The Deceitful One



After interrogating most of the prisoners in order to confirm that each of them had the same story, they were soon escorted out of the Holy Blood Sect's base by the Strike Team. In the meantime, more Strike Teams had arrived as well.

Since this was the capital of the Belize Kingdom and the Church of Wisdom had a large presence here, they naturally had a much larger Silver Owls division.

Hence, at any given time of the day, there were at least half a dozen Strike Teams ready to be dispatched; each team consisting of at at least six members.

When the other Strike Teams arrived at the underground base, all of them were greatly taken aback looking at the scene of utter carnage, most of them even puked. Regardless, everyone helped the prisoners outside. They couldn't be set free just yet.

After all, they had witnessed things that shouldn't have been seen by regular people: the existence of the supernatural. Hence, after all of them had been given the proper medical treatment necessary, their memories would then be altered.

Of course, this would be done in such a way that did not harm these people in the least. But when everything was said and done, they'd be missing a large chunk of their memories. After all, most of them had been imprisoned here for months.

For Wisdom Path Transcendents, altering memories was an easy thing, but only Mid-String ranks and higher were capable of it. Apart from altering the memories of these former prisoners, the Silver Owls would also look for prospective Apprentices. This is how they had always operated.

As the people were being escorted out of the hospital, Andrew and Max were standing across the street, looking at them with conflicted expressions. They were happy that these people were now free, but the mystery behind the person, or rather demon, that saved these people, irked them.

According to their recounts, the faceless demon was dubbed so because it didn't have any facial features on its face—except the gaping maw. And according to a few astute prisoners, they had noticed a Holy Blood Sect member come into the base and then head to the warden's room.

About a minute after he entered, the warden came out of the room and instructed everyone to gather. They then saw the warden transform into that demon. That is when the massacre had begun.

Max and Andrew had deduced that whoever it was that saved these prisoners had the ability to change faces. And not just that, he even had the capital to deal with a Rank 3 Transcendent in a matter of minutes!

And after the demon had finished slaughtering everyone, he then went to the warden's office, and a few minutes later, a completely different person had come out of it. This further solidified the speculation of this person being able to wear different faces.

The members of the Strike Team believed that this person was very likely to be an Illusion Path Transcendent. But they had never heard of any Transcendent who could transform into a demon. Even the legendary Transformation Path Transcendents could only transform into animals and not demons.

Another thing that Max and Andrew realized was that this person was definitely targeting the Holy Blood Sect and that he was looking for something. They came to this conclusion after seeing that everything in the warden's office had been stolen.

The two of them remained silent for a long time as they saw the former prisoners slowly leave. Max then muttered, "This mysterious party could very well be a threat to the city…."

Andrew was taken aback and he protested, "Captain, how can that be? Didn't he kill all the Blood Path bastards in the base and even saved these prisoners?"

Max looked at him and muttered coldly, "And so what if he saved these people? Any rogue Transcendent is a detriment to society. Even more so for this one that can transform into a four-armed demon and can even deal with a Rank 3 Transcendent within a minute."

"But—" Andrew tried to counter but was instantly cut off by Max, "Andrew, don't be so naive. We still don't know this person's true motive. Tomorrow, I'll be posting a bounty on this rogue Transcendent's head."

With that, he turned around and left. His departing voice drifted into Andrew's ears, "He can either be with us or against us. There is no in-between."

Andrew remained silent, he couldn't think of a counter to that. He knew from experience that rogue Transcendents were indeed a possible threat to society. They could either be lawful or straight-up evil, it was uncertain. And it was because of this uncertainty that the various official Transcendent organizations deemed them a danger to society.

However, Andrew had a feeling that he knew about the identity of this faceless demon. He looked at the last of the prisoners that had just been escorted and thought to himself, 'Is it really you… Bryan?'

...

That night, after Bryan reached home, he straight away went to the bathroom, had a nice warm shower, and then immediately lay down on his bed. He slept like a baby. His face looked so tranquil, it was almost as if he hadn't just brutally massacred more than fifty men.

The following day, he woke up later than usual. The fight last night had indeed taken a toll on him, albeit only physically. Even after waking up, he lazily lay on the bed. Benny, who had already woken up, jumped on top of him and sat down on his chest.

He began licking his paw and mentally transmitted a message, 'Rough night?'

Bryan replied languidly, "Yeah…." He then thought of something and asked, "How was your outing with little Amy?"

'Nya, it was alright,' Benny laid down on Bryan's stomach and continued, 'But I think her mother is growing suspicious of me.'

"Oh?" Bryan was amused. "How so?"

'She keeps giving me these looks,' Benny said in annoyance, 'And then there's that stick that keeps whispering something about me in little Amy's ears.'

"The stick, huh?" Bryan remembered his teacher's god-level artifact that could transform into any weapon. He recalled how the weapon had allowed him to wield it that fateful night. "That weapon probably recognizes my aura lingering around you."

The pair continued to talk for a while until Bryan was finally ready to head down for breakfast. He picked up Benny and placed him on his shoulder. The two of them then went downstairs to have breakfast.

Butler Carl was a very diligent man and had already prepared the food. After a hearty breakfast, both of them went back upstairs to the meditation room. Bryan still had to unlock the two safes, after all.

After entering the room and locking the door behind him, he finally took out both the safes from his pocket watch. The safes were relatively smaller, so Bryan didn't expect much from them. He only hoped that he could find some clues related to what the Holy Blood Sect was planning in the Belize Kingdom.

He sat down in front of the first safe and used his Rank 2 innate ability: Mastery in Lock Picking. Within a few seconds, he was able to crack open the safe. Inside, he found some gold bars, stacks of hundred-pound notes, and savings receipts from a few of the banks.

All in all, the total came to about a few thousand pounds. Although it was not much, Bryan happily kept it. Every penny was important to him. Growing up as a beggar, he knew the value of each coin, hence, he never became egotistical or complacent.

After keeping everything inside the pocket watch, he then proceeded to open the second safe. Once again, he cracked it in a few seconds. The contents of this safe were nothing but parchment papers and a few receipts.

Bryan took them all out and carefully read them. Apart from personal notes written by the warden, he found a bundle of receipts about payments made through different banks to different individuals here in Nadir. Although this seemed random, Bryan decided to investigate them.

After all, there must be a reason why these receipts were kept in the safe in the first place. It meant that the warden placed great emphasis on them. Since the names of these people were on the receipts, he figured he could divine them.

Although he doubted he would be able to find accurate answers, the dream divination could at least point him in the right direction and then he could begin his investigations.

He then grabbed the topmost receipt and read the name on it aloud, "Abel Gene…"

The next moment, he took a few deep breaths, and then his eyes turned completely white. While still holding the receipt in his hand, he kept repeating in his mind, 'Whereabout of Abel Gene mentioned in this receipt…. Whereabout of Abel Gene mentioned in this receipt….'

A few moments later, he finally received a revelation from the Dreamworld. In his vision, he saw a large, grand, and magnificent building that rose majestically amidst a cityscape of steel and steam. It was constructed primarily from steel, marble, and gold, creating a perfect symphony between art and technology.

This massive building was undoubtedly the largest and the grandest structure in the entirety of the city, and its location was right in the center of Nadir. Around it, there were vast lands of greenery that exuded aesthetic beauty and opulence.

His vision then changed to the main entrance of the palace and the coat of arms on its large gates. It was that of a winged lion! Finally, Bryan's vision came to an end. The whites in his eyes receded, but now his eyes were filled with absolute disbelief.

A drop of cold sweat trickled down from his forehead as he mumbled incredulously, "Don't tell me…"