Chapter 100 100:A Dreary Feeling[3]
Occupied by too many things, that afternoon they had a special training to shake away those messy thoughts.
Daggers collided with one another. Yellowish sparks flew and flickered in his vision. A sharp crashing sound rang in his ears.
Lucas was fighting Parth, who was teaching him the dagger throw techniques. When it comes to pure battles, Lucas was sure of winning 6 out of 10 but when it comes to fair fights and exchange of blades using skill, Parth would overwhelm him.
Parth dagger technique was quite complex and excruciating, which needed great control and maneuverability. Parth hadn't exposed this till now until Lucas asked him to teach the basics of wielding a dagger.
No matter how many times, Lucas bumped his dagger, he could not feel the flow that lies underneath it.
The skill was different and the technique was ever-changing. On top of that, one could not keep an eye over the moves gliding under the faint shadows that become more unfathomable at night.
Taking a step back, Lucas drew in a deep breath and thrust his dagger. An imaginary line was drawn by Lucas's perception.
His heightened senses had never lied to him so he trusted his senses however before he could even slash his dagger, he felt something cold touching his throat even before he knew it.
The movement felt like a hallucination. When you try to block it, the dagger would glide like a slippery fish and burrow into your body.
Lucas surrenders with a sigh.
"It's not easy to master the ways of shadow."
"Remember one thing, Lucas. To be in the shadows isn't about hitting the enemy while hiding but rather hitting the enemy by deceiving him through deception, trickery and through plotting. Deceive yourself if you want to deceive others. Attack without knowing the path yourself and hide your intentions. Just leave everything in the flow."Parth paused a bit.
"This is the path of the Dagger of Deception."
Parth stopped in his tracks feeling a suffocating silence. Turning back, he saw Lucas, Frederick, and Roan giving him an uncanny look of admiration.
CLAPPPP!
Roan clapped first followed by others.
Parth rubbed his nose, speaking with a haughty look" I am not that great."
"I know I am a legend among men but it's worth nothing."
"Shameless!"Frederick spat.
Just a few words of praise will boost his ego.
BEEP...BEEP...BEEP!
Lucas' phone vibrated, drawing everyone's attention.
Unlocking the screen, Lucas glanced at the message and clicked on the link.
Lucas's eyes narrowed on sweeping a glance over the screen. Looking up, he gazed at everyone's tense expression.
"Finally, we have a lead."
A look of relief washed over everyone.
Parth had encountered some gorilla and monkey monsters. On observing them, Parth concluded that unless you provoked them on your end, they would not make a move.
Lucas used the excuse of stumbling across Jeffrey and some other suspicious individuals, to attach the trackers to their shoes. The Priests were also included in all this.
Now, they only need to wait.
And the result was quite surprising.
Jeffrey and Priest Joseph, both were in the same area moving through the forest behind the church.
"It seems our suspicion was correct."
.....
The forest at dusk was soaked with warm moisture.
The smell of fresh grass and overgrown weed filled their lungs. As if to symbolize the grace of nature, the lush scenery was green and the sunlight was warm.
It was a peaceful landscape.
That's what made it unimaginable for many monsters to lurk nearby. Even more so, it was a place where many shady businesses and things conspired.
Before them stood an old broken-down chapel covered with green vines and moulds.
"Should we wait for the night?"Roan asked worriedly as a mission like this was best if carried out at night. It was already evening and night was quite near.
"We need to catch them red-handed and if possible, wipe them out. I think most of the people are gathered here. So, it's best if we start now. Who knows if they leave? "Frederick replied and then looking around asked.
"By the way, where did Lucas go?"
Question marks appeared over everyone's face.
"What the hell? Wasn't he just behind us? When did he slip by?"Parth screamed.
"He might be nearby, "Roan mumbled.
As they discussed the plan, it was unanimously agreed that they would sneak in, unlike the other time.
"Here he is."
Lucas walked slowly from behind the bushes.
"Where did you go?"Frederick asked.
"To prepare myself."
"Okay, let's infiltrate now, "Parth said, rubbing his hands.
Lucas looked at the back of the three and shook his head.
They weren't the only ones who chose today as a showdown. Soon things were going to be messier than one could imagine.
......
"Haaaaaa...."
A man yawned leaning against the wall.
"Is there any need to waste time guarding here? Who will come to the abandoned place?"
"Yeah, you are right about that."The man beside him replied.
"It's all because a boy managed to escape from the detainment and that place was taken down, cutting off the supply."
"Those kids seemed to have a hero syndrome, pretending to be a worshipper of justice. Who knows how blackened their hearts are from the inside?"
"It's a lie. We are not heroes."
"Tsk. I don't believe you."The man clicked his tongue after which a deathly silence lingered.
"Who..."Before the man could scream, a black line was drawn over the man's neck.
"Intru....."The other man tried to alert others but a figure rose from the shadows behind him and closing his mouth slit his throat.
Throwing the corpse aside, Lucas glared at Parth viciously"Who the hell beat drums and alert everyone before sneaking in?
Parth gave a wronged expression.
"I just wanted to sort out things. Shouldn't he know the truth before dying? I can't stand getting accused.''
BANG!
Lucas stomped onto Parth's feet and then moved ahead.
Many unawakened men loitered around the perimeter, patrolling the area but the security was quite lax. This was an uncharted area so not many people came here.
The men outside were unawakened so Lucas and Parth needed to lessen their numbers before others could notice. Since Lucas and Parth had sneaking abilities, both of them took this job.
They didn't want to allow anyone to escape so they tried to hide their presence as much as possible.
The air was heavy. Parth, unable to withstand the atmosphere, approached Lucas and whispered.
"Lucas, will you cry if I die here?"
Lucas blinked his eyes, seeing Parth's innocent gaze.
'I should find a chance and kill this mf here.'
"Stop fooling around. Don't joke with your life like this."
Lucas pushing Parth aside jumped into the shadows.
Parth rubbed his chin for a moment"This movement technique seems to be familiar. Does it belong to our clan? Is he an illegitimate child of our clan?"
Many questions appeared over his head.
Swish!
Hearing a loud thud, Parth snapped out of his thoughts.
"Haa...It seems I need to be serious."
A cracking sound of hitting bones echoed.
Severed heads of hideous people were thrown over one after another.
Swish!Swish!Swish!
"What's happening?"
A man noticed the oddity.
Sweat formed over his forehead. He glanced all around him anxiously.
Shadows moved around and began to appear all around him. His heart tensed up and his legs turned to jelly, feeling afraid.
"Where did everyone go?"
Mumbling to himself, he took out a signal to ring the ball.
"They have gone to meet the maker."
"Kayak!"The man jumped back in panic, hearing a faint whisper in his ear.
He rotated his gaze around and pulling out an axe, he swung it but all he met was empty air. Unable to get rid of the unknown presence, he decided to click the alarm bell.
However before he could do that, something went past him. He felt a faint breeze caressing him and his arms became numb all of a sudden.
Looking down, his mind became numb with shock as the button he held was missing.
"Are you looking for this Uncle?"
A dark-haired boy appears holding a mechanical bell.
"Who are you?"The man's voice trembled and as he moved his hands a bit, the arm that held the hand fell off.
"Ahh…Gagg…"
Lucas sliced his head while giving Parth another glare.
"Bastard! He was about.."
"I know you are here, that's why I played a bit. Now stop wasting time and go ahead."Parth spoke with a smile waving his hand.
Lucas clicked his tongue seeing Parth playing around.
"Those who mess with me will not have a peaceful death," Lucas warned him.
Lucas then turned towards the shade where Frederick and Roan were hiding and signalled them to come.
Lucas then made a hand sign to convey to them that he was going up.
Taking nimble swift steps, Lucas uses the momentum to push his legs over the wall and then uses the reaction force to leap and jump upward.
He held the side mount of the protruding window slab, grabbed it, and pushed his body upward. Stepping on it, he jumped again.
Reaching the top floor, he bent down and squinting his eyes, looked around.
The window was half open. Lucas gliding hands through the gap pushed it towards the side.
CLINK!
A subtle clinking sound echoed chilling Lucas's heart. Without wasting any time, Lucas jumped inside and rolling on the ground, and took cover behind a sofa.
TAP! TAP!TAP!TAP!
A man came in and looked at the source of the sound.
Lucas scanning around decided to use shadow steps but stopped sensing the man's strength. Lucas breathed in relief as he was sure he could take him in.
At the time, Lucas turned his head and froze, witnessing a sight that was enough to make his whole body shiver in fright.