As soon as Levina heard the deep voice behind her, she spun midair, clutched the handle of her katana, and unsheathed it, parrying the sword of a man that seemed to be a robot...
Levina scowled and jumped far from the attacker. She stared at it, noticing the metallic physique it had.
"It's an advanced robot!" prompted Professor Evans. "You need to cut its limbs to make it stop. A simple slash won't work against that."
"What is this thing doing here in the first place?" Levina whispered, tightening her grip on her weapon.
"I'll try to find the one who's controlling that. Be careful!" Professor William jumped from branch to branch, but another humanized robot blocked his way.
Professor Evans drew his weapon and dealt with his opponent. "What the hell is going on? Isn't this thing from Nexon Arms?"
Nexon Arms is the most advanced weaponry in their country, Mythralis. It was owned by the Frost clan where Blaze Nicholas Frost is from.
Levina advanced on the robot, trying to cut its limbs, but the latter's speed was inhibiting her from doing so. She had noticed the logo of Nexon Arms etched on its right arm which made her furrow her brows. She landed on the ground, the sole of her boots leaving footprints on the soil.
"Nexon Arms? Hey, we're from Mysthic Academy. Stop attacking us. We're not enemies." She took a few steps back when the robot didn't drop its weapon. "Something's wrong."
"I don't care where you're from. Die!" The robot held the sword with both of its hands, advancing toward Levina at the speed of light.
Levina's eyes widened as she made her electric ability coat her katana, parrying its attack. The impact made her wince, but she didn't let it have its way to defeat her.
'Something's wrong. The Nexon Arms wouldn't attack us. Are they possessed?' She thought, still parrying the robot's attack.
With her free hand, she gathered her electricity on her palm and pushed it onto the midsection of her opponent.
"Fuck!" It said and jumped away from her.
Levina scanned the whole appearance of the robot, searching for the source of the sound. 'This one is probably being controlled by the syndicate. They managed to steal it from Nexon.' She thought, her eyes never leaving her opponent.
Wordlessly, she sprinted behind its opponent and slashed its left arm, making it fall to the ground. The robot immediately gazed behind and retaliated, but Levina had managed to hold his arm and electrified his whole body.
The robot screamed, making the birds in the forest fly away from the branches and creating horrified noise.
Levina removed her hand from it, letting it drop on the floor. She wondered why it screamed, knowing that it couldn't feel any pain. The controller must be mocking her. She knelt beside it, leaning her ear to hear what the robot was murmuring.
"You're strong, but it's not enough to defeat us. You still have a long way to go—"
"Are you the ones who took away the children? Where are they?" She cut it off, pointing the sharp tip of her katana at its neck.
The robot laughed. "You can't find us. You'll die first before—"
Levina cut the robot's head off, cutting its sentence. She snatched the speaker from its mouth and broke it in her hands. Whoever the person is behind this robot, they don't plan to reveal themselves, so she already finished it off. However, due to its answer, she had confirmed that this robot was being controlled by the syndicate that took the children.
"All of that just to get nothing," She hissed, sheathing her katana behind her back. Now they don't have any choice but to search the whole western part. They need to find the children as soon as possible to prevent the citizens living in this area from getting involved and also to prevent the children from getting harmed by the syndicate.
She shifted her gaze to Professor Evans who was still fighting the robot. Her electricity traveled to her palms as she jumped onto the branches, attacking Professor Evans's opponent from behind. She stabbed it using her bare hands covered with electricity and withdrew them as the robot fell on the thick branch.
"They were being controlled by the syndicate. However, I'm wondering how they fell on their hands," Levina explained, gazing alternately at her professor and the robot.
"Did you find anything that would help us to locate the children?" Professor Evans sheathed his sword.
"Unfortunately, no. So we need to search for them since they already know we're coming after them. Also, Professor, if you don't mind, please contact the headmaster and tell him that we need more back-up as soon as possible. We'd better rescue the children before sunset."
"Alright." Professor Evans opened the hologram from his wristwatch, contacting the headmaster.
"Let's split up and search every abandoned house," Levina proposed and was about to leave, but the professor spoke.
"Be careful. We don't know how many of those bastards are lurking around. Notify me immediately once you find them." Professor Evans gave the code for his watch hologram to Levina before they parted ways to start their search.
Levina turned off her wristwatch, making the hologram disintegrate into thin air. She gritted her teeth while jumping from branch to branch, pondering the possible danger the children might be facing. She won't forgive the syndicate if they try to harm the children.
'Fuck this! Just what the hell are our town's security doing? They let a syndicate enter our town!' She thought, halting. Her gaze trailed down to a two-story abandoned house.
Cautiously, she jumped off the tree, approaching the house stealthily. She clutched the handle of her katana behind, preparing herself to fight. She peeked into the window, seeing nothing but old furniture. She didn't see anything inside, so she proceeded to the door, turning the knob, but it was locked.
She cursed under her breath, kicking the door forcefully to open it. The door plunged open, slamming against the wooden wall.
She kept moving cautiously, unsheathing her katana to prepare herself. She immediately hid behind a cabinet when she heard footsteps from the stairs.
As soon as she saw the man in a black hoodie, she immediately launched towards him, pointing the tip of her katana at his neck and slamming him against the wall.
The man panicked, raising his hands in defeat. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't do anything! Please, don't kill me."
"Where did you hide the children?" she questioned coldly, but her eyes were fierce enough to scare the man.
"Ch-children? I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about. My wife and I don't have any children," the man replied as his wife climbed down the stairs, seeing the two.
Mortified, Levina backed away, sheathing her katana. She gazed alternately at the two, bowing her head. "I'm sorry. I must have mistaken you. I'll pay for the broken door. I'm sorry." She immediately sprinted out of the house, jumping to the branches.
Levina cursed under her breath for mistaking the house for being abandoned due to its almost ruined walls and old furniture. She halted on the tree, running her fingers through her hair. She calmed herself before continuing her travel.
Since the western part of their town was a forest before, there are only a few houses around, which is why the syndicate probably chose this place to hide. The Mayor took away all the ferocious animals from this place and incarcerated them in an animal zoo located in the central part. Only a few animals are left here, mostly the birds.
Levina hastened her pace. She needs to find the children as soon as possible before they change their hideout.
A scream made her halt. She gazed at her 4 o'clock where the scream came from. Hurriedly, she sprinted towards that area, seeing a massive hideout that seemed to be a storage room. There's a big van in front and three men in black cloaks.
Wordlessly, Levina approached the place, peeking through the window. She witnessed the children inside, crying and squirming against the four men in cloaks who were trying to pull them. She turned on the hologram from her watch, telling Professor Evans that she had found the children and shared her location.
Levina jumped through the empty window, gathering her electricity on her palm. She pointed it at one of the men's backs before shooting it.
"Voltpiercer," she whispered as the sharp electricity pierced through his body, blood spurting out.
The three other men were alerted as Levina drew her katana, launching her attack on the others. The three summoned their weapon, pointing their swords towards her.
The children panicked and ran away from them. They hugged each other and covered their ears, begging them to stop.
Levina slashed the bodies of the two men, but the other one managed to get away. The man raised his middle finger before running out and hopped into the van along with the three men guarding the place.
As they left, Levina immediately went to the kids. "You're safe now. We'll just wait for the back-up." She scanned the faces of the children and noticed that the woman wasn't with them.
"Please, save Miss Kaia."
***