It was a calm night, two days after the full moon—and the night Leo changed Rosalia into his kind.
On the edge of an industrial zone not far from California (chosen blindly; not native, sorry), around a decrepit warehouse under flickering lights, shadows could be seen passing along its walls from time to time.
Not far from it, Leo was crouching on the edge of another warehouse.
"Everyone in position?" Leo asked. After receiving confirmation from four different teams, he gave the signal.
Soon, dozens of people appeared from the vicinity and blew through all the entrances, invading the inside in a blaze of gunfire.
Leo, on the other side, slipped into the shadows with a couple of people, heading directly to the underground level.
At first, Leo had intended to raid the place alone, but to his surprise, the location rendered his original tactic impossible. Any energy usage above a certain level was disrupted, and based on an early check on the first day, he couldn't summon his followers. Even if he did, they wouldn't be able to attack properly—the place affected them as well.
So after a quick round of observation, he pulled back and began forming a plan—one that, frankly, involved some of his father's old friends in the hunting department.
That fact only became known to Leo yesterday. And as one would expect from real arms brokers, the moment Leo asked for help, they called in favors and flew in immediately.
In the end, Leo still sent almost all of them in as a smokescreen, while he and the other high-end hunters slipped directly to the lower level to deactivate the disruptive mechanism.
Sadly for Leo, this time he hit a wall.
The moment he touched down, he felt an oppressive pressure slam him into the ground, barely holding his stance. As for the rest, they were already kneeling.
"Bad luck," Leo murmured.
One of his new companions spat. "You think?"
"Now, now… do you think this is the time to comment on your condition?" an old voice asked humorously.
Looking toward the owner of the voice, Leo found an old man sitting on a couch with a white cat on his lap—completely out of place in the middle of an office setup.
Catching the empty seat nearby, Leo raised an eyebrow, figuring he had been caught, and barely managed to straighten up.
"So, I presume I raised a lot of noise," Leo said, knowing the man in front of him was probably the guild master.
"No, actually, you hid quite well," the man replied. "To a scary degree, considering the time it took you to pull this off."
Leo felt ants crawling up his spine—the old man had been aware of his movements from the beginning.
"So you had me from the start," Leo said. "But care to explain what was going on upstairs?"
"What can I say?" The old man smirked. "You have an excellent house-cleaning service. I'd give you five stars if I could."
Finally, it clicked. The madman had used Leo and his plan to clean his organization of unwanted elements.
"Well, you can lift this pressure now," Leo said, massaging his neck. "It's starting to give me a headache."
"Sure," the old man said, snapping his fingers.
Leo sensed the pressure vanish. In the next moment, he used a quick movement and appeared directly in front of the old man.
The latter merely stared at him before tilting his head. "I thought you'd attack."
"Nah," Leo shifted slightly to the side. "Just hiding them from your vision—though that was probably unnecessary."
Leo guessed the man hadn't been bothered by them in the first place.
"It is indeed surprising, despite the fact that they weren't my targets," the old man said, glancing at the spot where they had disappeared. "Spatial displacement. Good."
"Yup." Leo retrieved a small pendant. "It sends you directly to a registered location."
Without giving the man time to react, Leo threw it aside, catching him off guard.
Instead of pressing the moment, Leo stepped closer and retrieved what looked like an old bottle.
"A Vinomisa, 1893. A treasure from my old man," he said, placing it on the side table. He retrieved three pairs of glasses and waited.
"You're funny, you know?" The man said with amusement, gesturing for him to pour. "I just caught you raiding my organization, and you're offering me a drink? You think I'll let you go?"
"Nah. That hurdle will come when we get to it," Leo said calmly as he poured the glasses and dropped a few ice cubes in. "This drink is just a thank-you."
"For what?" the man asked, genuinely confused.
"For the humbling lesson," Leo replied, taking one glass. "I only drink on rare occasions. Getting a life lesson is one of them."
The man burst into hearty laughter. "Man, that frankness sure brings back memories."
"I'll drink to that. to your sharp mind too," he said, picking up his glass and scratching the cat's head. "I guess it's your win this time. He figured you out, just as you said."
The cat somehow seemed to smirk before jumping down and shifting into human form.
What Leo now faced was a beautiful woman in her forties, smiling at him. After a few seconds of observation, she stepped closer.
"You've got your father's face and your mother's mind," she said, patting his head. "I'd say you won the lottery."
Leo was surprised by the familiarity, but nonetheless, his heart felt at ease for a brief moment.
At first, he had found the situation strange. Given everything he'd learned about the organization, he had expected something closer to a group execution.
Yet even after being captured, he could still sense the operation continuing. More than that, the retreat signal they tried to send had been blocked—only becoming active again after the upstairs cleanup was completed.
That feeling intensified when the man allowed his entourage to leave without resistance. So Leo circled back to attempt this move.
Truthfully, he would have done it anyway.
Despite believing he had full control of the situation—despite all the planning and investigation—it had all flipped in the snap of a finger.
It was a much-needed slap, a reminder of how bleak things could be in this world. Just imagining the situation turning worse sent chills down his spine.
"Well, I win the bet," the woman said, picking up the last cup and clinking it against the man's. "Now introductions are in order."
"As you guessed, I am the current master of this crappy organization—Alfred Wolfban," Alfred said, then gestured toward the woman. "And this lady is my partner in this life and the next, Amelia Haze."
"And she is your adopted aunt," Alfred added casually, dropping the bomb before taking a sip. "Damn Jonas really knew his stuff. I can't believe I got to drink some of his reserve just by roughing up his son a little."
That was all the confirmation Leo needed to know his father had close ties to this man—and early enough, Leo suspected his actions had already been accounted for.
Okay… this is getting more freaky, Leo thought as he downed the drink.