Dark Alley, South Suburb
Some minutes later...
Several Arcane Guards had trooped in, taking a clean sweep of the environment. Most of them were scanning the environment with magic while some were interrogating the residents at the street.
The alley was crowded with Arcane Guards that all the residents could not help but wonder what was going on—why there was a sudden gust of Arcane Guards into the alley. But of course, they couldn't ask. It was none of their business anyway.
In Walter's house, a team of five Arcane Guards moved about with utmost responsibility. They were searching for clues around the house.
This team was Unit 006, the Goddess's Eye, the team saddled with the responsibility of attending to criminal cases that night. They were mostly sorcerers from the School Of Astrology.
All of them were awed at the bloody scene as they walked about. When one of them came across the fragments of Dan's heart, he couldn't help but gape in shock. The fight was very horrible indeed!
An Arcane Guard with freckled face and brown eyes attended to Walter, binding his wounds. Methodically and carefully, he had removed the katana from Walter's chest.
Sigh...the Arcane Guard sighed. He couldn't have been more careful while doing it. Arcane Guards from the school of Astrology were not adept at combat magic or any mission which involved trading of magic spells. They were the cool guys who only investigated stuffs and do divinations. Even with the magical wands which they were equiped with, they still didn't have spells. The spells they used were built into the wand and there were no healing spells.
So, the Arcane Guard heaved a sigh of relief after he realized he had finished pulling out the katana and doing the biding. He wouldn't have been able to do anything if Walter had dropped down dead.
His blood wouldn't be on my head, would it? the Arcane Guard shrugged and closed the first aid box.
Walter who had survived to this moment without passing out due to pain finally said, "I need to go to the Department."
Hearing him, the other Arcane Guards couldn't help but turn to look at him. If they didn't know him as the infamous Walter Anderson, they would have mistaken him for a psycho. Who would want to go to some Arcane Safety Department when he was in a bad shape? Wasn't the best place to go the hospital?
"You actually need to go the hospital," the Arcane who had attended to him took the initiative to reply. "You're in a bad shape. And also, we will handle everything."
"I know," Walter replied, standing. "I actually need to go to the Department."
The reason Walter wanted to go the hospital was to report the incident to his team immediately. He wanted to tell them how he suspected Castor about being the one behind everything. He couldn't tell the team here since he suspected them to be loudmouths—they would quickly wave it aside, saying he hadn't gotten off Mac's death. He didn't want any 'beef' with anybody tonight.
"No," the Arcane Guard said. "The Arcane Safety Head specifically passed a word to our team leader to give you treatment. You're not going anywhere till you are fully recovered."
Sigh...Walter sighed seeing that it was hopeless. Since when did he become so valuable for the Arcane Safety Head to give orders on his behalf?
"Don't worry about the intruder," the Arcane Guard assured. "We'd do a divination right away and get to the bottom of this matter. Meanwhile, you'd need to give account on what happened here so that I can put it in my report and send it to my team leader."
Hearing this, Walter felt amused at the man's professionalism. Who's he playing cool cop with? But then, he replied, "Okay."
"Don't find it awkward that I'm asking for your statement when I can actually divine about it," the Arcane Guard continued. "We actually have a code in Unit 006 and that cold is to always write reports from the witness's statement to prevent falsifying."
Walter thought the man had finished with her he wanted to say and was about to open his mouth to narrate the incident when the man continued.
"Sometimes, divination isn't always right and we are prone to forgetting details from it. But with the witness's account, everything falls in place."
How sure are you? Walter resisted the urge to frown, wondering why the Arcane Guard was so talkative. He had been talking for quite some minutes now.
When he saw that the Arcane Guard had 'finally' stopped talking, he continued, "I came back from a stroll and went into my house..."
The Arcane Guard listened with a serious expression. Although he was bored from the whole narration, he couldn't help but listen to the end. He even suspected Walter was deliberately boring him to death with his long account.
By the time the time Walter was done, the Arcane Guard was seething with boredom. He couldn't help but yawn a couple of times before signaling to the others.
So lazy, Walter looked at him from head to toe. But he couldn't say that to his face as it would be disrespectful.
"We've finished the divination, Evans," one of them said. His hair was white and he looked like someone in his 40s although he was in his early 20s.
"Okay..." Evans said. "You'd want to write I down."
The Arcane Guard looked at the other three and then back at Evans, "The divination didn't yield any results."
"What do you mean it didn't yield any results?" Evans asked. He was surprised at the whole situation.
This was a simple case of a Tier one Knyght attacking an Array two. How didn't it yield any result? Even the assailant was immune to magic, why wasn't the divination at least pointing to something?
"No results," the Arcane Guard replied. "We divined about this Dan Richards but it yielded no result. It's almost as if he never existed."
"Never mind," Evans waved his hand. "We'd do it at the team base."
It was obvious he didn't want to lose face in the presence of Walter. He was afraid the latter would see Unit 006 as an incapable team for not being able to do a simple divination.
"So, Walter," he turned his attention to Walter. "You sure you don't need to go to the hospital?"
"I'm actually fine," Walter said. He wasn't lying when he said he was fine. His injuries were already healing and in a couple of minutes he should recover.
"Uh-okay," Evans nodded. "We've done a clean sweep of the situation. We'd present it to our team leader who would send it to the Arcane Safety Head."
Walter nodded, showing that he understood. He wanted to tell the man that he knew more than him but again, he didn't want to be disrespectful.
Looking around Evans said, "The house is in a big mess. This Dan Richards must be sure tough."
He's tougher than any criminal you'd face in your lifetime, Walter thought. Of course he didn't want to say this because he didn't want to be disrespectful.
"Don't worry," Evans said. "The Arcane Safety Department would compensate you for your loss. You know the rules, huh?"
"I know," Walter took a look at the mess as well. To put the house back in its previous state would cause him at least a hundred dollars which was a slap to his finance. He was relieved that it was a rule for the Arcane Safety Department to compensate members who suffered loss in cases of hazards and theft.
But then, this wasn't a hazard or theft. It was an assassination attempt! Walter knew that the Arcane Safety Department would pay more attention to this and compensate him as fast as possible. They would even send other Arcane Guards to keep an eye on him jn case another Arcane Guard came by.
Not good, Walter thought. If that happened, his movement would be likewise restricted and he couldn't carry out actions to kill Castor.
"So, we'd take our leave," Evans smiled. "Don't worry about another assassination attempt. The Arcane Safety Department has sent other Arcane Guards to watch over you."
Walter nearly vomited blood. And the watching over began that same night. When did the Arcane Safety Department attach such a great importance to him?
"Don't also worry about privacy," Evans said. "It's not like the Arcane Guards would babysit you. They'd just watch you from the shadows and rush in immediately if they perceive any danger. You get?"
"I understand everything, Mr. Evans," Walter said. He wanted to get rid of this talkative Arcane Guard as fast as possible or his ears would tingle from talking.
"Take care," Evans said and walked towards the door, the other Arcane Guards following behind him.
After watching them slam the door shut, Walter sighed. He looked at the whole mess again. Although all the blood and flesh had been cleaned, his house was still in a big mess.
"The freak who sent that assassin will compensate me with his blood," Walter said and slumped into the chair. Thinking about the whole incident, Walter couldn't help but feel relieved that his family left him earlier. What would have happened if they were still around? Would they have survived?
"Thank the Goddess," he couldn't help but show reverence to the Goddess. Earlier he had blamed Her for causing his family to leave him. Now he actually understood everything was done for a purpose. Now he actually believed in fate and destiny.
He was still thinking when he felt an evil aura seep into the room. Feeling that, he was alarmed. Another intruder had gotten into his house under the very nose of the Arcane Guards who were supposed to watch over him. He wanted to stand but felt all his energy being drained. He even felt his mana being drained as well!
"Calm down," a voice said. It was filled with evil and corruption. Walter had to put a good use of his strong will to avoid being corrupted.
"Who are you?" Walter asked. "Who the f**k are you!"
"I'm not here to kill you," the voice didn't reply to his question. "I'm here to give you a task."
"What task?" Walter asked, finding everything awry. Why would someone just barge into his house late in the night to give him a task?
"You'd need to get something for me," the voice continued. "An artefact."
"And if I refuse?" Walter asked. He wouldn't give in to the person easily, even though it had to mean dying.
"Hehe," the voice chuckled. "For your first question, I'm Castor."
"What the.." Walter felt the feeling of vengeance surge up in him like a turbulent wave. The same Castor who he wanted to go out to kill was actually here in his house!
"And the answer to your last question is this," the voice said. "If you refuse my task, then I'm afraid your whole family would have to die in my custody. And not just nuclear family. Your extended family is included."
"Damn you!" Walter cursed in anger. Castor had actually planned this from the beginning. He had kidnapped all his extended family!
"So, calm down," Castor said. "If you don't wanna do it, I can as well kill your whole family and send someone else to do the stuff. You know I have many errand boys, that assassin included.
"So you're the one," Walter's hatred for Castor was beyond description. "Why don't you kill me?"
"Plans have changed," Castor said. "I've had a change of plans as I have a task for you."
"What task?" Walter asked. He now felt the evil auras were slowly receding and his energy replenishing.
In an echo, Castor's voice sounded, "Get me the Book Of Mysteries."
Then Walter felt the evil auras no more.