Chapter 8 - 8: Triple Awakened
It happened to be the darkest day of Lucifer's life. The weather had been quite bad since the morning. There were no glistening sun rays, no lovely clouds in the sky.
Black clouds had taken over the sky as if trying to foretell the upcoming ominous events of that day.
A violent storm was raging outside his house as lightning returned the call of thunder, making a loud roar.
Heavy rains were also accompanying the thunder; however, Lucifer didn't care about any of it.
He was watching TV, which was broadcasting a program about his parents; and how they helped humanity against the dungeon dwellers.
His eyes held the admiration and sparkled with happiness occasionally as he watched various footage of his parents fighting the monsters heroically.
The girl, who was appointed as Lucifer's babysitter, was in the kitchen making lunch for him.
Bam!
The introductory scenes had ended, and the program had just started when Lucifer heard the loud sound. His curious eyes followed the sound to find the front door of his house that was opened forcefully.
Many men barged inside the house, dressed in military uniform. A few black-clothed men also accompanied them.
They didn't hesitate in the least as they informed Lucifer that his parents had died and that he needed to go with them for his protection.
The information sank in him slowly as he looked at them with his big round eyes.
"Died?"
'What did they mean died?'
Lucifer thought in confusion, not understanding the graveness of the situation. Even though he didn't understand or believe what these people were saying, his eyes still grew wet.
"Yes. The two of them were killed. They're never coming back. You must come with us," the black-clothed men informed Lucifer.
Gritting his teeth, Lucifer yelled at the men who stood before him, "You are lying! Nothing bad can happen to them!"
Ignoring Lucifer's words, the men started dragging him out.
Lucifer started throwing his fists and feet in all directions, struggling as hard as he could, when the military men dragged him out of his own house.
Despite using all his strength, he couldn't stop them. Lucifer sat inside a jeep and watched his home getting distant with each passing second.
That was the moment he realized that he had lost everything. Nobody was coming for him anymore.
That was the last time he had seen his home before the agents took him to the facility, where he spent his next five years until recently when he died.
Shaking his head side to side, Lucifer tried to clear the memories of that vicious day so that he could focus on what was important now.
'I need a direction…' he thought as he frowned, looking around him.
He carefully scanned the people around him and selected a passerby. He approached the man straight away.
"Tell me the direction of Legion City," he commanded like a boss.
If an adult had said something in such a commanding tone, the man might have been offended. However, such words were told by a cute kid who seemed to be only ten years old. The man didn't take any offense.
The child with silver hair, glistening under the sunlight and a pair of round ocean blue eyes, was cute enough to melt his heart.
"Legion City is in that direction, little guy," the man answered as he smiled while pointing his finger towards his left.
"Where are your parents, kiddo?" he asked, only to realize that Lucifer wasn't even there anymore. As soon as he had told the direction, Lucifer left without delaying for even a single second. He didn't even thank the man as if the passerby didn't do him a favor by helping him, but he was obliged to help him.
The man smiled wryly as he shook his head side to side, "Strange Kid!"
***
Lucifer left from the South Exit of the town in the direction of Legion City without looking back. He was determined to find his home even if he had to search the entire city.
He was unaware that a few minutes after he left, three helicopters infiltrated the sky, flying from the north.
The helicopters stopped near the restaurant and remained stable in the air, fifteen feet above the ground.
The helicopter's doors slid open as around 20 people jumped out of the helicopter without any harness. They landed in front of the restaurant effortlessly as if it was a daily routine for them to jump out like that.
One of them stood a few steps in ahead of the others, facing the restaurant. By the aura he gave off, it was clear that he was the leader.
The man seemed to be in his late twenties. His head was full of short flaming red wavy hair that was scattered around his forehead. They made him stand out amongst the crowd the most because of their unique color.
Due to slight gusts of wind, his phoenix red hair flew slightly, making him look even more dazzling under the sunlight.
Wearing a long black coat on top of black pants, he gave off a strong aura. The collars of his coat remained standing, probably on purpose.
The frontal right side of the man's shirt had a tattoo-like print of burning fire, and both his palms were covered in black gloves. The left side of his shirt had a golden chain badge hanging there, and both of his shoulders had golden star badges. Those badges were signs of his rank.
"Flourance, is this the place?" the red-haired man asked as his eyes gazed at the place in front of them like an eagle.
Another man stood just one step behind the red-haired man. He nodded his head as he answered in affirmative, "This should be the place we were told about…"
The man who was addressed as Flourance seemed like the second in command of this team.
None of the twenty men wore military uniforms despite coming out of military helicopters as they were not a part of the army.
The Twenty men were from the Awakened Protection Force, which was also known by the populace as the "APF". They were a special organization of this country that dealt with the crimes committed by the Dark Variants that misused their powers. They were an organization that consisted only of Variants as well.
They were the best of the variants, trained under a strict program, and nurtured to survive the toughest of situations. Only after surviving through a brutal test were they selected to be a part of it.
All of these twenty men were selected Variants of APF.
"We didn't need to come here ourselves, did we? According to the reports, there was only a single Variant that was creating a stir in this restaurant. We could have just let the ground squad do their job, couldn't we?" Flourance asked the red-haired man as he smiled wryly.
"What would people say if they realize that the leader of the Delta Squad of APF, Xander Blake, came personally to catch a small rioter?" he continued as he shook his head while his eyebrows creased a little.
The APF had three squads, which were more like the three branches. The highest positioned squad was the Alpha Squad, which was also the strongest. The Second position belonged to the Beta Squad. With that, the Delta Squad acquired the Third position, and the red-haired man was its leader, Xander Blake.
Even though the Delta Squad was the weakest in APF, in reality, it wasn't weak at all. The APF itself consisted of only the best of the best variants who wished to protect their country and didn't even hesitate to put their lives on the line for that very cause.
Just being a part of this organization was proof that the Variant was strong, sharp, and skilled. As the Leader Of the Delta Squad, Xander was not an exception. He was one of the most powerful variants alive.
"There's no problem with checking it out, is there? We happened to be passing by when we heard the information from base. The ground squad would have taken some more time to reach here. Since we were already near the location, it makes sense for us to check things out," Xander answered as he started walking towards the restaurant with a Stoic expression on his face.
Xander's purple eyes were fixed on the restaurant all the time as if he was trying to scan the whole place through the concrete walls.
"Let's not waste any more time and get to work. We have a rogue Variant to catch," he commanded as he pushed the door open before stepping inside.
The others also stepped inside the restaurant after Xander.
"Looks like we are already late," Flourance mumbled as his eyes scanned over the room filled with at least Twenty-five dead bodies.
Xander also noticed the dead bodies, and his eyes turned dark, followed by an unreadable expression on his face. There seemed to be no one alive here.
Sigh...
He walked over to one of the dead bodies and observed it closely.
"As expected, It's the work of a Variant—a strong one at that. Just look at the destruction that occurred here," Xander spoke as he pointed at a man's broken rib cage.
Flourance asked curiously, "But why would a strong Variant cause such a massacre in a small restaurant? Even the evil organization of Variant Uprising would not send anyone to do it in a place like this."
"These bodies? Why does this look like the victim of the Power of Decay? Only the Dual Elemental Sorcerer Clarisse was able to use it, right? The previous strongest Sorcerer? Isn't she dead? Can it be that someone else has awakened a similar power?" A dark-haired Delta Squad member asked as he pointed at a decayed body.
It was the body of the last person who was killed by Lucifer. He had thrown the body away before the body could turn to ash.
Xander walked over to the body as well and observed it closely before nodding his head in affirmation.
Roaming his gaze around the room, he added, "That's not all. Look at the destruction. The counter is lying near the door... The person probably had the Physical Power that amplified his strength as well. Or something that helped them move heavy objects."
"Wait a minute... Elemental Power of Decay and Physical Power as well? Doesn't that mean it was the work of a Warlock?" Flourance noted, shock spreading over his face at his discovery.
Xander nodded his head. "That's what I believe."
He continued the investigation, scrutinizing each object at the crime scene. Soon, he noticed the bullet shells scattered on the ground that was covered in blood.
"That still isn't all. I think that the man had other powers as well. This gun had fired some shots. For the man to dodge the bullets, he must either have had the Elemental Power of Wind or the Physical Power of Speed," He alluded since he didn't find any body with bullet wounds.
Xander believed that the bullets had hit the Variant, but not in his vital parts. According to him, the bullets might have only grazed his skin since he managed to get out of here alive after performing such a huge massacre here.
"Even though he was fast, he was still grazed by the bullets as the bullets have bloodstains on them. Unfortunately, the wounds probably weren't deadly; otherwise, he would be lying amongst the dead bodies as well," he acknowledged and further added with a thoughtful expression, "I still believe that he would be seriously wounded."
Flourance agreed with the observation. He thought the same thing. Thus, he suggested, "We must ask the townspeople if they saw a wounded man around this area of the town. We might even find a description of his appearance this way and identify him."
Xander nodded his head, giving Flourance his permission.
"A Triple Awakened Warlock who has the S-Rank power of Decay? This could be problematic if that person isn't found soon. I hope we find him before he causes any more trouble..." he mumbled as he balled his fists, his eyes lingering on the sinister massacre in the room.