“Show me… show me! Why won’t you show me? Damnit!”
Frederic kicked the table and almost threw the sinister artifact resting before him.
The Eye of Malediction was a high-grade artifact that revealed many hints to him, but it worked in a mysterious way. Moreover, there were times when it didn’t react at all and just laid there, no different than a creepy decor.
“Greetings esteemed Frederic.”
Startled by the gentle disembodied voice, Frederic turned around and surveyed his empty hotel room before snapping his fingers. The sound of shattering glass echoed across the room before a figure appeared near the door.
“Ghaoul. Always creeping around like a stalker.”
“Pardon me, but I didn’t want to interrupt you.”
Frederic grunted and unceremoniously waved his hand, unperturbed by the arrival of this dangerous assassin.
“Why are you here? Want my head?”
“Good gracious! Of course not!”
Ghoul took off his hat and shook his head, feigning being hurt.
“It hurts my pride to say this, but you are one of a handful of people our organization cannot kill.”
“I really doubt that. Compared to the big fish, I’m nothing but a powerless insect.”
“Your sarcasm never fails to disappoint, esteemed Frederic.”
“Alright alright, cut through the bullshit and tell me why you’re here?”
Frederic was meticulously cleaning the Eye of Malediction while mumbling to himself. He didn’t even spare a second glance to the smiling Ghaoul, who was curiously looking at the mountain of papers and artifacts scattered everywhere.
“You made contact with Zeke Orland, yes?”
As he heard that particular name, Frederic stopped cleaning. With dangerously narrowed eyes and a cold face, he glared daggers at the assassin.
“You are going after him?”
Ghaoul shrugged and sincerely answered, “It’s beyond my power to interfere.”
“Good. You better stay out of it, Ghaoul.”
“May I take that as a threat?”
“A threat? Not at all. You and I have a history and I wouldn’t want to see you killed.”
“I’ll be a bit bold and ask you; Who will kill me?”
“The System, duuh!”
“...”
Seeing the absolute confusion on his old friend’s face, Frederic softly laughed.
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“Messing with things beyond your comprehension is what leads to an untimely death, Ghaoul. If I were you, I’d clean my ass and disappear before it blows up in my face.”
“Perhaps a better exposition would be in order, esteemed Frederic? Please, enlighten me about the Paths of Extinctions System.”
“Give me your word you will not interfere, and I’ll tell you.”
Ghaoul frowned and pondered for almost a minute before performing an elegant bow,
“You have my word.”
“Excellent. Sit down and listen.”
…
“You failed?”
“Yes. I will accept any punishment.”
Elder Vas’s face turned purple from anger and rage as he stared down at the kneeling assassin.
“We paid you 300 million alc! 300! Is this what Black Wing amounts to?”
The disgruntled Kley accepted the humiliation of failure and maintained his calmness. In terms of strength, he was equal to Elder Vas, but he had to bow his head and act inferior.
“I can work for you, Elder Vas. Killing me now will be pointless. Black Wing didn’t give me a second chance but I assure you I can kill that brat, just giv-”
“Shut up! I need to think.”
After a brief silence, there was an unpleasant feminine cry that resounded across the manor. The startled Vas got to his feet and hurried to his daughter’s room.
Kley, albeit confused, followed him but didn’t say anything.
“M-my face! No! Ahh!”
Olivia was hysterical as she kicked the mirror while crying and throwing a tantrum. She had directly by Zeke’s empowered lightning bolt yet her father, Elder Vas, used miraculous healing elixirs and deployed famed physicians to save her life.
Unfortunately, her body suffered irreversible damage such as permanent scars and facial disfigurement.
Even with the bandages on, Olivia saw and felt her ruined face, which only made her crazier.
“Olivia! Sweety! Calm down. Calm down!”
As her elderly father supported her and hugged her, the crying Olivia stopped shouting. She softly sobbed for a while before clenching the blanket.
“I want him to suffer! I want to ruin him! Dad… please…”
“...”
As he saw his precious daughter like that, Elder Vas sighed and repeatedly reassured her before turning to look at Kley.
“Riches and power, I’ll give you whatever you want. All you need is to bring that bastard to me. Alive.”
“Yes, sir. Upon my honor, I swear that I will succeed this time.”
“Alright. Wait for me outside.”
While coldly smiling, Kley nodded and left the room.
“Dad… my face. I can’t live like this.”
“Don’t worry, sweety. We’ll fix it. We’ll fix everything…”
…
“Fucking hell! We can’t even have a day of rest!”
Jack, holding a steel pipe, looked at the dozens of armed men that barged into the office.
“Gentlemen! To what do we owe the honor?”
With crimson fire wrapped around his clenched fists, Sulong tauntingly stared at the black-suited thugs.
It was clear that they weren’t sent by the Department of Defense, which left Sulong slightly surprised and perplexed. Whatever their intentions they had, they weren’t friendly.
Without saying any word of response, the thugs charged at Jack and Sulong; Sounds of fighting and shouts could be heard from the second floor as the recently-redocrated office was turned into an absolute mess.
“Next time, come prepared!” Jack spat on the ground and kicked the groaning man, threatening to hit his head again.
Some of the relatively unscathed ones scurried away like rats while the incapacitated ones were tied down by Sulong.
With a spark of fire hovering above his index, he crouched near one of them and amicably asked,
“Will you speak now or after I burn you?”
“Stephan Dontoryian! W-we work for him!”
The beaten thug immediately spilled the beans, but that only deepened Sulong’s surprise.
Stephen Dontoryian was one of the infamous underworld gang bosses in The Sunken Metropolis. His little ‘kingdom’ was in the Northern sector of the city.
“What does he want with me?”
“Dontoryian? Wait…”
Jack scratched his head before thoughtfully adding, “Zeke once told me he was attacked by thugs. He told me to investigate but later on changed his mind.”
“Y-yes! We were asked to kidnap you to lure out that boy.” Said the fearful thug, leaning away from Sulong’s shiny fire.
“P-please let me go. I-I’ll never come here again.”
“Oh?”
Sulong stood up and paced around for a couple of minutes before facing his friend and saying,
“Hit me with the pipe.”
“Huh?”
“Hit me a couple of times. Not the balls or the head, of course.”
“What? Why?”
“Zeke must be busy, so I’ll deal with this problem. First…” With an evil smile, he looked at the tied-up thugs and explained, “I’ll voluntarily get kidnapped.”