The Deceitful One

Being strangled in the neck by the blood rope, Henry couldn't even put up an ounce of resistance. The noose slowly tightened around his neck and with just sheer force, made his head explode within a second.

Two people came into his mind before he forever lost consciousness. One was his aged mother who was alone at home and was waiting for his return.

And the other was the blonde young lady, whom he was supposed to get engaged to next month. Ironically, he had met this lady at Ron's house on the day of the first snow last year.

The end of the blood rope drilled inside Henry's body through the opening in his neck and drained all the blood inside until he had become a shriveled corpse. All of this happened in a quick instant! Not even a second had passed.

Since Emma was right next to Henry, she was the first to react. When the latter's head exploded, the blood splattered all across her face.

Emma was initially surprised when this happened, she had no clue what was going on. But when she turned around and saw Henry's headless and shriveled-up course lying on the ground, she was mortified and screamed at the top of her lungs in terror.

Alarmed by Emma's sudden cry, Andrew turned his head in her direction as well. However, when he saw Henry's corpse, he froze, and his eyes widened. Not a word escaped his lips, but the tears that streamed down his eyes spoke volumes.

Just yesterday, Henry had given him and the other members of the Strike Team invitation letters to his engagement next month. And now, when Andrew saw Henry's lifeless corpse on the ground, he let out a painful howl, "Henry! No!"

Bryan who was still pinned down by Ron had seen the whole thing take place. He was still recovering from his shock.

His eyes reddened as he glared at Alfredo, "You motherfucker!! Why!? Your enmity is with me! Let them go!!"

Alfredo looked at Bryan and couldn't help but scoff, "Let them go? Are you fucking stupid?"

However, the next moment, an amusing smile spread across his lips as he turned to look at Emma, "Fine, I can let her go."

He then controlled the blood rope that was holding Emma and brought her closer to Bryan, All her limbs were firmly bound by the rope, hence she had no way to escape.

In fact, she never even had the foolish thought of being able to break free from a spell cast by a Rank 2 Transcendent and escape in the first place.

Through the blood rope, Alfredo made Emma lie down right in front of Bryan.

"B-Bryan… Bryan, I-I'm scared…" Emma stuttered and sobbed incessantly as she stretched out her arm to reach Bryan.

"Shh… It's going to be all right…it's going to be all right." Bryan forced a smile as he tried to comfort her. Even though deep down he had a feeling that none of them would be able to leave here alive tonight.

Alfredo slowly walked towards the duo as his lips curled up into a cruel smile. He then raised his right foot and viciously stepped down on Emma's head!

BAM! BAM! BAM!

He continued to slam his foot against her head until all that was left was a mangled mixture of blood, flesh, and bones.

Alfredo then looked at Bryan who seemed to be on the verge of breaking down and going insane and couldn't help but laugh wildly, "HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!"

He crouched down and viciously grabbed Bryan's hair as he made the latter face him, "How is it? Do you like what you're seeing? I had to see the same thing after you killed my grandson. What goes around comes around, boy!"

Tears streamed down Bryan's eyes non-stop as he saw the state Emma was reduced to. Although Alfredo had grabbed his hair and made him turn his face toward him, his eyes were fixed on Emma's corpse.

He looked at her mangled head and thought inwardly, 'I-Its my fault… It's a-all my f-fault…'

Bryan turned his gaze towards Emma's hand which was just inches away from his face. Her fingers still twitched from time to time. At that moment, something snapped inside Bryan.

He gritted his teeth as he turned to look at Alfredo, his red eyes burning with hatred and fury, "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!

"Pray to fucking god that I don't make it out of here alive. Because If I do, I'll slaughter you and everything you hold dear!

"You fucking hear me!? I WILL FUCKING EAT YOU ALIVE!!"

Alfredo stumbled backward a few steps as he let go of his grasp on Bryan's hair. For a moment, he felt as if he was being stared at by a demon.

But then he immediately began to laugh, "HAHAHAHAHA!! That's it! That's it!"

He then landed a solid kick to Bryan's face, causing the latter's nose to instantly break in half. Blood spewed out from Bryan's nostrils but the look in his eyes never faded.

Alfredo looked at Bryan's eyes and laughed even harder, "HAHAHAHAHA!! That is the look! That is the look I've been waiting for, boy!"

He then crouched down in front of Bryan and came closer to his face as he grinned maniacally, "Do you feel rage? Do you feel despair? Then good. We're just getting started."

Meanwhile, Ron who was standing beside Bryan looked over everything that happened till now expressionlessly. Even Henry's and Emma's death didn't phase him one bit.

However, now he was beginning to falter slightly. Because he knew it would be Andrew's turn next.

Out of all the people he had gotten to know during his time at the Silver Owls, Andrew was the closest to him. After all, they had grown up in the same orphanage under the Church of Wisdom.

Ron still remembered the time, almost ten years back, when he first infiltrated the Silver Owls, he was made to live in the orphanage alongside Andrew who had also recently been admitted.

Both of them hit off really well in the beginning. And before Ron knew it, he had come to share a close bond with Andrew. He even thought of him as his younger brother.

Before his infiltration, he was made to go through harsh training by Sean himself. He used to hate those days. After all, as a kid, all he wanted was to be normal and play like other kids. But his fate had already been decided.

Hence, when he met Andrew for the first time at the orphanage, he saw a ray of light in his bleak life. He could finally be normal. But he knew that the mission given to him by Sean was the top priority.

Therefore, he tried to distance himself from Andrew. He didn't want to form any close bonds whatsoever. But Andrew kept sticking to him and never left his side. And unbeknownst to Ron, he had grown fond of Andrew.

And now, when he realized that Andrew was about to die, he felt conflicted internally. He didn't know what to do. On one side was the mission and on the other side was a person whom he could call his only friend.

He hesitated for a long time but still couldn't come to a decision. Meanwhile, Alfredo had finally gotten up to his feet and was walking towards Andrew. Ron could see the fear and unwillingness in Andrew's eyes as Alfredo approached him.

Ron gritted his teeth as he clenched and unclenched his fists several times. And then, he finally came to a decision.

"Wait!" He screamed.

Alfredo halted in his footsteps and turned around as he looked at Ron with furrowed eyebrows, "What is it?"

"Leave him to me. I'll take care of him." Ron replied as he started to walk towards Andrew. However, Alfredo stepped right in front of him and cut off his path.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at Ron as a little bit of killing intent emanated from him, "What are you planning to do, boy? Has staying at Silver Owls all these years made you soft?"

Ron stared right into Alfredo's eyes, not willing to back down, "That's none of your business."

Alfredo's killing intent flared up as he tried to pressure Ron into submission, "Master has ordered us to kill everyone here. Are you planning to disobey him?"

Ron still didn't flinch and backed down as he spat through gritted teeth, "I said, I will take care of him!"

Alfredo deeply looked at Ron for a long time. In the end, he stepped aside and made way for him. He controlled his blood rope and released Andrew.

Although he was superior to Ron in terms of Ranks, in terms of the hierarchy he was far beneath. After all, although Ron called Sean master, in truth, it was more of a teacher-student relationship.

Whereas Alfredo was only a mere servant to Sean. Hence, even if he wanted to, he couldn't do anything to Ron.

Ron walked towards Andrew and landed a punch to his skull and instantly knocked him out unconscious. He then picked up his body and put him over his shoulder. Without saying another word to Alfredo, he then walked off into the forest in the distance.

"Andrew!! No!!" Bryan saw Ron carry Andrew and walk away. He couldn't help but feel worried and anxious for his friend. Meanwhile, Alfredo coldly looked at Ron walking away but he didn't say a word.

He then turned around and kicked Bryan in the face once again as his lips curled up into an evil smirk, "Now, where were we?"