Rescue and bad news

"Where the fuck is the AEC?!" Mr. Gavin roared in his mind in frustration.

Forget the AEC, even where were the local police forces??

It was like the city had no defense! 

Where had they all gone?!

For now, he couldn't think about too much because his annoying opponent was putting him under pressure.

He was now on the back foot as his opponent had now started taking the fight seriously! 

The dusk agent had conjured five lotuses made of the cyan fire which he unwittingly used as platforms to harass him from above!

The five cyan lotuses orbited a few meters above Mr. Gavin and moved constantly in a confusing manner while the agent skillfully jumped from lotus to lotus firing short bursts of cyan fire!

What made it even more dangerous was that all five lotuses were randomly firing concentrated beams of cyan fire. 

Mr. Gavin knew better than to let one of those dangerous cyan beams hit him as he had already seen how a stray beam had left scratches on the top of the hoverbus they were fighting on!

The top of the hoverbus was made out of grade two steel!

Grade two steel was one of the many alloy variations which were now in use. 

It was twice durable than normal steel and it was impervious to many magic attacks. It was only truly powerful or extremely hot powers that could leave scratches and dents on it!

Five minutes had passed since the attack and the damn government agents hadn't shown up yet! 

Mr. Gavin was truly exasperated. 

In broad daylight, a convoy of students was being attacked and not even a single police man or government agent was anywhere near!

Even the citizens in the city had long taken shelter in the comfort of their homes and deployed defensive barriers once they saw the magnitude of the ongoing battle.

Mr. Gavin cursed in frustration.

Why were they not coming?

"As if sensing his thoughts, the Dusk agent answered him.

"Don't bother about reinforcements coming anytime soon. It would take about ten minutes before they even get here. They are being held down by… a minor issue," he mocked.

"AAARGH! SHUT UP YOU BETRAYING AND CONNIVING BASTARD!" Mr. Gavin roared in fury.

"As you wish," came the mocking voice of the masked agent. 

The cyan fire lotuses doubled instantly and the pressure on Mr. Gavin increased manifold as he struggled to contain his annoying yet strong opponent!

**

High up in the skies, Richter surveyed the chaos and battle below him with a chuckle. The battle spirit of the teachers was commendable. Unfortunately, resistance was futile.

The Dusk agents were highly trained compared to these average teachers.

He watched on as one of his direct subordinates toyed with a bearded man in a green combat suit wielding a warhammer and clicked his tongue. 

"Tian Xu likes to play around too much," he shook his head wryly.

He whistled in appreciation as the Dusk agent called Tian Xu did an impressive backflip from cyan lotus to lotus and finished it off with a beautiful crescent kick which sent warhammer man flying.

"Impressive," he commented.

At that moment, a call came on his comm and he picked it up.

"How's it going on your side, Malcom?" he said leisurely as he continued to spectate the ongoing fights.

"Not as easy as yours, Richter. Change of plans. The government agents and police are on their way. They will be at your side in five minutes," replied the voice.

"What happened?" Richter asked.

"Transcendent Realm expert," came the reply.

"That bad? I guess I'll have to pull back my boys then," Richter replied.

"Do so immediately. Don't forget the kids," replied the voice.

"I sure won't," smirked Richter and he ended the call.

He then called his agents below.

"Change of plan, boys. We're pulling out. Let's get the hell out of here," Richter said and cut the line. 

Taking one last look below him, he dismissed his domain and headed west.

**

Mr. Gavin was knocked down on top of the hoverbus while the Dusk agent approached him. He hadn't expected that after all this while, the agent was still holding back.

That kick had come unexpectedly.

And it hurt like hell.

He felt as if a truck had rammed into him or something!

Who knew that the Dusk organization had agents who awoke in two paths?

Suddenly the agent stopped and pressed his index finger to his ear.

"Roger. Pulling out," he said.

He looked at Mr. Gavin. "As much as I would have loved to continue our fight, I have to leave. Enjoy your day," the agent said, giving Mr. Gavin a cheeky salute.

He then run to the side of the hoverbus and jumped off. A few seconds later, a hoverbike zoomed away from the hoverbus.

The two other Dusk agents who had come with him did the same as they too jumped on hoverbikes and headed away.

Angry at himself and heavy-hearted, Mr. Gavin powerlessly watched them leave and sighed. 

Sullen, he dissolved his warhammer and it entered his body in the form of green liquid.

He turned to look at the two teachers he had come up with. One had his right hand clasped around a wound on his abdomen which was heavily bleeding. His nanosuit was weakly trying to repair itself to cover the numerous gashes on his body.

The other was in a worse state. He lay sprawled on his belly on top of the hoverbus and was coughing blood. He had received internal injuries.

Mr. Gavin stood up and went to help the teacher with internal injuries rise. 

He tucked his neck under the man's arm and the other teacher did the same for the other. Together they limped back to the sunroof which they had come out of.

"Let's see how many of the kids are left," he muttered with a sigh. 

**

"Mr. Davis! Principal Gray! Dusk agents!" Damien yelled at the top of his lungs as he sprinted for the office block. It was so near but so far.

Surprisingly, his body was moving faster than he had expected!

"It must be the effect of my physique!" Damien thought with appreciation. Behind him, the fake agents drew ever closer.

One thing baffled him though.

Why were they not using their powers?

Was it that they needed to be close to him to use it?

  Or was it that they couldn't use it?

If so, what would deter them from using powers?

  Damien's mind thought at rapid speeds as he tried to figure out the reason the fake agents were chasing him on foot without using any powers.

Using powers would make their attempt far easier.

That was unless…

Damien grinned in his mind.

But of course!

Those two didn't want to quickly draw the attention of the principal or other teachers around! Using their powers would create a visible influx of mana in the surroundings.

The only people who could use mana in the school were the teachers and the principal. 

Naturally, if he sensed an influx of mana or the use of power, the principal will definitely check it out!

  Maybe a teacher was under attack and wanted to defend himself. The principal would sweep his Spirit sense outwards or even come down personally to check!

Again, Damien had noticed one crucial thing.

Those two chasing him were actually Advanced realm awakened!

Why did he come to that conclusion?

It was simple. Domain mages were on another level as compared to those of lower realms. They had the power to make their surroundings their own. The weakest domain mage would definitely have a domain that spanned more than a couple of hundred meters, right?

Paralyzing a measly Enlightenment realm awakened would be a piece of cake!

Fortunately, the fake agents weren't domain mages. Damien believed that if any domain mage entered the school premises, the principal would look to see who that was!

Again, they couldn't have been at the Grand realm because their mana fluctuations were a little too low!

Now that he knew these, how could he utilize it to his advantage?

Damien smirked and intentionally slowed down just a bit so it wouldn't be too noticeable. He was sure by now, the principal or Mr. Davis had heard his shouts and would come down in a few seconds. 

If he ran too fast, he would scare the fake agents off!

He had to give them hope that it was possible to catch him so they would be fully invested in the chase. Hopefully, they wouldn't be able to ran off too quickly when the principal appeared.

"I think we should pull back," said the second agent to the first.

"We can't do that! It's all or nothing. If we get him, we'll both get a promotion! Besides, look, he seems tired now. The moment we grab him, you do your thing and get us the fuck outta here," replied the first agent.

"By now they would have heard him. We have to withdraw," the second agent pleaded.

At that moment, they noticed the steps of Damien falter as he wheezed for breath and slowed down his run to a jog.

"He's out of breath! C'mon! Let's get him!" the first agent urged and increased his speed.

A grin formed on his lips as he drew closer to the boy. A look of horror was plastered on the boy's face as he frantically tried to move his aching limbs forth.

Victory was in their grasp!

Just a few meters separated them… he just had to reach out and grab him!

To his surprise, the boy smirked at him and unleashed a burst of speed!

His eyes widened in shock. How did he still have gas left in the tank?

"We have to go now!" his partner screamed but it was too late.

The imposing figure of Jeremiah Gray loomed in front of them. His aura was so potent that the fake agents were petrified with terror! 

They willed their bodies to turn around but to their fright, their bodies refused to listen to their commands and urges!

This meant that the principal had unleashed his domain!

Their fates were now sealed.

Damien walked towards the principal who looked at him with a smile.

"That was dangerous, Damien. I wouldn't recommend that you try that again," he advised with a stern look.

"Yes principal Gray. I just didn't want them to escape. I wanted them to be caught as revenge for attempting to kidnap me!" Damien declared.

"That you did, my boy," the principal chuckled.

"Do you know that what you've done has made you eligible to receive a reward? You helped catch two low level Dusk agents. The government will reward you with 30,000 credits," said the principal.

"Damien's eyes widened.

That much?

  For just baiting two idiots? 

That was a bargain!

"Don't even think of pulling such a stunt again," the principal admonished when he saw how Damien's eyes lit up.

"The next agents who come after you won't be that careless or stupid again," the principal added.

With a wave of his hand, a certain forgotten black box flew towards Damien.

"Thanks," Damien said with gratitude.

The principal nodded at him. Suddenly his brows furrowed and he looked in the direction of the school gate. 

"The real government agents are here," said the principal.

Damien huffed in annoyance. It was about time! Due to them being late, he was almost kidnapped.

"Can I demand for a compensation or something?" Damien asked.

The principal nodded.

At that moment, agent Finnick and Daniels rushed up to them. They weren't the only ones as Victor, Neo, Isabella, Dixie and Mr. Davis also rushed towards them.

"Mr. Principal! What happened here? The Dusk agents held us up!" agent Finnick said, glancing at the two frozen fakes.

"Dusk agents came after Damien. He saw through them quickly and baited them here. I believe he's eligible for a reward isn't it? Also, he needs to be compensated by the government. Your tardiness almost led to his kidnapping," said principal Gray, narrowing his eyes at Finnick.

"Yes, yes alright he will be rewarded and also be compensated accordingly. It truly isn't our fault though. 

The bulk of students from this school and other schools who went to Braithwaite got attacked by Dusk agents on the way back," Finnick said with a sigh.

Everyone's eyes widened in shock.

"How many kids were taken?" the principal asked.