Trap

Hearing the man's request, Ethan silently observed. Not for a moment has it passed his mind selling the formula to the man.

After all, the Church of Steam was certainly looking for the whereabouts of Charles' characteristic, and this man might very well be an undercover member.

Seeing as no one said anything about his request, the masked and hooded man refrained from saying anything else.

With this, another person, this time with the voice of a woman, spoke from a chair close to the right side wall, "I wish to buy some information about a man known as Victor Blackwood. He's a small tycoon living in the south-west side of North Borough."

Hearing this name, Ethan instantly recalled the words of a person from the time he broke into the ostentatious house in his neighborhood, '[..] I thought that after Mr. Blackwood bought [...]'

Ethan was certain the woman on the wall was talking about the same man. He looked at her and asked, "What kind of information do you want?"

The woman, seemingly surprised by finally acquiring an answer to the request she's been putting again and again in the last months, failed to answer immediately.

Recovering from her stupor a few seconds later, she opened her mouth behind the mask to say, "Anything. As long as you have valuable information regarding his current actions, I'll be glad to pay."

Ethan looked at the elder seated on the single sofa and said, "May I have some pen and paper"

The elder looked at him, producing a simple pen and a sheet of white paper a few seconds later.

With the pen and paper in hand, Ethan described every single action he observed from the owner of the ostentatious house in the last two weeks in high detail, even going as far as writing he might be involved in mystical matters.

He, however, refrained from writing about the safe on the third floor. Deciding to keep that information to himself for now.

Putting the nearly completely filled sheet of paper on the small coffee table, he returned the pen to the elder man known as 'Eye of Wisdom' once more.

With this, Ethan waited for the woman to ascertain the information's value, with a price already in mind.

The woman's eyes through the mask expressed her high level of surprise, she seemed stunned to receive so much information in detail.

"This… How much do you want for this information?" She seemed a bit afraid when looking at Ethan, the reason for that unknown to him.

"30 pounds." Ethan flatly said the most common price these kinds of general information would gather.

Hearing Ethan's reply, the woman hesitated for a bit before opening a small pouch by her side, she produced six 5 pound notes and gave them to Ethan through the coffee table.

"Thank you for your help." After saying that, she didn't speak anymore.

Ethan picked the pound notes, storing them in his suit below the black hooded robe.

With that, he proceeded to say, "I would like to buy potion formulas. Of all Sequences and Pathways."

After Ethan said that, he noticed the man that asked for the Beyonder characteristic before focusing his gaze on him, scrutinizing every gesture of his.

And noticing the man's sudden reaction, Ethan's suspicion of him being an undercover official Beyonder only grew.

The man then opened his mouth to say, "I can sell you three complete sets of formulas up to Sequence 7. They are: Arbiter, Sleepless, and Warrior."

The man's gaze maintained itself on Ethan, seemingly trying to see through the gaps of the iron mask.

Ethan looked at the man for a few seconds and replied, "How much do you want for Arbiter and Warrior, up to Sequence 8?"

"1200 pounds, no less." Hearing the price, Ethan calculated his current amount of cash in his mind and succinctly replied:

"Very well. Let's complete the transaction with bank transfers. Give me an account and I'll deposit the money, you'll leave the formula inside a safe in the bank, and leave a notice so that when you receive my transaction, the attendant should lead me to it." This was a safe method Charles used to make big transfers of money.

Hearing Ethan's idea, the man nodded and said, "Come here for the next gathering, I'll have opened the account by then."

Ethan tersely replied and went silent. Some people traded a few more things and the gathering came to an end.

With this, Ethan saw the elder known as 'Eye of Wisdom' get up and say "Let's end it here. We'll leave one by one, each separated by three minutes."

After that, the people started leaving accordingly to Mr. Eye of Wisdom's words.

When it came to Ethan's turn, he saw the old man look at him for a few moments, seemingly wanting to say something, but kept quiet.

Leaving the darkened house, Ethan followed the alleys and came to a street of East Borough.

He kept walking until reaching a desolate area without anyone around.

Suddenly, Ethan halted his footsteps. He then lifted his head to look at the big, full crimson moon in the sky, and in a few seconds, "Sigh"

Ethan continued looking at the crimson moon above, "I'm really unlucky, I got to say that."

He paused for a moment and soon followed shortly, "To meet with an official Beyonder undercover in such a weak gathering. And then, to actually make said Beyonder track me down the moment I leave the place."

Ethan lowered his head and turned around, directly looking at a corner on one of the streets, "What am I if not unlucky?"

When Ethan finished his words, a figure came out of the corner he was looking at, followed by two other masked ones by his side.

The man was young, seemingly in his twenties. He had silver hair, blue eyes, and a small forehead. He was wearing a brown tweed suit and trousers, with a red bow tie, a brown vest, and white gloves.

The two other figures were wearing brown hooded robes with many tailored details and silver masks, they were carrying sheathed swords on their waists.

The man in the front had a serious expression while saying, "Good thing we came here. If you already had your suspicions, you might just not return to the gathering next time. Then we would have lost this incredible opportunity."

With these words, Ethan saw the masked figures begin unsheathing their swords. The blade was black, it had a silver edge, and there were numerous details inscribed on it.

Seeing this, Ethan didn't show any fear or anxiety, he looked at the silver haired man and said, "Why did me saying I wanted to buy potion formulas made you suspect me?"

The man looked at the masked figures behind him for a second and responded, "Charles Rouqueford bought many potion formulas in the past. After he killed so many Beyonders, the branch in Trier investigated and created a file with all his information. That's how I knew you had to be related to Charles."

Hearing the man's reply, and seeing the masked figures about to launch a devastating attack upon him, Ethan looked up at the sky once again. "What use is there to have so many memories, when you can't recall the specific details? Ahh!… I have an idea!"

His gaze focused itself once again on the man in front of him. But this time, Ethan's bearing had completely changed. He was no different from a beast hungry for blood. His piercing dark green eyes shone with a demonic aura and he said, "As long as I eat a Savant's characteristic, I won't have to worry about having too many memories!"

*Boom

Ethan suddenly jumped ahead like a cannonball, the cobblestone below his feet cracking in some parts from the sheer strength of his push.

*Swish

The masked figures, already prepared from the killing intent Ethan showed before, directly attacked him. One aimed at Ethan's leg, while the other at his neck, a tactic used to restrain any evasive maneuvers.

Ethan, however, threw his suitcase at the masked figure on the right, using his left hand with the cane to try and pierce the other one's abdomen.

Before he could succeed, though, he saw the unmasked young-man in front of him produce a black revolver, firing it at him at a close distance.

Ethan, however, using his keen instincts, had already twisted his body down, using his hands as support to somersault in the enemy's direction.

*Bang Bang Bang

The man with the revolver kept firing at Ethan, some bullets piercing his shoulder and legs.

The two masked figures kept restraining Ethan's movements, they used their swords like true swordsmen.

Ethan, having already sustained multiple injuries in this fight, was at a complete disadvantage.

With one of the masked figures coming to his side, Ethan saw them try to pierce his heart directly.

Just as he was about to succeed, Ethan's lips curled up suddenly.

The figure pierced Ethan's right chest, but seeing Ethan's smile, they were about to retrieve their sword, when out of nowhere, *Crackle

Dark-green flames appeared on their sword, quickly climbing up into their body. The figure tried to leave their sword and retreat, but the flames were far too fast.

The dark-green flames consumed the figure whole, *Boom

Quickly exploding in a show of cursed fire.The figure fell to the ground, seemingly unconscious. His body twitching uncontrollably.

With one of the assailants incapacitated, Ethan approached the man with the revolver once again. The other masked person, seemingly incredibly affected by their companion's sudden demise, failed to react for three seconds.

But these three seconds were enough for Ethan, the man with the revolver kept firing at him, but using his keen instincts and insane reflexes, Ethan was able to evade the bullets hitting vital points.

Quickly approaching the man, Ethan punched his chest with enough strength to pierce it. Conjuring the Flames of Hatred to burn the target from within.

With their leader suffering such insane injuries, the other masked figure abandoned everything and started retreating, they would run this time to catch Ethan when they're more prepared later on.

However, when Ethan saw the figure running, he immediately assumed a spear throwing posture. Changing the cane from his left hand to his right, he quickly threw it in the retreating figure's direction.

As they were running without looking back, when the figure felt something coming behind it, it was already too late to do anything.

The cane pierced their stomach, completely incapacitating them.

With this, Ethan briskly walked up to the person on the ground. Putting his right palm on their mask, he conjured his cursed fire one last time, burning the person amongst their cries of pain.

Having finished three Beyonders in the last four minutes, Ethan couldn't help falling to the ground from exhaustion.

He had completely drained his spirituality in this fight. It could be said that, even if someone were to appear right now, he would have no ability to resist.

Still on the ground, Ethan used his fingers to remove all the bullets in his body. The pain from receiving multiple shots at a close distance didn't seem to affect that much anymore, probably a result from his transformation into an Unwinged Angel.

Removing the bullets still inside his body, Ethan waited a few minutes for the Beyonder characteristics. His wounds kept regenerating in the meantime. To the point where, in no more than three minutes, he had no more injuries to be seen.

Finally getting up from the ground, Ethan picked the Beyonder characteristic of the person in front of him.

For some inexplicable reason, he knew this was a Sequence 8 characteristic. He just didn't know what Sequence it belonged to, but considering the way the person fought with their sword, the techniques used might very likely be from a Melle Scholar of the Mystery Pryer Pathway.

The characteristic was in the shape of an optic nerve, and it had multiple blue wisps floating around it.

Going up to the other person's body, Ethan picked another Sequence 8 characteristic. This time, it was a tongue, it had the same blue wisps floating around it.

Going up to the body of the leader, Ethan noticed it was actually a Sequence 9 characteristic, probably a Savant's considering the man's position as a member of the Church of Steam and Machinery.

Ethan just couldn't understand why this man was acting as their leader when he was so weak.

'Did he call those people to help him right after leaving the gathering? That's why he seemed so unprepared… But what member of the Church of Steam would come and fight me without any preparation at all…?'

Deciding that thinking too much about such matters wouldn't change anything, Ethan decided to simply eat the characteristic directly, he would understand everything after having the man's memories.

The characteristic was a blob of brain matter, it had a very disgusting appearance in itself, but Ethan still brought it to his mouth.

Swallowing it whole, he started acquiring all the memories of the person, however, there was something more.