The Deceitful One



That night, Alfredo reached his home with an extremely foul moon. The way that Ron acted against him truly angered him. He had always been envious of Ron.

Although the latter had to spend the majority of his life undercover, he had always been given preferential treatment by Sean Marx. He had all the resources in the world to aid him in his advancement.

He was only a Rank 2 yet he was almost a hundred years younger than Alfredo. And after the dreams that the latter had been having over the past few weeks, he truly detested Ron. And when Celine died, he was genuinely happy that Ron had suffered such a huge loss.

Despite having the same dreams numerous times, Alfredo wasn't suspicious of it. He himself was very learned in the occult. And he was confident that there were no Transcendent abilities that used dreams as a medium.

Thus, he was not alert about it at all. However, what he didn't know was that a young Transcendent who he was very familiar with had already begun to create the Dream Path!

Alfredo sat at the dinner table with his fingers crossed, supporting his chin. He was deep in thought regarding what had transpired earlier at the Holy Blood Sect base. The look that Ron gave him before leaving was very concerning to him.

'Is the brat really trying to kill me?' He thought. Although he was not afraid of fighting head-on with Ron, what he was truly worried about was killing him. Over the years, he had accumulated a lot of experience and was a veteran fighter in his own right.

Thus, he was confident that he could defeat Ron in a one-on-one. However, if he did kill him then that would spell trouble. One reason was that the members of the Holy Blood Sect were not allowed to kill each other.

This was a strict rule that was implemented everywhere that the Holy Blood Sect had taken root. Although all its members were ruthless and maniacal, they were taught the importance of unity.

After all, the entire world was against them since they were an evil organization. Hence, they needed to rely on themselves and their fellow members. Therefore, it was a sort of taboo for a member to kill another.

Of course, this rule was not implemented strictly amongst the Apprentices. But once one became a Transcendent, they became a vital force to the organization. Even more so if the person was a Rank 2 Transcendent.

However, this wasn't what bothered him. What really bothered him was the fact that his master was Ron's teacher. If he really ended up killing him, his master would not leave him be. Sean would make sure that he died the cruelest of deaths.

On the surface, Sean might show indifference to Ron, but he knew better than to believe that. After all, he had been serving Sean for a very long period of time and knew exactly how much he cared for the youth, even though he did not show it.

Thinking of all this, Alfredo couldn't help but sigh. He began to rub his temples and thought to himself, 'This is so troublesome…. But why would that kid blame me for Celine's death? How strange.'

That was one thing that he really did not understand. Why would Ron barge into his office and straight up accuse him of killing the girl? He had never even spoken to her. Although he truly detested both of them, he would never go so far as to go and kill her.

And even if he did kill her, he wouldn't leave behind any trails that would lead to him. Alfredo felt very puzzled about this. He mumbled, "Is someone trying to set me up? But who?"

Right at that moment, the butler of the house, a middle-aged man with brown hair and red eyes, entered the dining room with a tray in hand. Atop the tray, were sizzling hot dishes. Alfredo looked at him and coldly muttered, "What took you so long?"

The butler began to sweat profusely and stuttered, "F-Forgive me, m-master. Since you arrived so late, the food had gone cold. I had to reheat it b-before serving."

Alfredo stared intently at the butler and then harrumphed. "Leave."

The butler began to panic. "B-But master, w-what about the food?"

"Put it on the table and leave, you fucking idiot." Alfredo roared. He was already in a foul mood to begin with and now this butler was beginning to annoy him.

The butler and all the other servants of the house were provided to him by the Holy Blood Sect when he arrived at Nadir. Most of them were Apprentices and this butler was a Rank 1 Transcendent.

Thus, technically they were all members of the organization. If it wasn't for that, Alfredo would have killed him on the spot for being so annoying and stupid.

"Y-Yes, master!" In his panic, the butler almost dropped the tray. He placed all the dishes in front of Alfredo and then rushed out of the dining room, afraid that he would die if he angered his master anymore.

Alfredo looked at the butler's departing back and sneered, "How can a Transcendent be so clumsy? Fucking ridiculous."

He then put the matter to the back of his mind and began to eat his dinner. All the while, he was thinking about how to deal with Ron. After about a few minutes he finished his dinner, but he still remained in his seat, deep in thought.

A few moments later, the butler came back to the dining room in order to take back the empty plate and dishes. However, as he approached Alfredo, he didn't pick up the plates, instead, he simply stood there.

A few moments later, Alfredo looked at his butler and reprimanded, "What the hell are you waiting for? Take the damn plates and get lost."

However, the butler simply stood there. His lips curled up into a mischievous smile as he looked at Alfredo. "What if I don't want to?"

"You dare!?" Alfredo was overcome by anger. He was already at the tipping point to begin with, after the whole incident with Ron. And now even his lowly servant was being disrespectful to him.

He wanted to put this peasant in place. Although he was angry, he was rational enough to not kill him. He raised his hand and fiercely swung it at the butler's chest, aiming to rip his skin and flesh off with his blood claw.

His hand slashed against the butler's chest, but much to Alfredo's shock, nothing happened. Not even the shirt of the butler was torn. He then looked at his palm and his eyes widened. His palm didn't turn into a blood claw!

Alfredo poured spiritual force to transform his hand, however, he became horrified at the result. He realized that he was not being able to access his spiritual force at all! He stumbled a few steps back and muttered in disbelief, "What the hell is happening?"

The butler, with the same mischievous smile on his face, looked at Alfredo in amusement and said, "You know, Alfredo…. I really tried my best to look for that poison you used on me back in Damascus. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it at any secret conventions."

Alfredo looked at his butler in fear. He was extremely vulnerable if he couldn't even utilize his spiritual force. He gnashed his teeth and asked, "What have you done to me!?"

Suddenly, he came to a realization and looked at the empty bowls and plates on the dining table. He would have never imagined a member of the Holy Blood Sect to have poisoned him.

The butler looked at him and chuckled. "Looks like you've figured it out, eh? Since I couldn't find that poison, I settled for the next best thing: a poison that freezes the spiritual force."

"You fucking bastard!" Alfredo glared at him and threatened, "You know what the punishment for killing a member of the organization is, don't you?"

The butler began to laugh. "Hahaha, and why the fuck should I care about that?"

All of a sudden, Alfredo realized something that he had missed earlier in his state of panic. His butler mentioned the poison that he had used on him in Damascus. He looked at him and asked, "Who are you?"

The butler began to grin. The next moment, small sliver tendrils began to protrude from his face and began to contort and shift it. A few moments later, his face changed to that of a blond youth with red eyes.

The butler smiled brightly. "It's me, grandfather!"

Alfredo was filled with utter shock. "No, no, no, it can't be." Tears began to well up in his eyes and he roared, "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!?"

The butler slowly walked toward Alfredo who was frozen in place. He then raised his arm and stabbed Alfredo in the chest at lightning speed.

Alfredo was completely vulnerable to this attack. He couldn't use his spiritual force, to begin with, and now that he saw the butler's face, he was overcome by shock and grief.

The butler grabbed Alfredo's heart and yanked it out of his chest. He then looked at Alfredo and grinned maniacally. "It's me, Anthony."

Alfredo coughed a mouthful of blood as he limply fell on his back. His eyes began to slowly dim as tears trickled down his face. The last thing he saw before he forever lost consciousness was his grandson holding his still-beating heart and looking at him with a wide grin.

He died a cruel death at the hands of the person he cherished the most, whom he thought to be already dead.