Chapter 11

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"A level three outbreak?" Ben startled.

"I beg your pardon?" Zero's picture also appeared in a corner, following the conversation on his PDA.

"What does that mean?" Asagi asked and Zane looked around questioningly.

"Akuryuma ...", the sweat ran from his forehead.

"What?!" Zane almost panicked. "Where are they from?"

"I don't know, Shelter ordered an immediate evacuation," Tyler explained, seemingly swiping through reports that surfaced in his ATBS.

"We only saw Infected in the hospital." Zero tried to understand the situation.

"The leadership has received reports about the Akuryuma and therefore consents the evacuation," Tyler quoted.

"Did you see any, Tyler?" Asked Ben, who already saw the sign pointing to the academy in the distance.

"No, my group was entrusted with securing the civilians. Anyway, hurry up and come to the academy. We don't know how long Shelter can hold the Akuryuma back."

"OK, Tyler... we're almost there." Ben looked at the street in front of him.

"OK, see you then, I have to get going," Tyler said goodbye while it appeared to be blinking everywhere in his cockpit.

"See you." Zane said goodbye and Tyler's picture disappeared. Only Zero's image remained on the screen, which seemed to be pondering.

"Don't worry," Zane began when everyone in the car was quiet. "Shelter can handle it."

Asagi nodded confidently while Carol looked out the window sadly. Zane looked back at the Shelter ship when Ben broke the silence.

"I guess we arrived..."

A huge crowd had gathered in the street in front of them and the Academy buildings could already be seen in the distance. Barriers had been put up around the academy to prevent uncontrolled access, but it still seemed chaotic. The people crowded the few entrances; Adults, children, humans, elves, and other races, of which only a few existed in Halsion.

Ben slowly approached the barrier, several buses were waiting in line in front of them, which were also waiting to be admitted. A soldier approached the truck. He began to examine the car while Zero pulled the hood over Sora. After a quick check, he directed them to report directly to the evacuation coordinator and they joined the bus line.

"What do we do now?" Nathan asked, when a bit of relaxation had returned to everyone inside the car. They had the evacuation point in mind, they could already see some of the smaller ships taking off, but the problem they had hidden on the loading area remained.

It was clear to everyone what Nathan was pointing to, but nobody dared to say anything because nobody knew how they could succeed or what Zero was up to.

"The Aku and the Infected." Ben addressed it a indifferently while he glared at the rearview mirror.

"Their names are Sora and Deadra," Carol reported to Ben, who didn't answer.

Zero had already told Ben about the children and the Aku, but it always ended in an argument, so at some point, Zero stopped mentioning the Infected in front of Ben.

The car moved slowly in line as more and more people flocked to the academy. In the distance, large ships could be seen taking off from the second evacuation point at the bridgehead, while the sounds of battle grew slowly but steadily louder.

"Can't we ...", Zane began when a loud bang could be heard in the distance.

The soldiers immediately began to calm the troubled crowd, while Zero stood up to look from the elevated position in the direction of the noise.

"They blew up the bridge?" They suddenly heard Zero say in amazement.

"What?" Zane stuck his torso out the window in disbelief to see something. Carol stuck her head out of the window too, but both only saw the clouds of smoke rising into the sky.

"I can't see anything..." Carol complained.

"They want to buy us time..." Nathan reported, wiping through his PDA.

"How do you know?" Zane asked, who sat down again.

"There is already a report online, and the chats are full of it too."

"Looks bad if they even have to blow up the bridge ...", Ben leaned on the steering wheel and watched as the buses were led through the lock one by one.

Meanwhile, Zero sat in the loading area and considered how he could handle the situation. How could he manage to take Sora and Deadra with him?

But as hard as he tried, he couldn't come up with a solution.

His plan was to smuggle Sora and Deadra into a ship while still on the truck. The scanners would not be used due to the sheer number of refugees.

But what would come next? No matter where they were taken, it would no longer be like in Halsion where he would get scolded and everything would be fine. At the latest on entry, they would be discovered and Zero's plan would be exposed.

Zero shuddered at the thought of what could happen if the two were discovered.

Sora looked at Zero worriedly, whose forehead was furrowed.

"Everything OK, Zero?" She asked carefully, wrapped in his sweater.

"It's all good." He stroked her head. "It will be alright…"

As hard as it was, Zane and the others were right.

Thoughts raced through his head, should he leave them here after all? Maybe they would be safer here? The Akuryuma wouldn't attack them, or would they? What would happen to the city? Worst case, they could bomb it to the ground.

Suddenly the sound of the starting engine ripped Zero from his thoughts.

A patrolling soldier hit the truck lightly and signaled Ben that he could pass through now. The truck accelerated slowly as Zero passed the soldiers and greeted them with a nod.

"This easily?" Zane wondered when they were let through without a word.

"Tyler probably handled it for us," said Ben as he looked around the square.

The large square was full of people who had been divided into groups and accompanied by a soldier. The buses were lined up with other vehicles in another corner.

They all waited for the evacuation instructions.

There were soldiers, tanks, and ATBS everywhere keeping order. Smaller transport ships stood in the square and the sports facilities were also occupied by ships that took off one after the other before a new one took its place.

Hovercrafts and jets patrolled the airspace across the island as the transports headed for the cruiser that had positioned itself over half of the academy.

While Zane and the others were relieved to have passed the barrier, panic seemed to spread in the crowd in front of them. The fear of being left behind was increased by the explosion at the bridge and people crowded at the barricade.

"You're all going to come through, don't panic." One of the soldiers tried to calm them down as they continued to let the people through one by one.

"I'm going to the academy for a minute." Zane got out.

"Wait, I'll come with you." Nathan got out too. "I'll borrow a bag, Zero." He took an empty bag from the loading area.

"Me too!" Followed Carol.

"Carol wait!" Zero tried to stop her worriedly.

"I'll be right back!" She jumped ahead.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of her." Zane grinned and followed her.

"Hurry up!" Ben called after them, who got out and closed the door behind him.

Asagi had gotten out as well, while Ben had his back to Zero.

"And what happens now?"

Zero knew exactly what Ben was talking about. This question had haunted him since they left the bar.

"I don't know ...", Zero looked up into the sky, while Sora sat in front of him on the loading area and played with Sound.

"Hmmm...", Ben replied without turning around when some men called for him. "I'll be right back." Said Ben and waved to them.

"Everything OK Zero?" Asagi asked while they watched Ben go to the people.

"Everything's fine, thank you."

"If I can help you in any way..." she began hesitantly.

"Thanks, Asagi." Zero turned to her and smiled.

Asagi also began to smile when an explosion suddenly shook the place. Panic broke out immediately while Asagi and Zero looked for the source of the explosion. Part of the academy was on fire. It seemed like something exploded inside.

"Carol!" Zero jumped off the truck bed.

But before he could go towards the academy, someone in the crowd screamed.

"An Akuryuma!"

Immediately he turned in the direction of the voice and saw a blonde girl standing in the crowd, her index finger pointed at Zero's truck.

"The angel..."

At the same time inside the academy.

"Carol wait a minute!" Zane ran after her as she hurried to the lockers.

The lockers were in the side rooms that ran parallel to the entrance area.

"What are you looking for anyway?" Nathan asked, who was already standing by his locker. Many lockers were open, some were completely empty, while others were still locked.

"I just want to make sure we don't forget anything." She cleared the locker, but not just her own. Shortly afterward, she opened Asagi's and Zero's locker as well.

"Do you have everything?" Nathan came over to Zane with the bag around his shoulder.

"Yes." He put the few things he had found in the bag that Nathan was holding up for him.

"Me too!" Carol walked to the two of them, arms full of various things from books to clothes.

"Did you take literally everything with you?" Zane wondered how she could even carry the stuff.

"Do you really need all of this?" Nathan asked while Carol stuffed the things in the bag.

Her hands stopped briefly at Nathan's words before she replied with some delay:

"Of course..."

Nathan and Zane eyed each other; they both knew that Carol had simply taken everything she found when suddenly a voice sounded from the hallway.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" A soldier was standing in the hallway with a few others, apparently, they had searched the academy for civilians and were now patrolling the building.

One of the soldiers pointed his rifle at the three. "Can you identify yourself?"

A zipping sound could be heard when Carol closed the bag.

"Of course." Nathan handed the bag to Zane and slowly pulled out his PDA. One of the soldiers walked a few steps closer and examined Nathan's ID, which appeared on the PDA.

The soldier waved his hand, and the other soldier lowered his rifle.

"You took the exam today, right?"

"Right!" Zane replied.

"I saw it on the net, you had good fights." The first soldier began.

"Thank you!" Zane was happy and Nathan also nodded his thanks when the second soldier's PDA vibrated.

"They are already evacuating the next ship. You should hurry up."

"Thank you, we will." Zane said goodbye while Carol waved.

Just as they stepped into the corridor something exploded further back in the building, causing the ceiling to shake. Immediately they heard panic break out outside.

"What was that?" The second soldier turned in the direction of the explosion and looked at the stairwell that was directly in front of them.

"You again?!" Zane was startled when he saw Kouji running up the stairs, his eyes were full of suspicion.

"There you are."

"What do you want again? Haven't you had enough yet?" Zane asked angrily.

"Who is this?" The second soldier wondered.

"He's on the list! He belongs to the Teikoku!" Realized the first soldier. The news that Kouji was a spy had already spread on the Alliance network and all soldiers had been informed.

"You're annoying!" Kouji raised his hand without warning.

A huge explosion shattered the academy's glass front. The shards of glass flew in all directions as two shadows flew out of the explosion.

One shadow was Nathan, the other Zane, who was holding Carol in his arms with the bag still hanging around his shoulder.

For a moment Zane looked down, the square was almost swept empty. Most of the civilians had left it abruptly when the first explosion occurred. Only Zero was still standing with his new sword in between the truck and a few soldiers who had their rifles pointed at him while other soldiers rushed to the academy.

Nathan and Zane landed when Zero was already yelling: "Are you all right?"

"Nothing happened to us!" Zane replied, letting go of Carol.

"What's going on here?" Nathan asked, who saw the soldiers in front of Zero. But the question was redundant when he saw Sora and Deadra hiding behind the truck.

"My cover was blown..."

"You won't get any further anyway!" Nathan suddenly heard Kouji speak.

"Something's coming!" Nathan warned everyone as several magical projectiles shot out of the wall of smoke that had formed in front of the academy.

Nathan fired water at the approaching projectiles while Zane stood protectively in front of Carol.

The spells collided and the resulting explosion shrouded the square in fog. But before the fog could clear, someone rushed towards Nathan.

As the fog was just clearing from Nathan's field of vision, he saw the werewolf approaching. The werewolf's fist hit Nathan with full force, whose shield immediately began to break before being thrown several meters away.

"Nathan!" Zane shouted worriedly before he hit an abandoned bus.

"Teikoku troops are at the academy! I repeat, Teikoku troops!" Reported a soldier, while the few ATBS in the distance were already making their way to the scene.

The soldiers present pointed their rifles at Ethan, who seemed visibly exhausted.

"Kouji?" Zero was startled when he stepped out of the smoky entrance area.

Some soldiers pointed their rifles at him uncertainly as Kouji hissed: "Ariane!"

Ariane took off her cloak and spread her wings behind her. She stretched out her hands in which glowing magical circles appeared.

The next moment a wall made of light rose around the square in front of the academy.

"A barrier?" Zane saw it erecting.

"Stop them!" Shouted one of the soldiers.

The soldiers fired at the growing barrier and at Ariane. Zane was also about to cast a spell, even some ATBS fired at Ariane from a distance. But most of the bullets ricocheted off her shield or the barrier. Only the bullets from the ATBS seemed to hit Ariane's shield, whose face was sweaty from the fight. It seemed Ariane would not be able to complete the spell, but the next moment a tremor shook the ground and tore furrows in the concrete of the square.

The soldiers stopped firing while some even fell when the barrier closed around them in the next moment and locked them all inside a dome of light.

The ATBS were locked out and only a few soldiers who had previously stood with Zero were within the barrier, straightening up again and looking for a target for their rifles.

The thud of the bullets hitting the outside of the barrier could be heard.

"Stand still!" A soldier aimed at Kouji, who was coming down the stairs to the academy.

"Take them down!" Kouji said in a commanding tone as Ariane and Ethan were already taking action. Ariane fired beams of light at the soldiers while Ethan ran in an arc towards Zero and the truck.

"Carol go to the truck." Zane put the bag in her hand and pointed her in the direction of the vehicle.

The rays hit the soldiers as Ethan ran between them towards Zero.

"Damn it!" Zero slowly raised the huge sword and tried to strike at Ethan, who was getting closer and closer.

With a pull Zero managed to set the blade in motion, the pain racing through his body. The sword cut horizontally through the air towards Ethan's chest, who was already close to Zero.

But at the last moment, Ethan ducked under the blade, and it swept over him.

Ethan was now standing directly in front of Zero, his fist ready to hit him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kouji asked angrily when a small circle, barely bigger than a thumb, appeared in the air in front of Carol. There was a bang and Carol was thrown back by the explosion and fell to the floor holding the bag tightly.

"Carol!" Zane yelled in concern. But she straightened up again and looked worriedly at Zero, who was about to be hit by Ethan.

"Zero!" She screamed and Zane also looked at Zero.

The fist reached Zero, who tried to pull back his blade. I can't do it! Zero prepared for the impact. But suddenly he was thrown back by something else and not just him alone. A shock wave separated the two.

"Water?!" Ethan saw his hand slide into a ball of liquid, which in the next moment puffed up and threw him back.

Zero was thrown back a few meters and tried to catch himself without success. His battered body no longer wanted to obey him when something caught him.

"Deadra!" Zero recognized it, who had gone to Zero at lightning speed.

Ethan, however, did a somersault and landed near Ariane, who had gone up in the air.

"I'm still here you know!" Ethan looked in the direction of the voice to see Nathan stretching his hand in Zero's direction.

"Zero, are you okay?" Carol shouted relieved, while Asagi and Sora looked at him worriedly.

"Thank you, Deadra!" Zero said and straightened up again. The pain shot through his body as he tried to support himself on his sword, which suddenly gave way. Surprisingly, the sword had bored a few inches into the concrete of the square without Zero having felt any resistance.

What kind of sword is that?

Most of the soldiers were injured, or their rifles were unusable or destroyed by the rays of light. Only a few were still ready to fight and fired at Ariane, who began to cast a new spell.

The spell triggered and beams of light flew towards both Zero and Nathan, who was trying to engage Ethan in a fight.

But before the rays could reach the two, lightning struck and destroyed the rays with a bang that rushed over the combat area.

"Well done Asagi!" Nathan shouted to her while he had to catch the next blow from Ethan with his wall of water. Zero nodded thankfully to Asagi, who immediately directed her gaze back to Ariane.

"Stinking demon!" She hissed and charged another spell while the few soldiers shot her with their weapons.

Angrily Zane turned to Kouji. "What do you actually want from us!" But Kouji had disappeared. Zane's gaze wandered when he saw Kouji hunched over.

"You're bothering me!" He smashed his hand into the pit of Zane's stomach and triggered a spell.

Is he insane? Even with his shield, that's too close! Zane thought before the spell triggered which made him fly around with a huge bang. He rushed just past the pickup truck before crashing into one of the concrete walls that had been erected by Ethan's earlier attack.

""Zane"" shouted Nathan and Zero, who only saw him disappear in a cloud of dust.

Another scream rang out and the two turned in its direction. It was Carol. Kouji had grabbed her and was holding her arms behind her back.

"Come here!"

"Let go of me!" Tears welled up in her eyes.

Shocked everyone looked at Carol, Zero could hardly stand on his feet, when they saw Ariane sink to the floor.

Ariane sat there, out of breath, sweat running down her forehead. Ethan looked at her worriedly and took a step back from Nathan, who had kept him in check with his masses of water, which he seemed to be pulling out of a broken water pipe.

"You are useless...", Kouji hissed and grabbed his right wrist.

Suddenly a lamp in the collar around Ariane's neck glowed red and in the next instant she doubled over on the floor, her face contorted with pain.

"You bastard!" Shouted Zero while Asagi watched in horror as Ariane suffered.

Ethan looked at Ariane worriedly when Nathan fired a stream of water at him. Ethan dodged skillfully and jumped back. He made several jumps just to land by Ariane. Ethan knelt next to Ariane and took her in his arms, still turning in pain.

"Sir...", he looked at Kouji.

"Come here." Kouji hissed as the light on Ariane's collar turned green again and she began to gasp for air.

Ethan grabbed Ariane and jumped next to Kouji before putting her down as she was still a little wobbly on her feet.

"We have what we need." Kouji looked around. Nathan had sunk to one knee, exhausted. Sora had run to Deadra and Zero, who was struggling to support himself on his sword.

"Let go of her!" Shouted Zero, Sora looking worried.

"Zero…"

"Let Carol go!" Asagi shouted angrily and for a brief moment the air around her began to crackle and small lightning bolts hissed in the air.

Ariane and Ethan seemed to flinch briefly when Kouji brought them to their senses. "Grab them..."

"And you will come along now!" Kouji said in a threatening tone, while Ariane and Ethan raised their hands to form magical circles.

Damn the seal! Asagi noticed that her magic had greatly diminished when the two spells activated. A wave of soil and a beam of white light shot towards Asagi, who tried to protect herself with her hands.

"Asagi!" Zero tried to help her when the circles lit up. Blood rose from Zero's bandages and left a trail behind him as he tried to reach Asagi with his sword.

The spells raced towards Asagi when, out of nowhere, a wall of ice built up in front of her as the spells clashed against it.

"Have you already forgotten about me?!" Zane appeared next to Asagi while the wall of ice collapsed. He had some blood in the corner of his mouth, but otherwise, he seemed unharmed. He too felt exhausted after the long day.

"Zane!" Asagi looked at him with relief.

"You still exist?!" Kouji cursed.

"Thanks, Zane, I was too slow..." Zero appeared next to them, who seemed to be breathing hard and was already oozing blood from a shoe unnoticed by anyone.

"No problem! We're a team!" Zane gave him a thumbs up.

Zero grinned and Asagi also began to smile briefly when Zero continued: "What do we do now?" He tried to keep a clear head.

"I don't have much magic left..."

"I can't go on long either..."

The two looked around and saw how the barrier seemed to be easing slowly. The shots from outside the barrier became clearer and clearer.

"Can you manage another attack?" Zane asked Zero, who straightened up.

"It should be enough for one more."

"I can help!" Asagi interrupted.

"Thanks, can you distract them?" Zane asked her. "Nathan will also support us..." Zane mused on.

"So you can be serious too." Zero grinned twistedly and confused Zane for a moment.

"Uhm yes... of course! Are you ready?" Zane asked.

"Let's go!" Zero confirmed.

"Zero, you..." Asagi objected as she saw the bandages soaked in blood hanging out from under Zero's shirt.

He just gave her a nod.

That damn… Kouji cursed, looking for a way out. He had gotten what he was here for. Now all he had to do was bring Carol to his father, as he had ordered. He didn't know the details, only that it would help the family's standing and influence.

This was his third and last attempt, the most dangerous but also the most successful.

But how could he escape? The barrier had locked out the soldiers and enabled him to overpower Zane and the others who were already weakened. But now he was locked inside the barrier too.

Should he have run away as soon as he had Carol? Was he too greedy?

Ariane was no longer useful, and Ethan was also on the verge of his strength. He cursed them both. Why had he received such weak slaves?

Then the academy occurred to him as his way out. If he retreated there, he should be able to escape. At least the escape routes led beneath half the city, he just had to find an exit from where he could be picked up. But with Carol in tow, it would be a great effort. He had to make sure that she wouldn't fight back if he wanted to leave.

However, before he could finish his thoughts and wanted to give the order to retreat, Zane and Zero suddenly rushed towards him.

"Buy me some time!" Kouji roared in panic. Ethan began to move, and Ariane tried to do something too.

Ethan was the first to reach them. Immediately he made a blow that was supposed to shake the ground when he saw a jet of water shooting towards him in the corner of his eye.

The jet of water caught Ethan, who, in midair and with his limited magic, could no longer avoid it. The spell caught Ethan, hurled him out of Zane and Zero's path, and threw him against the shield.

"I can't do more than that..." Nathan gasped and held his chest. "Good luck!"

Zane and Zero kept walking towards Kouji, the distance getting smaller and smaller.

"Do something!" He yelled at Ariane, who, with sweat on her forehead, formed a magical circle between her hands.

Just like earlier, a beam of light shot out of the circle while Ariane fell on her knees in exhaustion, the last of her strength used up. The beam was heading for Zane and Zero when lightning flashed past them. The lightning collided with the beam of light and a pressure wave of magical energy blew across the square.

"You can do it, Zero..." Asagi looked straight on worriedly and ran her hand over the seal on her back before clenching her fist.

Zane and Zero continued to head for Kouji, who lost his composure completely. He pushed Carol aside, who fell to the ground, and raised his left hand for a spell. Magical energy flowed through his glove and a spell formed in front of his palm instantly.

"Tir!" He shouted as the spell was released and shot towards the two of them.

In anticipation, Zane shot down an ice pillar simultaneously. The spells collided before exploding with a bang and spreading mist of water vapor.

"Go Zero!" Zane yelled over the explosion.

At the same time, the barrier began to dissolve and descend exactly as it had built before.

Zero used one of the concrete pieces that had been set up and jumped into the air, his sword over his head.

Kouji only saw him through the fog as a blur as his glove started to glow again.

"TIRRRR!" Kouji roared and frantically fired his spell as Zero waved his sword.

The Tir spell had just left the circle when Zero's sword went down on him and Kouji. The sword split the Tir spell, which exploded without developing its full power. Zero groaned from the shock wave, but his sword had lost none of its drive and went further down on Kouji.

The sword reached Kouji's still outstretched arm, slipped through the magical glove, and split it.

"ARGH!" Kouji cried out in pain, sweat covering his face. The blood spurted out of his arm, which had been cut until just under the elbow.

It was a miracle that it was still holding together, let alone that only Kouji's forearm was hit. Zero's angle had saved Kouji's life, in whom the anger rose.

Kouji withdrew his arm and took the pistol he was carrying in his left hand.

"You damned…!" He aimed at Zero as best he could with a hateful face while the adrenaline suppressed the pain.

The shield lowered completely, revealing the battlefield. The soldiers stormed it when shots could be heard.

""""Zero!"""" Everyone screamed as Kouji emptied half his magazine.

Asagi held her hands in front of her face, horrified, Carol and Sora burst into tears, and Nathan could only watch from a distance how Zero slowly collapsed. Ben as well as Tyler, who was trudging through the barrier with his ATBS, recognized Zero in the distance.

Zane, who was closest, saw Zero grasp his chest twisting in pain.

He collapsed. Three of the four bullets hit him. One hit his left hip, another hit his lower chest, and the third hit his right shoulder.

Ariane and Ethan had straightened up again and immediately rushed to Kouji to pull him back before the soldiers could arrive.

"Sir! We have to get out of here!" Ethan tried to get Kouji to leave.

"Zero!" Carol screamed again while everyone rushed to him, who was propping himself up with his sword, coughing up blood.

The soldiers who rushed over immediately fired at Kouji and the two Mytics, who dragged the former back to the academy.

Fights broke out in the sky above the city. The news that Kouji had attacked the evacuation was omnipresent.

The square was swept empty. There were only a few ships left for the rest of the civilians to evacuate.

Zane immediately cast a spell on Zero attempting to freeze and stop the bleeding when suddenly something shot out of the ground near the academy. Huge chunks of soil and reinforced concrete flew through the air as something that had broken through the ground landed in the middle of the square.

Carol threw herself in front of Zero protectively, while everyone else tried to protect themselves from the concrete pieces that were thrown through the area by the impact.

A cloud of dust had formed over the square and a metallic roar could be heard as a gust of wind cleared the view of the square.

The beast from the hospital had arrived at the academy.