Chapter 209: The Hunt For Them

" Boss are you sure you know what you're saying?! That man is one of the 8 pirate admirals!" Sasha said somewhat alarmed, when he had said they would hunt a 'sewer rat' she didn't think the rat would be that big!

"Teacher from the stories I've heard that man is extremely dangerous. Is it true what you are saying? Are we going to hunt him down?" Hazel asked, concern and slight fear clear in her voice.

Listening to the words of his teammates, Charlotte looked at the boss with some fear and even a little more respect. He already got the idea that this pirate was no mere man with an eye patch.

"This Qilangos sounds dangerous... Boss, do you think we'll be fine?"

The red-haired man's grin sharpened even more. 

"Don't worry my little pups. Qilangos can be quite dangerous but he's still human."

Sasha saw that the redhead didn't seem to care about anything that they had just said. She could only sigh but strangely she felt calmer too.

'If the boss is so confident, then everything is fine... I'd be more worried if he wasn't...' 

Hazel just sighed at her teacher and nodded resignedly.

"Which pathway and sequence is Qilangos?"

That was crucial information if they planned to confront him. Oddly, she didn't feel bad about participating in what was basically a manhunt.

Perhaps knowing some of Qilangos' many crimes made her not feel at all bad for the man.

She even felt that the world would be a better place without him.

Adryan snapped his fingers and winked at his student.

"Good question! Qilangos is sequence 6 Wind-blessed of the Sailor's pathway."

Hazel clicked her tongue upon hearing that.

'It's a higher sequence than Teacher...'

Charlotte on his side turned a little pale.

And Sasha grunted upon hearing the number.

Looking at his team, Adryan laughed in amusement and shook his head.

"Don't worry. The only one facing Qilangos will be me, you guys wouldn't stand a chance."

The eyebrows of those present quivered at his words, but Adryan continued.

"It didn't matter if you advanced or not, your role was going to remain the same, although being sequence 8 made my plan a little safer."

" Your roles will be simple. Even a cockroach could do it."

Again, the eyebrows of those present quivered but the red-haired man ignored it.

Suddenly remembering one thing, the man turned to Charlotte who was looking at him a little irritated.

" By the way... I forgot to tell you, but I'm James Holmes."

The recently promoted Melee Scholar's brain froze, his eyebrows touched his hairline and his pupils shrank.

"Huh?" 

Adryan said no more, he held out his hand and an orange fireball appeared.

"..." 

Thump.

Charlotte simply fainted.

...

Somewhere in East Borough...

The crimson moon was being hugged lightly by the dark clouds but could still be seen peeking out with its glow and illuminating the dark streets of this place, giving a tetric air to the night.

In an old office building, in the basement of the building, a meeting that would change history was taking place...

A long black wooden table, which did not fit in at all with the rest of the basement, was surrounded by 7 people.

3 on the left and 3 on the right, all these people were looking at the person sitting at the end, nervous and sweating.

A figure covered by a black robe, rested patiently in his chair, his face, hidden by the hood of the robe, rested in a sickly pale palm.

Through the darkness that was his face, two bright crimson eyes glowed.

At his sides, 2 tall men were standing, also covered by robes and with darkened faces that emitted a strong pressure, but this was nothing compared to that of the seated figure that completely eclipsed them.

Tap Tap Tap

With his free hand, this figure tapped boredly on the armrest and looked calmly at one of the men standing there.

This was a man in his 40s, with a strong body and greasy black hair combed back. He was shaking hard and tears were falling from his gray eyes.

He was John Lennon, the leader of the recently fallen Dead Rose...

He was also a Werewolf of Sequence 7.

But despite having so much strength, the man felt like a mere ant before those glowing eyes.

"I must say I'm surprised. I didn't think you were going to show your face here after this morning's fiasco."

The figure spoke in a heavy, distinctly masculine voice, but there was something wrong with it as if there was a little echo and delay that made it sound uncanny.

John shivered hard.

Even if he tried to escape, he knew, he knew very well that he would not even leave East Borough before his head was severed from his body.

He took a deep bow, his head practically bumping against the table.

"Forgive me! We made a mistake and Mr. Holmes managed to find our base! I swear I have no idea how it happened!"

The figure let out a small sigh, there was no anger or annoyance in it just a sigh. But his finger stopped tapping on the armrest.

"A mistake... A mistake that let the churches know about our business." The figure said and his words trailed off at the end.

John shivered and shrank back even more.

James Holmes had not only found and destroyed what was left of his gang but had also delivered the Inventory book to the churches.

You didn't have to be a genius to know whether he did or not because the intervention of the churches in East Borough suddenly got stronger.

"..."

The figure's red eyes focused on John's hunched figure for several seconds. Long, agonizing seconds for the Werewolf who could only shiver in his seat. Like a scared puppy.

"Don't worry. You're not going to die today."

The figure broke the silence and John felt the urge to cry, and he looked up gratefully but froze.

The figure's eyes glowed brighter and he could discern a macabre smile on that dark face.

"You have gained a usefulness I did not expect. You are now not only a target of the Churches but of James Holmes~" 

The dark happiness in the figure's voice was clear and John unconsciously began to cry.

Tap Tap Tap Tap~

His finger began tapping again but this time more cheerfully.

"I was worried we wouldn't find him in time but you solved that problem! Good job John!"

"Wh-what?" John didn't understand what was going on and earned an amused look from the figure.

"Don't think about it, you have a new purpose now. One that makes your life a few days longer." The figure said darkly and John shivered.

"I'll tell you this, if you complete this job I'll forget your little mistake today and you can go on with your life."

The figure's eyes then moved to the other 5 people who were just staring at the table, pale and sweating profusely.

"You guys on the other side... Your performance has dropped tremendously but don't worry I have a job you can't miss and it's a simple one."

These 5 men let out sighs and nodded nervously.

"And-and what would that job be sir?" one of them asked pale and the figure smiled.

"Die for me, yes?" 

"W-what?" the man asked in shock.

Those were his last words.

Fush! Fush! Fush!

The chests of the 5 men were pierced by black, thorn-covered ivy that came out from under the figure's robe and lifted them into the air.

Red blood dripped like rain and covered the remaining 3 people.

With a bloodied face, John watched in terror as the figure stood up and walked to his side. 

The figure placed a pale hand on his shoulder and smiled.

The figure then pulled a strange charm from his robe and held it out to him. John took it automatically not wanting to offend this monster.

The Werewolf's gray eyes moved to the charm. This was a charm of a strange red metal, with strange inscriptions and a language unknown to him covering the whole body of it, the only thing he could recognize was how there was a strange door on it.

"When Holmes comes for your head, pull out this charm and shout Gate in Ancient Hermes. This charm will take care of the rest."

John paled and stared in terror at the figure, now that he was close to him, he could see how the man's face was sickly pale and his eyes were bloodshot.

"Let Holmes come for me?! But I will die!"

The pale man smiled, strangely white teeth showed taking John a little by surprise.

"The only reason you're still alive is to use that charm on Holmes understood? If you weren't his target I would have killed you too." He said darkly and John trembled, tears falling hard from his eyes.

Gulp... Gulp... Gulp... Gulp....

A strange gulping sound began to sound and John looked up and watched in horror as the bodies were rapidly drying.

The black ivy was drinking everything from the bodies and he watched in disbelief as it traveled to the man in the tunic who slowly took on a brighter color.

The man paid no mind to the look John was giving him and turned away.

"Try not to die for the Churches and hold out until Holmes shows up. That will be your only purpose for breathing from now on."

Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump

With that said, the ivies tossed the dried bodies aside and retreated to hide inside the man's robe.

Without looking back, he left the basement, followed by his bodyguards.

John just fell to his knees and began to cry helplessly. An expression of absolute despair on his face