The Deceitful One



After Bryan reached home, he took a quick shower and went to the dining room to have his dinner. He had just disguised himself as one of Ron's subordinates earlier and tricked him into suspecting that Alfredo might have had a hand in Celine's death.

Although this was very far fetch and there was a slim chance that Ron would believe it, Bryan had still accomplished what he set out to do. He had never tried to make Ron believe that Alfredo was the culprit in the first place. His main goal was to sow discord.

Thinking of this, Bryan's lips couldn't help but curl up into a smirk. He wondered what Ron would do next. Either way, it would be detrimental to him.

Bryan also realized that ever since he had gained access to visiting other people's dreams—with Benny's help—he had taken quite the liking to scheme against others rather than fight head-on.

Of course, the fact that he wielded the god-level artifact, Deceit, also played a very large role in this. He believed that with these two things together, he had become quite good at deceiving others. And he really liked the feeling for some reason.

Earlier, he used to like fighting battles with his opponents head-on. But now, he got a sense of thrill from deceiving people. As he was thinking about how to play with Ron's life, he caught sight of Donald, who was standing to the side, casting secretive glances at Benny.

Bryan rolled his eyes and thought, 'Did the little guy do something again?'

He looked at his new butler, who was standing behind him ready to serve more food, and instructed, "Carl, you can leave. I need to speak with Donald alone."

Carl, a brown-haired and brown-eyed man in his early thirties, respectfully bowed. "As you wish, master." With that, he turned around and left the dining room, making sure to shut the door behind him.

Bryan released his spiritual force and created a curtain around him and Benny, who were sitting at the table, as well as Donald who was still incredulously glancing at the latter from time to time.

After making sure the spiritual force dome had been set in place, Bryan put down his cutlery on the plate and then looked at Donald and asked, "Okay now, what is it? What did Benny do this time?"

Donald snapped back to his senses and looked at his master as he gulped involuntarily. He pointed his shaky finger at Benny and spoke, "Master… Benny can speak?"

"Oh?" Bryan raised his eyebrow in amusement. He looked at Benny who was still busy eating on the table and then back at Donald. "Has he finally revealed it? I was wondering what took him so long."

Benny raised his head and looked at Bryan with an amused smile. He then mentally transmitted a message to both the people in the room. 'I was waiting for the right time to play a prank on him.'

Bryan couldn't help but chuckle. "Haha, as expected of my younger brother. You must always be patient before pulling out the rug underneath someone."

Benny nodded vigorously. 'Hmm, hmm, you're absolutely right, Bryan. The best part is the look on their faces when they get pranked. It is truly marvelous.'

Bryan and Benny looked at each other and began to laugh. Meanwhile, Donald looked at his master and the little cat and couldn't help but wonder in a daze, 'Just what the hell is happening?'

He then looked at Bryan and asked, "Master, just how long have you known little Benny?"

Bryan picked up his cutlery and began to eat again. He replied with a warm smile, "Ever since he was born. I was the one who hatched him, after all."

"Hatched him?" Donald's eyebrows twitched. "So… Benny came out of an egg?"

Bryan chuckled as he replied, "Strange, isn't it? The supernatural world is full of wonders."

Donald found himself completely agreeing with this statement. After all, just where else could one find a mammal hatching from an egg? It was unthinkable. If he said this to his kids, they would label him as an idiot.

Out of curiosity, he inquired, "Is Benny a Transcendent too?"

Bryan looked at him and smirked. "He's a Transcendent all right. But don't let his cute and adorable face deceive you, he's in fact much stronger than me."

Donald gasped in shock. He then looked at Benny who was still busy eating and couldn't believe that this little cat was actually so powerful.

Sensing Donald's gaze, Benny stood up on his hind legs and flexed his front paws. 'I, Benjamin Lombardi, am the strongest of them all. Grovel before me, mortal. Nyahaha!'

Donald was dumbfounded seeing a cat flex his muscles. On the other hand, Bryan burst into laughter seeing Benny's antics. Benny then silently got back to finishing his meal.

Bryan looked at Donald and inquired, "By the way, how is your meditation going? Are you doing everything properly?"

Donald replied solemnly, "Yes, master. I'm doing everything exactly how you taught me."

"Good," Bryan nodded. "You can't rush these things, understood? It is imperative that you carve the mind runes with extreme precision, so take your time."

"I understand, master," Donald replied sincerely. He was truly grateful for Bryan. Because of him, he was able to witness such a vast and mysterious world.

And not just that, ever since he started working as a personal assistant, his pay had also increased to double of what it used to be. Naturally, his wife and kids were ecstatic. Thus, he felt nothing but appreciative of his master.

All of a sudden Bryan spoke, "Oh, I just remembered something. I'm going to concoct a potion after my meal. Come to the meditation room after and see how it's done. It'll be a learning experience for you."

"Master, are you going to advance tonight?" Donald was pleasantly surprised.

Bryan nodded with a smile. Benny looked up at him and spoke, 'I'll protect you!'

"Of course," Bryan looked at Benny and smiled warmly. In another ten minutes, the two had finished their meals. After which, Bryan, Benny, and Donald headed upstairs to the meditation room.

Bryan had already gathered all the main ingredients and the supplementary ingredients in the past week. In order to not leave behind any trail, he made sure to buy different materials using different disguises at different Transcendent conventions. It couldn't be helped, he had an extremely cautious personality.

The three of them entered the meditation room where a table atop which all the ingredients were already set. Furthermore, a small black cauldron was also kept on the table. Bryan had bought this at one of the gatherings. It was a sturdy cauldron used to concoct potions.

Bryan came to the table and began to prepare everything according to the potion recipe. Meanwhile, Donald came closer and viewed all the materials on the table. He could feel the elemental particles emanate from those materials and couldn't help but marvel at it.

He looked at everything in complete awe, the way Bryan mixed all the ingredients inside the cauldron and the different reactions that the potion produced every time something new was added to the mix.

After about fifteen minutes, the potion was finally ready. Bryan poured the gray-colored potions inside an empty glass bowl. He then carefully grabbed it with both hands and sat down in a lotus position.

Taking in a few deep breaths to calm himself down, Bryan finally gulped the entire potion in one go. Meanwhile, Donald observed everything with bated breaths, whereas Benny walked and lay down right in front of Bryan, ready to lend a helping hand should anything happen.

A few minutes passed by but nothing happened. However, Donald didn't dare to utter a single word, afraid that he would interfere with his master's advancement. Another few minutes passed by and just when he thought nothing much would happen, a terrifying otherworldly aura began to emanate from Bryan!

Everything in his vicinity was blown away by just his aura alone. The table where he had been concocting the potion was blasted into small chunks of wood. And as for Donald, he was swept off his feet as he flew to the other end of the room.

He collided against the wall and fell to the floor. However, he had no time to worry about the pain that was coursing through his body; the aura and pressure that Bryan was radiating right now, sent chills down his spine.

Donald's pupils dilated and his body began to tremble in sheer terror. He had never felt such horror before. His heart was beating so loudly that he felt as if it was going to explode inside. The amount of fear he was feeling was unbelievable.

He clutched at his chest as he struggled to breathe. With great difficulty, he looked toward the direction of his master. He saw that Benny was still laying down calmly in front of him, the terrifying aura didn't phase him one bit.

And as for Bryan, he looked as calm and tranquil as the sea. The fear-inducing aura and his peaceful expression were completely contradictory. Just when Donald thought that he would no longer be able to withstand this dreadful aura, it suddenly vanished.

Bryan exhaled a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes. His eyes shone like the darkest of the abyss and gave one the feeling that they would devour everything. Inadvertently, Donald happened to make eye contact with him.

When he stared into Bryan's black eyes, he instantly lost consciousness and fell to the floor face-first. Right before he passed out, he felt something really strange… as if something had been stolen from him.