Chapter 62: Crisis, High Order’s attack (2)
Sector Six, Warehouse, B-64.
Lia slowly opened her eyes with great difficulty. She looked around her with a grim expression on her face. To her right was a guy sitting on a chair, one leg over the other, sharpening his long blade with his black nails, sending sparks flying as he worked on the edges.
It was none other than Zeryth, who had introduced himself to her before.
"Oh?" Seeing Lia wake up, Zeryth spoke. "Did you have a good nap?"
"You..." Lia’s expression twisted into one of rage. "Where is Maris? What did you do to her?"
She knew that her friend had acted out only to protect her own family. She didn’t blame her—Maris was just an ordinary girl; she had no choice but to obey.
"Oh, her?" Zeryth tilted his head with a smile. "Look to your right."
Lia did as he said, and the scene made her eyes open wide in horror.
To the side lay Maris, with no life in her eyes.
"You BASTARD!" Lia screamed out as tears rolled down her cheeks.
She tried to stand up, but she realized that she couldn’t move her body or sense her energy. To make things worse, she was tied up with her hands behind her back—completely cuffed.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Just then, someone walked into the warehouse.
Seeing the person, Lia’s eyes widened in shock.
Walking in was a young man who looked about the same age as Lia. He had blonde hair and blue eyes.
It was none other than Cedric Duskwood.
"You’re back," Zeryth said. "Did you handle the evolvers who wandered in?"
"I sent them down to hell," Cedric said with a casual smirk on his face.
Then, his eyes fell onto Lia, who was on the ground, staring at him with disbelief and shock.
"Lia Nova, we met faster than you expected, huh?" His smirk twisted into a cruel smile.
"You... Cedric, what are you doing with this... being?" Lia asked in shock.
She no longer knew what was happening—a corruption field, a being that didn’t look human, and now a human who was the direct descendant of a prestigious family in Nova City was colluding with this being who created the corruption fields.
Hearing her, Cedric burst into laughter. "You still don’t understand anything, do you?"
"Then, let me explain it to you." Cedric said with an evil grin. "This is a setup. A setup to completely eliminate Liebert and Toran from Nova City. They are the only mid-stage Second Rankers in Nova City, and eliminating them will directly allow the Duskwood Family and the High Order to effectively turn Nova City into our base."
"What?" Lia was shaken. "You are colluding with the High Order? How could you betray the human race? Is Lord Alaric aware of this?"
"Haha, is Grandfather aware of this?" Cedric grinned evilly. "He is the one who formed this plan in the first place! And besides, how is it betraying when the Duskwood Family has always been a follower of the High Order since countless years ago? In case you didn’t know by now—the Tiger Claw Gang was formed by the Duskwood Family!"
"You..." Lia couldn’t speak properly anymore.
The Duskwood Family had a connection to the High Order long ago? She couldn’t process anything properly anymore—and they were the ones behind the Tiger Claw Gang?
"But don’t worry, Lia," Cedric smiled sweetly like a lunatic. "Once that old bastard Liebert is dead and the entire Nova Family is uprooted from Nova City, I’ll still keep you alive. You will become my harem member and serve as my maid!"
"You disgusting dog," Lia spat, utterly disgusted. "If this numbing potion fades away, I’ll take your head!"
However, just as they were talking, a sound of an explosion rang out in the distance.
Both Cedric and Zeryth turned to look at the source of the explosion—it was coming from a warehouse not far from the one they were in.
"Cedric," Zeryth spoke, annoyed. "Go deal with whatever that is!"
"Yes, Young Master Zeryth," Cedric replied respectfully and withdrew from the warehouse to check on the explosion.
However, just as he left, a few minutes later another explosion rang out—and this time it came from the opposite side.
"Who is it?" Zeryth frowned. "Looks like there’s more than one small fry."
He then glanced at Lia, who was looking back at him with a hateful expression.
"Stay still, human."
As he said that, he strode toward the opposite side of the warehouse. Entering the area of the explosion, he saw a huge crater—and inside it, a broken part of a drone.
Buzz!
However, as soon as he looked down, a bright light flashed into his vision, and his ears began ringing continuously. Following that, a whirlwind formed where he stood and completely covered him, wind blades rushing toward Zeryth.
Warehouse B-64.
"Mimi~"
The sound of a cat meowing rang out within the quiet warehouse, and a silver blur flashed across it.
Lia, seeing this, became alert, but before she could react further, she saw a cat-like creature land next to her—and to her disbelief, sword energy rushed out of its body, cutting the cuffs tying her hands.
Tap! Tap!
The sound of footsteps rang out. Lia slowly turned her head toward the direction of the sound.
There, she saw a man with long black hair, an extremely handsome face, flashing purple eyes, and a smirk on his lips walking toward her.
"Looks like I’m just in time. You didn’t die."
The guy’s voice, for some reason, made Lia feel a surge of relief wash over her.
Like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
The guy was none other than Grey Lockhart.
"Grey!" Lia’s eyes watered up. "Grey!!!"
She called out to him as she wept.
"I-I didn’t trust my intuition this time, like you told me." Lia said with teary eyes. "M-My friend, she is dead... I-I couldn’t do anything."
Hearing this, Grey simply shook his head slightly, then took Lia into his embrace from the ground and held her close to his chest.
"You indeed didn’t trust your intuition," Grey said with a sigh. "And to make matters worse, the protagonist isn’t even here."
Then, as if remembering something, Lia spoke in a hurried tone. "We should leave quick! Cedric and that being... they’re still here!"
"I know." Grey nodded. "That’s why we’re leaving now. If I make a run for it, we should be able to escape the corruption field in a few minutes."