The Mech Lord

"Where is she?" Vanessa frowned as she walked out of Amelia\'s class. She had asked around, but apparently, no one had seen her.

"Instructor, are you looking for Vanessa?" Tristy\'s voice sounded in Vanessa\'s ear, and she turned around to see the girl standing there.

"Instructor? That sounds pleasing to ears." Vanessa smiled at her.

"Look at you, Sis. Your smile is as beautiful as ever," Tristy replied with a sly face.

The two obviously knew each other.

Even before she joined as an Instructor, Vanessa had seen Tristy a lot as she often accompanied Amelia to their home.

"Anyway, have you seen her around?" Vanessa asked.

"Actually, I have been a bit worried as well. She had left before the match began saying that she wanted to go to the washroom. But, I haven\'t seen her since then. I even went to check around, but there is no sight of her," Tristy said with a concerned look on her face.

Vanessa frowned listening to her. If what she said was true, then it was indeed a bit worrying. After all, there was a murderer roaming around.

At this moment, an announcement rang around in the Academy.

"It is to inform all the Instructors and Students that the murderer has been finally identified. Our Instructors are currently dealing with the person. But, as a precautionary measure, all the Instructors are asked to help the student out of the Academy. Please make sure to not move towards the Dorm areas in the south."

The announcement once again repeated itself.

A lot of students who were planning to go and watch the chaos were disappointed when they heard that they had to evacuate and leave the place.

But, there was no use in crying.

The announcement heightened Vanessa\'s worries.

"You leave with everyone, I will find Amelia. And, if you meet her, then ask her to contact me." Vanessa looked at Tristy and the girl nodded.

…

"Are you really not going to uncuff me?" Leo asked as she looked at the girl behind him.

He had a black eye, and there were several bruises on his body. He was obviously beaten pretty badly.

Behind her was Doris, her hairs were still standing upright after being shocked. Not to mention, they were even burned at places.

Currently, Doris was taking him to the Committee room so that his punishment could be decided. Leo had tried to explain the situation to her, but it didn\'t work. She wasn\'t listening to him.

"Could you let me go? What if they end up coming here, and I can\'t defend myself due to this?" Leo showed her his hands.

Doris frowned a bit.

It was indeed troubling. But, she shook her head.

"No worries, the Instructors are there. It will be solved quickly." She then pushed Leo asking him to move forward.

\'Quick? Only if they are capable of using Will..\' Leo muttered inwardly. He hoped that it was Jack or the Dean who had got there.

….

"Don\'t run around like crazy.." Spike finally caught up to Biggie.

"I can\'t find her.." Biggie looked at Spike with a frown on his face.

"She might have run away, if not, she is most likely waiting for a chance to attack." Spike looked at him with a serious face.

"Why in hell did they have to leave the forest here? As if Gloria doesn\'t have enough already," Spike spoke with an irritated look on his face.

The two slowly walked forward with careful steps.

"Whoosh!"

"Careful!" Spike suddenly warned, but Biggie wasn\'t fast enough.

A huge and thick branch of a tree came crashing down onto him, and he was immediately pinned onto the ground.

"Are you alright?" Spike asked with a worried look as he tried to push the branch aside. But, it was too heavy for him. He hadn\'t realized it but the trees being grown behind the Dorms were not ordinary trees. But, it was a type of wood which was used to build bendable weapons for Mechs.

One could imagine it\'s toughness even if it hadn\'t gone through any process of refinement yet.

Spike looked above, and a figure soon landed onto the ground, a little away from them.

It was Runeko.

\'This is bad..\' Spike\'s face turned ugly. And, he immediately walked in front of Biggie, ready to fight.

"You! I won\'t go easy on you, even if you are a friend.." He then slowly raised his little hands into a stance.

Runeko\'s face twitched oddly, but the reaction soon disappeared and was replaced by a blank look on her face.

"Wakaoo!" Spike suddenly took a step, and flew towards Runeko like a bullet.

But, his figure suddenly stopped in mid air, and was immediately pulled away.

"H-Harry!" Spike was very familiar with this situation. It wasn\'t his first time experiencing it after all.

Harry\'s figure had already appeared in front of Biggie, and he slowly let Spike down after pulling him back.

"Don\'t rush in that manner. If she engulfs you, it would be game over for you." He knew that thing had immortality.

For someone of his size, it would need time to completely engulf him. Hence, Harry stood a chance to fight back and get out.

But, if Spike was engulfed, it would be game over for him. No matter how much he would kick or punch, that thing would just keep pressing on him. And, with his little figure, he would be even more easy of a prey.

"What\'s going on here?" Spike looked at Harry.

"It\'s not the time for that..\'\' Harry shook his head, "I will try to restrain her with my strings. You try to talk some sense into her. I can she her reacting to words."

He knew that there was a chance. When that thing had tried to take over him last time, he had fought back. And, it seemed that Runeko was fighting as well.

"Ok, I will give it a try.." Spike nodded.

"Let\'s go.." Harry suddenly raised his hands. And, several little strings immediately shot towards Runeko. Even though it wasn\'t visible to naked eye, it indeed existed.

Ruenko too seemed to be unprepared for it, and ended up getting caught.

The string immediately coiled around her, forcing her body to tightly stick together.

"Aaah!!!" She suddenly let out a scream while trying to break free from it. The grey matter which had always been revolving around her body was finally separated a little from her as the strings tightened around her.

This revealed that Runeko\'s body was still present inside that murky matter.

\'She is strong..\' Harry felt his feet sliding away as Runeko tried to pull him. But, he desperately held on and his hand which was holding onto the strings began to bleed.

"Runeko!" Spike shouted as he got closed to her with one of Harry\'s string wrapped around his stomach. Harry was going to pull him back at the first sign of danger.

"I know you are there! Fight that thing and kick its ass! Use the punches I taught you!" He yelled at her.

"Idiot! Is that how you are supposed to emotionally encourage her!!" Harry cursed in anger. He almost felt blood rushing up to his head on hearing his encouragement.

"What do I say then?" Spike turned his head to look at him.

"Just say something which would help!!" Harry roared as he held onto his string. Nothing was coming to his head in this situation.

Spike opened his mouth, but he had no idea what to do. He wasn\'t that particularly close to her. Besides, the girl remained quiet so there wasn\'t much interaction as well. The biggest thing was that she was a first year, and hence they didn\'t have much time for interactions as of yet.

So, they could be considered acquaintances. And, friends as well. But, not at the level where he could bring out the fighting spirit in her.

\'Nora was the one closest to her….only if..\' Spike\'s eye suddenly lit up, and he looked at his Smart link belt and immediately called her while praying that she would pick up.

…

"Let me through!" Nora shouted with a worried look on her face. But, the security had already formed a barricade and wasn\'t allowing students to go into the dangerous zone where the fight was taking place.

"Nothing will happen to her. She might have already gotten out by now.." Yuji tried to convince her. But, it still didn\'t help Nora who was worried as hell.

They heard the announcement that the murderer was around the Dorms. Nora had immediately come running on hearing that, worried about Runeko, but these guys wouldn\'t allow her to pass.

"Come with me. Everything will be fine.. " Yuji grabbed Nora\'s hand and dragged her away.

As soon as they got out of the Academy, and found themselves a spot like most of the students who were scattered around the outer area, a call came onto Nora\'s smart link.

She picked it up, and the next instant, Spike\'s voice rang out.

"Don\'t have time!! Encourage this girl to fight her inner Demon!!"