“You are not the mastermind. You are merely one of his dogs just like the guy standing beside you,” Drake scoffed.

Colette leaned forward, her eyes somber as she unveiled the grim truth. "Anna, believed to be slain by her ex, was your first victim," she began, her voice carrying the weight of each word. "Dylan, her ex, a mere small-time thug within this gang. Anna wanted him out, pushing him for an honest life. But Dylan, stubborn as a mule, refused. After countless warnings, she gave up on him and decided to move on. Dylan seethed with resentment, watching her leave him like that."

With a shake of her head, Colette continued, "That's when our mystery man entered the scene, stoking Dylan's fury, and manipulating him against Anna. Dylan's mother confirmed the change in him, his temper escalating every day. Finally, he snuffed out Anna's light. That mystery man must be part of this gang as the only friends Dylan had apart from Anna were fellow thugs in the gang. So there was a high chance that someone from the gang manipulated him."

She paused, letting the gravity of her words sink in. "Dylan, no longer of use, met his fate a week later, once the storm of the first murder settled," Colette concluded.

Drake's tone turned serious as he dove into the next part of the story. "Next up were Ryan and Tony, the town guards," he said, eyes focused on his listeners. "They were getting too close to cracking the Anna and Dylan case, so you had to take them out. Ryan was jealous of Tony. They used to be partners who started working together, but when Tony got picked for a promotion, it rubbed Ryan the wrong way."

A smirk danced on Drake's lips. "In a small town, where gossip spreads like wildfire, it is not too difficult to find out about that. And it is even easier to find in the blacksmith shop that many guards used to frequent to purchase weapons. That mystery man manipulated Ryan's envy and influenced him to off Tony."

His expression hardened. "And Once Ryan outlived his usefulness, he met the same end."

Drake's words painted a grim picture of manipulation and betrayal that hit close to home for anyone listening.

Colette's voice took on a solemn tone as she delved into the next chapter of the grim saga. "Now, let's talk about Adam, Gina, and Trevor," she began, her words measured. "Trevor, the owner of the local general store, had Adam and Gina working for him. Adam was a dedicated worker, pulling double duty because Gina often slacked off. Despite his hard work, Trevor favored Gina because of their physical relations, letting her off easy while Adam picked up the slack. To add insult to injury, Gina was promoted to manager, even though Adam kept the store afloat."

A hint of indignation colored Colette's voice. "Enter our mystery man, a regular at the store. He saw an opportunity in Adam's resentment towards Gina and Trevor. Manipulating his anger, he pushed Adam to take matters into his own hands, leading to the deaths of Trevor and Gina."

Her gaze darkened. "But once he outlived his usefulness, he met the same fate as his victims."

Colette's tone grew graver as she delved into the sad story of Bob, Leela, and Jason. "Now, let's talk about Bob, Leela, and Jason," she began, her voice carrying a hint of sadness. "Leela and Jason, who were friends, used to bully Bob, a poor beggar. What started as taunts soon descended into brutal physical assaults. Sadly, nobody seemed to care about the plight of some random beggar."

With a sigh, Colette continued, "Leela and Jason, didn’t like their financial situations as they were born in poor families, and always dreamed of being rich. While struggling with their money problems, they found relief in picking on someone even poorer. They didn't hold back their cruelty."

Her expression turned serious as she talked about the mysterious figure's role. "The sneaky person took advantage of this bad situation. The part of the street where Bob slept was on the path between the mystery man's home and work. It was a perfect chance. By stirring up Bob's anger toward Leela and Jason, he set off a tragic chain of events."

After a moment of silence, Colette concluded, "But in this twisted tale, the one pulling the strings eventually turned on Bob too. Once Bob had served his purpose, he met the same sad fate, a victim of his rage."

“There were many other victims. Even those victims who were not known to the world and were disposed of secretly. The list is very long, so let's talk about the last victims, James and Stephen. James and Peter used to bully Stephen. Moreover, he used to envy their talent as they always got praise from Kevin, but he only got disappointment. Enter the manipulator, twisting his hate and envy into something monstrous. Stephen killed James but before he could kill Peter, you had to kill him so that he does not say anything about the mystery man who introduced him to the gang,” said Drake as he told about the last victims of the case.

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Drake's eyes narrowed as he continued, "This gang played a significant role in all these tragedies. The crimes were too elaborate for a lone person to carry out. The gang members aided in the killings and provided alibis to avoid suspicion. The influence of the mystery man over this gang is undeniable."

"And no, I'm not referring to you," Drake added, addressing the gang leader directly, his tone firm.

Drake's sudden shift in tone caught Colette off guard, his words delivered with a playful edge. "Ah, now I see why detectives love to unveil their conclusions in the end," he remarked a hint of mischief in his voice. "The looks on their faces, all wide-eyed and clueless, as you lay out your observations and conclusions... truly priceless."

Colette couldn't help but chuckle at Drake's unexpected comment.

Drake's playful demeanor vanished abruptly. "Why don't you come out?" Drake's voice held a note of challenge, directed at the unseen presence lurking in the shadows. "I believe you've realized by now that we know who you are. Enough with these cat-and-mouse games."

His words hung in the air, a clear invitation for the mysterious figure to reveal themselves and end the charade.

CLAP

CLAP

CLAP

As a figure emerged from the shadows where Kevin and the gang leader stood, a hush fell over the room. Slowly, the figure stepped into the light, applause echoing softly as he approached. It was Sam, his once ever-present nervous expression replaced by sinister confidence, locking his eyes with Drake’s.

The applause came to an abrupt halt as Sam positioned himself between Kevin and the gang leader. Both men regarded him with a mixture of deference and respect. Kevin's expression no longer looked like that of a mentor looking at his apprentice, but rather a subordinate acknowledging his leader. All the thugs in the room who surrounded Drake and Colette watched him with utmost respect. It was evident that he commanded authority and respect within the group.

"I must say, I am impressed, detectives," Sam's voice dripped with malice as he addressed Colette and Drake. "Previously, no one has come so close to cracking the case. Most suspected Kevin or Tyler, but you are the first to successfully identify me as the mastermind. You should be proud of that, detectives."

A chilling smile played across Sam's lips as he continued, "As a reward, I will grant you the most painful deaths possible to celebrate your achievement."

‘Ivy, remove all the restrictions I set before.’

[Done]

Since the case was solved, he no longer needed to restrict his powers and used them completely as before. He quickly checked the statuses of Sam, Kevin, and Tyler, the gang leader.

“Kill them,” Sam ordered the thugs who surrounded Drake and Colette.

With a shared smile of determination, Drake and Colette exchanged a glance before turning their attention to the mass of approaching thugs.

"Make sure you don't die, chosen one," Colette's words carried a playful tone as she readied herself for the impending clash.

"Likewise, detective," Drake replied, matching her playful spirit as he drew his sword and positioned himself to face the thugs closing in on the right side.

Colette swiftly produced an expandable staff, extending it to an impressive length of over six feet, and advanced towards the oncoming adversaries on the left.

Drake didn’t hold back like in the bar. In front of public eyes, he couldn’t be too heavy-handed but there he let go completely.

Each slash took one life. Even if he was surrounded by tens of armed thugs at once, he dodged each attack with ease. He had worked overtime to increase his Perception Mastery to level 18, beginner stage, and unlocking Bullet Time as quickly as possible was more than enough motivation for him for that.

Knives, daggers, swords, and sabers attacked him from all directions. But their less than level 5 masteries were no match for his level 15, beginner stage Sword Mastery.

He stopped the multitude of weapons attacking him with his sword and pushed them back. He bent slightly backward and dodged the sword coming from the side. He clutched the hand holding the sword, pulled the thug, and then threw him to the left towards another sword coming towards him. The thug was directly impaled by the sword and died. Then he cut off the head of that thug.

Quickly turning his body forty-five degrees, he parried the sword from behind and slashed the thug.

Occasionally he looked towards Colette to check how she was doing. But she fared much better than him. He checked that she had Staff and Close Combat masteries higher than level 15, beginner stage. It was very impressive for her age as she was only twenty-three.

But that’s nothing compared to her level 12, intermediate stage, Perception mastery. He was startled when he read that in her status. Her intermediate-stage perception mastery was the reason for her instincts and intuitions that helped her many times in the past.

As he was in between an intense fight, he had no time to read her detailed introduction so he asked Ivy about that anomaly. Only then, did he find out that she was born with an intermediate-stage perception mastery.

With her skills, it was even easier for her to deal with the thugs than Drake.

Like Drake, she also didn’t hold back. Skillfully swinging her staff, she parried all the attacks coming her way. Each of her strikes crushed their bones or broke their skulls.

In less than half an hour, more than hundreds of thugs died. Drake and Colette looked as if they hadn’t broken a sweat. After sharing a smile they turned towards the three standing on the platform.

Sam's face was twisted in anger and malice and both Kevin and Tyler looked ready to pounce and tear them to pieces, especially Tyler whose heart was bleeding as his entire gang was decimated by Drake and Colette.