The Deceitful One

Monday, 19th October 1582.

Bryan sat inside his car in a somber mood as he looked at the fleeting scenery through the window. The results of his dream divination were alarming, to say the least. Hence, as soon as he got the revelation from the Dreamworld, he hurriedly went out to confirm.

Benny who was sitting on his lap, looked up at him and asked in concern, 'What did you see?'

Bryan replied with a pensive expression, "It was very concerning."

If what the vision he saw was true, then this whole conspiracy including the Holy Blood Sect and the Central Continent was much deeper than he thought. In simple terms, he couldn't believe what he had gotten himself into.

Soon his car stopped by at a relatively famous crossing. Bryan, along with Benny, got out of the car and started to walk on the sidewalk. This was one of the main streets in Nadir, Solomon Avenue. Naturally, it was named after the founding emperor of the empire.

One end of the street led away from the city, and the other end of the street led toward the grand, majestic building that Bryan had seen in his vision. And currently, he was walking toward that building.

Even from a distance, he could still see the grandiose building. And the closer he got, the more people began to crowd around. Just like him, they had also come to view this building from afar. After all, this was one of the most famous tourist spots in the city.

However, due to the strict security, none of the tourists from all over the world could enter the gates of this building. Even some of the nobles couldn't do that, much less complete strangers.

Bryan knew that the revelation given by the Dreamworld could not be false. But deep down, he wanted it to be. Because if this were to be true, it would mean so much trouble that he didn't even want to comprehend it.

Soon, Bryan walked near the gates of this building. Pushing the crowd in front of him, he finally reached the front where he saw the humongous main gates being guarded by knights in armor.

There were either wielding a spear or a sword. None of them could be seen holding modern weapons. This was done so in order to preserve the traditions, in a way.

Bryan looked past the knights and at the coat of arms displayed at the center of the gates, and only three words escaped his lips, "Fuck… my… life…."

Right at that moment, he heard the voice of a tour guide who was introducing this place to a bunch of tourists behind her. "Ladies and gentlemen, this magnificent building in front of you is the Royal Palace of the Belize Kingdom. Built in the year 1163, it houses the current monarch, King Philip III, and his royal family…."

The tour guide's voice trailed off as she moved further away from Bryan. On the other hand, after confirming his divination, Bryan turned around and walked back to his car. He began to rub his temples and wonder, 'Does the emperor know of this?'

He wanted to believe that the Holy Blood Sect had some deals going on with someone related to the royal family and not the King himself. But he knew this was very unlikely. After all, how couldn't King Philip be aware of anything happening inside his kingdom?

Moreover, his intuition kept telling him that there was definitely something fishy going on between the Holy Blood Sect and the royalty of the Belize Kingdom.

As he sat back in his car, he instructed his chauffeur to return back home. On the way, he decided to relay this information to the emperor at the next gathering.

About less than thirty minutes later, he finally reached home. Just as he was entering the gates to his mansion, he saw a fancy, black sedan parked right outside his mansion. His eyes narrowed as he realized that he had never seen this car model anywhere else in the city.

He had an idea as to who it might've belonged to. And as expected, just as he alighted from his car, Donald hurriedly walked toward him, his eyes shining with a hint of nervousness as well as excitement.

"Master," Donald approached him and then walked right beside him. "There's an esteemed guest in the house."

Bryan looked at him and raised his eyebrow, "So, he's finally here, eh?"

Donald gulped involuntarily, "Yes, master." He then paused for a moment and added. "He's waiting for you in your study."

Bryan's eyebrow furrowed when he heard that. Usually, when guests went to someone's house, they would always wait in the dining room or anywhere that wasn't meant to be private.

And Bryan's study room was also his base of operations of sorts. It was usually the place where he worked out of and could be also considered to be his office. For a guest to enter his house and wait inside his study room instead of the living room was extremely disrespectful, especially by noble standards.

Moreover, some of Bryan's books on mysticism were also kept in his study. Albeit, one would never be able to open these books if they didn't put spiritual force inside of them. That was the key to unlocking all the books related to mysticism.

Bryan looked at Donald and asked, "How long has he been here?"

"Master Anthony, it's been almost fifteen minutes." He then hurriedly added, "I tried my best from preventing him from going to the second floor, but he completely ignored me."

"Relax," Bryan patted his shoulder. "It's not your fault."

Donald finally heaved a sigh of relief. He really thought that his master would blame him for his incompetence. The next moment he heard Bryan say, "I'll go visit our guest."

For some reason, when he heard Bryan speak, his heart skipped a beat. There was a cold undertone in his words and he knew that Bryan was a little angry that somewhere dared to be so insolent inside his own home.

The next moment, he saw Bryan walk toward the second floor with his hands clasped behind his back. Donald looked at his departing back in concern. He wasn't concerned for his master, but the guest.

"Meow~" Suddenly, a familiar voice drifted into his ears. Donald looked down to see Benny sitting down on the floor right in front of him, and looking at him with big, innocent eyes.

Seeing this, Donald couldn't help but smile warmly. "Alright, let's get you something to eat." With that, he walked toward the kitchen. He didn't dare to lift Benny up and treat him like a pet after coming to know of his identity.

Benny happily circled around Donald and together they went toward the kitchen.

...

Inside Bryan's study on the second floor, a young man with a neatly trimmed black mustache was currently reading a book on mysticism with great interest. He was wearing a three-piece brown suit and appeared very gentlemanly.

He naturally emanated a scholarly aura and seemed to completely blend in with the large study which also served as Bryan's library. He was wearing round, transparent glasses, and every now and then his eyes shone with curiosity and understanding.

"These notes are so fascinating…." The man muttered under his breath. He was completely in awe after reading Bryan's personal notes on mediation. Just as he was about to take out another book from the shelf, the door to the study slammed open and shook the walls.

The man wasn't phased in the least. He calmly put the book he was holding back onto the shelf and turned to look toward the door with a faint smile on his face. There, he saw a middle-aged man with brown hair and brown eyes, a neatly trimmed mustache along with a goatee, expressionlessly look at him.

He walked toward the brown-haired man whom he assumed to be the owner of this mansion. He stopped only a few feet away from him and greeted, "Mr. Wayne, it is a pleasure to meet you."

The man slowly walked around Bryan and chuckled. "Initially, I had just come here to tell you to start working under me. But who would have thought?" He looked at Bryan and smirked. "That you were actually a Transcendent."

Bryan didn't reply. Instead, he released his tyrannical spiritual force and instantly tried to suppress the man.

Seeing the vast spiritual pressure about to wash down on him, the man's eyes narrowed. The next moment, he pressed an inconspicuous button on his ring, following that, a blue forcefield formed around him, shielding him from Bryan's spiritual pressure.

And not just that, the man then continued to supply the forcefield with his own spiritual force. And just like that, a battle of spiritual force had begun between the two men. It continued on for over a minute, with no clear winner coming out on top.

In the end, Bryan's spiritual force managed to break the man's forcefield, but in the process, his own spiritual force had also severely depleted. After all, he had really gone maximum output during those few minutes.

The man was clearly surprised that the result of the small battle was a draw. He looked at Bryan in amazement. "What a shocker! I thought you were a mere weakling, but turns out you're the same rank as I am."

Bryan's veins bulged from the side of his forehead. "You're a rude fucker, aren't you?"

"Haha," The man burst into laughter. "I've been told I can be very abrasive."

He then stretched his hand out and respectfully said, "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Nicholas Tenant."