Zion was astonished after seeing what was happening in front of him. He had observed the way Odina calculated in her mind while dodging her attacks. Even when she failed several times, it didn't seem like the girl had been attacked by the dhampir princess. Instead, it seemed as if Odina failed on purpose and wanted to learn more about her opponent's attacks before she could use her trump cards.
After a few minutes of fighting, when she finally realized that Lia didn't have any other choice than to use energy balls, the elf queen quickly used her trump card. But what exactly did she do? It seemed that after she had chanted the spell, she had made Lia completely stunned before the latter closed her eyes hastily and used hand-signs to create energy balls quickly. Then the elf queen used another spell to slow the dhampir queen's time and quickly took over the entire battle in a few seconds.
So this elf queen must have used something to make Lia stunned like that.
Zion's eyes narrowed. Did the elf queen use a spell to block the opponent's vision somehow?
But he couldn't get his answers since Lia, the only person he could ask, was caught as a sword was pointed at her neck. He gritted his teeth but didn't move. At this point, he could see Lia's forehead covered with sweat as if she had used up all the energy available in her veins to use her trump card and even her face was pale, but she didn't move.
Just as her sword stuck to the neck of the dhampir princess, she used another hand to take away Lia's weapon and glanced at the soldiers coldly. "Take her away and find her slave."
The soldiers nodded and grabbed Lia's arm roughly, making the latter flinch.
Although Lia was angry enough to curse Odina day and night, she would do it in front of the queen's face. She just gritted her teeth and lowered her head. From the corner of her eyes, she observed the garbage box for a moment as if she were trying to figure out if Zion was still hiding there or not and averted her eyes.
She knew she shouldn't keep looking at that place otherwise even her human servant would get caught. But who knew that the elf queen's eyes were locked on her face and she quickly noticed the dhampir princess's actions as her expressions became grave. She glanced at the nearby soldier and said in a cold voice, "Go and see who's hiding behind the garbage."
The soldier didn't wait any longer and walked toward the garbage only to find that the dark spot behind it was empty. He frowned and shook his head. "Your Majesty, there's no one here."
The expressions on the elf queen's face didn't relax after hearing that. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she glanced at Lia and said, "Continue. I don't have the time and energy to take her back. Deal with it yourself."
After saying this, she chanted a spell and vanished from the spot. The soldiers also nodded and dragged the dhampir princess away from that place.
Only when every single elf walked did Zion walk out from the shadows. He knew that once the dhampir queen was captured, Odina would surely try to capture him too, but he couldn't afford that. He couldn't protect Lia, but he knew what he would have to do to save them permanently.
Right now, he would only have to pray that the dhampir princess would endure her prison days for a few days before he could find evidence and bring the villain to the light.
After this, he took a deep breath and decided to find a way to get the evidence against the silver masked man. Just as he was about to move, he saw someone's body flashing past a narrow street outside the alley.
Zion frowned and walked toward that place while still hiding his body in the shadows and squinted his eyes. He wasn't even a bit surprised after watching who was standing in the middle of the street.
It was the murderer as the latter watched the procession of elf soldiers dragging the dhampir princess toward the palace. Only when they entered the gate that the silver masked man sighed in relief, and shook his head as if he had just managed to solve his greatest problem.
After that, he walked on the street away from the direction of the palace. And this killer was still wearing the silver mask.
Zion's eyes narrowed. It seemed this murderer had planted the 'fake evidence' against Lia to make her captured in the place of the real murderer.
No one would doubt whether Lia killed those children or not. If the murder happened after she was caught again, the citizens would still point fingers at her face thinking how she hid her human servant deliberately to complete her unfinished task.
Zion clicked his tongue. It seemed this silver masked murderer had some brain to deal with such a situation.
After making sure that the masked man was alone, his shoulders finally relaxed as he marched toward a nearby house. Zion followed the man stealthily as he kept his keen eyes at the killer without blinking.
The man hummed a tune that was familiar to him, but Zion heard it for the first time, and his brows furrowed. Why was this man singing at a time like this? Then he remembered how he had assumed the silver masked man to be a serial killer and shook his head. As expected of a serial killer.
Zion continued to observe and follow as the man entered the house after picking up the lock of the front door. Then he walked upstairs before he entered a room. It was opened, and he didn't even have to turn the knob.
The man stopped singing and stood at the door and watched the children in a daze. He kept staring at those children as if they were his treasures. Traces of affection flashed in his eyes. It seemed the more he watched them, the more he liked those children.
Zion, who was observing this scene from a distance, tapped his finger on his chin as if he were thinking deeply about the situation. After seeing how this killer behaved, he could only come to one conclusion—the silver masked man was an insane killer! If he loved the children, what was the point of killing them like this? He shook his head and kept hiding as he held his breath.
But it seemed as if even mother nature didn't want Zion to win this time. Just as he thought he would follow the silver masked man to the hiding place, a cat barged inside the house and jumped right in front of him as she meowed a couple of times.
Zion's eyes widened, and before he could hide, the silver masked man glanced in his direction as he froze.