A Tale of Forgotten Gods

Chapter 138: The Law

BAM!

The final shot rang through the air.

Murphy Law stood unfazed and turned toward them; all the bullets were dodged without even needing him to look. A soft whisper came. ”Such inconvenient waste. Now you are trapped here.”

Ahead of him, a few men stared at him, their faces hidden behind bird masks.

His boots clicked against the floor once as Murphy took a step forward.

Fwip!

His body disappeared instantly; all the men looked horrified as a gunshot echoed beside them. Three men slowly turned their necks toward the sound only to find a bullet pierced through one of their teammates.

The mask broke apart from the bullet as Murphy blinked once, then slowly a smile began to cross over his lips as the body of the man fell with a thud.

”Ah, too late for an introduction. I’ll ask only once before the bullet passes through each one of your flesh. Tell me, who sent you to eliminate me?” Murphy scoffed after questioning them with a lunatic expression. ”Don’t worry, the bullet won’t hurt bad when you’ll die in less than second.”

Hearing his dangerous tone, they stepped back a few steps from him as a muffled voice of one of them came forward. ”Let me explain... we have been paid to hunt you down.”

”How do you know what I look like? Who told you that?”

”Asterion Hetten. He... He gave us money.”

’Asterion? I have never heard his name before, but if he knows me, then could it be that he is connected to other royals?’ ”Tell me, is he a royal?”

”Y-yes.”

Murphy pointed his revolver at him and shot him in the head. ”Amusing.” He turned toward another man and asked. ”Your turn; tell me the secret location.”

The middle man gulped and glanced at the lamp body, closing his eyes. ”We don’t know, we got a cheque from the Pacian bank branch in Latvensa. I don’t know anything else.”

”Good, turn around and walk away.”

The man’s eyes widened as he realized he was free, and he quickly turned; just then Murphy’s voice came. ”You are a hitman, aren’t you? That means you may have killed at least a dozen.”

The man’s breath caught in his throat as he heard the calm tone of the detective, which seemed to squeeze the hitman’s mind. ”Yes, b-but I’ll quit. I won’t, I won’t do it again.”

”Ah, interesting, you will?”

”Y—”

BAM!

”Pathetic attempt, you thought you could wash that blood.” The bullet hit directly into the man’s heart, piercing through it as it stopped beating and making him fall on the ground with a thud. Murphy turned toward the remaining two men. ”Would you like a question or two too?”

Hearing that calm tone, both of the men lost their minds as they watched him execute with a straight expression without feeling a single hint of hesitation. Both of them hid behind the pillars and ran toward the door.

But who could escape the judgment of the Law himself.

Murphy followed them, his boots clicking against the ground.

As both of the men reached under a chandelier, Murphy raised his revolver and fired at the decoration, snapping the chain as the heavy iron fell on both men. Both of them screamed in pain behind their masks.

He bent down and slammed his revolver into one’s head. ”You may think you can escape police even when you take lives, although I wanted to give you a worse death for all the lives you have taken, but right now I won’t be a monster and give you an easy death.”

With a loud bang, he shot one as the bullet went through and hit the ground beneath.

He stood up before shooting the second man. ”Those who take lives, nonetheless of how the world operates, in my eyes, a life for a life is an equal exchange.”

After assassination, he took a brief glance at his bloodsoaked coat, then turned toward the place where the Hanged Man died. ’That is not over; there are multiple of these beings just like the one I killed in the basement. Does that mean there is someone who created these to work as an avatar to be praised by cultists?’

He walked toward a man as he found a page that was out of his pocket. He bent down and held the page in his fingers.

A cheque from the Pacian bank’s Latvensa branch. ’Hmm, I don’t need to fight them if I can expose them to the public without direct interference.’

His mind raced with multiple ideas within a few minutes, working as if it were faster than a robotic intelligence. ’Got it, the banks may have been the place where the transactions happen... if I do this, I can use their members against each other.’

With a cold smile, he came out of the bell tower as he stopped another supernatural crime, making him even more thirsty for mysteries.

He glanced back at the priest’s body once, then a sudden thought came. ’He was corrupted, but even then, he shouldn’t be able to use other authority without an Embodiment... could it be that I can find an Embodiment?’

He stopped in his tracks and moved toward the priest’s body. His hand reached in the pocket, and suddenly, he felt a burning sensation on his fingers.

He pulled out the mystical artifact; it was a charm, enhanced with the authority over Flesh, making it an Ordinal Eight Embodiment. Although, with such a low-grade embodiment, that corrupted priest managed to use a dangerous ability, making him doubt that it was someone else behind it.

He pocketed the charm and walked out of the bell tower, back under the moonlight as he looked at the empty street.

Midnight Wings would arrive soon; he had to leave before they came.

He exited the street, bringing the bloody scent and dust of the bell tower. Finally, he yawned slightly and looked at the moon.

’In a city where people trade justice for a clean conscience, a life isn’t worth the chalk it takes to outline the body. Yes, I have made my hands dirty — but let’s be honest: if the law actually brought peace, guys like me wouldn’t need to exist. Maybe my methods are ugly, but in a world where righteousness is weaponless, somebody has to hold the gun.’

He entered the police station, grabbed a piece of paper, and wrote down details.

Inside, the inspector, who was still awake, doing his late night duty, looked at him and spoke. ”Detective Law?”

”Don’t worry, from tomorrow, no bodies will ever come dead here.”

He handed the paper before coming out of the police station, then pulled out his cigarette before holding it between his lips.

The inspector watched him move and only could see the bloodstain on his clothes and a chopped finger, but he couldn’t ask what happened there before he was already gone.

’Asterion. The same members would betray you in a few days.’𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂