CHAPTER 31: CHAPTER 31 - ASSAULT ON ALICE

Zion mainly focused on mana efficiency and control during his training. He had broken through to the True Expert stage and was on track to break through to the Master Stage before the tournament.

"After I break through to the master stage, my cultivation will get a lot slower. I need to find a way to increase my strength permanently while retaining my cultivation stage. I already have some ideas, but nothing is set in stone yet."

As Zion finished training, sweat pooling down his glistening brown skin, he caught a glimpse of Alice training outside, the evening sky transitioning to night. There were some bruises on her body which made it look like she was a bit sore, but that didn’t stop her from training as hard as she could.

"Like I thought, she’s really good but lacks mana. If she learned my method, she might-" His train of thought was cut off when he spotted four hooded figures with black masks approaching her location.

"There’s actually no way, right?" Getting a bit closer, he got a better view of the situation.

Alice, who was engrossed in her training, stopped at the sudden appearance of the four hooded figures. Alarm bells were ringing in her head not only because these people looked suspicious, but because they weren’t even wearing the school uniform.

She had heard of the abduction of commoner students by hooded figures, but like most people, assumed they were only false rumors.

"Turns out you clowns are real, huh?" Alice chuckled

"For your actions against those of noble birth, you shall be coming with us." The hooded people said in unison.

"No, I won’t." Without wasting any time, Alice swung into action, her sword at the ready since she never trained with a wooden one.

With quick and precise movements, she swiftly cut down the closest person there, shocking the other three as they saw their companion crumple to the ground, a large bloody slash across his chest, black blood oozing from the wound.

"Y-You will pay for that!" A female figure shouted, her hands radiating black-reddish energy.

’What the fuck?! Is that demonic energy?!’ Zion, watching from afar, sprang up from his crouching position. After facing two demons, he was familiar with demonic energy and wouldn’t be able to mistake it for anything else.

’No, this is different, it’s weaker, not as chaotic. Maybe these guys are average demons and not ranked ones?’ He pondered

Alice, having never come across demonic energy, paid the unfamiliar ’magic’ no mind and continued her assault.

Dodging a black lightning bolt, she closed in on the woman and attempted to slice her head clean off.

"S-Shit!" At the last moment, the woman managed to create a barrier to block the sword aiming for her neck.

"Die!" Coming at her on both sides, the remaining two members charged, the one to her left having a spear and the right one wielding a sword.

"You people are annoying." Alice planted her sword firmly into the ground, using it to lift her body in the air as she kicked the spear out of the left guy’s hand while flipping backward to kick the right guy straight in the gut, knocking him back several feet.

"W-What the-" Before the spearman could react, Alice pulled her sword from the ground and stabbed the man in the heart, killing him instantly.

"That’s two." As she turned to face the remaining two, her body was wrapped in chains made of black energy that ate away at her already low mana levels.

"What the-? What is this?!" Using all of her strength, she tried to break free, but the chains were too strong and her mana levels failed her.

"Hahahaha! Bitch! You should have come with us when you were told to!" The woman mage shouted, her face full of panic and relief.

"W-We were told to bring you in alive, but if you resisted heavily," The swordsman motioned to their two dead members, "We could kill you instead."

"Why are you doing this? What do you gain from my death?" Alice asked, shouting to alert anyone nearby and to stall for time.

"Hehe, wouldn’t you like to know? Too bad, I really would have liked to taste you, but now I can’t stand the look of your stupid face." The swordsman swung his sword with all his might in an attempt to cut her head clean off.

Before the sword could reach her neck, Zion stepped in, saving her from death. He grabbed the sword with his bare hand, snapping it like a twig, his presence dominating the area they were in.

"Z-Z-ZIon!" The swordsman said, fear creeping into his voice. "W-What are you-"

*BOOOOOOOOM*

Before the swordsman could even finish his sentence, Zion held out his palm, blasting the guy with a massive burst of mana, disintegrating his body until only his feet were left.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" The mage screamed in fear and panic. She attacked Zion out of fear, trying to run away in the process, but he easily parried her magical attacks, appearing right in front of her, and grabbing her throat.

"So, who are you? Demons? Are you guys stupid enough to attack in broad daylight?" Zion looked around, the night sky nearly setting in. "Well, on Academy grounds."

"W-We don’t owe you anything!" The mage extended her hands in front of Zion’s face and fired every spell she could at him, hoping he would die from her attacks. ’Serves you right little bastard!’

But once she finished, the grip on her neck only tightened. Zion stood there unfazed by her flurry of attacks and only smirked.

"Doesn’t matter, I have ways to get it out of you." He brought his hand to her head in an attempt to read her mind, but before his fingers touched her forehead, a dagger pierced her heart. As if on queue, the bodies of the four figures burst into flames, just like the imp he faced.

"What?!" Thinking quickly, Zion waved his hand, a massive burst of mana breaking the chains holding Alice, and scanned the area looking for the person who threw the dagger.

"There!" Alice pointed to the rooftops as she saw a hooded figure running away.

Zion wasted no time and rocketed off to the roof, his feet bursting with flames. "Where are you going, you little rat!" Simmering into his hands was a massive javelin made of blue flames, the heat making the air dry all around them.

He threw it at the hooded figure with deadly accuracy, the javelin tearing through the air like a missile, but before it connected, the hooded figure vanished from their current spot and reappeared a few feet further in the distance, avoiding the massive explosion that would have ended their life.

Looking back, the figure pulled out a crossbow but instead of firing arrows or bolts, it fired black energy, the same energy the people Alice fought used.

Narrowly dodging, Zion held out his hand, blue light shining from his fingertips, and the water in the air took form, surrounding the hooded figure in a dome of raindrops.

"You’re not going anywhere." With his other hand, his fingertips glowed turquoise and he clasped his hands together. The raindrops then solidified and pointed, turning into small but deadly icicles, and without wasting any time, Zion bombarded his foe with them.

The hooded figure was highly skilled, being able to dodge, block, and parry the hundreds of icicles that rained down on him, but he wasn’t left unscathed. Here and there, his body was nicked, sending jolts of pain down his body.

As Zion grew closer, he readied his next attack, one that would stun his opponent. Lightning crackled in his palm as his next spell was about to be cast. But before he could, the hooded figure stomped his foot and a burst of black energy spiraled around them, cutting off Zion’s view.

"No!" He cast his spell [Thunder Palace] and lightning bolts rained down on the swirling black energy, but once the energy vanished, the person was nowhere to be seen.

"Dammit, so close." Zion looked around to see if there was any trace of them to be tracked, but it was a bust. However, there was one thing that he managed to get out of this altercation.

"This is better than nothing. I’m sure my people can understand who or what I just faced right now." Zion used his mana to scoop up a few drops of black blood left behind by the hooded figure he chased.

Thanks to the guy not dying, his blood didn’t combust so he planned to run some tests on it.

"Did you get them?" Alice asked when she saw Zion approach her.

"Nah, they got away, some sort of teleportation spell."

"I didn’t need your help." Alice scoffed, her expression tightening.

"Yeah, you’re welcome. By the way, are you okay? You were in contact with demonic energy so I doubt you’ll be feeling okay." One look at her and Zion could tell she was running on pure willpower.

"Don’t act like you care-" She dropped to her knees, her strength completely gone.

"Thought so. Come on, I’ll take you to the infirmary." Scooping her up like a princess, Zion headed back into the school.