Lord Crow Of Abria

It didn take long for Jacob and Janin to catch up with Ostroxius on his trail as they arrived at a nearly deserted town near the Marques mansion. Both canines led them to an alleyway where its barely lit by dim streetlights. Kim cautiously walks forward a few steps with Nia following behind him a few steps away.

”Be on your guard Nia. Jacob, Janin. Go back to the estate before that man starts whining dramatically about you both being gone. ” Kim orders the two dogs that immediately obey as they run off back to the Royald estate.

”I still don understand how Royald manages to get those canines himself. He probably just got them out of luck. ” Nia muttered to which Kim just responded with a short hum. The alleyway led on much deeper than the two expected, their eyes had now adjusted to the darkness. Everything was silent until they heard a thud in front of them, both Kim and Nia whipping out their revolvers pointing straightforward, a somehow dimly lit part of the alleyway. There was Ostroxius in front of them, a young woman dead beneath his feet. He was humming excitedly to himself as he licked the blood of his scalpel.

”Im not really surprised you managed to catch up with me this time little earl. After all, an old man like me has to somehow satisfy his urges. ” Ostroxius chuckles darkly as he turns face to face with the earl and the detective. Kim scoffed as the grip he had on his gun became tighter.

”You
e disgusting. ” Nia hissed under her breath as she now stood beside Kim, noticing how he was shaking a little from anger, worried for her friend that he might do something rash for once in his life.

”Now. I should stop running away eh? After all, I feel annoyed now as you petty children always manage to be on the trail of my heels no matter how many times I hide from you. ” The old man laughs dryly. Putting his hands behind his back, he had a wicked smile on his face as they heard a stab. Kim and Nias eyes widened as Ostroxius reveals that he has stabbed himself with a bronze dagger. Bronze daggers are known to be used on fell men to expose what they really are as they can shift into other people. Black blood dripped from the blade, a menacing aura shifted throughout the area.

”You have got to be kidding me.. You were already dead before?! ” The young detective sneered as Kim stayed quiet, as if he wasn affected at all by what Ostroxius had just revealed.

”My my.. The little crow is trying to act not surprised that I am a fell man? After all, the only time I can feel pain is when I get harmed by this petty metal ” Ostroxius chuckles .

”You mean a petty metal thats actually one of your kinds weaknesses. ” Nia mumbles.

”Maybe, but I did not know scum like you would be allowed to be raised from the dead. Ah yes.. I forgot thats the reason why you are called fell men after all. A disgrace to humanity really. It makes me question what is truly the purpose of fell men. It only might be because life wants you to suffer more than you previously did. ” Kim replies with a closed eye smile mockingly directed to Ostroxius. The elder mans right eye twitched in annoyance while Nia caught up on what the two men were doing.

”I should have considered the fact that there were cases that most of the Hagar family turned to fell men. After all, all of you are just intruding on innocent peoples lives for your sickening sadistic pleasure. ” Kim continued, his tone was dripping venom every time he spoke each word. Nia felt a bit uncomfortable and stepped back a bit, feeling the aura of both men becoming more dangerous by the second.

”I see. Im pretty sure you are irritated enough to continue to chase me. After all, you
e still trying to find your supposed dead fathers whereabouts.. Aren you, little crow? ” It was Ostroxius turn to smile in a wicked manner, seeing Kims glare hardening.

”Lets end this chit chat. You are right about that. I can no longer afford to waste my time chasing an already dead person after all. ” Kim glowered as he soon started shooting his bullets at Ostroxius who didn manage to dodge two of the bullets in time, his left shoulder and arm being shot. Black blood flows out of his wounds but he seems not bothered at all. Ostroxius groans and decides to flee.

”Oh hes not getting away this time! ” Nia sneers as she takes off quickly, shooting her bullets directly at Ostroxius.

”Nia! We have to stab his heart somehow, its the only way hell die permanently! ” Kim runs beside his friend who nods. They soon chased Ostroxius out in the open streets, people who were strolling out and about were suddenly frozen at the sudden chase that was occuring. Instinctively recognizing the earl and the detective they move to clear the path.

Kim cursed at himself for not being fully prepared as he continued to chase the old man, they soon ended up on the abandoned parts of the streets, a few shops and a few people were around.

”He could be anywhere now.. Dang it. ” Nia sighs as her shoulders slump.

”Im surprised you managed to chase him this far. Especially with those high heels of yours. Nia, I think you should just ask around the shops. Ill look around here outside. ” Kim says as he takes off his coat and puts it around her shoulders, soon pushing his friend towards one of the open shops. ”Tell me if you find anything thats suspicious. Ill be right outside. ”

Nias eyes widen but soon she nods in understanding as she stands in front of the entrance of the dressing shop, one of her hands clutching Kims coat and the other on a doorknob. Wishing him luck and to stay safe, she soon enters the shop. The young earl soon went on his own way going down the path that leads to the woods. He keeps walking down the path, trusting his gut feelings to follow it and he soon reaches an abandoned farm. Kim realized that the farm was among the land owning documents that he received that was suddenly going into building terminations.

Kim had a picture of it on one of the documents he had but seeing it before him, he knows that this could be the perfect hiding place for an injured fell man, a huge abandoned old rusty barn and a nearby wilted cornfield .But at the same time, he can find an ax or a machete or anything to use to finally get rid of the pest. A black shadow soon passed through right in front of him making him glare at the direction where the shadow was headed, it was dark and unlike the alleyways from earlier there was no any source of light except for the moon above. Kim starts running again, chasing the shadow knowing full well who it is. He realized he was being led to the cornfield, but didn stop. Kim needed to end this cat and mouse chase now, he would rather face the consequences in running into the cornfield than lose that foul old man once again.

”OSTROXIUS!! YOU BASTARD! SHOW YOURSELF!! ” Kim yells in anger and frustration, looking around. The tall plants around him were all withered and brown, he had no light and only had his gun and his wits. He knows he needs to be careful but in a situation like this his mind struggles with how to deal with it as he frantically keeps looking around in frustration until a dark shadow passes through him to the left, prompting him to chase it again. Kim ran till he was out of the wilted fields and into a nearby large lake as he heard a splash. He did not think twice, taking off his coat and shoes rapidly, throwing his gun away and he dived in the dark cold waters, swimming forward and looking around. He was near the middle of the lake and when he looked down once more, he spotted a grinning shadow right below him and it did not take Kim to know who it was.

The shadow zoomed towards Kim through the water as black mass gripped around his throat to choke him causing him to thrash around, the black mass soon turned to flesh as Ostroxius face was close to Kims, he still had his sick grin on but after a few more attempts, the young man managed to free himself from his grasp and punches the older man in the face in anger The punch was hard enough to leave a bruise despite being underwater, Kim grabbed Ostroxius collar in order to strangle him but the fell man was quicker, turning back to black mass and pushes Kim out of the water into the air making him gasp, but he was quickly pulled back in the water again and was attacked by Ostroxius once more, the black mass was growing larger in every second surrounding the earl, doing its best to cut off a possible exit as the young man was losing his breath but Kim managed to pass through a blind spot at the right side and he hurriedly swam upwards and gasped for air before he was pulled down to the water by the ankle, the fell man had went back to his human form and was gripping the ankle hard. Nails dig harshly into the skin and to the bone as it grows. Kim kicked him off and swam towards the shore, reaching the grounds as he took deep breaths, looking at his injured right ankle, luckily it didn deal too much damage as it bled.

He couldn relax yet, not when he saw the black mass rapidly speeding towards him through the water. Kim held his breath at the possibility to be dragged underwater again until a familiar voice was shouting behind him. Nia. Kim turned his head, spotting her running towards him only a few feet away, meanwhile Nia spotted the black mass that was rushing towards him. The young detective knew she would be late if she kept running towards him. And decided

”Kim catch! ” Nia shouts as she throws a han sword that she was carrying, it spun in circles towards Kim but just in time, he managed to catch it by the handle and stabbed Ostroxius in the heart just in time who leapt out of the water and tried to pounce on him. The fell mans eyes widened as black blood came out of his mouth as he backed away, falling into the water and leaned on a nearby rock.

Nia immediately ran towards Kim and knelt beside him, checking for other injuries after spotting his injured ankle while the fell man was slowly turning to dust. Ostroxius was gasping for air, as if he even ever needed it in the first place. Killing a fell man also causes them pain as if they were choking on air although they don need it since they are already dead. The last member of the Hagar family was now disappearing faster. Kim looked into Ostroxius eyes with hate while the fell man only stared back and he mouthed something that made Kims eyes widened in shock as the body fully disintegrated in front of the earl and the detectives eyes. Nia could care less for the old mans death and was more worried for her friend who was injured and in a state of shock.

”Kimmy? Come on, you
e soaking wet. Please Kim, say something? ” Nia calls out, putting his coat that he took off around his shoulders. Kim said nothing still as they soon heard sirens behind them, people calling out their names but the young earl could not respond as the words that were mouthed by the serial killer were clear as day. He knew what it meant. And it disturbed him.

Veniet dies irae eius, et eris ei clavis, that sentence truly shocked Kim, his bastard of a father..

Was still alive as he thought.