Born in Blood



Hearing Lorcan's words, the two instantly raised a brow.

They simultaneously began examining Liam's body, realizing with shock what Searching Eye meant.

The exterior of the body did not match the dried interior.

"The Face & Body Imitation pill… I've dealt with this many times before," Lorcan uttered casually, putting both his palms on the dried corpse.

"Although the duration of the pill is not long, if the user dies during the process, their image won't change even after death."

'Ora' gathered on his hands and gradually peeled away the dried skin, revealing the corpse's true identity as the servant who had gone missing.

Edwin and Ken grimaced at the same time.

'So the boy is still alive?' Edwin thought with furrowed brows. 'Was he the one who did this by himself? Or did Ken's son kidnap him? Or were they both working together?'

Lorcan took a good look at the servant's corpse, peering down his throat and into his abdomen, then shot a look towards the clan patriarchs.

"I will need a full rundown of who this 'Liam' interacted with, and what his usual schedule was. We cannot throw away any possibility," he asked Edwin, who nodded firmly in response.

"Also, please tell me more about this Blood Demon person," he asked Ken, and the three began to speak.

///

In a certain forgery in Ucladd's Underground, Lloyd and Rogan were playing a game of cards. Although merely a year passed, the two looked aged.

Even Rogan's spiked hair didn't stay up anymore, drooping down over his face.

"Three of apples paired with an ace of fruits. I win again!" Lloyd guffawed and took away the pile of 'Ora' Stones on the table, storing it away.

Rogan shook his head. "This game sucks."

Lloyd tutted. "You suck," he laughed.

Rogan sighed.

Before he could respond, three figures arrived at the forgery doors and entered.

Realizing who they were, Lloyd and Rogan reeled in shock.

What were three Zenith's doing in their forgery?

"You are the boy's masters, are you not?" Lorcan addressed with a 'friendly' smile.

Lloyd remained silent under the three piercing gazes.

Pressure grew in the room, making both him and Rogan wince and sweat.

It wasn't too heavy. More of an indication that their life was at the three Zeniths' fingertips.

"We were. Is he not dead now?" Lloyd broke the silence.

Lorcan hummed to himself, his gaze distant.

"Apparently not."

"What?!" both Rogan and Lloyd exclaimed at the same time.

"He's alive?"

Searching Eye paused, then nodded.

"He isn't dead… not that we know of, at least. Tell us about this boy and his personality. Although you're obliged to do so anyway, we will give you both 10,000 Stones as a reward."

Silence.

Lloyd glanced at Rogan from the side.

Rogan did the same with a knowing grin.

All of a sudden, they burst into laughter.

"Can you imagine?" Lloyd wheezed, ignoring the Zenith. "This is the second time, too!"

Rogan couldn't stop his guffaw. "And he did it right after taking the rewards! Even myths can't make up something so ridiculous!"

The three Zenith's frowned. Pressure steadily mounted and made the surroundings shake.

"Did you not hear what he said?" Ken said with an even voice and a chilling tone. "Tell us about the boy."

Despite the growing pain on their weary mental spheres, the two laughed crazily for a good few minutes.

Slowly, Lloyd's laughter came to a stop, then he gave Lorcan, Edwin and Ken a mocking look.

"You're telling me three Zenith's need the help of these two lowly cultivators… to find a little boy?"

Silence descended upon the group. Awkward and tense at the same time. Edwin clenched his fists in frustration. Ken's eyes were like piercing knives, and Lorcan simply gave the two a probing gaze.

"That kid has escaped death more times than you can count. He will reach the Celestial Ranks. You old coots better die before he reaches you," Lloyd broke the silence with an insult and a grin.

His fate was sealed. 

Any held back pressure on his mind began to unload, like an elephant slowly stepping on a bug.

Lloyd lowered his head and solemnly closed his eyes.

Cracks were rapidly spreading across his mental sphere, but he felt strangely at peace.

'I never gave him a moniker, did I?' he squeezed in a thought amidst the mind numbing pain. 'Oh well. He'll gain plenty throughout his life. Be well, my disciple.'

CRACK!

Lloyd thumped limp on the ground, his eyes open but devoid of life. He died with a grin on his peaceful face.

Rogan gave his friend a pitiful look. 

The pressure wasn't directed at him and he watched Lloyd die.

"You can choose to live, or follow his footsteps," Searching Eye threatened impatiently. 

Rogan pursed his lips in deep thought. The silence was deafening, and the Zeniths were getting annoyed. 

"Nah. I'm good. You three can suck my filthy, soot covered toes. My flame has puffed out anyway… his is still raging."

Lorcan shook his head and turned around to leave, but not before shattering Rogan's mental sphere. 

The blacksmith thumped down beside Lloyd, a similar smile on his face.

"What a pointless waste of time."

///

Searching Eye had spent months looking over the forest near the stadium and Ucladd.

Thanks to his spells and investigative methods, he found an alarming piece of evidence – an abandoned hideout within a mountain cavity, but without any Revel or Liam of the sort. 

It turned out, they really didn't need to question Liam's teachers. Lisa and Adrian Royce gladly spoke about the boy, including his cold and hardworking personality. 

Still, the case was difficult to deal with.

Lorcan still didn't know whether it was just one or two of them.

"The blade used was the Blood Demon's… but the peasant's body was fake. Unless… did they know each other somehow?" 

He spent another two months investigating the surrounding cities, but his search didn't yield any fruit.

As Searching Eye thought of a motive, a sudden light flickered on in his head.

"The academy!"

Till now, he had only considered revenge. He didn't see any other reasonable clue why the attack could happen. The killings were too vicious and grim for something like that. 

"The kid thought this far…"

Abruptly, Edwin and Ken chose that exact moment to appear.

Edwin looked grim and silently enraged.

"There's been word of a darkness cultivator inside the Royal Academy."