I Bear The Devil's Eye

Chapter Four, titled: Dangerous Roots

The city of Cold Harbor was unusually quiet, even though groups of citizens were scattered across various checkpoints. As people went about their day, many turned their attention to a young man named Michael O'Neil. Dressed in a long brown coat with high collars that hid half his face, he stood out. His pale, spiky hair and nearly translucent eyes gave him an almost ghostly, albino-like appearance, though his eyes made him look borderline blind.

The young man let out a heavy sigh, cleverly worn out from what he assumed was stress. He had been patrolling the area for nearly an hour, though he didn't seem sure what he was looking for.

"What a day," he muttered under his breath. "Why do I have to be the one stuck on patrol today? Wasn't this supposed to be my Christmas day off?" His complaints sounded almost like ramblings of someone half-asleep or drunk. The tiredness seemed to be taking its toll already.

As he strolled along dragging his feet softly on the ground, grumbling to himself, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He sighed again, already guessing who it was. Pulling out an old, battered flip phone, he ignored the giggles of a few teenage girls who caught sight of it. Their laughter didn't faze him at all. Besides, his goal was to not be there from the beginning.

"Hello?" he said flatly, slowly raising the phone to his ear. The voice of the caller on the other end wss a woman's and she didn't seem to sound particularly cheerful. From the tone of her voice, it was as if she didn't want to be cooped up in such a penniless job.

[Hey, Micheal. Any updated?] she asked briskly from the other side of the phone.

Micheal replied with a groan, and rhe caller immediately knew she was in for a series of complaints. "When are you getting me out of here?" he asked, his voice dripping with frustration.

By this time, the caller had already readied herself to recieve his complaints and she clearly wasn't having it.

[Will you stop winning?, the monster we're trying to find is very sneaky so we need your eyes Besides it's only been an hour! Most heavenly sorcerers do parrots that last all day!]

Micheal rolled his eyes, a look of disdain in his face. "Oh, sure, easy for you to say. You're sitting comfy in the car while I have to do the grunt work and report back to Lady Velvet," he snapped.

As their relentless bickering continued, Michael's attention was immediately drawn to movement up ahead. A man in a hoodie darted into a nearby alley, glancing over his shoulder before disappearing. Micheal narrowed his eyes, noticing the man clutching his shoulder, which glowed faintly with an eerie red light that only Micheal could see.

Though, the voice on the phone kept talking, Micheal wasn't listening anymore. His focus was now locked on the mysterious figure.

[Micheal?, Are you even listening? Micheal!] the caller barked, repeating his name but there was no answer from Micheal for a brief moment.

"I'll call you back," he muttered, and before further questions could be asked, Michael ended the call before slipping the phone into his pocket. Without hesitation, he began heading toward the alley.

What could that man possibly be hiding under the hood? Could that also be the monster he and his subordinate were pursuing? Micheal wondered, his curiosity burning. But he didn't have time to dwell on it—he was already nearing the alley.

As he steeped into the narrow, shadowy space, his breath hitched. The alley was completely empty, which was undoubtedly impossible as a normal person couldn't just have dissappeared under seconds. This made his theory true, as this mysterious person could be the monster.

He froze, speechless, scanning every corner, but there wasn't a single trace of the man anywhere. It was as if he had vanished into the thin air. The only thing he was able to find was a pool of blood in the middle of the alleyway, barley concealed by the darkness.

Where did he seem to have gone so suddenly?, Michael thought to himself, confusion etched on his face as he stared at the pool of blood on the ground.

He lingered in the alley, trying to make sense of what he'd just seen. After a moment, he began to doubt himself. Maybe it could have been an imagination. No one else had seemed to notice the hooded man, and exhaustion might have been the cause of his hallucinating. Shaking his head, he decided to let it go and turned to leave.

But ge froze mid-step, as he witnessed something, truly shocking.

The once, quite bustling city of Cold Harbor was no longer the way it was. It was silent—eerily so. Every single person in the vicinity had vanished, as if they had never existed.

"What… where did everybody go?" Micheal whispered, his voice trembling. There was no one around to answer. A chill crept over his entire body but he still try to stay composed, despite not knowing if the missing people were alive or dead.

His mind raced, struggling to process what had just happened. But amidst his confusion, he suddenly felt it—a shadow creeping up behind him. In that very moment, his instincts kicked in, and he spun around in one sharp motion.

Nothing.

The alley remained empty, but then he felt another one—another presence right behind him, and this time around he knew he wasn't hallucinating. Before Micheal could react, a faceless figure loomed over him, ready to strike.

Suddenly, a piercing ray of red light shot through the figure's back, sending it crashing to the ground. Michael jumped back in shock, his eyes darting to the source of the attack.

Standing a short distance away was a familiar face—or rather, the person he had just spoken to on the phone. Mary Lee, his subordinate, lowered her hand, the faint glow of magic fading from her fingertips as she looked at him with a mix of annoyance and relief.

Micheal caught sight of her with a relaxed expression: a petite young lady with short red hair, big eyes, and light skin, adorned in a short, black gown.

Mary folded her arms, her sharp gaze fixed on Micheal who stared back. "Are you going to just stand there, or you're finally going to tell me what happened here?" she demanded, her tone dripping with irritation and a sense of curiosity. "Where on earth has everyone gone?"

Her words lingered in the eerie silence, the empty city making everything feel heavier. Michael opened his mouth, searching for a response, but nothing came. For once, he was as lost as she was. He shook his head, gritting his teeth as Mary launched into another string of complaints—undoubtedly frustrated that he had hung up earlier without giving her any explanation.

"Hey, chill out for a second. The situation is already bad enough," Michael snapped, his voice laced with irritation and distress.

Mary glared at him but fell silent, though her expression remained angry. Michael wasn't wrong—this situation was serious. The entire population of Cold Harbor had vanished without a trace. For a moment, they stood in awkward silence, each lost in their thoughts.

Mary finally sighed and turned away. "Whatever," she muttered. Then, with a serious tone, she added, "Michael, you're the strongest heavenly sorcerer I know. Please, try not to mess this up."

She wasn't wrong. Michael O'Neil was one of the strongest—some would say the strongest—heavenly sorcerer. But his tendency to lose focus when he wasn't interested could very well be his downfall.

"I'll try to get enough service to call Lady Velvet," Mary continued, walking away. "Do me a favor—get yourself together. If you die, I'm not going to be happy about it."

Michael groaned as he rubbed his forehead. "Ugh," he muttered, his frustration boiling over. "Geez, all that emotional talk is giving me a headache."

He slumped near the corpse of the mysterious man, only to notice something strange. Instead of lying still, the body was slowly disintegrating, its form flaking away like burning paper. Michael's brow furrowed as he leaned closer.

"What is this?" he whispered, his face twisted in confusion. But before he could make sense of what was happening, a scream echoed through the empty streets.

His heart skipped a beat. Mary.

Michael bolted from the alley, sprinting toward the source of the sound. When he emerged, he was met with a horrifying sight.

Mary was in the grasp of something massive—easily the size of an oak tree. Its entire body glowed crimson, its skin stretched and unnatural, with a gaping, hollow hole in its stomach. Tendrils snaked from the creature's body, wrapping around Mary, slowly pulling her toward the gaping void.

"M-Michael, help me…" she choked out, her voice faint as the tendrils began to squeeze the air from her lungs, tearing at her clothes and revealing a huge amount of skin which was unbearable to watch for a normal individual, but Micheal stayed composed.

Michael didn't need to hear more. He already knew what to do. As he tried to close the distance, more tendrils shot toward him, whipping through the air like deadly vipers. He narrowly dodged them, leaping backward.

"Damn it!" he hissed through gritted teeth. "I can't get close with all these damn tendrils."

Michael stretched out his hand, his expression resolute. "Sorry, Mary. Looks like I'll have to use this one. I'll make sure Dr. Matthew patches you up after this."

A red orb of energy began to form in his palm, swirling violently as it pulled the air around it. The sheer force of the attack made the ground tremble. With an unwavering look in his eyes, Michael released the energy, sending it hurtling toward the creature.

The explosion that followed was deafening. A massive shockwave tore through the street, sending debris flying as a towering column of black smoke rose into the sky.