Chapter 6: Finding other devils

Although the man spoke in a calm tone, his words carried a deep-seated ferocity that could have brought ordinary mortals to their knees in terror. However, his words failed to intimidate me.

"Ha, I'd like to see just how capable you are," I retorted with a cold laugh, to which the fire corpse merely chuckled in response.

At that moment, Rahab, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke, "Rofocal, do you remember me?"

I looked at Rahab with a hint of surprise, noticing a peculiar expression on his face, as if he had known the manipulator from long ago.

However, after examining Rahab and pondering for a moment, the fire corpse asked, "Who are you?"

"It seems the flames have obstructed your vision quite a bit, preventing you from seeing my face. No wonder you don't recognize me. But surely, you must remember my essence!"

With that, Rahab suddenly activated his Devil eye, unleashing a torrent of demonic energy!

The birds nearby, terrified by Rahab's aura, took flight in panic, but the fire corpse remained unmoved, merely sizing up Rahab before suddenly freezing in place.

I looked into the fire corpse's eyes, only to find their once profound depth replaced by sheer indifference.

"Rahab, it seems like the person has stopped manipulating it," I said, frowning.

No sooner had I spoken than the fire corpse exploded violently!

Fortunately, having learned from the recent ordeal, I had been on guard. This time, before the flames could reach me, I had already leaped back onto the lamp post.

"How strange, that was clearly Rofocal. How could he not recognize me?" Rahab's voice suddenly emerged from my shoulder.

After opening his Devil eye, Rahab's agility had increased a hundredfold, so much so that even I couldn't discern when he had leaped onto my shoulder.

"Perhaps he did recognize you, which is why he suddenly left," I suggested.

Rahab hummed in agreement, then fell into a silent contemplation.

After a while atop the lamp post, the distant sound of police sirens reached our ears.

Since the evidence and the killer's eyes had already been incinerated, we decided not to linger any longer and left the scene.

Afterward, we took up residence in a hostel across from where Little Swallow had been encountered, to keep a watchful eye.

During this time, Rahab remained silent, and I didn't bother to disturb him.

After taking a shower, I changed into a set of clean clothes I had just bought, grabbed a canned drink, and leaned by the window to observe the street scene, taking in the sights of this place I hadn't set foot in for a long time.

Since leaving Hong Kong four years ago, I had been living and training in Egypt, never once returning to Hong Kong.

It was only half a year ago, after my master's death, that I left the vast desert to accompany Rahab in our quest to find other demons around the world.

In fact, the task my master left me was to gather as many devils as possible with Rahab.

For, before long, we devils would face a great calamity. Only by banding together could we stand a chance of turning the tide.

However, strangely, in the past six months, devils from around the world seemed to have vanished without a trace.

About a month ago, we unexpectedly learned of a devil, who had served as a Japanese military officer during World War II, living in seclusion in Tokyo.

Upon receiving the news, we immediately set off for Tokyo. However, upon our arrival in Japan, the news we received about the military officer came from a newspaper report.

It turned out that a week before our arrival, the officer had been killed.

The report stated that the cause of the officer's death was unknown, as there were no visible injuries on the body, nor signs of poisoning. Everything appeared as though he had died naturally, except for the fact that his right eye had been gouged out, clear evidence of his murder.

Rahab and I speculated that the one who killed the officer was likely another devil, yet the motive for removing the Devil eye remained a mystery to us.

Though a devil can possess more than one Devil eye, activating each requires a significant amount of demonic energy. Directing demonic energy to multiple Devil eyes is a delicate art, for a slight misstep could lead to "demonic combustion."

For a devil, "demonic combustion" means losing control of the demonic energy, causing it to leak out continuously. When the demonic energy is depleted, one naturally faces the "Heavenly Tribulation."

Thus, for many devils, possessing two Devil eyes is less effective than focusing on mastering a single, familiar one.

After learning of the officer's murder, we didn't leave immediately, as we felt the demon slayer might be connected to the disappearances of devils worldwide.

However, our search for the slayer proved fruitless.

Until a week ago, when we planned to visit the local police station for clues, we happened upon a police officer being attacked.

That day, as soon as I stepped into the police station, I sensed a faint demonic presence on the second floor. Without hesitation, I summoned my Devil eye and rushed upstairs.

Upon arriving at the scene, I discovered a burly man trampling a Japanese plainclothes police officer, even bending down in an attempt to gouge out his eyes!

Naturally, I would not let him succeed. With swift action, I knocked him unconscious. Turning back to the officer, I realized he had already been dead for some time.

Later, we took both the burly man and the officer's body with us. By the time we returned to our dwelling, the assailant had also died from the severe injuries caused by my strike.

However, the burly man's prior actions hinted to us that the Japanese officer's eyes were a Devil eye.

Thus, I extracted the officer's Devil eye to replace my right eye. After some experimentation, I discovered it was the "Eye of Reminiscence," capable of reading the memories of the deceased.

Initially, the efficacy of this Devil eye was limited for me; I could only glimpse the few minutes before the corpse's death.

In the days that followed, I trained relentlessly, day and night, attempting to extract more memories from the eyes of both the burly man and the officer.

Although their bodies began to emit a stench of decay, fortunately, we had preserved them well enough to prevent their heads from rotting.

Finally, through the "Eye of Reminiscence," I learned that the burly man's organization had its next target in Hong Kong.

Thus, we hurried here, and not long after our investigation began, we stumbled upon the case of Little Swallow.

As I pondered the intricacies of the situation, Rahab, who had been sitting on the bed, suddenly interrupted my thoughts, saying, "Xiao Nuo, I feel there is something extraordinary about this matter. Rofocal seems like a completely different person. You must remain vigilant in the future."

I turned to Rahab and asked, "Why are you so certain that the manipulator is him?"

"Because Rofocal possesses the 'Puppeteer's Eye,'" Rahab said with a frown.

"Could it be that he was killed and then his Devil eye was taken by someone else?" I pondered, stroking my chin. After all, this possibility was not low, given that the Devil eyes of two devils had already been taken in Japan.

"Ha, the seven lords of our demonic realm are not to be underestimated. If someone managed to kill him, then the murderer would be a formidable opponent for both you and me," Rahab stated confidently. "Actually, I haven't seen him for over seven hundred years; it's possible that his temperament has changed."

The seven lords Rahab spoke of are the chief lieutenants of Satan, the ruler of Hell, and Rahab is one of them.

Devils in the world can be divided into two types.

The first type, like Satan and the seven lords, were once angels who fell from grace during the first angelic rebellion and were condemned to the mortal realm. The second type, like myself, were humans who were tempted by devils, later acquiring Devil eyes and transforming into devils.

Generally, innate devils are much stronger than acquired ones, but there are exceptions like me.

According to Rahab, my talent is once in a century, capable of reaching the level of innate devils.

"It seems the mysterious disappearance of devils is closely related to Rofocal. Regardless, we must find the other devils before he does," I declared.

"Yes, we can only follow the sole clue we have now," Rahab said, furrowing his brow.

"Do you mean Daji?" I inquired. The assassin had been investigating this matter.

"Right, based on our deductions, she should be in Hong Kong now. We must find her before Rofocal does. Only then can we clarify everything," Rahab stated. "Moreover, with Daji as a powerful ally, our chances of confronting that crisis will significantly increase."

"Rahab, is Daji that strong?"

"Stronger than you are now," Rahab yawned, then continued, "Alright, get some rest. We'll be busy again starting tomorrow."

With that, he curled up on the pillow and fell asleep.

I did not immediately go to bed but continued to gaze out at the street scene from the window.

The densely packed buildings of Mong Kok offered little in terms of scenery, but after years of facing endless deserts, returning to familiar grounds naturally invoked nostalgia.

Though it was dark, the dim streetlights still allowed visibility on the roads.

The streets were sparsely populated, with only the occasional drunken revelers causing a commotion. Otherwise, the streets were eerily quiet.

As time passed, more and more empty cans accumulated on the ground.

I spent the entire night reflecting on the silent streets, with memories of life four years ago flickering through my mind.

Thinking of my father, a surge of anger involuntarily rose within me, but it softened when my thoughts turned to my mother.

Thus, accompanied by the street scene and my drink, I stayed up until the sky began to lighten, then finally prepared to sleep, settling my emotions.