A foggy and cloudy day, covered with mist along the city's waters. Ilama walks across the streets of Dnipro, gazing upon the horizon.
He checks the time, it's 6:22pm. People are seen walking in the distance.
***
Meanwhile, a man from agency approaches him.
"Good evening, Detective. I'm Yami, Lubbock asked me to give this to you."
Lubbock: The Boss's assistant.
"This is a pretty gruesome homicide..."
(Yami mutters, glaring at the mutilated corpses within the premises of the crime scene.)
Ilama extends his hand and accepts the letter from Yami.
"A letter? Thanks."
"There were three people who witnessed this homicide right? What did they say?"
"Well, it's kind of a shock, Detective."
Yami lights a ciggerette.
"Two of them went into a psychotic episode, they are being treated by the agency's psychiatrist, And..."
"And?"
"The third one is cooperating with the agency. He claims the murderer was not human."
Ilama chuckles.
"This witness is quite strange sir, he's peculiarly calm. He's answering all of our questions without hesitation."
[Ilama Thinks]
"It's strange how this man doesn't seem to be even a little scarred after witnessing such a brutal murder... and he's also willing to cooperate fully?"
"Just ask him as many questions as you can and continue the investigation."
"Oh, and one more thing..."
(He adds abruptly)
"The Mafia case must not be disclosed to anyone, until I say so."
"Got it."
"Well thanks for the information, Yami."
"No problem. I'll be on my way, Detective."
Ilama recieves the suspect's possible face sketch on his phone... [Photo: sent by G Man.]
He crushes the lollipop inside his mouth and tries examining the bodies upon closer inspection.
[His Thoughts]
"By the looks of it, it's true that he was killed last night, the smell of these bloodstains indicate it was within the time frame of 12:37 am to 12:40 am. The bullet went straight through his heart and didn't deviate. It's also a bizarre wound, quite a sharp and focused shot. The suspect must be a skilled one."
"There are random bite marks all over these bodies, the blood has also been contaminated with perhaps, a poison?"
"hmm..."
"The bullet is no where to be found, that's odd. This must be the work of an Essence Artifact or rather, a Demon..."
Essense Artifact: A weapon or item manufactured with essence energy.
***
He gazes upon the sky. The Sunset left a tinge of crimson that blazed the clouds. It was a peaceful moment.
Soon, He finishes writing the evidence report… but suddenly, he catches a glimpse of an afterimage.
"Huh? What was that."
(acts confused)
"Oh, that letter. I forgot to read it"
(Opens letter)
***
[Letters' Content]
The Hyakuya Family has requested the Sleuth Hounds Agency of Ukraine to overlook the case of vampire sightings in Kyoto, Japan. Details of this case and the reward for its completion are mentioned in the contract within the envelope.
Regards, Hyakuya Aizen.
***
"Hahaha, vampires you say. What kind of a fantasy is this?"
"Maybe they're just a bunch of posers that are frightening the public, by using cheap illusionary abilities."
He opens the contract within the envelope and reads it.
"Next stop is Japan, huh..."
[Ilama shouts jubilantly in his mind]
"I CAN'T WAIT TO BUY CANDY, ESPECIALLY THE LOLLIPOPS. MY MOUTH IS WATERING JUST THINKING ABOUT IT!"
(He starts drooling)
Ilama's Addiction: Ilama is addicted to candy, particularly lollipops.
A distant afterimage breaks his train of thought, he notices it on the rooftop of a nearby building
"You can quit playing hide and seek. I know where you are."
A mysterious, cloaked person appears on the rooftop, then jumps and lands in front of Ilama.
"Good evening detective, you've finally caught me. You Agency folks are too troublesome, meddling your way into everybody's business… Well, I'm too thirsty for blood, those bodies just didn't have enough in store for me."
"The aroma of your blood was pretty intriguing though, I can only wonder, how it would taste... Now then, shall we find out?"
(The man states before laughing maniacally.)
Out of the blue, he transforms himself into a demon, emitting a baleful, dark aura. His whole face develops eerie scales with vertically elliptical, menacing eyes. He glares at Ilama.
"Let's see if you can handle my inevitable attacks, hahaha."
[Ilama's Thinks]
"The outcome of this fight has already been decided."
(He smirks.)
The Demon whips out a an essence-infused pistol within a split second and starts shooting at Ilama. Instinctually, Ilama is able to dodge every shot. The bullets vanish after missing him
"That explains it, he has an essence artifact."
The demon jumps and runs along the walls to avoid an attack in response, and then activates his talisman.
"Talisman activation, Venom Slug Technique."
A striking red talisman card activates his modified barrage technique. The Talisman card disintegrates into thin air as multiple bolts infused with viper venom fly towards Ilama.
[Demon's POV]
Ilama's head is bowed down as the projectiles approach him at supersonic speed. Suddenly, he glares at them with his glowing, beast-like magenta eyes and stops them with the sheer force released by the activation of his pure eye.
Pure Eye: A gifted eye ability that can percieve the Vestige World. It can generate force fields with different levels of pressure just by glaring at a person or object.
Vestige world: A world where the residue of people's aura/afterimage exists. It can only be seen by those who possess the Pure Eye.
[Ilama's Thoughts]
"So that venom is what contaminated the blood."
"Your Talisman is quite impressive, but it's futile against me, give up."
"That eye is really getting on my nerves!"
(The Demon screams)
Ilama sees an afterimage of the demon taking a direct shot at him to disbalance his position. Then flipping around him for a drop-kick attempt directed at his abdomen.
"Perfect Timing"
(Ilama whispers to himself)
The demon approaches him, Ilama prepares for the predicted attack. He turns and dodges his punch with both of his hands still in his pockets. He stops his drop kick with just one finger and then tightly grabs his leg, throwing him mid-air for an elbow strike to the jaw, completely knocking him out.
The Demon collapses to the ground.
"The demon has been cleansed!"
(He shouts in a comical tone)
"It's such a shame, I didn't even get to use my weapons."
Ilama reaches for the demon's pocket and checks his ID.
"Yeah, it's definitely him."
(He confirms after comparing it with the police sketch.)
Ilama picks up the body, some blood drips down.
"Ughh, some more cleansing is needed..."
He drags him all the way back to the Headquarters and meets up with G Man on the 2nd floor
***
"Detective! What is this mess!"
(G Man shouts in an alarmed tone)
"G Man! Can you take care of this demon for me, and render case as closed."
"Sure! I guess..."
(G Man says with a disgusted look.)
"Also, read this letter and inform the crew."
Conner walks into the hallway.
"Ilama, Boss wants to have a chat with you."
(Conner announces after seeing him.)
"I was gonna see the old man anyway, catch ya later…"
***
Ilama takes the elevator to the 4th floor and knocks on his Boss's office
"Come in."
"What's up, Old man?"
"Ilama, did you read the letter Lubbock sent you?"
"Ahaha, yes I did."
"So whats your take on the situation?"
Ilama gets serious.
"Well, such a powerful and well equipped family could handle such matters on their own but clearly, they need our help for a reason."
(He states, as he sits down on a chair and unpacks another lollipop.)
"The vampire sightings appear to be essence users using cheap illusions to fool Kyoto's gullible residents. This should mean that those notorious groups scattered all over Japan are a greater threat for us, but it's unlikely that they'll cause any problems."
Notorious groups: Criminal groups who have extremely powerful essences.
"You see Ilama... Japan was one of the leading countries that maintained law and order in the world and ever since the war and that damning Hiroshima Incident, mayhem has broken loose. It's lawless and chaotic out there. Our agency has big goals and ideals, but it's just not right involving it in every dangerous situation and putting precious lives at risk."
"Old man, you worry too much. I am the strongest. Nothing can happen to us until I hold charge. I think it's better for us to accept this request, besides we need to expand our interests throughout the world."
"Ilama, I fear that the world in the near future will be destroyed if necessary steps are not taken. Since you're going to Japan. I want you to meet a person in Ikebukuro. He's a vigilante, he might be of help to you for this case."
"hmm, sure…"
"You've finally grown into a fine young man"
(The Boss says with a proud voice.)
Ilama gets up and walks towards the office door.
"I shall go meet my team now. Take care of yourself, old man."
[Boss's POV]
Ilama is leaning towards the door, long white hair is resting on his shoulders along with a pair of gleaming, iridescent magenta eyes. He also has a lollipop inside his mouth...
***
Meanwhile on the 2nd Floor
"Attention everyone, Ilama just informed me about a new case."
"Why does He tells you everything before us, G Man."
(says Petrona, with an annoyed facial expression)
"Well, because I'm the Brain of our operations of course."
(G Man pokes his head, implying Petrona doesn't have a brain…)
"You little."
"Guys! Chill out for a second. Japan has requested our supervision for a case."
(Conner interrupts)
"Japan!? How will we go there?"
"By train, of course."
"There are many routes that we can take, which one is it, G Man?"
"Well-"
"We'll be taking Hell's train."
(Ilama interjects, with an cunning look...)
[Everyone]
"Huh!?"
(Suprised)
"Ilama where did you even come from, are you okay?"
Ilama laughs.
"I'm alright. But be prepared, 'cause it's gonna be one hell of a journey..."
He continues walking forward. The crew stares at him.
"The Ultimate aim of the Ego is not to see Something, but to Be Something."
(He whispers to himself)
Close-up shot of Ilama grinning...