Chapter 214 214:Confrontation Among Friends
The moment students were out of the Tower, they were immediately sent for a check-up.
Some students were still in an unconscious state and were immediately shifted to the emergency ward in the infirmary.
The entire infirmary was filled with commotion as immediate treatments were carried out on everyone. Everyone was made to go through a check-up, to eliminate the possibility of hidden injuries that might be left behind if not treated properly.
Walking through the fray of crowds, Jenny pushed the students aside. Her noble status helped her to make her way through the crowds frolicking at the door of the infirmary as if there was a good show happening inside.
"Step aside." Jenny pushed her way with brute force and the moment she stepped in, she shouted.
"Student, don't make noise!'' A nurse reprimanded her but ignoring her, Jenny ignoring her asked coldly.
"Where is Ezekiel?"
"Ezekiel…?" A frown appeared on everyone's face.
Seeing no replies, Jenny frowned.
"Where did he go? Is he alright?"
The entire corridor became silent followed by Jenny's shouts as they were also taken by surprise seeing such a reaction.
A bad premonition suddenly welled up inside her heart.
"Why isn't anyone replying? What happened to him?"
"Is…..h..he badly injured?" Jenny's voice started to shutter and a trace of panic flashed over her face.
Even though she was at 4-Star, she wasn't able to clear the second trial and wanted to hide in embarrassment but seeing David backstabbing Ezekiel, she hurried her way here to check on Ezekiel.
Getting no answer, she made her way to one of her friends and asked with a threatening tone.
"Tell me the truth, where is Ezekiel?"
"That...That..."The girl named Laura stammered in her speech and averted her gaze.
She knew that Ezekiel and Jenny had recently confessed their love for one another.
In such a situation, she wasn't able to summon the courage to tell her the truth.
"Laura, tell me."
Laura noticed Jenny's eyes trembling with uneasiness.
"Laura, please." Jenny lowered her status and bowed her head, shocking Laura who had never thought that she would witness such a sight.
"He...He is dead." Laura replied, closing her eyes.
It was such a brutal kill that not even his ashes were left behind.
Jenny's eyes enlarged and her body shivered as Laura's words exploded like thunder in her ears.
"You are joking, aren't you?" Jenny's voice became colder.
"No, Jenny, it's the truth, you have to accept it. Everyone here has witnessed the scene."
Jenny glanced around and found other students giving her a fearful look.
"No...it can't be. Ezekiel....how can he..." Jenny's mind became cloudy and she stumbled across her feet.
"Jenny....hold yourself!" Laura shouted and held Jenny whose body quivered.
"Liar, you are all liars. How can someone die in a trial?! Stop lying!!" Jenny screamed.
"It's true, Jenny. Along with Ezekiel, several others died. You have to accept it even if it is hard." Some muttered seeing Jenny denying the truth.
Sheldon, who heard the commotion from outside, immediately rushed in and tried to appease Jenny who was about to explode.
"Jenny, calm down for a moment."
Drops of tears trickled down her face, unable to believe what had just transpired.
Jenny burst into tears as her heart suffocated with melancholy.
Her body fell to the ground, the warmth of life stolen by hearing Ezekiel's embrace of death.The impact of her limp, lifeless body was synced with the wails of her friends, who were watching closely, hoping for a different outcome. Many sprinted over, forgetting the fatigue in their swaying legs from the ongoing battle, desperate to find any remaining flickers of life, but were met with cold silence.
Few others around tried to calm her down but seeing the situation out of hand, Angelo who was supervising things hurried his way immediately and cast a soothing spell that made Jenny sleep.
"Take her to the ward. Her state of mind is not right. Also, contact her parents. These are the things that are beyond what we can handle."
A few meters from the place where this commotion broke out…
An orange-haired girl sat down with desolate eyes with a pale expression as if she had undergone a nightmare.
"Monica, what happened to you? Why does your expression look so bad?"
Rose and Helena, who just finished the check-up, were about to leave when they saw a dark gloomy aura surrounding Monica as she sat with a pale lifeless expression.
Monica, with a stoic expression, raised her chin to find Helena and Rose glancing at her with worry.
The moment she looked at them like a dam bursting out due to its inability to hold the water, drops of tears started oozing out from her eyes.
"MONICA!"
Helena and Rose were taken by surprise seeing the despair in Monica's eyes. They stepped forward and hugged her asking what happened.
Monica closed her face with her palms unable to hold back her tears.
"Safrina's death…It wouldn't have happened if I tried to reach out to her. Even if she pushed me away after the kidnapping incident, I should have been there for her instead of turning away from her. I should have tried to hold her if she tried to run away from us. It's my fault. All of this is my fault. I turned my back on her when she needed a friend the most. It was me who pushed her to the brink of despair." Monica shivered in melancholy.
"And then Humphrey...His situation isn't optimistic."
"What? Why?" Rose asked in bewilderment.
"Wasn't he alright?" Helena murmured with a series of broken voices.
"I...I injured him."
"How did this happen?" Rose asked with worry as she wiped the tears from Monica's eyes.
"When I was caught in an illusion, I attacked him. I don't know why but that dummy didn't evade and the spell almost killed him."
Rose and Helena stared at each other with a confused gaze.
"Isn't it just an injury? Even if you injure him badly, wouldn't he be alright with a potion or you can ask the priest for help?"
"That isn't it."Monica cried out, shaking her head.
"They are saying that his mind had been affected for some reason. There might be a soul injury."
"Soul injury…" Rose murmured in disbelief. "How did your attack lead to a soul injury?" Rose asked wearily.
"Do you remember the thing we saw before we were knocked out? I suppose it had something to do with that."
A painful memory of a colossal bloody monster flashed before Rose and Helena's eyes, remembering which their bodies shivered in fright and their legs buckled up.
Their faces became pale as just a single image of them being terrorized frightened them to that extent.
"That means..." Helena didn't voice out her thoughts but she got the gist of it.
It seems Humphrey, after getting attacked, has seen that figure who might have attacked Humphrey's consciousness leading to such a disaster.
"Monica, don't worry. Let's hope for the best." Rose tried to assure Monica.
"Yes, don't lose hope." Helena added.
.....
At a far corner of the infirmary, with a wet white towel wrapped around his head, Lucas' eyes scanned to and fro with a hollow look while a doctor was checking on him.
His eyes went over the mess that was the result of the Omen and Dark Force joint venture.
Initially, thousands of people who came to watch the tournament should have died while the students would have been safe except for some grieving injuries but now instead of that…
Fewer people might have died outside while many students died in the Tower. And out of those who managed to survive, their mental condition wasn't as good as they might have suffered the trauma of witnessing Abacharu.
Roan was also one of them who hadn't woken up yet.
If Future Lucas hadn't made a move things might have become way worse however to simply believe he didn't pull strings behind, he would be an idiot to believe this.
'The second trial. It seems when Tower scanned my soul, Future Lucas must have interfered. That means I have to take Frederick's words in that scene seriously.' Lucas murmured clenching his fist as he went through all the things he had witnessed.
Before leaving, Future Lucas gave him memories of some behind-the-scenes moments. The memories were still messy and hard to put together but with time, the memories would be clear.
How much of that was true, he didn't know and he was still in a dilemma whether to trust the things that transpired.
However, there was one clear memory and it was about Issac which he felt couldn't be fake cause he could see deep emotions on that bastard's face when he gave this memory.
Lucas's heart started burning in rage as he witnessed Issac's nefarious deeds. It may look as if that guy was madly in love with Julian but in truth, he needed Julian to overcome their bloodline ability weakness. For him, Julian was nothing but a tool and a toy that he needed badly.
In his hunt for conquest, he exceeded the limits of depravity.
'I want to kill him but it's not the time. I am not that strong nor do I have a backing. On top of that, I need to divert someone's attention.'
Lucas shivered as soon as he remembered the face of that guy.
Azrail is the mastermind and expert manipulator behind the scenes that made all of this happen. A true psycho among the group of Omen members.
If he can come up with a countermeasure to their countermeasures then he might be already close ro discerning the identity of the informer.
Being a trusted subordinate of Julain, it was sure that Lucas was on his radar. It might take a while before he draws his suspicion on him but he can't wait for that.
Because once that guy learns about him, he will trap him from all sides without any leeway.
'I am weak. Too weak. I am neither a man with a high IQ nor am I a good strategist or a good manipulator. I failed to differentiate and predict things, but it's all right. All I need to do is learn and try my best to grow.'.Lucas assured himself.
'First, I need to turn his attention. While doing so, I should also get that key for that thing.'
Thinking things through, Lucas decided to leave Horizon. He needed to go for a hunt now so that he didn't miss the opportunity.
"Hey, why are standing all of a sudden.''
Lucas, who was about to get up, was startled to see a man in a white coat drawing blood from his shoulder while on the other side, Angelo was preparing to cast a spell on him.
'It seems I zoned out when they were treating me.'
"Umm…Why are you drawing my blood?" Lucas asked.
"It's because you have blood clots all over your body. Your insides are a mess and your bones are filled with cracks. Your heart seemed to be tweaking. Your condition is quite weird and it's surprising how you are behaving as if nothing happened." Angelo murmured and bathed Lucas in warm light.
Lucas closed his eyes and enjoyed the warm sensation but suddenly he held his gut and choked. Out of nowhere an urge to vomit assaulted him.
"Vomit it out." The doctor beside him put a bucket, in which Lucas puked, unable to hold it in.
Dark red blood with pieces of broken internal organs, emerged from Lucas making him cringe.
'Damn that guy! He made my body a mess as it was unable to handle the power he drew with that overload reverse mana technique.'
"You will be alright. Rest for now." Angelo muttered and then he along with the doctor left to treat other patients under Lucas's surprised gaze.
It was one of the few moments where Lucas found Angelo not screaming profanities as he treated everyone.
"Hey son of a bitch, stop shouting here and get your ass out of here!" Angelo screamed at a group.
"I take my words back. Some things never change."
Lucas felt his body lighten up and refreshed after emptying things out. He slumped down on the seat and wiped his face with a wet white towel.
TAP!TAP!TAP!TAP
Lucas didn't look at familiar footsteps rather he just watched them walking toward him coldly.
"Man, just what shit did you eat to dump such a thing. I didn't know your stomach could hold so much garbage."Parth snickered.
"I am not in a mood to joke."
"Stop joking." Charles reprimanded Parth.
"How is Roan?"Lucas asked.
"Still unconscious." Frederick answered, shaking his head.
Lucas then turned toward Charles,"Is Tiffany alright?"
Charles flinched back a bit and then replied with an embarrassed expression,"She got some minor injury, nothing more."
"Hehe, bro is on his way to steal a girl."Parth hit an elbow nudging Charles.
"What about you? You may look fine but your body was severely damaged." Frederick asked with a frown.
His tone carried a hint of curiosity as if trying to find out about the incident of Lucas's odd behavior before passing out.
"Hey, Frederick, tell me something." Lucas nudged his body and intertwined his fingers with a solemn expression.
He raised his face and his golden eyes shining like a beast locked onto Frederick's eyes which started to lose their calmness.
"Tell me Frederick, do you think all of us are your friends?"
Frederick's expression faltered for a moment.
"Yeah, I do, but what type of question is…."
"Parth, if your friend is in trouble, what should you do?" Lucas asked, cutting off Frederick's speech.
Parth scratched his cheek and asked innocently,"Of course, I would help him. Isn't it obvious?"
"Charles?" Lucas then looked at Charles.
"I will also do the same."
Lucas smiled and then stared at Frederick for a moment.
The brief silence started to hunt them.
"So, Frederick, since you consider us as your friend. Tell me, why didn't you step up when all of our lives were in danger? "
"Even if you have a trump card you just stay still and act as if you can't do anything while hiding near the safe zone." Lucas spoke calmly but his voice became colder and each word of his stabbed Frederick, prickling his guilty conscience.
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