Not Young

Aisling looked at the scribbles she had made in her notebook in deep contemplation. She had written down the names of the four victims and their critical details. She tried to find the pattern in the victimology, but she could not.

When she had worked with the Sentinels, she had relied on her powers to help them find their targets. However, she had also gained some understanding of murderers and their behaviours.

She could be considered a detective when it came to serial killing.

Most of the murderers she had hunted with the Sentinels were those who had lived for too long and lost control of their minds due to ennui or psychological diseases.

Therefore, they qualified as serial killers. Usually, they would begin hunting down victims based on some hidden psychopathology.

For instance, if they had deep anger towards a high school crush, they would begin targeting people who looked or behaved like the people who had wronged them.

Although there were aberrations, most of the killers focused on a single type of people.

But in this case, it seemed as if the behavioural patterns were random for the killer. For example, the geographical area was quite large. Two had taken place in the outskirts of Farallon City while others were near the borders of Phoenix and Izanagi.

At least, the kills had been within Farallon City.

However, there was the issue of the kidnapping locations and the kill sites and the large distance between them.

Another thing she could not figure out how the killer was choosing the victims.

On one hand, the latest or fourth victim was a regular looking man, working in the construction industry.

On the other hand, the first victim was a young-looking beautiful woman found, according to the Order records.

Aisling pursed her lips a little as she tapped the notebook.

Technically, the beautiful woman was not exactly young at over one thousand years, but she looked like she was in her late twenties at most.

Aisling felt a headache penetrate her skull as she looked at the woman's photo.

In the regular world, people did live long lives, but their exact lifespan and appearance depended on the strength of their ancient bloodline.

For instance, elven people who had more prominent features of their Otherworld ancestors like pointed ears had strong bloodlines, so they could live for thousands of years. Moreover, their appearance would not change at all.

However, weaker elves would begin showing signs of ageing by the time they hit two hundred years.

Of course, there were some skills, pills and spells for maintaining appearance. Also, those who were lucky could join special families or sects with resources for strengthening bloodlines and improving strength.

In Panthalassa, it was difficult for her to characterise anyone as young.

However, from the much she could tell through her research, everyone had live for hundreds or thousands of years.

Moreover, their almost pure bloodlines and high magical powers made it impossible to tell anyone's age. They all looked young outwardly. And, the death rates were astoundingly low, and the number of children born each year was high.

It made it impossible to form a profile of who could be killing these people without more information.

The most concerning aspect of the case was the strength of the murderer.

All of the victims, like most people in Panthalassa, were quite strong. Therefore, it was obvious that a person who could take them and kill them within a short period had to be extremely strong. Or they had help.

Aisling tapped on the scribbles again before closing the notebook.

It was unlikely that she would figure things out right away, especially without an intimate knowledge of Panthalassa. And only a fresh murder would help her see things.

It was unfortunate that she did not know anyone in Panthalassa except for the three soldiers and Abaddon. She did not want to bother the three soldiers, and they were unlikely to be of much help to her.

And Abaddon…

She was afraid.

Every time she saw him, it would be like she lost her mind. Everything would feel blank as if her soul was entrapped.

But she could not deny that she was missing him, even though she hardly knew him, and she had seen him hours before.

As if answering her silent call, the doorbell rang.

Aisling's heart throbbed in anticipation because she had not sensed anyone. It could only mean that it was Abaddon.

Unless it was another demi-angel or someone else with incredible powers.

She sighed at her anxious thoughts as she stood up.