263 We are doomed
RUMBLEEE
The portal shook and flickered. Two people jumped out of it at that moment. One was holding the other one, who was bleeding head to toe and had his eyes closed.
THUD
The two men plopped down to the ground.
ONNGGG
The portal disappeared at that moment.
"Ren!"
Her Mr. Hey hurriedly laid the other boy on the ground and shook his body.
"Ren! Can you hear me? Ren!"
"Huff... Huff..."
The young boy was breathing heavily. Only in the few seconds that he was moved out of the temple the ground where he was lying had gotten red with blood.
"Ren!"
The man placed his hands on the injury on the boy's side and pressed it. A little bit of blood gushed out of the wound before the bleeding got slower.
"Claire... Where?"
It was only then that he raised his head to see that they were in an unfamiliar place. He turned his head to look at the girl who was the one who created the portal and moved them here.
"The abandoned building we stayed in when we went to search the other temple in Bordkly."
"What?"
"...I thought we had to go somewhere that people wouldn't be able to find us..."
Claire bit her lips as she glanced at the injured boy. She now thought her decision was probably not the best one. The boy needed to be taken to a hospital or meet a healer right away. He would die at this rate.
"We can't go back to Philomns..."
Going back to Philomns hideout while carrying an injured SMF agent who also happened to be the agent that the boss of the organization was interested in so much? Also, what would happen to the two of them, who were helping out an SMF agent?
All three of them would be in great trouble if they didn't get killed at the first moment of setting foot in the hideout.
Also, going to SMF's building was not an option. Claire and her Mr. Hey were criminals. Which sane criminal would go to SMF's building on their own foot? They would get captured and held in prison for the rest of their lives, or maybe even get executed.
"There was a healer with the unit 5 members."
"But they were standing right behind that dome! You said we had to run, not step out of the dome..."
That was true indeed. If they created a portal to the place where the other team members were, the man could easily attack them again. They had to move too far away so that the man wouldn't be able to follow them.
"Should I go back and drag the healer girl here?"
Suggested Claire as that was the only thing that came to her mind.
"...Can you?"
She didn't expect it, but Mr. Hey didn't disagree with her. He was looking up at Claire while pressing Kairen's wound with both hands. His hands were trembling slightly. His clothes were wet with the boy's blood, but he didn't seem to mind that at all and was only focused on stopping the bleeding.
"Ah... I guess I can... I just need to snatch her away and come back here, right?"
"Yeah."
"A-are you sure? She is a healer, but she is still an agent..."
"He is going to die, Claire!"
Mr. Hey said in a tone as if that was the most important and the scariest thing in the world.
"Alright..."
Claire, still not believing that she was going to kidnap an SMF agent, waved her hand.
ONGGG
A portal appeared right before her face.
"I won't be able to create another portal for a few hours after this."
"Go."
"...Yes!"
Claire tasked and clenched her small fists. This damned man! He kept using him as a means of transportation! That was not fair! Look how he worries about the stupid boy! Gah!
Claire jumped inside her portal. The next thing she saw was a group of people sitting on the ground at the exact place where they just left. The dome was gone and so was the white-haired man.
"Huh?"
"What-"
It took the group, who were staring at the destroyed and bloody ground with devastated faces, to notice her. By the time they saw her, it was already too late. Claire, who had memorized the locations of each member when he poked her head out of her portal, moved into the portal again. The next moment, another black portal appeared somewhere else, right behind another teenage girl who was standing not too far away from the deputy team leader.
"Eek!"
Asa gasped once she felt someone grab her shoulder from behind. The healer girl, who was no different from a normal teenager in terms of physical strength, was easily pulled back by Claire.
"Asa!"
Deputy team leader Bray jumped to her, but she was too late. The girl was completely dragged into the portal and the portal went Poff and disappeared from sight.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The agents all stared at the empty air.
"What the hell!"
Yelled the black-haired woman, Serria, as she threw her sword on the ground.
"They kidnapped Asa!"
"Wasn't that the girl who was with that soil dude? So they managed to run away?"
"Did they take Kairen with them? Where is he?"
"He didn't get killed, did he?"
"Shut up Serria! Of course, he is fine! They must've taken Asa because they needed a healer!"
"Sorry Sorry! Let go of my collar Reyan!"
The whole place became rowdy. Reyan and Serria were fighting for some reason while deputy team leader Bray was about to go crazy from worrying over Asa and Kairen. Alan was blankly staring at the place where the doom-like barrier was covering just moments ago while mumbling something under his lips. The others were either trying to calm down the deputy team leader or separate Serria and Reyan.
"Calm down!"
Nobody listened to the team leader who said that out loud.
"..."
Glancing at his crazy team for a moment, team leader Dains walked towards the golden-haired man that looked to be the craziest person on his team and plopped down near him. He then took out his phone and started to tap something.
"...."
Alan turned his head to glance at the man's face.
"Two of your unit members got kidnapped, one of them is probably dead."
"...."
Team leader Dains raised his head and stared at Alan.
"Are you not going to do anything? Look at you! You and your whole team are so useless!"
"You are also a part of my team."
"Yeah, I know!"
"..."
"We were so useless that I want to die from shame. We didn't even see the attacker's face..."
"...Yeah."
Tap Tap Tap Tap
The team leader continued to tap on his phone.
"Are you not going to do something?"
"I'm trying to locate Asa by her communication device, can you shut up?"
"Oh!"
Alan gasped.
"No."
He then plopped down on the ground beside the team leader.
"Aren't you the one who is too calm for this situation?"
The team leader asked without even raising his head to look at Alan.
"Calm?"
22:33
"Calm?"
Alan scoffed.
"I think I'm about to have a heart attack..."
"Huh?"
"It was him, Fidel."
"Him? Who?"
The sound of tapping stopped for a moment.
"I tested my power on him. I can still use it even if I'm behind a barrier... but... It didn't work!"
Alan said as he stared at the blood on the ground.
"It didn't work."
He mumbled. Now that the team leader looked at his face, Alan was pale and was swating.
"And that attack... It was his attack..."
He said, his face still blank. After a few seconds, the man turned his head to look at the team leader.
"We are doomed."
"...."
His face and tone were too serious for the team leader to brush off his words as some kind of joke.
"We are doomed?-"
BOOOOMMMM
Something exploded behind them.
"Crazy bastard! He wants to kill me!"
Serria was running around while cursing.
BOMMM BOMMM
Golden aura slashed were following everywhere she went, destroying everything on their way.
"Hey! Kids! Stop!"
"Why are they fighting in a situation like this? Stop!"
"Guys! Please!"
A bunch of team members was running behind them, all using their powers to catch up to the two and stop them.
"STOPPP!"
BANGGG
"...."
"...."
Alan and team leader Dains made eye contact.
"Can you please..."
"Yeah..."
There was no need for the team leader to explain what he wanted Alan to do.
"Uh?"
"Huh?"
"I-I can't move!"
"Hey! Alan! You-"
"Why me as well?"
All of the children were frozen in their places, unable to move or even use their powers.
"Ahem."
Alan turned to the team leader again.
"I was saying. Fidel, we are doomed-"
"What? It disappeared!"
The team leader gasped as he narrowed his eyes, tapping on the phone with a nervous face.
"They destroyed the device! Those bastards!"
"..."
Alan could only look at the people whom he thought would help him in saving this country.
He now doubted if he had judged people wrong.
"We are doomed..."
He quietly mumbled.