Chapter 65: Murder
As Kathy slept on her bed, Gray closed the door to her room.
His eyes possessed a great amount of determination inside them.
But that had to wait.
Gray entered his room and sat on his desk. Opening one of his drawers, he found a small razor blade.
He inhaled deeply before chanting with that mysterious language,
"I, Gray Montoya, offer my blood for the purpose of 'creation.'
Gray exhaled as the quintessence inside his body settled in his blood.
With a swift swipe of the razor blade, he wounded his index finger.
He then brought his finger over the linen parchment. Seven drops of blood quickly spilled out, dying the paper red.
Gray drew a Five-Pointed, Starred Pentagon, encasing it with a circle.
He carefully wrote the Token of Quintessence over the Highest Star, soon following with the Token of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire in their respective ritualistic places.
Gray's head began to spin.
'Anemia…'
Such was one of the symptoms that came from abusing this ritual by continuously using one's own blood.
Even though this ritual was going to damage and weaken his body on the long run, it was a worthy sacrifice.
Chaldean of Ur, the one who originally wrote the ritual Gray was performing, had said that some of other following symptoms of the ritual would be mood swings.
Maybe what Gray was about to do was because of that.
Or maybe it was just because someone had hurt his dear sister.
After patiently waited for his blood to dry, he rolled the paper into a scroll.
The sixth Five-Starred Pentagrams was officially done—only 31 more to go!
Gray bent down to hide the scroll under his bed and saw his half-golden and half black sword, its blade hidden behind the jade sheath.
He stood up and went to his broken wardrobe. He grabbed a black hoodie and a black pair of trainers.
Opening the drawer under it, he grabbed a pair of gloves and a bluish, surgical mask.
He needed to stay hidden—he couldn't let his identity be found.
Gray took his keys and stepped out.
The night was quiet and awfully dark—only the sound of Gray's steps resounded across the mist filled street.
The air was chilly and humid. Small particles of moisture clinging onto Gray's coat.
Gray checked the time.
Tuesday, 12th December, 2023.
1:25 a.m.
Gray would've done this way earlier, but since his dear Kathy was too sad to fall asleep, he couldn't step out.
The girl had rambled the entire time, hurling waves upon waves of insults to Derek.
After Gray ordered some food with his own money for the two, he made a promise to Kathy.
That Sunday, the two of them could go to Rosano's amusement park!
All thanks to the prize he had won in the DodgeBall tournament!
Now, that didn't matter.
Via del Cavaliere 32th.
This was the address where Derek lived.
And this was where Gray needed to go.
…
Gray stood in front of the house.
He quickly understood that this neighborhood was a dangerous place. Most houses were busted, garbage littered the streets, even the forest near it!
His house was medium-sized, but looked shabby.
Just by looking at the overfilled garbage can near the door, the shitty job the painter had done, and the messed up roof, it was clear that the owner did not look after it.
Gray used his phone's flashlight to look at the name written near the door.
It coincided with Kathy's words.
Gray rang the doorbell.
His mask mostly hid his features, only leaving his pitch-black eyes in sight.
Nobody answered.
The lights weren't lit either.
Gray had originally thought Derek was just asleep, making him brush it off.
Nevertheless, he kept on ringing the doorbell.
But no matter how much he waited, nobody answered.
Gray furrowed his eyebrows.
'Is he not home yet?'
He would understand if it was Friday or a day of the weekend—the only period of time when people could relax and come home as late as they wanted, engaging in activities such as watching movies, going out to parties, having fine dinners and so on.
But it was Tuesday!
Did this guy Derek not study or work?
Or did he just not care about these things?
Gray chose to hide behind a tree as he awaited for Derek's return.
It surprisingly did not take a long time.
He had medium length blonde hair.
He walked on the half-wet street, his arm placed on a girl's shoulder, his hand almost reaching for her chest.
The girl had short, blonde hair, and she looked at the floor with an expressions Gray translated to resignation.
…This seemed fishy.
She wasn't the girl who Kathy had seen. The girl had brown hair while this one had a completely different color.
'What a player.' Gray silently judged.
Derek was about to open the door when the girl grabbed the end of his jacket, muttering something Gray couldn't properly understand.
Derek snapped. He grabbed his phone and pointed at it. The girl staggered. It was as if he had grabbed a gun instead of his phone.
'…?'
Gray was right.
This situation really was fishy.
The girl trembled as Derek grinned triumphantly.
Her head lowered even further.
She silently went inside his home.
This Derek asshole was up to no good.
After Gray reached the house, he rang the doorbell multiple times.
The door opened, and Derek's face appeared.
"…Who the hell are you…?" Derek scrutinized Gray. His breathing was slightly faster than how a normal one was supposed to be. Before Gray even replied, Derek interrupted.
"…I don't give my hard-earned money to hobos. You might as well get out. Go sleep under a bridge or something—I really don't care."
Gray's eyes twitched, the desire to rough this guy up increasing further.
He scoffed.
"I'm not here for money, you asshole."
"You little shit…! Who do you think you're talking to?" he raised his fist, preparing himself to hit Gray.
Gray kicked him in his stomach, making him fall backwards.
He then calmly entered inside the house.
The blonde-haired woman he had seen was only wearing a bra, her expression distraught. Not wanting to scare the girl, Gray smiled softly, his mask only revealing the slight narrowing of his eyes.
"It's best for you to get out."
The woman grabbed her clothes and quickly rushed out, avoiding Derek's body on the floor.
Derek rubbed the back of his head and groaned in pain. He saw Gray stand over him. The pitch-black eyes of the young Nephilim attracted the lights of the dimly lit room.
"You piece of shit…!"
Derek attempted to kick him, but Gray dodged his leg.
"Stand up." Gray said.
Derek cautiously followed his instructions.
Gray's gaze bore holes through Derek's body. His piercing was starting to make Derek uncomfortable. He smirked as a bead of sweat dripped from his forehead.
"…You must be the boyfriend of some girl I fucked."
He mimicked a horse riding gesture.
"You should've heard her screams…! It looked like someone was being murdered there…!"
"…"
Gray couldn't help but stay silent for a few moments.
"…I'm here for personal reasons." Gray replied, aware that the man hadn't even placed a finger on his sister's skin.
"Hah! What kind of personal reasons?"
Without any kind of hesitation, Gray punched with the proper form and technique, hitting Derek right across his jaw.
"Payback, you asshole."
Derek's body crumbled. He held his aching jaw with his trembling hands, emitting a low wheeze.
"Bet I kicked the wind out of you with this one."
Gray laughed.
"I just wanted to rough you up in the beginning. But now, seeing what kind of person you are, I figure I can do a little more."
Gray planted his foot on Derek's head.
"What? I can't hear you. You don't have anything to say anymore?"
"You fucking…bitch." he brought his gaze towards Gray. "I'm going to…fuck you up."
"Hooo? How about you stop whining like a bitch and show me?"
Gray removed his foot from Derek's head as he slowly stood up.
He smirked.
Derek then turned his body around, his gaze not following Gray anymore.
"…Do you really think I'm going to hit you? You're a kid. Go home." he said.
Gray furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at Derek's body more carefully.
His shoulder twitched.
Gray instantly understood.
'Sucker punch…!'
Derek hurled his fist at Gray's face, his expression twisted in madness. His technique was awful; he had put too much strength in the attack—it made his body not have any kind of foundation.
Gray knew he had to exploit this.
If he had been a Nephilim, this would've never worked.
But!
This guy was human.
A shitty one at that!
Gray dodged and pivoted, turned his back towards Derek. He then hastily grabbed Derek's overextended arm, intending to exploit his momentum
As Gray twisted his body, Derek's feet were forcefully lifted from the ground.
His vision whirled.
Bang!
Derek's back hit the ground, his phone falling from his pocket, sliding right across the floor!
This move was called seoi-nage.
This was a judo technique Gray had learned after watching martial arts movies!
Gray calmly walked towards him. He bent down and grabbed the man's phone. He tried to unlock it, but it required a password.
'Damn it.'
"What's the password?" he asked.
No response came out.
"…"
'He's not dead…right?'
Gray glanced at him. He went on his knees and put his ear close to Derek's chest, hearing a clear heartbeat. He sighed in relief.
Gray had a new idea.
By using Derek's unconscious face, he could exploit the face recognition setting in his phone, allowing Gray to unlock it without needing the password.
Click!
Bingo!
The phone was now unlocked.
Gray started to scroll through his and Kathy's chats.
Derek was giving many pleasantries and promises. He told Kathy he would bring her to dine in the finest restaurants, that she would soon become his girlfriend and so on.
Curious to see why the blonde girl had been so worried, he clicked on her chat.
Gray's face gradually fell.
'What…?'
Derek was blackmailing her.
He had gained her trust, got some revealing pictures from her, and was now using those pictures as leverage for monetary gain and all he wished for.
He clicked on his photos.
It was full of women. Most if not all of them had very revealing clothes—it was clearly not the first time he had done this.
Gray understood everything.
Kathy was going to be his latest victim.
The reason why he brought that girl with him in the restaurant was because he wanted to be seen as a prize—a prize that, to be caught, Kathy would feel the need to do everything she could to gain it.
He clicked on a chat Derek had with a friend.
Gray clenched his fists.
The were speaking about his sister.
Derek spoke about her in a disgusting manner. He berated her for not sending any pictures yet, saying he would soon force her into doing whatever he wanted regardless, including her in his abominable fantasies.
Gray glanced at the place where Derek was, his eyes bloodshot.
But…
He wasn't there!
Maybe it was the fact Gray's body had been weakened by the Five-Started Pointed Pentagram.
Maybe it was because he wasn't paying attention, not expecting this outcome.
Or maybe it was because this situation had troubled him deeply, causing his mind to be cluttered.
The reason didn't really matter.
What did was the outcome.
And it was…
A knife right to his neck.
Pain instantly flowed.
Air immediately escaped his lungs.
Gray brought his hand to his neck, trying to block most of the blood that was pouring out. He turned around and glanced at Derek, seeing his panicked expression.
"You dumbass…Why did you have to take my phone?! Why did you take my phone..?!"
Gray stepped forward, his body shaky, feeling tremendously heavy.
He tumbled, hitting his head on the floor.
Casanova once said:
"Many powerful Nephilim have been killed by entities who were weaker them—all because they got attacked whilst not expecting it."
To think that even humans belonged to that bunch.
…
Inside Gray's soul, Xanadu's tentacles had already pierced Genesis.
Thump…
Gray's dead body shook.
Thump…
Derek had already started to flee.
He dropped his bloodied knife behind him.
Thump…
A pulse shot across Gray's soul…!
…
Gray inhaled.
His eyes changed color.
From pitch-black, they became fully silver, the hint of a transcendent light barely shimmering inside.
As Derek's knife plunged towards his neck, Gray caught his hand. He tightened his grip, making Derek emit a wail of pain, his knife dropping down.
Gray then struck Derek's nose with his elbow, blood spurting out of it, flowing right to his mouth.
"ARGHHHH!!!" he stepped back.
Gray calmly turned around, his eyes narrowed.
He inspected his own condition.
From the use of the Five-Starred Pentagram, most of his already low quintessence had been used. Yet, thanks to Xanadu's ability to enhance Genesis, it transplanted His quintessence, allowing Gray enough power for a single prophecy.
At Gray's absolute maximum, he could have six consecutive revelation. But that may have been because of his mother's sudden appearance, and awakening of his ability.
Also, those consecutive revelations had damaged Genesis greatly, not allowing him to have any revelations at all for a long time.
Without the presence of any weakening agent such as the Five-Starred Pentagram, aided by Desensitization, Gray understood that his day-to-day maximum was 3 consecutive revelations.
If he bordered from 3 upwards, the damages to Genesis would scale up, possibly even bringing those effects Franz had spoken about.
"Agh—M-My nose…what did you do…?! What did you do…?!"
Derek sat on the floor, his legs crumpled over.
Gray placed Derek's phone in his pocket before pointing at the knife.
"…Take it."
Derek grabbed it and hastily stood up, flailing the knife right at Gray's face. The two were now fighting outside of Derek's house.
Derek slashed with his knife at a multitude of different directions, but Gray dodged everything with no effort, using minimal movements.
Derek screamed in anger as his inability to hit the young Nephilim infuriated him ever more.
He tried to stab Gray in his stomach, but he kicked the knife away.
Gray hit Derek with a quick strike on his face.
He then grabbed the knife in mid-air and threw it at Derek, the blade implanting itself in his shoulder. He hit the knife's grip with a spinning kick, plunging it even deeper.
Gray hit Derek's neck with a quick yet powerful strike before he emitted a wail of pain.
His body crumbled, and Derek passed out.
Gray looked around.
He couldn't let anyone hear him.
Since this neighborhood seemed dangerous, even if someone was awake at this late hour, he greatly doubted they would even care enough to call the police.
Gray glanced at the unconscious body of Derek before narrowing his eyes.
Without even thinking, he grabbed him by his coat and dragged his body inside the house.
With an expression twisted with anger, he grabbed the knife from Derek's shoulder.
Gray then…
Plunged the blade inside his heart.
Derek gasped, his bloodshot eyes flaring open, his body stiffening.
He tried to speak, his voice emitting almost an inaudible rattling sound, his eyes gradually losing focus.
"…Monst…er."