Dragon's Wrath: The Cursed Returnee

Chapter 168 Invasion

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  While the group had many things to ask, they didn't say anything in order to keep Emily focused. Little by little, the effects of the spell got stronger and faster, and the group began to notice the things that had happened the previous night inside the barrier. For several hours, nothing happened, but then they saw a group of people wearing dark clothes and were covering their faces like ninjas appearing and disappearing alongside a group of heavily armored paladins. It looked like Ian, Hana, and Kei recognized them, but Ethan didn't.

  Time kept going backward for a while until another night came. After many hours, they saw three students approaching the area. They were two boys and a girl. They suddenly stopped in the middle of the barrier, and then the air began to vibrate… they looked in the same direction only to see a small point ahead vibrating until it began to crack like a fissure in the air. A dark and round portal that was spinning appeared, and those three just jumped inside it. After they watched that, Emily canceled the spell and then fell on her knees while holding her head.

"Are you all right?" Hana asked, and then she closed her eyes, and the song suddenly began to play around her.

  The song was quite soothing, so everyone began to relax. At the same time, Emily began to look a bit better. After taking a deep breath, she got up and then confirmed that everything looked fine around her. 

"It looks like everything ended well…" Emily said and then sighed in relief. "By the look of things, the higher-ups decided to receive some assistance from some forces of Japan."

"Who were those suspicious-looking ninjas?" Ethan asked.

"They were the dark corps… no one knows where they came from, but they are a special force made of unknown returnees that are specialized in stealth missions and assassination," Hana explained. "They aren't that famous, but there are some rumors about them."

"The other groups were the Fierce Paladins, they are a force from our country of returnees that graduated from the school," Ian added. "Alone, they are at C rank at best, but they worked together for many months to increase their strength as a group."

"That is interesting and all that, but the real important thing is the fact that both countries are working together since they want to avoid an international incident," Ethan added. "Also, it looks like the students were teleported out of their own volition… it is time to do some digging about them, Ian. Make use of your slimy skills."

"What do you mean by that? I feel offended," Ian furrowed his eyebrows. "Still, it might be a bit too soon to assume that they might have been hypnotized."

"I highly doubt that," Ethan shrugged. "Anyway, I take it that it won't be a good idea to spread information about what Emily did. I will pass the information to my sister without revealing too many details."

"It is fine. I highly doubt that the direction of the school didn't notice what I did… they probably won't do anything since I didn't cause a problem," Emily said and then sighed again.

"You also used a high level of time magic… some people would want to stay on your good side," Ian shrugged.

"In any case, it will be better if you don't use this often… you don't want too much information about this to spread, right?" Ethan asked, and then he recalled the conversation that he had had with Emily a few weeks ago. 

  Adding that to the fact that she obtained who knows how many potions after working for Ivan, Ethan could only assume that Emily changed the past… that was quite something and she was stubborn enough to try to pull it off. Not only that, she actually did a small-scale version of that… still, doing that probably was going to affect the whole world.

  The group went their own way to their routine at school. Ethan spent another morning making potions nonstop while wondering how he could approach his sister and reveal a bit of what he had learned…

"It looks like everyone around me wants to try doing some crazy shit… Ian and his family probably want to revive someone, and Emily wants to change the past," Ethan furrowed his eyebrows. "I really lack ambition when compared to them…"

  While Ethan was fine with that, and he only wanted to control his power, he wondered if those two would pull it off and how much the world would change after that. It probably will become a pretty crazy place… they lived in the age of information, so it was hard to believe that their actions won't be noticed.

  Regardless, while Ethan wanted to talk directly with his sister, he sent her a message as soon as possible since that kind of information might help her. Hopefully, she will be keeping in contact with those two groups. If not… that was just another problem that the world would be facing. In any case, much to Ethan's surprise, Hannah soon contacted him once she received the message.

"Judging by the contents of the message, it looks like you saw what happened," Hannah said. "Our investigation determined that those three weren't being controlled, but we didn't find any more information."

"I can't tell how I learned that, though," Ethan said. "Anyway, big sis, those three were only C ranked, but they knew a lot about the current Earth, and they had some powers, apparently. Finding them as soon as possible to save face shouldn't be your concern… I have the feeling that they are going to be used for something else."

  Hannah didn't reply to Ethan immediately, but her hesitation made him confirm that she was thinking along those lines. She probably had all the information available about those three, while Ethan only had his instincts and intuition.

"Anyway… don't try to dig any more into this. You already helped plenty," Hannah said. "Just keep interacting with those two normally, and that would help a lot to improve the situation."

  The call ended, and Ethan sighed… he wasn't the type to start things and let them unfinished, but his sister had a point. Getting any more involved will only cause more problems for him, and he had to let others solve some problems too.

  Ethan decided to kill some time and relax on the simulator. Still, soon he had to stop since he was unable to focus. Ethan returned home during lunch for a change, and he had no intention of returning to the school that day, but he didn't find his parents there, which was rare. Milo wasn't in his house either, so Ethan assumed that his mother had gone to do something and taken him with her. He always had been a good watchdog.

  In the end, Ethan went to his room to relax and clear his mind, but he failed at doing that… he had made up his mind not to get involved any longer on that matter, but he couldn't forget it. Mainly because he wanted to know who was the one who contacted those three kids… he had a feeling that it was one of those guys that tried to kill him. Leaving them alone now would be against his instincts, even though he wasn't their current target.

"... I had so much freedom before, at least in the last part of my journey in that world, and that is why I feel annoyed with all this waiting," Ethan thought once he got up to sit on his bed. "I only had to fight there, but things aren't the same here… it was easier to move if I didn't have to worry about others."

  That was a dangerous way of thinking, so Ethan shook those thoughts out of his head. Around the same time, Ethan received a message, and then another, and then another. Ian had been the first, then Emily and Hana. They told him the same thing… to turn on the TV, and they didn't even mention the channel.

"Here we go again…" Ethan thought and then turned on the TV in the living room after he went downstairs.

  Ethan furrowed his eyebrows when he saw the broadcasting from a chopper. Ethan heard the sound of several other choppers as well, but that wasn't important. What was important was the fact that he could see a massive snowy field on the TV and then a light blue portal, a giant one at the top of a mountain, and an army of very human-like creatures. They were all two meters tall and had a blue skin… two eyes, two arms, two legs, one mouth, and one nose. They looked humans through and through, but instead of normal hair, they had some tentacles on the back of their heads. They were all wearing light pieces of armor and wearing gray leather clothes, and they marched while carrying shields and spears.