Hoxha found Conrad in his study, staring at the map of the region with a fierce expression on his face. The room was silent except for the sound of Conrad's heavy breathing. Hoxha cleared his throat, and Conrad looked up at him, his eyes narrowing.
“What is it, Hoxha?” asked Conrad with a cold and clipped voice.“I am here to report the incident at the mansion,” began Hoxha, stepping forward. “Gesta was nearly killed, and we barely managed to save him. The mansion was burned, but thankfully a good portion of it remains intact.”Conrad’s eyes flashed with anger. “What did you say? How could that happen?”Hoxha took a deep breath. “It was Devon. He was the one behind all of this. On top of endangering Gesta’s life, he was also responsible for disrupting the ritual. The arson was also the fruit of his effort.”“We tried to capture him, but alas he got away,” added Hoxha.Conrad slammed his fist on the table, making the maps jump. “IConrad was pacing back and forth in his room, his anger and frustration brewing within him. He grew more anxious with each passing second of waiting for the news from his troops.He sighed, sitting down at his desk and pulling out his notes he had been writing for years about Devon. He had been keeping detailed records on the boy ever since he had found out about his unique characteristics. Devon was born on a Kliwon midnight, a special time held in high regard in demonic almanac, thus blessing his body to house multiple demons within him.“Restless, aren’t you?” whispered a rough voice in the back of Conrad’s mind.“Don’t talk to me unless you come with a solution, Buto,” replied Conrad, addressing that voice like an old friend.“Hey, I’m just being empathetic,” eluded Buto with a sneer. “You know I always have your back. Remember when I showed you the way to immortality that you’ve been obsessing over?”Buto’s words threw Conrad to a blast from the past. He remembered how he was mul
It didn’t take long for Conrad to have his next plan executed. Gathering his most trusted men, he issued the order to hunt down Devo at all costs. Under his supervision, a small elite troop was already gathering on the yard of the mansion.“Gaston, I already gave you the general overview of the mission,” told Conrad, ready to head back into the mansion. “It should be a piece of cake for you, providing that your target is only a teenager without any combat experience nor martial background.“Indeed, Master Conrad. I shall not fail your expectation!” promised Gaston. After that, he headed back to his men to brief them about their task.“Soldiers! We have gathered here to undertake a mission entrusted by Sir Conrad himself!” shouted Gaston in an attempt to rally the morale of his troops. “Our objective this time is to secure a runaway teenager named Devon! It’s an easy mission, but a tedious one as we need to catch him alive!”After that briefing, Ga
Gesta had never felt so frustrated in his life. Ever since the incident with Devon and the Wenovitch mansion, his father had been constantly disappointed with him. He had always felt overshadowed by Devon, and now it seemed like his father shared that sentiment. He felt like he was never good enough for his father, and that he would never be able to live up to his expectations.And it wasn’t just his father. His mother had also started pushing him harder than ever. She was constantly reminding him of his studies and his physical training, pushing him to the limit in an attempt to make him better. Gesta knew she meant well, but it only added to his stress.One night, Gesta decided he needed to escape from reality. He had heard about a brothel on the outskirts of the town, and he decided to go there to forget his problems, if only for a little while. It took him quite a maneuver to sneak outside undetected. Luckily the security that night, like the other nights after the incident, was n
Hoxha and Wilhelmina sat in a dimly lit room, their faces etched with concern. The atmosphere was tense, and Hoxha was the first to break the silence.“We have to do something, Wilma. We can’t let Gesta continue down this path of degeneracy. We need to establish him as the sole successor to Conrad, and we need to start doing it now,” Hoxha said.“I agree, Hoxha. That’s why I was always supervising him on his study and training,” replied Wilhelmina. “Wait, my son is not a degenerate! What are you talking about?”Hoxha sighed. To be honest, he didn’t want to spill this information to Wilhelmina. Any mother would be disheartened to hear that his beloved son spending time in an immoral place such as a brothel.“It’s no surprise that you have no idea about this,” narrated Hoxha. “Even I refused to believe at first, but there has been rumors circulating around that someone was seen sneaking out of this mansion, almost every night.”Wilhelmina s
The following morning, Wilhelmina woke up to find that she was already alone on the bed. Her memory of last night was fuzzy, but her entire body remembered the experience. Slowly she descended from her bed to wash herself.“Hmph, that old fart didn’t even say goodbye after he had his way with me,” grunted Wilhelmina as she was drying her own body. After dressing up, she went out to head for the dining hall.“Good morning, my lady!”A pleasant greeting welcomed her as soon as she set her foot inside. It was Hoxha, already returned to his default persona of a wise old man of the mansion.“Good morning, Hoxha. I hope you had a good night’s sleep,” teased Wilhelmina, taking a seat in one of the chairs. A maid promptly came to her service, pouring her a glass of water.“Most certainly, Madam. Thanks to you,” retorted the geezer. “By that, I’m talking about your insight, leading our supporting branch families to come aiding us in this age of turmoil.”The lady tried to contain her smile to
Wilhelmina and Hoxha had been working hard to ensure Gesta's success as the sole heir of Conrad. After the successful ritual, they had hired Stradam as Gesta's mentor to help him master his new demonic power. Stradam was an experienced demon hunter and he had the knowledge and skills to teach Gesta how to control and use his new abilities.“Psst, Hoxha! Are you sure he used to be a demon hunter?” doubted Wilhelmina when Stradam appeared for the first time in front of them. “He looks more like a lazy bum to me!”“I could hear you, Madam!” retorted Stradam. “And indeed I am lazy, you got me on that. But I am no longer a bum now, since you hired me, that is! Haha!”Wilhelmina smiled wryly to cover up her embarassment. But mixed with it, she also felt that this tutor was kind of looking down on her. Dressed poorly, with tattered rags that he called clothes, and God knew when did the last time this chap touch any clean water.“He may look like this, bu
Inside Gesta’s mind, he is surrounded in a pitch-black dimension without any end in sight. Despite how horrifying the eternal black should be, somehow Gesta feels like he belongs there and thus he is able to keep his composure.“Hello there, young one. It’s been quite a while since myself have been summoned forth by mortals.”Suddenly a voice echoes from somewhere deep in the dark. Gesta looked around and his gaze stops at the figure that stands out from the darkness. Gesta’s eyes widened as he saw the figure in front of him, since he would never expect to see the figure is no one but himself, albeit the reflection is showing expression that is different from what is Gesta’s feeling right now.Despite there is no source of light in sight, the figure can be clearly seen. The difference between Gesta and his reflection is that the reflection shows a confident smile that spreads from ear to ear, where Gesta himself just looked confused and has his mouth agape.“Myself assume that thou ar
After the charade between Conrad and the envoy of the town, Conrad finally arrived inside his home where he is greeted by Hoxha.“Welcome back, Mr. Conrad. How did it go with the demon association?”“I don’t want to talk about it.”“I presume that it didn’t go very well. I also heard you speaking to someone outside just now.”“Yeah, that’s the town perp. They told me if I didn’t get Gesta under control anytime soon, they would take him along with Baphomet inside him.”Conrad angrily took off his jacket and tossed it aside, where Hoxha caught it by reflex.“If I may suggest, maybe instead of getting Gesta under control, we should get the Demon inside him under control.” Suggest Hoxha.“As if I haven’t thought of that already. I visited that freak show of a cult about dealing with the Baphomet, and they refused because they thought it was too much of an effort.”Hoxha folded Conrad’s Jacket neatly and hangs it inside the closet. He then proceeds to approach Conrad.“It’s probably true w