Aselia hurled the gun to the floor and fell to her knees once Xiran was gone. Her mission to help him escape had been accomplished, now she was ready for the consequences of betraying her organization.

The black smoke was slowly dissipating as Aldridge commanded one of the hunters: "Seize her and take her to the interrogation room." The man’s eyes glazed with shock and revulsion, seeing the actions of his top-class subordinate. He couldn’t believe she would betray them like that.

Two hunters caught her by the arms ready to lead her away when she rasped: "Yuri was not involved in anything, it was all me."

"Take her away, I can’t even bear to see her face right now," Aldridge grunted as both hunters took her away and she complied without any resistance. Yurian watched her helplessly, she had evicted him of all the charges which must have fallen on him, in case they went with the plan they had concocted. He wasn’t sure what had happened but knew Aselia wouldn’t have set Xiran free without him being there.

Aselia was taken to an interrogation room and tied up on a chair with her hands behind her back. Not that she couldn’t set herself free from this but she wanted to follow through with Aldridge’s interrogation.

The whole day passed but no one came to visit her. She knew they were holding Yurian back and were observing her through the camera and one-way mirror. She stayed composed and kept a stony face, not a hint of emotion flashed across it.

Although her mind was in commotion with the emotional turmoils of the day. She had betrayed her organization, assisted in killing one of her people, confessed her feelings to the man she loved, and helped him escape. Elven hunter wasn’t sure how to feel, she felt numb due to the overriding of emotions.

One thing was for sure, the burdens that she had felt for imprisoning Xiran had been lifted and her heart was lighter at least in that sense, knowing he will be safe and no one will be able to hurt him anymore. She was ready to face the repercussions of the rest of her actions.

At night the door opened and Aldridge stepped inside. The man was fuming with rage and she could sense he was trying to restrain himself. He placed a chair in front of her and elegantly draped himself on it while facing her and fulminated:

"Do you realize the extent of damage that abomination has inflicted before escaping?"

"He is not an abomination, his name is Xiran, next time use his name." She replied calmly keeping direct eye contact with her superior.

"I don’t care what his name is, he killed Markius and brutally injured Black Raven, who is fighting for his life right now, and injured a dozen others before escaping. And yet you aided him, forgetting he is our enemy. Why?" Aldridge thundered at her with bloodshot eyes, unable to understand what had prompted this behaviour.

"Markius tortured him and cut his hair while Black Raven attempted to touch me while I slept. If you had kept Raven in check for his lewd behaviour then this might not have happened. What were you expecting? He would just leave quietly, be thankful he didn’t kill you too because he wanted to. I had to beg him for your life. And he is not my enemy, not anymore. I will protect him with my life if I have to." Aselia’s words caught Aldridge off guard and his eyes flew open in horror at the revelation.

"What has he done to you?" His surprised tone told her, he wasn’t expecting such an answer.

"He simply showed me there is more to the world than revenge, he made me feel accepted, irrespective of my flaws. He is off-limits for the future and we will find other means to hunt down his father." A small smile crept up on her face as Aselia thought of Xiran.

"You understand I can’t trust you anymore after this," Aldridge felt deceived by Aselia, after everything he had done for her, how could she shake hands with the enemy?

"You have no choice. I know every secret this organization holds and I have never revealed these secrets to him or the enemy, nor will I do it in the future. None of your hunters can surpass me in combat and skills, and I am your best shot at capturing Phantom. Now that we know who Xiran is, he must have higher connections with the hierarchy of Druhias. Let me talk to him and arrange a meeting with Amonidus. We have been trying to negotiate with that man for so long, I am sure Xiran will be able to help us in arranging a meeting. Have a little faith, I would never waver from my obligations to this organization for you have raised me, but not at his expense."

Aselia’s words threw Aldridge into deep thought. He knew each and every word she had said was true, she was their best shot if they wanted any more information from Xiran or Druhias.

"Even if I agree to your terms, after the mess both of you have created I need to make an example of you. I will have to demote you from your current rank of Platinum hunters."

There were five ranks of hunters. Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron. Hunters started from Iron rank and gradually rose to above ones. There were only a handful of hunters that were ranked in the Platinum category and Aselia was one of them. Yurian was in the Gold category and so was Black Raven.

"I don’t mind, these ranks have never bothered me in the first place." Her replies were composed, she had been expecting this.

"Then you will be stripped of your rank as a Platinum Hunter and will be demoted to the Iron category, you will be issued a black uniform instead of your white and gold one. Plus you will remain in this room for three days without any food, so you can contemplate your actions that brought harm to your fellow hunters. And you will show respect to all of your senior hunters and obey their orders and any punishment they inflict on you."