In the Bible, there's no clear description of God's appearance. As an all-knowing, all-powerful, omnipresent being, God's form isn't fixed.
Still, most people picture God as a kind old man with white hair and a white beard.
So, Roy leaned into that image, conjuring a massive marble statue of himself to appear before Cain. To his surprise, Cain—who had once seen God—didn't question it and immediately spilled a massive secret.
God is dead?
Roy wasn't sure how Cain came to that conclusion. After all, the four archangels only said God was missing, not dead.
But Cain's expression wasn't joking. He seemed to know something even the archangels didn't.
Roy had initially planned to crush Cain on the spot, but now he reconsidered, deciding to pry some intel from him first.
"I'm right here. Why do you say I'm dead?"
Cain looked like he was on the verge of losing it, a feeling he'd had before at the edge of the universe.
"Because of the curse! My curse came from you, so I could feel our connection. But one day, that connection just… snapped. That's how I knew you were dead!"
"And how do you know I didn't sever that connection myself?"
Roy's words left Cain speechless, his mind racing to other possibilities.
"I get it now. So, the third-generation vampires summoned me back to Earth just to set me up to die, huh? You hypocrite!"
"Cain, you know your sins are heavy. Why did you come back?"
Cain craned his neck, glaring up at the mountain-like Roy.
"Heavy sins? It was you who was unfair! You treated me and Abel completely differently. You favored him and looked down on me!"
Roy let out a staged sigh.
"I saw your future long ago, so I gave you a chance to change. But you still made the wrong choice."
Cain froze, his mind flashing back to Eden, to the moment he killed his brother Abel.
It all started with that murder. Adam lost both his sons, and Cain was cursed for eternity.
For ages, Cain's resentment toward God fueled him. But Roy's cryptic explanation shook the foundation of that hatred.
"No! That's a lie! You're just biased! Don't think you can fool me!"
He said he wouldn't be tricked, but doubt flickered in Cain's eyes.
Roy shook his head, adopting a look of pity.
"Cain, since you've never repented, I have no choice but to end this."
Cain gave a bitter laugh.
"Do it! Kill me! You should've done it back in Eden!"
Roy raised a massive hand and brought it down on Cain, obliterating him and the entire dreamscape in one blow.
Then, Roy exited Cain's dream and returned to reality.
"Mr. Black, how'd it go?" Iris asked, noticing Roy open his eyes, signaling he'd left the dream.
Roy wasn't entirely sure. It was his first time killing someone in a dream, and a legendary figure like Cain at that. Plus, the system hadn't reacted.
"I'm not certain. I did destroy Cain's mind and dreamscape."
Hearing this, Iris risked activating the Eye of God to peek into Cain's future. It could worsen her condition, but she had no other way to confirm Cain's status.
"No! His mind is dead, but his body's still alive!"
"What?"
Before she could finish, Cain's body exploded into a massive pool of black sludge.
Roy hadn't anticipated this. Without Cain's mind, his body had gone out of control, becoming even trickier to deal with.
Fear, desire, and sleep curses were useless against it now. Without a mind, how could it feel fear, desire, or sleep?
"Iris, what do I do?"
Roy was at a loss. The black sludge was spreading fast, threatening to spill outside.
If it reached the sewers, who knew what kind of disaster it could cause?
Iris gritted her teeth, her eyes glowing blue beneath her blindfold as she kept peering into the future with the Eye of God.
It was taking a toll on her body, but it showed her countless possibilities.
Seconds later, Iris coughed up blood, her body weakening. She couldn't maintain the light wall anymore.
Thankfully, Claire, in her angel form, took over, sustaining the light wall to protect the Shadow Hunters from being wiped out.
"Black, use your tentacles to absorb the sludge! Take it all in!"
As soon as she said it, Iris collapsed, some of the black sludge covering her body.
Roy summoned nine Dark Touch tentacles and frantically absorbed the surrounding sludge, pulling Iris out in the process.
Despite his speed, some sludge had already entered Iris's body. Her skin was darkening, with strange black veins appearing.
This was bad, but Roy could only hold Iris and keep absorbing the sludge with Dark Touch.
The power of Dark Touch depended on Roy's own stats. With his current physique of 129, and 189 in demon form, he was a force.
Back when he couldn't handle the Kraken, that was then. Now, a single Kraken wouldn't stand a chance.
In just a few minutes, Roy absorbed the gushing black sludge.
But Cain's body kept producing more. It had already broken down, leaving only a basketball-sized black ring, the source of the sludge.
Luckily, Dark Touch was absorbing it faster than the ring could produce it.
This thing wasn't even a living creature anymore. Roy had an idea: could he store the black ring in his inventory? If time froze in there, maybe it'd stop spewing sludge.
So, Roy used a tentacle to pick up the ring, brought it to himself, and tossed it into his inventory.
The black sludge stopped.
[Ding! Obtained Cain's Fate Chest! Open it now?]
Success!
The system even recognized the ring.
[Ring of Darkness: A ring of darkness from the edge of the universe, representing the primal darkness of creation. Light and dark, an endless cycle. When light dies, darkness will rule the earth. Beware: those who gaze into the abyss will become the abyss!]
The item's description hinted at something ominous. Combined with Cain's claim in the dream that God was dead, Roy felt an uneasy chill.
"Roy, how's Teacher Iris?" Claire's tearful voice snapped Roy out of his thoughts. She was staring at Iris in his arms.
After some effort, Claire had stabilized the Shadow Hunters' injuries, but Iris wasn't looking good.
Roy could feel Iris's faint breathing. The light and darkness within her were clashing, accelerating her body's collapse.
But Uriel's soul hadn't left her body for Heaven like Michael's had, meaning there was still hope.
Roy transformed into an eight-winged angel and channeled holy light into Iris, stabilizing her body slightly.
Only slightly. If he stopped, her body would collapse again.
Roy was stumped. He was a warrior, maybe a warrior with some magic, but healing was beyond his expertise.
In the past, his healing was simple: pour in holy light and hope for the best. If it didn't work, tough luck.
What now?
Roy racked his brain for a way to save Iris. His first thought was Adrian. If Raphael was around, he'd surely fix Iris.
But when Roy called Adrian's satellite phone, it was out of service.
What the hell?
Adrian had a military-grade satellite phone. For it to be out of service, he was either underground or underwater.
Adrian was a no-go. Roy needed another option.
Then he thought of Lucifer.
Sure, Lucifer was the king of Hell now, but he might help an old colleague.
When Roy called Lucifer, though, his phone was also out of service.
Was Lucifer diving with Raphael or something?
Out of options, Roy's last resort was Elizabeth.
"Claire, I'm going to find someone to save Iris. You're in charge here. Say hi to Saltana for me."
Claire bit her lip, nodding, her eyes pleading. "Roy, you have to save Teacher Iris!"
Roy gave a solemn nod, pressed the Berial mark on his chest to contact Elizabeth, then summoned Clauria, picked up Iris, and sped off on his motorcycle.
Not long after Roy left, Paxton Fertel arrived with a team of agents.
"What happened? Why did Roy Black take off with Ms. Iris without a word?"
Claire wiped her tears and explained for Roy. "Teacher Iris is badly hurt. Roy took her to get treatment!"
Paxton's eyes flickered, as if something clicked.
"So, the Elder Council's been dealt with? Tell me everything, now!"
Claire opened her mouth, unsure where to start, which irritated Paxton.
"I'm asking you a question!"
Saltana, knowing Claire and Roy's close relationship, stepped in to stop Paxton's grilling.
"Deputy Director Fertel, questioning can wait. Right now, we need to clean up this mess."
Paxton glared at Saltana, displeased. "Are you questioning my decisions, Rivera? Who's the deputy director here?"
"Even if you're deputy director, does that mean you're above questioning? Even the president gets questioned!"
Saltana stood her ground fearlessly. With Olin on a plane, set to arrive in Los Angeles that evening, she had no reason to fear Paxton Fertel.
Paxton was furious at her defiance, but Gerald had spent the last six months consolidating power in the FEA's Los Angeles branch.
At least on-site, agents were more loyal to Saltana, Gerald's confidante, than to Paxton, the deputy director.
In truth, Paxton's real authority was over the clone troopers.
"Rivera, you're something else! I'll report this to HQ, just you wait!"
With that, Paxton stormed off, leaving the cleanup to Saltana.
"Report away!" Saltana knew her connection to Roy made her untouchable by FEA HQ.
If Gerald's term ended and he moved to another branch or HQ, Saltana might even take over as Los Angeles branch director.
"Ma'am, what now?" an agent asked.
With Paxton gone, the agents looked to Saltana for orders, even though several senior agents were her equals in rank.
"Get the injured to medical care, then start cleaning up the site! We've got a lot to do, so it's gonna be a tough one, folks!"
Many agents claimed it was no trouble, but they were exhausted. After the Elder Council's invasion of the Shadow Hunters' base last night, FEA agents had been on high alert, sealing off the area all night.
But duty called. They were on FEA's payroll, so overtime it was.
At least FEA's benefits were decent, so they sucked it up.
Saltana didn't rest, overseeing the agents' work. She didn't notice someone lurking in the shadows.
"What a spectacular fight!"
The figure was a sharply dressed middle-aged man with an air of mystery.
Oddly, the agents around him seemed oblivious to his presence, passing by without a glance.
If anyone remembered the Midnight Cannibal Train incident, they might recall a mysterious middle-aged man.
Yep, this was that guy.
His gaze swept the scene, landing on Claire with a knowing smile.