As soon as the headless corpse fell on the ground, the man's ears caught a stifling sound.

TAP! TAP!TAP!TAP!

A sense of ominousness arose as the sound of steps echoed.

Unknown to him, fear stabbed his heart.

Sweat prickled over his skin, dizzying the sense of reason.

The hands holding the boy loosened up seeing a distant figure.

In his sight, a guy walking steadily appeared.

From the dimly lit corner, a pair of beastly golden eyes similar to a predator looking at prey reflected in his sight.

FLICKER!

The light from the street lamp flickered, illuminating the whole figure who turned out to be a young boy.

The appearance of the boy calmed his tensed nerves and just as he heaved in relief, the light flickered again.

After the phase of darkness passed away, and when the light returned, the boy as if never existed vanished from his sight.

"What?"

A sense of despair gripped his neck making the man scramble away in fear.

The man turned around, attempting to run away.

However!

The moment his head turned, the sight of a long barrel occupied his vision.

The boy appeared behind his back like a ghost giving him goosebumps, and before he could react, the boy pulled the trigger.

The gun made a rusty metallic clicking sound.

CLUNK!

"Ahhhhhhhhh!"

The man jumped back in pain and rolled to the ground jolting in pain.

"Pathetic."

A hoarse voice resounded, snapping the man out of his illusion.

Running his hands over the face, he found that he wasn't hurt.

"The cost of your life can't even compare to a single bullet of mine."

The man drenched in sweat raised his chin to glance at the figure of the boy.

"Spare me..."

BANG!

Swirling around, Lucas's dagger shot like lightning toward the man. Lucas's dagger passed through the man's throat, splattering blood.

With a burst, the man's head separated and bounced back on the ground.

Turning a blind eye, Lucas squatted down before the thin skinny boy to examine his constitution. Lucas slid his finger over the skin feeling the rough structure due to the protruding broken bones and scar marks embedded deeply in the skin.

"Haaa!"

Complicated emotions flashed in his eyes.

The boy may look small and too young, but he was just three years younger than him. He is malnourished and seems to be suffering from severe trauma and nutritional deficiency that had halted his growth.

The name of the boy was Jay.

Originally, Frederick and Parth after finishing their mission to find a missing boy of noble origin, while passing through this place encountered this situation.

Jay would be beaten brutally and was on the verge of death, but he was saved by Uncle Shawn at the last second. After that, Jay leads Frederick and Parth to the kidnappers somewhere outside the city where they freed the missing children.

Shawn saved Jay during this period, but Frederick met him a few days later. Since the date was not mentioned, Lucas first got a rough idea about this place, its structure, and its inner layout.

After taking everyone to the bar, Lucas would sneak in and patrol the place. His motive to save this boy was somewhat selfish.

This boy had a knack for machines, he had a golden bloodline with discerning eyes that could process large calculations and simulate things.

[Simulating Materialization]

If a blueprint with ample calculations is placed, like a computer, he could run the simulations in his head and see the result.

He could also break down a machine structure into 3 dimensions. It was unique similar to an A.I.

In the future, this guy is gonna form an epic combination with James.

Lucas pulled up the boy.

'He is so light.'Lucas murmured, carrying Jay over his shoulder.

....

Seeing a wounded person brought over by Lucas, the group booked a room in a nearby inn.

Shawn knew a bit about first aid treatment so he gave Jay a safety check.

"How is his condition?"Frederick asked.

"Bad...Lucas, you did well not giving him the potion. His bones had been deformed. There are a few concussions and cracks in the skull. We need to find a doctor to fix this, "Shawn spoke after assessing the situation.

Glancing at the boy solemnly, Parth gave Lucas a weird gaze.

"How did you find him.'' Parth's expression looked quite bad.

Lucas explained. It was nothing dramatic but everyone could feel that there was a lead.

"Is he one of the missing children?"Roan spoke.

"We don't know? We need to assess the list once again."Frederick murmured.

"The list doesn't have his name,"

Lucas's words drew everyone's attention.

"The list I have got from PSB had only the names missing from the nearby orphanage and most of them were from Heilford orphanage."

"That means..."Frederick sucked in cold air.

"He must be one of the children who either no one had to report about or is from somewhere else," Parth replied.

"The group must be targeting poor, sick children with no one to look after but after their shortage, they might be targeting the ones in the orphanage."Lucas assessed the situation.

"We can only wait for him to wake up," Roan said dryly.

Lucas only knew the vague location of the group. He wanted to finish things quickly but he felt it was better to take care of things after Jay woke up.

"All of you prepare yourself. We need to deal with this as swiftly as possible. The missing of the two that I killed before will alert them so before they move out we need to sweep them away."Lucas suggested.

"Wait! You, kids, are going to raid the place. This is dangerous. I might be a weakling at 2-Star but I have gone through a fair share of shady situations. So, I suggest waiting for the Public Safety Bureau."

Pftt...

Parth let out a chuckle startling Shawn.

"Uncle Shawn, informing PSB is the worst mistake we can make. First thing, if we can trace that place the Officers could surely do but since they had not that means someone is diverting the attention, or maybe the whole PSB is involved."Parth halted, feeling weird gazes aimed at him.

Frederick blinked his eyes in confusion wondering if this guy hit his head. For the very first time since he had met him, this guy spoke something that makes sense.

"As I was saying, this is a bad move. Let us first wipe out those mongrels. We will take care of them later."Parth spoke with a smile but only Lucas knew it was a smile signifying cruelty.

The cruelty of The Hawk Of the Night.

.....

After an unknown period, the eyelashes of the boy flickered a bit.

Slowly opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was a dark ceiling with a faint lightbulb hanging down through the wire.

'Where am I?'

Questions followed one after another, as he woke up. His mind was messy and he felt dizzy.

Just when he raised his chin, to prop his body up. His eyes flashed with a flicker of darkness.

The faint point of light disappeared, and a man holding a huge wooden plank appeared in his vision.

"A misfit like you dares to cause trouble, just die bastard."

"You don't deserve to live."

"We gave you food and shelter so pay us with your death."

Swearing profanity, the man pounced on him.

The boy's entire vision dyed in blood followed by a jolting sensation of pain coursing through his body.

A sense of horror and helplessness slowly crept into his heart.

"Kyakkkkkkkkkkk!"

"Ahhhhhh!"

With his heart beating fast, his chest ached and swelled with suffocating pressure, making it harder to breathe.

The overwhelming feeling of sadness and frustration buried in his heart emerged with a loud shriek of misery and agony.

"Please, don't kill me..."

"Please, I beg you..."

"Ahhhhhhh!"

''Don't hit me."

Screaming, he cuddled up covering his head with his arms. The muscles twitched and he kicked his feet due to the restlessness in his heart.

"Calm down."

"Kids, it's okay."

"You are safe."

His ears perked up hearing calls from others but all the consolation sounded like whispers of mockery and disdain.

Enveloped by fear from all around, he found himself trapped by a shell.

A shell of darkness and blood that bound him, trapping him inside.

"Leave me...Leave.."

"Don't beat me. I will be a good child."

Desperate cries for mercy emerged from the boy's lips.

It was at that time, he heard a scream calling for his name.

"Jayyyyy!"

His hands were forcefully pulled up.

His heart churned and frightened of imagining the pain which would be inflicted on him, making him cower in fear again.

Crying loudly, he gripped his heart preparing for the upcoming pain.

However, contrary to what he imagined, a pair of warm and cozy hands wrapped around him.

A confectionary whisper rang inside his ears.

"Jay, listen to me."

"You are safe.No one gonna hurt you anymore. We are here. I promise you nothing bad is going to happen."

With just a few simple words, Jay's mind was pulled out of the traumatizing nightmare.

His eyes widened with bewilderment stared around.

The hazy darkness before him was gone and he saw a few unknown faces staring at him worriedly.

Propping up his chin, his eyes met a pair of golden-eyed who had a pained expression on his face.

"No one will hurt you anymore."

With a slight pause and flustered expression, Lucas gave a smile, the sweetest one he could muster at this point.

"No one will hurt you anymore. You are free."

The pair of eyes widened, and staring at Lucas with frozen expressions, he suddenly felt comfort like never before.

As he put down his head, he saw a stream of tears sliding across his cheek.

Unable to suppress his sadness, he cried heart-wrenchingly shedding away the agony buried in his heart.

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