Usui smiled as he looked away from her into a distance. Stella followed his gaze and saw that he was watching Hazel drift forward. Her face scrunched up when she heard him sigh, "Because she doesn't have to know."
She asked incredulously, "Zeke, Didn't you say you love her?"
Seeing the sad smile on his face made Stella's heartache. Just what happened that he was so lifeless now.
Usui nodded slowly as he looked at her and mustered a small smile, "But she doesn't."
Stella widened her eyes as she gasped, "What? What did you say?"
Usui chuckled trying to hide his pain, "So you don't need to explain anything to anyone."
Stella's face steeled as she scolded, "That doesn't mean you don't have to explain."
Stella sighed when she saw Usui look at her in confusion, "Just because you think she doesn't love you doesn't necessarily mean that you can make her think that we are like this."
Usui frowned, "Why would that matter? Why would it matter if I am rumored to be in relation to you? She doesn't love me, so it wouldn't matter if they think that I love you."
His eyes sharpened as he said the last word. He remembered how he provoked Hazel by saying someone stole his heart way before he came here.
Stella rolled her eyes unbelievably at him. Just what goes through that head of his? This annoying bastard.
Stella gritted her teeth as she spat frustratedly, "You are soo annoying."
'Since he didn't want to explain, it doesn't mean I shouldn't. Just you wait and see, you idiot!!!!'
Stella cursed in her mind as she stomped her way past him.
Usui looked taken aback when he saw her walking away angrily.
He laughed, "Where are you going?"
Stella turned around and snorted, "Didn't you say we were late? Let's go before I drill holes in your head."
Usui laughed uncontrollably seeing her furious appearance. He shook his head as they followed the other two. They soon reached the teleportation gate just in time to see Hazel pass some crystals to the guards and ordered, "Vernania Town"
The guards exchanged alarmed gazes before they nodded their heads. It was no secret about what happened to the town of Vernania. They hurriedly made arrangements for their teleportation when Hazel looked behind her and noticed the other two catch up.
She squeezed her lips before turning away and waited for the gate to activate.
...
Vernania Town
This town was popular among every resident in the nation as the town was specialized in selling beautiful silk embroidered clothes. The town once held the most beautiful buildings but now, it was all reduced to ruins.
Hazel furrowed her brows as she glanced around and noticed the implicated damage. The group started moving forward as they took in the blood painted on the walls and ground. They stopped in front of a house that was barely holding on. One side of it was completely ruined while the other side had a huge black mark on it.
Hazel knitted her brows when her eyes fell on the familiar marks.
She clenched her hands as she thought furiously, 'Demons'
Adrian looked around, noticing something he went forward and squatted down. He touched the dried blood on the ground before looking up at a lifeless face staring at him with his eyes large in fright.
He murmured, "The damage was more than what we had thought."
He raised his eyes as he closed the person's eyes. He stood up and glanced at Hazel who was looking at the figure sadly.
Stella asked angrily, "What were the guards doing? They should have informed the nearest city when they noticed trouble."
Hazel shook her head, "That wouldn't have been possible."
As she has fought with them before, she knew that they wouldn't have known if the demons didn't want them to know.
Usui commented, "It looks like it has been some days since the incident happened."
He looked around and sighed, "The entire city has been wiped out."
The rest nodded their heads glumly before they proceeded to move forward. Stella watched the person sadly before she felt her eyes been covered and a pull on her arms.
Usui murmured, "Come on, don't look anymore."
Hazel gritted her teeth as she moved further into the town where the damages were intensified. Now, the entire area had dried blood stains all over the place. She didn't see any bodies and figured that they were cleaning up the city.
Her eyes spotted her friends gathered at a distance talking with some officials. She saw many guards surrounding them.
Hazel frowned as she quickly hastened her steps. Sensing the familiar aura, Ren looked sideways and saw Hazel.
He shouted, "President, you are here."
The rest suddenly stopped talking as they turned to look at Hazel who was walking towards them with a frosty gaze. She suddenly looked at one of the guards and ordered, "There is a person you missed a few meters behind."
The guard nodded as he hurried off to the location she mentioned.
Hazel turned around and saw the official gleaming at her making her glare colder.
She looked at her friends and asked, "Did you guys find anything?"
Their face fell as they shook their head.
"We could only confirm that it was indeed the demons who attacked."
Hazel nodded grimly agreeing with them. Her eyes shifted towards the official who was standing there solemnly trying to minimize his presence under her gaze.
"When did you notice something amiss?"
"The Chief of Vernania never failed to pay the taxes on time but this time he did by three days. So, I came here to check whether everything was fine and was met with this gruesome sight."
Adrian suddenly asked, "The chief?"
The official shook his head as he said, "No, there were no survivors. The chief was brutally murdered."
Usui looked at them seriously but from the corner of his eye, he saw Stella wandering off from the group.
While they conversed, Stella knitted her brows as she looked around observing the damaged houses. Her lips were squeezed together as she couldn't fathom the cruel night the citizens had to witness.
As she walked closer to the houses, stopping here and there when she noticed more stains. Suddenly she knitted her brows when her ears picked up a low sniffling sound. She stood up from the ground and looked around wondering where the sound came from. She keenly listened to the sound as she walked in the direction finally stopping in front of a house that was barely holding.
She observed the house and found it had fewer marks compared to the nearby houses. She could hear the sniffling sound more audibly now.
She wanted to tell Zeke but she saw the group conversing with the official seriously. She shrugged as she thought, 'There is no harm in inspecting.' and entered the house.
Unknown to her, a pair of eyes centered on her when she started wandering around. Loki frowned when he saw her enter a barely holding house.
'Just what was that idiot thinking?'
He wanted to follow her when he heard his name being addressed. Gritting his teeth, he decided to let her be as they were just a few distances away.
Stella covered her mouth as soon as she entered as the inside of the house was so bloody. The walls, carpets, and tables were all covered in blood and the stench was making it hard for her to breathe.
She took out a scarf and tied it around her face, covering her nose and mouth. She approached a wall which had red and black stains. She touched the blood with her fingers and rubbed it. She could feel the dryness in it before her eyes shifted towards the black stain.
She looked at it for sometime before turning away from the wall. Her eyes fell on a small portrait on the table which held a family of four smiling. Her eyes welled up as she looked at the small kids in the picture.
'Bastards, they didn't even spare the kids.'
Shaking her head, she tried to listen to the sniffling sound but to her surprise, she couldn't hear anything.
'That's strange'
She was fairly sure that she heard the sound till the entrance. 'Did she imagine it?'
She pursed her lips and decided to leave when she noticed bloodstains at the corner of the table near the wall. She frowned as she approached the table. Her eyes studied the bloody fingerprint on the table and the wall. She could imagine one of the members succumbing to their death here.
She closed her eyes as she tried to thwart the image from her mind. Suddenly she felt wetness under her feet making her glance at her feet.
Her eyes widened when she saw bright red blood on the ground.
Stella squatted down and touched the blood with her fingers. Her face scrunched up when she could still feel the wetness from the blood.
'This is fairly new.'
Immediately Stella glanced up and saw a pair of eyes staring at her behind the table from the darkness. Her eyes widened in fright as her mouth opened to scream.
She saw the eyes narrow and before it pounced on her, she screamed loudly as she protected her body from the sudden onslaught.