Raizel arrived back on Earth, materializing inside the familiar walls of his own room.

But the instant he appeared, he knew something was wrong.

The room, usually silent and heavy with the comforting hum of the city's distant noise, was anything but calm today. Instead, it was brimming with pressure — a killing intent so sharp it stung the skin.

"Raizel Ashblade, you're under arrest!"

Before he could even blink, the door crashed open, and a squad of militants stormed inside with swift, mechanical precision.

Bright laser sights pinned him instantly. The barrels of their assault rifles gleamed with deadly menace, intricate runes and enchantments etched along the metallic surfaces. These were not civilian weapons. These were military-grade Mage Suppression Arms — forbidden in normal use.

Raizel instinctively tightened his grip on the Convergence Spear.

The soldiers wore heavy vests reinforced with sigil patches, helmets with full visors, and armored gauntlets. Each of them moved like trained predators, encircling him, minimizing gaps, aiming at every vital part of his body.

A deep, commanding voice barked from the lead soldier, "Raise your hands, criminal!"

Criminal?

Raizel's brow furrowed. His heart pounded once — a deep, resounding thud — but his face remained cold, calculating. His mind raced.

Criminal? For what?

Still clutching the white spear that hummed faintly with dormant power, Raizel's crimson eyes swept across the armed men. At least twelve of them. All elite. No gaps in formation. No hesitation in their movements.

Whoever sent them knew what they were doing.

"Who are you all?" Raizel growled, his voice sharp as steel. "Don't you know this is Apex Guild's private quarter?"

For a moment, there was a visible shift among the soldiers. A slight tension. But the leader stepped forward, his weapon never wavering.

"Last warning!" the masked man barked. "Raise your hands, Raizel Ashblade! We have Apex Guild's permission. You are legally detained under direct order. Resist, and we will respond with lethal force."

A sneer curled behind the man's black tactical mask. Raizel could almost feel it.

A bitter taste filled Raizel's mouth. Apex Guild allowed this? That meant this wasn't some rogue squad. Someone powerful wanted him gone.

"On what charges?" Raizel demanded, voice rising, frustration leaking through his normally composed mask.

"You are suspected of unauthorized mass slaughter of your former classmates," the leader snapped back.

Mass slaughter?

Raizel's mind flashed to the Alastor's group. To the corpses he burned in the warehouse.

His spear trembled slightly.

"Fuc*k.. they tried to kill me first."

But there was no time to argue. The soldiers were tensing, ready to shoot.

"Drop the weapon, Raizel," the leader said coldly, "or we will open fire."

The room was suffocating. The walls seemed to close in.

Raizel weighed his options in a heartbeat.

"Where's my family? Did you do something to them?" he asked, noticing their absence.

"Enough, Raizel Ashblade! We don't know where they are. Probably fled or were killed by them. You don't realize who you've picked a fight with."

The leader sneered, clearly aware of everything between Raizel and Alastor.

Despite that, they still came to arrest him. Raizel felt a wave of disappointment toward the Apex Guild as well.

More importantly, his family's situation made his heart tighten with worry.

He didn't know where they were. How were they living? Or were they already dead?

The heartbreaking thoughts made Raizel's eyes begin to glow crimson.

Seeing this, the soldiers tensed immediately.

And when Raizel raised his spear, the leader shouted,

"Fire!"

The world seemed to slow.

Muzzle flashes erupted in sharp, merciless bursts of blue light.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The runed bullets tore through the air, aimed straight at Raizel's chest, neck, head. A normal mage would've been ripped apart in the first second.

But Raizel was no ordinary mage.

The moment they fired, Raizel moved with a sharp twist of his body, the White Convergence Spear spinning in a blinding arc.

Clang!

Clang!

Zing!

Bullets deflected off the spinning spear, ricocheting into the walls, the floor, even slamming back into a few soldiers themselves. Raizel's movements blurred, inhumanly fast, a storm of raw survival instinct and rage.

"Agh—!"

Two soldiers dropped instantly, their armor punctured by rebounding rounds they never anticipated.

"Fall back! Fall back!" the squad leader barked, but it was too late.

Raizel dashed forward like a crimson ghost. His spear thrust out — not wildly, but with terrifying precision. Each stab found the cracks in their enchanted armor.

Shlk!

Crack!

Gurgle—

Soldiers fell one by one, their lifeless bodies crashing to the floor. Their weapons clattered after them.

One tried to activate an emergency teleport scroll on his wrist, but Raizel skewered him through the shoulder before the spell could complete. The man gasped, shuddering violently before collapsing.

Within seconds, only the squad leader remained.

He stumbled back, fear finally seeping through his professional mask.

"Monster…" he hissed.

Raizel said nothing.

He simply stepped forward, raised his spear, and brought it down.

Crack!

The leader's visor shattered under the blow, his head snapping back violently as he crumpled.

Silence fell over the blood-soaked room.

Raizel stood alone amid the wreckage, his chest heaving, spear dripping with blood that wasn't his own.

The buzzing of broken communication devices echoed faintly.

Then his hands began to tremble.

His family. He needed to find his family.

Without wasting a second, he bolted out of his room, racing down the corridors of the villa that Apex Guild had once given them.

"Mom! Dad! Isadora!" he roared, kicking open every door, every room.

Empty.

Empty.

Empty.

Drawers half-open. Curtains torn. Personal belongings scattered on the floor as if packed in a hurry — or ransacked during a struggle.

His heart squeezed painfully.

"They were here… they were here!" he muttered desperately, running to the kitchen, the storage room, even the backyard.

No blood. No signs of violence. Just emptiness.

Had they escaped? Had they been taken?

He clutched his head, thoughts spiraling.

"Think, think, dammit…" he hissed under his breath.

The Apex Guild knew everything. If they allowed his arrest, they might have betrayed his family too. Maybe… maybe there was a chance they were hiding?

Or maybe…

No. He wouldn't think about it. He couldn't afford to think about it.

Suddenly —

Vrmmmmm!

A deep mechanical hum filled the air outside.

Raizel's instincts screamed at him.

He rushed to the window and saw them — black military aircrafts, six in total, hovering outside his neighborhood.

Bright floodlights swept across the area, illuminating the broken streets and destroyed front gates.

Loudspeakers crackled.

"Raizel Ashblade, surrender immediately! You are surrounded! Any further resistance will be met with lethal force!"

They weren't here to arrest him anymore.

They were here to kill him.

Raizel cursed under his breath, scanning for escape routes.

Running through the front door would be suicide. The entire perimeter was locked down, soldiers and mages forming a web of death.

He dashed to the garage. But found no vehicles.

"No time for this—!" he growled.

The roof. He could climb onto the roof and jump across neighboring houses.

Without hesitation, Raizel leapt, his body still pulsing with residual magic from the Convergence Spear.

Crash!

He smashed through a window, climbed onto the balcony, then pulled himself onto the slanted roof tiles.

Immediately, spotlights swung toward him.

"There! Target sighted!"

"Suppress him! Don't let him escape!"

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Gunfire erupted again, tracer rounds slicing the night sky.

Raizel ducked low, sprinting along the rooftop, heart hammering. He zigzagged across roofs, leaping the narrow gaps between houses.

Behind him, spells exploded, sending debris flying. Enchanted bullets whizzed past his ears.

He couldn't outrun aircrafts forever.

He gritted his teeth, rage and desperation boiling in his chest.

"Why… why is this happening!?"

And just when it felt like there was no way out —

Vroom!!!

A sudden roar of an engine cut through the gunfire.

A black motorcycle shot into the neighborhood from a hidden alleyway, its rider clad in a dark cloak and helmet.

The bike screeched to a halt beneath Raizel's position.

"Jump, idiot!" the rider barked.

Raizel didn't hesitate.

Trust was a luxury he couldn't afford — but death was already breathing down his neck.

He threw himself off the roof, landing heavily behind the cloaked figure.

The rider gunned the throttle, tires shrieking as they took off at breakneck speed.

Bullets rained down, spells exploded behind them, but the bike weaved through the chaos like a phantom.

"Hold on!" the rider shouted over the roar of the engine.

Raizel wrapped one arm around the rider's waist and gripped the spear tightly with his free hand.

As they tore through the city, Raizel glanced over his shoulder.

The aircrafts were turning, following them like vultures.

But the rider seemed prepared. He flicked something onto the road behind them — small, dark cubes that immediately expanded into clouds of black mist.

The mist distorted light, confused sensors. The aircrafts lost lock.

"Who are you?" Raizel finally managed to shout over the wind.

"Someone who doesn't want to see you die tonight!" the rider yelled back, voice distorted slightly.

Raizel's chest burned with unanswered questions, but for now, survival was all that mattered.

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