Devery looked at the front gate. There was a shimmering barrier left by Lorius. It stopped the cold winds from entering. He looked towards Graciana and saw her staring bleakly in the distance where Lorius had left.

"He seems to be doing fine for a murderer," said Devery.

"Devery... I really wish we could be a family again." Devery kept mum. He had tried forgiving his son. But whenever he did, he remembered all the atrocities that the Investigators committed in the Guardians' name. And he just could not.

"Let's just go to sleep, Gracy. I am feeling quite weak," said Devery. He did not want to have this conversation at this time. Graciana sighed and tidied the mess created by Lorius as best as she could. Devery tried helping but was told to go rest. The shimmering barrier held.

The couple went to sleep after dimming down the flickering lantern. No words were spoken with both lost in their own thoughts. Devery drowsed off, thinking about all that the flying man had said.

---

"What do you say, Porky? Is it the right time to pay a visit?"

"Porky wants food. Porky hasn't eaten in so long. Kill someone for Porky, Brambus."

"Shut up, you glutton. If I kill someone for you now, I'll be caught again," said Brambus. He used some unknown means to find out if anyone was surveilling the Devery's house. That investigator had almost given him a heart attack. While he could kill those pests with a blink, the ones behind them were not so easy. If a Rank 4 guardian got hold of this information, escaping would be impossible. And he just wanted to retire after being incarcerated for hundreds of years.

He also wanted to do better than his predecessor. Risk was necessary.

He twisted the light coming from the two moons and made himself invisible. Precaution was needed. He flew down to the house. The barrier caused him no troubles. While it had a tracking spell embedded in it, he easily sidestepped it. He went towards the room where the couple was sleeping. The guy seemed comfortable in his bed. Brambus was irked.

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"Rise and shine, your highness," shouted Brambus.

Devery woke with a start. He looked around and saw no one. Was he dreaming again?

"Oh, my bad, Lord Devery!" Brambus removed his invisibility.

Devery saw the man who had been the cause of all his headaches today smiling at him. There were a lot of choice words that wanted to spill out of his mouth. He almost forgot how powerful the person in front of him was. Almost.

"Brambus, look how enamored he is. He literally turned speechless. Looks like you have become more attractive," Porky chimed in.

"Really?" Brambus said. "I mean, I have gotten leaner." Brambus stood straighter with his chest flared out. It looked comical, especially with how malnourished Brambus looked.

Devery was tongue-tied. How could someone be so shameless? He looked towards Gracy but she was still deep asleep.

"Don't worry, we can talk privately. I have given her some pleasant dreams to see." Brambus created a chair out of nothing and sat on it. He created one for Devery too.

"Let's get comfortable. We have some time now. Any questions for me?" said Brambus while trying to find a comfortable seating position.

Devery thought about what he should ask. There were many things he was confused about but he went with the most basic one. "Was what you said about not dying true?"

Brambus looked Devery top to bottom. "Has the oath taken effect? Did any symbols generate on your body?"

Devery nodded. Suddenly Brambus stood and with unnerving speed punched towards Devery. His fist went through his chest, and there was a bloody hole where once his chest stood.

For a few milliseconds, Devery just sat there trying to process what happened. And then the pain hit. It flooded his brain, demanding his attention. He tried screaming his guts out. But he could not find any air for his scream. It felt like he was drowning while someone was cutting his flesh piece by piece. He fainted.

"Urghh, BRAMBUS, you created a mess. See, he peed himself," said Porky.

".. Was I too brutal?"

"No, no. Porky believes pain is the best teacher."

Both had not questioned themselves what they wanted to teach though. But that's life. Accidents happen. They waited while Brambus erased any signs of an unhygienic atmosphere from Devery's body.

The bleeding stopped by itself in a few minutes, and the internal muscles started stitching themselves with speed visible to the naked eye. The skin regenerated on the muscles after that. The skin looked better than before, in the area of the wound. It looked more youthful.

"The speed is too slow. A younger specimen would have been better," mumbled Brambus under his breath.

Devery opened his eyes. The trauma to his brain was too much. Even though the real pain was gone, he could not stop screaming. The phantom pain still existed.