Chapter 96: The Electric Rabbit Finally Arrived

The moment Leon smashed the door open, the sight that greeted them made both Sentinels freeze.

Reeta was lying on the floor, blood staining her clothes and pooling beneath her. One hand pressed against her waist, desperately trying to stop the bleeding, while the other trembled as she pointed toward the open window.

"There..." she whispered weakly.

Leon stood motionless, his eyes fixed on the blood spreading across the floor. For a brief moment, it was as though time had stopped, leaving him unable to process what he was seeing.

"Leon!" Raphael shouted, his expression darkening as he rushed toward Reeta.

"Go!" Reeta forced out with the last of her strength, her gaze fixed on the window. "Get them back!"

Her fingers trembled against her wound, and she struggled to lift her head one last time.

"They were..." she muttered before her eyes slowly closed.

"Reeta!"

Leon dropped to his knees beside her, catching her before her head could strike the floor. His fingers pressed against the wound at her waist, attempting to stop the bleeding, but the amount of blood beneath her made his expression turn grim.

"Reeta, open your eyes." His voice was unusually urgent as he checked her pulse. "Can you hear me?"

She didn’t respond.

For a moment, Leon stared at her pale face, his jaw tightening as he forced himself to focus. He had seen countless injuries on the battlefield, and he knew better than anyone that wasting time would only make things worse.

Yet, with Reeta lying motionless in his arms, the usual composure he relied on seemed dangerously close to slipping.

"Damn it!" Raphael cursed.

He had already reached the window, his gaze sweeping over the grounds below. The curtains fluttered in the wind, and beyond them, the trees swayed gently as though nothing had happened. Whoever had taken the twins had vanished without leaving so much as a shadow behind.

Raphael’s eyes narrowed.

They had been inside his residence for only a short time, yet someone had managed to get past his security, injure an S-rank Guide, and abduct two people without alerting either of the SSS-rank Sentinels guarding the house.

This wasn’t an ordinary intrusion.

"Leon, can you handle Reeta?" Raphael asked, his voice stripped of its usual playfulness.

Leon glanced down at the unconscious Guide in his arms before looking up at him.

"I’m taking her to the hospital." His gaze hardened. "You go after them. Don’t let the people responsible escape."

Raphael didn’t need to be told twice.

The moment Leon finished speaking, Raphael swooshed through the open window, his figure disappearing into the night as a powerful gust swept through the room.

Leon watched him leave for barely a second before carefully lifting Reeta into his arms.

"Don’t you dare die on me," he muttered, his voice low enough that only she could have heard it if she were conscious. "You still owe me an explanation."

"Take care of her," Raphael said, his expression turning serious. "I’ll bring the girls back."

Without waiting for a reply, he swooshed out of the room, his figure vanishing beyond the window in a rush of wind.

The moment his feet touched the ground outside, Raphael extended his senses toward the surrounding area, searching for any lingering traces of the intruders. He could still detect faint disturbances in the air, but they were scattered and rapidly fading, as though whoever had taken Lumi and Celestine had deliberately covered their tracks.

"Clever," he muttered, his eyes narrowing.

Whoever these people were, they had clearly prepared for this operation. They had entered his residence without triggering the security system, neutralized Reeta, and escaped with two Guides before either he or Leon could react. Even more troubling was the fact that Raphael had sensed the approaching group earlier, yet he had failed to notice anyone breaking into his room.

It was almost as if they had known exactly where to strike.

Raphael crouched beside the faint disturbance near the garden path, brushing his fingers against the grass.

Barely anything.

He really couldn’t sense anything.

"Are you kidding me?"

He straightened, running a hand through his hair as he stared at the seemingly ordinary garden. There were no clear traces of energy, no lingering presence he could follow, and certainly no footprints that could tell him which direction the intruders had taken.

It was as though the people who had broken into his residence had simply vanished into thin air, taking Lumi and Celestine with them.

Raphael clicked his tongue before swooshing toward the eastern wall, checking the surrounding area in the hope that he might find something the first time he had missed. When he found nothing, he turned toward the road beyond the estate, then changed direction again and searched the garden on the opposite side.

Nothing.

He swooshed back toward the entrance, swept through the nearby trees, and checked the pathways leading toward the neighboring properties, but every place he searched yielded the same frustrating result.

Not even a hint.

"Damn it!"

Raphael stopped in the middle of the road, his hands curling into fists. He was one of the Empire’s strongest Sentinels, an SSS-rank whose senses were sharp enough to detect the slightest disturbance in his surroundings, yet he couldn’t even find a proper trail left by the people who had entered his own residence.

Worse, he had been standing right downstairs when they attacked.

If he hadn’t been distracted by Felix and Esther, would he have noticed them sooner? Could he have stopped them before they reached the room?

The questions only made his frustration grow.

"Celestine..." Raphael shut his eyes, forcing himself to calm down.

Physical traces were useless, and the residual energy left behind by the intruders had been concealed so thoroughly that even his enhanced senses couldn’t distinguish it from the surrounding environment. If he couldn’t track the kidnappers, perhaps he could locate the person he was connected to.

As her Fated Sentinel, he should at least be able to sense Celestine’s Guiding energy.

He concentrated on the familiar presence he had encountered inside his mental space, searching for that gentle warmth that had reached him when he was on the verge of losing control. He remembered her voice, her stubborn expression, and the way she had held on to him despite being frightened.

He searched for even the faintest echo of that connection.

But there was nothing.

Raphael’s brows furrowed as he concentrated harder, extending his senses farther and farther until the effort began to strain his temples.

Still nothing.

It wasn’t that Celestine’s Guiding energy had weakened. It was as though something had been placed between them, deliberately concealing her presence and preventing him from establishing even the slightest connection.

Someone had gone to considerable lengths to hide the twins.

And that realization made his stomach sink.

"Who the hell are you people?" he muttered, opening his eyes.

Raphael clenched his jaw, his gaze shifting toward the city in the distance before he dismissed the thought almost immediately.

No. The kidnappers wouldn’t be stupid enough to hide Lumi and Celestine somewhere within the city.

The Empire’s security system was far too advanced, particularly in the central districts where surveillance cameras covered nearly every major street and public building. Any suspicious vehicle or unidentified individual could be tracked within minutes.

Taking the girls into the city would be like walking straight into a trap.

Whoever had planned this operation clearly knew what they were doing. They had even managed to conceal their presence from an SSS-rank Sentinel, so Raphael doubted they would make such an elementary mistake now.

He was still trying to work out where they might have gone when someone suddenly flashed right in front of him.

Raphael lifted his gaze sharply.

"You sure sleep too much..."