"This blood might be a trap that he set for us," Shadow said cautiously.
Josh retracted his hand from reaching for the blood and said, "A trap, sir? Do you mean he was expecting us to come?"
"Certainly, from the moment we arrived at the Cullens' residence and this house, I had a feeling that he knew we were coming."
Shadow said, and after that, he whistled, calling one of his subordinates to come to their location. Meanwhile, Josh, who was still confused, said, "With all due respect, sir, I didn't doubt your judgment, but it is very unlikely that he knew we were coming. However, it is possible if Alistair was still alive, but we have eliminated him beforehand."
"I hope I was wrong, Josh. But I never doubt my intuition, and neither do you," Shadow replied to Josh, who was nodding his head in understanding. Then, the subordinate who had been called by Shadow arrived at their location.
"Sir?"
"Do you see the blood on the ground?"
Shadow asked his subordinate, and the subordinate nodded. Shadow then gestured for Josh and the woman wearing a crow mask to step back and said, "Touch it and taste it."
The subordinate, who had entered the room and caught a whiff of blood, realized that it was emanating from the drop of blood in front of him. Smirking and with a greedy gaze, he promptly knelt down on the ground to taste it.
Meanwhile, Shadow and the other two observed from a distance as the subordinate touched the blood. Their eyes were filled with curiosity. Surprisingly, nothing happened to him when he touched it. However, when he lifted his hand and licked the blood, the subordinate's body suddenly froze, turning him into a stone statue. He remained completely motionless.
The three of them, who were expecting something, suddenly had a confused look in their eyes. Shadow then approached the subordinate, followed by the other two. He inspected the subordinate for a while until Josh said, "Sir, do you know what happened to him?"
The woman wearing a crow mask was also curious, but Shadow remained silent while observing his subordinate. He then decided to take a closer look, and as he was about to touch the subordinate, he heard a crack.
*CRACK*
Shadow retracted his hand from touching him and frowned. He saw a crack appear on the left cheek of his subordinate. He intended to inspect his subordinate any longer, but suddenly multiple cracks appeared on the subordinate's face.
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
Shadow who realized what was happening to his subordinate, suddenly shouted, "Take Cover!"
Shadow immediately lunged at the woman and grabbed her, taking her to cover behind a wall that separated the kitchen and the living room. Meanwhile, Josh went to the dining table and flipped it over, using it as cover.
*BOOM*
The subordinate's body finally exploded after multiple cracks appeared on it. The debris from his body scattered everywhere, piercing anything in its path. Fortunately, Shadow and the other two were spared from the debris as they had taken cover before the subordinate's body exploded.
After waiting for a while and ensuring that the explosion had ceased, Shadow emerged from his hiding place with the woman, followed by Josh, to inspect the remains of the subordinate. Shadow knelt on the ground and picked up some of the crystal-like debris from the floor, rubbing it between his fingers.
"Sir!" x5
Multiple shouts could be heard a few seconds after the commotion ended. It went unnoticed, of course, as a few members of the Daggers who were close to the house immediately stormed in to inquire about the situation.
Josh, who was aware that his boss was deep in thought, took the initiative to calm the members down. The members could only nod after being told that everything was okay and were instructed to return to their posts.
Josh then returned to Shadow and the woman, whom he saw had multiple expressions such as surprise, confusion, fear, and relief on her face. Josh simply shook his head and went to observe the damage to the surroundings.
Glasses, furniture, basically everything in the kitchen and the dining area were not spared, everything was a mess. Josh silently noted everything in his mind and returned to Shadow to report.
"Sir, it appears that the explosion was not as significant, and its impact was limited to this specific area of the house."
Josh reported, but Shadow remained silent, kneeling on the ground and closing his eyes. Josh could only wait, and after a few seconds, Shadow opened his eyes and stood up.
He blew the dust off his hand and said to the remains of his subordinate, "Your service will not be forgotten."
"Sir, if I may ask, what kind of blood was that? How was it able to cause such an effect?" Josh respectfully asked his boss.
Shadow shook his head and said, "I have no idea. I want to believe that his blood is our target's blood, but the reports that Alistair gathered for us said that he had a pale complexion and red eyes, indicating that he is one of our kind."
"Sir, is it possible that this is his gift? A gift to control blood?"
Shadow shook his head again and replied, "It's possible, but Alistair's reports said that he was using a sword."
"Unless he was hiding his gift."
The woman, who had been silent the entire time and quietly observing, suddenly expressed her opinion on the matter. Her opinion immediately piqued Shadow's interest.
"It makes sense!" Josh exclaimed in a surprised tone.
"If he really had such a powerful gift to control blood and use weapons, then it is a waste to eliminate him. We could have recruited him and used his gift to its fullest potential," Shadow said in an amused tone.
*BEEP*
Suddenly, the live recording device in the woman's hand made a beeping noise. From there, sentences began to appear on its screen.
[ CODE GREEN - ORDER 67 - RECRUIT ]
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