Emery could feel himself being dragged by something. Judging from the size of the thing grasping him, whoever or whatever was taking him away must have been something or someone quite big. His restraints were locked on tight and his mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton, making him unable to scream. Then, he felt himself being tossed inside a cold, metallic space probably some kind of a box.

With time to himself, Emery wondered who would do such a thing. Taking a participating acolyte in the middle of a game, with a huge crowd gathered. The incident would risk so many witnesses and the getaway should not be easy.

Was he being taken so he would be unable to participate in the final match? That was certainly a possibility, if he was a top champion or a strong contender for the title. But, as much as it pained him, he knew he was a nobody. No one would go to such lengths to keep him from the match.

Emery decided to try using his [Immortal Gate] in order to force his restraints open, but it did not budge. After a few tries, he decided to use his Fey Transformation.

[Current Status: Weakened]

[Bloodline transformation unavailable.]

"Dammit!"

Emery cursed, his rage echoing around the thing he was put into. Not only was he trapped in an unfavorable situation, his bloodline still retained its weakened status. Wasn't his injury supposed to be healed already? Why would he still be stuck in the weakened state?

Emery felt movement around him while he was thinking. Within minutes, he came to a slow, before stopping completely. It seemed he had arrived at whatever destination his abductor decided to take him. He was taken out of the box and seated in a chair with head still covered.

But his ears were able to pick up the noises of people talking.

"Brother… Brother, I finally managed to take him…"

"Who do you mean…? Wait, is that him?!"

"Yeah, brother… Yeah, I succeeded!" The first figure coughed and wheezed for a bit before talking. "I managed to take him with no trouble, am i great or what brother?"

"You… Argh! ..What have you done? Did you really listen to anything I said?! I told you to invite him, invite! Not take him like that!"

Emery can hear the two arguments clearly, The first figure's voice sounded heavy, but his words, along with the giggling in between each word convinced Emery the first figure was a little boy. Meanwhile, the second voice sounded more mature and carried the dignity of a leader, but, more importantly, Emery was more concerned with the fact the voice sounded familiar. Where did he hear the voice before?

"Uuuu…" The little boy's voice sounded disappointed "I don't understand, brother… Didn't you tell me I shouldn't let his companions know what we're doing?"

"Well, yes, but… You know there are a myriad of ways to accomplish that without resorting to kidnapping him, right…? This is why I told you to wait for Tatjana before doing this…"

"But sister Tatjana… She's taking too long and I didn't want you to wait, brother…"

The distinct sound of a lock being opened could be heard, along with a series of footsteps approaching closer. It seemed someone else came into the room and, judging from the reaction of the other two, the new arrival was their ally.

"Tatjana! Where have you been?"

"I was… Umm.. I was just taking my beauty nap." The woman who just came into the room replied. Unlike the other two, she did not seem to give too much attention to the unknown person lying inside the room.

"Have you seen what Andrei did here, Tatjana? He really did kidnap the guy!"

"Did you really, Andrei? Ah, I'm so happy to hear that! Keep up the good work Andrei, you're really the best! Thanks for finishing the job for me!" The woman praised.

"Yes Sister, i am happy.. happy"

"Argh, you two really are the same!" The leader scratched his head and sighed. "Tatjana, dammit, take this more seriously!"

They argued back and forth for a bit, before Emery heard someone walked closer to him and yanked off the covering on his head.

Right as the covering came off, Emery squinted and adjusted his eyes to the light, before squinting at the three figures standing before him.

"Hello… I am Andrei." Emery looked at the source of the childish voice. To his surprise, he did not see a little boy. He saw a tall, muscular guy more than 2 meters tall with hair covering all over his body. The dissonance between his voice and his figure made Emery shudder a bit.

"Hello Emery! My name is Tatjana… Nice to finally meet you." Emery looked at the woman standing right next to the huge muscular guy. She was a brown-haired pretty girl with a bright and cheerful smile, with her long hair tied up into a single ponytail resting on her shoulder. Her appearance and demeanor almost made Emery fail to notice the furred tail wagging behind her, together with furry ears on her head moving around in vigilance.

Emery looked at the remaining person and realized why their voice sounded so familiar. Their leader was Brutus, the wolf bloodline acolyte he had met before in the Bloodline Institute of Zodiac City.

From what he saw, Emery realized his kidnappers were all acolytes with the wolf bloodline.

Emery opened his mouth to say something, but Brutus stepped it and said.

"First of all, Emery, I would like to apologize. My brother used a rather… extreme method to take you here. If it helps our case in any way, I want you to know we did not intend for this to happen."

Emery let out a sigh, it appeared he was not in any real danger.

"Alright, if you're really sorry, can you guys release me now?"

However, there was a moment of silence between the three. Both Andrei and Tatjana stared at Brutus, waiting for their leader to give an answer.

Brutus gave a small, sheepish smile and rubbed his head. "Well, actually… While you're already tied up, maybe we should ask you a few questions first."

Even though Brutus was smiling, Emery was able to feel the atmosphere change from friendly and fun to stifling and uncomfortable within the span of a few seconds,

"Alright, Emery. I'll get to the point. What is your relationship with Grand Magus Zenoia?"

Emery stared at them in confusion. Yet again, he was surprised.

"Relationship? Do elaborate, I don't really get what you're talking about."

"We are asking, are you involved with her?"

"What do you mean 'involved?"

Emery saw the brown-haired girl walk closer and sniff him. Their distance allowed Emery to smell her unique, alluring scent and he recalled exactly where he had sensed the scent before. It seemed she was the mysterious figure who was following him and Magus Xion several days ago.

"Brother Brutus... no mark on his neck.. and he smells.. so good, I think he's, fine" the pretty girl said with a smile.