—Brandon, Rachel, get out of there.
BOOOOM——!
All of a sudden, the container blew open. While the other robed figures had already left the container from the other side, another figure emerged and…
Tzz—!
"Shi–Ukh…!"
"Brandon!"
Brandon had no time to get away as a fist d in lightning struck him straight in the face.
Crash!
He flew several meters into the forest.
Crashing onto a nearby tree, Brandon immediately spat out blood.
Feeling light-headed, he nced in front of him….
…And the figure had already appeared before him.
"Akhh…!"
Having no time to react, another fist thrusted in his chest.
Bang!
Once again, his body flew several meters away. Trying to counter attack, he kicked the air.
But before he could recoil his body back, yet again, another fist struck him straight in the head.
Boom—!
His body forcefully impacted down on the ground.
BOOOOM——!
Lying face-t on the ground, he felt another fist smack his back. Each hit he took felt like a bullet train.
Despite only taking four hits, it was enough to sap away all his strength as he felt like his body was growing limp.
"....!"
Immediately, the back of his head was lifted up and…
BANG!
His face met the cold hard ground, as his entire head was forcefully smashed down.
Grrrrrrr....
The ground shook intensely. Debris and dirt scattered in the air as his entire head was dragged around and thrashed.
The cold hard ground pierced through his skull as a throbbing pain followed.
Boom—!
A booming sound echoed and he came to aplete halt. Laying on the ground, with nearly zero consciousness, he looked at whatever had just happened.
What met his sight was Zed facing off against the figure.
"....."
"Brandon…!"
Rachel rushed towards him. But it all went to deaf ears. A ringing sound echoed, and everything seemed to be muffled.
"Brandon!"
Cr… Crack!
The sound of fighting rang in the distance and before he realized it, Rachel had already neared him.
But slowly, his vision was getting even more hazy.
Blurry….
"Brandon!"
Blurrier….
"Brando…."
His eyelids were slowly closing.
"I''ll take you to the hosp…."
Just a bit more.
"Please, don''t d…."
And those were thest words he heard before he passed out.
***
Brandon was in a bad state.
His body brutally battered and she could see the back of his head was bleeding profusely.
If she didn''t act fast, Brandon might suffer permanent brain damage.
Seeing him, her heart ached.
Her hand started trembling and she could feel like she could burst into tears at any moment.
But she had to do something.
Something,
…Anything.
But that was when an idea sparked.
She wasn''t sure if it was a good idea. But she couldn''t think of anything else.
Brandon was on the verge of death. She had to do something.
Gently lifting his head up, she froze wherever the bleeding wasing from on the back of his head.
Cr… Crack…!
Hopefully, it was a temporary solution. Just until Brandon was treated in the hospital.
Looking behind, Zed was a few distance away. Precisely, he was on the road, fending off against several figures.
She knew she couldn''t do anything to help him.
Not like she would anyway.
She despised the man.
But in the first ce, this was no time for that.
Immediately, she lifted Brandon''s body up. Supporting his arm with her shoulder, she began dragging him.
…Away.
Far away from the fight.
From everything.
This…
It was the worst case scenario.
Even if her father was somehow involved in this business, they shouldn''t have gotten themselves involved.
Just what were they thinking?
This was way out of their league.
And to think this was just the first phase of whatever n Brandon and Zed had.
"Brandon, please don''t die… Haa…"
She continued dragging him.
"Haa….. Haa…."
Breathingboriously, she persisted.
He was heavy, and the height difference made it even harder as Brandon''s feet would skid on the ground.
"Haa…. Someone, help!"
Immediately she retrieved her phone and dialed an ambnce. It was currently 1:00 AM.
Ring… Ring… Ring…
"Pick up, pick up…!"
Ring… Ring… Click…!
Finally, the hospital picked up.
It took a while for Rachel to recognize thendmarks. But thankfully, she was able to find out where they were.
The hospital immediately got to work, and an ambnce was on their way.
The problem was that they were quite far from the city. So it would take a while for the ambnce to arrive.
After several minutes, Rachel had managed to bring the unconscious Brandon to the other side of the forest.
In front of her was the road. It was dark and there were no headlights around.
"H-haa…. Haa…."
Breathing heavily, she slumped down on the tree as she clutched Brandon in her arms.
Feeling the ice on the back of his head, it was slowly melting. But pouring mana into it, the ice returned to its original state.
This… wasn''t supposed to happen.
It was only the fourth shipment.
And it was supposed to be thest.
Why did it all go wrong?
Why…
Why did Brandon have to get involved with Zed?
What was the point in putting himself in danger when there were no benefits?
His family wasn''t even involved with the syndicate.
Then…
Was it because of her father?
Was he doing all this… for her sake?
Truly, she couldn''t find the words to express how much she liked him.
No.
At this point, she could admit to herself that she loves him.
"Brandon, please don''t die…."
***
"You fucking bastard."
Zed spat out.
He had already killed the assants wearing robes. It wasn''t too much trouble.
Maybe Brandon and Rachel would''ve had difficulty with them. But Brandon would''ve definitelye out on top.
But….
Because of the man in front of him, Brandon didn''t get that chance.
"Tsk."
Brandon…
He was lunatic.
A fucking lunatic.
In the first ce, Brandon was the one who had told Zed to inform Lancelott about what was happening with the shipments.
Of course, Zed was entirely against it.
Why would they even inform the enemy in the first ce?
"Lunatic."
The appearance of the man in front of him was within Brandon''s calctions.
But what he didn''t expect was for him to be defeated so easily.
But what if….
What if this was all part of his n as well?
Just so he would have a reason to back out?
Zed couldn''t me him.
If that was the case, he should''ve just told him up front.
Why put himself in danger?
Truly, Brandon Locke was an enigma.
Zed couldn''t even begin to fathom what goes on inside that kid''s head.
"After all this time, I can''t believe you were a rat, Zed. You should''ve stayed in whatever hole you were hiding."
"...."
Zed didn''t respond.
The man in front of him was none other than his fellow peer.
One of the orphans he grew up with.
…And a syndicate head.
Dwight.