The Devil of the Underworld

He'd been waiting for almost an hour for their target to show up. His driver strategically parked the car in front of a bar while they waited inside. Their location allowed them to see who would come in or out from the local hotel they were spying on. Eli prepared his guns and placed them securely on his vertical shoulder holster which was concealed beneath his thick dark coat.

It was already late at night. Most of the residents were already asleep, some still having a drinking spree in the bars and clubs across the main highway. Even the harsh weather couldn't keep them from going outside to have some fun since it's already weekend.

Eli wondered how Ririna's faring while he was away. Did she miss him like he missed her? It had been a week since he last saw her, but he felt like it's been ages. He gave her a call every night, always at the same time. She always rejected his video calls which still amused him, but she didn't mind when he just gave her a voice call. He couldn't see her, but her voice was enough for him to make peace with himself.

He knew he had fallen hard for this woman, but what else could he do about it? He already tried to avoid her, leave her alone—he even allowed her to go on without him. All those just drove him into insanity. He needed her in his life, and to that, he was certain.

When Jerry told him the reports he had asked for when they assisted Ririna last week, his lips curved into a smile that almost made his men cower in fear and got them terrified. It was known that the devil only smiled when someone was about to die. They prayed to every deity and stars that the devil wouldn't take out his killing intent onto them.

Upon hearing what really made the devil smile, his team sighed in relief. It seemed the only one capable to make the devil's mood better was their lady boss. Most of them knew who she was, but the recent recruits still find it doubtful that there was someone out there that could bend the knees of this cruel devil.

She didn't sound that great in their opinion when they heard what she's capable of. Her cruelty to her prey and victims made them cringe and think of her as the female version of the devil himself.

Eli spotted their target and informed his men that were stationed within the hotel vicinity to lock all possible exits and secure the area. Their victim would never see the next sunrise in this lifetime. The victim came out from a private car with a fat and curvy woman clinging on his arm. It seemed like he had some fetish for women with this body type.

He had an average height, a long shabby hair, and uneven beard. He looked normal wearing a pale cream coat, white shirt, and semi-fitted pants. For an ordinary passerby, he could pass as a drunkard man who picked up random women on the streets. In fact, he was working as a mercenary for an underworld master.

The reports they received from the government indicated that several children and young women disappeared within the Northern Provinces. Most of them were either orphans or homeless whom some local authorities didn't bother to check.

When they infiltrated the hidden laboratory under the basement of a church, they discovered dead bodies of children without internal organs and half-dead women with only pricks visible in their skin. Eli could only assume that they were used for some kind of medical experiments. Their leads pointed them to this mercenary.

Making sure that all were in their designated places, Eli slipped out from the car and moved to the dark alley closest to the hotel. They had made a secret passage to infiltrate the building. After the agent assigned to the lobby and front desk informed him the room number of the target, they moved into the next phase to trap the target and enclose the whole floor from outsiders and possible interference.

Eli first made it to the room and hid behind the thick curtains near the balcony. His back-up team had successfully trapped and blocked each possible exit that the victim might use in his escape plan.

He could only wait and watch as their target and his woman started kissing and making out as soon as they arrived in the room. His face became impassive and unreadable as he waited for the right time to make a kill, but first, he needed some information.

They started discarding off their clothes until the woman was left in her underwear, and the mercenary—half-naked while lying on the bed.

The laughter of the couple filled the room as the woman tied the mercenary's arms to the headboard. It looked like this unfortunate couple loved to do kinky things. Eli didn't know why, but he remembered Jerry's report about what Ririna said to his ex-fiancee.

'She likes his man on his back.' Why didn't he know that she had a preference in this area?

He had Ririna as his lover only for a few months, and during those time—of course, they had a lot of s*x. Most of the time, unprotected. He didn't have to worry when he was with Ririna. He took her innocence, and she only had him as her lover. As if others could compare. If anyone did try to take her from him, he wouldn't hesitate to kill the scoundrels.

Even at this time, he couldn't help but think about his wife. She's just a great distraction.

The mercenary groaned and complained that she tied him too hard for him to even move. She let him loosen the binding and then took a bottle of wine from the bedside table and poured some of it on the glasses provided by the hotel.

As the mercenary turned his head to his woman, he noticed the suspicious shadow in the balcony. Acting on pure instincts, he ripped off the ties on his right hand and took his gun from the bedside table.

Just when he was about to push the trigger, something hit his right hand, making him let go of the gun. Eli was faster than him. He was able to shot his hand, breaking some bones and tendons. If ever he could survive from the curse of the devil, his right hand would be useless for eternity.

His woman started screaming as she saw blood gushing from his hand. She was so shocked and terrified. Where did that shot come from?

The mercenary ripped off the other binding and pulled his woman in front of him using his injured hand. His other hand reached for his fallen weapon and pointed it towards Eli's direction.

"Who's there?" He called out.

Their experiments have failed, and the government started to get suspicious so they moved out from their hiding place and destroyed most of the evidence. It seemed they were too late because someone had managed to find a trail back to him.

Who could have the government hired to investigate this time?

There were some movements made behind the curtains. A tall figure of a man emerged from it, a gun also pointed back at the mercenary. As the face of the man was revealed by the dim light, the mercenary's body shivered.

"The Devil," he muttered. He was aware of 'The Devil of the Underworld'. The man who was also known as the Demon King. It was believed that within the Underworld—if the government would send the devil and the witch after someone, that person would never see the following day.

The mercenary cursed inwardly. They underestimated the government's will this time. They could probably escape the eyes of the other mercenaries that the government hired, but they would never outwit the devil especially if the witch was on his side.

Years ago, the Underworld was shaken when the news spread that the devil and the witch parted ways. It gave hope that the devil's capabilities would drastically weaken. While it was true that he was slightly weakened by her absence, his wrath still sent his enemies to the deepest part of hell.

He heard recently that the witch came back, but no one could tell if the devil and the witch had reconciled their differences and teamed up once again. He couldn't see the witch anywhere, but this didn't mean he was safe from the devil's hand.

"Where is he?" The devil's voice resonated within the area. His stern and cold voice making the mercenary cold sweat. "Where's Hattori Ikeda?" he added.

The mercenary laughed at his question. No one really knew his whereabouts or his identity.

"You are wasting time, devil. Don't you know anyone can be Hattori Ikeda? It's a title passed onto each successor." He pulled the crying woman as they staggered backward, trying to get out from the devil's presence.

"Let me go. Leave me alone!"

Eli gave him a blank look. Was this man serious? He's willing to use a woman to save himself. The gun that Eli was holding had a silencer so when he fired another shot, the woman fell into the cold ground.

The mercenary's face was drained of color. The devil didn't even think twice when he killed the woman. He didn't mind killing a civilian?

"I'm asking for the last time; you should cooperate. Why did he kidnap and experiment on those children?" Eli asked.

"I really don't know!"

"Wrong answer."

Then Eli fired another shot, and the mercenary fell on his knees. He shot his right knee. The devil wouldn't really give one instant death. Eli glared at the man. He was wasting his time on this scoundrel when it's almost time for him to call his wife.

"Again."

This time, he pointed his gun directly in the man's head. He was done with playtime.

"Kill me! I rather die than to confess what I know to you."

"As you wish." Eli's voice was the last thing he heard before his lifeless body fell on top of the dead woman on the floor.

The door opened, revealing some of his men.

"Master, we were able to gather some documents from the other room. He was also renting the room next to this for almost a month now." One of them passed the documents to Eli.

He quickly gave it a scan and passed it back.

"Try to find and locate where the last phone call he received came from," he replied before leaving them up to clean the mess.

When he arrived where his car was parked, Jonathan welcomed him and opened the back door to let him in. As soon as he slipped inside, he discarded his black gloves and lean his back to the seat. He didn't gather enough information tonight. They had spent ten days working on it, but now, it's useless to stay any longer.

"Master." Jonathan's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"What is it?"

"About the other man, you asked me to investigate…" Jonathan coughed. He couldn't understand why his master wanted to investigate a child.

Eli remembered that he asked Jonathan a week ago to find out any man associated with Ririna who had the name Sky.

"What about it?"

"This Sky that is associated with Miss Han is a four-year-old kid who was recently added to the family registry of the Han Family. His legal guardian is Miss Ririna Han and Elder Han." Jonathan reported.

When Eli heard it, he froze in his seat. This unknown rival was a kid? And he's having a murderous intent because some kid beat him to Ririna?

Wait.

His logical mind started working. Every detail he knew for the past week started to fall in the right places. Ririna's disappearance five years ago, her drunken bubbling that night when she called him her baby… the scar in her lower abdomen.

Did his wife give birth to a child four years ago? Whose child was it? Was the kid his child?

"The child," Eli started, "were you able to find out when he was born?"

"No, Master. It seemed Miss Han spent a lot of money to conceal most of his details from the public."

Eli rubbed his temple and sighed. Ririna was hiding something from him. Could it be that the child was his?