Levina cursed under her breath. "Don't worry. I'll save her." She assured the children, but she couldn't leave them to follow the van. If she tells Professor Evans, it would take him a lot of time.
She counted the children and they are five in number: two girls and three boys. She stood up, glancing at the exit. She opened her watch as the hologram formed above it.
"Professor, I've found the children. Where are you? I need to find the woman named Kaia."
Professor Evans answered from the other line. "I'm closed. I'm seeing the storage room from a distance. You can leave the children there."
Levina turned off the hologram, beckoning the children to follow her. Once they were near the entrance, she knelt, eyeing one of the children.
"Someone is coming here to save you. I need to follow Kaia as soon as possible." She tapped the little boy's head and the latter nodded.
Levina stood up, gazing at her right side, and witnessed Professor Evans getting close. She nodded at him and proceeded to the path where the van had gone, hoping that they hadn't gone too far.
She jumped again through the branches, scanning the place. She cursed inside her mind, blaming herself for being stupid and unable to use the teleportation magic. If she can only use that technique just like the other sorcerers, she won't have a hard time searching for Kaia.
Teleportation magic is one of the strongest techniques that any sorcerer can do. Unfortunately, Professor Evans couldn't perfect it, too, but some other professors in Mysthic Academy can utilize it, especially the headmaster.
Frustratedly, Levina unsheathed her katana, her ability coating its blade again. With an agitated scream, she slashed her sword in the air as the blue electricity flew out of her blade, cutting the massive trees in front of her, and providing her a wide range of vision.
She halted, her eyes scanning the whole area, but still failed to see the van. She turned on the hologram in her watch and contacted Headmaster William as she took a different route, repeating the same technique she had used to search properly.
"Levina, how was—"
"Provide the back-up as soon as possible! We had saved the children, but they still got Kaia!"
"The reinforcement is on its way there. Xavier had told me earlier to do that. And who's this Kaia? Is she the woman?"
"Yes, she is. I'm trying to follow the van that took her, but this place is too huge for me, so I need plenty of back-up immediately!"
Headmaster William was about to reply, but Levina had turned off the watch, cutting his words. She focused on searching for Kaia. She was wondering why the syndicate let go of the children so easily, but Kaia didn't.
"Is Kaia their utmost target in the first place?" She whispered, repeating the same attack over and over again. "Just what the hell is going on with our town?"
The trees fell on the ground, creating a loud noise that disturbed the tranquility of the birds residing in the forest.
From a distance far from Levina, the van kept going, unaware that they were being followed. One of the men turned on his wireless radio, connecting to his boss on the other end.
"We got the woman, but how about the children? Are you sure we should leave them? We can use them as slaves," he questioned, glancing at Kaia in the back seat, who was squirming from the grasp of the two.
"We don't need them anymore. It'd draw the attention of more sorcerers if you brought them along."
"But boss—"
Their conversation was cut off when one of the van's back wheels cut in half, causing the van to lose control and slam against the massive tree. The man cursed and winced through the impact. Frantically, he gazed out of the window, seeing Levina approaching them.
"Fuck!" He swerved his gaze to his allies. "Get out and deal with her!"
The two who were holding Kaia got out of the van, following his order. Since Kaia's hands and feet were tied and her mouth was covered in tape, she couldn't move properly to get away.
"You, too! Get out!"
The driver got out of the driving seat and followed his two allies outside to deal with Levina.
Kaia squirmed when she saw there was a sorcerer outside, trying to get her attention. However, it was futile due to her muffled voice and the closed transportation she was in.
The man who was left inside went out and took Kaia from the back seat. He carried her on her right shoulder and ran immediately far from the four. Kaia squirmed, but his hold was so firm.
Levina's eyes widened upon noticing that he was sprinting away from her. She couldn't follow them even if she wanted to due to her three opponents who were keeping her busy.
Frustratedly, she coats her weapon with her electricity, swinging it against the weapon of the three. Unlike the three she killed in the storage room, these are stronger. She glanced at the man who was carrying Kaia and noticed that they were getting away.
Cursing inside her mind, Levina kicked one of her opponents, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground. She bent down and immediately stabbed the one behind her with a swift turn while parrying the sword of the other.
Once the man stood up, she let the electricity coat her weapon again as it traveled to the weapon of the one parrying her katana. The electricity traveled at the speed of light, electrifying his whole body. She jumped out from the two and faced the one she had just kicked earlier.
She slightly bent her knees, tightening her grip on her weapon. However, instead of preparing himself for his opponent's attack, he curled a teasing grin and disappeared into thin air. He teleported.
Levina scowled, sheathing her katana. She was puzzled, wondering why he chose to run away instead of killing her, but then she suddenly remembered Kaia.
"Shit!" She cursed and ran in the direction where the man who took Kaia went.
Levina hoped that they hadn't gotten away because if they did, she would fail her mission and the trust of their headmaster. That's probably the reason why her opponent didn't waste any more time fighting her since his ally had already gotten away with their target.
But to her surprise, she saw the man still sprinting while carrying the woman. Cautiously, she gathered her electricity in her left palm, pointing it at the man's left shoulder.
"Voltpiercer," she whispered as the electricity pierced through the man's shoulder, making him lose his balance and hold to Kaia.
He winced and held his bleeding shoulder. Kaia fell on the ground, her forehead hitting a rock which caused it to bleed.
Mechanically, Levina sprinted towards them without giving the man the time to react. She stabbed his right thigh and withdrew her katana with his blood on her blade.
The man screamed in pain, making Levina notice the wireless radio attached to his right ear. Raising a brow, she snatched it from his ear, attaching it to her and turning it on.
The man tried to get up, but Levina stabbed his midsection before pulling her katana and sat on it. The man gritted his teeth due to the intense pain.
Levina noticed that this man couldn't use teleportation magic unlike the other one, so she used this opportunity to torment him.
"What's going on there?" The voice from the other line asked.
Levina was about to answer, but she immediately got away from the man when he tried to stab her. She turned off the wireless radio and held her katana.
The man managed to summon his sword as he slowly stood up. "You can't kill me."
Warily, Levina took a few steps back, closing her distance to Kaia who lost her consciousness due to the impact of her fall.
"Tell me, are you from Black Void?" she questioned firmly as her electricity coated her blade again.
The man collapsed in gales of laughter. "Why are you asking that? It doesn't matter!"
Levina darted a glance at Kaia. "Yeah, let's forget it." She sprinted towards him and slashed his arm, but he managed to parry it using his blade.
The man pushed Levina's weapon using his as his dark magic gathered in his left palm. Upon seeing the dark magic, Levina had gotten her answer. They're indeed from Black Void—the organization that annihilated her clan and caused her to fall into the abyss.
The traumatic past flashed inside her mind, causing her to blow her opponent using her strongest technique.
"Electroblast!" she screamed and a bright light erupted causing the man to cover his eyes. Instantaneously, a loud explosion disturbed the peace of the forest and almost destroyed the trees around.
Levina took Kaia in her arms and sprinted away from the explosion. She turned on the wireless radio in her ear and was about to speak and let out her anger, but the voice from the other end spoke first, fueling her anger.
"From all those years, you still remain the same. You're weak, Levina."
***