Imperium Ward. Central Part of the Imperium Capital City.

Zachariel opened his eyes.

`Where am I now?`

There was a bright white light from the ceiling, illuminating the room he was in.

He raised his body and looked around.

`Is this a ward or something?`

He was sitting on a ward bed with an end table on his right. At the top of it were some medical apparatuses.

There were also two wide-open windows on either side of the room behind him. The white transparent curtains fluttered as the wind breezed.

`It’s dark outside. Don’t tell me I’ve passed out for more than 10 hours.` Zachariel narrowed his eyes.

He could not believe the fact that he slowly lost strength when Amelia beat him on the ground.

`What happened back there anyway? Don’t tell me it’s that thing again.` Zachariel guessed.

`Whatever, let’s get out of here.`

He stood up and was about to leave the room when the door on the right opened.

Zachariel looked over and saw Victoria walking inside.

`Why is she here?`

Meanwhile, Victoria sighed a relief after seeing Zachariel wide awake.

`Thankfully, he’s alright.`

A confused Zachariel stood frozen at his spot while staring at her. `What’s with her sigh?`

Victoria’s heart fluttered at the sight of this.

`Why is he looking at me? Can’t he look outside instead?`

Victoria calmed herself and closed the door.

“Victoria, where are the others?” Zachariel asked.

His question saddened Victoria.

`He didn’t ask whether I’m fine or not after Amelia struck me earlier.`

Her sudden mood shifting stupefied Zachariel.

“Victoria, what’s wrong? Why are you sad all of a sudden?” He wondered.

Victoria snorted. `Who knows?!`

“Nothing. If you’re looking for Amelia and the rest, they’re here in the Imperium Ward. Amelia is still unconscious while the others are currently being interrogated at the other side of the Imperium Ward.” Victoria replied.

“What about you? Were you already interrogated?”

“Yes.”

“Is that so?”, Zachariel put his hands in his pockets, “Did I pass out that long?”

“No, not really that long. The people said that only an hour has passed when the incident at the Mage Guild building occurred.”

“An hour? Then what’s with the dark outside?” Zachariel pointed at the window.

Victoria understood the puzzlement in Zachariel’s words. She too, could not believe it at first.

She smiled before explaining to him.

“They say it’s because of an event called blackout, Zachariel. When a blackout occurs, Solus’s and Lune’s light would vanish for a few days, weeks. Worse, even for months, or years. Some said that it is equivalent to eternal darkness.”

“That long?”

“Yes. Now, as for why I’m here, it’s to see you, Zachariel.” Victoria replied.

“To see me?”

`What does this girl want with me?` Zachariel was intrigued.

In his eyes, Victoria was a very mysterious girl ever since he interacted with her a few days ago.

“You should already know about it, right? Whenever I touch you, I…”

A shout cut off what Victoria was about to say.

“Rargh!”

“Victoria, watch out!”

Zachariel reacted fast by grabbing her towards him and reached for the door.

‘Boom!’

The wall was broken. Dust and smoke filled the room while bits of wall pieces flew around.

He opened the door and closed it right after he got out.

`This place is under attack by something. There should be guards and other people nearby…`

The doors on the other rooms opened and saw Zachariel and Victoria were in the hallway.

“What’s going on? Is someone attacking here?”

“Yes…” Zachariel replied when suddenly, the door was blown.

He grabbed Victoria with his left hand and pushed her away. He then punched the door with his other hand, blowing it into pieces.

Meanwhile, Victoria sat down on the ground, looking at Zachariel, `What just happened? Why did he push me-, eh?`

She saw the door frame left without a door. `He saved me?`, Victoria gulped.

Who knows what would’ve happened if Zachariel didn’t push her away?

“Little kids, you should get out of here now.” A rough womanly voice resounded behind her. Victoria turned her head around and saw a medium-built woman equipped with golden armor and a winged helmet.

Her fierce brown eyes stared at Victoria with care.

The captain’s other guards charged inside, blocking the exits to prevent the wraith from going anywhere else.

“Captain Assha, we’ve secured the perimeter.” A guard reported.

His syphyl armor was draped in a silver half-cape, different from the other guards.

“Good work, Lieutenant Arfet.” Captain Assha acknowledged.

The people in the adjacent rooms were worried about what was happening.

“Ma’ams and Sirs, please get out of this area right now. We’ll deal with what’s happening here.” Captain Assha assured.

They all nodded and orderly evacuated.

“Kids, over here!” She shouted at Zachariel.

Zachariel grabbed Victoria by the hand and was about to go over when he sensed a strong hostility directed towards him coming from the room.

A wraith quickly jumped out of the room and launched at him with wide-open arms, wanting to catch Zachariel off-guard.

`What the hell is this?`

Zachariel narrowed his eyes. He kicked the wraith in its head, smashing it towards the wall.

‘Boom!’

It cracked the wall.

The Imperium guards were stunned.

`This kid, what strong physical strength!` Captain Assha complimented Zachariel. The wall was reinforced but Zachariel still managed to crack it.

It was a very impressive feat.

However, she noticed the wraith sneakily twisting its arms to attack him.

“Captain, he’s in danger, we should move!” Lieutenant Arfet reminded.

Captain Assha was about to make a move when saw Zachariel blocking the sneak attack with his right arm.

He then grabbed it and threw the wraith towards Captain Assha.

`Chance!`

Captain Assha unsheathed her sword and layered it with light mana essence. She bent her knee and thrusted upwards.

`Piercing Wave!`

The wraith was thrown to the ceiling, cracking it on the process. It shook the entire hallway, though the lights remained steady despite all that was happening.

Captain Assha observed the result of her attack.

`Is it incapacitated?`

Her attack hit the chest of the wraith earlier. However, the wraith, flatly lying on the ceiling, suddenly twisted its entire body and crawled towards Zachariel’s location.

`It’s ignoring us?` Captain Assha realized.

`I thought these ghosts would become aggressive towards their attackers. Guess this one’s a little special.`

Her attack was way more lethal than Zachariel’s but the wraith ignored her.

“You’re not going away!” She shouted while jumping in between the wraith and Zachariel before launching another attack.

However, the wraith easily dodged it.

`Oh no, it’s coming for that boy!`

“All of you, protect that little kid! Draw that ghost’s attention! That thing’s going for him!” She hastily ordered.

The guards moved into position, covering Zachariel and Victoria.

Zachariel had long realized that this ghost is one of those wraiths he had seen from his dream the other day.

`So it’s true. This thing will be looking for me and kill me again. Where’d they come from anyway? Is that crazy woman still alive after all these years?` Zachariel wondered.

`Let’s take this outside.`

Zachariel grabbed Victoria before going back to his room and then went outside.

Lieutenant Arfet noticed Zachariel’s movement.

“Hmm? Where’s that kid going?” He narrowed his eyes, “Eh?”

He saw the wraith going after Zachariel.

“Shit, it’s locked onto the student! It’s ignoring us!” Captain Arfet exclaimed.

The guards also went after Zachariel when they noticed the wraith’s unusual behavior.

`Damn it, even these elite guards can’t keep up!` Lieutenant Arfet cursed the damn wraiths. They were too fast for those who were not platinum-level or speed-based fighters.

Zachariel ran outside the building and searched for an empty area. He didn’t notice the blushing on Victoria’s face.

The naïve little girl fantasized about such things when she was small. Now that it happened, it embarrassed her, and wanted to leap out of his arms.

However, Zachariel’s grip on her was too strong.

`For some reason, it’s not that dark outside.` He could clearly see everything as if Solus’s light was there.

His red eyes now had a small tinge of green in them that would alternately appear and disappear.

Victoria was mesmerized by it, `This sight, why do I feel like I’ve seen it before?`

`His strong arms, and smooth white skin. I feel secured.`

Zachariel continued running, forgetting about her.

He then looked to the sides and stopped after noticing a map.

`I’m currently at the north-eastern side of the Imperium ward, at the back of the large U-shaped building and in between the other two buildings on each side.` Zachariel immediately pinpointed his location.

`The Imperium Barracks is far east, north-west of here is a large empty area. Hmm, what to do?` He was confused.

He could go to the Imperium Barracks and have the stronger people take care of the wraith for him. However, there was the possible risk of the wraith ignoring him and attacking the other people on the way there.

On the other hand, if he goes to the large empty area, there might be other wraiths nearby and set himself up for bigger trouble.

`Let’s go to the large empty area instead. If the wraiths are a current problem in the city, and the guards realized they’re swarming over here, the strong fighters should arrive soon to deal with it.` Zachariel concluded.

He assumed that the wraiths must have a way to communicate with each other. Moreover, he could spread his aura from the empty area and draw in all the wraiths in the city.

If their hatred of him was that genuine and strong, they wouldn’t hesitate to charge towards the Imperium Ward and deal with him after sensing his aura.

“You damn ghost, stop right there!”

He heard a woman’s shout on his left. He looked at it and saw the wraith being contained by the Imperium guards.

`Still following me, huh?!`

“Victoria, cling tightly to me.” He told her.

The girl did as he said so.

Zachariel ran towards the northwest and casted propulsion on himself to accelerate his speed. He wanted to deal against those wraiths as fast as possible.

Captain Assha on the other hand, was bothered about Zachariel’s ridiculous speed.

`That student must be a Prospect candidate. I haven’t seen him before, and there’s absolutely no way any ordinary student could have such speed.`

“Captain, the ghost’s running away again!” Lieutenant Arfet shouted.

“Get in front of it! We’ll hinder its movements as many times as possible! I’ve already sent a group of guards earlier to call for reinforcements!”

“Yes, ma’am!” Lieutenant Arfet acknowledged her command.

He blocked the wraith and shoved it back with his greatsword.

The wraith stopped and seemed to be standing still.

`Is it annoyed now?` Lieutenant Arfet observed.

The other guards stopped and surrounded it.

“Grrr…!” The wraith growled in an ethereal voice.

It suddenly held its head and bellowed to the skies. “Kill hiiiim!!!”

The shout reverberated throughout the entire city. Everyone was shocked about it.

On all parts of the city, the wraiths and their minions rushed towards the Imperium Ward. The ground shook, like a wave of demon beasts charging for an attack.

“Shit, they’re all going to the central part of the city. Everyone, go over there and be as fast as you can!” A scarlet-armored person ordered. She had the disposition of a general and her fit armor exhibited her body’s curves.

She carried a septum polearm on her left hand and a scarlet-colored cape on her back. Engraved on it was the Imperium’s insignia.

“General Astrid, should we go there too?” A captain guard asked.

“Of course, you idiot! You want to go to the Imperium Dungeon instead?!” General Astrid retorted.

She sternly looked at the captain guard who just asked her the retarded question.

The guards gulped when they heard her answer. They immediately raced against the wraiths, ignoring them on the way.

“Hmph!” General Astrid snorted. She knelt and jumped with great force.

Once in the air, she flighted and looked below.

The wraiths were surging to one particular area.

`The Imperium Ward?` She narrowed her eyes.

`Propulsion!`

She went to the Imperium Ward’s direction and arrived in a flash.

`They’re going to the backside. What’s going on?` General Astrid observed the situation first. Making a move to a public area with many people on it would be detrimental to her image.

She might collapse the entire three buildings and inflict further collateral damage.

`A bunch of Imperium guards is stationed here, but the swarm of those ghosts is ignoring all of them. Where are they going anyway?`

She noticed one specific figure running to a large empty area on the backside of the Imperium Ward.

`Who’s that and why are they outside? Don’t they know it’s dangerous right now?`

There was a blackout, and the wraiths weren’t easy to deal with.

`I’ll check it out.` She vanished in the air.

…

On the ground.

After hearing the shout, Zachariel twitched in bemusement, `To think I’ve overestimated their way of communication.`

“Hrmp…” A low groan resounded on his chest.

It was Victoria. She tightly held her head.

“Victoria, you look unwell. Did that shout bothered you?” Zachariel asked.

“No, I’m okay. It’s just that, that shout, it feels too familiar to me.” Victoria softly spoke. Tears formed in her eyes.

`Familiar? Don’t tell me…` Zachariel made a bold assumption, `I’ll verify it later. For now, let’s take care of her.`

Zachariel knelt and put her down on the ground.

“You must be in a lot of pain, right?” Zachariel worried.

Victoria was shocked about his question, `How does he know about this?`

Her teary eyes looked at Zachariel, `Those red eyes, how warm are they. It’s beautiful.`

She wanted to say something but was interrupted when someone appeared in front of them.

“Hey, kids, what’re you doing out here?”