Chapter 178 Questioning

Ever since Jessamine and Duke Wesley left Zoren through the Gate, Leo has been busy with multiple tasks.

It was currently night time and it had been for a few hours already. Leo was moving from rooftop to rooftop, just trying to keep an eye out for anything that required his intervention.

'It bugs me that there isn't any news about Snythe. Everyone I questioned didn't know anything and the ones I've followed never spoke of him. It's as if he just never showed up at all.' Leo said in his mind.

'It's suspicious, that's for sure. If he was captured upon arrival then it wouldn't be kept a secret, not with his rank. They would spread the news that they had captured a General and that he was a powerful ability user.' Dreifus replied.

'I agree, that's why I'm under the impression he was never captured. Is it possible that something happened when he used the Gate? Could he have been sent to the wrong place or something...?' Leo asked.

'I don't know, I suppose it's not impossible but the Gates have been used countless times over the past few months. If something like that was possible then I feel like it should have happened a few times already.' Dreifus answered.

Down in the street below, Leo saw a lone man running down an alleyway. There was a group of three cultists chasing him and they were gaining with every second.

The alleyway didn't connect to another street and the man was forced to face the cultists upon realizing he was backed into a corner.

"He's older than I thought." One of the cultists said as the three of them strolled towards the man.

"Should we still take him back?" Another asked.

"No, we are only supposed to bring back young and healthy people. If we start sending old people, we'll get turned into beasts in their place." The one in the middle said.

"Fuck that, let's just kill him if we're not sure."

"Agreed."

Two of the cultists moved towards the man while the other stopped a few meters away and back down the alley, like he was keeping guard.

The two that continued forward approached the man slowly. It seemed like they were doing it intentionally just to frighten the man and it was working.

The man seemed to be on the verge of tears as he cowarded in the corner. When the cultists pulled out their swords, the man lost all composure and started to wail like a lost child.

~Crunch~

From behind the two cultists there was a loud noise that sounded like dozens of sticks being snapped at once.

The whipped around, and saw a man standing over the mangled corpse of the third cultist. The man was Leo and he was looking at the other two cultists expectantly.

"Fuck, he's an Infernai." One of the cultists said as he backaway slightly out of fear.

The other one turned around and charged towards the man they were chasing with his sword raised.

'Is he trying to kill him? But why?' Leo thought.

[Attract]

The cultist was suddenly pulled off his feet and through the air. His body was moving straight towards Leo and there was nothing he could do to stop himself.

[Wind Blade]

A compressed blade of wind shot out towards the cultist and cut his body in half. Leo stepped to the side to avoid the two pieces as they landed with a splat behind his original position.

He looked at the bisected corpse and nodded in satisfaction before walking towards the final cultist.

He was backing away, just like man they chased had done earlier, cowering away in fear. The thoughts in his mind didn't help him in maintaining his composure either.

'I saw it when he created that wind, the blue energy. He's the Blue Death! I can't beat someone like that!' The cultists thoughts ran wild.

Soon he had backed into the wall at the end of the alley and was right beside the man they were chasing. He reached out and grabbed the man by his collar, lifting him up to his feet and placing him between Leo and himself.

"D-Dont come a-any closer! I'll - I'll kill him if you do!" The cultists shouted as he held his sword to the man's throat.

Leo stopped his approach only a few meters away from the cultist and his hostage. His face expression was calm and so was his tone as he spoke.

"I don't have to hurt you. If you answer my questions then I'll let you go."

"What, r-really?" The cultists asked, surprised and confused.

"Yes, really."

"Then w-what about them?"The cultists asked, gesturing to his deceased partners.

"If there were three of you, you would have fought me thinking you stood a chance, so I took him down before that happened." Leo said, gesturing to the guy he had semi crushed.

"The other one tried to kill that man so I killed him first. If he had remained calm and just waited a moment, I would have offered him the same deal I'm offering you. So will you accept my offer or are you going to try and kill that man, forcing me to kill you first?" Leo asked with a suggestive and benevolent sounding tone.

"What are you questions." The cultist asked after a moment of thought.

He still had the blade held up to the man's neck but he had pulled it away slightly, showing that his intent wasn't to kill the man, he just wanted something that could be used as a bargaining tool.

"You spoke about becoming a beast earlier, does that mean the Imperium running the city is Trent Zemor?"

"I don't know who it is exactly but I know it's not him." The cultist asked, his voice still anxious but he seemed more confident now that his life was garunteed.

"I see. Then what about a General Snythe Wesley? Have you heard about him, has he been seen or captured in this city recently?"

"I know who he is but I've never seen him. We haven't captured any of your kind in this city either."

"What were you anning on doing with the people you captured?" Leo asked

"The young ones would be sent to a different location to be used as beasts later on. I don't know where it is but the man who can teleport was going to take them there." The citkusts replied.

"Who is the teleportation user?"

"I don't know. He's always wearing his mask when we see him."

"Alright, what are your plans for this city?"

"I don't know anything like that. I only know information that involves me, like capturing people, other than that I don't know much."

"That's a shame." As Leo said this he noticed the cultists grip around the sword tighten. 'He probably thinks I'm going to kill him because he doesn't know anything else. I wouldn't kill him just because of that.'

"Thanks for answering my questions, you can go now." Leo said as he stepped to the side and lifted his hand to gesture towards the street behind him.

"R-Really, I can actually go!?" The cultist was astonished that Leo was keeping his word. He slowly lowered his sword and eventually released the man altogether.

He slowly made his way forward and inched his way passed Leo while scraping against the wall opposite the Blue Death.

He felt hope rising within him as he continued down the alley towards the street. He was keeping an eye on Leo this entire time but saw that he had turned towards the civilian in the alley and wasn't even looking at him anymore.

He turned towards the street completely and started running, his hope rising to the maximum as he realized he actually managed to survive that encounter.

'I should report this, maybe they can find a way to stop him if they know he's here!' The cultist thought as he ran.

The hair on his body suddenly started to stand on its on and a tingling feeling spread over his skin. A blue bolt of lightning suddenly descended from the sky above the cultist and slammed into him.

​ The electricity spread through his muscles, causing them to tense. He felt his blood boil from the heat and his brain melting inside his head. He screamed out in pain as he felt his life draining away.

All of this lasted only two or three seconds at most but it felt like an hour to him. The electricity faded from the cultists lifeless body as it collapsed to the floor.

Leo received the notification about the XP earned and new that the cultist was dead. The sound of thunder and flash of light generated by the lightning bolt, as well as the scream of pain, made it pretty obvious but the system really confirmed it for him.

"That was you, right?" The man asked.

"It was." Leo replied.

"Good, those cult bastards don't deserve to live. I wasn't going to say anything since you saved me but I'm glad you didn't actually let him go." The man said with an expression of anger on his face.

"I agree. They've chosen their side and must face the consequences of that choice. It's as simple as that."