Droplets of sweat began to form on Eugene's forehead when he realized his detective didn't insult the Ninth Order.

But rather the Seventh Order— someone who could easily overturn their entire Skyler Division with a few simple words.

"What are you still standing there for, Detective Burke?" Eugene turned to Burke and raised his voice.

"Apologize for your behavior and seek forgiveness!" He then demanded.

Burke, who didn't anticipate the Ninth Order's newbie work to be a command from the Seventh Order, was stupefied. After having been scolded by his supervisor, he snapped out of his daze and swiftly stepped forward.

He bowed and apologized solemnly. "It was my mistake, Seventh Order. I didn't have any intention of disrespecting your decision and work."

"I'm not the person you made the unsightly remark." Damien didn't even bat an eyelid on him.

Nodding in understanding, Burke turned his attention to Jasmine and apologized once again.

Deep down though, Burke felt ashamed and angered by the humiliation he received today.

All he did was speak up to defend the honor and integrity of their station. Even Eugene had agreed with his remarks— until Damien decided to step in.

'Are TIs really that great?' Burke cursed silently. He was positive that Damien only spoke up to defend his junior's mistake. He refused to believe such a command could be made by someone in the Seventh Order.

In hindsight, Burke was disgruntled that the TIs got to defend each other by demeaning others, but their division wasn't allowed to.

Jasmine was caught in an awkward position when Burke went to apologize to her.

She was unsure of whether to accept the apology or not. After all, Damien clearly appeared to be quite displeased with Burke.

Such a feeling was commonly known as being "sandwiched".

If she accepted the apology, then her superior, Damien, might be dissatisfied with her. However, if she refused the apology, then the tension between the TI and officers would rise due to her.

'Why do I feel jealous of Lucas right now?' Jasmine wanted nothing more than to have someone pull her out of such a sticky situation.

Despite her desperate prayer, there was no such thing in this world. She was stuck completely, and Damien also lost interest in her decision.

The truth was that Damien was willing to let the matter go if Jasmine simply accepted the apology. After all, he didn't want the matter to fester either, considering he was still unsure of his identity.

But thanks to Jasmine's hesitation, Damien mistakenly believed that she was too embarrassed and ashamed to respond.

'Who told me to give her such a command to protect my secret? If I don't take Burke down a notch, then my identity will be suspected.' Damien sighed inwardly and turned to Burke.

"A detective who doesn't know the rules isn't suited to be at a crime scene—or any in the future. I'm sure Sergeant Eugene would agree with that statement, wouldn't he?" He declared solemnly.

Sergeant Eugene was a name he had caught during the introduction between himself and Jasmine, even though his attention had been drawn to the Diamond 3. It wasn't intentional, but his superior hearing had picked it up nonetheless.

Eugene pursed his lips before shaking his head in defeat.

When Burke noticed that kind of reaction, his expression turned rather pale.

Sure enough, Eugene announced with a determined tone. "Detective Burke tarnished the reputation of a TI with his remarks and shall thus be demoted to a common uniformed officer. He is also barred from being at any crime scene in the future."

"Sergeant Eugene?" Shouted Burke in disbelief. "How could you just punish me like that?"

Besides Burke, even the nearby detectives were stupefied by the harsh punishment. It was totally unwarranted. Despite this, none dared to physically voice their complaint.

After all, they knew Eugene didn't make the decision on his own will, but in the will of a Seventh Order.

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This was the fury of a TI. A fury capable of destroying one man's career with a simple statement.

"I refuse to accept this punishment." Argued Burke when he noticed no one had spoken up on his behalf. He couldn't believe his colleagues would turn a blind eye completely.

When his eyes gazed at them, they would all avoid it and pretend to look elsewhere.

"Are you still going to waste more of my time Sergeant Eugene?" Damien raised his voice, his tone slightly dark. "When did a uniformed officer become qualified to be involved in the investigation? Or was this your Skyler Division specialty?"

"My apologies." Eugene swiftly excused his inefficiency and turned to two other detectives.

"Detective Gerald and Detective Sheila, escort the intruded uniform officer away from the crime scene." He ordered solemnly.

Both Gerald and Sheila glanced at each other briefly before nodding. In a swift manner, they easily detained Burke, who could barely resist after receiving such a shock.

A few seconds later, Burke was effectively barred from the crime scene. His demotion, as well as his offense in slighting a Seventh Order TI, was rapidly spread across.

It didn't take very long for Burke's plight to be well known. Despite still being a uniform officer, it was clear that he was maligned and isolated by fellow uniform officers.

Frustrated and feeling humiliated, Burke clenched his fist.

"TIs are just a bunch of bullies." As he spoke of such a statement while exiting the perimeter, Burke never anticipated his words had been overheard by someone. Someone whom Burke would have never thought to see outside the crime scene perimeter.

"I've just received news that my superior punished an unruly detective, but I didn't expect the unruly detective to have zero remorse. They even continued to speak badly of us TIs."

Startled, Burke got goosebumps all over his arms when he felt a sense of deja vu.

Sure enough, when Burke realized who had just spoken, his eyes turned hazy from the familiar clothes. The clothes resembled none other than the TIs he just spoke badly about.

Indeed, the person Burke saw was precisely Lucas, who had been ordered to remain outside to wait for Kyle.

Lucas was already bored out of his mind, so having encountered such a pest, his lips instantly curled upward.

"You know… I was punished by my superior, the Seventh, as well. But I never dared to speak ill of him—not even in my thoughts. Do you know why was that" Lucas asked as he approached Burke.

Before waiting for a response, Lucas continued, his hand conjuring a glowing magic spell. "That's because he's a Seventh Order—and my superior. A person who has proven himself worthy and capable of such an act."

"Nooooo!" Burke screamed in terror, spinning around to flee.

But without any Transcendent power, Burke was nothing more than an ant in Lucas's eyes.

In the blink of an eye, Burke's very existence vanished—gone from the scene, Velgrave, and perhaps this world entirely.

Coachman Karl and the nearby uniformed officers didn't so much as flinch, paying no heed to the spectacle.

....

While Burke's very existence was wiped out, there was practically zero reaction.

Lucas casually returned to the inside of the carriage and said, "Let me know when my colleague arrives or not."

"Yes Sir." Karl nodded in response. Fear was still within his eyes, but there was no sympathy or pity for the deceased Burke. Even he didn't dare to curse a TI aloud and merely kept it in mind.

Burke was truly courting death for disrespecting a TI in public—right after his demotion was made known as well. Had Burke remained a detective, then the situation would have been a bit tricky.

However, a uniformed officer's death was not a big deal whatsoever. That was especially true if the reason for their death was speaking ill of a TI.

A TI could legally execute any low-ranking person on the spot as long as they had reasonable clauses. No, in fact, they could just execute them based on speculation regardless if there was evidence or not.

This was precisely what made people widely feared the TIs.

Naturally, such a privilege was usually held for the higher-ranked TI. A Ninth Order wasn't allowed to behave in such a manner unless they had legitimate proof. Or their identity was special enough—as in having a great background or connection within the TIs.

And in this particular case, Burke provided two great reasons to enable Lucas to act.

First, Burke publicly spoke ill of the TIs for no reason, and second, it was witnessed by a lot of people.

Legitimate proof was obtained on the spot, and most importantly, the person that Burke spoke ill of wasn't just any TI, but a Seventh Order one.

Such an amateur mistake wouldn't have occurred if Burke was in his right state of mind. However, to be demoted and lost his career path because of his unsightly remark. It was a big blow to him.

Eventually, Burke met his demise due to being unable to overcome the adversity.

The death of Burke was just a small matter in the eyes of many, and no one even bothered to raise a concern. The nearby uniformed officers also chose to turn a blind eye and remained on their duty. So long as they were doing their duty, Lucas wouldn't be targeting them either.

While this occurred outside of the crime scene, Damien remained unaware of his cause-and-effect action. He merely wanted to safeguard his identity and authority. His intention was never to take Burke's life.

However, the news didn't take long for it to reach his ears.

"Investigator Damien, I've received a message from Lucas." Jasmine then proceeded to explain the skirmishes that occurred outside.

When Damien received the news that Burke was killed right after cursing him in public, he was silent.

His expression on the surface remained unchanged, but deep inside, he was alarmed. 'A human life was lost just like that? And why was her voice so calm and collected?'

Since Jasmine relayed the news in the presence of Eugene and the remaining detectives, her intention was made clear to them.

She might not have wished to incur any conflict between them, but that didn't mean the officers were allowed to insult and smear TI's name. This was especially so if the TI was of a high rank.

Damien was their superior, and to insult their superior in public was equivalent to a slap across the face. Had Jasmine and Lucas' positions were to be swapped, then Jasmine would have done the same thing as well.

Her fear for Damien was not formed due to the difference in their rankings, but rather by his achievement and the respect she held for him.

"This is indeed an oversight on my part." Suddenly, Eugene took a step and bowed 90-degree toward Damien.

"I didn't expect to have raised an unruly person in my Skyler Division and resulted in today's disgrace. Please forgive my poor leadership and judgment." He apologized solemnly. Eugene was extremely worried that the matter wouldn't rest with just Burke's death, but their entire Skyler Division.

Never once did Eugene anticipate a detective of his choosing could be so foolish as to publicly shame a high-ranked TI.

A few minutes had gone by, and Damien remained quiet. The atmosphere was so silent that it actually appeared loud on the surface.

'I should have gone further in my punishment against Burke. Even in death, he still caused more trouble for me.' Eugene was feeling extremely worried that Damien might choose to implicate him and the rest as well.

Each second seemed no different than a grim reaper hovering their scythe around their neck. It would only require one simple gesture for their neck to be disconnected from the rest of their body.

With all eyes now on Damien, the latter finally opened his mouth.

"The mistake was caused by Burke and he had paid the price for it already. There's no need to worry about anything, Sergeant Eugene." He calmly said and essentially pardoned them.

'This world is really living life on the edge.' He thought to himself. The truth was that he spent a while to reply because he needed to compose himself and remained nonchalant. Just one slip-up from him would incur suspicions and his very life might have ended here on the spot.

As Eugene breathed a sigh of relief that the incident ended with Burke's death, Damien was once again distracted.

'It appeared again.' Alarmed, Damien noticed the position and brightness of the Diamond 3 card had shifted. Previously, it was at the top of the lighting, but now it was near a wall decorated with some fancy paintings.

'Could it be a clue?' At this point, Damien refused to believe the reappearance of the Diamond 3 card to be random.

There must have been some sort of linkage behind it—as well as his presence in this unfamiliar world.

"Jasmine, keep taking notes and discuss with the fellow detectives for insight. Don't make any loud noise or distract me in the process unless I call for you." Damien warned and walked toward the decorated wall.

To prevent a similar situation from occurring, he made sure to warn solemnly so that the Diamond 3 wouldn't disappear because of external factors.