Chapter 10

Winter Break - Day 1

Safira looks out of the window in the morning and sees snow starting to fall. Jose approaches her from behind.

"It's the first day of winter. It's starting to snow." Jose says.

"Up already?" Safira asks.

"Yes. I was told to come to headquarters today for information about the battle with that demon named Jean." Jose replies.

"Has your wound healed? I heard Maximus intervened during the incident yesterday."

"Relax. I'll only be gone for a while. I really wanted to talk to Petra about what happened yesterday. However, he came home tired last night. So, I let him sleep a little longer."

"I'm coming with you." Safira says.

"No. You stay here. So that when Petra wakes up, you can talk to him while you wait for me to get home." Jose replies.

"But your condition hasn't fully improved. Can't you just send a letter to the Zodiacs? Or let me replace you to go to headquarters." Safira says forcefully.

"Darling, don't make it more complicated. I'm only going for a moment to give information regarding that demon named Jean. I'll be back soon." Jose replies soothingly.

"Alright." Safira says briefly.

"I'll be back at 12 at lunchtime." Jose says as he walks away.

"Take care, Darling." Safira says.

"I will. I'm off."

"I have a bad feeling." Safira mutters to herself.

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On the way to the headquarters, Jose is surprised by the thick snow covering the road. He stops the car to check the thickness of the snow. He gets out and looks around, but there's no one to be found.

"Weird! It just snowed this morning. There's no way the streets are already covered in thick snow like this." He mutters.

The snow blocking the road is 30 cm thick. He finds it strange that it has just snowed that morning.

"I sense something strange. Alright. I'll contact one of the Zodiacs to send someone to pick me up."

Looking at his mobile phone screen, he's annoyed 'cause there's no signal. "Arrgghh! I need to contact the headquarters immediately!"

Rustle...

Rustle...

He hears the sound of the bushes rustling. He gets out of the car and approaches it. "Hey! Who is that?! Come out!"

Two 10-year-old children come out with scared faces 'cause he shouted at them. "Ah. It's you kids. What are you doing?" Jose asks.

"Ah... Hmm... We were just told to do this." The children say.

Jose feels something strange. He then hurries to get into the car and leaves the place. But when he turns around, he comes face to face with a man.

The man has a very large body with a height of 198 cm. His face is hideous. He has long and thick beard.

Jose immediately falls to the ground in shock.

"Wh-who are you?! What do you want?" Jose snaps.

"Do you know where Dominic is?" The large man asks flatly and loudly.

"Waaaa..." The two children run away in fear at once.

"Huh? What are you looking for him for?! I won't tell you!" Jose replies.

Jose gets up right away and prepares to fight.

"If you tell me where Dominic is, I won't hurt you." The man asks about Dominic with a big voice and a flat tone once again.

"Don't force me to attack you!! Go away! I don't have time for you!" Jose snaps.

Jose tries to calm down, but he detects a huge and dangerous aura. Even though he knows he won't win, he tries to defend himself.

The big man walks over to Jose. "I asked you twice. You didn't answer. So, I must force you to tell me where Dominic is!"

"Stop! I'll really attack you!" Jose snaps.

"Do you think there's a human being in this world who could hurt me?" The big man asks.

"Fine! Rain of Sword!!" Jose uses a rain of sword attack on the big man.

All the swords that struck the man's body shatter. None of Jose's attacks can hurt him.

"No way!! Cough cough!" Even though the injuries from fighting with Jean haven't yet recovered, Jose instead spends his energy attacking the big man.

"Tell me where Dominic is."

"What are you going to do to my master?!" Jose asks.

"Master? Hmm... So Dominic has a weak student like you?" The big man asks.

"I'll ask you once again. What do you want to do to my master?!"

"Take me to Dominic's place. He owes me a promise." The man replies.

"Really? You know my master, then?" Jose asks in surprise.

"Know him? Not just that. I taught him to fight!" The man replies.

"What?! Then he's the master of my master." Jose mutters to himself.

"Alright. I'll drop you off after I go to my workplace. How about it?" Jose offers.

"I'm not negotiating. The point is, take me to Dominic's place."

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On the way, Jose tries to figure out who the man is and what motivates him to find Dominic. "Ah. My name is Jose."

"Just call me Gregory."

"Ah. Alright."

Arriving at the Zodiacs headquarters. Jose immediately rushes to fill in the information and other data needed by the Zodiacs. "Mr. Gregory, please wait a moment. I won't be long."

10 minutes later

"Where's that man? I've been waiting too long." Gregory gets out of the car and walks into the Zodiacs headquarters.

"Hmm... The Zodiacs... It takes me back. If only he was still around, surely the world would be much more interesting." Gregory says while staring at the logo with the word Zodiacs on the entrance.

"Good afternoon. How can we help you, Sir?" The receptionist asks.

"I'm looking for a man called Jose. He left me in the parking lot. Tell him to quickly take me to Dominic's place."

"I'm sorry. Mr. Jose is in a meeting with the Zodiacs. You can wait another 1-2 hours. Or would you like to come back later?" The receptionist explains.

"I told you, tell Jose to come and see me! Now!" Gregory gives off a huge aura and Maximus detects it.

"Something's wrong!" Maximus rushes down from the second floor to the entrance of the Zodiacs headquarters.

"Hey! Where are you going, Maximus?" Ivar asks.

"Just wait here. I'll be right back." Maximus detects Gregory's power faintly.

"B-but... Sir, Mr. Jo-Jose is busy. M-maybe I can try to get word to him if you'd like."

"I told you to send him here! I won't do it again."

Maximus comes over to Gregory. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Huh? Do I know you?" Gregory asks.

"I am the Leo. My name's Maximus. If you have urgent matters, let me help you. Who are you looking for?" Maximus asks.

"I'm looking for Jose. He promised to take me to Dominic's place. Hurry up and get him over here." Once again, Gregory uses his big, flat voice.

"I'm sorry. I don't think that's possible. He's currently undergoing a number of checks. Please wait here for a while." Maximus says.

"Who do you think I am? Why are you speaking to me as if I were a commoner? You can talk like that with ordinary people, not with me!" Gregory lets out a huge aura.

Ivar and Ozzy follow Maximus 'cause they detect Gregory's great power.

"What's going on, Maximus?" Ivar asks.

"This guy insists on seeing Jose." Maximus replies.

"What does he have to do with Jose?" Ozzy asks.

"I don't know either, but he asked to be taken to Dominic's place." Maximus replies.

"Dominic? What does he have to do with Senior Dominic?" Ivar asks.

"No need to whisper there. Whoever you are, take me to Dominic's place now." Gregory says sternly.

"I can't. As the Zodiacs leader, I can't allow that. You could jeopardize the safety of others. I'm sorry, but I have to force you to stay here. Apocalypse Shield!"

Maximus creates a shield to enclose the man in a small radius.

"So you're challenging me, huh? Okay. Legendary Spear!" Gregory creates a magic spear.

"What?? What a huge aura! I can feel that this guy is dangerous!" Ivar mutters to himself.

"No way! He can still use his magic inside my magical shield?" Maximus mutters to himself.

"Chief, looks like this guy is dangerous. I'll beat him right away!" Ozzy comes forward and jumps at Gregory.

Gregory sticks his spear in the ground, creating a very strong wave that knocks Ozzy away.

His magical wave didn't damage the surrounding objects. Instead, it looks like nothing has happened.

Maximus and Ivar are bent over due to the enormous pressure from Gregory's magical wave.

"Spirit of Cursed Spear!"

Gregory's magical wave is so big, it can be felt from as far as 300 metres away. It could only be felt by people who also have magic power. Ordinary humans wouldn't feel it.

Maximus' Apocalypse Shield instantly breaks due to the massive magic wave from Gregory's spear.

"What's this? The air's getting tight!" Jose says.

Jose is on the 15th floor, but he senses a large portion of Gregory's magical wave.

"Arrghh... I can't move." Ivar says.

"This guy is very dangerous!" Maximus says.

"Ugh... Feels like my body is being stepped on by a giant shoe. So heavy!" Ozzy says.

"You guys are too cocky, playing heroes like that. You think it's cool? Is this how the current generation of Zodiacs is? How sad!" Gregory says.

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At Dominic's house

"What's this? I recognize this aura! Could it be him?" Dominic rushes to the direction the magic aura is coming from.

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Meanwhile, at the Zodiacs headquarters

"Please don't do anything dangerous. If you want to go to Dominic's place, I'll take you." Maximus says.

"Earlier on, you challenged me by pulling out your shield first. I thought you were strong enough. Now you say you want to take me there? You underestimate me, young man." Gregory walks over to Maximus.

"Hey! Gregory! Stop it!" Dominic shouts from a distance.

Gregory looks back to see Dominic. "Haha. We finally meet again."

"Gregory?! Could you be...?" Maximus asks in surprise.

Gregory looks at Maximus. "So you already know who I am? Good for you. You're a fast learner."

Gregory pulls his spear out and stops the magical wave.

"Phew... I finally feel relieved..." Ozzy says.

"Phew! This guy is way too strong! Who is he exactly?" Ivar asks.

"He's Senior Dominic's best friend. His name rings a bell." Maximus says.

"The one you're looking for is me! Don't create chaos, Gregory!" Dominic shouts.

"Chaos? This is what chaos is! Giant Spear of Thunder!"

Gregory unleashes his immense power. It's 10x greater than the previous magical wave.

He throws his spear which spins very fast and grows bigger and bigger as it's filled with powerful waves of electricity.

The spear shoots very fast toward Dominic.

"High Pressure of Angels!!" Dominic spreads his aura about 5 meters around his body and catches the spear easily without any injuries. The spear slows down as it enters Dominic's magical aura.

"What?! The spear was caught easily by Senior Dominic?" Ivar mutters to himself.

"Hey. Seriously? Senior Dominic only used one hand to stop such a huge attack?" Ozzy is shocked to see what happened.

"It's no wonder that Senior Dominic was appointed as the head of the 4 Holy Knights. He does have a ton of power." Maximus mutters to himself.

"You're still playing around, Gregory! You haven't changed at all!" Dominic says.

"Hahaha. It turns out your power is still the same as before. I thought you were getting weaker, Dominic!" Gregory removes his magic spear and walks over to Dominic.

"Did you see that, Maximus?" Ivar asks.

"Yes. We'd better get back to work. That guy already met Senior Dominic. I'm sure everything will be fine."

Maximus bows to Dominic, then leaves with Ozzy and Ivar.