The Deceitful One

Alfredo hadn't even realized that another person had appeared right in front of him. One moment he was catching his breath and the next moment, this new person had already arrived.

And Alfredo knew exactly who this person was! How could he mistake this blond middle-aged man wielding a black staff for anyone else but Detective James Watson?

He had long heard about the Detective's legendary feats all over the Western Continent. He was able to single-handedly defeat Transcendents who were a rank above him! He and his black staff were renowned in the Transcendent World, especially in Nadir.

After all, the number of Transcendent criminals he had killed in Nadir alone was in the hundreds. And most of them were from the Holy Blood Sect!

So when Alfredo saw that Detective James Watson had arrived and was now checking up on the very person that he had been torturing for so long, he had only one thought in his head, escape!

He stumbled a few steps backward and then approached the robed figure who had just saved him previously.

"I'm still trying to recover from earlier. Go deal with that person who has just arrived." Alfredo whispered to the robed figure. He tried to act as calm as ever.

The robed figure's eyebrows furrowed, "Are you ordering me around now, bastard?"

Alfredo, however, calmly shook his head, "This is Master's order. We still haven't confirmed if he has actually advanced. Go take care of him so that Master doesn't have to."

After saying his piece, he turned around and walked away. On his way, he picked up Ron, whose chest wound was now beginning to heal, and then tried to get as far away from this place as possible.

He knew now that Detective Watson was here, there would be yet another battle. And he didn't want to take any chances. He didn't want to be collateral damage!

As for killing Bryan, he had long since taken care of that! Even if he couldn't finish him off right now, the curse mark on his eyes would not let him live past ten days. That's how brutal and vicious the curse was!

Bryan was doomed to die the moment Alfredo blinded him in the left eye!

Meanwhile, the red-robed figure looked at Alfredo's departing back and felt something amiss. However, what he said also made sense.

Hence, he turned around and walked towards Detective Watson. He couldn't see his face from his angle and therefore hadn't recognized him. However, the black staff that he was holding felt awfully familiar.

The robed figure just couldn't remember where he had seen it before. Before he could find the sense of familiarity, he had already approached Detective Watson and was standing a few steps behind him.

"Oi, you must have a death wish. Do you even know where you ar-" However before he could finish his sentence, he saw Detective Watson swing his staff toward his head!

The robed figure's eyes widened at the speed of the attack. He raised his arms to block it. However, the staff pummeled through both his forearms and then smashed his head along with his shoulders and chest in one go!

Drops of blood and flesh fell to the ground as the robed figure's lower body remained standing. Detective Watson hadn't even turned around! All he had done was swing his staff, and a Rank 2 Transcendent had died!

Detective Watson's face had contorted from anger. As he looked at the state Bryan was in, he felt unprecedented fury well up within him!

He took a vial of healing potion from his pocket, this was also the last potion on him. He uncorked it and gently tried to lift Bryan's head.

However, Bryan swatted his hand away and tried to grab his throat, "DIE!!"

Detective Watson grabbed Bryan's hand and spoke gently, "Bryan, it's me…"

It pained him to think that Bryan had been tortured to such an extent that he would attack anyone who came near him.

When Bryan heard the familiar voice, his body trembled, "T-Teacher?"

Detective Watson bottled all the anger he was feeling inside of him and displayed the same gentle smile that he always showed to Bryan, "Yes, it's me."

After hearing his teacher's confirmation, Bryan broke down. After having gone through betrayal, pain, and repeated failures, he was finally able to let down his guard and have a moment of respite.

His body trembled incessantly as he began to cry. However, there were no tears. When Alfredo had destroyed his left eye, the tear ducts were also damaged. And needless to say, his right eye's tear ducts were damaged because of the curse.

Hence, now when Bryan cried, instead of tears, blood streamed down his face!

He choked multiple times as he reached out to hug Detective Watson. The latter stroked his head and comforted him, "You're going to be all right now. I'm here."

Detective Watson then fed him his last healing potion. The potion soon took effect and the severe wounds all over his body were being regenerated at a slow and steady pace.

When he saw the dagger marks on Bryan's ribs and organs, he couldn't help but grit his teeth. He clenched his fists until the nails dug into his palms and blood seeped out.

'Unforgivable!' Detective Watson's eyes turned bloodshot.

"T-Teacher…" Bryan struggled to speak as he turned his head towards Detective Watson.

"Yes?" Detective Watson replied gently, not willing to affect Bryan with the anger he was feeling. Then all of a sudden, he saw Bryan's eyes that still hadn't shown signs of healing.

After observing the curse marks on Bryan's eyes and forehead, Detective Watson's eyes narrowed, 'Curse of the Dead!'

This was a vicious technique that belonged to the Curse Path. The victim of this curse wouldn't be able to live past ten days after being inflicted with the curse.

The reason why it was so deadly was that not even those from the Mid-String ranks could cure this! And even someone as weak as a regular human could use this curse to attack!

Unless someone got a High-String Transcendent to help, the victim would surely die! Even though Detective Watson knew the effects of this curse, he wasn't bothered in the slightest.

Because he knew it wasn't time for Bryan to die! Detective Watson had already seen the future!

"W-We must…e-escape," Bryan tried his best to form coherent words, "I have o-overheard them speak… Mark is already R-Rank 4…"

Detective Watson smiled, "I know."

Bryan heaved a sigh of relief, "T-Then…lets go…"

However, Detective Watson shook his head, "I have seen all possible outcomes in the River of Fate, Bryan. And the path that I have chosen is the most optimal one."

Bryan was confused as to what his teacher was saying. Moreover, because of the curse marks that were threatening to invade his brain, he wasn't able to think properly.

Detective Watson added, "Bryan, do you trust me?"

"Always…" Bryan replied instinctively, without hesitation.

Detective Watson smiled warmly. He then gently placed Bryan back on the ground and replied, "Then stay here. I'll be right back."

Bryan panicked, "B-But-"

However, he was cut off by Detective Watson, "Just trust me, Bryan."

Bryan's lips quivered. For some reason, he felt a heavy sense of foreboding well up in his heart. But in the end, he nodded his head reluctantly.

He laid down on the ground and tried to recuperate his wounds. At the same time, he also practiced his meditation technique and tried to gather spiritual force, despite the pain he was going through.

Bryan didn't know what would happen next, but he had to make sure that he was prepared for it.

Meanwhile, Detective Watson stood up and looked around. At some point, he had already been surrounded by the remaining four robed figures who were guarding the cave entrance.

The gentle smile on his face had already vanished. What replaced it was complete apathy! His eyes narrowed and gleamed with a ruthless glint as he looked at the four figures around him.

One of the figures stumbled back in terror when he met Detective Watson's gaze. And when he identified who the man holding the black staff was, he stuttered in fear, "I-Impossible! It's the Weapons Master!"

Detective Watson disappeared from his spot and arrived behind the person who had just spoken. His staff had already turned into a black double-edged sword, as he swung it horizontally at the person's neck.

The person felt puzzled. One moment, he saw Detective Watson in front of him suddenly disappear. And the next moment, he saw the world around him spinning.

THUD!

The world finally stopped spinning and the person's gaze fell on a headless body. Blood was gushing out from its neck. And behind the headless body, he saw Detective Watson standing with a black sword.

He looked back at the headless body once again and then it suddenly dawned on him. His eyes slowly dimmed as he embraced the cold touch of death.

The last thing he felt before falling to eternal slumber was gratitude! Yes, he was grateful to the Weapons Master for giving him a quick death!

It wasn't until this person's decapitated head fell to the ground, that the other three figures realized what had happened.

A severe chill ran down their spines as they made some distance from Detective Watson. However, they still made sure to surround him in a triangle formation.

They each took out their respective weapons, however, they couldn't stop their hands from trembling.

With a simple flick of the wrist, Detective Watson removed all the blood stains from his sword. He then looked at the three figures and muttered coldly,

"Die."