Elina knew what she was doing when she made herself public and appeared on Earth. There was no way the leaders would let her slip away once they located her.
But Elina didn't come here out of some misplaced confidence in her strength. She came and was confident to leave whenever she wished because the leaders could no longer touch her.
'These fools still believe the universe is in their grasp.' Elina shook her head. 'If only they knew the kind of strength Alexander wields, they would have knelt before him already.'
The leaders floated above the Gray estate as they glared daggers at Elina and the hunters. Behind them were over a dozen S-Class Hunters, all in their armour and prepared to act at a moment's notice.
"You have the enemy leader right here," Basso growled. "Instead of apprehending the outlaw, what do you do? You frolic with this witch!"
"That's enough out of you, Basso." Elina retorted with a serious expression. "Think carefully before you act." Her eyes darted to Alexander's parents who watched everything with trembling eyes.
Here they were, normal folks who had never seen the leaders face to face, yet all three were right in their homes. Naturally, they would be scared and overwhelmed.
Elina however, meant more than that.
"...."
Basso was this close to unleashing a more powerful wave of his aura when Elina reminded him of where he stood. Again, this was why hunters and normal civilians don't mix.
But the issue was the couple were no ordinary people. Their relationship with Alexander was already rocky as it was. They would be fools to jeopardize that―unintentionally, that is.
"Ar--" was about to say when Zara chipped in.
"Wait," Zara said and then focused on Elina. "What you said earlier. You knew your presence here would draw attention, but you still came anyway. What's more, you are accompanied by no one."
As far as she could tell, the leader of The Order was completely alone. It screamed something was at play and they might have unwittingly stepped into it.
The grin behind her veil would have been visible if they could see past it.
"Who knows?" Elina shrugged, showing no hints of fear. This observation made the leaders and their hunters cautious. "I suggest you go back where you came from as there is nothing but humiliation for you here."
Harsh words were spoken without care. Elina was truly fearless. It left Zol and his companions in a stupor, but they chose to remain neutral.
The leaders exchanged wary glances as they saw merit in her words. How many years had they tried finding The Order and failing miserably at every turn?
Then out of the blue, the leader of such a lawless organization shows up right in the open. Either she had given up entirely or she had something up her sleeve.
"Doesn't matter," Jaseph said. "She's here now and so are we. If we can't take down this woman, then we wasted our years ruling humanity."
"Then I guess you three really wasted your time then," Elina shrugged. "But be warned. The moment you make a move against me is the same as making a move against Alexander. More so when we stand in his home."
"Arrest her!" Basso had had enough of the woman. Her attitude and disregard for their titles unnerved him to no avail.
The hunters nodded and acted without delay. Zol and Mason, without asking anyone, moved back and shielded William and Sarah from the chaos that was about to unfold.
Four hunters moved to surround Elina, each taking a cardinal point as they unleashed a concentrated wave of their aura to lock her down.
On a tiny and fragile planet like this, going all out meant killing everyone in an instant. They've already had a lot of those in recent times.
Unfortunately, Elina didn't allow them to do as they pleased. A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she tapped into one of the new abilities she recently got.
"Mm." One of the hunters groaned as they all froze mid-air and were unable to move. They struggled, yet could not extricate themselves. Their eyes darted towards each other and they noticed the shock in their eyes.
"What are you doing?" Jaseph asked with a frown. "Why aren't you moving?"
"..."
No response.
The hunters could not move, neither could they speak.
"They can't respond, Jaseph." Elina smiled. "This is just a fraction of the power Alexander wields--a power he granted to me."
There was initial confusion, but Zol and Mason were the first to realize what she meant. The implications shook them where they stood.
"Y-yo-you're saying you ca-" Mason stuttered with wide eyes. His heart began to beat rapidly as the sheer craziness of what he was thinking left him stupefied.
"I'm a vassal of Alexander," Elina said. She had no qualms telling the others why. "And as his vassal, I can wield his abilities."
That was when the leaders and the other hunters began to understand what she meant. They looked at the frozen hunters with trembling gazes.
"Just one of his abilities can incapacitate all of you with no hope of escaping." Her tone was full of confidence and awe, borderline crazy. "So I ask you… do you still think I'm helpless?"
A wave of her hand conjured a protective wave over William and Sarah as Elina unleashed her aura.
"!"
In an instant, all hunters backed away several hundreds of meters except those still frozen in space. They felt the full brunt of the aura as their faces paled in terror.
The aura wasn't particularly overwhelming for obvious reasons.
The issue was that the aura was conjured out of void energy- the bane of all humans.
"Impossible," Zol muttered in disbelief. "You can use void energy?"
The question was on everyone's mind as they looked at the woman with fearful gazes.
They had come here to capture the leading figure of The Order members with the empire's leaders personally taking action.
Yet…
Elina chuckled slightly, finding their shocked expressions entertaining. "Like I said before, this is a gift Alexander grants to those who pledge their loyalty."
While not exactly what happened, the results were staring right at them. This could change a lot of things for humanity!
Zol knew that, Mason understood that and the leaders realized their power was on a precipice. One wrong move and they could lose everything!
'We're doomed…'