MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin
Chapter 182 CH 176: OBSERVATORS

"What. The Hell. Was that?"

Standing nearly a kilometer away on a rather rocky mountain on the outskirts of LA, five people could be seen observing the situation inside the mansion. Among them, three were women while two were men.

The man that was near Nikola, an Asian-looking man with a sword attached to his hips, asked the question in a low and strained voice. Myriads of emotions lay in that low voice of his as he watched the scene with others.

His eyes were filled to the brim with utter disbelief as he glanced toward Nikola, more or less begging her to tell him that what he had just witnessed was just an illusion. A lie, a trick that was being played with his mind right now. He prayed to god that what he was seeing right now was just a form of hallucination that was being inflicted on him by someone. Sadly, his prayers were not heard.

Thankfully, none of the others mocked him for his excessive reaction as they were all feeling much the same as the Asian man.

Initially, when they heard that Yui had brought a new member to the group and incorporated him into the upper ranks of their gang… They had been quite a bit curious about the identity of the man.

This curiosity changed slightly into dissatisfaction when they understood that he would enter the gang not just as a subordinate but as a potential leader after Yui was to step down or was forced to step down by some measure.

The fact that Adam had been one of the first members of the gang before leaving it due to some circumstances in the past did not particularly matter to them.

All they knew was that someone came out of nowhere and was trying to step over their heads and was occupying a position that he may or may not deserve.

This is why all the upper-rankers who were able to free themselves did so without any hesitation and came to take a look.

They were told about the first official mission that the 'new' member would take care of for the group.

Initially, it was supposed to be a hit-and-kill mission with one cadre at the helm and several subordinates supporting him and providing necessary firing power to swiftly and safely kill their target.

The key word here was 'safe' as… even though Eric was just a small fry in the gang he had amassed around himself some pretty heavy protection.

When they were told that this mission will be taken care of by only one person, they could only laugh at the bravado of that individual.

…Now they could laugh no more… for they saw the carnage that took place before them…

What they have just witnessed has been nothing short of terrifying…

That was not just because of the horror of the situation and how the massacre had taken place.

ραпdα---nᴏνa| сom All five of them gathered here were more or less of the silver rank and were infinitely close to the gold rank in terms of power and skills. Yet, all of them here were absolutely certain about one fact… and that was that it would've been impossible for them to enact the scenario that they have witnessed before their eyes.

No, the simple and absolute display of power that was shown to them had been too daunting and quite literally overwhelming.

Without moving, simply flying in the sky as if he was some kind of god, he proceeded to entirely eradicate all presence of life inside the mansion in the creepiest ways possible.

"Just what kind of monster did the boss hire this time?"

"Wasn't he supposed to be a normal human?"

Looking at all her companions acting like startled hens, Nikola could only direct a sad smile toward them and shake her head in helplessness.

After all… she was just as shocked as them, if not more.

After all… unlike them, she had witnessed Adam at his weakest and knew exactly how fast he had progressed to his current state.

He was giving him nearly the same feeling of absolute power and deterrence that Yui usually emanated from her very being.

'Can Lady Yui even do what he did?'

This was not even a question of pure power. Even if Adam was presently weaker than Yui, his skill set seemed to be too large and comprehensive for just one being to handle.

She was able to glean that it seemed to be some sort of domain in which he could act with perfect impunity.

But how large was that domain of his?

She tsked and adjusted her gloves.

"Anyway, this is it. Yui asked you guys to come here to give an opinion about Adam and his entry into the gang. Now that you have watched what he is capable of… if anyone is still against his entry and position you are free to go and talk it out with him."

One of the girls next to her snorted at those words and soon, her eyes shone with an eerie light as numbers 0 and 1 seemed to scroll on her retina.

This was the advanced version of the glasses Nikola had given to Adam.

"I think none of us will be against having that monster in our ranks. People started to disrespect us because we were too kind. I guess after this they will shut up and learn to fear us."

She tapped her temples slightly and the numbers stopped scrolling and her eyes returned to normal.

"The boss was able to see everything live and I recorded everything as well. Do we send it to her?"

Nikola shook her head, "Not yet. Thanks to that last explosion it will be hard to understand what exactly happened so this is quite the perfect outcome."

The light in her eyes was as chilling as it could get.

"We have just cleaned up a traitor. This is not enough. Soon, we will strike a way bigger fish or should I say a shark?"

She sneered slightly after thinking up about her next target. That gang would be a little harder to strike as they were quite numerous and not concentrated in just one zone.

So they had to attack multiple places at the same time.

If the enemies started to be wary of them too soon, this would make the subsequent steps far harder.

'Adam's relationship with that woman will be crucial to the plan.'

Hae-Won, owing to her precarious position in the gang, may have some limitations; but she was still the first lady and had access to a lot of core information that would be useful for their coming ploy.

As long as Adam could obtain those core data, they would make sure to launch a precise strike to obtain the most benefits possible in the shortest time.

She sighed under her breath. She really didn't like how Adam had become so important so fast in the organization but she had no complaints about his code of conduct.

Might was right. In the past, she had only been against him because she thought he would simply ditch them and leave once he got the money he wanted without truly committing to the group.

For her, he had been no different from a leech using his connection to Yui in order to use and abuse her trust.

But now….

Now there was no going back for him.

He was well and truly a criminal and they were fortunate to have this psychopath on their side.

"Very well guys. Why don't we go and say hello to our new companion."

A warm but somewhat strained smile formed on her face.

This gang and all the loyal members were very precious to her and now that Adam was officially part of the family, it was time for her to let go of her animosity and truly try to understand the young man for who he really was.

The others hesitated slightly before nodding their heads.

Either way, they needed to handle the cleanup.

———

While the members of Yui's gangs were calling for the cleaners and preparing everything, somewhere farther away, someone was observing them and even looking at what was happening in the mansion that was now reduced to a sea of fire.

Standing on a rock under the moonlight, she adjusted her long flowing bluish-silver hair and smiled with amusement. She was wearing a short one-piece white dress that showed off her beautiful body and had a blue cardigan over the dress, covering her features.

Her eyes seemed to be multilayered as her pupils had three different colors with blue at the edge and red like a crimson flame in the middle.

But if there was one feature that particularly stood out outside of those, it was the pointed canine that briefly appeared when she smiled.

"I was curious about who ended up dealing with that insult of a vampire. But I must say… This is far more surprising than I would have thought."

She looked up and swung her legs to a song only she could hear. Her face was seemingly covered in bliss as she bathed in the moonlight.

'Should I give him a visit? Would it be appropriate?'

She had been asleep for the past century and did not know much about how men and women interacted in the current era.

Though, from the clothes her attendant gave her, it seemed like women were far more liberal than she remembered them to be.

'Ah… I really cannot wait.'

She had only been curious initially… But after the beautiful display she had witnessed, she felt like her dead heart was beating like never before.

She could even feel a slight blush on her face prompting her to laugh like the teenager she had long ceased to be.

In the end, her pupils became fully blood red and she stood up on her toes.

She couldn't wait any more than this. She would leave for now as he might be high-strung because of this fight and take her as an enemy. There would be another more appropriate moment.

Sooner or later, they would have time for themselves.

'Let's go!'

Then, moving at a speed beyond comprehension, she simply vanished.

----

(AN: Don't forget guys, Mass release start in at reset. Don't hesitate to send any gift. Even the smallest one can help. Though new readers bring more points so don't hesitate to recommend if you like.)