🔥🔥🔥 Chapter 27🔥🔥🔥
The students crowded into the great hall, voices buzzing with excitement. Today marked the end of their first year, and the Chief Admiral was about to give the farewell speech.
"Man, I can't wait to go home," Diaz muttered, leaning back in his chair.
Cafe chuckled, tearing into the chicken wings he had smuggled in. "You and me both."
The hum of chatter fell silent as the Chief Admiral stepped onto the podium. His voice carried through the hall—praising, encouraging, and occasionally calling out the names of exceptional students for awards.
Fifty minutes later, the speech ended. The students spilled out into the warm afternoon air, energy high as they made for the gates. Jacque walked with his friends, laughter following them down the path.
A black Chevrolet purred to a stop beside them. Leslie climbed in, flanked by her siblings Kelvin and Leona. The tinted windows rolled up, and the car pulled away.
"So showy," Diaz smirked, boarding a bus with Lenin and a young blonde. "See you next class," he called, waving.
A few minutes later, a blue Range Rover pulled up. A tall man stepped out—Jacque's father.
"Dad!" Jacque's face lit up as he ran to greet him.
After the warm embrace, Jacque turned. "This is my friend Luan."
Mr. Warren shook his hand. "Ah—you must be Luan."
The three talked briefly before Jacque climbed into the Range Rover. He waved one last goodbye as the car drove off.
When the crowd thinned, Luan began walking back toward the campus. He was a scholarship student—there was no home to return to.
---
Harlem — Nightfall
The streets of Harlem wound down as night draped itself over the city. Lights flickered in apartment windows. Cars thinned. Somewhere in the distance, sirens wailed.
A sleek black sedan slid into a parking space. Dr. Finn stepped out, still in his white coat, shoulders heavy with exhaustion. He trudged through the lobby, rode the lift, and unlocked his apartment.
"Ahhh… I'm so tired," he groaned, tossing his coat over a chair. A quick shower later, he collapsed onto his bed and drifted into sleep.
That was when it happened.
A ripple of demonic energy spread across the block, thick and oppressive. Dr. Finn's breathing changed—his body stiffened. When his eyes opened again, they burned faintly red.
Bael had taken over.
"I hate humans… so weak and fragile," the voice inside Finn's mouth growled. He crossed the room in three strides and leapt from the window into the night.
---
In a shadowed alley, a group of young men in red jackets surrounded a smaller boy pressed against a wall. The emblem on their backs—a coiled snake wrapped around an eye—marked them as members of the Devil's Eye, a ruthless street gang gaining notoriety across the state.
"Alright," their leader sneered, pulling a dagger, "let's get to business."
The boy's eyes widened. The blade glinted in the dim light. But before the leader could strike, a shadow appeared behind them.
"Who the hell are you?" the leader barked.
The figure ignored him, stepping toward the trembling boy.
One of the gang members lunged forward. He didn't even finish his sentence before the stranger's fist dropped him to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, the rest followed—each crumpling without so much as a cry. The leader spun around, panic replacing his bravado. He turned to run… only to slam into an invisible wall.
"You're not going anywhere," the stranger said, his voice low and cold. The next moment, the leader was unconscious.
Now only the boy remained, his breathing sharp, eyes darting. The stranger stepped closer, a devilish smirk curling his lips.
"Who… who are you?" the boy stammered.
"I'm not here to hurt you," the figure said, extending a hand. "I just need something from you."
"What… what do you want?"
"That."
The boy's gaze followed the man's finger—and froze. Floating above him was his pendant, glowing faintly with a strange, fiery aura.
"My pendant!" he gasped, reaching for it. But the instant his fingers brushed the energy, pain seared through him and he collapsed.
"Foolish child," the intruder muttered. "How do humans always get their hands on things they shouldn't have?"
The figure—Dr. Finn, or rather Bael—closed his hand, and the pendant vanished into nothingness.
He placed a palm on the boy's forehead. "You won't remember any of this." A pulse of power erased the memory, the same spell wiping the bullies' minds. The barrier dissolved. Bael turned and vanished into the dark.
---
The pendant was no ordinary trinket. It was the Eye of Agamotto—a true eye, once belonging to Agamotto himself, a hell demon of unmatched firebending skill. Power-hungry, Agamotto had transformed into a demon to claim dominion over Hellfire itself.
Legends say he was eventually slain by another demon, his essence splintered into both his eyes—two artifacts capable of summoning and manipulating Hellfire.
Bael now possessed one.
The location of the other remained unknown