House of Red I

The House of Red was an exclusive nightclub in Manhattan, situated on 10th Avenue. It had strict entry requirements, the most important of them being one's status or net worth. Thus, only the upper class of New York would visit the club.

Depending on where one looked, they could see wealthy teenagers raving to loud music, or middle-aged men and women socializing with each other in private booths. The club was located in the top five floors of a thirty-story building, as well as the roof.

The five floors had been reconstructed into two floors. The majority of it was one large dance floor, while the other floor contained private booths for the wealthier customers.

It wasn't tough for Morpheus to get entry inside the nightclub, considering how handsome and noble he looked. Paired with the expensive-looking tailored suit that he was wearing, it would be strange if anyone were to deny him entry.

Inside the elevator, Morpheus was standing with his eyes closed, calm and composed. Beside him was a group of girls in short skirts and revealing clothes, blatantly ogling him.

One of them approached him and whispered in his ear in a raunchy manner, "Wanna party with us?"

Morpheus opened his eyes and looked at the blonde girl that was sticking to him. He lowered his gaze and looked at her revealing neckline. Although the girl was only an A-cup, she was extremely beautiful in her revealing clothes.

However, Morpheus was on a mission and didn't have time to fool around. He looked away and muttered, "No."

The blonde was taken aback, not expecting him—or any man, in fact—to say no to her. The next moment, however, she took out a small transparent pouch from her handbag and flashed it to Morpheus. "I've got some good coco… all the way from Columbia. You sure you don't wanna party with us?"

Toward the end, the girl even slid her neckline down a little, giving Morpheus a small glimpse of her pink, erect nipple. Seeing that, he couldn't help but gulp as he felt a fire light inside of him. Unknowingly, his pants had gotten a little tighter.

No matter how many years he had experienced as Zorath, he was still a teenager, after all. But he soon calmed down and ignored the girl. Although he really wanted to have a good time with her, he was on his first mission by the Cosmopolitan and couldn't afford to fuck up.

Having her ego hurt after being rejected twice, the girl flipped him the bird. "Fuck you, asshole!"

The elevator opened and the girls left first. Some of them gave him coquettish glances, while others looked at him with contempt. Seeing that, Morpheus could only shake his head and sigh.

He walked out of the elevator and was greeted by blaring music, causing his face to contort a little, as his enhanced senses were making things a bit difficult for him. It took him a few moments to adjust his hearing, as well as his sight. Yes, sight, because the entire nightclub was drowned in red.

'No wonder it's called the House of Red,' he thought to himself as he walked through the crowd and made his way to the nearest bar. He found an empty stool, sat on it, and asked the bartender for a glass of water.

He turned around and looked at the hundreds of people dancing on the dance floor, some getting hot and heavy with each other, some doing drugs, and still others getting into brawls. It was his first time at a nightclub, but unfortunately, he couldn't drink or have fun with the ladies.

Oh, how much he wanted to get laid, seeing all the beautiful women wearing revealing clothes and dancing as if it was mating season. But as soon as the thought came to him, he cast a secretive glance at his shadow and immediately scrapped the idea.

As he drank, he looked around the place. Daniel had already briefed him about his mission, so he knew exactly where to go. Soon, his eyes fell on one of the bars, or more specifically, the door behind the bar from where waiters were getting the food and other drinks.

'Bingo!' Morpheus made his way through the crowd and toward the door behind that bar. He was like a nonexistent person as he passed the bouncers and other security guards. It would be extremely hard for others to notice his presence unless they used spiritual sense or directly looked at him.

Morpheus walked through the back door and found himself in a busy kitchen. He silently passed through the kitchen and opened an inconspicuous staircase door. After locking the door behind him, he walked down the stairs and saw a large red double door guarded by two burly men in black.

Seeing both of them armed and not even bothering to hide their weapons, Morpheus knew he had come to the right place. He casually walked down the stairs and pretended to be drunk. He stumbled in front of them and slurred, "Eks…excuse me. I'm drrrruunk as fuuuuuck… brooo. Bath… roooom… where?"

The two men looked at each other, then one of them looked back at Morpheus in disgust. "Go back where you came—"

But before he could even finish his sentence, Morpheus's gaze turned cold and he took out his pistol from his underarm holster at lightning speed, his hand appearing to be a blur.

PEW! PEW!

He shot both men in the chest, the pistol barely producing a sound because of the silencer. The next moment, however, Morpheus' eyes narrowed—the gunshots to the heart that were supposed to kill the two had in fact only wounded them. It wasn't fatal!

'So, these guys are Knights, huh?' He recalled the intel in the dossier. That was another path to power that people followed, the path of the Warrior or Knight. Where wizards focused on strengthening their souls to cast magic, knights focused on strengthening their bodies with aether.

However, in the grand scheme of things, knights were still a little weaker than wizards of the same rank. At the same time, the requirements for becoming a knight weren't as strict as a wizard's. With effort and resources, practically anyone could become a knight.

As the two guards were groaning and reeling in from the pain and shock of being suddenly shot, Morpheus rushed toward one of them and jumped. He rested his knees on the guard's shoulders, then aimed the pistol right at the top of his head and pulled the trigger twice, instantly killing him.

As he fell along with the body, he aimed the pistol at the other guard's groin.

PEW!

The man bent over and was about to scream in pure agony, but before a sound could escape his lips, Morpheus had already unsheathed his dagger and slashed the guard's throat. The man clasped his throat with wide eyes as he fell to the floor and a pool of blood began forming under him as the area around his throat turned a sinister purple.

Within a few moments, he had died as well. Morpheus bent down and picked up the magazines from both of them. After reloading his pistol, he took a deep breath and looked at the large double doors.

He knew that his mission would be a difficult one, and that just past this ominous red door, a brutal bloodbath awaited him. He soon got in the zone and muttered to himself, "Let's fucking do this!"

His gaze turned cold and he pushed open the door.