"Castel, wait. What do you mean?"
Reith wanted to stop her, but she was already far gone. Isho had gone with an imposter, and he had no means of finding where he was headed.
Reith tightened his fists. The only person who could help him right now would be Jeran, but this man had called him nothing but a useless scum.
"I have to try. I owe him."
Reith ran his fingers through his hair. There was no way he could go by himself.
He would have to get Jeran to help him find Isho.
Reith searched the whole school. Jeran was nowhere to be found. Jeran couldn't leave without the selected chosen, which meant he had to be in the city somewhere.
"Where is he?"
Reith brought out his PhoneI 11 and went to the internet. Jeran was a star, so someone must have posted something about him.
"Found it."
There was a single picture that had been posted thirty minutes ago.
It was quite blurry, but Reith could make out the details of the surroundings after confirming that the person in the picture was Jeran due to his matching clothes.
"The harbor?" Reith frowned.
He couldn't remember any student living in that area, and this was due to the fact that he knew the locations of most of the people in the school.
After serving as a delivery boy all through his school, it would be a massive disgrace if he couldn't lead an efficient tour of the city.
After boarding a taxi, Reith arrived at the harbor, hoping he wouldn't be too late.
Just as he made a corner into one of the warehouse buildings, he gasped.
The walls were coated in blood, and different bodies of dead men lay skewered on the floor.
Reith swallowed down the taste of bile that rose to his throat. He was angry.
Who in their right mind would murder people?
And from the looks of those bloodied uniforms, these were people who worked their hardest just to feed and care for their families.
"This isn't right." Reith clenched his fists.
"I know."
A voice spoke from behind him, causing Reith to turn back.
"You…"
His sentence was cut short when the man walked past him and into the crime scene.
Jeran didn't bother to give a thought to the kid behind him. He was inwardly burning with fury.
These killings were due to his nonchalance. He needed to focus on the clues and a moralless scum wouldn't distract him.
"You, go back to where you are coming from and leave the rest to the professionals," he said, as he crouched beside a corpse.
Reith furrowed his brows, taking a step forward, but once his eyes met the gruesome appearance of the killings, he stepped back.
"I know you are the younger brother to the Regional Insignia, and your name is Jeran."
Reith's voice echoed in the building.
Jeran's frown deepened.
"I said you should get lost, kid."
Reith sighed, clenching his fists.
"No. My friend is in danger. He has been taken by an imposter who claims to be you."
Jeran kept quiet, moving from one corpse to another.
Seeing his nonchalance, Reith clenched his fists again. He looked at the scene once more and took a deep breath.
"Please, I need your help."
Reith walked forward, ignoring the way his skin crawled at the sight of people who had lives like him. They had families.
Each of their families might be waiting at home for them, not knowing what had befallen their loved ones.
"Why did he kill so much?"
The words came from deep within his thoughts. He hated killing. He hated death. He never wanted to kill.
Hearing the statement that slipped, Jeran stood up, and a suffocating aura filled the entire space.
"You are crossing a very wide line, kid."
He turned around with a frown.
Reith felt blood rush to his head, and his limbs shook, threatening to give way.
The Heavenly Path in his clothes trembled, and the pressure vanished.
"And I do not care! My friend is out there with a killer."
Reith pointed to the corpses on the floor.
"Probably the same guy that killed these people, and you are not listen—"
He couldn't finish the sentence as Jeran had moved in a step.
Jeran's fingers tightened around his neck, suffocating him.
Reith was being lifted in the air, and he gripped Jeran's arm, unable to break free. Was this the strength of the Spirit Refinement Realm?
He knew Jeran could snap his neck in a second but he wasn't giving up.
Veins twitched in his head, and his gaze steeled.
Jeran narrowed his eyes. "No one would care if I remove you from this world." His voice was cold.
However, they both knew it was a lie. But Reith was still the fodder amongst them, so there was nothing the teenager could do.
Killing a person sought after by the Regional Insignia was the same as committing treason.
Jeran's grip got tighter, and darkness appeared in the corners of Reith's eyes.
'What a bully,' Reith thought in his head as he was starting to lose the functions of his hands, unable to pull Jeran's arm away.
"You are lucky that weirdo asked for you, or this would be your end."
Jeran released his victim, tossing him to the side, and walked out of the warehouse.
Reith sucked in air, rubbing his neck.
Ignoring the throbbing around his throat, he stood up instantly and went after the man.
"I want to go with you!" he yelled.
Despite seeing what had happened to those dead men, Reith still wanted to go. He needed to be there for his friend.
Jeran let out a mocking chuckle, his lips twisting in pure scorn.
"No."
Reith ignored him and walked closer.
"I wonder what the Regional Insignia would say when he knows I was at the brink of death under your watch."
It was said softly, but it made Jeran's brow twitch.
"Taking you along would be taking you to your death," he gritted his teeth.
Under normal circumstances, he would never be conversing with this kid, especially one that he couldn't sense Hana in his emblem.
Reith was about to drop a counter when he heard Ruach's voice
'He's right. Going would be dangerous.'
Biting his lips, Reith hardened his resolve.
Even a fool would know Jeran was right. Reith was stronger than an average man, but he wasn't even able to compete with Bander and his emblem.
How could he compete with a seasoned killer?
"He is my friend, and even if he was rushing to his grave, he would do the same for me. Just let me go, and I promise not to get in your way," Reith rambled.
Jeran sighed. "Come then."
"I'll get Isho while you deal with the bad guy… oh? Okay! Thank you." Reith said in a hurry and rushed forward.
Just as he appeared by Jeran's side, Jeran grabbed the collar of his coat, and in the next moment, they shot to the sky.
Reith widened his eyes.
"What the! You never said we were flying!"
Jeran glanced at the boy for a minute, ignoring his words, and then he flew faster.
If he didn't arrive on time, he could lose the Region's most wanted criminal—Don Hardy Regallo.