After Joy was done asking Amon a few more questions, she was finally convinced that he wasn't the butcher.
Amon smiled politely at them and escorted them to their vehicle parked outside.
Just as Joy was about to inform Amon to be on the lookout for the butcher, a distress sound came in through the radio.
Bzz… bzzz.
"Anyone there? We've discovered a secret organisation where countless babies are being kept. We believe it's a branch of the demon child faction. All forces are to head to Sota Street, located at the southern part of the Cold Moon District."
"A branch of the demon child faction?" Joy's expression changed drastically as she whispered.
The three men behind her were taken aback by the news as well.
Meanwhile, Amon put on a confused expression on his face as he stared at her.
"Some other time," Joy said hastily as she got into the car and waved the other three to get in. The car sped off in moments, rushing towards the southern part of the Cold Moon District.
The moment the car vanished from his field of vision, a cold look appeared on Amon's face.
'The demon child faction. So that's what they're called.' A ruthless light flashed in Amon's eyes.
'After searching for so long, I finally found leads on them.' Amon clenched his fist tightly, rage burning in his chest.
To these people who had dared harbor evil intentions toward his daughter, Amon would never spare them.
Smoothly putting on a calm smile, Amon stepped inside and noticed Kayla in the parlor.
"A call from work just came in. They found an unexplored mana stone site."
Kayla was startled by the news, however, she just smiled faintly and urged,
"Alright, head to work. Till you come back… take care of yourself."
"I will," Amon replied, nodding before giving her a kiss on the lips.
Heading to the room, he took his working bag and changed into a neat office shirt and trousers before swiftly leaving for 'work'.
Amon hailed a taxi, which dropped him far enough from his home before he quickly switched directions, heading towards a nearby abandoned warehouse he had found the previous week.
Not feeling any sense of danger from his danger sense, Amon calmly stepped into the building.
Navigating towards the inner room, he took out another briefcase and gently tugged it open.
Inside the briefcase, one could see a leather suit, atop which rested a cute, cat-faced mask.
"The butcher…" Amon whispered, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
He placed the mask over his face and slowly exhaled, feeling a unique bloodlust and urge to kill rise from the depths of his heart.
Then, he undressed, taking off the clothes he'd worn and replacing them with a different set. Following which, he put on the black leather coat.
By the side of the briefcase, Amon took out a bottle of fuel and a lighter.
Nodding slightly, the chilly eyes underneath the mask glanced in the direction of the south.
"Demon child faction… the butcher is coming."
…
Sota Street, Cold Moon District, at an abandoned warehouse.
The demon child faction operated in secret, ensuring that they captured enough infants, and when they'd reached a sufficient number, they'd transport them to the major factions.
However, today was… different.
Just after kidnapping an infant from the hospital, one of the men was unexpectedly followed by an officer.
Unaware, the location of this branch had been leaked.
Everything was proceeding smoothly in the demon child faction.
Babies were being fed milk. More than thirty children filled the dining hall, eating with practiced movements as though they were robots.
A few guards played games and gisted casually. This was practically a normal day at the abandoned warehouse.
Suddenly…
Sirens blasted through the surroundings as the wails of police vans screeching towards the warehouse thundered loudly.
From the noise, one could tell they were numerous.
Instantly, everyone within the warehouse was on high alert.
"Our location has been compromised!" In the inner chambers of the warehouse sat a man with long blonde hair, with two naked, sleeping beauties beside him.
Rubbing his eyes groggily, he glanced outward, his gaze scanning the area as the sirens filled his ears.
Slapping the lady beside him, he muttered before standing up, "Get off me, bitch."
Bang!
Four figures burst into the room, their expressions filled with panic.
"Boss, our location has been compromised!" There were two girls and two guys, and the man in the lead, Harold, quickly spoke up.
Although they were of similar strength, since Jordan was the strongest among them, they unanimously acknowledged him as their leader.
Jordan glanced at him and quickly wore his clothes.
"I know, dumbass. I've got ears of my own."
"What do we do?" Janet, a lady with brunette hair and two daggers resting beside her, questioned. Her gaze briefly lingered on the two women on the bed, and disgust flickered through her eyes.
"What else? We fight them while waiting for reinforcements." Jordan replied and pulled up his phone.
Swiping a few times, he quickly navigated to the call section.
"Boss. Our location has been compromised. We need you to come rescue us."
The others waited in silence for the reply from one of the masters at the headquarters of the demon child faction.
Moments passed before a weary voice came from the other end.
"Is she there?"
"Yes, boss," Jordan quickly replied.
The line fell silent before the voice spoke once more. "Alright, I'll be there shortly. Hold on for a few minutes."
Following the words, the beep of the line disconnecting echoed.
"See? Everything's solved." Jordan smirked at the group.
"Still, we'd need to hold them off till he arrives… we might not be able to handle it."
"We just need to threaten them with the children. They won't be able to do anything. Jamie, quickly get the children."
"Okay!" Jamie nodded, swiftly rushing out of the room.
…
Before long, the group of five gathered outside, and in front of them were more than ten children, tied up and laid sprawled on the ground.
The sirens had long since come to a stop, and more than ten armed men stood at the front of the vehicles, staring off at the five heretics.
Above, a helicopter hovered silently, waiting patiently to track down the men engaged in a deadly stalemate.
A drone hovered as well, capturing the scene and broadcasting it across various platforms. The situation had already climbed to number one on social media.
Everyone felt sympathetic toward the children sprawled on the ground, wondering how the armed forces planned to rescue them.
At the same time, their hatred towards the demon child faction burned ever brighter. How could they still consider themselves human after treating children this way?
Couldn't they see the way the children trembled in fear?
The two sides maintained the stalemate for a long time when suddenly, a sharp whooshing sound echoed.
Whoooshhhhh.
"What… what is that?" the man in the helicopter controlling the drone muttered in shock, zooming in slightly at a cluster of dust racing toward the warehouse at lightning speed.
Due to the figure's speed, a wave of dust obscured his features.
In the blink of an eye, the silhouette closed the distance with the warehouse.
The moment the figure arrived, a pitch-black sword light filled the skies.
The skies darkened considerably as space compressed under the weight of the sword strike.
'Spatial Phantom Sword Art.'
Swoosh!
Before the heretics could react, the heads of three of them exploded, while Jamie and Jordan had their hands severed from their bodies.
Everyone's eyes widened in horror at the sight, and they couldn't help turning toward the direction of the silhouette as the dust slowly cleared.
Suddenly, everyone's heart dropped to rock bottom as they realized one thing.
The butcher had arrived.