Chapter 582: Friend or Foe?

Chapter 580

"Bryce Jackson."

"...."

Trish blinked once, then again, and again, as confusion spread across her face.

"Huh? Why would Bryce do this?"

Before Ray could reply, however, Van suddenly fell to his knees.

Tears streamed down his face, causing everyone to turn towards him.

"It-It-It’s all my fault. If-If only I hadn’t helped in building it. If only—"

"—SHUT UP!" Ray barked angrily at his best friend.

His hands trembled, his fury making it difficult for him to keep himself composed.

"Why the hell do you have to blame yourself for what Bryce did? Who gave you that right?!"

"Because it’s all my fault! I helped in building—"

"—You were deceived, stupid. You didn’t know what you were working on."

"I still helped! Don’t you understand, Ray? I helped massacre thousands of people because I wasn’t paying enough attention to what I was working on!" Van barked back, tears flying from his eyes.

Ray fell silent.

The others looked even more confused, except for Felix, who let out a tired sigh.

"There’s no denying the fact that you helped build the nuke, but you weren’t aware of what you were doing. Instructor Elysa tricked you, dumbass," the werewolf chimed in.

Van continued sobbing as images of the destroyed houses, ruined structures, and charred bodies replayed in his mind over and over again.

"If-If only we had exposed him that day in the courtroom, none of this would have happened. If-If only he hadn’t escaped from our gr—"

"Okay, I’m so confused right now. What is going on here?" Chloe asked, glancing between Van and Ray, her eyes demanding an explanation.

Alas!

The explanation didn’t come from either of the two best friends. Instead, the werewolf exhaled and began recounting everything that had happened when they were Aspirants.

He explained how Van had been tricked into building the nuke because nobody else was smart enough to construct it, how Van had tried to stop them from taking it after discovering what it was, and how he had nearly been killed in the process.

He then recounted how Ray had come to help after receiving a message from his best friend shortly before the confrontation, how Felix and Kai had joined them, the battle that followed, and how Bryce had managed to escape that day with the nuke.

When Felix finished, the room fell silent. Everyone was lost in thought, trying to process everything they had just heard.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! I killed those innocent people!" Van cried, repeatedly banging his hand against the ground.

Caster was about to open his mouth to say something when someone suddenly burst through the door.

It was the Captain.

His eyes swept across the room once before he interrupted them.

"I don’t know what’s going on here, and I don’t care. Anyway, I found out something about the Larsons. I found out where they live."

.....

"I don’t know what’s going on here, and I don’t care. Anyway, I found out something about the Larsons. I found out where they live."

"....?!"

"....!!!"

Ray and Van snapped their heads towards the Captain, who stood before them with his hands tucked into his pockets.

"Yo-You know where the Larsons are?" Chloe stuttered in disbelief.

The tired Captain nodded.

"Yes. Don’t ask me how I got this information. I had to do a lot to get it. Anyway, I requested a month’s leave for all of us, despite the General’s refusal.

"It took a lot to get him to permit us. He even reported me to the Commander."

The teens all gulped at the revelation.

The Commander. Another member of the Big Four.

"....Well, I almost got chewed out over the phone, as even the Commander was vehemently against this mission. It took another round of convincing before he reluctantly granted us all the leave. So, get ready. We’re leaving here tomorrow."

That was all.

The Captain had come, delivered the news, and was about to leave when Trisha spoke.

"Hang on, Captain."

The man stopped abruptly before slowly tilting his head towards the Ice Queen.

However, she wasn’t even looking at him. Her gaze was fixed on Ray, who stood some distance away.

"Remember your promise? I think we all need to know the truth before we embark on this mission. We need to know the real you, including the Captain.

"He risked his life to retake your home, and we all did, too. And now, he’s about to help us rescue Kai. The least you can d—"

"Alright," Ray interrupted the young lady, a determined look settling across his face.

"...."

"Hm?"

"Huh?"

"Alright, I’m officially more than confused. The fuck is going on with everybody today?!" Chloe shouted.

Van blinked and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand.

"’The real you’? What’s going on? Is there something even I don’t know?"

Questions erupted around Ray as his face hardened, his eyes sweeping across the room while he contemplated what to say.

«You really about to do this, huh?» Elyon couldn’t help but ask.

Ray nodded.

He clenched his hands before sucking in a deep breath and slowly releasing it.

"Yes. I’m hiding a secret from you all, including you, Van."

"Out with it already. I’m busy." Raze yawned lazily.

Ray glanced around the room once more, his heart pounding in his chest before he finally steadied himself.

It wasn’t an easy thing to say aloud.

What would the others think of him?

Fear? Confusion? Or something else entirely?

This was the secret he’d been carrying for months now.

"I-I’m not a werewolf, guys. Well, I am, but not really one in that same sense."

Van didn’t even realize when he’d staggered to his feet, his eyes fixed on Ray alongside everyone else’s.

Feeling their gazes bearing down on him, Ray almost faltered, suddenly worried about how they would perceive him once the truth was out.

Regardless, he knew they all deserved to know.

"The truth is that I’m not a pure werewolf. I’m something known as a Tri—"

Before the words could fully escape his throat, Ray’s gaze sharpened as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

His head snapped towards the ceiling, but it was already too late.

A blinding radiance erupted in the room, so brilliant that it seemed as though the sun itself had descended into their midst.

A presence, a divine aura unlike anything they had ever felt before, flooded the entire living room. It was thick and unforgiving, forcing everyone to their knees, including Ray and Raze.

Beads of sweat formed across their temples as Ray’s heart pounded loudly in his ears. His mind spun in confusion, desperately trying to make sense of what was happening.

’Wh-what is this? An-an attack? By who?’

The light grew brighter and brighter, threatening to consume them whole, only to come to an abrupt halt.

Then, as though a wormhole had opened in the room, the radiance suddenly began retracting towards a single point, coalescing and gradually forming a shape.

Until, at last, a figure stepped forth from the depths of the light.

A bright golden eye swept across the room, scanning everyone present before finally settling on Ray.

"A Tribrid."

Ray’s breath hitched at the word.

Not because it was a lie, but because he couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

That was, until Elyon let out an ear-piercing screech within the mindspace upon laying eyes on the figure.

"... Finally found you, you anomaly," the figure uttered, its voice caught somewhere between soothing and menacing.

Ray gulped loudly.

He didn’t need a seer to tell him.

’Another Celestial.’

He could practically smell it.

Friend or foe, he had no idea.