The Deceitful One

Duke Abaddon slowly got up to his feet and rubbed his forehead in surprise, "That was unexpected."

His gaze then fell over a tiny human whose clothes were brunt. One side of his body was charred black but it was recovering at a fast speed. However, it couldn't recover completely.

After all, the wounds sustained from Hell Fire weren't that easy to get rid of, not by a mere potion at the very least.

'Rank 3 human?' Abaddon stared at Detective Watson in disbelief. After all, how could a mere Rank 3 wound him?

His eyes then fell on the black staff that he was holding to support his body. A trace of shock could finally be seen on his face.

"A God-Level Artifact! Human, looks like you were fortunate enough to possess such a weapon. However, you're too weak. You don't deserve it." He sneered.

Detective Watson got up to his feet and looked back at Abaddon. No trace of fear could be seen in his eyes as he replied, "Devil, you talk too much. Now, if you will, please ignore me."

The next moment, he disappeared from the spot completely and appeared right under Abaddon's feet. No spells were used, this was simply his raw speed. The staff in his hand had already turned into a glaive!

Abaddon simply scoffed as he looked at Detective Watson's vain effort. He dodged the swing of his glaive by just raising his foot and then stamped it down right after! However, at the last moment, he saw Detective Watson smirk playfully.

BAM!!

Large spider-web-like cracks appeared on the ground at the point of impact. Abaddon couldn't help but frown as he knew that he hadn't killed Detective Watson.

"Where is he?" He mumbled.

"Here." Right when he was searching his surroundings, he heard Detective Watson's voice. And the source of this voice was incredibly close!

Abaddon turned his head to the left, and there, he saw Detective Watson standing on his shoulder all along. However, before he could react, the latter had already swung his glaive vertically!

SLASH!!

"Aaaarggghhh!!!" Abaddon screamed as the glaive slashed right across his left eye. Purple blood gushed out from his eye as it drenched his face as well as his upper torso.

His painful screams could be heard from several kilometers away!

As he held onto his left eye to stop the bleeding, he looked incredulously at Detective Watson who at some point had already jumped off of his shoulder and was now standing on the terrace of a nearby building.

"How?" Abaddon asked in shock. His eye had already begun to heal, however, he had lost vision in that eye. For him to be injured by a mere Rank 3 human consecutively was unbelievable.

Detective Watson's lips curled up into a smirk, "Did I not say 'Please, ignore me'?"

Abaddon was silent for a few moments and then replied, "I see. So you're a Transcendent of Wisdom Path!"

Rank 3 Wisdom Path Transcendents gained an innate ability that was very simple yet very effective if used properly in battle. They are able to signal a person through specific words or methods.

The person would then unknowingly follow that signal without them even knowing it. This was an advanced version of hypnosis! However, it had to be carried out very subtly.

Abaddon was now fully on guard as he growled, "I have underestimated you, human."

He raised his right arm as black fire bloomed fiercely at the top of his palm. The fire then gradually transformed into a long black spear. Abaddon slammed the base of the spear on the ground and spoke with fighting intent blazing in his eyes, "Let us fight!"

"No thanks" Detective Watson, however, shook his head as he smiled, "My fight here is done."

Abaddon raised his eyebrows, "Human, what do-"

SLASH!!

However, before he could finish his sentence, he felt a cold sensation in his right shoulder. He looked at it and his eyes widened. His right arm was cut from the shoulder and the point of the cut had been frozen solid!

"Aaarrggghhh!!!" The Devil screamed in pain, and this time louder than before.

Meanwhile, on the terrace where Detective Watson was standing, a middle-aged man with brown hair and wearing a gray three-piece suit, landed nimbly right beside him.

And in his hands was a greatsword made of ice!

Detective Watson looked at this person and nodded with a smile, "Victor."

"James." Victor nodded back. He then looked at Detective Watson's left half of his upper body which was burnt to the point where his flesh was showing and added, "Not doing so well, I see."

Detective Watson rolled his eyes, "Do you have a better healing potion or not?"

Victor chuckled as he took out a green circular crystal from his coat's inner pocket and passed it to him. Detective Watson grabbed the crystal and pressed it against his burnt skin.

The green crystal slowly melded into his skin and within moments the burnt area began to heal rapidly. But still, it hadn't healed completely, only about eighty percent. However, this was more than enough. After all, Hell Fire wasn't any ordinary fire, to begin with.

Detective Watson nodded his head as he now felt significantly better. He then looked at Victor and stated, "I hope you can take care of the Devil for me. I still have to visit an old friend."

"Sure, I owe you this much anyways." Victor nodded, "Devils are easy to wound but hard to kill. So I suppose, I'll just wear him down first and then try to kill him."

With the Devils' fast regenerative abilities, they were indeed difficult to kill. Detective Watson smiled, "Thank you."

He then turned around and prepared to leave. However, he was stopped by Victor as the latter grabbed his shoulder and looked him in the eye, "James, you know what's going to happen. Have you thought this through?"

Detective Watson smiled faintly as his eyes shone with firm resolve, "I can control my destiny, but not my fate."

Victor deeply looked into Detective Watson's eyes for a few moments but he couldn't find a shred of hesitation or fear in them. In the end, he could only sigh,

"Farewell, my friend."