Seeing what she had done, the girl shivered in horror, subconsciously stepping backwards.
"Q-Quira!" Alex shouted, swiftly dashing towards her.
Drip!
Blood slowly flowed out of his ears, dripping down his chin.
Due to how close he was to her, the sound waves had hit him pretty hard, causing serious damage to his eardrums.
Nonetheless, he didn't really care about that, only rushing to see if the girl was okay.
"Are you okay…?" He muttered, slowly rubbing her shoulders.
His eyes then caught sight of a thin red fluid gushing out of her nose, and his eyes immediately widened in shock.
"Y-you're bleeding! You've pushed yourself too hard…" He muttered, gently wiping the blood off with his fingers.
"B-but… you're bleeding too Alex…" Quira muttered, her gaze drifting towards the blood gushing out of the boy's ear.
Her eyes were dizzy, and she felt like she could collapse anytime from now. She was only holding it, barely holding back the urge to simply close her eyes and 'sleep'.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Alex said, gently pushing her behind him.
Although Quira had great psychic talent, a type that had never been recorded in the history of Zenon, her Zet core was still weak, so using such powerful attack would put a huge strain on not just her body but also her mind.
It was why she usually just restricted her powers to flying and moving light objects, anything more than that, and her mind could crumble.
"Alex… Quira… the two of you need to get out of here." He heard his father mutter from where he stood, staring at Port'hov with his eyes filled with hatred.
"Ohh, you think we'll just let you go?" The woman beside Port'hov suddenly said, turning her gaze towards the two kids.
Her gaze drifted towards Quira, and her lips slowly curled into a sinister smirk.
"As expected, using such powerful attack despite being so young, she really is a one-of-a-kind talent." She said, stretching her hands towards Quira.
A light wave suddenly brushed out of her hands, moving towards Quira at rapid speed.
"I won't let you…" Alex shouted, however, before he could even complete his words, a transparent bubble swiftly materialised over Quira, causing his eyes to widen in shock.
"W-what…?" He muttered, staring with wide-eyes as the bubble slowly floated upwards carrying her along with it.
The girl kept banging the surface of the bubble in fear, in a bid to burst it, but it didn't budge.
"A-alex! Help me!" She kept shouting, however, her words were drowned out by the strange bubble and nothing she said reached the boy's ears.
"Release her! Let her go!" Alex shouted, trying desperately to hold down the bubble. But unfortunately, his efforts were fruitless, as he couldn't even reach it.
"Just leave them out of this!" Alex father shouted, gnashing his teeth in frustration.
"Why won't you just shut up?!" Port'hov shouted, swinging his hands at the man.
Swoosh!
A powerful wave immediately shot out of his hand, slamming into the man's torso with immense force.
"Argh!" He grunted in pain, blood spurting of his mouth.
"D-dad!!" Alex shouted, staring at his injured father with his eyes wide in horror.
"Look at you now Earl, so pathetic. Just one small wave, and you can barely even stand." Port'hov said, clicking his tongue in disdain.
"Why… are you d-doing this…? I t-trusted you… the two of you." Earl muttered, coughing out blood again.
If someone told him a few hours ago that he would soon be in this position, with his wife dead beside him, he wouldn't have believed!
Port'hov was the one that invited them here, claiming he had something important for them to discuss.
Just before the meeting started, he served them tea, which they both drank without suspecting anything.
However, the moment they drank out of the tea, a strong wave of dizziness suddenly hit them.
His wife was the first one to fall, with those strange green lines rapidly growing all around her skin.
She tried desperately to fight it, but merely seconds after taking the tea, she started suffocating, before dropping dead to the ground.
Unbeknownst to them, Port'hov had injected that tea with a strange virus which directly attacked one's Zet core, ending their life within seconds.
Despite being a powerful psychic, the queen could barely hold out for ten seconds before losing her life to the virus.
Since he didn't have any Zet left in him, he wasn't killed by the virus, however, his body was severely weakened, leaving him unable to fight.
It was clear that they had been planning this for a long time… plotting against he and his family right under their noses…
"You're really asking why I'm doing this?" Port'hov said, pausing for a few seconds before continuing: "Isn't it obvious, to take control of this kingdom."
"W-when… did you start plotting all… of this?" He muttered, finding it hard to hold back his curiosity.
"Since the day you and the queen ascended the throne." That response pierced through his heart like a blade, causing his eye to widen in shock.
"You two were always acting so righteous, banning the slavery of duds…" Port'hov said, his expression twisting into one of disgust. "Making us breathe the same air as those… mongrels. Did you even know how much that stupid rule of yours cost me?"
"I guess it's fair now, since you've also fallen down to their level." He said, letting out a mocking chuckle. "We'll take this kingdom, and restore it back to its former glory, too bad you won't be here to see it."
Swoosh!
Just as a said this, a thin white line swiftly shot out from one of his fingers, piercing through Earl's heart almost immediately.
Spurt!
"Argh!" The man grunted in pain, his hands tightly clutching his chest as blood rapidly gushed out of it.
Thud!
"Goodbye, your majesty." Those were the last words that drifted into his ears, as his body fell down to the ground with a loud thud.
"N-no… d-dad? Dad!!" Alex shouted, his eyes trembling in horror. He could feel a sharp pain in his chest, and it felt like time had slowed down as his father's body laid motionlessly on the ground.
Quira also stared wide-eyed in horror, however, her screams were ruthlessly drowned out by the transparent bubble.
"Just get this over with Port'hov, just the sight of their faces is really irritating me." Cier'ta, the woman standing beside Port'hov said, letting out a light scoff.
"A-aunt Cier'ta…" Alex muttered, staring at the woman in disbelief.
Although they weren't blood related, Cier'ta and his mother had always been close, to the point where they seemed like sisters.
From what he knew, his mother saved her life a long time ago, bringing her into the palace, and had been taken care of her since then.
So why… why was she the one standing against them instead. It didn't make any sense to him…
There was also Port'hov, who had served the kingdom for decades now. He was the king's adviser, and had stood by his side for many years now, contributing to the development of the kingdom.
His eyes trembled as he stared at them, feeling confused and at the same time helpless about the whole situation.
"Don't call me your Aunt." The woman suddenly said, snapping her head at Alex.
"I'd advise you to run, but I guess that's pointless. No matter where you run, you can't escape. This whole palace, is under my control, I'll just have them bring your head back to me."
"Just calm down Cier, we'll soon be over with this." Port'hov said, letting out a light chuckle.
He then turned towards the transparent bubble encapsulating Quira, and his lips slowly curled into a wide smirk.
"It's good you both came here, at least now I don't have to look for you." He said, calmly walking towards them.
Seeing the smirk on his face, Alex could already tell he was up to no good, and he swiftly stepped in front the girl.
"Don't come any closer…" He muttered, stretching his hands to the side.
However, Port'hov simply ignored him, acting like he wasn't even there as he advanced forward.
"You're worthless, get out of my way." He muttered, lightly moving his palm to the side.
Swoosh!
Alex's body immediately flew to the side, as if he was flung by an invisible hand.
Thwack!
His body slammed head-first into a thick wall at the far end of the room, dropping down to the ground with a low thud.
Blood rapidly flowed out of his head, forming a small pool of blood beneath his body.
"Pathetic indeed." He heard Cier'ta say, before his mind was clouded by darkness, and he lost consciousness.
***
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