Chapter 165: Chapter 165 - Public Riots
By the time morning came, the entire country had descended into chaos.
Theo found himself in front of the window again, watching the streets below as the first rays of sunshine spread over them.
Dark circles had appeared under his eyes, barely having gotten a wink of sleep.
Practically the entire night, loud shouts, sirens, and countless other noises had echoed out every second.
Even now, the tensions down there were obvious.
’How... did things spiral this badly within a single night?’
Dozens, if not hundreds, of people stood lined up in front of police barricades.
Everywhere he looked, cars had been overturned, fires had been started, buildings had been vandalized...
His expression only darkened as he saw several insane signs being proudly raised.
And somehow, that was still better than looking online.
Every social media platform there had practically been turned into a battlefield overnight.
Especially after websites containing even more corrupt videos had been released by the Calamity Covenant.
Theo let out a deep sigh as he finally turned away from the window.
’That woman,’ he thought. ’Her plan succeeded perfectly.’
’The entire country has been torn apart within a single night.’
That’s when a knock echoed from the door behind him.
’’Come in,’’ he said, turning to it.
Only a moment later, both Lyra and Iris stepped into his room.
Their expressions were pale, especially as they looked outside. Even so, there wasn’t anything other than seriousness on their faces.
’’Did either of you sleep last night?’’ he asked, shaking his head faintly.
Lyra let out a dry laugh.
’’With all that nonsense outside?’’ she muttered. ’’Not a chance.’’
Iris remained silent for a moment.
Then she pulled up her phone slightly.
’’It’s going to get much worse,’’ she said without a hint of hesitation in her voice.
Theo raised an eyebrow and leaned down slightly.
But as he saw the titles on the screen, his eyes went wide.
’’Hunter murders... civilians?’’
Iris nodded, tapping on a video segment immediately.
An unfamiliar terrain popped up instantly, surrounded by countless crazed protesters.
’’This is outside Halcyon Institute,’’ she said as it continued playing. ’’Seems like one of the students couldn’t control themselves.’’
Theo kept staring at the screen.
The one filming the incident had pushed himself to the front at the police barricades, which only blocked them from getting into the school.
But as seconds passed, a red-circled figure appeared.
He tried to push himself to the very front, but only seconds later, his hood was torn off, revealing his school uniform.
Even from just the video, Theo could clearly feel how everything turned.
The protesters turned to the boy in an instant, each pulling, kicking, or outright punching him.
’Oh shit,’ he thought, shaking his head lightly.
Within seconds, a bright flame lit up around the boy.
Blood-curling screams rang out as several protesters lit up in flames.
Finally, the video cut off.
For a moment, the apartment remained silent.
Then Theo let out a deep sigh as he glanced up at the ceiling.
’’Yeah...’’ he muttered. ’’This is fucked.’’
Public trust in hunters had already reached the bottom of the barrel.
But with incidents like this...
And it was very clear that many more cases like this were going to continue happening too.
’I wonder how many will die...’ he thought bitterly.
It didn’t even matter whether those incidents were right or wrong anymore.
With public madness like this, all it took was a tiny spark for things to spiral even further out of control.
That’s when his own phone suddenly began buzzing.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he pulled it out.
’’Hold on,’’ he said, putting up his free hand. ’’I’m getting a call from my instructor.’’
The other two nodded and took a few steps back.
Theo quickly picked up his phone.
’’Morning,’’ he said quietly.
A familiar cold sigh echoed out from the other side of the call.
’’I assume you’ve seen the situation outside already,’’ she said.
’’Hard to miss it, really.’’
For a moment, silence echoed through the call.
Then Elise spoke again.
’’Westridge is moving all students from second grade and below onto campus temporarily,’’ she said calmly. ’’The university board believes it’ll be safer than leaving everyone spread across the city.’’
Theo’s eyes widened slightly.
It was indeed the perfect solution for both student safety and the school’s reputation.
’’Transportation convoys are already being sent out,’’ Elise continued. ’’You’ll be escorted directly to the campus. Stay inside until they arrive.’’
Theo blinked once.
But the phone had already disconnected.
For a moment, he remained silent.
Then he glanced at the two girls.
’’Grab your stuff,’’ he said. ’’We’re moving on campus.’’
Their expressions shifted slightly.
Within seconds, both had wandered off to their temporary rooms and started gathering their stuff.
After a few minutes, each of them stood ready at the door with everything.
’’Be careful,’’ his mom said, giving Theo a light hug.
’’Will do,’’ he said quietly.
His father ruffled his hair once and nodded.
As Theo pulled back, he cleared his throat lightly.
’’Make sure you also don’t tell anyone we’re family,’’ he said. ’’You never know what people will do.’’
His parents nodded once.
Just like that, Theo locked the door behind him.
As they made their way down the staircase in normal clothes, Iris lightly pulled on his shirt.
’’What’s up?’’ he asked, turning around.
She showed her phone immediately, her expression having gone ghostly white.
The moment Theo saw the several news titles, his heart began pounding heavily too.
[National tragedy: hunter goes berserk during riot and slaughters over a thousand people.]
[Entire protest zone eradicated by single platinum core hunter!]
[Platinum hunter goes wild and slaughters thousands, claiming civilians need to be grateful.]
’’Oh...’’
Theo couldn’t help but stop for a moment.
’’Shit.’’
His stomach slowly sank as chills ran down his spine.
A platinum core hunter wasn’t some random student, they were considered part of the country’s upper military force.
’If people like that start losing control...’
Iris tapped on one of the articles.
A shaky video instantly began playing.
Within seconds, a wave of purple acidic liquid began spilling over the street.
A few other hunters from the public and police force tried to step in immediately.
Yet, there was nothing they could do.
The liquid dissolved people left and right, not even allowing them to scream.
The person holding the camera ran away as quickly as he could.
Though, through the running, his camera finally revealed a middle-aged man floating above the street with bloodshot eyes.
Even through the screen, Theo could clearly tell the man had had enough.
’’WHERE WERE ALL OF YOU WHEN THE CITY WAS GETTING SIEGED, HUH?!’’ the platinum hunter roared madly. ’’COUNTLESS DIED TO PROTECT YOUR PATHETIC LIVES, ALL FOR WHAT?!’’
Another wave of poison sludge shot from his hands.
It caught up to the cameraman in no time, cutting off the video feed.
The staircase remained completely silent.
Iris slowly lowered her phone, mixed emotions going through her face.
Meanwhile, Theo couldn’t help but stare off with an empty gaze.
’I didn’t even think about that...’
Those who had nothing to do with the corruption of the governments or the dishonesty on other battlefields.
Those who’d genuinely fought until the very end to protect people.
Not to mention those who lost family, friends, or comrades in the beast tides...
These protests dealt an unimaginable blow to them.
Theo shook his head, quickly pushing the thoughts out of his mind.
’’Come on,’’ he muttered quietly. ’’We need to keep moving so we can get to the convoy in time.’’
Neither Iris nor Lyra argued.
The three slowly continued down the staircase.
By the time they reached the apartment lobby, incredibly loud horns echoed through the streets already.
’The convoy is almost here,’ he thought, glancing outside with narrowed eyes.
They stepped over glass and slurs made with red and black paint before finally reaching the front.
The moment they stepped outside, countless eyes immediately locked onto them.
Whispers rang out around them as they were clearly evaluating whether or not they were hunters.
’’See all that stuff, they must be trying to leave.’’
’’The convoy must be for them, as always, they protect themselves first.’’
’’Fucking traitors...’’
Theo kept his expression calm.
Right now, the last thing he wanted was to provoke anyone further.
At just the right time, the convoy turned onto his street.
The loud sirens and horns echoed out loudly, ushering people away from the vehicles.
For those who didn’t, several police officers were ready to shove them aside or even arrest them if they became violent.
All around them, people immediately grew rowdy.
They began shouting and cursing them out.
Some took out their phones, clearly ridiculing them for their own gain.
Others picked up rocks from the side of the road.
As Theo, Iris, and Lyra were guided to the convoy, only one thought went through Theo’s mind.
’I wonder how long this rift will take to heal... if it ever even does.’
