Arteria, Volume 1. Eden Arc

Chapter Eighteen

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“Why is everyone silent?” the peach-haired woman with a smile asked before walking towards our direction with her head tilted to the side, before asking: “Ann, it has been a long time! I just arrived from England, how have you been?”

 

I frowned my eyes in confusion, not only me, but Alina had visible confusion in her eyes, she was different, in speech and aura; it was almost like the last time we met was only a fleeting nightmare, her voice also sounded more high-pitched.

 

“What do you mean a long time, we met a few days ago…” I said with a glare as she tilted her head to the side before frowning her eyebrows as she responded, “There is no way, you have met me a few days ago! I went back to England a few weeks before, and only came back now!”

 

Out of the blue, a bright blue wind flew past us, followed by the loud slam of the door as I turned my attention from the original source of the wind, and saw Alina was gone from her seat along with Kayla, fearing something might happen, I stood up and ran out of the room.

 

Reaching the hallway within a second, I looked to my side and saw Kayla pinned down to the wall by Alina, who was glaring nuclear towards her with crystal sharp shards flying around her, the shards were made out of condensed water.

 

“Who are you?” Alina asked as the shards flew near Kayla’s neck, they were pointed towards her; the killing intent of the shards were as clear as the moon at night, in response, Kayla stuttered while asking, “Are you blind?! I am Kayla, of course!”

 

“Talk, who are you?” Alina questioned once more as I took a step forward before several of the shards disappeared in front of my eyes, instinctively, I held out a hand towards their direction, casting a counter spell within a millisecond before the sound of metal hitting the ground echoed throughout the hallway.

 

“Alina, calm down!” I shouted before Alina looked in my direction while releasing Kayla as she limply fell to the ground, the entire situation was weird, and at the same time, confusing, “Dear, why did you stop me?”

 

“How many times should I tell you to not dirty your hands? Also, I can tell from her look, what she said was genuine,” I responded before she walked towards my direction with confusion, “I don’t want to go into conclusions, but I think we met an impersonator of her.”

 

“What do you mean impersonator?! There should be no one like me!” Kayla refuted while breathing heavily as I shook my head, “There is no other explanation right now, let’s keep the grudges away for now, Alina.”

 

‘Here I thought my heart had strengthened itself, changed and gave up every feeling I had for her… how naïve am I?’ I told myself before walking towards Kayla, and lending a hand out towards her, “I’ll explain everything later, for now, let’s head back inside before the others come.”

 

“Who needs your explanation?!” she rebutted while slapping my hand away as she stood up herself, dusting her dress before walking back inside before turning our direction and asking, “Are you two coming or not?”

 

Her actions were exactly that of the Kayla I knew in the past, but I still don’t understand… who was the Kayla we met at the mall…? My instincts shouldn’t be wrong, the one we met at the mall should be her as well, her smell was the same.

 

The more I think about it, the more questions pop inside my mind; there were more matters to handle, the RSA, the unknown organization Hollow and the Lion of the Northern Continent, Federal Union, it could be either one of them.

 

“You can head first,” I responded before she let out a Hmph, closing the door as I leaned on the wall with Alina, who was looking at me, “Alina, would you believe me if I say, a spell that can control one’s mind exists?”

 

Immediately after I asked, Alina’s eyes widen as she replied with a surprised tone, “You must be joking right? It has already been proven by scientists, and theorists that mana cannot be used to control a human’s mind because the soul lies there.”

 

“Their research, etc. are of course true, there is no denying their research results, but there is a way for mana to penetrate through the mana, but it requires several dozens of human sacrifices; according to what I heard from the higher intel, such evil magic exists.”

 

“Imperium is the name of the spell, its’ origin dates back to the early days of magic, and its creator is believed to be the founder of the Hollow terrorist organization, a wicked man whose greed surpasses any persons,” I said with a sigh.

 

“Are you saying, Kayla was targeted by such spell? Even so, why would they even bother targeting her out of all the people?” she asked with a shivering voice before I looked up at the ceiling and replied.

 

“Among all the people who are close to me, who is the weakest in emotional and power aspect?” I looked at Alina and asked as she turned silent for a few seconds before replying, “Kayla… should be the weakest among the two.”

 

“That is right, but this is all my speculation, it seems like one of the organizations have found out about my identity in the military, and sees me as a threat; even a simple search on the internet would tell you about my childhood past, and my relationships.”

 

“Think about it, other than you, since you are the strongest among those aspects, who would be the best candidate to use against me?” I asked her once more before she turned completely silent as I shook my head.

 

“It’s all my speculation for now, but it’s best we be cautious; for now, act normal,” I instructed before she nodded silently as we entered back inside the room where the others were eating while discussing among themselves.

 

Sitting back on our seat, I took up my spoon and knife and sliced up a piece of the pizza on the table, placed it on my plate as I sliced a bite piece of the pizza and eating it as the hot, and creamy cheese melted inside my mouth, followed by the delicious toppings of the pizza that made it grandeur.

 

“This pizza is delicious, how did you make it, May?” I asked before May looked at me and smiled, “I made it using my special recipe, of course, and with the help of Yui!”

 

“The two of you have been fairly close these days, huh? How did you two even become close, like who initiated it?” I inquired before Yui turned into a tomato as May looked at her and winked, “It was her who kept coming here every day.”

 

“It was only because the food was great here, and cheap!” Yui rebutted as May chuckled, “I must thank the seraphs for allowing me to sell my food cheap then.”

 

“Whatever!” Yui shouted as we looked at them with smiles, their relationship was better than I expected, even healthier than most couples during their early stages.

 

After taking a few more bites on my pizza, all of a sudden, the hem of my dress was pulled causing me to be surprised as I looked down and saw Hikari pulling on my dress while looking at me with drowsy eyes, “Are you sleepy, already?”

 

In response, Hikari nodded before holding out both of her hands towards me as I picked her up from the ground, and patted her back as Kayla, who was sitting on the other side asked in a curious tone, “Who is that child, by the way?”

 

“Oh, her? I guess you wouldn’t know Hikari yet, she is a child both Little Ann and Little Alina adopted a few days ago… isn’t she adorable?” Sister Kathlyn responded as Kayla nodded, “She strangely looks like Ann though…”

 

“That is true, I wouldn’t even believe she was adopted if I wasn’t there that day,” Sister Kathlyn said before the others nodded, “She resembles Ann a lot in many aspects, even her aura is too similar to hers.”

 

Soon after, the rest of them continued spitting out complements towards Hikari, who had fallen asleep on my shoulders, and after two hours later, we were finally out from the restaurant, inside the car as we drove on the highway at lightning speeds with a car filled with five satisfied people.