Zed jumped to his feet with a start.
He didn’t expect this, at least not so quickly.
"We earned no time at all!"
Zed looked at the screen.
Dracon Moonfall floated high above the villa, doing nothing, but gazing down with a nonchalant expression.
Zed could feel his vision and even though the latter hasn’t unleashed his aura as an Alpha, a pressure descended on him and the villa. The pressure was sharp, like a sword, and the breakfast plates and glasses split into pieces.
Cracks erupted on the windows and fissures sprang on the floors. The waterfall split into two as the dark rocks underneath it crumbled into fragments.
The drones and droids emitted crackling noises as they started bending, their circuits exploding.
Zed knuckled his fists and lifted his head. His veins popped out and his body trembled under the pressure, but he refused to bend.
In the sky, a smile appeared on Dracon’s face. He lifted a hand towards the morning sky.
Whoosh~!
A burst of winds rushed into his hand, gleaming with dazzling strands of energy.
In the hall, the virtual screen dimmed down as the pressure turned stronger.
[[Power system is being affected, sir. You need to leave now!]]
Zed nodded but the pressure made it too difficult to even move.
"I will be there in a second!" Agatha’s voice came out of the screen. Claudia had informed her of the newly arrived enemy.
"No!" Zed shook his head. "No matter what happens, neither you nor Eva would leave the lab!"
The villa and the underground facilities were cut off from each other despite the elevators and secret routes. The outside of underground facilities was enhanced with unbreakable walls that could restrict ocular powers and cast an illusion of being soil.
So even a Level VII Alpha wouldn’t detect the presence of the facilities unless they carefully scan the area. This was especially true after Kiba arrived from Desolate Blood Forest. He had enhanced the arrangements with the items he acquired to make them foolproof.
So as long as there were no movements from the villa to the lab or vice-versa, the secret wouldn’t be exposed.
"What?! I can’t do that!" Agatha said as she rushed for the villa.
"Do you want our daughter to be an orphan?!" Zed asked.
"!" Agatha stopped with a jerk.
"If we both die, who would take care of her?! Or do you want her to live like I had in the slums!?" Zed demanded.
Agatha clenched her fists.
Behind her, Eva lowered her head as mist erupted in her eyes. She was street-smart and practical so she understood Zed’s points far better than Agatha.
If an Alpha was here, neither she nor Agatha could make a difference. They would just throw away their lives for nothing.
She placed a hand on Agatha and said, "I know you love him, and that’s why you need to live."
Agatha barely managed to nod.
"Haah~"
Eva’s mood was far too complex.
She also had emotions that she suppressed, and now was not the time she could let them erupt. She has to protect Agatha from doing anything reckless and ensure Hope wasn’t discovered.
"Zed... Kiba! You have to live!" Eva said while taking Agatha back. "Don’t forget your cheesy promises!"
Zed smiled.
"I won’t!"
He concentrated on his storage ring and took out the bottle containing energy pills. The pressure destroyed the bottle and most of the pills, but he managed to grab a few pills and consume them.
The high-rank pills circulated his blood with vitality and provided a boost in his strength. He managed to move towards the exit.
At the same time, as dazzling winds concentrated in Dracon’s hand, Heather appeared in front of him.
"Dracon! He’s a child of Lady Rebecca!" Heather thundered as she flicked a hand at him. "You are courting death by targeting him!"
RUMBLE~~~
A trail of illusory palaces appeared in the air, bombarding with the pressure of mountains, smashing into the concentrated winds.
BANG
An ear numbing explosion ringed out. In the fraction from the time the explosion occurred, Dracon’s body flickered and it split into two.
"!"
Heather’s pupils constricted. It wasn’t her attack that split him, rather he did himself.
The split parts regenerated, unleashing a mass of blood and flesh, turning into two Dracon. One of them charged at Heather while the other created another wind attack, albeit leisurely.
Aurora infused into Heather’s fists as she punched at the incoming Dracon.
"Why are you provoking House of Hestia?! Have the other families paid you!?"
Heather demanded as the aurora in her fists swirled, and then blasting out in the form of spikes.
Dracon didn’t answer.
Meanwhile, on the ground.
Zed got out of the hall and stepped into the garden. He utilized the energy from the pills to run, knowing full well he can’t go to the lab or other underground sections.
He barely crossed the garden when the imposing pressure returned. The flowers decayed and the tress shattered in the form of shards.
Some of them pierced him but he didn’t stop.
Blood trickled out of his wounds and as the blood dropped on the ground, killing intent flashed in his eyes.
If he died, he would accept it.
He had killed countless and when one starts treading the path of killing, one has to be ready for their death as well!
While he wanted to live and wouldn’t accept death without struggling, he was ready for death. He always had since the time he killed his caretaker.
Death was a part of life.
Why fear it?
If there was something to fear, it was living life on the terms of others!
Something that the slums and BSE-79 expedition in his life represented, and even then, he resisted! He destroyed the strings of others and carved a life for himself!
Women.
Riches.
Vanity.
He had everything he always wanted... and then needed.
Love!
Romance!
Yes, he didn’t want death to separate him from his daughter and those he loved, but he was ready for death!
After all, what was the reason to fear death?! He had lived a life only a handful of people can boast of!
He raised his head towards the sky. If today was the day he would die, he would accept it with a smile on his face.
This was his disposition as the true devil!
By now, he was out of the villa, his body stained with blood and sweat. Just as he arrived, a dazzling ball of twirling wind smashed into the waterfall upon which the villa was partly built.
The villa was the sign of his first dream. The proof that he had succeeded in completing his desire of having a shelter... a place which he could call his home.
As the ball smashed, the lights in the vicinity dimmed, rushing into the ball. Then, a devastating force surged out, sweeping through the waterfall and the house.
BOOOM
The villa exploded!
A blazing shockwave swept out, knocking Zed with its impact. He was sent flying back by hundreds of meters before smashing into a tree far away, coughing up blood.
He ignored the raging pain and the blood that fell into his eyes as he looked in front.
His home wrapped in flames, smoke trailing out.
His first dream was destroyed...