23. The Bloodlust

With the darkest night cladding in the forest, Kelvana ran, jumping shrubs. His pace was of a cheetah, forgetting he had to stop and catch a breath. He only worried about not to stumble or cross the snakes on the hunt. It was until he climbed a tall tree that he lost them. Then he took a long breath and waited to calm down.

When his adrenalin was leveling down, a sound of an arrow that came from every direction to his ears made him go mad. It was until an arrow pierced his hair that he knew they were watching him. He jumped from a tree to the ground. The moment he landed, he couldn't believe it. Orionos was standing in front of him. Behind him were people who were after him. He confused himself. He took his eyes to up Orionos and couldn't believe how god Orionos was. His eyes glowed with a deep reddish hue, and the blade he held looked red hot with fire flames. At that instant, when he was still amazed, Orionos introduced himself to him. He couldn't believe the aura from Orionos. For sure, he felt confident in him.

Within a few minutes, a group of soldiers that belonged to Orionos came. They wore black and armed themselves with guns and blades. In front of him, they knelt down. From nowhere, from the bushes, Mr. Kenneth appeared. He went straight to kneel in front of Orionos. Orionos held his shoulders and made him stand upright next to him just as he did to Kelvana.

"Soldiers, the game was long, but the time is certain. We should take this city and rule. Let's show them how Orionos rules," he roared, his eyes flaming up and his soldier screaming in unison, agreeing with him.

Orionos wanted to rule the city, just as he promised people when they wanted to kill him before he fled. He didn't like how people treated him after he did everything to protect them from the devils. So he wanted to take over the city and make everyone kneel before him. The only people he knew were a threat to him were the devils.

At that moment, he thought my dad was dead. He didn't know Kelvana failed his mission. Even Mr. Kenneth didn't talk about Kort and Officer K, whom they were supposed to be dead by that night. I don't know why they didn't tell Orionos or maybe it's because they were still astonished by Orionos' aura.

Since Orionos knew more about the devil's secrets, he knew what was happening in Leticia's womb. The fetuses in Leticia were of the devil's blood. He intended to let Leticia give birth and keep the devil's child for his benefits. He already knew a person who impregnated Leticia was a devil.

"Where is the book?" he asked one of his front men.

"Lord Orionos... we didn't find the book. I am sure her son has it," the man responded. His hands were on his chest, and his head bowed.

Orionos smiled, and he asked, "Did you kill her?"

The man agreed to have taken the kill. The book Orionos wanted was the one with Splendor, and it was closer to him than he expected. Splendor was the son of Orionos' brother. However, Splendor knew nothing. Orionos killed his brother for the book when Splendor was young. After that, Splendor's mom fled away with the book along with Splendor. They didn't want him to have the book because he wanted to use it to get powers of the devils.

After knowing a person who has the book, he didn't think twice but to go straight to the lab. None accompanied him as he commanded. He found Splendor sleeping on a couch in his room, and all of us were gone. He didn't bother waking him up. Without wasting a second, he went to stand beside Leticia. Even though no one woke Splendor, he woke up and went to join Orionos in Leticia's room. They watched Leticia lying lifeless.

"Any moment from now could be her last," Splendor said as he yawned and added, "I wonder how much pain is she in? It could be unbearable for her."

"Say it… death has opened its teeth for my daughter, and I am helpless as a father," Orionos responded.

"Her mother left without a word, even her friends. If they were here, I was going to operate her at once and remover the blood suckers in her womb," Splendor said, and asked, "But Sir, you're here, she's your daughter, can I proceed with operation?"

"You're right, I am her father. I am the only one here at this moment who can decide," Orionos spoke and added, "So I am going with my daughter. My name is Orionos, the great mage."

"You can call yourself by all names, but I won't allow you to go with her without her friends knowing, mostly her mother," he disagreed.

"Then why waiting? It's already closer to morning. Call them," Orionos urged.

Splendor instantly took his phone and dialed Kort's number. He went outside the lab for a few minutes. It was Orionos' moment to open every drawer he saw looking for the book. But he didn't see it. When Splendor was done with the call, he came complaining that it wasn't a good time to wake up people by phone call. He admitted that even though Kort received the call, their communication wasn't clear, so he was not sure whether they were coming.

As Splendor continued speaking, Orionos' attention was long gone. He believed Kort to be dead. He assumed that if Kort was alive, so were Officer K and my dad. It was out of his expectation that Kelvana would lie. As an experienced soldier, he followed his instincts. He introduced himself to Splendor not as Leticia's father but also as the devil hunter. That caught Splendor's interests because he believed the devils killed his father.

Orionos took Splendors weak spot and used it. He told him about his mission of hunting the devils and, to do that; he needed a book of the secrets of the devils. Splendor hid that he had the book until Orionos told him he knew he had it. He told him that his mother was dead, and the devils killed her. Splendor in disbelief made a phone call, and he couldn't believe it. His mother was dead for sure. With a broken heart, he vowed to support Orionos by killing the devils. He even handed the book to Orionos. After getting the book, Orionos said, "You are a very intelligent Splendor, but I am disappointed in you. Have you asked yourself why you never got the signature of those samples?"

Splendor looked at Orionos, wondering if he had answers. Orionos' reddish eyes were full of confidence that he knew. So Splendor responded that the results confused him.

"Because the devils impregnated Leticia. You should have used this book wisely. Everything you needed is on these pages," Orionos said and continued, "You must be wondering now that who is the devil... you see them every so often."

At that moment, it came to Splendor that he didn't do mine and Chris' tests. He felt his hair standing, believing either Chris or I were the devil. He screamed, hitting the wall with his fists as he felt betrayed. Orionos held him. Splendor then requested Orionos' pistol, which he didn't hesitate to give him. After that, Orionos took Leticia and went away. When the sun rose, Splendor was thirsty to spill blood.