The Deceitful One



The moment Bryan had come out of the woods, he had already begun weaving an illusion. Since then, he had been calmly watching from the sides as Ron continued to ruthlessly beat down a tree trunk.

He couldn't help but come to the conclusion that if it was really him instead of the tree trunk, he might have really been on the verge of dying. After all, those shots from Ron were very vicious.

Just as Bryan noticed that the veins had almost covered Ron's entire body, he decided to cancel the illusion. After all, he could now feel that Ron had gone past the peak strength brought about by his forbidden technique.

Now, Ron was experiencing the negative drawbacks of using such a technique. Despite that, being the cautious person that he was, Bryan decided to create another illusion in order to deliver a final blow to Ron.

Hence, he distracted Ron from finding his real position and made him look toward the tombstone—Celine's tombstone, to be precise—where another illusion of him was standing. The reason why he chose that particular tombstone was obvious.

It was so that Ron's attention would be completely grasped. And that's when Bryan decided to make his move. All this while, he had always been hiding in the shadows using his innate ability.

When Bryan saw Ron look in the direction of Celine's tombstone, he covertly traversed into his shadow and then immediately jumped out of it and stabbed him in the heart. Ironically, this was the same way Ron had stabbed him that night in Damascus.

He brought his face closer to Ron's ears and hoarsely said, "You should know better than to trust the words of a thief."

Ron spewed out a mouthful of blood as he saw Bryan that was standing behind Celine's tombstone dissipate into gray smoke. His lips curled up into a smirk. "Heh…I know you...all too well…punk…."

Bryan's eyes narrowed as he suddenly had a sense of foreboding well up in his heart. The next moment, Ron's batwings completely covered the two of them. It was too late for Bryan to make a move and before he knew it, blood covered his entire vision!

FORBIDDEN SPELL: SANGUINE STAKE!!

Ron gritted his teeth as the blood inside his body solidified and took the shape of multiple stakes. It then pierced through his body, shot out, and penetrated Bryan who was right behind him.

All the blood in Ron's body had solidified to form three thick stakes that aimed to pierce Bryan's heart. At such a close distance, all Bryan could do was change the trajectory of the three stakes. There was no time to dodge.

Hence, he utilized all four of his arms as well as the four tendrils. Each stake was grabbed by a pair of hands or tendrils. While Bryan made sure to guard his heart with his remaining two arms.

"Aaarrrggggghhhh!!" Bryan spewed a mouthful of blood as two of the blood stakes penetrated his lungs, while the last one pierced through his stomach—after being deflected by his arms—and snapped his spine in two. With great difficulty, he remove all three stakes from his body and then immediately fell to the ground, panting.

His body reverted back to its human form, not being able to withstand the energy expenditure anymore. He looked up to see Ron laying motionless in front of him, his chest heaving up and down ever so slightly.

After that last attack, Ron's body was devoid of any blood or energy. It was mere moments before he finally perished. As Bryan came to this realization, he breathed a sigh of relief and muttered, "You…tough bastard."

With great struggle, he searched for his pocket watch and was lucky enough to still find it on him. He took out a healing potion from it and immediately chugged it. However, the potion barely did anything to alleviate his wounds.

After all that last attack by Ron was a brutal one and Bryan had a feeling that his own bloodstream had been poisoned. If it wasn't for his dream creature physique, he would have succumbed to this injury already.

But he knew that over time, his physique would naturally fight off the poison and gain resistance to it. And with the help of potions right now, he would be able to at least move around.

After downing a handful of healing potions, Bryan finally had the strength to get up to his knees. But right at that moment, he heard the sound of rustling coming from ahead. Alarmed, he turned his head in that direction and was greatly taken aback.

With complicated emotions, he looked at Ron, who seemed to be unconscious, dragging his body toward Celine's grave.

On the verge of death, Ron's life flashed past his eyes. After a lifetime of misery, he focused on the one true happiness and joy that he was fortunate enough to find. He muttered incoherently, "Celine…. Andrew…."

Then, his body stopped moving. His arms could no longer carry his weight. Thus, Ron used his chin to move forward. He would do whatever he could, to be one with Celine again.

Bryan who was kneeling right behind Ron, overheard him speak Andrew's name. His fists clenched in anger as he gnashed his teeth. "Bastard…if you really cared for him then why?"

He still didn't understand Ron's motive. Seeing him struggle to get to Celine's grave, a myriad range of emotions churned in Bryan's heart. He wondered, 'Ron…did you do all this…for love?'

After struggling for a really long time, Bryan got up to his feet ad walked toward Ron. He lifted him up and put his arm around his shoulders. Then, he helped him walk toward the grave.

A few moments later, he helped him lay down right beside Celine's tombstone. At this point, Ron's eyes had already lost their luster. But there was still some life left in him as his chest heaved up and down ever so slightly.

In a daze, Ron thought about the first time he met Celine and about the love that was fostered between them. The thing he was most grateful for in this life, was her. Then, he thought about the only person whom he could call a friend and a brother: Andrew.

He recalled the time when they were kids in the orphanage and how Andrew used to always follow him around. Ron knew he was on a mission from a very early age and hence did not want to have deep relationships with anyone.

But over time he became fond of Andrew and began to see him as family. That was also the reason why when he fought him on that fateful night in Damascus, he made sure that Andrew would make it out alive.

And finally, he thought of Sean….

He recalled one of the defining moments in his childhood. At the time, Sean had said to him, "Remember Ron, you must solely focus on the mission, understood?"

"Y-Yes—" Ron had replied tearfully, but was interrupted by Sean.

"And from now on, you will call me master. You cannot let the others know." Sean spoke solemnly.

Tears streamed down Ron's eyes. "Y-Yes, master."

Now that Ron looked back on his life, he realized that everything he had done was solely to get that man's attention. All he had ever wanted was to receive some sort of validation from Sean.

At death's door, he began to realize many things. He couldn't help but think bitterly, 'I wonder…if you're proud of me…. When I die…I wonder…if you'll be sad…father….'

He knew that he was mere moments away from death, and surprisingly enough, he found something that he never thought he would find in this life: peace.

Ron's lips curled up into a faint smile as he mumbled, "Celine…I'm…almost there…."

When Bryan heard Ron, his lips couldn't help but quiver. He took a deep breath and then slapped Ron awake. "Look into my eyes"

Involuntarily, Ron gazed into Bryan's black eyes that were swirling like whirlpools. The next moment, he was pulled into an illusion.

Inside this illusion, Ron never betrayed the Strike Team. He had friends that he could rely upon, friends whom he could call family. He married Celine and even had kids and grandkids with her.

It was a life well-lived, a life that he always yearned for. In but a few moments, Bryan had shown him the life that could have been. This was his parting gift to Ron.

Just as Ron died of old age alongside Celine inside the illusion, he breathed his last in the real world as well. Ron died with a genuine smile on his face. Bryan shut his eyes as they began to bleed profusely.

When he confirmed that Ron had indeed passed away, his shoulders trembled ever so slightly as he began to silently sob. "Farewell…."

Right at that moment, Benny walked toward Bryan and nuzzled his head against his body. Bryan looked at him and picked him up. "Thank you for not interfering in the fight."

Benny didn't say anything as he hugged Bryan's neck. A few minutes later, he sent out a mental transmission, 'I happened to see his thoughts in his final moments.'

He then went to explain everything he had seen. When Bryan heard it, his shoulders slouched as he muttered, "I see…so, all his life he tried to gain recognition from that bastard, huh?"

When Bryan learned that it was because of Ron's healing pill that Andrew might have survived that night in Damascus, he felt relieved that he was able to put Ron inside that illusion before he died. That could be considered as a 'thank you' for saving Andrew.

He then dug up a grave right beside Celine's and gently put Ron's corpse in it. After covering it back with mud, he carried a large piece of stone from the forest and used it as the headstone for the grave. He carved the following words in it:

'Ron Marx

'A loving fiancé

'And a friend.'

Right as Bryan was staring at Ron's headstone in a daze, a soothing voice drifted into his ears. "We meet again, Bryan Lombardi."