Curse the Mainframe! 279 Tempest Coming

Raegan was burning with as when he looked at his daughter's unconscious body.

Wounds and cuts that bled sluggishly. Wounds that had not been made in the name of training.

Raegan knew that he should not be so emotional, but despite how it appeared, his daughter was the apple of his eye, and knowing that she was hurt with the intent to kill didn't sit right with him.

Yet, they were warriors, and Raegan knew that this was not the first nor the last time that Lucielle would be harmed. So, he curbed the vicious bite in his chest, tempering it as he fought with his reflexive urges.

Letting go of the urge to dole violence out onto the next person was easier said than done, but something that he had ample experience with.

But even when he had let go of the urge to harm for the sake of harming, that didn't mean that he would extract retribution if it came down to it.

You had to receive damage to dole out damage in the future. Raegan knew that intimately. This was the only way to grow.

Blood, sweat, tears. None of those ingredients could be missing to produce a strong being.

Ultimately, Raegan would not be satisfied if Lucielle didn't manage to make herself untouchable.

Since even the healers that he'd brought with him had not managed to awaken her consciousness, and not from the lack of trying, he wouldn't force it.

In the end, they maintained that the young miss should be left unconscious so that she could heal up.

Her body was just too worn out at the moment, and her mind was hibernating as she recovered. No doubt from the days on end fending for herself as well as keeping her mind in sharp awareness.

Raegan clicked his tongue.

Lucielle had not yet tested herself so extensively in the field, and Raegan looked at her unconscious form. But he wouldn't berate himself for not pushing her training sooner.

Perhaps she might not have been caught up in this state, but she could easily have faced the same thing despite training as well.

It seemed as if his hidden softness had harmed Lucielle instead of protecting her, despite what he told himself when he was about to sleep at night.

No longer.

Instead of regret, Raegan felt the blood rushing to his head, and the long-hidden anger that he had not let out to the world again returned in full.

Even as the fire of anger burned bright within him, threatening to scorch the entire forest down, Raegan reined in his anger until he could confirm that his daughter was safe.

The healer nodded at the murderous-looking family head, then shook her head. "The young miss isn't in any danger, but she won't be waking up for now. A few hairline fractures on her ribs, two fractures on her right leg, and a broken arm."

Raegan's eyes dropped, becoming half-lidded, and while his face appeared impassive, his eyes were easily seen as another story even by those that didn't know him well.

"How did she get the wounds?"

The healer recounted the wounds that had been left on Lucielle's body, giving a negative when Raegan asked whether or not there were any left behind by human hands.

He could not be rest assured when he thought about whether or not the strange man that Lucielle had 'fallen' for had caused this perplexing situation.

He had fully expected to find Lucielle in the presence of someone else, but instead, she was alone.

In any case, it was better for Raegan to capture the trio before doing anything. Interrogation could wait until Lucielle had woken up.

Haste made waste.

Still, before he could wait for her to wake up, he had to catch them first.

Raegan ran his eyes over his daughter's unconscious form yet again, muttering to himself so lowly that only he could hear. "Foolish daughter. What have you gotten yourself caught in this time?"

The head of the Hartknight family turned around, his cape billowing with his sharp movements.

"Stay with my daughter," Raegan commanded in a low voice, and the guards moved to ensure the young miss's safety.

The family head's figure blurred in front of them, disappearing. What they had been looking at for the last few seconds was just an afterimage.

Raegan didn't have magic at his disposal for tracking, but that didn't mean he didn't have other ways of tracking.

In just a blink, he managed to filter out the call and sounds of everything other than human sounds, and the man was already dashing forward towards their location.

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Alec swore quietly when he felt that the Meister was already coming towards them at breakneck speed.

He was already beyond Alec's full speed – his enhanced speed no less.

There were still five minutes left before they would be able to move Sekai, and every second counted.

Judging by the feeling that was coming from the Meister, he was not going to exchange any words with them, and the feeling of killing intent and bloodlust that was emitting from the man made his blood sing.

Well hidden and reined in though it may be, Alec felt himself react to it almost reflexively.

Unbeknownst to Alec, the smile on his face widened a little even as his blood pumped hard with adrenaline at the fight that was about to come.

He was terribly outclassed – two whole ranks below the man, but even so, his blood was singing at the challenge.

Five minutes.

They just needed to hold on for five minutes before Alec could use his teleportation seal to get them out of the way.

And yet, five minutes was a hell of a long time, especially against a Meister.

"Get ready," Alec warned Elysia.

Elysia was already ready even before Alec said anything. She could feel him coming already – and not with any friendly intentions either.

Elysia let out a laugh, surprising Alec with how clear it sounded.

He wondered if she felt the bloodlust just like he did.

Alec's lips curved into a smile, a calmer echo of the wider one on Elysia's face.

The two Main Characters stepped in front of the comatose man's body, keeping him out of view.

Alec drew his twin daggers that had been made from Haphira's scale, and they reflected weakly in the sunlight.

Elysia didn't wield a weapon, instead, her nails sharpened a little, appearing almost like dragon claws, and the usually normal pupils gained a more oval shape.

They felt him before they saw him.

The man was making no move to hide his presence at all, but even so, there was a subtlety to it that would have caught those who weren't looking for it off guard.

The man's magic felt like a storm approaching, and Alec almost had the impression that he could see the trees swaying in accordance to the man's magic.

Yet, the trees remained stationary, and it was with the help of his shared bond with the few Awakened trees in the forest that Alec was able to see his approach.

He saw the furrow in the man's brows deepen as his head suddenly shot in the direction of the tree Alec was using, his eyes boring holes into the tree.

Alec almost felt as if he and the man were looking at each other face to face, but he knew that it wasn't so.

Raegan only made a single step of deviation as he obliterated the tree that shared the connection with Alec, his eyes narrowing in thought.

Inwardly, he was alarmed. So, someone who had ascended into a high enough level was able to catch even the faint traces of magic that Alec had left as a bond on the tree.

That was not good news.

It didn't even take another minute for the man to approach them, and by the time they were face to face, there was still four minutes left.

Chapter end

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