Chapter 114: Blink

"What's going on?"

Those were the words that went through everybody's head that were currently in the central area. The safe place that they always knew and loved, now seemed to be in a weird state.

There was no breeze of wind going through the air. It was stale as if there were no air at all in the environment. However, they felt a slight cold tingle in their neck as they watched the violet skies flicker.

Hugh looked around and noticed that everyone was looking up, ignoring him. He realized that this was the moment that he could get away as safely as possible.

He did not want to get blamed for all of these emergencies that happened, so he quickly bolted out. Just as he took one step forward, he suddenly felt a strong grip on his arm.

Hugh looked back and saw a fist grabbing his arm, essentially keeping him in Planck and preventing him from running away.

Hugh knew that he was caught, so as a last resort, he tried to shake the hand off. He activated his armor on his arm and his leg. He wanted to get rid of the grip and run away with the fastest speed he could muster.

The brown and sliver solidified around his limbs and gave him explosive power. Hugh felt his body restrained from the hand that was gripping him, but he was able to get out of the grip.

As soon as Hugh felt the grip loosen, Hugh did not look back and ran straight away from the scene of the crime. He was only able to take three steps away before he suddenly felt a strong force on his back.

The force was large and so sudden that Hugh was thrown off his balance. He had been tackled, presumably by the person that had gripped his arm before.

Hugh's body was thrown to the ground before he could even try to restore his balance. He felt this oppressing force that made his head collide with the ground. Thankfully, he was able to raise his head and he only came out with a scratch.

Then, Hugh felt his hands getting bent in shape, and force to his back. With his hands restrained, he could not move any further.

*step* *step* *step*

Hugh heard footsteps coming from his back and walking towards him. He could feel the power and intensity of the man just from his footsteps.

Then man's shadow formed in Hugh's face, blocking his vision from the violet scenery around. Hugh looked up and saw a familiar face.

"Hey, remember me?"

Ace's serious but smiling face showed itself to Hugh. This man was a part of the Student Council and the person who had interrogated Hugh before.

"Oh, yeah. Nice to meet you again."

Hugh flashed an awkward smile as he tried to make his case as innocent as possible. He even let out a slight chuckle as he looked up at Ace.

"We have a lot to talk about."

Ace put his hands on his waist as he looked at Hugh, ready to interrogate him, again and again, to find out the truth.

—-Student Council Headquarters—-

"So...."

Hugh was once again in the gray painted walls of the interrogation room of the Student Council Headquarters. It was bleak and gave the person gazing into it a hopeless feeling.

Ace stood tall as he unbuttoned his jacket and laid it on his chair. He then loosened his tie and sat on the chair opposite Hugh.

"You want to tell me why you were at the Central Building?"

Ace did not tarry any longer and went straight for the crucial question. He did not seem to be lax and calm as the time that Hugh had been interrogated before.

"I was trying to stop someone."

Ace listened closely to Hugh and scrutinized every muscle movement in Hugh's face. He wanted to see if Hugh was telling the truth or not.

"Stop someone from what?"

Hugh's hands were cuffed to the table, and he did not have many luxuries in moving. He felt constrained as the cuffs were too tight for his liking.

"From destroying the school. I got a message that something inside the school was going to be destroyed."

In order not to be suspicious, Hugh decided to tell the truth. He omitted some details, but he was still telling the truth.

"Does that have something to do with the school barriers that were mysteriously shut down?"

Ace leaned in closer. Hugh felt the pressure around himself start to get tighter, forcing his body to squeeze itself.

"I did not know that it was going to be shut down. I only knew that something was going to happen."

Hugh shook his head. He looked directly into Ace's eyes to prove that he was innocent, that he was only telling the truth.

"Who did the warning come from? It must have been from a reliable source as you believed it so easily."

Ace had his hands intertwined as he tilted his head and looked at Hugh with a doubtful look.

"That doesn't matter. I received the warning, and I acted on it."

Ace still had a lot of questions, but he was pressed for time. He needed to know more about the details inside the Central building.

"You must have done a terrible job, seeing that the school barriers are down."

Hugh gritted his teeth as he remembered the blood that was spilling into his hands. He had killed Aric, but it was for nothing. The cube did its job and disabled the barriers.

Hugh was silent as he did not want to answer the question. The incident was only a few minutes ago, and it was still fresh in his mind. He did not want to think about his failure.

Hugh blinked and suddenly saw Ace standing up. In a split second, Ace's position had changed. Hugh was surprised as he did not feel Ace moving at all.

He looked up at Ace and saw that he was looking at him all weird.

*snap*

Ace snapped and tried to take Hugh's attention. He then spoke as he tilted his head.

"Hugh? Are you there? Answer my question!"