Powerful Opponent

Instead of feeling scared, Arden feels ashamed of himself for being abducted by a stranger. No, he actually already knew who is behind his kidnapping. Laizar. The man who had threatened his father to capture Ezra in the past.

Laizar is a powerful man. Made several connections with powerful mages, Laizar's power is comparable to an Emperor because of those connections.

And there is one more thing that Arden is worried about. He hoped that Ezra was not being reckless by saving him in person. Because Laizar would've expected that. Laizar thought Ezra is just an innocent thirteen-year-old boy who would save Arden recklessly.

He doesn't want to cause any more trouble for Ezra. He loved him too much.

"My, my. You've grown quite a lot, Arden Calderon,"

It was Laizar's underling, Chael. He held a lantern, staring down at Arden who's being chained up on the cold damp pavement. Arden could only glare at Chael. He couldn't say a single thing with the cloth stuffed in his mouth.

"It's a shame that you have to go against your late father. If you hadn't intervened, your father would still be alive, and we could have steal the power of the Coordinator," Chael pretended to crease his eyebrows, self-pitying.

"..."

Arden's heart ached. He cursed himself mentally for being weak. If he's strong enough, he could've broken free from the chains and grabbed Chael by the neck.

"... You're waiting for young master Ezra to save you, hm?" Chael asked. He crouched down to the floor, smiling eerily. "Unfortunately, lord Laizar's plan is more than that,"

"!" Arden widened his eyes.

Arden's mind is filled with questions that wouldn't get answered anytime soon. His anxiety is welling up. Arden is too naive. It's Laizar, that man is cunning. Arden frowned and Chael only smiled amusingly. He stood up from the ground and walked away.

"We'll just have to take away his little demons,"

Chael's words made the blood on Arden's face vanished.

Laizar's powerful mages; is it possible for them to steal Ezra's demons?

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I have to stay calm in a situation like this.

I was acting too hasty last night. The news is so shocking to me that I ordered Io and several demons to go save Arden. But what if it's a trap? I tried calling Io's name but he didn't appear. It's been ten hours, Io and the rest of the demons that are with him haven't returned.

I'm anxious.

Did I just make a mistake?

"Ezra?"

Julian's voice sounded distant since I'm in the middle of pondering.

"Hm?" I couldn't comprehend his words since he suddenly asked. The buzzing noise from the students started to get clearer now that I regained my focus.

"You're spacing out," Regan pointed out. His voice has a hint of concern in it. Renn is also looking at me worriedly.

That's right, we're all in class having a chat after lunch. They must be worried because I'm too quiet since I woke up. But I couldn't help myself. How can I act as if nothing happened when someone I cared about got kidnapped because of me? and then my demons who haven't returned yet. I can't send another demon to investigate. It's too suspicious.

"It's, I'm ok,"

I replied. My tone of voice is obviously improbable, even I can tell.

"We don't want to be nosy, but, we're friends now," Renn mumbled, pushing his index fingers together while glancing at me. "You can tell us anything,"

"Renn is right. It's not good to keep it all by yourself," Julian creased his eyebrows, lowering his eyes.

They're all too kind. But, I can't let them get caught in this.

I smiled reassuringly. "It's ok, I promise,"

Even though I can tell that they don't believe me, they understand anyways and pretended that I'm telling the truth. The four of us continue our simple chat about trivial things whilst waiting for the teacher.