Mysterious Fog World: Eldritch Nexus

Kevin took Drake and Colette to the heart of the slums. He stopped his vehicle at one place and dismounted, Drake and Colette also climbed down from the bike.

As they walked through the maze-like slum neighborhood, Kevin led them on foot. They garnered a spectrum of reactions from the residents: some eyes gleamed with greed, others with lust, while some glowered with animosity.

Entering a narrow alley, Kevin rapped sharply on a metal door. A sliding window creaked open, revealing a pair of menacing eyes peering out. Recognizing Kevin, the figure on the other side nodded, and the door creaked open, granting them entry.

"They recognize me from our numerous weapon transactions," Kevin boasted, puffing up a bit. "That's why they're quick to let us in. If you came alone, getting through that door would be like pulling teeth." Drake and Colette exchanged knowing smiles and nodded in agreement.

They trailed behind Kevin as he led them inside. Descending a flight of stairs, they followed him into the basement.

Navigating through several doors, each guarded by a dozen or so thugs, Kevin guided them to a vast hall. Stepping inside, they immediately noticed the oppressive darkness enveloping the space.

Surveying the dimly lit hall, Colette remarked casually, "Looks like he's gone." Her expression remained unruffled despite the news. Drake let out a sigh, muttering, "Typical drama."

Suddenly, the lights flickered to life, illuminating the hall outward from where they stood. With each expanding radius of light, they realized an increasing number of thugs surrounded them. By the time the hall was fully illuminated, they found themselves encircled by over a hundred menacing figures, brandishing an array of cold weapons.

Two figures stood out in the distance atop what seemed like a makeshift platform. One, a burly, scar-riddled man stood shirtless, wielding a scimitar with an air of authority that marked him as the leader of the thugs. Beside him stood a figure they recognized all too well — Kevin, wielding a formidable great hammer with a calm determination in his eyes.

"Do you want us to applaud you for your dramatic entrance?" Drake asked with a teasing grin, his tone laced with amusement.

“You knew from the beginning?” Kevin asked, observing Drake and Colette's nonchalant expressions.

They exchanged a knowing glance before Colette shrugged casually. "Let's just say we had a hunch," she replied cryptically, a hint of mischief in her tone.

"How?" Kevin asked, his eyes narrowing dangerously, a hint of suspicion creeping into his voice.

Drake's words hung heavy in the tense atmosphere of the hall. "You guys sure have an interesting ritual," he remarked casually, his tone tinged with a mix of amusement and disdain.

"First, you find someone with negative feelings like anger, hate, envy, and resentment, for someone else. The more people they feel those emotions for, the better. Likewise, the more intense those emotions are, the better. Then you brew those negative emotions even more and finally, manipulate and influence them to kill the target of their emotions by making them feel the most pain and despair." Ignoring Kevin's question, he laid bare the grim reality of their operations calmly and calculatedly.

Kevin's knuckles whitened as his grip around his weapon tightened in response to Drake's analysis.

Despite the tension radiating from Kevin, Drake pressed on with a confident smile. "But that's just the first half of the ritual," he continued, his voice steady.

“The second half involves you killing those idiot pawns the same way, they gleefully filled their targets. They thought they were wolves, instead they were sheep fattened by a cackle of hyenas. The ritual completes when you kill those idiots by giving them the same pain and despair. And from what I have observed, you gain strength from those rituals. The more people your pawns feel negative emotions for, the more people they kill, and the more your returns will be after you kill them.”

The air crackled with palpable tension as Drake's words sank in. Even the thug leader standing beside Kevin regarded him with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

Drake's teasing smile widened as he continued, undeterred by the escalating tension. "You must be pissed that we spoiled your plan," he remarked, his tone laced with amusement. "You worked hard to prepare three targets for the ritual. But you had to kill Stephen before he could kill Peter as we were closing in on you." His words, delivered with casual confidence, cut through the charged atmosphere of the hall, laying bare the disruption of Kevin's carefully laid plans.

Kevin's anger simmered beneath the surface, but he made a conscious effort to rein it in. With Drake and Colette surrounded by over a hundred thugs, he knew that they would die a painful death shortly. So, he allowed them their last moments of amusement.

After a brief pause, Kevin regained his composure and addressed Drake's earlier statement. "You still haven't answered my question," he stated, his tone calm but insistent. "How did you find out?" Despite his controlled demeanor, there was a glint of curiosity in his eyes, hinting at a desire to understand the extent of their knowledge.

One by one, Colette listed their findings and observations. As Kevin listened to her findings, his expressions became even more grim.

"There were two sets of used dishes in Stephen's kitchen sink," Colette began, her voice steady. "Someone visited him last night. Someone whom he knew and had good relations with him. That person ate with him. The only person who visited him occasionally after his parents’ death was you."

"Stephen's nails had some traces of skin and blood," she continued, her gaze unwavering. "Even if you are wearing a long-sleeved shirt today, faint scratch marks were visible when the sleeve pulled up a little when you stretched your hand to pick up your great hammer."

"Due to the recent rain and water clogging, there are mud patches near Stephen's house," Colette concluded, her tone resolute. "You should have washed your shoes last night. In the entire route from your home to the shop, there was no place where your shoes would be dirtied so much by mud."

As Kevin listened to her findings, his expression grew grimmer, realizing the depth of their investigation and the evidence stacked against him.

Of course, there was one more reason. Drake found using his Intermediate stage perception mastery, that Kevin’s strength increased suddenly that morning. That only solidified his conjecture that the ritual was used to increase strength.

Colette's words sliced through the heavy silence, her tone carrying a mix of accusation and disappointment.

"You fanned the flames of Stephen's hate for James and Peter," she began, her voice tinged with reproach. "Whenever they bullied him, you ignored him to increase the hate and resentment he had towards them. But he never hated you, because you were the one who helped him after his parents' death and even gave him a job. Instead, he worked hard to not disappoint you anymore and become a good apprentice. And aren’t Peter and James your best students, why include them in your twisted plan?"

A weighty silence settled over the room as Colette's words sank in, each syllable driving home the betrayal and manipulation at play. They revealed the cold-heartedness lurking beneath Kevin’s outward demeanor.

Kevin's words cut through the tension like a knife, his laughter ringing out with a chilling madness that sent shivers down the spines of those present.

"So what if I used him?" he spat, his voice laced with contempt. "I helped him so much after the passing of his family. Then so what if I used him and then killed him to get more power? He should be proud that he was at least useful for something and was not an utter disappointment in life."

"As for James and Peter," he continued, "Their accomplishments are all due to me. Since I taught them everything, the least I can expect from them is to die for me to pay me back."

His callous words echoed in the stunned silence of the room, each syllable dripping with a venomous disregard for his apprentices’ lives. Those words revealed the true depths of Kevin's depravity as he reveled in his twisted logic.

Amidst Kevin's maniacal laughter, he gloated, "Congratulations, detectives. You solved the murder cases in town. Yes, all those who died were the targets of the ritual. You must be proud that you reached me. Now both of you can die with peace of mind."

The thugs surrounding Drake and Colette tensed, their weapons at the ready, awaiting the signal to strike. But instead of fear, Drake and Colette's faces bore expressions of amusement.

Drake and Colette exchanged amused glances as they burst into laughter, their eyes fixed on Kevin as if he were a clueless fool. "This idiot thinks we don't know that he is not the mastermind," Drake said to Colette taunting Kevin, his voice loud and clear for all to hear.

The laughter echoed in the tense atmosphere. Kevin's facade finally cracked, his expression crumbling under the weight of Drake's words. Even the thug leader who was standing beside him looked on in shock, his disbelief mirroring Kevin's.