Holy Mary, a peaceful town filled with bustling business. It was considered the business center of the region. This town attracted businessmen from different places.
The farmers' produce traveled down the mountain to sell here. Fishermen's abundant catch of fish gathered in the market. And people buy here because of the cheap price tag and the distance from the city of Bagahi.
Lorian and Sao sat at a sushi stall. Enjoying different types of fresh fish sushi. Lorian, who never had this type of food before, ate so much that his stomach was bloated.
"*BURP* Such good food. I'll be coming back here when we're free." Lorian said.
"I prefer vegetables," Sao replied as he only ate one piece of sushi, giving the rest to Lorian.
Lorian happily accepted and shoved all the sushi that Sao gave to him, inside his mouth like some ravenous beast. Meanwhile, Sao talked to the chef about the whereabouts of the Bataller family.
Fortunately, the sushi chef knew every businessman in this town as some of them ordered sushi from him. Paying the bill with their card, Sao and Lorian stood up and left. They drove to the Bataller family's house as per instructed.
"Hey, why don't we have our new batches of enchanted oils? It would help find the perpetrator if we have that." Sao asked.
"You emptied yours when you fought the Immortal Ghoul while I forgot about it and left it behind. Ann said she needs to order it from the best shaman in Siquijor. Also, it will be charged to us," Lorian replied with a deadpan face.
"Damn it! Such expensive items, next time I'll secure it." Sao said as he regretted using it.
Their jeep stopped in front of a mansion. This was the address given to them by the chef. And looking at how grand the residence is, the address might be right.
Sao and Lorian went to the gate, ringing their doorbell. A short aunty in a maid's uniform came out of the mansion's door. She respectfully greeted them and asked why they came here.
"Is Ma'am Emilia here? We are personnel from the government, here is our card. Please tell ma'am we are here to help with their problems about the recent arson case." Sao said while handing out a business card.
The maid excused herself and hurriedly went inside the house carrying the card. Sao and Lorian waited for a minute before the maid came back again. She opened the gate and gestured to Sao and Lorian to enter.
A woman in her fifties greeted them in the living room. Her face was distressed, worried about the unfortunate events that had been happening to their family.
"Hello ma'am Emelia, we are sent here by the government at your request. I think you already know what our job is, right?" Sao introduced.
"Yes, I'm aware," Emelia answered.
"Good, I heard that you have an apartment business. I would like for you to order your tenants to leave your building, right now. Don't tell them the reason why, just make something up." Sao instructed.
"Do you think that bastard would leave it alone?" Emelia asked.
"Certainly," Sao assured.
.
.
.
Students with worried faces left an apartment en masse, upon receiving news about a gas leak. They sat in a nearby convenience store. Their faces were worried as they chatted among themselves.
"Hey, I heard the Bataller family is cursed by the fire spirit. Look, two of their businesses were set aflame by some arsonists and right now the apartment is showing signs. I'm worried about the things that I left behind."
"Oh no, what are we going to do? I left my thesis inside."
"Don't try to get inside. There are people inside that are fixing the gas leak. Your thesis will be safe."
A ragged man wearing a thick dirty jacket sat nearby with a can in front of him, listening to the student's gossip. "Tse, change of plans," he murmured.
As the sun started setting, the ragged man stood up and retreated to the alley. He was familiar with this street as he was walking around this area since he was young. The ragged man's name is Sancho Bataller, the youngest son of the Bataller family.
His eyes were venomous, gritting his teeth as he was hit by nostalgia. Sancho headed to the mansion he once live. 'I'll turn you all to dust,' he thought.
A few minutes later, while he was walking the mansion could be seen from afar as Sancho was getting nearer. Sancho pulled the eyeball, popping it in his mouth. He stopped walking and decided to sit on a bench waiting for the night to arrive.
However, before the night arrived, two men appeared wearing a firefighters tunic. "Sancho, right? Your time has come," Sao said.
Bronze knives in both their hands gleamed as the post lamp lit, Lorian and Sao charged at Sancho on each side cornering him. However, there's no fear in Sancho's eyes.
Sao arrived first, swinging his knives. Sancho reacted and skillfully blocked with his hands without getting sliced. Lorian took the opportunity to attack the occupied Sancho. He kicked him on his knees, making Sancho lose his balance.
But Sancho managed to support himself, and perform a spin low kick. Sao decided to jump away, but Lorian was too late. He fell on the ground on his back. Lorian rapidly rolled away from Sancho to a safer distance.
"You didn't think I could fight back, did you?" Sancho said with a grin while looking at Lorian.
"You're quite confident of your skill eh? We'll see about that." Sao replied.
Lorian didn't react to his words, keeping himself calm. He suppressed his anger from Sancho's mockery. Relaxing his body, Lorian exhaled and decided to keep staying at Sancho's blind spot.
Sao rushed once again, throwing punches and kicks at Sancho, overwhelming him. Sancho gritted his teeth. Sao's attacks became unpredictable as the fight goes on, leaving him in a defensive state.
Sancho kept on blocking Sao's barrage of attacks, carefully avoiding the knives from wounding him. When Sancho avoided the knives, his head became open. Sao turned his back to Sancho as he twisted his hips and performed a spinning high kick.
The spinning high kick looked natural and wasn't forced, smoothly moving at a fast rate. Sancho saw the kick coming toward his face. Raising both his arms, Sancho decided to block the perfect kick because he couldn't dodge it anymore.
It was executed so masterfully that there wasn't a single wasted energy. Sancho's world shook, and his vision turned blurry. The force slammed on his face, contorting it. He was sent him rolling to the ground as he coughed blood.
Lorian, who was stalking like a predator, dashed at the rolling Sancho, soccer kicking his stomach. Sancho's body bent in pain, as he temporarily lost his breath. Now that he was defenseless, Lorian's hand descended to stab at Sancho.
However, Sancho managed to hold his breath. Gritting his teeth, he mustered his strength catching Lorian's hand and using his own momentum to kick him off his feet and slammed him onto the ground. Lorian was taken aback by Sancho's counter, but he couldn't stop his body from hitting the ground.
Slam!
"Kake!" Sancho screamed.
Lorian arched his back in pain, while Sancho stood up and backed away. He laughed in ecstasy, as he had never had any fun for a long time. Both his hands and his head started emitting wavy blue energy.
Sancho stood there like a torch giving off a scorching heat. The sun fully set, darkness covered the world, the night arrived and he was the light.
"Let's spice things up shall we?" Sancho said as he started throwing fireballs around.