The Deceitful One

Friday, 7th January 1581.

The door to his apartment opened as Bryan stepped inside. He kept his black overcoat and his fedora hat on the coat hanger and walked to the living room.

He sat down on the couch and heaved a tired sigh as he mumbled, "Fuck me… There's so much work these days."

Since the past few weeks, Bryan and the other members of the Strike Team had had their plates full.

They were already investigating the disappearances which were most likely caused by the members of the Holy Blood Sect. And now they had to look for clues about the whereabouts of the cultists of the Inferno Order as well.

Although there had been some results for the latter. Over the past weeks, the Strike Team had caught a total of six cultists of the Inferno Order.

Most of them were Apprentices and only one was a Rank 1 Transcendent. However, after catching them, the interrogation process was anything but fruitful.

All of the cultists chose to commit suicide rather than cooperate. And the way they committed suicide, was one that Bryan had never expected.

They gathered all their spiritual force inside their body, their heads to be precise, and made it explode!

Bryan was so taken aback at the time. He never knew that spiritual force could be applied in such a manner. But he was even more shocked that the cultists would happily kill themselves rather than divulge any information.

It made one ponder, whether all the maniacs from the Inferno Order were brainwashed or not!

Meanwhile, the members of the Holy Blood Sect always seemed to slip out of the grasp of the Silver Owls. Almost as if, they were always two steps ahead.

That was the reason why none of them had been caught till now. Even the two members, whose sketches Bryan had provided to the Captain, had not been caught.

These were the same members whom Bryan had encountered that night in the abandoned factory, right after he exited the secret gathering where he had bought the Hand Cannon.

Bryan began to rub his temples just thinking about all these issues he had to deal with, "Fuck, it would be really nice if Lily could come here and serve me."

He then shook his head and leaned back against the couch. It was simply his wishful thinking. He didn't have time to visit Lily or have her come over because of how much work he had.

Moreover, he had to go for night patrol yet again tonight. His off days were now a distant memory.

However, tonight he wouldn't be partnering up with Andrew or any other Strike Team members, but Hailey.

One could imagine just how much the Silver Owls were falling short of manpower as they had to end up getting the receptionist of the Sofia Public Library to go out on night patrols.

Of course, the reason they got Hailey to do this job in the first place was that she was a Rank 1 Apprentice. They would never involve regular people in matters of the Transcendent world.

…

Outskirts of Damascus.

Inside the study room of a two-storied villa, books, parchment papers, and other stationery were strewn all over the floor.

The shelves, positioned against the walls, that once contained rows of books and other reading materials were now broken, their contents scattered across the room.

The study table also shared the same fate as it was split right down the middle. The entire room was a mess as if a wild animal had just passed through, wreaking havoc in its wake.

A lone man sat in the center of the room, amidst the crumpled parchment papers and torn books. He had blond hair and a pair of bright red eyes. He was none other than Anthony.

However, the look in his eyes was crazed at the moment. He clenched his fists as he spat through gritted teeth, "It's been a fucking month and a half!"

Anthony's craving had taken over him, his burning desire for fresh blood could not be curbed any longer.

Ever since he had told his grandfather about that incident at the abandoned factory, he had been grounded in this house. Although he knew that this was for his own safety, he couldn't stand it anymore.

The supply of fresh blood had been dwindling for the last few weeks. Even if Anthony did get fresh blood, it was not to his liking.

Since the Silver Owls had increased their vigilance over the entire city, it had become difficult for the members of the Holy Blood Sect to kidnap people for their blood.

However, Anthony was unaware of this fact!

He slowly got up to his feet as he muttered, "It should be fine if I go out for a bit. The others won't know about it."

Anthony had already made his decision. He continued to fidget from time to time as if he were a drug addict who hadn't been given proper substance for a long time.

Without waiting any longer, he jumped out of the window on the second floor and soon vanished into the night. After about fifteen minutes he arrived at the slum area.

Standing atop a small two-story building, he looked for any young girls whom he could drain the blood out of. Soon his eyes fell on a young woman with brown hair who was carrying a brown paper bag full of groceries.

Anthony grinned like a madman as he caught sight of this woman. He then covertly followed behind her.

He was still reasonable enough to know that he could not do the deed out here in the open. It was best if he did it in her house to avoid any trouble.

The girl on the other hand scanned her surroundings warily as she walked towards her house. Danger lurked in every corner of the slums, especially for a young girl who was carrying valuables.

And in the slums, food was one of the most valuable things!

She soon reached a small dilapidated unit that just had a single floor. After unlocking the door, she entered her house.

Soon, she was drowned by the surprised voices of little kids inside,

"Big sister Ella! You're finally home!"

"Yay! Big sister is back!"

"Did you bring us sweets to eat?"

The little kids surrounded her as they looked at Ella with bright eyes. Jamie approached them and reminded them gently,

"Kids, big sister Ella has just returned home so she's tired. Let her freshen up and then all of us can have dinner together, okay?"

Ella looked at Jamie and nodded with a warm smile. She then looked at the kids and replied, "That's right kiddos! Let me change my clothes and then I can give you lots of sweets to eat."