Things Are Getting Heated

"They have arrived safely, lord Balisto."

Fernando then intertwined his hands and rested his chin above them. Lilia on the other hand is cleaning her sword while Macisig is silently sitting on the sofa with his back leaning on it.

"What do you think will happen to that interesting boy, Ferdie~?" Lilia asked.

"The future is unpredictable. It can change for the better or it can change for the worse. If his will is weak, he will definitely die," Fernando replied with a serious tone in his voice.

"I hate to admit it but that boy will definitely survive. Master has his eye on him, not just because he is his nephew, but because he's promising. Let's wait for a little longer," Macisig added.

After their conversation, they became silent once more. However, this didn't last long because one of Fernando's guards came to report a piece of horrifying news.

"Lord Balisto, our underground facilities including the Stealth Corpse are being attacked by various crime syndicates!" he reported.

The three of them reacted immediately. Lilia's grip on her sword tightened while the other two gentlemen clenched their fists.

"What's happening to the main headquarters? Did the assigned division captains there are able to defend it?" Fernando asked in a monotone.

"According to the report, most of the division captains were deeply injured while the rest managed to flee from the battlefield, my lord," the guard answered.

After hearing the answer, Fernando failed to control his temper. He stood up and starts releasing a dreadful aura.

"Call the division generals and tell them to aid all our underground facilities. They should get there in time. Leave the main headquarters to us," he ordered. The guard then nodded after seeing Fernando's face.

"Javier, prepare the helicopter. We're going to have some fun," he said with a frightening tone in his voice.

Lilia and Macisig smirked because of what Fernando said. It's been a while since they felt the feeling of excitement and thrill.

Their eagerness to slaughter was triggered by the sudden news.

"Where are we going, lord Balisto?" the pilot asked as he starts the engine of the helicopter.

"To the Stealth Corpse. There's an emergency," Fernando answered.

Stealth Corpse – the main headquarters of Fernando Balisto's domain – the heart of the operations of the Luzon region.

The headquarters is currently located at the Sierra Madre mountain range – the longest mountain range found in the Philippines.

After a couple of minutes of traveling, they finally reached their destination. But they witnessed something worse than they had expected.

Almost three-fourths of the headquarters was fully destroyed. Countless bodies of Fernando's agents are scattered everywhere.

The fight doesn't look like a war, it looks more like a massacre.

Fernando's temper increased rapidly, it reached the limit.

"They will really pay for this," Fernando muttered to himself before a small smokey dagger came out of his right hand.

"Hey, Ferdie! Don't you dare steal all of the fun for yourself! Learn to share~!" Lilia withdraws her sword and it starts emitting black energy.

"You two handle the fight, I will handle the injured ones," Macisig informed them before disappearing in just a blink of an eye.

After the three of them joined the battlefield, the tables have turned drastically. The enemies are getting killed one after another in an excruciating way.

As Fernando keeps on fighting, he noticed something strange about the enemies. To prove his assumption, he took a drop of blood from his enemy on his finger and smelled it.

'This... This is the blood of trolls...!'

"Ferdie, this is bad! I discovered something!" Lilia showed up beside him as soon as Fernando figured out the truth.

"I guess, I know what you're talking about, Lilia," he responded.

"How did they even manage to get here...?" Lilia confusingly asked as they continue reducing the number of enemies.

"That's what we need to know. But we need to take care of this mess first. They just keep on coming."

The battle continues for about half an hour until the only thing left is a land of corpses. Meanwhile, Macisig successfully evacuated all the injured agents.

Despite facing a tremendous amount of opponents, Fernando and Lilia were not even exhausted. In fact, Lilia is a bit disappointed.

"Aside from the fact that most of them are trolls, that fight was totally boring..." she complained while putting her sword back to its scabbard.

Fernando called Javier to bring the helicopter again. While waiting for its arrival, he took a plastic bag and put a small amount of blood from the trolls inside.

As when they thought it's okay to be complacent, the three of them sensed a group of people approaching their direction.

"They're just another bunch of weaklings," Lilia said before lighting her cigarette.

The said group came as expected just after a few minutes. A total of five teenagers, each releasing an intimidating aura.

"We are not oriented that 'The Ruthless Trio' will be here to help," the guy with a chained scythe said with amusement on his face.

"Are you the ones responsible for annihilating all of our troops?" the guy with metal-spiked nunchaku added.

"What if we are?" Lilia answered them with a spine-chilling tone in her voice.

The other three are also wielding peculiar weapons: a stick that produces electric charges, a poisonous twin sai, and an explosive knuckle.

"Easy there, miss! We're just here to tell you an important thing!"

The three's interests were instantly piqued by the guy with a chained scythe's statement. He then smirked after knowing that they are interested.

"This will not be the last time that we will meet. The next time our weapons clash, it will be the end for all of you and for this country," he stated, grinning.

"We — 'The Forsakens' — are declaring cease-fire for now. But I will repeat it again, this is not the end."

After saying his last words, they left without a single trace left. The trio is confused about what he said and what is their real motive.

On top of that, they learned more information about their enemy. They hide under the name "The Forsakens".

"Let's go back," Fernando said when the helicopter finally arrived.

They came back to the mansion tired not because of the battle but because of the mental stress they got from meeting those teenagers.

'Who is the mastermind?'

'Why did they suddenly declared ceasefire?'

'What really is their plan?'

These are some of the questions that are filling their minds. And it just gets worse when the division generals showed up.

"Lord Balisto, we found out something unbelievable upon fighting the enemies," the first division general — Axis — stated while the other nine division generals are standing behind him.

In the group "Shadow Wanderers", there are a total of ten powerful division generals and twenty skillful division captains; two-division captains are under the authority of one division general.

"What is it?" Fernando asked simply, slightly aware of what Axis would say.

'I'm pretty sure they also encountered trolls.'

Axis answered with a trembling voice. The trio then instinctively quivered in fear and disbelief after knowing the answer.

Fernando who had long forgotten the feeling of extreme fright is now having an emotional crisis.

'I-Impossible…! They have successfully entered this world…!'

<-------------------->

Inside a dark sullen room, Mr. Lavinn is peacefully reading a newly-published report of one of his juniors.

Beneath the public status he has of being a food critic, there lies a mysterious person the world has yet to be seen.

*Dzzz* *Dzzz*

"[Inspector 001, the Father is expecting your presence here in 5 minutes.]"

"Understood. I'm on my way," Mr. Lavinn answered before the caller hung up the call.

Inspector 001 — Mr. Lavinn — rushed outside of his office. Constantly ignored by his co-workers because of his gloomy and scary personality.

However, their impressions don't matter to him. He was trained to be emotionless and composed.

His life is devoted solely to one purpose — being a keeper.

"Father, what may be the reason that you called me?" he asked as soon as he got inside the Father's private room.

A 4-sided room purely made for classified conversations. The Father whom Mr. Lavinn is working to is the head of their anonymous organization.

No one knows who he is, no one knows what he is.

"The Shadow Wanderer's domain had been attacked earlier this morning," the Father answered.

Though Mr. Lavinn was slightly shocked because of the news he heard, he already knew what group is responsible for it — The Forsakens.

Compared to the trio's investigatory level, Mr. Lavinn's organization is far more advanced.

All the information that is about to be discovered by the trio was already learned and examined by them.

"I assigned inspector 027 to capture one of our enemies for us to gain new data," the Father added.

"And not only he did capture one of them, but he also brought one of the enemy's high-ranks — Zephyr."

"Do you mean, 'The Humming Zephyr', Father?" Mr. Lavinn asked to clarify.

'He really lost it and joined them.'

"Precisely."

"Now, I want you to go to the laboratory and interrogate him. Don't stop until you extract important intel out of him," the Father ordered. Mr. Lavinn nodded and gave him a respectful bow.

"Dismissed."

The problems keep on piling up as the culprit group continues on their move. Sooner or later, a war might occur in this country.

As Mr. Lavinn keeps on walking towards the laboratory, a sudden loud horrendous laughter echoed in the hallway. A voice that seemed to be from a possessed being.

Mr. Lavinn reached the laboratory after a couple of minutes. When he opened the metal door, the subject is sitting on a metal chair while grinning like a demon.

Based on his appearance, they already started torturing him before the Father called Mr. Lavinn.

Zephyr — "The Humming Zephyr" — is an 8-foot man with a body similar to that of a bodybuilder. Despite having a monstrous body, his voice is a bit higher and smaller.

He has a tattoo of an eagle on his chest and an eye patch on his left eye. He also wears an outfit like the ones used by the assassins in fantasy films.

"Are you having a fun time here, Mister?" Mr. Lavinn took the first move as soon as he entered the laboratory.

The shackled man, Zephyr, glared at the person who interrupted his company. He then looked down after seeing Mr. Lavinn's face as if he's disgusted.

"You... It's really true that you're working here... Krukrukru..." he replied, smirking.

"Let's finish this already. Tell us about your plan," Mr. Lavinn asked in a poker face and in a monotone voice.

"Krukrukru... Obedient to your so-called Father, I see..." Zephyr mockingly responded.

"I'm just going to give you three chances to speak." Fernando then took out a briefcase with different kinds of weapons inside.

"Speak or die."

"Krukrukru... What about... you tell me the reason... why you betrayed us...?"

"3."

"You were our only hope... Krukrukru... You know that, yet you... you turned your back against us... Does that make you happy, huh...?" Zephyr added while coughing blood.

'Damn it! My body's worn out already!'

"2."

"Krukrukru... We had been working for so long, Lavinn... But then you... you just suddenly disappeared... And later we were informed that a huge number of our comrades were massacred..."

"1..."

"You... You were the one who did it...! I... I will never forget that day... My brother was one of them... You lied to us... You betrayed us...!" Zephyr shouted that made him cough blood again.

"I didn't do anything, Zephyr. You were the one who put your lives on the line by following the wrong path," Mr. Lavinn replied emotionlessly.

"You... You piece of shit...! You are the one following the wrong path, Lavinn! And you will regret choosing this direction! I swear to my life, you will die!" Zephyr angrily cursed him.

Silence filled the room after the heated conversation. Mr. Lavinn gave Zephyr time to relax because it would affect the extraction of information if he's mad.

"Remember this... This world will be conquered by them... The supremes of the supremes... The gods of the gods... The truths of reality... When that time comes, nothing can stop them..."

Mr. Lavinn was instantly stunned because of what Zephyr said. Confusion and fright covered his mind.

"Krukrukru... In ten years... In ten years, all of you will die..." Zephyr stated before his massive body exploded into tiny pieces.

From all of Mr. Lavinn's experiences from being an investigator, nothing made him scared nor terrified.

But it seems like this is the first time that he will leave the laboratory with his knees trembling and his voice shaking.

'The supremes of the supremes... He must be bluffing...'