Chapter 825: Rainy Night, Blazing Light
Translator: Dess Editor: EbonyFrost
The rain was getting heavier and the day was getting darker but it didn't stop the enthusiastic reporters. They widened their eyes at the fields of St. Paolo School.
There was a 3 to 4-meter tall wooden pile stuck on the field, on the top of the pile was a head and the lower part was the body that was badly pierced through. The limbs were placed on both sides of the woodpile accordingly. Anyone who saw the woodpile from afar might have thought they saw a deformed mini-giant.
Anyone who came close to the scene could feel the blood overflowing, the cruel dismembered body, and the freaky arrangement.
For normal people, it was the things they dreaded and would avoid like the plague but for the reporters, it was a hard to come by scoop.
Each of them held the umbrellas on their shoulder, clipping on the handle with their right wrist and holding pencils in their palms, drawing down the scene quickly on their notebook.
Some who finished earlier shifted their attention to the officers around, and their attention was captured when John came down from the wagon.
"Chief! How do you see this murder case?"
"Chief! Is the murderer provoking the police with his work?"
"Chief! Chief! Do you have the confidence in catching the culprit?"
…
The questions that showered down on John's face were even more terrible than the bad weather.
John who already had a heavy heart because of another murder case didn't have the mood to entertain the reporters, his face was still as dead waters. If he didn't care about the bad reports on the police's image, he wouldn't mind sharing the taste of his fist with the senseless reporters.
But now?
"Carl? Carl!?" The chief officer shouted.
The young officer swiftly came out from the campus, "Yes sir!"
Carl who was drenched by the rain saluted to his superior upon meeting him.
"Increase the police line for another 50 meters, as for anyone who trespasses the vicinity, lock them up as suspects!" The chief officer ordered.
"Yes, sir!" Carl answered loudly.
Then, a chaotic scene happened in front of the school.
"Noooo!"
"You can't do this! We have the right to know!"
"Yeah, it's free journalism!"
"We are here for the truth!"
…
The reporters voiced their objection but it was useless.
Under Carl's lead, a dozen more officers who were angered under the rain were moving out like a human wall, pushing the reporters further away, step by step.
There were even a few among the officers who had a shorter tempers and didn't mind beating the reporters with their batons.
John saw the scene too, if it was during normal times, he would stop his men but now he would not.
Not just because of taking revenge on the reporters but also for a smoother operation.
The chief officer held the umbrella and helped the elderly sister down the wagon, and he also said, "2567, please!"
"Em!"
The voice sounded amid the heavy rain.
John unconsciously traced the voice to its owner but he didn't see anything at all.
Although it wasn't exactly the first time he encountered such a situation, the chief officer still felt shocked but he didn't forget his duty.
"Sister Moni, do you need some rest? I'll help you back to your room," John said.
The elderly sister rejected the suggestion.
"I want to have a look at the body!"
"Ugh… very well!"
John eventually compromised against the stern tone of Sister Moni but in his heart, he had prepared himself a while ago.
A dismembered body appeared in St. Paolo School, if someone said it wasn't related to the school itself, John would never believe it.
Before this, Sister Moni had suffered quite the shock from the body of her student Torti and if she had to go through the process again, even a person in their prime wouldn't have accepted it well, let alone an elderly woman.
Everything was as John's expected though, the one who died on the school field was one of St. Paolo's and he was also someone Kieran knew
Reed, the security captain of the school, a middle-aged man that was loyal to the sister and faithful to his duty to the school.
Now, the middle-aged man was dismembered on the spot.
Looking at the scattered body, Kieran's gaze scanned the area but he didn't find anything.
Musou level [Tracking] could already allow him to find traces left behind by a special existence but still, he didn't find any traces left by the culprit.
"It wasn't the special existence but a normal human? Did the culprit use the rain to cover the murder?" Kieran glanced over the ground once more.
The firm ground was filled with rainwater, Kieran could still pick up some footprints but the rainwater was gushing hard, washing away the traces rapidly.
No doubt the footprints were left behind by the officers who arrived later at the scene and as for the culprit's?
It might have been lost in the rain a while ago.
Kieran looked up at the woodpile again.
"A 3 to 4-meter tall wooden pile, its surface diameter is over 15 cm. There aren't marks of ropes around the woodpile which means the murderer lifted the pile with his bare hands and plunged almost 50 cm deep in the ground…"
"It's nearly impossible for a common man to do this, other than Sister Moni and Guntherson, are there some other powerful ones in the mystical realm?" Kieran wondered in his heart.
The appearance of a new era wasn't completed with one stroke.
The Church of Dawn was eliminated but there was St. Paolo School and Sister Moni, Guntherson, the remnants of the old age, so it wouldn't be strange if there were more that stayed behind.
But…
"These individuals worked together with the Wayne Family?" Kieran's eyes had doubts all over them.
It wasn't the suspicion about the strong laying their pride down and working with the normal ones, neither was it the grudges they had for Wayne Family.
No matter how strong the powerful ones were, they would need to eat and sleep, needed a place to rest, especially as the remnants of the old age, they would understand their position even better in the new era.
The grudges with Wayne Family? Well, it was self-explanatory.
The real reason that Kieran felt doubtful was the arrangement of the murderer.
The body that appeared in the station wasn't bait to lure the sister out but a real ace card from the murderer, so it was not necessary for the ambushes along the way.
Now, with Reed's body in front of him, killing a security captain out of threatening means, his body would be enough, there was no need to arrange the body like this and even without any other special arrangements behind it.
It was very… unnecessary! That's right, unnecessary!
"If it was Wayne Family who did this, they shouldn't have held back and at least will spend their effort in a certain point, unless…"
"Not just a single party that has their eyes on the school? Two? No, no, I think it's three! At least three parties had their desperate gaze set on St. Paolo!"
Kieran's squinted eyes were shining brightly.
Why? Were the treasures of the Church of Dawn not enough?
The abundant amount of gold that formed the tidal wave and could have easily squashed a person, regardless of the intentional parties that eyed the gold or the guardians of the gold.
Kieran looked up again, observing Reed's restless death and turned to the elderly sister who sunk into sorrow. He went off in the rain without saying anything else.
Any words in that particular moment were helpless and weak, and while words didn't work, it was best to take action.
Kieran always thought the saying was precise, an eye for an eye, and blood debts should be paid with blood!
The rain somehow grew bigger, the bell beside the school field was rung.
Dang! Dang! Dang!
The bell rings overpowered the rain as the security members were sending their captain off.
They meticulously tidied up their captain, tried their best to make their captain look presentable. The crowd eyes were red and many of them couldn't help but wipe off the tears from their eyes.
The sorrowful atmosphere gathered but further away, a couple of malicious watchful gaze behind the rain was sizing up the scene in a ridiculing manner.
They were like hungry wolves showing their claws, venomous snakes revealing their fangs.
They were looking at their prey, figuring out where should they strike.
Suddenly…
KABOOM!
An explosion that shook heaven and earth sounded off from the outskirts of the city.
It was where Wayne Family's manor was located.
The slumbering city in the rain was completely awoken, people stared at that direction with astonishments.
Especially those hiding in the shadows that bore malicious intent, when they saw the blazing light shine through the night sky covered in rain, each of them had a bad feeling in their heart.
It was like… a great disaster was imminent!
Chapter 826: Straw Bag
Translator: Dess Editor: EbonyFrost
The ones who bore malicious intent and hid in the shadows felt their hearts tighten all of a sudden.
"No way!"
"It must be just a fire at Wayne's manor!"
"That's right, it must be just a common fire!"
They were comforting themselves with wishful thoughts.
It was not something odd or strange though, humans would naturally reject any ominous feelings out of instinct, just like the reluctance to face death.
They run from it, fear it, and dread it as much as they can. But in the end, it's all useless.
What was bound to happen would eventually come and nothing would be able to stop it.
No matter how many reasons or excuses they made up, it would end the same because from the beginning to the end, they had no idea whose tail they stepped on.
So did the newly ascended Duke Wayne.
…
Outside the manor, the winds were roaring, the rains were downpouring but inside the grand hall, it was as warm as spring and under the beautiful lighting and music, the people were dancing happily.
The new Duke Wayne had smiles on his face, raising his glass up occasionally.
For the new Duke Wayne, the scene before his eyes wasn't just any dinner but it was the crucial moment where would pronounce himself as the newly ascended leader of the family.
So, the scene was extravagant, luxurious yet dignified and stern.
The fully armed guards stationed around the manor weren't just for show or scaring the outsiders but they were also there to suppress the other family members who showed 'smiles' on their face.
The new Duke Wayne knew the other family members weren't convinced of him and the emotions would stay for quite some time in the future but what else could they do?
After all, he has taken the position of the new duke and the new leader of the family, the entire Wayne family now viewed him as the leader.
The moment he had beaten the other members in his family to seize command of the family guards, everything had been decided.
"Bunch of morons!"
When the new duke recalled how the once competitors tried to rope him in after the old duke's death, his heart was filled with contempt and disdain.
He had had enough of the days of being pushed around here and there, so how could he let the chance before him slip away?
The contempt and disdain in his heart didn't stop the new Duke Wayne from raising his glass, toasting at the competitors and losers before him.
Though his smile became extremely prideful, the losers in the eyes of the new duke were no different than disowned dogs. All the valuable properties of his competitors were collected and all they could own now was a single penthouse in the city.
"Thank me and my merciful soul that I didn't drive all of you away and eliminate every one of you!"
The thought that bloomed in the new duke's heart made him more and more arrogant and it also made the other Wayne family members more and more nervous and panicked.
They didn't forget about the fact that the new duke before them wasn't a merciful person, those other members who didn't comply with his commands were buried in the family graveyard long ago.
The family members that were present at the dinner were the ones who pledged their loyalty to him.
Looking at the other members who weren't convinced of him yet afraid, the new duke really wanted to laugh out loud, he was very satisfied with the scene before his eyes.
Wasn't the situation the exact thing that he so sought after?
However, soon enough the new duke's delightful mood went away.
After a certain attendant whispered in the duke's ear, the new duke left the hall with an ugly look.
Looking at the new duke's back, the Wayne family members were relieved but when they thought about the ugly look on the new duke's face, they became nervous again.
The ones who were alive and able to stand at the dining hall, each of them was frightened to death by the new duke without a doubt and even their own emotions were affected by the new duke's mood.
Such people would not have any foreseeable future to speak off.
As for the new duke?
His roaring came out from the study room.
"Damn it! Didn't I tell you to find some skilled man to kill the old nun? How could it fail?"
The enraged new duke smashed the glass on his personal attendant's head.
Pak!
The glass was shattered and the attendant's head was bleeding.
"My lord, I've searched for the two best killers in the city but who would've known they would die silently in an alley! Fret not my lord, I…"
Before the attendant could finish, he passed out on the ground and revealed the figure behind him.
"Who are you!"
The new duke shouted at the figure and reached out to his drawer, trying to pull out the flintlock pistol.
Kieran looked at the new duke's action and he couldn't hold back his slightly shaking head.
Compared to the old Duke Wayne, the new one wasn't just lacking one or two characteristics.
Whether was it his temper, character or the ability to judge the situation, it was on a completely different level.
Bang!
With a hood on his head, covering half of his face, Kieran kicked the duke on the groin without the slightest courtesy.
"Ouch! Do you know who I am? I am… Aaaargh!"
After being kicked on the floor, the childish duke didn't even forget to threaten Kieran with his identity but Kieran quickly made him realize the situation.
Pak!
One of the fingers on his right hand was snapped and the new duke was crying in pain.
"Shut up!" Kieran yelled at him.
The new duke, however, didn't shut up but his cry got even louder.
Pak!
Another finger was snapped by Kieran and when Kieran chose the third to snap, the new duke finally shut up.
"I ask, you answer. Other than sending two killers after the sister, what else did you do to St. Paolo?" Kieran asked.
"I…I…Argggh!"
The new duke was a little hesitant but what he got in reply was a third broken finger.
"I didn't do anything! All I did was send killers! To avenge the old duke and it is a duty that I have to fulfill as the new duke, it isn't my own will!"
When Kieran picked up the fourth finger, the new duke was spilling out the details while he cried his heart out.
"You didn't leak the secret of the treasures of Dawn?" Kieran asked.
"Treasures? What treasures?" The new duke was slightly stunned.
Kieran raised a brow at the new duke's reaction, he wasn't lying.
The new duke was such a useless straw bag and he definitely couldn't cover it up to this extent, which means what the old duke did in the sewers, the Wayne family members didn't know?
No, no, no, not the family members but only the new duke in front of him.
Otherwise, it couldn't explain the fact that the treasure's secret was leaked.
Sister Moni and Guntherson would never have leaked it and for the other related personnel, they knew what they should do after forming a contract.
Only the family members of Duke Wayne would relate to something from him being missing and presumed death but the new duke before Kieran…
Kieran didn't think he had such capabilities.
Dak, Dak, Dak, Dak!
A quick and messy series of footsteps approached quickly. The new duke who was crying like a baby instantly turned arrogant.
"My men are here! I will make you pay for what you did! I will let you understand what will become of you when you offended me, Duke Wayne…"
Bang!
Kieran lifted his leg and sent the new duke flying away.
The agonizing moan that came from the duke when he hit the study room door, the commotion made the guards move even faster.
When Kieran saw the overlapping figures in the corridor, he didn't feel surprised at all.
Since Kieran didn't stop the duke's crying, he knew what was coming for him.
Huu!
A giant fireball appeared in Kieran's hand.
The guards froze!
The guards who were still charging in courageously a moment ago were frozen like they were struck by a petrifying spell. They widened their eyes, looked at the fireball in Kieran's hand.
The guards who were just normal humans had never witnessed such an unimaginable scene before.
How could a man control fire? It was a feature of the devil!
The fear of the unknown started to spread rapidly. Before Kieran could take any further actions, the guards started to flee, faster than they came but how could they outrun the flying fireball?
KABOOM!
The flame waves that exploded in all directions devoured the running crowd as it rumbled fiercely. The whole floor was being washed by flames, followed by the whole building.
The flames ignored the rain showers, burning fiercely in the night.
Soon, the entire manor plunged into a sea of fire.
A bunch of panic-stricken Wayne family members were looking at the manor absent of actions.
Only when the guards reminded them, they reacted to the situation.
"Put out the fire!"
"Put out the fire!"
The crowd shouted.
The whole scene was chaotic and messy, none of them noticed one of their family members revealing a cold smile at them.
Likewise, none of them including the one with the cold smile noticed the hand that came out from the shadows, grabbing the smiling Wayne member and pulling them into the dark.
nerves were connected to the heart.
Kieran grabbed the guy's hand, he didn't immediately snap his finger but he placed his own on top on the fingernail of the guy's hand.
Then, he pulled!
Pak!
The guy's fingernail was pulled off just like that, exposing the pink bloody flesh underneath.
This time, the pain made the guy's body twitch in pain but it was just the start!
Kieran lifted the fingernail with his index finger and thumb, and he stuffed his finger into the pink bloody flesh, turning hard.
The guy couldn't hold back his voice anymore as the excruciating cry echoed in the area but the noises from the great rain and far enough distance made his cries useless.
"Now, can you tell me about is this "we" you are referring to? If you don't say, I'll continue our little game here. Don't worry, I have tons of ways to play with you in mind… I really need to thank the books, didn't think the things that I read out of curiosity would be useful in this situation…" Kieran asked again.
His voice maintained a calm and steady pace and his words were obviously part true, part false.
It was true that he learned it through the books but he didn't get enough of the "torturing".
There are tons of books that was worth reading in Nikorei's study room, it was quite the achievement for Kieran who wasn't a ruthless person by nature to remember some of those techniques after a casual reading.
"I-In your dreams!" The guy said like a deflated balloon.
"Very well!" Kieran wasn't pissed off but instead, he smiled.
It was the go-to reaction that was written in the books and the books stated his smile would cause a decent frightening effect.
A simple look at the Wayne family member's face was able to give it all away, even though his mouth was tough, his eyes already showed fear. Especially when Kieran stabilized the guy's head and pointed at his eyes with his index finger, slowly closing in on his eye, the guy tried to struggle as hard as he could.
"Stop! Stop it!"
He shouted loudly when Kieran's finger touched his eye but it was useless, Kieran looked like he had forgotten his final goal and went on with his little game.
Puk!
Kieran's fingertip went into the guy's eye! An uncontrollable scream of agony followed and when Kieran pointed his finger at the other eye, the screams stopped immediately.
"I'll say! I'll say!" But you must promise me I…"
"Aaaaaarggh!"
Another excruciating scream came from the guy.
"Death is a pardon that you don't deserve right now. A fate worse than death is what you should experience."
The guy shivered once more because Kieran's finger moved towards his ear.
"We are the Blood Hand Society!" The guy screamed out the term right away.
Blood Hand Society?
Kieran was stunned, the term that sounded like a gang's name was unheard of but it didn't stop him from asking further.
The whole interrogation process went on for another 20 minutes.
After making sure nothing was left out, Kieran snapped the guy's neck with a kick and headed back to St. Paolo's school as fast as possible.
The drenched hood stuck to Kieran's hair completely, water droplets kept dripping off his hood and slipping down his neck.
It was cold, slippery, and uncomfortable but Kieran didn't care.
After knowing what the Blood Hand Society was doing tonight, he wasn't bothered by these petty matters.