Bloodline Evolution: I Can Choose Opposing Paths-Chapter 87: Alyssa Harmonia

The air carried a foul smell now as Aren approached the sludge.

Daniel dispelled his lance as he dusted off his hands. "I’ve seen people use catalysts before..."

"From power catalysts to ether doping," he continued. "But this...?"

Aren didn’t answer. What bothered him wasn’t the explosion.

It was what happened before it.

A Bloodline never moved on its own. It was an extension of the Mystic, their inherited power tied to their ancestors from the ’Great Awakening’ Era.

Aren exhaled slowly. "More questions for Professor Voss, I guess..."

But it’d have to wait, because the cargo truck was still sitting here in the middle of the road. Luckily, no black tar had gotten to it.

Daniel noticed the direction of Aren’s gaze and followed it toward the vehicle parked crookedly in the middle of the road.

He condensed a thin thread of ether into his eyes, letting his perception stretch toward the truck’s interior.

There was still someone inside.

The signature was faint, uneven, like someone whose ether had been suppressed or who simply wasn’t a Mystic at all. But it was there.

Daniel pulled the rear doors of the cargo truck open. The metal latches clanged loudly as they slipped apart.

The woman sat tied to a metal chair bolted to the floor of the truck’s cargo compartment. Her wrists had been bound behind her back with plastic restraints and a rope had wrapped around her body. A strip of silver duct tape covered her mouth.

The moment the doors opened, her head snapped up and her eyes widened.

"MMMPPPH!" she immediately struggled. The chair rattled loudly against the metal floor as she thrashed violently.

Daniel instinctively raised both hands.

"Whoa— easy!"

That only made her panic more.

Aren stepped up into the truck without hesitation and crouched down in front of her.

"It’s alright," Aren said calmly.

She didn’t listen.

Her shoulders twisted again as she tried to break free. Aren reached forward and peeled the duct tape from her mouth.

The moment it came off, words burst out of her.

"I told them I wasn’t signing anything!" she blurted out breathlessly. "They can’t make me do that! I know what they’re trying to do and I’m not crazy!"

Her voice tumbled over itself as panic spilled out all at once.

"There’s no way I’m giving my daughter up!" she yelled out. "They think they can buy my silence with money?!"

Daniel leaned lightly against the truck’s door frame, glancing at Aren.

"...Talkative."

The woman continued rambling, her breathing uneven as her eyes darted between them and the street outside.

They waited for her to finish. After what seemed like five minutes, she eventually got tired. Aren studied her for another second before speaking again.

"Who are you?"

Suspicion returned to her eyes immediately.

"...Why?"

Instead of answering, Aren reached carefully into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a wallet. She tensed but didn’t resist as he opened it.

Inside was a driver’s license. His eyes flicked across the printed name.

Alyssa Harmonia.

Daniel gave a quiet whistle from outside the truck.

"Well," he said, folding his arms, "that confirms it."

Aren slid the card back into the wallet before returning it to her pocket. When he looked back at her, she was studying him carefully now.

"My name’s Aren Cross," he said. "An Urban Bounty Hunter."

He paused briefly before adding,

"I’m a friend of Miu’s."

Not entirely a lie.

"I just need to ask you a few questions."

For a moment, she didn’t respond. Her eyes lingered on him as if weighing whether she believed him or not.

Slowly, he reached for the plastic restraints and ropes before untying her. She rubbed at the marks on her wrists before looking at him again.

"Miu told me that you were the one that forced her to get awakened."

"Forced?!" the woman exclaimed. "I was the one who made her into who she was!"

"I was the only one who noticed her potential," she continued, "Me! Not anyone else!"

"Alright," Aren said slowly. "I believe you."

"I just need to ask you one small question."

He reached into his pocket before pulling out a piece of paper. On it were his awakening details provided by the school, the same form Captain Eric had handed to every student after their evaluation.

"Did she have a paper like this?"

Alyssa stared at the sheet for a moment.

Her expression didn’t change immediately. Instead, her eyes slowly scanned the document, lingering on the printed fields and official stamp near the bottom.

Then she scoffed.

"Of course she didn’t."

"I don’t care that she awakened illegally. Look at what she became!"

Her attention returned to Aren. "Call it whatever you want, I made the right choice."

Daniel stared at her before groaning. He placed a hand on Aren’s back before whispering.

"Come on, let’s just leave, man. She’s absolutely deranged."

Aren wanted to agree with him, and for a second, he almost did until...

"Ahhh, her voice is just heavenly!" Alyssa murmured. "Like the gods were singing themselves, lulling you towards their eden!"

Her gaze flicked between the two of them before settling on Aren again.

"...they’re singing with her."

The words hung in the air for a moment.

Daniel frowned. "Okay, that—"

But Aren had already gone quiet. Something in his mind had clicked.

A memory surfaced from something he read before. There had been reports along the eastern coastline. Fishing boats disappeared, and small towns reported people wandering toward the sea at night.

The handful of people who had managed to escape had all described the same thing:

An enchanting song filled their ears, one that made them want to follow it no matter what waited at the end.

Aren’s expression darkened slightly.

"...A Siren."

Daniel froze.

"...You’re kidding," he continued. "How can her Bloodline be a magical creature that already exists?"

Aren shrugged, but this was the only explanation that made sense.

It sounded strange when said like that, but the idea itself wasn’t impossible.

Bloodlines came from the Great Awakening—an era when the entire world had changed overnight. Humans, beasts, even the land itself had been reshaped by ether.

Sometimes the line between those things blurred.

And sometimes...

The resemblance was a little too close.

Daniel glanced around before grimacing.

"...Let’s not stick around here too long," he said. "Someone’s bound to notice eventually."

Aren nodded.

He had just stepped down from the truck when radio static appeared in his ears as the line came through.

"Aren?"

Aren grabbed the radio immediately.

"Go ahead."

There was a short pause on the other end before she spoke again, her voice noticeably tighter than before.

"...The concert started."

Aren’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"That was earlier than expected."

"I know," Emily replied. "But that’s not the problem."

More static crackled through the line. "I’ve been watching the perimeter like you asked," she continued. "And something’s off."

Daniel looked over immediately.

"How off?"

Emily didn’t answer right away.

When she finally did, her voice had dropped slightly.

"...There are people loitering around the venue," she added. "Lots of them."

Aren’s gaze sharpened.

"Fans?"

"...No," Emily said quietly.

"They’re not trying to get inside," she paused. "It looks like they’re waiting."

Aren exchanged a glance with Daniel.

"...For what?" Daniel asked.

Emily inhaled slowly on the other end.

"I don’t know," she admitted. "But there’s more of them showing up every minute."

Silence settled between them.

Then Emily spoke again. "You guys need to hurry back."

"...I think something’s about to happen."