Inverse System

Chapter 167 - Perplexing Behavior

"Girls, get inside Rein's room, and don't come out," Chloe demanded as she stood her ground against the opponent.

Emria and Saphrilla both nodded, then scurried into Rein's bedroom, shutting the door behind them, then finding a place to peek from under the door.

"Heh, I guess you've seen my Spring already, so there's no point in hiding it. Ready yourself, princess of Orthlys!"

Emria and Saphrilla heard a loud clang from the outside of Rein's room, the fight between the 2 women had begun in full. They heard countless slashes flurry back and forth between them, stabs and cuts across the walls of the room.

"Saphy, we need to get in contact with Rein somehow. Is there anything we can do?" Emria asked, Saphrilla shaking her head, both of them as bewildered as each other.

"If we could somehow get to Raxo or Xenia, then I could borrow one of their rings and contact him. However, that does not seem possible currently…"

Meanwhile, on the school campus…

"Everyone, please remain calm! The academy is the safest place right now, we've got all of the students guarding the perimeters!" Wallace exclaimed to the citizens in the main lobby of the academy, all of them having fled there to take shelter.

"Mister Vice Principal! It looks like there's a fight brewing in the center of the city, and Quint's been caught up in it. An entire battalion of soldiers have gathered," Sho, who was guarding the front informed.

"What?! They surrounded Quint? But why?" Wallace questioned, which lead Reggie, who was guarding the right-wing, to interject.

"No, it looks like Clyde and Xenia came back! They must be after her cursed Spring!" Reggie concluded, which rose a concerned expression on Wallace's face.

"Sir, we have to go help them!" Sho exclaimed as he realized what was happening.

"No, prince Sho. You are to stay here and guard these civilians," Wallace ordered, to which Sho clenched his teeth, his eyes giving off a look of worry.

"But—"

"Let him go! We don't want that terrorist protecting us!" One of the civilians in the lobby outspoke in rage.

"Yeah! His country's men attacked our home! Why should we still welcome his presence?!" Another added.

"Huh? No, you're wrong… They're not—"

"Your people killed my daughter before my own eyes… I won't ever forgive you…" An enraged civilian, a middle aged man, stood up with a shard of glass in hand and charged at Sho with murderous intent.

Wallace suddenly stomped his foot, causing an earth prison to appear around the charging man, containing him inside.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Wallace yelled in anger as Sho stood there, taken aback by what was unfolding.

"LET ME GO! I'M GOING TO MURDER THAT SHITTY PRINCE!" The man yelled out as the rest of the civillians also watched the scene unfolding with widened eyes.

"Surely you don't believe that those are really Econican soldiers, do you?!" Wallace defended Sho, which surprised him further, Wallace being the former royal guard for Orthlys.

"SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU FORGOTTEN RELIC OF A FAMILY! NO WONDER YOU WERE EXILED FROM YOUR TITLES, TRAITORS!" The man seethingly yelled, riling up the rest of the civilians in protest.

"Yeah! Why are we letting ourselves be protected by these guys?!" One civilian complied.

"All who are able to fight, stand up! Let's defend our city together, starting with these 2 in front of us!" One chanted, followed by a loud shout of affirmation as all of the capable stood, leaving only the elderly and children behind, along with some parents who opted to stay behind.

They all charged towards Wallace and Sho, the prince of Econica starting to itch backwards in fear, not wanting to fight back against the innocent, yet ignorant civillians.

Finally, the patience of one of the people among the group snapped, a young woman who knew the prince well.

"STOP!!!" She yelled with conviction, her scream echoing loudly in the vast lobby of the prestigious academy, the ear-piercing wave striking through to the civilian's heads, making them all turn around in her direction.

"L- Lillia..?" Sho uttered in confusion, looking at the black haired girl standing in the crowd, seething with anger.

"Where do you people get off talking like you know everything?! Huh?! This man is protecting your sorry asses, and the first thing you think of is to slaughter him?! What's wrong with you?!" She exclaimed with rage, turning the civillains anger towards her.

"Huh?! And who the hell are you, bitch?!"

"Ah, you must be Econican. So because this dipshit is pretending to protect us, we should just fall in line?"

"To hell with that! This evil son of a bitch is dying by my hand!"

The fury of the civillians radiated bright with pure hate and anger.

"Fine, we'll kill you first then! To make you an example to those Econican soldiers out there!"

They all charged back to Lillia, who began trembling in fear as they approached, holding her arms up to her face in defense. Her actions confused her greatly. Why did she speak out? Had she just stayed quiet, she could have avoided this trouble all together. Her course of action went directly against her values, yet she didn't regret it.

Just before the angered civillians reached her, a bolt of fire struck through the crowd, picking Lillia up and transporting her away from the civillians, into the back end of the lobby. It was the Econican prince himself, who was now struggling to keep his own anger in check.

"You people truly are beyond helping. Trying to attack a defenseless girl?" Sho's heat radiated intensely, putting Lillia down as he approached the group of rebellious citizens.

All of them were intimidated by his sudden transformation, beginning to itch backwards in fear of his blazing radiance. Suddenly, Sho's eyes widened in shock as he jumped back to the front of the lobby frantically, extending out blazing phoenix wings of impenetrable defense towards the front, a ginormous drill suddenly appearing against it.

The sparks from the impact of the fire and the friction of the drill were blocked by Reggie and Wallace, who walled off the projectiles from hitting the citizens.

"Give me a fucking break," Wallace groaned, then took his glasses off and put them in his chest pocket, then raised his arm up.

Suddenly, a large, circular dome encased all of the civilians and blocked their attacks, confining them all in the lobby, and not allowing them to attack Sho or him, and protecting them all from the incoming battle.

Sho's wings eventually dissipated as the attacks disengaged, a laughing man appearing from the smoke of the fiery clash.

"Interesting! You saw my attack coming, huh? So you're one of the guys my clone fought," a pink-haired man exclaimed proudly as he walked along the path to the school, cracking his fingers with a wide grin on his face.

"This day just keeps getting worse and worse…" Sho groaned in vexation.

"So you're the Econican prince then? Ain't no way you're the guy who bodied all 3 of us. You'll be light work then," the confident man claimed, his words making Sho chuckle slightly. "What're you laughing at?"

"Oh no, it's nothing. It's only that I've already fought you before, while you've never fought me.. The advantage is mine, Jona."