlling the surveillance cameras.

In his office were the important people of the territory, including Zeno, Veno, Larise, Lev, Dewan, Rehan, and the other leaders above and below the clan.

In an hour, Hirayon's case would spread across Diwana as they would formally report it to the administration so they are all preparing to find the culprit and who is the main person behind it. Hanan was sure that there was a group behind this as the crime was executed almost flawlessly.

"Even if you didn't ask, I will find the child myself," Dewan said, conveying Hirayon's importance to him. Although they were only together for a few weeks. He had seen the child's talent and urge to learn and become strong. It was odd for him at first to see a kid who was keen on studying, but when he learned where the child lived before going to the territory, everything made sense, and he grew fond of him.

"Good, use your connections and contact the previous commanders as well," Hanan said, not even considering Dewan's pride, as he knew this was no time to talk about pride.

"I will," Dewan said, confident that he could get the other commanders' help as he had established a pact with them before.

"Lev, work with Amir and find out what that snake knows," Hanan ordered.

"Understood," Lev answered. He is determined to get any information they can from the Auveast, as it was the only thing present with the child before it went missing.

"And you," Hanan said and turned around, making everyone stop moving. Cold sweat ran down their backs as they saw Hanan's expression. Their chief was already incredibly fearsome, but now they felt like they were facing a deity's wrath.

The man Hanan was pertaining immediately kneeled with his head bowed, not even glancing at his chief as he knew it would be like knocking on death's door.

"I will scourage every camera in the territory," he said in a shaky voice.

The man who was kneeling was the head of monitoring security in the entire clan, including the cameras inside the mansion.

Even though he was asleep and not on duty when the kidnapping happened, he is still responsible as the head. When he heard about the commotion, he immediately viewed the camera records in the young master's room, but there was no change with Hirayon, and the child was sleeping peacefully until the next second, he was gone. There was also no Aura that can be seen in the video, but he didn't dare doubt his chief's capability to discern things.

"If you weren't able to figure out what happened today, expect all employees under you to be left in a deep sea monster's lair."

Everyone gulped after hearing Hanan's threat. They do know their chief could order it, but they still have hope that he won't do so, as there would be no one left to handle the monitoring. Yet, they still didn't dare to ease their minds as Hanan is as unpredictable as the waves. They really don't know when they will be crushed and devoured.

"U-understood," the man on the floor said, biting his lips from trembling.

Even after Hanan finished talking to him, the man remained kneeling on the floor while Hanan continued to send orders. When done, they all dutifully answered and went out of the office to accomplish their chief's orders. They are determined to find Hirayon even if they have to stay awake for days. After all, their lives and Hirayon's life were not the only ones at stake. It is the whole of Diwana.

After Hanan was left alone, he returned from watching the deep sea. He was having a lot of thoughts, thinking of ways to find his son. Hanan was considering a lot of things and was even doubting a lot of people. All scenarios and possibilities made his head throb, but the pain didn't stop him at all. Instead, he became more resolved. No matter what action he makes, one thing's for sure.

'I'll definitely find you, son. So just hang on. I will turn this world upside down.'

R E H I L I Y A