"Hm hm... so this is the place you hide your asses? Quite boring."
With two fingers separating the blinds, blue eyes peeked at the desolate, rural surroundings.
Sunlight beamed in, illuminating the dark room and revealing two figures kneeling behind him.
Their faces were beaten black and blue, eyes filled with deep hatred as they glared at the figure standing before them.
"Fucker! You won't get away with this!" one of the kneeling men shouted.
Damon let go of the blinds, calmly walking back before turning toward the bruised figures.
"Oh, is that so?" he chuckled lightly before taking a seat. His eyes scanned the brown table cluttered with phones and papers.
"God, I thought only those novel villains used these lines," he said, leaning forward with an amused expression. "But looks like they're used in real life too."
"Tell me, what gives you confidence that I'll pay?" Damon asked.
Clenching his teeth, the man in the white coat growled, "You don't know who's backing us up! The one behind me would hunt you down—your family, friends, everyone!"
As anger filled his eyes, a flaming red aura began to radiate from him.
"You'll beg for dea—Agh!"
Before he could finish, a black dagger pierced through his shoulder. The star path he had been forming dissipated instantly as the backlash of the failed invocation hit his head.
"Agh!" the man screamed in agony while Damon simply smiled, taking the phones from the screaming figures.
"Boring in-fight conversation... really? why did I even bother starting one?" Damon muttered to himself, pulling a small device from his inventory and plugging it into a port.
"Honestly, dude, I don't give a damn who's behind you all," he said, waiting for the device to do its job. "I only care about what you did with the kidnapped people."
"Where are they? What are you all doing? That's all I want to know."
With a smile that didn't reach his eyes, Damon looked at the trembling man before him.
"Looking at your boss, he doesn't seem too talkative. What about you?"
"You're all caught. I might put in a word or two and lessen your sentence if you cooperate. If not..." He held up the phone. "I have other ways to get the information."
"So tell me—what's your choice?"
The man trembled even more. By his looks, he seemed to be in his early twenties, rough and ruffian-like, tattoos and piercings covering his skin.
"I-I'll tell you everything! We—we just kidnap people, taking orders from someone else!"
"Someone who? Your mother's pimp?"
"We don't know! We don't know his name or anything! All I know is that he wears a purple robe and covers half his face with a mask!"
"Th-that's all I know! That's everything! Please let me go! I don't want to go to jail!"
"F-fucking traitor!" the boss hissed, clutching his pierced arm as he glared at the man betraying their employer.
Using his uninjured hand, he gripped the locket around his neck. "Motherfucker... I didn't want to use this here."
In an instant, glowing blue radiance filled the room. A torrent of water burst forth like a tsunami, forming a massive python-shaped surge that lunged at Damon.
BOOM!
With power comparable to an intermediate-rank spell, the serpent struck. The walls were obliterated by the water, but Damon stood unharmed, protected by a golden shield. Behind him, the astral figure of a silver knight materialized.
"A death-strike equipment?" he murmured, glancing at the older man now lying lifeless across the room. The younger man, unable to withstand the blast, was also dead—his body mangled by the attack. Damon's black dagger lay bloodied on the floor.
"A suicide attack and a murder..." He scratched the back of his head and sighed, already dreading the incoming headache.
Hunters might possess a lot of privileges, but escaping a murder inquiry wasn't among them. Every death during a mission triggered an investigation, and the enforcers were meticulous.
"Sigh... another enquiry. Just great," Damon muttered, rubbing his temples. "Targets committing suicide are the worst cases to deal with. The magical investigation won't take long, but the paperwork after? That's the real torture."
Ding!
A notification rang. Damon looked at the device, now finished destroying all passwords and protections on the phones.
He checked through everything—gallery, notes, messages—but found nothing useful. Until, on the younger man's phone, he came across a photo that froze him in place.
Inside what looked like a factory stood two black-colored beasts, their forms all too familiar. Damon's eyes narrowed.
He could never forget those creatures—the same type that had appeared over a year ago, wreaking havoc and causing calamity in Bo City.
The beasts infamous throughout China, tied to the most notorious organization in the world.
"...Dark Beasts."
***
Waiting for the enforcers responsible for the area to arrive, Damon went through the files, searching for more clues.
Aside from the photo of the Dark Beasts, there was nothing significant. By checking location history and matching timestamps with kidnapping reports, he created a timeline of events.
An abandoned factory near Shanghai—the same place the boss frequently visited—and the very location where the photo had been taken.
Once the enforcers arrived, Damon left the scene. The drive back to Shanghai took about an hour before he reached the abandoned factory.
What awaited him there, however, was another unexpected surprise.
Two magicians, both intermediate-level, were trailing another mage inside the factory.
Damon froze as he recognized the figure ahead—his past batchmate and her partner. He watched as Xu Zhaoting entered the factory alone.
From a distance, Damon observed patiently. When even the girl began moving toward the entrance, he acted.
Creeping up behind her, he covered her mouth and knocked her unconscious, dragging her body to a safer place.
Then, keeping his eyes on the factory, he waited.
Soon, a figure cloaked in a gray robe emerged, flanked by two Dark Beasts dragging the defeated boy toward an old truck.
Damon resisted the urge to storm the factory. The place was clearly a Black Vatican base, and his priority was the leader—the one behind all of this.
'Half masked face, member of black Vatican..'
His gaze hardened as he whispered the name.
"...Yu Ang."