The Mayor's Secrets

With a thought, the bodyguard's body quickly faded away, turning completely transparent. His feet were also no longer touching the ground, but instead, floated several centimeters above it, leaving no sound of footsteps nor footprints behind.

The dog started sniffing around, looking for Lucas, but his smell had also disappeared. However, it seemed to be able to sense the danger still since the tentacles started lashing about, hitting everything in their range.

"I order you to stop moving!"

The tentacles suddenly stopped. The dog creature, that was unaffected by Graham's order, moved its head closer to the purple blob and began licking it, removing the control effect that it had.

Smack!

Thwack!

Lucas was hitting the dog repeatedly from behind!

Its eyes showed pain and it seemed that it was begging for Graham to stop the man. If he wasn't strong enough to resist, he might have attacked Lucas because of the dog. It was the kind of puppy eyes that would make anyone weak to the owner's pleas.

"I order you to stop moving!"

He once again stopped the tentacles from defending itself and attacking the bodyguard, who was still busy beating the dog from behind. That way, it didn't have to see its pleading eyes.

"I think he might actually hate dogs, Val," he mumbled in amusement.

The sounds of whimpering filled the air as the dog tried hard to get away from Lucas. It didn't seem to be able to move without the tentacles dragging it, so it wasn't able to get anywhere really. The dog's only choice was to free the tentacle monster out of Graham's control.

Whoosh!

Without even waiting for the dog to finish its action, Graham sent bullets of fire that burned the immobilized tentacle monster. The flames torched its body without it being able to do anything about it.

The dog creature didn't even try to block the flames this time because its highest priority seemed to be freeing the purple blob of mass.

Focusing on the belt that he was wearing, Graham began chanting.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Domination and Order, intensify your desire to lick the creature attached to your side!"

Lick! Lick! Lick!

The giant dog suddenly started licking the tentacle monster with great intensity and was unable to stop. It kept on licking even though the tentacles had started moving again. With each lick, it grew weaker and weaker, especially with Lucas beating it non-stop from the other side.

A strong stench of iron and blood filled the air as the red liquid splashed from the dog's body onto the invisible man, revealing his location. The man was literally beating the dog into a pulp, and judging from his now visible, bloody expression, it seemed that he was enjoying it. There was a satisfied smile on his face and he was like someone who was releasing his pent up anger on the poor creature.

The intensity of its licking became lower and lower, while it kept whimpering in pain. It couldn't stop what it was doing, nor could it stop the man from killing it. Finally, it stopped licking altogether and its head just dropped to the ground. The pained whining stopped as the dog's life ended. Its lifeless body was just lying there motionlessly while its other side had been crushed to smithereens; its organs and blood splattered everywhere.

Seeing that its other part had died, the tentacle monster got agitated and enraged. However, since it was actually not that strong on its own, with Graham's Order, it stopped moving again and there was no way for it to break free-- not without the help of the dog.

"I ask that you come back here!"

Heat suddenly filled the area as a fireball the size of an exercise ball rose from the hole on the ground. The fireball ascended slowly as if it was lava coming out of a volcano, which was the mound. The scorching flame then floated towards Graham, staying by its master's side.

Feeling the heat from the fireball, the eyeless blob of purple mass seemed distressed. However, it was still unable to move because of Graham's control ability.

Lucas quickly got away from the giant dog's corpse and allowed the tall man with a scar on his face to do what he wanted.

"I ask that you burn the tentacle monster!"

The flame began moving slowly towards the octopus-centipede-like creature whose mandibles were still attached to the dead dog. It was visibly shaking as the hot, giant fireball was inching closer and closer. The creature must have felt like a cornered prey, powerless to defend itself, while its predator was looking at it ravenously, ready to devour every inch of its body.

Hiss!

The sound of moist flesh being charred by the hot flame resounded in the field, and the smell of burning returned. Now that its protector was gone, the creature was defenseless, unable to protect itself against the flame. The crackle of fire and the high-pitched shrieking came shortly after, accompanying the creature's agonizing death. The flame consumed both the blob of mass and the dog, turning them into a black, burned carcass with smoke rising from it.

Graham turned around and saw Lucas, still covered in blood, had turned visible, and was wearing a coat to cover his naked body. He must have hidden the coat somewhere before joining the fight earlier.

Since the fight was over, the man's expression now had turned suspicious.

"Alright. Now tell me who you are and what you're doing here," he demanded.

Graham cleaned the dust off his jacket and pants and picked up the camouflaged cane that he had dropped earlier.

"I'm Cornel, a private detective. I'm here because I was paid to investigate the mayor. My informant told me he was hiding a secret here. Now, who are you?" he spoke calmly. He wasn't technically lying since Graham was currently using Rood's appearance.

"I'm Tony. I'm also here to investigate the mayor," replied Lucas shortly. He gave a quick glance at the cane but then brushed it aside.

Although his mind was somehow telling him that he can trust the man to some extent, Lucas seemed to still take basic precautions.

"Nice to meet you, Tony," Graham spoke as if he didn't know the truth. He offered his hand, which was received by the bodyguard. He then gave Lucas a firm handshake.

Seeing the blood still covering basically the man's whole face and body, Graham offered, "Need me to clean that off you?"

Lucas touched his face and wiped some of the blood off with his fingers. He then nodded slowly.

"With one condition. Please tell me how an Unseen can have physical contact while being invisible," he asked. Graham didn't want to waste his chance to gain an important piece of knowledge.

The blood-covered bodyguard squinted his eyes as if seizing up the man in front of him.

"Once we please our Deity, we gain the ability to have limited physical contact while invisible," he explained shortly after deciding that it was alright to share that information.

Graham nodded; his theory had been proven correct. He then concentrated on the blood covering the man and opened his mouth.

"I order the blood covering you to go away!"

The red liquid became like water that just slid down the man's body down to the grass beneath him. He was, once more, clean, and no longer did he look like a rampaging mass murderer.

"Thank you,"

Lucas then started walking into the mansion without waiting for Graham. The detective was now looking at the burned carcass of the creature with intensity. He was thinking hard about how to get everything home since he could probably sell its parts. However, he could also do it later, especially since it was hidden away from the street thanks to the mansion in front of it.

Following Lucas, Graham entered the mansion through the window that the man had forced open and found himself inside a dusty kitchen area. He hadn't had a single pleasant experience involving mansions as of late, so it brought back bad memories. Especially around the dark corners where tall black creatures with elongated tongues could suddenly pop up.

"So what are we looking for here?" asked Graham to the man who was now entering the next room.

He didn't answer right away.

"I don't know," he said, finally.

Looking over his shoulder, Graham began muttering quietly, "Val, it's evident that he is still guarded against us. He doesn't want to show what he knows,"

Lucas walked far ahead of Graham and he kept looking over his shoulder. He didn't want to leave his back exposed to the stranger, and by walking far ahead, he would have the time to react in case the man named 'Cornel' decided to try something funny.

The bodyguard's action gave Graham the window he needed to start his plan. Using the dagger hidden in the left sleeve of his leather jacket, he injured his finger and began chanting.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Deception and Hidden Thoughts, call forth an illusion that covers this area!"

The belt that he was wearing let out a faint glow and an illusory orange curtain began descending upon the room, floating above Lucas and swaying gently as if it was blown by the breeze. The man, not suspecting anything, suddenly froze. He tilted his head a little like he was trying to hear better.

"Help us! Help!!"

It was the voice of a woman that Lucas knew very well. The distressed, weak voice was coming from the room ahead of him!

The man then quickly ran off to another room while Graham deactivated the illusion. The wound quickly closed and the blood dried.

Following Lucas, he arrived in the library with giant shelves full of dusty books. Graham knew that it was the room where the basement was hidden, according to both the mayor's and the secretary's memory. He also knew exactly how to get to the secret door but he couldn't just show it to Lucas.

"Did you also hear that?" he asked innocently.

Lucas's expression was enraged and his face was red. He didn't answer Graham's question but just gave him a cold glance. The man then got busy trying to pull the books one by one from the shelves to reveal the hidden door.

The sounds of books hitting the hard floor broke the silence of the abandoned mansion. Tirelessly, Lucas kept on doing what he was doing in hope of accidentally stumbling upon the secret lever to open the door to the basement. However, it was not the way to do it.

According to the memory that he had received from Eveline Herrick, the mayor used an ability that was similar to his Order, but much stronger and its effect worked on more than one object. Graham figured that as long as the door operated as a single entity, then he should also be able to open it. Another way to open the door was to use the enhanced key that Eveline possessed, but Graham wasn't able to locate it.

He waited for Lucas to pull the next book, and with the correct timing, he quietly issued an Order.

"I order the secret door to open!"

Lucas felt something was shaking the moment he pulled the last book. He was glad that he had finally found the secret lever to open the door.

The bookshelves in front of them began moving apart, revealing a tiny gap that was only big enough for two adults to get through at the same time.

The bodyguard went on ahead, walking into the dark corridor stairway leading down to the basement. He was perfectly able to see in the dark because of the night vision that had. Meanwhile, Graham had to use his lighter because he had no such thing. He manipulated the flame to float and led the way for him, illuminating the dark and narrow passageway that reeked of dust and mold.

Upon arriving at a tall metal door that had no handle whatsoever, the two men stopped.

"How do we get it open?"

Lucas now didn't care about showing that he actually knew about the place. He was more worried about his family trapped behind the door.

"Use that ability that you used to stop the octopus. it should work here,"

Curiously, Graham looked over his shoulder and whispered quietly, "Val, why didn't he tell us to do the same back then but he did now?"

Graham did as he was asked and focused on the solid metal door in front of him.

"I order you to open!"

The door began moving to the side, revealing the entrance to the basement. However, Graham suddenly felt very weak. It appeared that opening that particular door had taken quite a lot of his stamina. It felt rather similar to when he used his Thought Implant on his targets.

Lucas impatiently barged into the dark basement with ten jail cells in total. Some of them were empty while those occupied had their prisoners cowered in the corner in fear. Whenever someone came in, nothing good had ever happened to them.

Staying by the entrance, Graham quickly injured his finger to let the blood flow. He was still breathing heavily because of the exhaustion from before, but he couldn't waste any more time. After he chanted, an illusory orange light began descending upon the chamber and placed every single individual there into his Mass Illusion.

"Lucash! Helf me!! Flease!! Nho!! Nho!!!"

A distorted and distressed cry of help came from the room in the far end of the chamber, which got Lucas running towards it. The jail cell was locked, so he couldn't get in, but the sight inside made him go rampage. He kicked, rammed, and shook the bars violently, trying to break it. With his strength, the bars were slowly bent abnormally.

Inside the cell, Lucas saw Mayor Hank Krammer smiling sinisterly while holding up the body of a dead baby. It was Lucas's daughter! On the baby's face, there was a bloody smile that was inflicted by blade wounds while her eyes had been plucked out, creating a stream of bloody tears. The mayor then dropped the baby brutally, making her flesh go mushy.

The mayor then ran his fingers over Lucas's wife, who was still screaming for help unintelligibly. Blood and tears ran down her cheeks as the man plucked her teeth forcibly one by one, accompanied by a cry of pain. Her eyes, which had also been gouged out, were placed inside her mouth by the man, to prevent her from closing her mouth.

Crack!

Hank Krammer suddenly twisted her neck as Lucas was about to break the bars apart. The woman's lifeless body then fell on the ground, right on top of the slush that was a baby. After that, the most powerful man in Hoorn took out a match and dropped it after chanting something inaudible to Lucas.

Whoosh!

The jail cell quickly caught on fire, burning everything inside, including the man himself. With a distorted and perverted smile, Mayor Hank Krammer waved goodbye at Lucas before turning into ashes, disappearing from the jail cell along with the dead wife and baby.

Lucas was left alone inside the dark and empty jail cell. Sorrow, hatred, anger, and regret were reflected in his eyes as tears ran down his cheeks.

Meanwhile, the wound on Graham's finger healed quickly while he stumbled upon the wall, leaning for support. His breathing was heavy and his face showed exhaustion.