“I will only reveal myself when necessary or when you’re alone.”Cecilia bowed and vanished into thin air. Zeke didn’t object, he just nodded and then turned his gaze toward the highway a distance away. They had discarded the carriage to not attract any attention and travelled through the forests instead of the main road.Aside from that one attack, they had not encountered any danger. There was a noticeable lack of monsters or bandits, but that could be attributed to the war.The conflict between the two nations had driven everyone and everything away. “I have a signal. We can wait for someone to pick us up.”Sulong tapped on his cellphone, looking particularly relieved and happy. He had become an influential figure, especially in the Sunken Metropolis. It wasn’t to the degree that everyone would know who he was, nevertheless, it wasn’t good to travel in the open. Zeke was accompanying him, and as someone who caused quite a ruckus five years ago, there were bound to be people that
While walking next to the giddy Celestia, Zeke looked around and was surprised by the interior of the building. It was luxurious, high-end, and sparkly clean. It was far-cry from the place at which they founded the company… that old building in which Sulong and Jack lived in.“Where’s Angel?”In response to his question, Celestia brightly smiled and responded almost immediately,“She has become a student of Erys. She’ll be joining us in the evening.”“Oh…”…Within minutes, they reached the top of the building. Celestia welcomed Zeke into her office before shooting nasty glares at Sulong and his spouse, which were following them.“W-we’ll see you later!”Sulong stopped at the entrance of the office and spat those words before grabbing Signora’s hand and leaving.Young Jeremy, who understood his boss’ intentions, was tactful enough to disappear as soon as they left the elevator.As soon as they were left alone, Zeke was startled to see Celestia turn to face him with red and tearful eye
“Zeke!”In the Evening, not long after Zeke and Celestia’s romantic time, a teenage girl with snow-white hair rushed into the office. She had a slim body, a pair of beautiful bright eyes, a short pointy nose, and an enchanting smile. Angel, who looked like a fairy, jumped into Zeke’s arms and hugged him. She was the same height as he looked older than she actually was.Zeke had already been informed that, due to her unique regenerative ability, her body matured faster than a normal person. Furthermore, she became more social and talkative, opposite to how she had been when they first found her five years ago.“You’re back!”She flashed a pretty smile at him as she giggled.“You’ve grown a lot!”“Yes… hihihi…”She sheepishly nodded and happily spun around. “How are you feeling now? Is everything okay?”Celestia was the one who answered as she approached Angel and caressed her head.“Thanks to Wolf’s treatment, her condition had been cured. She has a monstrous quantity of Aether in h
The next morning, after Angel went to school, the expected visitors knocked on the door.“They’re in a real hurry, huh.”Zeke glanced at the nervous Jack, who was the only one who stayed. He told Sulong, Signora, and Celestia to go to the company and act as usual.The Department of Defense, or General Zhang more specifically, wouldn’t target and attack Zeke, so there was no need to worry about any assassination attempt. Moreover, it wasn’t like Zeke couldn’t defend himself.There was almost no one in the Republic that could match him in raw strength and power. However, the troublesome thing was the abundance of obscure and strong Artifacts at their disposal.Nevertheless, Zeke wasn’t particularly worried despite Celestia’s insistence on tagging along.Jack peeked from the window and saw the military trucks and the dozens of agents standing on the sidewalk, all next to each other and armed with artifacts.“Don’t worry. Enjoy your vacation day and let me handle it.”Jack nodded his head
“Zeke, I can understand your doubt, but we cannot just keep fearing the Dead Ends because we know almost nothing about it. It is better to study it, and eventually, learn to control it. We do not have the military might of the Empire or the Powerful Magic of the Witches, so we rely on something lest we fall and become part of history.”Zeke scoffed at the General’s words, but unlike the last topic, he didn’t drop it, instead rebuking,“Be that as it may, I and the Paths of Extinction System will not tolerate the Dead Ends. Where does that take us?”“I don’t know, Zeke. You tell me.”“For starters, drop the experiments and get rid of the Artificial Dead Ends you created. If you do that, I can convince the Emperor to stop the invasion.”“Convince him?” Zhang furrowed his brows and pondered for a bit. “After sacrificing so many soldiers, he will not stop just because of you. And even if he does, without something strong to defend our borders, we will always be at risk of being invaded i
Zeke was escorted outside of the Department of Defense HQ and taken back to his home.The agents that accompanied him seemed oblivious that he rejected the General’s offer and that Zeke was officially an enemy. Zeke maintained his silence and thanked the bearded agent for the ride before getting out of the car and staring at the military trucks leaving the street.He had already expected his talk with General Zhang to end like that. Neither he nor Zhang were willing to compromise.‘I need to check the Dead Ends on the Western Coast.’“Cecilia?”“I am here.”The old woman materialised right next to him and slightly bowed her head.“Did you uncover anything new?”“I have. My people have found three suspicious facilities in or close to the Sunken Metropolis. They couldn’t infiltrate it and determine in which one the Dead Ends are being replicated. If I had to take a guess, I’d say it’s the facility closest to the West, as they would have needed a ‘sample’ to begin with. Additionally, the
Azmer and Maxwell Lepard came to pick up Zeke right after his meeting with the General.Zeke was curious, but neither of the two asked any of his questions. Besides the initial greetings, they remained silent.Azmer seemed to have grown, his golden hair tied into a pony-tail. He had a mature and serious demeanor exuding from him, and he acted like a disciplined agent.Maxwell, who was driving, kept sneaking glances at Zeke.The drive to the Capital took several hours, but only because they avoided the highways or roads in which there were any government troops.Zeke could sense Cecilia nearby, actually standing on top of the rapidly-moving car. It didn’t seem like Azmer or his friend were aware of her presence. Admittedly, however, Zeke could feel an impressive quantity of Aether within Azmer’s body. Undoubtedly, the youth who had once been his bully had grown considerably, mentally and physically.He and Zeke had already cleared their feud and were no longer enemies, so to speak. T
“You don’t think he’s going to sit back and watch, right? In fact, I guarantee that he’s devising a plan on how to take you down. He’ll exploit your weakness and aim for your family and friends. Speaking of which…”Teresa King let out a sigh and continued, “I spoke to Edward Orland, your brother. He refuses to join forces with me. ““Why?”“Because he’s loyal to the General, that’s why! He seems to agree that the Imperials must be eradicated at any cost and no amount of reasoning will convince him otherwise.”“...”Teresa didn’t seem to be lying, which only added to Zeke’s confusion. Edward might be an agent under the General, but he was a kind and caring individual. He also took his job really seriously.Zeke had been back for less than a day, so he didn’t have the time to check up on everyone. Edward was generally in the HQ of the Department of Defense.As for Maxine, she and Zeke haven’t talked for a long time. Zeke had learnt that she became a teacher at Erys, but that was it. Sh