1 Chapter 001

Under a desolate bridge in the south of the land of hope, Backlund, a man was quietly sitting and meditating under the bridge. A sneaky figure started sneaking up behind him. The man did not seem to perceive the figure behind him, and kept his eyes closed.

The sneaky figure warped into a gorgeous woman in a tight fitting leather dress. She had a bloody knife in her right hand. She stood silently behind the man for a short while, fingering a bloody red dagger. Seeing no reaction, she suddenly burst out with tremendous speed and strength, plunging the dagger at the man's throat.

But just before the tip of the knife actually connected with the neck of the man, the woman froze. She then awkwardly tried to step back, and move away with jerky movements but kept failing. Finally, she bit her lips hard. The dagger glowed a deeper red than usual, and she seemed to suddenly break away from the state. She hopped back a good distance away from the man and regarded him with caution.

"Well. I guess congratulations are in order. It seems that you have been promoted to Sequence 5" she said sourly.

The man opened his eyes, and turned to look at the woman. He started at her figure, with desire flashing in his eyes. The woman did not shy away from his gaze, and even stuck put her chest and moved to a better illuminated area for the man to get a better view.

"We have other things to take care of I am afraid" said the man after a while of starting. "I do hope you bring me good news."

"Unfortunately not. I tailed that man for a good while, but he was slippery like a mouse. And you specifically warned me not to get too close or use overly powerful Beyonder means on him. Hence, I eventually lost him. The unexplained presence of the Nighthawks certainly did no help" said the woman carelessly.

He stared at her dangerously and said, "You do know how important that thing is right? And it's not for me. It's not for the person behind me either. It's for someone much higher. There are going to be consequences"

"As per your own requirements, I am supposed to catch him, but I can't get too close or send any powerful Beyonders after him. I could only send a few Sequence 9 Beyonders and ordinary people after him. He was cunning and knew the area well, and used the Nighthawks to his advantage. He even killed a number of my subordinates. I am not going to hold that over you as you are a Sequence 5, but do you want to blame me? I am not afraid of your threats. The money you gave as a deposit shall not be returned. That will be my remuneration for the losses I suffered, and plus you owe me some more things. If you want any help finding or killing him, you can let me know, but I am not going to send weaklings after him again. Either you and I go personally or we don't go at all" huffed the woman.

"Now now Eve, calm down. The deposit is rightly yours. And there is no need to go after him either. I will have some other follow up arrangements made for him" said the man.

"Why did you not let me take action anyway? And why didn't you have those buffoons from the gang you control do it? And what was that thing which was so important that you personally came out and sought me?" asked Eve.

"The reason I didn't let you or those of a higher Sequence to take action is because the thing he took can allow him to unleash a powerful attack. But it can only be unleashed passively, when a higher Sequence Beyonder comes into his immediate vicinity. The spiritual fluctuations from that could be easily detected, and the matter would no longer remain secret if that happens. Since it is imperative that it remains a secret, the attack must not be unleashed" said the man.

"So the treasure has the power to threaten those at Sequence 5, is valuable enough for you to make a trip personally and conceal it to such an extent that you were willing to use a demigod level notary to make me keep this operation a secret. Plus, you mentioned before that it could block out your divination. What could it be I wonder? And what are you planning to do now that you don't have it?" asked Eve.

"That's none of your business. You have tried your best to do the job assigned to you. Though you failed, the contact is still complete. I will make sure the agreed remuneration reaches you. And you will abide by the contract, and make sure that neither my name nor the names of the people whom I associate with will appear in this incident" said the man.

He then turned around and proceed to ignore the woman.

The woman stared at his back for a while, before snorting and leaving.

The man waited for a while, before checking to see if there was anyone around. He then pulled a reddish paper from his pocket, and began writing on it.

"Dear Sir, The item was retrieved by an unknown individual. I tried to do a simple divination on everyone who had a chance to get it, before the thing could block it with its powers. I got a few things, but due to the simplicity of the divination itself and the possibility that someone may have an item that could briefly mislead me, I can't be sure that I have all their identities locked. I will confirm my divination results and look into them all to try and determine who has got a hold of it, and if I find any signs of it, I will have him monitored. Other than his unknown identity, the rest of the operation went without a hitch. I will make good use of the demigod level notary papers you have provided me with to ensure that everything remains confidential, from everyone. Yours Faithfully, R"