At last, the awaited day came; the day where the Voto Inferni planned to retrieve the amulet.
All eight of them were escorted in a hovercraft by a group of zacrals. Apparenty, they would stay near the casino just in case something might happen. All of that were lies. The eight weren't that oblivious to know that the zacral have come to only monitore Ora, Ronan, Noya and Xiao. Noya and Xiao both had their collar temporarily removed so that they could move freely, but as soon as they would get back, it would be put on immediately.
The Nation of Zmey was located in the North of Diabolus. It was rather cold up there and in many regions, snow fell, just like in Gorod Kobry, a metropolian that competed with another metropolian for being the capital city.
Kazino Sokrovishchnitsa[1] was a radiant place where lots of wealthy people like to gamble with their fortune. It had a fairly impressive interior design with high ceilings, marble floor and big chandeliers, and furniture out of the finest materials.
At the entrance, the eight members of the Voto Inferni were greeted by a pair dressed in fine clothes.
"My son," said the man when he stopped before them and put a hand on Simon's shoulder. "You have grown a lot."
"You must be his acquaintances," said the woman with a smile. „I am Nikolai's mother, Sofiya Voronova. If you need anything, please feel free to come up to the VIP section of the casino anytime."
Then she snapped her fingers and ordered the men that guarded not only the pair but the casino entrance to put bracelets around the eight's wrist.
"This will enable you to access the VIP section," smiled Sofiya Voronova.
She patted Simon's head, took her husband by his hand and disappeared into the crowd.
A bit akwardly, the eight kept standing near the entrance in the beginning, seeing multiple prominent or wealthy people pass by until Simon finally managed to speak. "Let's clear out and look for our targets, shall we?"
The other seven didn't object but formed their groups made beforehand and left him alone with Nile.
"Let me ask you something, Simon. Why does nobody know you and why didn't your parents take you with them?" he asked.
"People will eventually recognize me but my parents understand that I am here because of a mission. They won't go around and introduce me to all of their guests," responded Simon. "We are undercover. Why else would we not wear the robes of Ashin Temple?"
As if he had nothing else to do, Noya strolled around. He wandered through crowds and looked for the daughter of the infamous gambler. Everywhere he walked, people turned around to look at him. He wasn't only too young to be in a casino, he was also wearing a very simple suit compared to others. It was no surprise that he stood out.
It took him a while until he finally found Igor Volkov's daughter that was surrounded by bodyguards and a few people that were talking to her - most of them were middle-aged men. Noya had to surpress his urge to slit their throats since all of what he listened sounded like they had bad intentions.
"Go away and don't be suspicious. Come back when I completed my task," he ordered them with his cursed voice.
The men as well as the bodyguards suddenly excused themselves very inconspiciously such as faking to get an order, or to spot someone familiar in the crowd. All of them started to leave the young woman one by one and she used her chance to escape. In that moment, Noya "coincidently" walked past her and "accidently" bumped into her. She tripped and fell over but Noya reacted quickly and caught her.
"Thank you," she muttered, her dark eyes staring at him.
Obviously he looked very untrustworthy, and Noya, who had never had any good experiences in spying tried to put up a smile.
"I'm sorry, it was my fault that I bumped into you," he apologized.
"You are a minor," she said, observing his face.
Noya frowned at how she was able to see through him and he was afraid that she might be experienced in her use of katara. What if she saw through his plan? In silence, he cursed Xiao for praising him and making everybody else of the Voto Inferni believe that he was capable of doing something like this.
"Please don't say anything," said Noya, lowering his head as if he was ashamed. „"ou see, I always had a hand for prediction games and my family needs money."
"I can see that," replied the young woman.
Noya smiled and nodded while he slowly started to lose his patience of how long their conversation dragged on. He wanted to finish his job but it didn't involve any killing. An assassin was not necessarily a spy. In his moments of irritation, he totally forgot about his ability to manipulate her with his voice. It just occured to him when he saw Simon sitting next to Nile and pointing at his mouth.
"My name is Noya Vasiliev," he introduced himself, thinking it was the best way to start a proper conversation.
"Are you an exorcist?" she immediately asked back.
That was not good, she was very witted and Noya was five inches away from actually killing her. However, he wasn'r actually an exorcist so he wouldn't lie to her.
"You must have mistaken. My mother was from somewhere else," he replied. "I am not powerful enough to be an exorcist."
The young woman looked like she bought his lie and her face relaxed. She was hiding something and Noya planned on getting more information out of her.
"How is it, to be the daughter of a great gambler?" he asked causually.
He saw how the young woman flinched and her nails dug into her palm. He had hit the mark.
"I don't know what you mean," she stuttered.
"I'm sure that you do, Anastasya Volkova," replied Noya with a sharp smile.
The look she gave him was equal to the one of a frightened animal and Noya enjoyed this brief moment of triumph. He always did diligent research on his victims.
"What do you want from me?" Volkova asked, her voice shaking.
In the mean time, Nile and Simon were wandering through the casino and were greeted by a bunch of people that still remembered Simon very well.
"Nikolai - obviously now, Simon Voronov. You have grown into a strong man!" one of the guest called.
After that one exclaim that half of the people in the casino had heard, they came over to talk to Simon, who was excellent with small talks. It was no wonder that he could talk with anyone.
Nile's scarlet eyes wandered around, people were staring at him when they were passing by. He stood next to Simon like a short bodyguard, wordlessly staring at the guests that were having a conversation with Simon and even invited him to drink. They were probably staring at him too because he looked so cold and unapproachable.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," called Simon as the fifthieth person congratulated him for reaching such a high level at Ashin so that he could be sent to missions. "Have you seen a man named Igor Volkov?"
At once the people started muttering, a few even twisted their faces as if they weren't fond of that man.
"Mr Voronov, are you sure that you want to meet this man?" an elderly woman asked with a frown.
"What is so wrong with that?" asked Simon.
"Well..." the woman hestitated and looked around before she whispered something into Simon's ear and left.
Slowly, the crowd around Simon started to clear and the guest went back to where they had been before until Simon and Nile were alone again. Thereupon the two continued to look for Igor Volkov.
"He is truly nowhere to be found," sighed Simon, running his fingers through his hair as elegantly as he could. He had been saying that for a long while now.
"Shhh, do you hear that?" said Nile with a hiss.
"The chatting of people and the sound of the chips and dices and whatever?"
"No, douchebag, it is the sound of my patience with you shattering into thousands of pieces. Mind you stop breathing? It disturbs my delicate ears," responded Nile.
As he looked to his right once more, he spotted Ronan, who was leaning inconspiciously against a wall, in his hand a laser pointer. Throughout time, deviens turned that once harmless device into an assassination weapon. It was capable of shooting a tiny but deadly bullet through the hole beneath the spot where the laser came out. The bullet could fly thirty-five times faster than an ordinary soundbullet and wouldn't be stopped that easily by deviens, whose reaction speed were only by the level of sound. However, it needed aim accuracy to use it because it had no scope like a sniper, but Ronan had an outstanding talent at shooting and could hit a target in the vital organs even from afar.
Nile!s eyes followed into the direction where Ronan's had pointed and spotted the man their were here for, also surrounded by men in black.
Quickly, Nile rushed towards Ronan and snatched the weapon out of his hand.
"Wha-!?" he protested but Nile put a finger to his lips.
"Nile," said Ora, who had emerged from out of the shadow.
With an irritated expression on his face, Nile turned around and held out the laser pointer questioningly.
„What was that going to be?" he asked in a serious manner.
Ora furrowed his brows; he had nothing to say against Nile but he could be very a bit bossy at times - to his mind at least. As Nile kept staring at him with empty but demanding eyes, Ora eventually sighed in defeat.
„We planned to shoot that gambler."
So far to not killing anybody.
Simon, who caught up to them by now and heard the plan, rejected it. "You do know that this plan makes absolutely no sense. First of all, his death will surely be noticed and will cause people to surround him and look at him. Secondly, how should we get the amulet without being noticed when there are too many people standing around him. And thirdly, there are security cameras everywhere, guards, and not only them, there will be witnesses-."
"I understood, alright? I am not the best spy or strategist but I'm not stupid!" Ora cut him off.
Simon cocked his brow, not being sure if he really did.
Noya and Anastasya Volkova were still looking at each other without having moved an inch since their first encounter or having started a proper conversation.
"Is your father even going to play tonight?" asked Noya.
"Yes, exactly at the stroke of midnight," she answered curtly.
At last, she finally revealed some useful information.
"And what will you do until then?" Noya asked.
"I'll help my father for the preparation-." Horrified, Volkova slapped her hands in front of her mouth as if she had said something wrong.
With the kindest and most understanding smile he could manage, Noya removed her hand and looked at her. His expression was so faked that it disgusted him but he kept his stable gaze and forced himself not to break her wrist.
"It's alright. You can tell me," he said softly and again with his cursed voice, although there was such a little amount that only a high ranked devien would notice.
"My father had lost a lot but he was addicted to gambling. He started to cheat and vowed he would never do it again but when he won, he started do it more. So he did everytime he gambled. The men that came with us are working for him and - and I also help him - I must. Actually, I'm the most important person to help him winning. That's just how the world of gambling is working. It isn't fair," she answered with a shaking voice.
Noya said nothing, he just knew that it was another advantage for them. He signed Volkova to follow him.
"Don't worry. It is very reasonable," he responded.
The girl stayed behind, her body shaking ever so slightly.
"I just told you...," she whispered in terror. "How can I ever - I have to go," she muttered, upset and frightened of what she had just done.
"Yes, you should," Noya replied quietly.
He swiftly rammed his elbow into her abdomen, so fast that she couldn't have seen it coming. Volkova was knocked out, fell and Noya caught her. That caught some of the guests' attention and they called guards for help.
"What happened?" one of the bodyguards asked as they arrived.
"I don't know. She suddenly broke down," Noya replied with fake concern in his voice.
The men quickly picked Volkova up and carried her away while one of them was speaking into his radio device with a rushed tone.
After Noya made sure that nobody was watching him, he went to Simon, whom he has spotted right after the men had disappeared.
"And?" Simon asked him.
"Let's wait until the others are here to," Noya replied.
It took a while until everyone gathered around a table, pretending drink.
"Let's say, the preparations are complete" said Noya neutrally. "But that girl also said that her father will choose an opponent at the stroke of midnight, so we still have quite much time."
Xiao and Ronan stared at him, stunned, right after he's said that.
"Are you serious?" Ronan hissed. "We still have hours until midnight."
With a nod of agreement, Xiao gave Simon a reproachful glare, which Simon returned, even though rather questoning.
"You could have told us, you know," Xiao finally spoke after a long pause. "You don't just have your future sight for showing off."
"What did you say, you little-."
A fist hit the back of his head before he could finish his sentence. Holding his head, Simon looked for the one who hit him and his glare fell on Lorely. The look she gave him would even made the wildest predator run away.
"Lorely," said Serena with a hint of sharpness in her voice. "We don't want to attract attention, do we?" Her voice was almost sounding like a threat, and Lorely slowly sank her fist.
"What should we do until midnight?" Serena asked with a neutral voice again.
"Good question, why don't you suggest something, Ojo-sama?" asked Ronan.
"Unfortunately it seems like my ideas have run out," she replied
"I have a suggestion. The VIP section has a spa for you girls, a restaurant that is better than this one and you can spend your time up there. As far as I know, there is even a pool," said Simon.
"Well, that's great!" smiled Lorely, looking at Serena in expectation to agree.
"Simon, is there a park or similar?" asked Serena.
"Yeah, but why-."
Serena replied before Simon could even finish his question. "I would like to spend my time alone."
Serena strolled through the park of Kazino Sokrovishchnitsa. She was all alone in the park, not even couples were taking a walk in the pale moonlight. It was a good night to think alone, to think about everything.
The cold snow fell and her shoes made crunch sounds and left trails in the snow. She reached out her hand and caught one of the falling snowflakes and it melted away in her hand.
Serena looked up into the sky while a gentle breeze swept across her face, revealing her blind eye to the moonlight. Sometimes the world is so beautiful that taking her own life was a waste. If she didn't pay attention to any of the negative things in her life, it would be quite beautiful to live on - beautiful but boring.
"Sometimes I really wish that I was born a different person," she whispered into the night. „Why does it need to be like this. How have I wronged the gods?"
Her voice was soft but not a single trail of emotion was heard; it only sounded harmonic. Serena became tired of always wearing a kind smile. The corners of her mouth were hurting and she was afraid that she couldn't keep up that smiling facade for long. She has never been in company of so many people for such a long time.
"When winter falls with its snow, spring will come with its flowers. When comfort fades, hope will arise," Serena quoted from a poem she had read.
The snow started to fall heavier, it became a bit harder to see and a few tiny snowflakes stucked on Serena's eyelashes. In the distance she heard a child laughing and talking to their parents.
It must be nice to have parents. She cracked a bitter smile and turned around to walk back. She has brought too much distance between herself and the casino and needed to hurry if she wanted to arrive on time.
As she arrived in the casino, she was surrounded by numerous other people at once. Everybody was staring at a small stage, where no one was standing just yet. The lights went off and the headlights beamed at a single spot on a stage, where a man was suddenly standing, or rather, posing. It was Igor Volkov in all his glory, and he didn't look like they had seen him on the photos. His hair was combed back, glued with a ton of hairgel, and he wore a white mask which was covering his eyes and a part of his nose.
Not very far away from Serena, Simon and Nile were standing, looking at the gambler as well.
"That guy looks like a clown," muttered Simon.
"Oh, I know another one like that," Nile retorted sarcarstically.
"Tch, how did my parents let someone like him in here?" said Simon, ignoring Nile.
"Hello Ladies and Gentlemen," the loud voice of Volkov boomed through the entire casino. "The time has finally come! Is there anybody among you, who dares to gamble against me?"
Simon's hand shot through the air; he was so fast that Volkov caught sight of him before anyone else could have volunteered.
"Brave of you, young mister ~," said Volkov with a smile he believed was friendly. To Simon, it looked more like he would have bitten in something sour.
Volkov pranced off the stage towards Simon and looked down at him.
"What do you think about a simple card game?" he asked.
Simon responded with a quick nod when the men in black already led them to the table.
Simon's lips curled into a small smirk. Neither did that clown of a gambler knew who he was nor was he able to cheat against Simon. He had been taught gambling since he was a child and he was also taught all tricks of cheating just in case he needed to uncover some unfair gamble. Kazino Sokrovishchnitsa prohibited all kinds of cheating and those who were caught were banned and needed to pay the double to the one cheated on.
"What is your stake?" asked Volkov when they were sitting.
Simon stayed silent for a moment. Since he was currently receiving money from his parents he had no problems with the amount of money he played with. Should he play risky to make the game more interesting?
Screw it, he told himself. He was a man of trickery, and if his opponent cheated, he would make him pay.
"120 Million Granits[2]," answered Simon.
He heard the crowd murmur about his stake and how "brave" he was with playing at highest risk.
Simon caught sight of a higher set tribune where his parents were sitting. They didn't look mad as he stated the stakes he would play at, they looked rather supportive. At any rate, they would defend him if he were to lose.
"But if I win," said Simon and could see how displeased Volkov was about that. "If I win, I'll get your amulet."
Volkov looked at the amulet he was wearing; just like Serena, he has never taken it off.
"Fine," the gambler responded after an endless pause. He seemed to be relaxed about Simon not wanting money but the amulet. Furthermore, he was mad that his daughter wasn't there to assist him like usual.
The game begun and just Simon was told by Noya and the old lady, the game wasn't fair. However, Simon saw through the cheat very quickly - it was so simple that he almost snorted. All cards had specific marks on their backs that very so little that it was hardly recognizable. But Simon had a trained eye and he wasn't easily fooled. Even if someone tried cheating he was able to win, and so he did. As he finished the game as the winner, he earned a huge round of applause by the crowd and his parents looked quite proud.
"The amulet," said Simon.
Volkov sat in his armchair, his head lowered and his hands clenched to a fist. He was obviously frustrated and the men behind him seemed to wait for his order.
"Fine," Volkov answered slowly, "I'll give you - THIS!" He swiftly pulled out a gun and fired at Simon. The men did after him and the crowd started screaming, running and hiding from the gunfire.
Volkov's bullet soared through the air toward Simon, who caught the oddly glowing bullet with his hand. However, as soon as he touched the bullet it exploded and the pressure flung him back.
"Nikolai!" called Noya. „Are you alright?"
He rushed to his friend who was surrounded by smoke that seemed to crackle with red and blue energy energy.
As the smoke faded, Simon's figure became visible to he others as well. Quickly, the rest of Voto Inferni hurried up to him.
"I'm damn fine," Simon growled. „You better get that son of a bitch before he escapes in his car."
Lorely gave Serena a soft bump what meant that she should get the amulet while the others were dealing with Simon. Serena understood and dashed after Volkov.
The entire casino was in chaos. The owners have been brought into safety by their bodyguards while the guards that stood at the entrance or near the gambling tables started to shoot at those men that worked for Volkov. Not very few guest were spared by bullet or soundwaves that hit their ear thus shaking their brain and killing them - a resonance gun was a common weapon for guards, including bodyguards. They didn't use katara, weren't trained as exorcists but as assassins or soldiers.
"Simon-kun, are you sure that you're okay?" asked Ronan with a doubting look at his right hand, or better were his hand used to be. Blood dripped from his wrist, staining the fine floor but Simon felt no pain. He only felt numb.
"Shit,"hissed Simon and collapsed to the ground while the bleeding was slowly making a pool of crimson blood around him.
Was that just from a hand or was it something else? Somewhere near his stomach region, Simon felt something warm. How did he end up wounded there? However, he felt like it weren't only his wrist and stomach where blood was dripping from but his mouth as well. Aghastly, he put his other hand to his mouth, feeling blood in his palm very soon already. He didn't and couldn't understand how that kind of bleeding was possible when he had only been shot with one bullet - or was it the explosion that didn't occure only outside but inside his body as well?
All of a sudden, there was a loud bang and the wall of the casino broke down. All guest that were already panicking and fearing for the lives became even more hysteric. Cries and screams echoed through the big hall of the casino, the people started fleeding into all directions.
A group of katara devourers walked through the hole, hungry and with the soft scent of death clinging to them.
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[1] Sokrovishchnitsa (Сокровищница) means "Treasury"
[2] Granits is the currency in Diabolus.