CHAPTER 34: CHAPTER 34 - RIVAL FACTIONS

Zion enjoyed sleeping. It kept him sane, relaxed his body, and filled him with energy for the next day. As a cultivator, the stronger he became, the less sleep he needed, but kept the routine.

So when his beauty sleep was rudely interrupted by a loud banging on his door, Zion entered his angry, cranky, lack of sleep mode.

"Zion! Open the door!" A female voice shouted from the other side of the door.

"Ughhh! Who the fuck is knocking so early in the morning? Go away!" He shouted, laying back down.

Without warning, his door flung open releasing a gust of wind that blew Zion’s hair in his face, then the door closed with a loud slam, ringing his ears.

"Aunty?" Zion asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Heh, no wonder you like to sleep in." A smile crept onto her face as she saw two women cradling Zion as they slept, completely unfazed by the loud noise.

"Ughh, do you know how early it is? Why are you waking me up right now?"

"After you told me what happened to Alice and Bryan last week, the Academy leaders and I decided to look into it," Raven spoke, her voice that of the headmistress, not his aunt.

"And?" He wanted more

"We ran into a little problem. The church caught wind of things and wanted us to hand over the investigation to them."

"Woah, that’s a problem. You declined right? Oh who am I kidding, of course you did."

"I accepted." She answered with a straight face that had no remorse at all.

"The fuck you mean you accepted?!" He jumped out of bed, forgetting that he was fully naked, putting on a show for his aunt.

"Pfft, look at that little guy." She teased

"Shut up! Why did you accept? You know we can’t get involved with the church so soon! If they take over the investigation, that would give them jurisdiction over the school and I don’t want to walk on egg shells."

"Don’t worry, I didn’t agree without a condition. The kidnapping wasn’t only happening at the Academy, it was happening in the magic tower and the Knight’s Order."

"No." Zion already knew where she was going, but he didn’t agree with it one bit.

"I gave them a call, told them about the situation, and they agreed to help with the investigation. As powerful as the church may be, they can’t go against the Academy, Magic Tower, and Knight’s Order together."

"So you decided to give a piece of the pie to three of your biggest rivals? Yeah you’re so smart. How did you even become headmistress?"

She smacked the back of his head

"Oww!"

"Listen, since the church couldn’t oppose all three of us, they gave a proposal. Two members of each faction will set out on a mission to locate and subdue the demons who orchestrated the kidnappings."

Zion sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "So who are you choosing for the mission?"

"You and Crystal?"

"What? Me? Nah, no thanks, I got better things to do. I didn’t mind helping before, but now that the other major factions are getting involved, I don’t have a reason to help anymore." He turned around, walking back to his bed.

"Nope, you’re coming with me!" She grabbed his ear, dragging him out of the room.

"Hey! No! Stop it! Lidia, Aurora! Help me! I’m being kidnapped!"

The door slammed shit once more.

"You think he’ll be okay?" Aurora asked with concern

Lidia didn’t even open her eyes. "Oh yeah, he’ll be fine, don’t worry about him. I’m going back to sleep."

---

In a large room capable of seating over thirty people, Zion was sitting at a table with Crystal next to him. His elbow rested on the table with his hand on his cheek. Given his expression, anyone could tell that he was not thrilled to be there.

"Soooo? What’s going on?" Crystal asked, fidgeting in her seat.

"You’ll learn soon enough," Zion grumbled.

There were three other tables in the room, which sat two people each, a man and a woman, all no older than 25.

The table next to Zion on his left sat members of the Knights’ Order. They donned a sleek black latex ensemble, its glossy surface accentuated by gleaming golden shoulder plates, vambraces, and greaves that radiated both elegance and authority.

Normally, Knights would wear full body armor, but the Knight’s Order believed aura should act as their armor so they didn’t use breastplates or helmets.

To his right were the members of the Magic Tower. They wore a cloak, woven from midnight-black fabric, that shimmered with an eerie, shifting glow, as if mana was constantly flowing from it.

Its high collar and sweeping length exude an air of undeniable dominance, making those who gaze upon it feel both humbled and fearful in the presence of its wearer.

Although Zion did think the uniform was impressive, he didn’t like the hidden meaning behind it, which was to show off the Magic Tower’s power, authority, and in Zion’s opinion, arrogance.

Lastly, to the right of the magic tower members sat the representatives of the Arion Church, the god of humans, speed, war, and a few other minor things.

Their robes, woven from pristine white cloth embroidered with threads of gold, shimmered with a soft, radiant glow as if touched by divine grace. Flowing with a divine light, they exuded an aura of purity and holiness, filling all who beheld them with reverence and awe.

Just being close to them made Zion shiver. He had always made an effort to avoid the church, and now here he was, forced to work with them. His gut told him to stay away and not trust them, but that was mostly because of his connection to Luminera. Anyone else would think he’s gone crazy.

"I’m glad everyone is here. Let’s begin." Raven, along with a high-ranking representative from each respective faction, explained everything to the eight people who would be going on this mission.

They found a hidden dungeon a few towns over that was infested with monsters from a fracture plain that served as the base for the demons. It was the perfect hiding spot for them.

Thanks to the church being able to track demonic energy, they were led to that place so they were confident the missing people were there.

Zion asked them how they were supposed to fight against demons, especially if there was a mid-ranking one, but the church representative gave him the answer that he had been thinking was the case.

"Although demonic energy is at play, we have been able to confirm that demons are not responsible for these kidnappings, it is the work of demonic humans. The blood sample you provided confirmed this."

"Ahhm I knew it. Especially after that Carl bastard."

"Demonic humans?" Crystal asked.

"Humans who willingly accept demonic power and give up on their mana and humanity," Zion explained

"The eight of you will infiltrate this dungeon, rescue the missing people, and put an end to this madness." The knight’s order representative spoke with a loud booming voice.

"And why couldn’t you guys go?" The female mage asked

"We thought this would be a good joint mission to bolster the relationship between our factions and bring ease to the people once everything becomes public. Besides, this will be a good way to test the future generation who will lead us one day." The Mage representative spoke.

"I can understand working with the Magic Tower and maybe the Church, but the Academy? Seems like we stooped to an all-new low." A blonde boy from the knight’s order spoke with a demeaning tone.

Zion just sighed, he wasn’t in the mood for this shit.

"Everyone, prepare your things and meet back in the courtyard in thirty minutes. This mission isn’t one you can afford to mess up on."