"The Knight you fought is merely a demoted Angel."
The dread on the old man's eyes sold the words from the lady to Killian, but he barely believed it.
A faint scoff slipped past Killian's lips. "Why will an angel personally kill me?"
There was silence in the room.
Killian knew he lied about the real intentions of the Knight, but his kill order would not be given to an angel. He wasn't that much of a threat yet.
Did they hate the Void so much?
"Angels definitely kill their targets." The lady deadpanned. "There are no survivors, or witnesses."
Killian kept a straight expression while thinking of an answer.
Are angels over-hyped? Or did Juda really restrict him and fought back all along?
"Killian?" The lady called.
He raised his head, but they fell again. "I don't know how I survived. I just fought back." His voice was quiet. "He used my cousin to kill me. I couldn't let him kill me or my cousin."
After a half-a-minute of silence, an old man raised his hand for his suggestion. He lowered it when the lady gave him a nod.
"Let us take him there." The man said. "The Knight evidently wants to impede a potential strength in our future. We can't let him be killed by a rogue Angel."
Another man raised his hand immediately, but spoke before he got a nod. "How many have been targeted by knights and survived? Much less Angels."
He directed the next question at Killian. "Is there no reason why the Angel attacked?" He had a hint of suspicion in his tone, but no one blamed him for it.
Killian couldn't either.
If all they said were true, he might be the first to survive an angel's attack. Only because he had a Fire corrupted by the Void Element.
It was hard to recreate.
"He tricked my cousin to fight me to death. I did not have time to discuss with him."
I have to keep saying half-truths.
Killian kept a straight face, and made sure to keep eye contact with whoever asked him a question.
They might have a way to realise when a lie. A half-truth can slip past.
Another half-a-minute of silence passed with the board discussing within themselves. Then they all raised their hands.
"What does that mean?" Killian looked at the lady.
"We'll get back to you with our decision. Send a private message via your WLog if you remember anything. I opened the feature for you." The lady closed her laptop and the board did the same.
"You'll be assigned any willing S-Rank Warden for your protection." She added. "They can teach you if you're willing to keep up with them."
Killian's expression paled. An S-Rank Warden with him would be a huge risk. He could hardly keep the A-Rank George away.
The lady turned to the board. "Dismissed."
Her tone was final, and Killian couldn't refute.
The old men vanished from their seats in an instant. The old women closed their laptops, and quietly walked out of the room.
Killian gently rose from his seat. "An S-Rank Warden is too much. I can just rest at home—"
"No, one S-Rank is too little actually. Humans aren't pushovers. If a rogue Angel messes with our kids, our Wardens, we can't sit quietly."
The lady still calmly packed her things into her bag.
Killian's shoulders relaxed.
It was the first time he heard an adult acknowledge that newbie Wardens were also kids— kids who needed an adults' guidance and protection.
"Thank you."
The lady smiled, swinging her bag over her shoulder. "Don't worry, I will ask a nice Warden." She pointed at her shirt. "I am her biggest fan girl."
He narrowed his eyes on the shirt, but couldn't make sense of who the Warden was. "Thank you."
He left the board room. All through, he got one shock after the other.
He still couldn't believe that Knight was an angel.
Maybe I should've waited for a name.
"Oh, you should do mana exercises to prepare you for what may come." The lady said, walking past him to the door.
Killian bopped his head vehemently, even if he didn't know what was to come. He'd wanted permission but only high ranked Wardens could access the meditation room.
Quara was too busy to handle the documents. George said he should keep resting. It will be a cinch for a higher-up.
"Will you—"
"Yes," She waved as she left. "My kid will be there as well, so you two can train together."
Killian sighed softly. What an obvious 'please be friends with my kid' pitch? Very well.
She just gave him permission to go to a high-level room. And opened a convenient feature on WLog.
Smiling at her kid was the least he could do.
He found the meditation room buried deep into the training quarters, after five minutes of walking. He scanned his badge and waited.
"Would she have given me permission yet? We just spoke about it…" The door clicked open.
He cracked his neck and knuckles before walking in. "After staying in bed for days, it's good to finally—"
The room was empty. Except for a few mats. There were vents and crystals on the walls but he didn't feel any effect. "So I just sit?" he asked no one.
He sat on a mat. Nothing still happened.
In less than a minute, he whipped out his phone, and checked a site for something that bothered him. He tried to read but then tapped the AI-Summarise.
"Angels only use one of the eight basic elements… with the exception of the forbidden."
He looked up, remembering how the Knight only used Holy Fire. "That means an angel with great affinity to water can come for me."
That will be the worst case for his corrupted Fire. Water was Fire's natural enemy. "For the moment, I should just get used to—"
He heard whooshing sounds outside the door, like waves crashing into each other. He looked at the window and confirmed he wasn't by the sea.
Am I imagining things because I thought of water?
The door opened, and Killian's heart jumped to his throat. He calmly left where he sat, and got the Void-Bat from the inventory. He kept it behind him.
The person walked in, a tree branch head-in followed by twig-like legs, and the rest of their frame was basically a tree.
Killian looked them up and down, till he noticed the ball of water swirling in their palm. An angel?
Killian brought his Void-Bat in front of him. Did he possess a tree? "What do you want?"
The figure's 'eyes' moved down to the Void-Bat in his hands, as if curious. "You… You are the one I was sent to—"
"Then come at me." Killian gestured with his bat.
"At least you didn't drag anyone else into it, so I'd keep my promise."