Rosalyn Aelia Scarlet was standing in front of him and he was there, on his knees, barely catching his breath. Activating the circle took almost one third of his blood and since he had been using blood related magic, he only had a bit more than half of the total volume.
Still, he immediately began using spirit magic, turning his eyes green and increasing his healing capacity along with mana regeneration. Under normal conditions, that is, without summoning Astraea and Hygeia, he could only use one magic at a time due to their opposing nature.
"What exactly are you?" asked Rosalyn, standing there with her straight long luscious black hair that became wavy reaching her belly before terminating a little below that point, complemented the reddish-black one piece she was wearing. Her deep red eyes, over a bright white face, looked at Zero with a piercing gaze as she asked that question.
"You look young! Is that your real look?" Zero asked as he observed her slim-fit body that looked no more than 20 contrasting to the features which he saw within that dimension. Even in the previous timeline, her real face remained unknown to him, as she had always kept her disguise, even during her final moments.
"Yeah, all thanks to you. I should not be using this face. Aelia Laurentz is long dead. Do you know what would happen if people saw this face?! Do you have any idea what would happen if someone from the Sol empire happens to see this face?!!!" She shouted at Zero in a hushed voice as she got closer to him and gazed deeply into his eyes.
"Well… it's been a long time, so they might have forgotten you? Plus, can't you just change into something else?" Zero asked as he observed her with a confused expression as he sat down on the roof and Aelia shook her head as she spoke with a dejected voice,"as if it's that easy."
She then sighs before sitting down as well and speaking,"Well… I have about one more minute, so I'll brief you with whatever I can. First, no, I can't change into something or someone else with your pathetic amount of mana. Second, how come, in the name of the Blood God, you ended up defeating me despite being this weak?!" she spoke as she finally noticed the power difference.
"Anyway. Third, the Sol empire is a pain in the ass. Even if centuries pass, people still search for the lost ones unless they are pronounced dead. Even back then we had pictures of some missing people who were long lost, some for over centuries, guess the reason yourself until we meet again," She spoke as she began vanishing with her 2 fingers raised at Zero, signifying that she could only stay outside for 2 minutes with the amount of blood energy she gets from Zero.
'Looks like I need to get stronger, faster. I wonder how I can utilise Aelia in my plans,' thought Zero before vanishing from there as if he never existed.
...
-Click
The door opens and a couple of exhausted women enter inside the hideout of Lucia Scarlet.
"You guys are back? Did you finish whatever urgent work you had?" spoke Annabeth as she looked at Lucia, who looked quite frustrated but she forcefully smiled as she replied to Anna,"it is finished." Before she went into her room.
-BANG!!
A loud sound of the door closing was heard making everyone look in the direction of Lucia's room before Annabeth turned to Cristine, who was also making an awkward expression before she apologised and headed to her room.
Cristine, who went inside her room, saw Eliza sitting there against the window as she sipped some hot chocolate. Hearing the footsteps of Cristine, Eliza turned to her as she spoke with a slightly worried tone,"so? What happened?"
The fact Lucia now knows that Cristine knows about Reaper and she had hidden it from Lucia wasn't something she could just put under the rock and forget about it. The fact that, even now she can't speak anything about Zero because of the contract, was making things even harder for her.
-Sigh
A deep sigh was heard from Cristine before she began speaking,"Sir William helped me out. 'Haha! A mana contract, huh? That's just like that kid. Did he promise to save you or someone close to you as well!! Hahahaha, that look tells everything hahahaha!!' is what he said when he saw me silent and not answering Lucia's question."
Eliza looked at Cristine acting like Sir William and turned silent before she put the hot chocolate on the railing of the window and then…
"Pfffft….hahahahahahahaha!!!" Eliza began laughing, looking at her sister as she spoke,"Once more, sis! Hahahaaha! That was too good!! Hahahahahaha…" she laughed as she looked at her sister before even Cristine began laughing along with her as she looked at Eliza.
After a few moments of laughter, Eliza then turned at Cristine, wiping her tears as she spoke,"So what happened to Lucia?" Lucia didn't look like she was in a happy mood given how she slammed her door.
"Ah! That…" an awkward smile forms on her face as she recalls the conversation between Zero and Lucia on her smartphone. Lucia wanted to say thank you for returning the Amulet but Zero didn't really let her say anything before he abruptly cut off the call after giving her a warning.
"Zero kind of ticked her off," she spoke and Eliza looked at Cristine with a bit of an amazed look before she sighed as she recalled what kind of person Zero was, at least whatever she could figure out from that one meeting.
"How is the baby?" asked Cristine, changing the topic. She trusted her sister to fulfill the job with utmost care and her being carefree here, must mean that the job was done.
"She is at the district hospital receiving A-Grade care. I got a message from Zero an hour ago that I could leave her be and he will take care of her from there onwards so I followed along," Eliza spoke as she pondered over something and then threw her body on the bed before asking Cristine again,"Hey sis! Can I ask you a question?"
"Hmmm… sure go ahead," Cristine replies as she sits on the bed beside Eliza as she caresses Eliza's hair, half knowing what the question was. In fact, she was thinking about the exact same thing.
"What kind of person do you think he is?" asked Eliza as she closed her eyes and then began falling into a deep slumber slowly and slowly.
"Mysterious. I don't know whether he is good or bad, or perhaps both… but he does whatever he wants to without caring about the others. He has a certain charm about him... that screams that he can get a solution for any problem… at least that is what my conjecture is," spoke Cristine as she stood up and then walked up to the wardrobe taking out her sleeping clothes.
"Mhmhh.." a voice was heard from Eliza before she fell asleep in the position in which she was lying and Cristine smiled a bit as she changed and then helped the sleeping Eliza into a proper position.
Downstairs, Annabeth was also caressing the unconscious Elizabeth's hair as she looked at the footage of the 'Reaper' slashing down the men and also the video of the child being thrown into the dustbin.
Though Reaper was massacring people left and right, but because of what those men in that organisation did, she couldn't help but be satisfied with what Reaper was doing. Her mind also darted back to what happened in Lake Bryxton, where this guy saved her and her sister.
'Just what kind of person are you? And what are you trying to achieve?' Anna asked as she looked at the blurred picture of Reaper over and over. He was far more scary than the demon himself, yet he was their saviour.
She was scared of him, yet she couldn't help but wonder how she would react if they met again. Will she freak out? Will she be glad? Oh! Wait, will she even get the chance to meet him in the first place? Now that she thinks about it once again… why did he save her and Elizabeth? For what purpose?
Deep in her thoughts, Annabeth soon drifts to sleep and falls asleep before she knows it.
......…
"I guess, the mission is done here," Lucia spoke with a serious voice inside her room on a call and a voice came from the other side on the phone.
-That is… a bit unexpected. Interesting! Reaper was it? Interesting… So what are your plans from now on? Will you return or is there something you want to do? You still have a couple of years left in that place.
"I would like to go to the Arcadia Academy along with the rest of my team.
-Any specific reasons?
"Reaper will probably be there"
-Is that so? Well, then I can't say no to it, can I? Try to see if you can poach him to our side while you are at it. That is all for today. Click.
The phone call cuts and Lucia sighs before she takes her dress off and then moves into the bed as she sleeps with an exhausted mind.
'I wonder… if this gamble is worth it?' she thought before closing her eyes and falling into a deep slumber.
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