FoJ: Chapter 10

New York City, Random Rooftop

One day after the Karnstein fight.

“That smile is very unsettling.” A guttural voice comments. “Everything about that guy looks normal, except that damn smile.”

A tall, emaciated figure with skin stretched tightly over his sharp bones, giving him a hauntingly gaunt appearance, stood on top of a deserted rooftop. He had Pale, ashen skin marred by faint veins and frostbitten patches, with an almost spectral glow. Long, unkempt, dark hair hanging in strands, framing a face both human and beastly, with jagged, sharp teeth. And claw-like fingers elongated, suggesting a primal, predatory nature despite his eerily humanoid form.

His hollow, glowing eyes—icy blue—that pierce through the darkness with an unnatural intensity, narrowed before a set of binoculars.

He lowers the device, looking down to his side. “Why use that mortal contraption?” He comments. “An old-fashioned ambush would do fine.”

A familiar silhouette -to the viewers, at least- laid in a low, prone position, on his hands was a strange sniper rifle resting on a bipod, looking at the same direction as the previous man.

His sniper rifle is a sleek, matte black weapon with glowing red runes etched along the barrel, radiating faint heat, an arcane-infused scope, and a stock etched with crimson engravings

Through his beak like mask, the man stared through the elongated scope.

His target? An above average looking young adult in bartender clothes, playing catch with a young boy with white hair and red eyes.

“I’m an assassin, not a battle maniac like you.” His voice was dismissive, staying concentrated on his goal. “This baby is my best money maker, with a range of 8000 meters(4.97097 miles), enchanted rounds that can penetrate 2 feet of reinforced steel or magical barriers with ease, a scope that offers 20x magnification and vision through darkness, fog, or magical obscurities, and precision capable of striking a target the size of a coin. I killed Ultimate-Class beings with this bad boy, and it cost me a leg and an arm to commission to the right people.”

“So you’re about to pop that guy huh… And to think the Lord thought he was going to be dangerous.”

“That’s the plan, at least.”

And yet, the moment he had a clear shot, the moment he even thought of pressing the trigger, he saw through his scope that Alexander had turned his head sharply all of a sudden, staring straight back at him.

The masked man recoiled. “Shit!”

“What? What’s happening?” The lanky beast man responds, moving to a more cautious stance.

The masked man simply ignores him, looking back into the scope, only to see his target scratching the back of their head in confusion, before turning back toward the boy.

“He just… That guy just sensed it, the moment I even thought about taking the shot, he sensed it.”

The lanky man puts a hand on his chin in thought. “Heeeh, some kind of short term precognition?” He exclaims. “We did a background check on him, right?”

The masked man nods mindlessly. “Right, Alexander Roberts, orphan, typical mortal background, and no particular inhuman ancestry.” He says. “Plus, I don’t think that tracks, I’m leaning more toward raw instinct.”

“If that’s it, then those are some scary sharp senses.” He replies. “And I don’t think a straightforward fight will cut it, that guy killed a strong High-Class vampire who was inhabited by the Lord. So, what’s our next move?”

The masked man lays back and puts his hands over his knees, letting out a deep breath in order to think.

“He’s an unknown, unknowns need to be taken off the board.” He muses outloud. “If we can’t assassinate him, and we can’t fight him directly, then we need to divert him. Then there’s the dagger to consider.”

“Why don’t we steal the dagger as planned, and take the kid while he’s in school?” The half beast argues. “No one is guarding him then.”

The masked man turns to his partner, it wasn’t visible, but one can clearly get the look of disdain behind it.

“You want to kidnap a kid going at a fallen sponsored school?” He blurts out. “Are you goddamn crazy?”

The Girgori didn’t really start to sponsor schools until some time ago, no one knows why, but apparently some ten years ago someone decided to shit in Baraqiel’s mood, and ever since then the Fallen Archangel started sponsoring elementary and middle schools all around the globe, marketing it to the supernatural community as a safe place to take your kids.

At first, people thought it to be some sort of charity thing, but the schools were state of the art, and some even offered some specializing courses in magic and such, so a lot of people signed their children up. Sure, it was even way more expensive than private schools for the mundane, but most supernatural people on Earth were rich as fuck.

Then some fucker kidnapped one of their kids and was the unfortunate host to a personal visit from the Cadre, stories say that the poor fella’s stuck at Baraqiel’s side, still getting tortured whenever the Archfallen is either bored or angry.

No one dared to touch one of their institutions ever since.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise in hindsight, the Grigori’s cadre are known to be really fucking obsessed about their passion projects.

“I’m just going to pretend you didn’t suggest that.” The masked man chides. “Plus, I don’t kill children.”

“Right… The Bloody Spectre, renowned assassin and the terror of the night, foiled by the presence of prepubescent mortals.”

The masked man clicks his tongue. “My expertise is in taking care of problematic situations involving strong adversaries, I don’t think my clientele has any issues with my personal hangups.” He admonishes. “Never mind that, we need to come up with a game plan.”

“Simple, right?” The beastman answers. “Steal the dagger, ambush the bar, get the kid.”

“No.” The assassin shakes his head. “The Lucky Lounge is frequented by a lot of other people, some can even be leaders of local factions.”

“But you can handle them, no? the strongest is that Romulus guy, and he’s on the lower end of Ultimate Class.”

“Still, there’s a lot of uncertainty, that plan requires that I deal with whoever could be on the Bar in addition to the new unknown, your Lord said that guy is at least as strong as me, right?” He explains. “With his senses, there’s a good chance I won’t be able to sneak past him, which means I’ll have to fight him and whoever else is there head on, no, we have to create a diversion.”

Both stayed silent for a while, thinking of a solution.

“Say… There’s that meeting happening real soon, right?”

The beastman nods. “Yeah, but that means having all the local big shots in one room, that’s a bunch of quasi-Ultimates and a one weak one, even with the unknown’s absence that’s at least as bad.” He comments. “That Paimon guy especially, with his busted bloodline ability he can be as strong as a decent Ultimate-Class, even if for a short while. But we’re the ones with a time constraint.”

“I’d rather ensure known variables than deal with unknowns, plus, your Lord still has the vampire connect, right?”

“Yeah, but they’re going to want something in exchange.”

“Just offer an alternative to their infrastructure in New Tork.” The assassin proposes. “Those guys will need to beg and scrape to get allowed back in by the local powers, and those fuckers are too arrogant, they’d do it, but they’d also take any alternative if it floats their boat.”

“That’s gonna require some moving parts, that means exposure, which means a higher chance of getting figured out by others. Plus, that doesn’t cover how to steal the dagger or get that guy out of the way. That amazzonian chick is still circling the fallen base, I think she’s onto our next move.”

“That works just fine.” The masked man replies. “I’ll handle both of those things, don’t worry/”

“How?”

“I may be on loan to your Lord, but that doesn’t mean I can’t use some of my original resources.” He replies. “My people have some pull with a fallen guy really up there in the hierarchy, I think I have an idea, but it’s going to get dangerous for you.”

The beast man shrugs. “With the help of the Lord, all danger might no be overcome, but it definitely can be negated.”