The Deceitful One



Ron's answer echoed inside Andrew's head like loud gongs. His heart was churning with tumultuous waves. That was a name that he would have never expected to come out of Ron's mouth.

He stood there in a daze, his eyes unfocused for a really long time. It wasn't until Ron called out to him again that he snapped out of his daze. He looked at Ron's spirit and asked, "Are you sure? Was it really Bryan?"

Ron nodded. "It was him, alright." He then noticed his body which was beginning to turn incorporeal by the second. He looked back at Andrew and got everything out of his chest, "Andrew, you don't have to forgive me, but I want you to know that I'm sorry…."

Andrew looked at him for a long time and then simply nodded. Of course, he could never forgive him. After all, because of Ron, Henry and Emma had died. But Andrew found comfort in knowing that at the very least, Ron still felt remorseful.

Motes of lights began to separate from Ron's body as he slowly began to dissipate. He thought of something, and then added, "By the way, Bryan seems to be under disguise. It's best not to blow his cover. I'm sure you can ask the spirits in the cemetery what he looks like."

Andrew nodded once again. His lips quivered and his eyes began to redden as he saw Ron slowly be reduced to nothingness. He knew that Ron's time had truly come.

"I hope you live a good life," Ron smiled gently as tears began to stream down his face. He prepared to turn around as he added, "I must go now, Celine is waiting for me."

With that, he turned around and began to walk toward the other end of the illusory white road, his body turning transparent. Andrew looked at his desolate back and reached out to him. He thought of a lot of words to say, but nothing came out of his mouth.

In the end, he spoke while sobbing, "Ron… I hope you find peace…."

Ron turned around and looked at Andrew with a smile. He nodded and then suddenly recalled something as his face turned solemn. "Andrew, you must be wary of the Holy Blood Sect…."

"What?" Andrew asked, puzzled. Because Ron's body was fading away, he wasn't able to properly hear what he said.

Ron continued, "Sean is planning something really big in Nadir. You must… be… wary…. Help from… Central… Continent…." With that, Ron finally dissipated into nothingness and passed on to the afterlife.

Andrew ran after him and tried to talk to him once again. But it was to no avail. The void around him suddenly twisted and contorted and when he opened his eyes once again, he found himself back in the cemetery, kneeling at the center of the ritualistic formation.

He took large mouthfuls of air as beads of sweat dripped from his forehead. Traveling to the realm between the afterlife and the living world, and then communicating with Ron's spirit really took a toll on him.

And especially after what Ron had revealed to him, his mind was in chaos. Although he was not able to hear completely what Ron had said in the end, he was able to glean keywords from it.

As he was taking deep breaths and recuperating, the captain of the team approached him and crouched down beside him. He patted Andrew's shoulder and asked, "Did you find anything?"

Andrew nodded his head as he gasped for air. A few moments later, after having calmed down a little, he replied, "There was infighting between Ron and another member of the Holy Blood Sect, he didn't tell me the reason."

Ron had specifically mentioned to him that Bryan was in disguise. Although Andrew didn't know why, he would try his best to help him out nonetheless. That's why he didn't mention Bryan at all.

The captain looked at him deeply for a few moments. In the end, he nodded. "Anything else?"

Andrew's expression turned solemn. "Ron said to beware of Sean Marx. The Holy Blood Sect is planning something big in Nadir and something about the possible involvement of the Central Continent."

'Central Continent!' The captain's eyes narrowed. He then asked, "What do you mean possible involvement? Was the communication with the spirit not clear?"

Andrew shook his head. "By the time I met him, he was already on the verge of completely fading away. So, I could only figure out a few of the keywords that he mentioned. And one of them was Central Continent."

The captain of the team remained silent for a very long time. Andrew looked at him and solemnly began, "Captain…."

Snapping out of his thoughts, the captain patted Andrew and looked at him with approval. "Well done, you've provided precious intel." With that, he got to his feet and walked to the other members.

Andrew looked at his captain's back which seemed to have been weighed down tremendously by the information he had just provided. In the end, he sighed and gathered all the materials on the ground.

The captain, on the other hand, clapped his hand twice and loudly instructed, "Everyone, remove all evidence of any Transcendental fight happening. Cover up everything that might lead to the supernatural."

He looked at a few people and added, "Lightning Path Transcendents, go use your abilities and make it look like lightning stuck the forest and destroyed most of the trees."

"Yes, Captain!" Two men replied respectfully and then rushed towards the woods.

The captain then looked at another group, "Water and Earth Path Transcendents, cover up the battlefield on the cemetery. Flood the place and make it appear muddy."

"Understood, Captain!" One by one, the team members dispersed and got to their jobs. The captain looked at everything going on with a flat expression. But inside his mind, there was a storm raging.

After all, anything about the Central Continent was always troublesome news for organizations in the Western Continent.

...

Wayne Manor, 16 Calm Springs.

Inside the meditation room on the second floor, Bryan who had already changed back to the appearance of Anthony Wayne, was sitting on the floor while his assistant, Donald, was panicking to the extremes while tending to his wounds.

Bryan had directly teleported to the meditation room and only then had he called for Donald. If he entered the house through the front gate, given his current condition most of the servants of the house would have collapsed at the sight of such blood.

Donald was trying his best to not pass out from witnessing such a gory scene. Bryan was covered in head to toe in blood and there were three gaping holes in his torso–two in each of his lungs and one in his stomach.

He could see right through the holes but despite that, he saw that Bryan barely had an expression. As he was covering Bryan's torso with a white bandage, he looked up at Bryan who seemed to be very calm, and asked, "M-Master, does it not hurt?"

Bryan rolled his eyes at him. "Of course it does."

Donald gulped involuntarily. "T-Then why does it not show on your face?" That's what he was confused about. Sustaining such wounds would definitely kill someone, even a Transcendent. However, Bryan appeared as if it didn't phase him at all.

Bryan began to chuckle. "Oh, I've been through much worse. This amount of pain is nothing."

Donald's eyes widened. He pointed at the gaping holes in Bryan's chest, and asked incredulously, "What could possibly be worse than that?"

"I was brutally tortured not long back," Bryan recalled that fateful night in Damascus and continued, "A lunatic scraped the skin and flesh off my body and carved my bones and organs. Oh, that one really hurt."

"What!?" Donald stopped what he was doing and looked at Bryan in utter disbelief.

"Yep," Bryan nodded, "you'd be surprised by what these Blood Path lunatics are capable of."

'Blood Path!' Donald thought in apprehension. Naturally, under Bryan's guidance he had come to learn about most of the organizations in the Western Continent. Hence, when his master mentioned Blood Path lunatics, only one organization came to his mind:

Holy Blood Sect!

Donald resumed what he was doing and curiously inquired, "Then… what happened to that person who tortured you?"

Bryan's lips curled up into a mischievous grin. "I murdered him in the most cruel way he could ever imagine."

Donald's hands paused for a moment but then he continued to wrap Bryan's wounds again. He thought in his mind, 'Master seems so gentle and amicable on the surface… but he's really vicious.'

After, tending to all his wounds, Donald bowed respectfully and rushed out of the meditation room, almost as if he couldn't stand the sight of so much blood and gore. Seeing this, Bryan couldn't help but chuckle in amusement.

Then, he began to meditate and think about the fight that he had just now. He realized that he had to be even more cautious in the future. After all, Ron was able to predict his move even though he had taken many precautions.

Although this could be credited to Ron having a good idea about who Bryan was as a person, Bryan still took it upon himself to be even more cautious in the future. If it wasn't for his dream creature physique, Ron's last attack would have really killed him.

He couldn't depend on his luck all the time, especially in crucial situations. The only thing he could trust was his own hard work and effort. They would never betray him. After sorting out his thoughts, Bryan calmed his emotions and began to meditate.

Healthy or sick, happy or sad, he would meditate every day. One step at a time, he would always move forward.