Chapter 239: A CAPTIVE
Logan was quietly staring at Raphael’s battered body. After hearing everything, Logan now had a clear idea of everything.
"I don’t think he lied about anything."
The crying sphere in his hand vanished. Seeing this, Raphael’s eyes lit up. "Logan, let me go. And I promise I won’t ev....." Seeing Logan release his spell, Raphael thought he had a chance. So he tried to plead. But all his hopes were shattered in the very next moment.
Logan raised his leg and then brought it down harshly, slamming it on Raphael’s stomach with a thud.
"Blraaghhh!" Blood burst from Raphael’s mouth. His body ached in pain.
His eyes widened. But not from pain. "You shit! You destroyed my energy core?!"
Logan didn’t say anything. Grabbing Raphael’s neck, he pulled him up. "Feel lucky that I didn’t kill you. I still have some use for you."
With that, he started walking toward Alice.
Finally, the fight was over. The third eye sect, which had been relentlessly pursuing him for almost six years now, was finally taken care of. "I need to be ready. Ready for whatever is about to come. But I should inform others as well." Thought after thought kept circling in his mind as Logan walked toward his mother. And in his grasp, Raphael’s neck. He dragged him in such a manner as though Raphael were an object and not a living being.
Raphael, meanwhile, sank into despair. "I am alone on this whole planet. What should I do? Without my magic, I can’t even inform the others."
From a distance, Alice had been staring toward Logan’s direction. When she saw that the fight was finally over, she couldn’t hold herself anymore. She rushed toward Logan’s direction with teary eyes.
When Logan saw this, he brushed off his inner thoughts and spread his arms, leaving Raphael’s neck. Then he, too, rushed toward his mother.
When both came close, they fell into each other’s arms. Tears streamed from both their eyes.
"Honey, are you alright?" Alice spilled those words with her shaky voice.
"Yes, mother. What could happen to your son? I told you, I will come back safe."
Alice hugged him tighter. "You won’t leave me alone again, right? She asked while caressing his hair with affection.
"I..." Logan wanted to say he won’t but couldn’t. He knew that would be a lie. Now with all these conspiracies going on, how could he sit still at home?
"Mother, I am sorry but I will have to leave again." He freed himself from her embrace slowly and then wiped her tears. "But you saw just now, right? That I can take care of myself. I have to go but I promise. I will come back safe for sure, no matter what." He said in a firm voice.
"But why? Where do you need to go? Do you want to continue as a hunter?" Alice asked worriedly. She didn’t want to part ways with her son again.
Holding her hands, Logan said in a soft voice, "Let’s get back home first. Then we will talk about it."
Alice nodded, but her hesitation was crystal clear on her face.
After that, they both walked toward the house. Before marching ahead, Logan had picked up Raphael’s body, grabbing his neck.
"What do you plan to do with that thing?" Alice asked as she walked beside Logan. She was still terrified even by just its sight. She referred to it as a thing because she was still confused about what Raphael actually was.
"We will keep him as a prisoner, Mom. He has some crucial information that is very important for our future.
Alice didn’t say anything else. Audrey, too, hovered in the air while following them from behind.
Soon they reached the house, and Alice’s gaze fell again on the sword. She panicked a little. With a slightly trembling voice, Alice asked Logan, "Logan... that sword... how can it fly on its own?"
Logan glanced back at Audrey, then at his mother. "Mom, it’s a special sword. Nothing to be worried about."
After hearing Raphael’s words earlier, Logan had already raised his guard even against the sword as it was also not from around. But right now, he didn’t want his mother to panic. After all, even he could barely believe what was happening.
"Are you sure?" Alice asked again, her eyes still fixed nervously on the hovering blade.
"One hundred percent," Logan replied with a confident smile.
"A... Alright," Alice replied.
After that, Logan didn’t linger. Searching around the ruined house, he soon found two horses. Leading them gently, he returned to where Alice was waiting.
"Mom, can you ride a horse back? I need to carry this body." Logan pointed at Raphael’s unconscious body. From all the pain and tiredness, he had already fainted.
Alice nodded. Horse riding was second nature to all, after all, it was the primary means of travel.
But Logan still asked because he needed to be sure. He knew his mother wasn’t in the best of health.
He handed one horse’s reins to her, then hoisted Raphael’s body onto the back of the other. Alice mounted her horse with ease, and Logan swung onto his own. Audrey floated obediently into his grasp before he strapped the sword across his back once more.
Logan turned toward his mother. "Ready, Mom?"
"Yes," Alice answered firmly.
And then...
Logan tugged the reins. His horse reared with a neigh before charging forward. Alice’s horse followed close behind.
And under the veil of night, the two horses pressed on through the darkness, toward Aerundale. Toward the Smith villa.
As the rhythmic sounds of hooves echoed across the lonely road, Logan’s gaze swept over the sky. The night felt calm, yet his instincts screamed otherwise. "The Third Eye Sect may be finished here... but this is only the beginning," he told himself.
Meanwhile, at the Smith villa...
The atmosphere was suffocatingly tense. Rudeous paced back and forth, worry etched deep across his face. The other family members were also gathered in the room, the elders, Rudeous’s younger brother, Mirena, and Darius... all equally restless.
Since morning, Alice had been missing. Rudeous had sent out every man he could spare, searching in every possible direction, yet not a single trace of her had returned.
"Where is she? Did she go somewhere on her own? Or... did someone kidnap her again, like last time? But this time, the kidnappers didn’t even leave a note..." Rudeous’s head throbbed as thought after thought piled on, threatening to split his mind apart.
Just then, a guard rushed in from outside.
"A carriage... someone has arrived," he reported breathlessly.
Rudeous snapped his gaze toward him and strode forward at once. "Who?"
The guard, still panting, stammered, "I’m not sure, Master. A carriage suddenly stopped in front of the villa... seven people stepped out. I recognized three of them. One is the Guildmaster himself, the famous S-class hunter, Ali Arkman. As for the other two..."
But before he could even finish, Rudeous was already moving. The moment Ali’s name was mentioned, he dashed toward the gates without hesitation.
"At a time like this, if the Guildmaster himself has come... then he must know something."
The others followed closely behind Rudeous, stepping out into the courtyard. The moment their eyes landed on the group outside, silence spread.
At the front stood Ali Arkman, the Guildmaster himself. Beside him were Noah Starwind and Emily Starwind. Four more unfamiliar figures stood behind them, their presence sharp and imposing, though none in the Smith family recognized them.
Mirena’s eyes narrowed, suspicion flashing within them. "That damn brat... has he returned? If not, then why else would these people be here?"
Rudeous, pushing his own questions aside, quickly strode toward Ali. "Mr. Arkman, what brings you here?" he asked, his tone edged with urgency. Seven people arriving all at once, led personally by the Guildmaster of the Hunter’s Guild, there was no way this visit was anything ordinary.
Looking at the anxious faces before him, Ali Arkman felt a heavy weight settle on his chest. How was he supposed to say it? "How can I tell them... that his wife has been kidnapped, and that I allowed his son to go alone on a rescue mission?"
After Logan had rushed off to rescue Alice, Ali had remained in the mountain region with the others, waiting for his return. But Logan had said nothing about the location where he was heading. Ali had given him a communication scroll beforehand, yet he never used it.
Hours passed, and still there was no sign of the boy. With no choice left, Ali and the others decided to return to the Smith family villa. But now that they stood here, facing Rudeous and the rest, the Guildmaster found himself at a loss for words. Explaining everything... was far more difficult than facing a dungeon full of monsters.
Rudeous’s worried eyes remained fixed on Ali, searching for answers.
At last, Ali drew in a deep breath and spoke. His voice was heavy, each word weighed with guilt.
"Mr. Smith... your wife has been kidnapped. And your son... he went after her. Alone."