Sowhere on the outskirts of Novis, an old cathedral stood tall in the center of a small town's plaza, where a single figure wearing a large hooded cloak sauntered towards the building.
It was an old man with a prominent hunched back and a cane to support him, with his facial features shrouded by the hood except for his long, gray beard.
When the man reached the massive double doors of the cathedral, two younger n wearing the sa type of cloak opened them for him, entering the building solely illuminated by the moonlight coming in from the mosaic windows.
A group of hooded n were sitting on the benches directed at the altar, not moving or reacting to the old man slowly walking through the corridor in the middle.
Behind the altar, the man went through another door into the bedroom chambers, which were situated beside a staircase that led underground.
After walking down the torch-illuminated path, he reached an expansive basent with long, cobblestone columns and walls.
At the back of the room, a tall, humanoid figure sat atop a pile of human bones.
The creature had two long horns coming out of its head, pale white skin, sharp red glowing eyes, a strong body, and long black hair that cascaded down its back.
"Sabelio. What brings you here?" The creature asked with a deep, intimidating voice.
"My king. It seems we lost Joseph…" The old man replied with reverence in a scratchy tone.
"I see. That's unfortunate…" the monster uttered with indifference.
"The twins got there too late. They said there was a dangerous man with the attackers," the old man continued.
"A human?" the creature asked, his voice sounding more interested.
"I believe so. Joseph had asked the Ruby Vipers for support in killing the remaining Jade Dragons, but we never received confirmation of the deed…" Sabelio elaborated.
"We also seem to have lost all of Red River," he continued.
"Hmm, so the Jade Dragons found a way to stand against us. Is that what you are saying?" the demon asked.
"It's speculation. Joseph's computer was taken from his ho, so the Ruby Vipers are already working on tracking it down. We also found out that the Jade Dragons' survivors moved to another ho after the attempt…" The old man continued to share his information with the monster.
The massive demon stood up on the pile of bones and slowly walked down to the ground, standing before Sabelio.
"It's ti to release Erebos before they exterminate the Scarlett Bullets. Tell the Ruby Vipers to get involved," the demon commanded.
"I didn't think too much about my hunters' curse being dispelled at first. Let's send more soldiers to the last location it picked up," the creature continued, his orders clear to Sabelio.
"It shall be done, King Astaroth…" the old man politely replied, bowing before the monster.
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The following day after the raid on Joseph's mansion, Dante and all of his roommates visited Camille's office at her request, wanting the warlock to help Paige with the analysis of the drugged gang mbers' corpses.
When they arrived at the laboratory, they were surprised to see Lawrence, the forr butler of Joseph's mansion, waiting for them while speaking with Paige and Camille.
The man introduced himself to the rest of the group with a polite bow before thanking gan and Dante for sparing his life.
However, the warlock seed confused about the butler's gratitude. "What do you an sparing?" he asked.
Lawrence got a little nervous, but the man spoke up with courage.
"Even when I was your enemy, you didn't punish …" the butler replied.
Nevertheless, Dante was still genuinely confused, as he honestly didn't think that he had done anything that deserved his gratitude.
"Why would I punish you? You had zero ill intent towards us," the warlock clarified his point of view.
Explaining a bit further, he told the butler that, as soon as he entered Joseph's office, he could instantly tell that Lawrence wasn't a threat.
"How could I 'spare' soone that was never a threat to ? You didn't even think about attacking us…" the warlock continued.
"In fact, you seed relieved after Joseph died," said Dante, making the butler bite his lips with a bit of apprehension.
'I see… This man is even more impressive than I thought,' Lawrence thought, feeling a sense of admiration for the warlock.
With a gentle smile, the butler admitted feeling a sense of freedom after gan pulled the trigger.
Lawrence had worked as Joseph's main butler for a little over ten years, and he was present at his master's decline as he slowly descended into corruption.
After Lawerence was present in the first eting with a powerful demon, Joseph threatened to kill his daughter to keep the butler silent.
While most of the Scarlett Bullets' mbers took the drugs mixed with demon blood, Lawrence never sealed any contracts or took any narcotics, so the man was free to speak about all his experiences.
The butler told the group that Joseph wasn't the true leader of the gang, but he could have been considered the second in command.
"You see… Right after the Blood Dragons took their spot, they sent a demon to beco the leader while Mr. Joseph beca his right-hand man," Lawrence explained.
However, he had only seen the demon once, saying that the monster was always in hiding.
"Do you know his na?" Dante asked.
"It was Erebos," the butler confidently said, making the warlock narrow his eyes.
"Sounds familiar?" Camille asked after listening to the man's story.
"If I rember correctly, Erebos was a high-ranked incubus," Dante muttered.
"What's that?" gan interjected, her expression indifferent but her voice hinting curiosity.
"It's a demon who feeds from people's dreams and nightmares… It can be quite a pain in the ass to deal with them," the warlock replied, scratching the back of his head with annoyance.
When the group asked Lawrence about the incubus' whereabouts, the butler said he had no clue where he was hiding. However, he knew that Joseph's computer had that information.
"My team is already working on decrypting the PC, but it might take them a few more days…" Camille said.
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