CHAPTER 94: CHAPTER 94: ASHER

BAM!

With a major attack, Tracy was able to bring the door down. However, what awaited her inside was a sight that scared the absolute hell out of her.

Blood.

Everywhere.

She couldn’t believe her eyes. There was literally blood splatter on the walls, windows, floor—heck, even the ceiling had crimson streaks painting macabre patterns across its surface. The metallic stench hit her like a physical blow, making her stomach lurch.

"What... what the hell happened here?" she muttered, her voice barely a whisper as she dropped Nora to the ground with a dull thud. Her hands trembled as she took in the carnage.

The apartment that had been their sanctuary just hours ago now looked like the scene of a massacre. Furniture was overturned, deep gouges scarred the walls, and dark pools of blood had congealed in various spots around the room.

"Asher?" she called out hesitantly, her voice cracking. She stepped carefully around the largest pool of blood, her boots squelching softly against the sticky floor.

She made her way toward the dining space, and there—right at the entrance—was the densest concentration of blood she’d seen yet. From her estimation, someone had been lying here for quite some time for this much blood to have accumulated.

"Asher!" she called again, more forcefully this time, carefully navigating around the crimson lake. Her heart hammered against her ribs as she searched every corner, every shadow.

But from all indications, he wasn’t here.

Now that she thought about it, this was all too convenient. Too perfectly timed.

Why did this whole commotion have to start the exact moment he left with that junior? This was becoming far too much of an occurrence to consider a coincidence anymore. It was as though something—or someone—wanted him dead. And she was probably right on the mark.

She forced herself to take a deep breath. Being agitated at this moment was counterproductive. She had to assess the situation calmly, rationally.

"He’s not dead," she told herself firmly, the words echoing in the blood-soaked room. "He’s not dead."

And that had to be true. The fact that he wasn’t here was evidence enough—whoever did this didn’t want him dead. They wanted him alive for something. The thought was both reassuring and terrifying.

She quickly rushed to the window, her heart in her throat. When she looked out, all she saw was chaos spreading like wildfire across the academy grounds. Staff members and uninfected students were desperately trying to apprehend the infected students without actually killing them—a task that was proving infinitely more difficult than simply putting them down.

She clicked her tongue in frustration and rushed back to the door, grabbing Nora and hoisting her over her shoulder once again before speeding down the corridor toward the elevator.

"That’s right!"

She had placed a tracking spell on him back when they were in class. He hadn’t noticed it, but she had cast a tracking spell on him. It was back when he kept stealing glances at that Maria girl, and she’d felt extremely annoyed and jealous. The spell had been intended for... less noble purposes. She’d actually planned on stalking him to find out what was really going on between him and Maria.

Yes, she wasn’t even his girlfriend yet, but she’d already started feeling desperately insecure about their relationship—or lack thereof.

She quickly tried to access the link she had established, focusing her consciousness along the ethereal thread that connected them.

The next instant, her blood ran cold.

"What?" she frowned, panic creeping into her voice.

She could feel it—the connection was there, but it was fading. Fast.

Tracy burst out of the building into absolute pandemonium. The whole academy had descended into chaos, and she literally had to create a barrier over herself to avoid the students who were raving mad.

"This distance..." she muttered, feeling the connection fade even more with each passing second.

The teleportation zone.

Of course.

He was headed for the teleportation zone—or rather, someone was taking him there.

"They want to get him out of the academy," she concluded, and panic seized her heart like an icy fist. She bolted forward with everything she had, ether crackling around her as she blasted approaching infected students out of her path.

"Hey! You there! Head for the safe zone!"

She glanced over to see one of their professors—someone who had taught them advanced combat theory in their second year—waving frantically at her from behind a makeshift barricade.

But she ignored him completely, focusing her ether into her legs and feet, solidifying the air beneath her steps as she began her desperate ascent into the sky. Each step created a small platform of crystallized air that dissolved moments after she pushed off from it.

She had to reach the teleportation zone before whoever had taken Asher could transport him to Elflame. If that happened, the connection would be temporarily severed by the dimensional barrier, and by the time she could reestablish it, they would be too far gone to trace effectively.

The technique required immense concentration—she had to solidify the air for each step before her foot even touched it, maintaining perfect timing and ether control while pushing her speed to its absolute limits. Any mistake, any lapse in concentration, and she would plummet to her death.

"Tracy!"

She looked down to see someone waving at her from one of the buildings. The window had been completely destroyed, probably by one of the infected students. She recognized the voice—it was Austin.

Without breaking stride, she leaped through the shattered window, tossing the unconscious Nora to the young man before immediately turning to leave.

"Nora!" Austin caught the girl, but Tracy was already rushing toward the window again.

"WAIT! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" he roared, but she didn’t pay him any mind. She simply leaped out the window again, solidifying air to continue her desperate sprint across the sky, amplifying her speed with every ounce of ether she could channel.

"Come on!" The connection was fading even more rapidly now, like a candle flame guttering in a strong wind.

"COME ON!" She shot forward, her ether reserves burning tremendously as she pushed herself beyond her normal limits. Everything was operating on pure instinct now—the solidification of air, the perfect timing of each step, the continuous flow of energy. Her subconscious had taken over completely, allowing her conscious mind to focus solely on maintaining the tracking spell.

The academy blurred beneath her as she raced across the sky, her heart pounding so hard she could hear it over the wind rushing past her ears.

BOOM!

Something massive suddenly struck her mid-air with the force of a cannonball. She failed to react in time, too focused on her desperate pursuit to notice the attack coming. The impact sent her careening toward a nearby building, her body slamming through a huge window in an explosion of glass and masonry.

"Ugh," she groaned, pain shooting through every inch of her body as she lay among the debris. Blood trickled from multiple cuts where the glass had sliced her skin.

But before she could even attempt to move, she felt it...

"No," she muttered, her voice barely audible.

"NO!" She tried desperately to move, to continue her pursuit, but realized with growing horror that her leg had been twisted at an unnatural angle. The bone was definitely broken, possibly in multiple places.

"Asher," she whispered, tears streaming down her dirt-and-blood-stained face.

The connection was lost.