The Deceitful One

Sean felt his spiritual force increase tremendously, along with his stamina. Whatever spiritual force Detective Watson had left, Sean had stolen it and taken it for himself.

This was the true terror of the Theft Path!

However, there was one slight issue with the black gauntlet that Sean was using. The gauntlet artifact was a Theft Path artifact and it would only showcase its true potential in the hands of a member of the Medici Family.

Sean was no descendant of the Medici Family. Hence, when he used this artifact to steal from Detective Watson, he had to go through a severe side effect--a very bad one at that!

Right after he had made a grabbing motion with the gauntlet, Sean's face turned pale and he threw a mouthful of blood.

As he looked at his blood on the ground, he couldn't help but feel alarmed. But then, he finally realized the reason behind this,

"I see... This artifact can only work in the hands of the Medici Family members. If outsiders dare to use it, they would have to pay a steep price."

He couldn't help but marvel at the artifact's functionality. The artisans that created it, made sure that it would only work within the Medici Family. Even though outsiders could use it, the price they would have to pay would not be worth it.

But for a Mid-String Blood Path Transcendent like Sean, it was more than worth it! So what if his life essence was sacrificed after every use? He could just drain the blood from others and recover his life essence!

Meanwhile, Detective Watson saw the weapons falling toward him, he couldn't help but feel a little crestfallen. However, he soon gritted his teeth. His eyes turned bloodshot as he faced the sea of weapons,

'NO! I cannot give up!

'For Bryan's sake...

'For little Amy's sake...

'I will not give up!!'

Detective Watson let out a cry filled with determination and bravery. He turned around and spread his arms wide as he covered Bryan's figure.

Bryan at this point had already given up and accepted his death. He raised his hands and put them before his face in fear, waiting for the weapons to pierce his body. However, the pain he was expecting, never arrived.

He spread out his spiritual sense to look around, only to be met by a sight he would never forget in his life!

...

Augustus Street, Damascus City.

More than half of this famous and affluent neighborhood was reduced to rubble. At various places, the fire still hadn't burned out and was continuing to spread.

The people who had died here were in the thousands. And the majority of them were the upper-class people of the city!

Towards the center of this neighborhood, surprisingly enough, the place had turned into a frozen tundra. It was very conflicting to look at. While in the outer regions, a black-colored fire was raging fiercely, but in the center, it was exactly the opposite.

Huge, severed limbs could be found lying around. They had been completely encased inside a large block of ice! These large monstrous limbs naturally belonged to the Duke of Hell, Abaddon!

After a long battle, Victor Smith had already managed to incapacitate the Rank 4 Devil. He had served all four of the Devil's limbs. Moreover, the Devil had also been beheaded. And yet, it was still alive!

That's how difficult it was to kill off a Devil. In the end, Victor managed to completely freeze Abaddon's head along with his heart and seal him entirely. He would take the Devil's head and heart back to Nadir and give it to the Silver Owls to manage.

As Victor was standing in front of the Devil's frozen head and recuperating his stamina, he heard the sound of footsteps coming behind him.

He turned around only to see Bishop Walls, Robert, and a dark-skinned young man with an arm missing, walking toward him in a state of worry and panic.

Victor's eyebrows furrowed as he inquired, "What's the matter?"

Bishop Walls stepped forward and replied respectfully, "Mr. Smith, the Strike Team has been fighting the members of the Holy Blood Sect on the outskirts of Damascus. We have reasons to believe that the wanted criminal, Sean Marx is also present there."

When Victor heard the mention of Sean Marx, his eyes narrowed, "Can you confirm this?"

Bishop Walls nodded and then pointed at the young man who was missing an arm,

"This child's name is Elijah. He had been fighting against the members of the Holy Blood Sect in the outskirts earlier. And he has come here to get reinforcements. But I fear time is of the essence!"

Victor looked at Elijah and checked his wound. Although he was missing an arm, the wound had mostly been healed by the potions. Victor could see in Elijah's eyes, the fire still burning. He secretly nodded his head in approval.

"Kid, can you keep up?"

Elijah straightened his back, "Yes Sir!"

"Good," Victor nodded, "Tell me everything on the way."

He then turned around and looked at his students, "You two brats, follow me."

Tim and Elena replied in unison, "Yes Teacher!"

The group then departed from the Augustus neighborhood and ran towards the abandoned cave mine on the outskirts of the city. Robert also followed behind them. After all, he was the leader of the Strike Team.

Meanwhile, Bishop Walls stayed behind to lead the rest of the Transcendents and Apprentices to help evacuate people and heal the injured. As he looked at the wide-scale destruction caused by the Devil, he couldn't help but feel aggravated.

This day would forever be remembered in the annals of history. Although in the Transcendent world, it would be known as yet another vicious attack by the Inferno Order.

However, in the regular world, this incident would later come to be known as the Damascus Rebellion. A rebellion that sparked a large-scale revolt and almost plunged the Belize Kingdom into ruins!

...

Detective Watson stood valiantly with his arms spread open, in front of Bryan. When the latter laid his spiritual sense perception on him, his body trembled violently.

"N-no... No... NO, NO, NO, TEACHER!!!" Bryan bawled as blood streamed from his eyes. He felt as if his heart had been ripped out and crushed as he gazed at his teacher.

Detective Watson's body had been riddled with weapons. The ground surrounding the duo had been embedded with myriad types of weapons, however, not a single one had managed to graze Bryan. After all, Detective Watson had made sure that it didn't.

Soon all the weapons around them as well as the ones stuck to Detective Watson's back dissipated into red motes of light. Detective Watson's lips curled up into a faint smile as he realized that he had managed to protect Bryan.

His entire figure was drenched in blood, his eyes were weary, and his legs weak. After all the blood-colored weapons disappeared, Detective Watson finally fell to his knees.

Bryan caught him in the nick of time and tightly embraced him, "T-Teacher... Why? Why?..."

The words in Bryan's throat got stuck as he choked. As he hugged Detective Watson's body and felt the life slowly sleep out of him, Bryan completely broke down and howled at the top of his lungs and began crying.

Bryan could no longer think of anything else. All he did was tightly hugged his teacher's blood-drenched body and cried aloud, "D-Don't die...please..."

As the last wisp of strength gradually left Detective Watson's body, he struggled with all his might and raised his right hand, and stroked Bryan's head. All this while, the smile on his face never faded.

A few days ago, he had already made a divination at the cost of sacrificing most of his life span. Either way, he wouldn't have lived past today. Hence, Detective Watson didn't feel any regret or unwillingness at his sacrifice.

He was happy...

In the divination, Detective Watson had seen something that shocked him down to his core. He had pried into the mysteries of the River of Fate and seen his future, along with Bryan's as well as the whole world's!

In the future, Bryan would be the one to bring about the golden age of Transcendents!

Under Bryan's tutelage, Detective Watson's daughter, Amy Watson, would grow up to become one of the most terrifying Transcendents to ever walk the face of this planet.

She would come to be known as the Goddess of Dreams!

After witnessing such a grand future, Detective Watson knew exactly what to do. If he was going to die anyway, then he might as well die sacrificing himself to save his only student.

And that's exactly what he did! He had sacrificed his life not only for his student but also for his dear daughter.

Through the divination, he also found out that Bryan was actually the descendant of the Medici Family and that he had embarked on the Theft Path! But Detective Watson did not mind it at all.

It was his student's decision and he would support it!

And the vision in which Detective Watson had seen Bryan's future, he couldn't help but be filled with pride. Not only would Bryan bring about the golden age of Transcendents, but he would also become one of the most powerful Transcendents ever.

He would strike fear in the heart of all his enemies and would later come to be known as...

The Deceitful One!

As Bryan continued to cry, Detective Watson stroked his head warmly. He could feel that his time had come.

He would have loved to speak to Bryan one last time, but the latter had already lost any semblance of consciousness as he continued to cry.

In the end, Detective Watson's lips parted and he whispered, "Farewell... Bryan...

"Become the person...you were always...meant to be...

"Great God of Mischief..."

Detective Watson's eyes finally dimmed and he fell into eternal slumber. The serene smile on his face remained, a direct reflection of a soul that was at peace.