Energized

The storybook clapped lightly as Luca closed it. He then turned to the child next to him, sleeping soundly after a few pages into it. However, the worst thing about sitting next to her was that she would clutch her fingers on Luca's shirt as if not letting him leave her.

It was as if being haunted by the fact that she fell asleep and woke up in a place without her mother next to her anymore.

Luca stared at the sleeping child as he rubbed her hand, hoping for it to soften its grip so he could free himself. "It's okay, Rosanna. Your parents are watching you and protecting you…"

"Noah… my eyes burn…"

"Huh?" Luca put down the book and caressed her soft face. Rosanna then opened her eyes and started picking on the eyeball. He took hold of her hands and realized that she was wearing contact lenses. Sleeping with it on was bad for her eyes; luckily, she was awoken by the pain.

The hunter safely removed her contact lenses and rested them on his fingers for now before realizing that the child had white eyes. It was as if her irises and pupils melded with the cornea that they weren't distinguishable.

Groggily moving around, Rosanna reached for her small sling bag and fished for the case for her contact lenses. She remembered Noah telling her to bring it everywhere in case her eyes hurt. She gave it to Luca, along with the lens solution. The child would do it on her own, but she was too sleepy she even forgot about it.

"What happened to your eyes, Rosanna?" Luca grew worried. Her eyes were not normal… but they didn't seem to be damaged either.

"I just have white eyes…" she murmured before barely opening her eyes for the drops. The corneas had reddened, but it didn't affect the iris. After letting the drops make her eyes cooler, she ended up tearing and falling back to sleep.

Luca stored the lenses properly, but he felt something was amiss in that. Then again, he realized that Noah was a witch—a top-tier witch. This niece of his must have been connected to the witches' world as well. Somehow, those thoughts made his heart hurt.

"Could she be… the cambion?"

It wasn't a secret to the Order that a cambion from Satan was born. Even if the Order didn't know if the child was an ally of the witches, they sought to put them into custody. However, as Luca looked down at the otherwise normal girl, he didn't know if he should report it.

Perhaps, he should ask Noah about it soon.

Luca moved to the couch to call it a night as well. It was past nine in the evening, but he was so tired from their training and other workload given to him as the representative of the Order. It's just that when he was making the makeshift bed, his smartwatch beeped for an incoming message.

He pressed on a device tucked in his ear to listen to it. "I'm here."

"Multiple level three magic surges detected in the Public Garden. Elite squad is deployed." Theresa's urging voice made Luca forget about sleeping.

"I'm going." Luca picked up his bag resting at the side of the couch and his hand cannon. He then hurriedly left the room without disturbing Rosanna.

"Luca, Noah's smartwatch is the one picking up the surges. I can confirm he's in the area." Theresa continued to speak while Luca was flying down the emergency stairs. "We might fight witches of Satan again. However, we can't detect Bomberman's magic."

"Got it." Luca got to the parking space and noticed that Noah didn't take his motorbike with him. It was sitting there like a forgotten puppy. "Did Noah commute?"

Luca approached the bike, and it lit up on its own. The engine revved, startling Luca as no one was actually touching it. Before he could walk closer to investigate, shadow tendrils shot out from the side and grabbed Luca. His protest was left unheard as he was placed on the seat and positioned like the driver.

"What is this thing?!" Luca wanted to break free, but the tendrils were too strong. His hands were pulled to hold the handles, and the bike raced into the wind like a bullet fired from a gun.

The bike covered Luca in tendrils and turned his entire image into a shadow. When the bike went straight for a wall, Luca couldn't help but shut his eyes in fear. However, he didn't crash. The bike continued to phase from one wall against another, only moving to make a path of shadows. Since it was night, the darkness had given it a direct yet curving path to where Noah was.

…

Back in the Public Garden, Noah kept his eyes on the bridge. Caliga and the others were sensing a powerful witch slowly approaching their master. If push came to a shove, they would start an assault.

Another figure walked along the bridge and clapped as she went. Mariz laughed out as she kicked Simon out of the way. "When I heard that we're going to be fighting a mayfly witch, I thought we'd be dealing with a reckless piece of shit. I didn't think we'd have a professional."

"Do you mean I am a professional killer or a professional piece of shit?" Noah only hummed as he sized up the woman. If he pieced things correctly, this woman must be a witch of Satan and someone around the same rank as Nadin.

Meaning, she was the one who wanted him to kill his fellow Shadow Hands.

"You're funny, but not enough to make me spare you." Mariz turned her nose up and looked around. She could vaguely see the outline of the royal hellhounds scattered in the area. "Your little doggies seemed to be boring a big hole in your budget. Do you mind if I just kill them all for you?"

"Don't worry about my budget. They could be satisfied with a limb or two from you." Noah healed his injuries from Sharon's guns as he stroked at his blue hand.

"You please me…"—her gaze sharpened—"not!"

Mariz dashed towards him and flapped her coat, grabbing what seemed to be liquid packs from inside. She hurled a few ones that Noah effortlessly avoided. When they hit the ground, they burst and created a water puddle in front of Noah. More of them got thrown around him as Mariz went to circle around him.

Knowing that witches have all kinds of gimmicks under their sleeves, he didn't dare touch the water or the packs. Even if they smelled and appeared to be real, innocent water; Noah didn't want to force it. He didn't even ask the hounds to move in.

"Are you really just going to dodge all you want?" Mariz gritted her teeth, getting sick of throwing things at an evasive dog.

"If you stop moving, maybe I won't dodge."

"Bastard!"

Mariz moved in like an arrow, not wanting to circle anymore. Noah then readied for a clash and made a turn to dart towards her as well. The woman flapped her coat again, but a sinister look flashed across her face.

Crackle! Noah felt a sudden approach from the right. When he glanced at it, he saw a collection of thick lightning streaks travel in his direction. If it was just a group of lightning bolts, he would be able to evade it. However, those were like speed runners coming to hit him on their way.

Bang! The lampposts around them broke as more lightning streaks traveled, converging into their spot. Noah only continued to attack Mariz as he knew he wouldn't be able to evade. However, her skin suddenly turned grayish and shiny… like he was staring at steel.

His blue hand only scratched her as she grabbed and hugged Noah. The electric currents then exploded the next second as they reached Mariz's body.

At this juncture, the hounds moved in. They charged their flames and breathed fire at the place where Mariz and Noah were.

A figure rolled out of the way, relying on her super-insulating coat to not catch any blue flame on her. Mariz then jumped back and stared at her doing with bright eyes.

"Hahaha, it's the first time someone survived my first crackle!" Mariz laughed out as soon as the flames disappeared and she saw Noah struggling to get up from the point-blank attack. "How are your organs, Sleepydog?"

"Energized…" Noah coughed out blood, feeling that all his organs were once again ruptured and jolted badly. He might not get burned by anything, but it didn't mean his skin wouldn't tear at the lash of electricity.

Just like last night, he was once again bathing in his own blood. However, the enemy was still up for a fight. The hounds assembled in front of him, keeping a stance that would pounce on Mariz the next time she attacked.

The woman only huffed as she counted the hounds. "Eight… judging from your skills, you don't deserve eight royal hellhounds. You will only suffer from Asmodeus's favoritism; you don't even belong to his coven."

Noah finally stood up, his right hand pressed on his abdomen. With blood dripping from his lips, he smiled. "I'm everyone's favorite; what do you mean?"

"I will make sure to count the bouquets at your funeral then." Mariz snorted and flapped her coat. "You will die today… eventually."