A day ago.Not far from the Tail Cave, there was an old, abandoned laboratory where Porcius was secretly recovering.“To think Dark Fang died… her powers were quite formidable, but it just means that these undead creatures are even more powerful,” he thought of the time when he roamed in the dark dungeon as the Plague Pig for years. “I went crazy not just from the poisons and injections I was given, but also because of demons possessing me. I couldn’t do anything about it. I thought that some mage could kill me, but nobody did. They were all too weak. They couldn’t even cut through to my bone. I lost hope, but then Myles showed up. He cleansed me of all the pestilences and impurities in my body. Guys like him are necessary for this world.”After all, not just anybody could have saved the Plague Pig. Even Porcius himself wouldn’t have done such a thing if he were in Myles’ shoes.“Still, it’s a pity that Dark Fang died. I was hoping to change this city by supporting her. With her out o
Hawkin’s intervention made life difficult for Shreya and Blue Dog, but then Porcius appeared out of nowhere and attracted the bees and butterfly officers. Porcius was a highly wanted criminal, so even Hawkins went after him.This gave an opportunity for Shreya and Blue Dog to hide.Both of them were wounded because of the woke-bees and butterflies. Blue Dog especially suffered swelling all over his arms.They came straight to the abandoned laboratory, which looked like a perfect spot to hide. Blue Dog went in first, whereas Shreya covered their tracks before entering the laboratory.“If we had kept fighting, we would have been in trouble,” Shreya said, clenching her fists. “The bees and butterflies… if I wasn’t running low on energy, I would have made mincemeat out of them!”She soon reached the main hall of the laboratory, but to her surprise, Blue Dog had already taken Elder John hostage.“There are people in the lab?” She was surprised.“You need treatment,” John said, looking at t
Many hours later.Hawkins returned to the old laboratory. He was covered in many wounds, and one of his arms was broken, too. He was wincing in pain. “Damn that pig. Bryant and I fought him together, and yet he managed to escape from us. His defenses were too high. He must have absorbed quite a number of orange power crystals during the years he spent in the nether dungeon. Bryant said he’d give the mission of capturing Porcius to the Manglers. They are a strong group, but I doubt they can stop him.”He patiently waited outside, knowing that his daughter was still inside.He remembered the question Ria had asked after tearing her arm out because he was responsible for treating her.“Would you have cared for me if I was just a weak girl who couldn’t even defend herself?” Ria asked.Hawkins couldn’t answer that question. He let her go.Thinking back on it, Hawkins clenched his fists because deep down he knew that Ria was right. But what he didn’t know was… why did his heart ache for her
Myles opened his eyes slowly.“He’s awake,” Ria noticed that straightaway and brought claws out through her hands. To her surprise, she was able to bring claws out through her bionic hand, also.“Ria…” Myles was surprised to see her sitting a few feet away from the bed where he was lying. At the same time, he was shocked that he was able to speak. Moreover, where was he?The last thing he remembered was rotting in a cold dungeon and doing his best to survive until he got knocked out cold by Blue Dog.“How am I able to speak?” Myles looked stunned. He didn’t get his powers back, so who healed him?John calmly explained what he had done to Myles.“So you healed me through nanobots and then installed a mechanical tongue in my mouth?” Myles was astonished to hear that. “And I sound very fluent. You did a great job.”“Thanks for the compliment, but I think it’s better that you sort things out with this woman first,” John pointed at Ria. “She probably intends to kill you after you leave thi
John’s heart rang in his ears after seeing that Myles had no shadow. “A-Are you one of those vampires that loses their shadows and so they can’t roam in the sunlight?”Ria also heard about some vampires not having shadows, though she didn’t think it was real because how could a physical body not have a shadow when light was cast upon it? However, she couldn’t deny what was happening before her eyes right now. She got goosebumps from what she was seeing.“I’m not a vampire as you think,” Myles calmly said, moving away from the wall. “It’s just that the being that lived in Justin ended up stealing his shadow as well while leaving his body and snatching mine. Its powers are based on the shadows, after all, and it’s quite knowledgeable with the ways of magic.”“The power of shadows…” John’s eyes slightly enlarged. “The power to travel from one body to another through force… he’s more than likely the invisible demon.”“Invisible demon?” Myles looked puzzled because all the demons were invi
“What do you intend to do now, Ria?” asked Myles.Ria kept staring coldly at Myles for a while. She had already asked her divine weapon if Myles’ soul was really in Justin’s body, but her weapon said it wasn’t sure as it never linked with Justin before. “I came to this city to kill my father,” she said, “but I can’t do it this time around, so I’ll be following you for a while. If I get the faintest of doubt that you’re indeed Justin, then I’ll kill you there and then.”“That’s fine by me,” Myles said and looked at John. “Thanks for helping us, sir, but I would like to request one more thing from you.”“What is it?” John felt like doing anything to help.“Can you make a facial mask for me? One that lasts through fire and thunder?”“Mm, I can make that, but whose face do you want?”“Just make a new face,” Myles said. “Things may get unnecessarily complicated if I wear my old face.”“I do remember how your real face looks, so how about I create two masks? One with a fake face, and one wi
There were still a lot of tensions hanging everywhere around the city, with everyone trying to gain money or power by cashing in on the current situation.Just traveling from one ward to another required one to pay high amounts of money in secret. Those who weren’t willing to bribe the guards were forced to stay in the ward.Myles, however, traveled through one ward after another without any trouble, thanks to the platinum wolf badge. Nobody dared to question him because the platinum badge wasn’t something one could get their hands on out of pure luck. He might have not gotten it directly, but still, he must know the person who was given that badge. This was enough for people to stay out of his way.This should have made Myles' life simple, but he didn’t look happy at all. No matter where he looked, there was nothing but selfishness and wickedness on display. When one should be helping each other, everybody was trying to use the other to better themselves.This was similar to what he
Just going from one ward to another by foot was already a difficult thing right now, as the guards would shower you with a lot of questions, and so getting a pass would be anything but easy.Naturally, flying was restricted in most wards. Only officers were allowed to roam the sky. However, Ria was able to fly without a problem because of the platinum wolf badge in Myles’ possession.This badge had the power to pacify and humble even the angriest and most arrogant of officers.They were able to reach the western border safely with this badge. Still and all, they wouldn’t be allowed to leave the city by using the badge.It required a special permit in writing for anyone that wanted to leave the city. Myles and Ria didn’t have that.Ria was currently at a market. She could see the floating masses of earth on the western side of the island. There were flying guards posted on every floating mass.“How can we escape their watch?” Ria frowned. “There are thousands of them. Can even a fly es