God-Eater Ascension: Apocalypse Sequence

Alex left the alley behind the internet cafe without heading home. His departure was merely a camouflage.

He hid on the other side of the cafe, listening intently to the rustling footsteps in the alley.

Barry was leaving.

Using his keen hearing, Alex tracked Barry's location, cautiously following him while maintaining a distance to stay out of sight.

Barry, though vigilant about possible followers, never noticed Alex, who never appeared in his line of sight.

After Barry opened his front door, Alex mentally noted the location of his house before quietly leaving.

Returning home, Alex's mind was filled with Barry's threats.

"The scheduled email is indeed a tricky situation," he murmured to himself.

He knew little about Barry, so he wasn't sure how the timed email was set up.

Which email service was used? How many email accounts were involved? And when was the sending time adjusted and delayed?

Alex had no answers to these questions.

Killing Barry was easy, but ensuring his secret remained hidden after the murder was tricky. Any misstep could ruin all the effort Alex had put in so far.

"I can't let my resplendent rebirth start unravel because of Barry," he thought determinedly.

He needed to devise a plan as soon as possible to eliminate this threat.

That night, after washing the meal boxes accumulated over the weekend, Alex took a cold shower and went to bed.

The next morning, Alex dressed, ate breakfast, and glanced at the calendar on the table.

Blue Star Calendar, 2010 January 4th

Western Calendar, Monday.

He left for school after finishing his meal. However, his backpack had been burned, and he had no spare, so he used a cloth bag to carry a few meal boxes.

As for textbooks? He had no idea where they were.

He didn't need them anyway.

On his way out, Alex detoured to the internet cafe, passing by its entrance while deliberately avoiding the surveillance cameras.

Through the cafe's door, he saw Barry still seated at the reception, eyes glued to the computer screen, his face a mix of tension and excitement as his hands nimbly typed on the keyboard, joined by several other gamers in an unknown game.

Immersed in the game, Barry didn't notice Alex passing by.

Alex glanced at Barry and continued on his way to school.

There were people around.

Today didn't seem like a good day to kill Barry.

The main road at the edge of the Safe Zone was slightly busier on weekdays, unlike the weekend's emptiness.

Many students walked in groups.

Alex walked alone, not acknowledging anyone.

Arriving at the school gate, he noticed several adults dressed formally standing there, inspecting the school's situation.

Alex recognized Haven Academy's principal, Ms. Clarke, along with several teachers and leaders accompanying her.

Alex wondered what had gotten into the principal today, suddenly inspecting the school entrance. Perhaps it was just his personality, wanting to assert his presence from time to time.

"Good morning!"

"Good morning,sir!"

Students greeted the principal proactively, and he smiled in return.

Alex ignored him and continued walking past the school gate.

Alex's disregard made the principal lose face. The principal's gaze followed Alex, his eyebrows slightly furrowing.

Every move of a leader needed to be understood by their subordinates. The principal's dissatisfaction was immediately picked up by the teacher beside him.

A quick-witted teacher stepped forward and shouted at Alex, "You! Stop!"

The students turned around in unison, saw the teacher pointing at Alex, and then went on their way, thinking it had nothing to do with them.

Alex looked the teacher in the eye and asked, "What is it?"

"Why didn't you bow to the principal? Don't you know the importance of respecting teachers and cherishing knowledge?!" the teacher snapped.

Seeing the teacher acting like a loyal dog defending the principal's dignity, Alex sneered internally. His fingers twitched involuntarily, as if wanting to clench into a fist.

With a weapon at hand, the urge to kill arose spontaneously.

After killing someone, his mindset had changed. He strongly considered giving the teacher a punch to show him how he understood "respecting teachers and cherishing knowledge."

However, Alex's mind quickly flashed back to Barry's disgusting smile.

No, he had to endure a little longer.

If he hit the teacher now, he would have to reveal himself as a Sequence Ability Holder, which could further empower Barry's threats.

He had to wait until after dealing with Barry.

Fortunately, Alex had endured plenty in his past life, so playing the coward came naturally to him.

He quickly mustered an apologetic smile and said, "Sorry, teacher. I didn't sleep well last night and didn't notice the principal standing there. Good morning, Principal! Good morning, teacher!"

The principal generously smiled, seemingly unbothered by Alex's lack of greeting earlier, and said, "Make sure to get enough rest from now on. Alright, go to class."

"Thank you, Principal."

"Wait!" The teacher called out to Alex again.

"Why don't you have a backpack? What's in the bag you're carrying? Let me see," the teacher demanded eagerly, seemingly anxious to demonstrate his keen insight in front of the principal. He grabbed the bag out of Alex's hand and opened it to look inside.

"Just meal boxes? Where are your textbooks? Didn't you do your homework over the weekend?"

Alex was annoyed by the teacher's nagging. What was the point of textbooks? Studying was just a waste of time. How many students could get into the colleges run by the United Government every year? Didn't you have any idea?

The top students were all known to the school leaders. Just focus on nurturing your star pupils. Why come after me, an ordinary student?

However, facing the teacher's stern questioning, Alex again suppressed his urge to punch the teacher into a new person.

With each act of endurance, his hatred for Barry grew deeper.

Alex was about to speak when a female voice came from behind him:

"Teacher, Alex was with me for tutoring at a classmate's house over the weekend. He left his textbooks there. I promised to bring them to him today."

Alex turned around and was surprised to see that it was Emma who had come to his rescue.

"Hmm? Is that so?"

Alex didn't know why Emma wanted to help him, but he nodded along anyway. "Yes, that's right."

The teacher looked suspiciously at both of them but didn't see any romantic feelings in Alex's eyes, knowing there was no sign of puppy love between them. He then let them go.

"Thank you, Teacher."

"Thank you, Teacher!"

Alex captured the teacher's scrutinizing gaze, which only amused him further.

What was the point of this pathetic school trying to catch students in premature romance?

Most students would go to work after high school anyway. Why not let them enjoy some romance now, which could then transition smoothly into married life and dedication to work?

He wondered why Haven Academy, with its low college admission rate, had so many boring rules.

Emma hurried forward and walked side by side with Alex.

"Alex, don't you have something to say to me?"

Alex looked at Emma, whose smile was bright, and said indifferently, "Do you think I should thank you?"

"I helped you, so shouldn't you say thank you?"

"When I used to bring you breakfast and help you with your homework, you never said thank you. You just said it was a test of our relationship."

"Just consider this my test for you now. Of course, I'm not testing whether you're suitable to be my boyfriend. I'm testing whether you still have any humanity left."

The smile on Emma's face stiffened for a moment before shifting to a somewhat coquettish tone, "I was wrong before. You helped me, and I helped you. Let's call it even, okay? You speaking so coldly really hurts my feelings."

Even?

Alex found it amusing.

In his memory, he often stayed up late to help Emma with her homework. He would go hungry to bring her breakfast.

Was one measly rescue supposed to make everything even?

His efforts meant nothing to Emma; they were just pathetic.

Fortunately, the reborn Alex had cut his losses in time.

Being even was fine. After that, he could completely cut ties with Emma, sparing himself from feeling disgusted with her every day.

"Alright. It's even."

"Since we're even, let's start over. Alex, I'll be more proactive from now on. Can you…"

"Can you continue bringing me breakfast and helping me with my homework?"

Emma heard Alex's anticipated answer but misunderstood his sarcastic tone, thinking he had agreed. She nodded with a smile, "Please? I really love seeing how you care about me. It gives me motivation for the whole day! I can't imagine being apart from you now."

Then, she flashed a smile, believing it would captivate Alex.

This sickening confession was something Emma and her girlfriend had planned over the weekend. According to their understanding of Alex, this should work on him.

However, Alex simply said indifferently, "Emma, I've always wanted to ask you something."

"Go ahead. If I know, I'll definitely tell you!"

"Why do you have to target only me? Isn't there any other boy willing to be your puppy?"

Emma didn't expect Alex to say that, momentarily speechless, "W-what do you mean?"

"If you want to chase after Zhou, do it yourself. Don't always try to leverage me, okay?"

"You send him breakfast but make me do it for you. You want to compare answers with him but ask me to write them for you. Why don't you just make me marry him?"

With ruthless words, Alex exposed Emma's true intentions, leaving her flustered and shocked.

"Emma, stop bothering me. Find another puppy to help you with your homework. If you bother me again…"

Alex flashed a contemptuous smile.

"You wouldn't want Zhou to find out about this, would you?"