CHAPTER 1027: EVENING MEETING (3).

"Well..."

Cain raised a brow.

He was rather curious about what Lukas had to say.

Instead of answering directly, Lukas turned to Hunter with a smug grin on his face,

"For a lapdog, you don’t seem very attentive."

Hunter glanced at him coldly,

"And what do you mean by that?"

Lukas sneered, "The existence of the Blood Moon Sect is rather critical to our peace of mind."

He turned to Cain,

"You might not have caught wind of this even if you have been up and about recently, but there have been a few rather unique sightings in the city proper."

Cain raised a brow and turned to Hunter.

Hunter leaned in,

"I have been focused on monitoring and gathering information in the outside. I haven’t had the time to listen to any rumors. This is negligence on my part."

Cain shook his head, "No, I won’t hold it against you."

After saying that, he turned back to Lukas,

"Say what you have to say, but please, let’s keep this civil."

Luke gave Lukas a look and shook his head.

Lukas sighed then shrugged,

"Apparently, nature is attempting to reclaim the world. In the absence of devilish influence, it is only normal for the world to revert back to its original state. Big here’s the kicker though; what’s consuming the land, are mutant fauna and flora. The entire City Z would be crawling with them if not for the existence of the Blood Moon Sect."

His eyes narrowed, he folded his arms and leaned back,

"So as uncomfortable as it is, especially since we can’t really spare any forces, I think we should further try to reason things out with them. We can’t afford a fist fight or petty squabble right now."

Luke spoke immediately after,

"As unfortunate as this may sound, I agree with him, Cain."

He pursed his lips as he stalled for a moment. Then he continued,

"Without our presence at the shorelines, the dens of the Mutant and Aether Beasts would be filled up in a week or two. That would create a tide that would overrun the entire City."

Upon saying that, he turned to Hunter,

"Hunter, do you really believe the twelve Elders are so foolish that they would risk the chance of such a thing happening should they attack us?"

Hunter’s response was cold and bleak,

"You fool."

A rather loud silence settled in the meeting room.

Cain pursed his lips, "Hunter..."

Hunter’s grim expression seemed even more annoyed,

"The minds of pious fools isn’t something that can be understood. Even attempting to reason with them will be the doom of us all."

Luke frowned,

"Their faith in whatever god they serve shouldn’t suddenly render them stupid."

Hunter sneered, "Think again. These idiots were ready to sacrifice every being that didn’t worship their god just a few months ago. You’d be obviously to think they wouldn’t do it again."

Lukas raised a brow,

"But their god’s champion is gone. I know a thing or two about championship, and let me tell you. It’s going to be rather difficult for a new one to arise once the old one’s gone."

Hunter shook his head,

"To the best of my knowledge, the Blood Moon Sect does not know if the old Blood Matriarch is dead or not. In fact, we don’t know either."

Lukas frowned,

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean exactly what I said."

He turned to Cain,

"The last person to ever see the Blood Matriarch, was her final opponent, who I believe, was the Devil, Abaloth.

Cain grimaced.

Hunter continued, not noticing the strange expression on Cain’s face,

"Despite the fact that they battled, the corpse of the Matriacywas into found in the battlefield."

Lukas’ eyes narrowed,

"So? What difference does that make?*

"The difference is those idiots can delude themselves all they want that their Matriarch isn’t dead. And so long as the possibility remains,that means we are the ones under prime suspicion. If their Matriarch might not be dead, but the Devils are gone, that means we are the only ones that could possibly provide them with the answers they so much desire."

Hunter’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he slammed his hand right into the table before him,

"In other words, those idiots aren’t going to leave us alone until they’ve found those answers, even if they have to spill some blood, they will be willing."

This time, it was Lukas’ turn to fall silent.

Even Luke was silent as well.

Suddenly, a voice rang out through the quiet hall,

"I have sometyto ask. Since I was pulled from the lab today, might as wellake it worth it."

All heads turned.

Cain watched as from the very rear end of the hall, Steve stood.

He was dressed in a rather strange looking leather suit, as well as a mask fitted with breathing holes, tubes and cylinders filled with strange looking gases swimming within. Despite the mask though, Cain immediately knew who it was.

His words not impeded by the strange mask, Steve clarified,

"Hunter, my good man. While I do agree with you, I believe jumping right into slicing necks and blowing things up would be rather distasteful."

Hunter frowned,

"In that case, what do you suggest? I frankly don’t believe those Blood Moon idiots would be willing to hear us out in any way."

Steve snorted with laughter,

"Hunter, my good man. The best way to make others bend to your will, is not with a show of force."

With a chuckle, Steve’s gaze turned to Cain,

"Rather, it is through lies, trickery, and manipulation!"

Cain was a bit stumped.

And so was every one present.

Cain cleared his throat,

"Steve... Are you sure you are feeling alright? Are those gases, perhaps—"

"Ignore the gases, damn it!"

’It’s definitely the gases.’

Cain gave Hunter a signal with his eyes. Should Steve start acting funny, he was giving the go-ahead to take him down as fast as possible.

Steve cleared his throat,

"As I was saying, this so-called Blood Moon Sect surely isn’t as cohesive as they seem they are. Instead of just going in guns blazing, wouldn’t it be an even better idea, to solidify the possible gains first?"

Cain’s eyes narrowed.

He could definitely see something was up.

"Steve." He called out.

From behind the mask, a strange grin split across Steve’s face,

"What do you have in mind?"