218 Chapter 218: Tragedy (1/2)
”Shun Yin! Are you all right?”
Shin Yin raised his head and glanced up when he heard his name being called. The fog was slowly dissipating, and he spotted Glen running toward him, followed by Henry Porter and a small squad of soldiers.
”Yeah.” Shun Yin rose to his feet unsteadily. ”What about you? Where did you go?”
”He came to find me,” Henry answered in Glen's stead when the latter paused to catch his breath. ”Informed me of the attack…though we detected it a few minutes before he burst into the office. Still appreciate it, though,” he added with a pat on Glen's shoulder.
”I thought that the traitor and the Assassins might be aiming for my dad,” Glen explained breathlessly as he looked around in dismay at the massacre. Many of the students were lying on the ground, motionless and lifeless.
”Turns out that they weren't,” Henry remarked with a complicated expression, as if he wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or bitter over the loss of his students. ”Nobody attacked us.”
”Was the traitor really…Angelica?” Glen demanded as he approached Shun Yin. The latter lowered his head, not sure how to answer. He didn't have to. The moment Glen saw his crestfallen expression, he understood.
”…is that true?”
Henry's tone was urgent. Shun Yin slowly nodded. There was no point denying it.
”That's right, sir.” One of the soldiers was listening to the com bead in his ear. ”It seems that Angelica Porter has gone missing. She's not among the dead, the wounded or the survivors. There are Porter clan servants frantically searching for her, but she's nowhere to be found.”
”Just what was her goal?” Glen growled, punching his palm angrily. ”Why did she launch an attack on the school? She has no reason to attack us! This doesn't make sense!”
”If their target wasn't me, then perhaps it was something else at the school.” Henry was pondering thoughtfully. ”Was there anything in particular that they were after?” he turned to Shun Yin. ”I'm assuming you met Angelica and saw her collaborating with the enemy, otherwise you wouldn't be so sure she is the traitor.”
Shun Yin hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. ”That is correct.”
”What did she say?” Henry grabbed his shoulders urgently. ”Did she mention anything about her goals? Why they attacked our school?”
”Something about destroying the Porter clan…”
”That's why I went to find you first,” Glen joined in, staring at his father. ”I was so sure that her aim would be you.”
”Thank you, my son.” Henry nodded distractedly, his attention still on Shun Yin. ”Did Angelica say anything else? Was she targeting someone else? Perhaps…my wife?”
”No, she didn't say anything about that.” Shun Yin frowned, trying to remember his conversation with her. His mind was still in a daze. It felt like an eternity since they last talked, even though it was mere minutes ago.
”Reporting on that…Charles Porter is dead.” One of the soldiers looked up and reported gloomily. Henry, Glen and Shun Yin turned to stare at him. The soldier shrugged helplessly. ”He was killed by one of the Assassins. His throat was slit.”
”So Charles was her target all along.” Glen's shoulders slumped. ”I should have known.”
”That makes no sense, though.” Henry was troubled. ”If Charles was her target, why would she need to launch an attack on school and make such a big fuss? Why would she need to kill so many of the other students?”
The principal gazed over the corpses of his students and sighed.
”The reason why I believed you, Glen, was because it seemed to make sense. We believed the attack on the students was a diversion, and that they were planning a hit on me. Draw the main forces of the school toward the courtyard to suppress the assailants…thus leaving me open and vulnerable. But if her target wasn't me…if it was Charles, then there was no need to launch such a massive attack and kill so many students.”
”Diversion…”
There was something scratching incessantly at the back of Shun Yin's mind, but he couldn't place his finger on what he should be thinking about.
Then, unbidden, a memory surfaced in his mind.
”Spirit weapons.”
”I beg your pardon?” Henry turned to stare at Shun Yin, puzzled. Glen shared the same bewildered look.
”Spirit weapons. When Angelica showed up and attacked, she was wielding this new spirit weapon, which she claimed to have created by sealing a spirit inside the weapon.” Shun Yin held up his broken sword thoughtfully. ”It was so powerful that she could easily cut my sword into two, and reduced the casting time of an extremely powerful spell drastically.”
Henry turned extremely pale.
”So that's it…” he muttered so softly that Shun Yin and Glen almost couldn't hear him. Glen frowned.
”What is it, Dad?”
However, Henry didn't respond. Instead, he turned toward the soldiers and began gesticulating frantically.
”You, and you! Follow me! And hurry!”
The Federation soldiers followed without question. Shun Yin and Glen exchanged a glance, and then hurried after the adults. To their surprise, Henry was running straight for the research division of the campus.
”Did Angelica and the Assassins stage a diversion to steal…research material from the university division?” Glen asked, bemused. Shun Yin shrugged.
”It's not just the university division. The high school division also shares the building…”
”What is it?”
Glen glanced at Shun Yin when the latter trailed off. The dark-haired guy's eyes widened in horror when he remembered something.
His friends. Tenshi. Rebecca. Gabriel. They were all in the research division, working on their spirit project. And they were most likely still in the building when the assault from the Assassins Guild occurred.
”Damn it!”
Summoning spirits and allowing them to manifest in this world. Sealing spirits into weapons to allow them to manifest in this world. Why didn't he see the connection?
Feeling an icy chill surge through the mounting horror that filled his chest, Shun Yin increased his pace.