Midnight Prince: Empire of Sin

[Saturday — 7th December 2030 — 1:30 am]

It was the time for a new start even though the ambience of night still filled the skies above. The traffic had noticeably become less busy than before even though city life was anything but busy. However, Los Angeles was a place where people never slept and on this day, the thick scent of murder was about to spread through the streets of LA. An event that would plunge the city of Supernaturals into a deep state of shock and fear…

'The Binge Eater once again…'

Adam mused quietly as he flew toward the direction he had determined to be the hideout of the gang leader called Boris while listening to Marlene and receiving the required information from Hacker.

While this case seemed complicated, his attention was more on the fact that the Binge Eater had popped up once again in a matter that directly or indirectly concerned him.

What he also found intriguing was how that sibling of his seemed to have a thing with the divine and even an ancient bloodline attached to him. He wondered what his end goal could be or what he was doing right now.

'Still, it seems like stealing power runs in the family, doesn't it?'

From Eve stealing the power of Asmodeus for herself to even Cain stealing Beelzebub's power for himself all those years ago, Then came the event of Lycaon stealing the power of two godly beings and even in his case, there was the event of him more or less stealing a part of the power and authority that belonged to Asmodeus as well. They were all robbers of the divine, it seemed….

'Do all my siblings have something similar for themselves? That's an intriguing scenario…'

He didn't know. The Dwarven primogenitor was one of his siblings but he didn't seem to have a way to copy power or steal them from anyone.

—Or Perhaps he may have done it in the past and it simply wasn't broadcast to the world. It was something he would not be able to get the answer to before reaching a much higher level.

Either way, the Binge Eater seemed strangely related to him through his actions.

"Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, thrice is a pattern."

This was the second time. He would have to see if there would really be a third. However, he had a hunch that the third occurrence was now only a matter of time.

Now though, he had people to kill some people and save a friend and a mermaid…

[This will be your first true and proper fight to the death against another gold-ranked Hunter. Perhaps two even. Do you think that you will be able to win?]

Adam grinned at the question that Genesis threw its way in its usual emotionless tone.

The difference between the A and the S rank was extremely large. So far it surpassed the difference in power between a Bronze and a Gold-ranked hunter.

If it was a cultivation novel, he would say the two were in two entirely different realms and represented the difference between heaven and earth.

"When I faced Makoto, I had just reached the A rank and obtained the power of Dreams. I also only had the power of Electromagnetism for barely one day by that point. Simply put, I was still a noob and with far less means in my arsenal…"

It wouldn't be a mistake to say that he had faced Makoto when he was at his weakest as an A-ranked being which was barely equal to the Gold equivalent in Hunter terms.

Now though…

"Hahaha… Let's see what will happen."

He was exponentially stronger and more skillful than his self from three weeks back.

So much was the difference between his two selves that… he had no doubt he could completely trash his past self within milliseconds.

'This will be fun.'

Adam's eyes shone brightly, a gloomy feeling hidden within their cerulean hues.

After all, Steven had been kidnapped and even if he was alive, this moment would most likely be highly traumatic for him all things considered.

The more he thought about it, the larger the darkness in his eyes grew till it shaded even the bright shine of his cerulean orbs. He meant business this time…

"Seems like I will lose my bet with you."

[... Should we call the Hounds?]

There was no banter in Hacker's voice. She knew when to joke around and having Adam take on a Gold hunter while his friends were held hostage wasn't a joking situation at all.

"What is the name of the gang?"

[The Izmailovskaya Bratva. It's quite a large-sized gang in Russia. They are divided into two branches. Izmailovska?a et Golianovska?a— the first one being the Branch under Boris himself. His boss' name is Sergei Trofimov. The leader of the second branch is called Iskandar Makhmoudov. Iskandar only takes care of the Operation on the Russian side of things and shouldn't interfere in this case unless something extreme happens to the other branch.]

Now that Hacker determined that they would go on full hostility, she brought out all the information she needed to accurately determine the best possible path of action against the powerful gang.

[Normally, I would simply advise taking your friend and leaving the scene. Yui can negotiate with Sergei and make sure we don't become fully hostile with them but if there is a matter of longevity and the divine weapon attached to it, everything changes.]

Hacker knew full well how crazy humans could become when it came to increasing their pitiful lifespans.

There were no horrors those men in power with dwindling lifespans wouldn't be willing to commit for a chance at immortality.

Stopping Sergei from increasing his lifespan would eventually make them mortal enemies.

[So. Do you think you will need any assistance?]

"I won't need anyone to go and face Boris with me. But for the gang and the branches here and Los Angeles, I will leave them to you.]

[Very well. Haha, we seriously have been quite busy ever since you joined us.]

Sergei's gang might be small in Los Angeles but it was in no way a weak gang. They, in fact, even had more influence in New York City than they did over here.

Swallowing a part of this gang here would make all the forces that were previously only wary of them completely decide their stances.

Either become enemies or allies.

"Sorry. It seems like I caused many troubles for you guys."

[Don't worry. We are comrades. I expect you to rush for us as well in the future.]

Hacker was candid in her desires. Some might take her words as considering the relationship with Adam as a give-and-take rather than one based on comradeship.

But she believed that all relationships were based on give and take in their roots. If you obtained nothing from a relationship, be it materialistically or psychologically, then there was something wrong with your relationship with the other individual.

[Keep in contact and… Be careful.]

"When everything starts, I will disable all possible communication. But do not worry — They are the ones who should be careful of facing me."

.

.

.