The Deceitful One

A few minutes prior to the Hell's spawn perishing, Bryan was standing beside Ricky in the living room as he listened to the sound of fighting from the room across him.

He hesitated for a long time, debating whether to go in there and help or not. However, ultimately he decided to stay in his position.

'Captain has instructed me to stand guard here. I just hope they're doing fine.' He thought in anxiousness.

All of a sudden, Bryan heard the sound of footsteps coming from the second floor. His eyes narrowed as he followed the source of the sound.

Soon the source of the footsteps traveled toward the stairs that led to the first floor. A few moments later a little boy of around six years old walked down the stairs.

He was wearing green colored pajamas and hugging a brown teddy bear with one hand. The boy had brownish-blond hair and brown eyes just like Ricky.

After walking down the stairs, he approached Bryan who was still standing beside Ricky. The boy stood in front of Bryan and smiled with bright eyes, "Big brother, do you want to play with me?"

Seeing that it was just a little boy, Bryan appeared visibly relieved. He then replied with a gentle smile, "Of course, kiddo! Here, play with this."

Bryan then pointed the Hand Cannon at the little boy's head and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang Bang Bang!

The bullets that were fired had been enchanted by the magic runes on the barrel of the pistol. The first bullet had the penetration effect, whereas, the last two bullets had the explosion effect.

After being shot by three enchanted bullets back to back to back, the upper body of the little boy exploded into a black gooey substance.

The boy was so taken aback that he didn't even have the time to react and defend himself.

After firing the three bullets, Bryan's spiritual force had completely depleted as beads of sweat started to form on his forehead.

His face had turned pale as he looked at whatever was left of the boy's corpse and scoffed, "Heh, you thought you could fool me with those bright innocent eyes?"

Bryan already knew that Ricky's wife and son were dead. What he shot just now was nothing but a devil that had been summoned through a dark ritual.

A devil disguised as a little human child!

Overwhelmed by exhaustion, Bryan fell on his butt right on top of the unconscious Ricky. His heartbeat still beating at a fast rate as he thought, 'Fuck! I nearly fell for that.'

Looking at the little boy's innocent face and that bright smile, Bryan hesitated for a brief moment before finally trusting his instincts and pulling the trigger.

Moreover, which child, after seeing their father knocked out and cuffed, would ask others to play with them instead of being worried about their father?

As he took large mouthfuls of air, he looked at the Hand Cannon he was holding and thought, 'As expected of a Transcendent Artifact. My spiritual force was depleted in just three shots.'

This was the reason why Transcendent Artifacts could only be wielded by Transcendents who had large reserves of spiritual force compared to Apprentices.

While Bryan was recuperating from the massive energy expenditure, all of sudden, he heard footsteps coming from the room where Robert and the rest were fighting the devil.

Alarmed, he stood up and pointed his pistol toward that room. But a few moments later, much to his relief, it was Robert, Andrew, and Elijah who had come out of that room.

The trio approached Bryan and then Elijah asked him worriedly, "What were the gunshots for? Are you all right?"

Looking at the expressions of worry on the faces of his team members, Bryan's heart warmed, "I'm all right."

Then he pointed at the half-destroyed body of the young boy and replied, "The gunshots earlier were for that kid. Or more precisely, that devil."

Robert crouched down in front of the corpse and examined the black gooey substance that was spilling from it and stated, "Another Hell's spawn."

Bryan asked out of curiosity, "Captain, what's a Hell's spawn?"

"These are creatures who reside in Hell and are birthed by Hell itself. The entrance to Hell has been sealed since the 3rd era.

So the only way these devils can come to the surface world is if they have been summoned through a dark ritual." Robert explained as he stood back up.

From Detective Watson, Bryan had already known that Hell existed and also that its entrance had been sealed.

But what he was really surprised about was the fact that the Devils could be summoned to the real world through dark rituals.

'Doesn't that mean just about anyone could summon devils?' Bryan wondered.

Andrew stepped forward and asked, "Captain, do you have any idea as to who might have given Ricky access to the dark ritual?"

"Perhaps," Robert replied succinctly.

He then walked to Ricky's unconscious body and crouched down beside him. Robert then stretched his hand and placed it on Ricky's head.

Robert's pupils rolled back and now only the whites in his eyes were visible. He was mind-reading!

A Rank 2 Transcendent of the Wisdom Path could easily read the peripheral thoughts of others. Much less of a regular person who was already in a coma. This was one of the innate abilities that they received after consuming the potion.

After a few minutes, Robert's eyes returned to normal as he stood back up and sighed.

"Captain, what did you find?" Elijah asked anxiously.

Robert solemnly replied, "It is as I had expected. This is the work of the Inferno Order!"

Bryan, Andrew, and Elijah drew a collective gasp. The Inferno Order was a cult that specifically worshipped the Devils of Hell.

Their members were all maniacs who sought nothing but destruction and chaos. They were very similar to the members of the Holy Blood Sect in that regard.

"Let us go. We need to inform this to the Church." Robert turned around and walked toward the main door of the house.

"Captain, what about Ricky?" Bryan suddenly asked.

"We'll have the police deliver him to the Church. From there, he'll be transported to the underground prison at the HQ." Robert replied as he walked out of the house.

Bryan, Andrew, and Elijah looked at each other with perturbed expressions and then exited the house together.

'The undercurrents in Damascus keep getting darker and stronger. First the Holy Blood Sect and now the Inferno Order. Just what are they planning?' Bryan wondered in angst.