CHAPTER 33: CHAPTER 33 - NEVER TRUST A MAN NAMED CARL

"This is it, the bakery on Flame Street. Check the area for signs of struggle or conflict. Nicole could have dropped something, a clue."

"I know how these things work already," Alice replied, her tone slightly laced with sass

’The fuck’s her problem?’

Zion wasted no time and searched the area. He talked to people close by, asking if they recognized Bryan and Nicole by the descriptions he gave them.

Alice too searched around, jumping on roofs, which angered store owners, and surveyed from the rooftops.

After looking for thirty minutes, nothing of importance was found. All they got were confirmations that Nicole and Bryan were there but nothing else.

"Where could they have taken her? It’s barely evening and it’s still bright out. No way they could have taken her without drawing a scene." Alice concluded

Zion agreed, his hand on his chin thinking. "Unless it was a familiar face." He thought.

"Someone she knew?"

"Yeah. She and Bryan were probably approached by someone they knew and were lured into a trap. She defended them off while Bryan managed to escape, albeit with injuries."

"Or Bryan is the one who lured her." Alice gripped her sword hilt as if she was ready to split Bryan’s head in two.

"No, I doubt that. She’s practically his sister from the way he talks about her. No way he would give her up, especially when he’s a genius himself so it’s not like he’s in her shadow."

"I saw you do magic the other day, do you have any tracking spells or a spell that can show a past event?" Alicce wondered. She was confused about why a martial artist was using magic, but she decided not to question things.

"Oh shit, good thinking. While I don’t have what you are asking for, I do know the rune of Repair."

"Repair? The rune that puts things back together if it was ever destroyed? How would that help?" At this point, Alice thought Zion was flat out stupid.

"Yeah, but it can also dismantle things. More specifically, things that have been repaired." Zion drew the runic character and used it in the area where Bryan said they were attacked.

For a while, nothing happened, but after arriving at a specific spot, bloodstains appeared on the stone ground as if it was being painted over in reverse.

"Bingo!"

The trail of blood led back to the slums. The smell of piss, shit, puke, and death plagued the area. People were skinny, too skinny to be healthy. Their eyes were dead inside and the overall condition of the area wasn’t suitable for living.

"This is disgusting," Zion commented

"You nobles are responsible for this," Alice responded, her voice tinged with anger.

"I’m not responsible for anything. In fact, I personally solved poverty, hunger, and homelessness in my territory. This is all the Royal Family’s doing."

"Just because you solved it doesn’t mean your actions were the cause in the first place."

’This girl is impossible.’

The bloodtrail ended at the front of an abandoned, broken down home. There was a pool of blood in the center of the room and multiple signs of struggle.

"Looks like we’re on the right track," Alice spoke, when something moved in her peripheral vision

"What was that?" She drew her sword and Zion prepared his magic. He thought practicing wouldn’t be such a bad choice.

"W-Wait! I’m not a threat! I go to the academy as well." A boy stepped out of the shadows from behind a crate of boxes. He had glasses on, freckles all over his face, and wore the academy uniform.

Zion eyed the boy suspiciously. "What are you doing in a place like this?" He asked, his voice tinged with authority and power.

"I-I saw student Nicole and Bryan get attacked by some hooded figures and went to help but I was too late. So instead, I followed them to see where their base was."

"And why would you do that?"

"I-I’m a part of the school’s news committee. We investigate things like this. P-Plus I heard rumors about students going missing. I thought it was fake but..." He motioned to the building they were in.

’Even if he couldn’t help, he should have at least been able to catch up with Bryan, yet this guy was left out from Bryan’s story. Sure he could have forgotten in the heat of the moment, but something feels off.’ Zion continued to eye the guy with suspicion

"That checks out." Alice nodded. She was aware of the news committee’s activities and this wasn’t out of the ordinary.

Testing the boy, Zion asked, "What’s your name?"

"Carl." The boy said innocently

Instantly, Zion knocked Carl back with a gust of wind, blowing the already falling apart building down, then pinned him to one standing wall with a spear made out of earth.

"What are you doing?!" Alice shouted, drawing her sword at Zion

"Alice, let me give you one piece of advice, never and I mean NEVER, trust a man named Carl."

"Hehehehehe, Hahahahahahaha! How did you know? What gave me away?" Carl asked, a dark energy coating his body, dressing him in the black hooded cloak with a black mask.

"You’re fucking name you stupid bitch!" Zion wasted no time and lunged at Carl, ready to hit first and ask questions later.

"Too slow!" Carl pulled out an orb from his cloak then crushed it.

Under normal circumstances, Zion would have pressed on, but he recognized that orb, or at least he assumed he did. It reminded him of the orb his sister showed him back before he fought against Olzak.

She had told him that it was filled with demonic energy before turning into glass. So, thinking quickly, he changed directions, running to Alice and shielding her and himself from the onslaught of demonic energy that exploded from the orb, destroying everything and killing anyone who happened to be caught in the blast.

After the dust settled, Zion was seen holding Alice in his arms while inside a mana barrier that cracked and shattered.

"That makes Carl number four," Zion said angrily.

"Where did he go?"

"He died, I saw him literally explode. Look, you can see his body parts over there, and there, and there, and well, everywhere." Zion then looked around. "And speaking of everywhere, this area is completely totaled. We should leave before we attract unwanted attention."

---

"Well, this was a bust." Zion sat down on a bench, eating a pastry.

"How can you eat at a time like this?! Nicole could be getting tortured, or is this just how nobles work? You give up when you can’t find anything."

"Okay bitch, the fuck is wrong with you? First, you don’t thank me for saving your life, twice by the way, and now you’re acting like I took your favorite stuffed animal." He threw the pastry in her face but Alice easily swiped it away.

"Nicole is my friend, she helped me more than you could possibly ever imagine. She knows what it’s like to struggle like me, something you wouldn’t know of. She’s the only friend I have. I can’t lose her. "

"Well that fucking sucks, doesn’t give you the right to be rude to the person who not only saved you but is also helping to search for your friend. I don’t know what you have against nobles, but I’m not your enemy and trust me, you don’t want me as one."

"Is that a threat?" You could tell that his words hit a nerve judging by how Alice walked up to him confidently, getting close to his face, staring straight into his eyes with her hand on her sword hilt.

"You’re not important enough for me to see you as one."

That right there pissed Alice off. She attempted to draw her sword, but something stopped her from doing so. It was her instincts.

Zion had released his bloodlust and fear crept into her body. She knew Zion was strong, but not to which degree. She didn’t expect to be overpowered by a simple glance and a bit of bloodlust, something she experienced before.

"We’ll call it a day. Don’t want to do something we regret now, do we?" Zion asked, his voice domineering.

"N-No." She reluctantly agreed, gripping her hilt with anger. Not anger at Zion, but at herself for being weak.