“Armen… Don’t!”

Even though the mist had vanished, Armen was about to give chase only to be stopped by Amare. She looked at Randy Ronvorld’s corpse and even without close examination, knew that he was dead.

Armen, irritated, pulled back from the window and walked to the lifeless body. As he touched the chest and felt no heartbeat, he angrily complained,

“There are only a couple of things that could hide from your eyes. I’m sure I killed that man earlier… I’m sure I did.”

“I know. We’re dealing with something else.”

By now, Amare had realized that it wasn’t a simple trick but a profound technique. As Armen had said, she was gifted with a pair of exceptional eyes that could see beyond simple tricks and basic illusion spells, so the fact that she failed to notice any peculiarities was a clear indication that whatever they were dealing with a unique entity.

“That was the Bloated Murderer, the serial-killer Randy had been investigation and handing out posters about.”

Instead of responding, Amare paced around the room as she thought about everything that happened ever since they started tailing Randy. They must have missed something or were too confident in their abilities. Either way, it was too late for regret.

“It wasn’t an accident.”

“Hm? What?”

The girl’s pacing came to an abrupt stop as her purple eyes intently looked at the dead Randy.

“The Bloated Murderer’s attack. I think Randy expected it and used us to get rid of the killer. That’s the only explanation.”

“But that doesn’t make sense! How could he have known he would be attacked there and then?”

“It’s not so simple, Armen. He knew we needed him alive and made use of that to handle his own investigation. However, his main focus should have been to catch the killer, not kill him… but, if we switch it up and assume that it wasn’t actually the real Randy we’ve been tailing then…”

“Then?”

“Then his objective was the death of the Bloated Murderer. Still, why would he want that?”

“Maybe a relative of his was one of the victims? I reckon it’s for revenge.”

“No.” Amare shook her head as she unknowingly clenched her hands. “One thirsty for vengeance wouldn’t want it to end like that.”

“Fine! Let’s assume it wasn’t the real Randy. Who was it? And, most importantly, what do we do now? If Randy is actually dead then do we target his accomplice?”

****

After making sure no one was giving chase, Arthur stealthily returned to his original inn room. The Bloated Murderer was wearing a long old coat and an over-sized hood, which made it difficult to get a good look at his face and allowed the parasite to avoid any unwanted attention.

Evelyn had yet to return, so Arthur switched back to Leonis’ body then closely inspected the dead body laid next to his feet.

The man behind the recent killings had a hideously disfigured face: a squashed nose, beady eyes, scarred lips, and cheeks riddled with deep gaping holes. He definitely had an unforgettable face, one that would strike discomfort to anyone who had seen it.

Although Arthur’s plans had marvelously succeeded, it ultimately hinged on the availability of the Bloated Murderer’s skill to immediately escape the scene. He had previously used it during his second failed attempt to kill Randy.

The second he had possessed his target, Arthur wasted no time in finding and using it at the right time. In total, the possession granted him three active magical skills, two of which were labeled ‘sub-skills’, deriving from the main one.

*[The Mist of Decay(Active Lv4)]: The ability to manipulate green mist for attack, defense, and obfuscation.

While within the mist, the user stats will be increased by 30%.

Maximum range of the mist will increase with each level up; Current range is 10 meters.*

*Mist of the Decay sub-skills:

- Origin Return (Active Lv3)

- Air Decay (Active Lv5)*

*[Origin Return(Active Lv3): The user will choose a specific spot to lay down ‘Mist Rune’, which he could instantaneously return to if the range limit has not been exceeded.

Range limit: 500 meters.

During the second activation, the user will be impervious to all physical and magical damage.

If the ‘Mist Rune’ is destroyed, the skill will be canceled. Additionally, after the first activation, the user has a maximum of 120 minutes for the second activation.

This skill can be used once a day.*

*[Air Decay(Active Lv5): This skill requires a minimum of one target trapped within [Mist of Decay]. Once activated, the air will grow still and the target(s) will be incapable of breathing for 10 seconds.*

As he read the skills’ description, Arthur was pleased and elated. It was what he hoped for and more, especially the fact that [Mist of Decay] was a diverse skill, not unlike Leonis’ [Sanguis Barrier].

Basically, it meant that, provided he had decent control and sufficient amount of Mana, he could mold the Mist into whatever wanted. Earlier, the Bloated Murderer conjured a deadly scythe to fatally wound Randy.

‘If this was all he had, how exactly did he make the bodies bloat with one hit?’

Arthur raised his hand and, after a split second, green mist came out, enveloping him then spreading to every corner of the room. Fortunately, the mist only obstructed the visibility of other people, its caster not included, meaning that Arthur was able to see clearly.

As mentioned by the skill description, his stats were increased while within the mist.

“To think that even with the mist empowering him, he was killed with one strike.”

As a parasite, Arthur did not have to go through the arduous journey of training a newly-obtained skill. He would get exactly what the host had and would be able to use it freely and without any real difficulty.

Still, skills like [Mist of Decay], which could be used in varying ways, weren’t as simple. It wasn’t like a game, where one would activate a skill and wait for the effect.

The manipulation of the Mist, while not as taxing as the barrier, still depleted Arthur’s Mana and required focus.

When the one and only door in the room opened, Arthur slowly retracted the mist and looked at Evelyn, who was momentarily startled.

“At ease… it’s me.”

Seeing Leonis sitting on the bed with a wide, satisfied smile, the maid sighed and said,

“So it was successful.”

“You bet it was!” Arthur then pointed at the lifeless body of their target.

“It wasn’t particularly hard, but not overly easy either.”

“...”

Evelyn walked next to the corpse and inspected its hands then the face and neck.

“There are no traces of wounds. It must have been Armen, yes?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“Armen Na Xivia is known for his ability to inflict internal wounds without damaging the exterior. It is said that he could stab your heart without even touching you… pretty scary stuff.”

“Hmm… it makes me want to target him next.” Responded the parasite while contemplating something.

“...”

Upon seeing her threatening cold stare, Arthur jokingly raised both hands in surrender. “I’m jesting.”

After that, Arthur cleared his throat and raised one of his hands, from which a bit of green mist started coming out. Following his command, it swirled around then transformed into a knife.

“I’m still not sure how his targets ended up with bloated bodies.”

The maid too, was perplexed, but only for a short while. As she looked at the mist dancing around its caster, she spoke,

“It may have been the mist, after all. He would injure the victims then make the mist invade their bodies and consequently bloat it.”

“That seems highly-plausible. Or… we could be dealing with two killers. Two that somehow share the same ability.”

“I don’t think that’s the case, Master. You’re overthinking it again.”

“Maybe I am. It’s been a long day so I’ll just go to sleep.”

With that said, he laid on the bed and soon fell asleep, now completely used to Evelyn’s continuous and piercing stares.

…

“Stop lazing around and come help me count!”

Rebecca, one of Terden Sidus’ subordinates and a mighty from the South, snarled at the disinterested. Every month, she would be tasked to come to a large storage building relatively close to the Duke’s castle.

There, she would manage Marjory’s shipment along with Jack and Armen. However, tonight, the vampire was missing and Jack was too bored to properly do his job, thus it fell to her to make sure everything was in order.

The place was tightly guarded by bribed city guards and, apart from Rebecca, Jack, and Armen, no one else was allowed inside.

“Every time I look at them, I remember my tragic past.” Lamented the tall and muscular woman as a sigh escaped her lips.

“Stop with your monologue and continue counting.” Jack retorted as he stood up and went to one of the numerous large cages and inspected the children quietly holed within.

“It’s not like we’re killing them. In fact, they’ll be treated nicely by Marjory.”

“Fuck! I still can’t help but pity them.”

Rebecca spat on the ground and moved her eyes away from the scared boys and girls, who were shaking from fright.

“It’s either slavery or sending them to be trained and integrated into her private army. Personally, I prefer the latter. Now, stop with your needless pity and start distributing the food.”

Even Jack was disgusted with his employer’s illegal deals. Terden Sidus was providing Marjory Na Xivia with fresh blood to train and raise. Although the Militant Syndicate encouraged slavery, it wouldn’t condone offering to-be soldiers to another nation, especially one ruled by a vampire.

If the Consortium or the public were to learn of this, Terden Sidus’ reputation would be ruined and the backlash would even affect the diplomatic deals between Marjory and Militant Syndicate.

Instead of complying, Rebecca pulled her black tank top down and looked at the area above her left breast, precisely at an ominous dragon head tattoo.

“I kind of miss home, Jack. Do you think we’ll be called?”

“Don’t know, don’t care.”

Having grown tired of his attitude, she slapped the back of his head while grumbling.

A short silence followed thereafter, which was interrupted by a curious Rebecca.

“When are you going to tell me Evelyn’s whereabouts? Did she get rid of the tattoo? Is that why I can’t sense her?”

Jack’s expression distorted as he glared at his friend and, with a rarely heard tone, said,

“Mind your words, Reb. We don’t speak of our own, not here or anywhere else.”

“It’s not like anyone will care. Stop being overly-cautious and just tell me. I want to meet her too.”

“She doesn’t want to get involved. Let her live her own life.”

“You’re just saying that because you got your ass handed to you.”

Gloomy and irritated, Jack looked away and shrugged his shoulders.

“Do you still have a crush on her? Poor lil jackie can’t handle rejection?”

“...”

As he maintained silence and ignored her, Rebecca snorted and walked away.