“Lucian!” the Sheriff called out, watching as Lucian sprint away.

  Jacob looked visibly surprised, he’d worked with Lucian before, though not as long as the Sheriff had but he knew the kind of detective he was. Seeing him flee without a word was simply bizarre.

  Meanwhile, Vincent was not only shocked but deeply disappointed, as if a child had just discovered that everything he believed in was a lie. He sneered, whatever respect he once had for Lucian was gone.

  Glancing back at Vincent and Jacob, who still wore expressions of astonishment, the Sheriff said, “Please excuse me,” before hurrying toward the stairs.

  As he descended, the Sheriff failed to notice that Lucian had already slipped into the basement before he reached the first flood. “Lucian!” he called again as he stepped out onto the street in search of him.

  Jacob simply nodded and watched him disappear. “That was strange, why would Detective Lucian suddenly run away like that?”

  Vincent didn’t reply, he just lingered silently for a moment before turning to leave the room. “Let go, don’t you have to document what just happened?” Jacob prodded, watching Vincent walk away with Sofia following closely behind.

  “Oh yes…” he murmured as he began walking alongside Vincent. As they made their way back to the hallway of the second flood, Vincent’s thoughts began to race.

  “Something’s wrong here. Why is Lucian acting so differently? Even though all I know of him comes from the news and from reading about the case he was on, this change is too drastic. I’m not sure what happened between his last case and now, but something must have occurred.”

  Lost in thought while descending the stairs, Vincent suddenly realized, “Perhaps something, or someone, got to him. It wouldn’t be rare for the other big family to want someone like Lucian dead.”

  Jacob, trailing behind Sofia, heard a sudden noise from the basement. “Hey, did you hear-”.

  CRASH!

  The loud crash snapped Vincent back to attention. He turned toward the sound, it was coming from the first flood, he looked down on the stair and saw a massive wolf-like beast, bigger even than the Sheriff. It had two long horns, a body cloaked in crimson fur, and eyes blazing like hellfire. The creature had shattered the basement door, with fragments scattered across the ground, and exhaled a plume of black smoke as it surveyed the house.

  A wave of dread washed over Vincent. He had never encountered anything exuding such a terrifying aura. The beast fixed its gaze on him, slowly parting its mouth to reveal a blazing furnace, a giant ball of flame forming at the back of its throat, ready to erupt at any moment. Vincent’s body froze, not only from fear but as if something else had seized him. Before he could react, Sofia scooped him up into her arms.

  “DODGE!” Jacob screamed just as a blazing stream of fire shot in their direction. Sofia, still carrying Vincent, leapt down the stairs. Simultaneously, Jacob gripped the railing with one hand, holding his suitcase tightly with the other, as he vaulted over the rail to avoid the fiery blast.

  Once he landed, the beast completed its first assault, after expelling its fire, black smoke flowed out from its mouth, and it's burning eye locked onto Jacob, the nearest target. Despite the monster’s fearsome presence, Jacob maintained his composure as he faced it. With a thunderous roar, the beast launched itself at him, its feet leaving the ground in an instant.

  The battle erupted in a maelstrom of chaos and fury from the very start.

  Jacob’s heart pounded as he thrust his battered suitcase forward and bellowed, “Open!” In an astonishing, the suitcase split open, not from its front, but from its bottom.

  First, it cleaved into two parts, the upper half separating from the lower, which remained connected by the handle. Then, each section fractured further into dual pieces, until the suitcase transformed into an intricate X shape with the handle as its center. In that moment, a surge of raw, crackling electricity burst forth in a lethal shockwave, hurtling directly toward the advancing beast.

  At the same time, Vincent, clutched in Sofia’s arms at the corner of a burning room, watched in a mix of horror and awe as the shockwave crashed into the creature.

  Vincent’s mind raced “That creature…I’ve seen it in one of the books. That color, that fire, that horn…this is a Hellhound, a mystical beast from the Nether.”

  “GAWRRRR!” the Hellhound screamed as it tumbled to the ground. But the shockwave had only stopped it in its tracks, not destroyed it. After ten seconds, the electricity gradually faded away.

  Jacob clicked his tongue while observing the beast beginning to rise. “You’re quite durable, huh?” he remarked, a thin wisp of smoke rising from the creature as it fixed its gaze on him once more. At that moment, other officers burst into the house, alarm evident in their voices: “What’s going on in here?”

  “On your guard, this isn’t a normal animal. Develop the barrier, we’re going to shoot it down,” Jacob ordered, never taking his eyes off the beast as he quickly stepped back. His own suitcase was on cooldown, he hadn’t expected anything to survive the full force of its shock. The Hellhound, however, did not hesitate, it lunged toward the group of officers.

  Hearing Jacob's order, the officers began to stand in formation, as Jacob fall back, the two officers dash forward. Clutching their own suitcases, the two officers rushed in. Their suitcases sprang open and transformed into a large electric barrier, blocking the beast’s path. The Hellhound slammed into the barrier, and a burst of electricity leaped out upon impact. Still, the barrier’s power wasn't strong enough to completely halt its advance, the creature’s claw began slowly tearing through it.

  In a desperate final effort, the group of officers drew their handguns and fired at the beast. But their bullets made little difference; instead, streams of electricity intertwined with the projectiles, striking the Hellhound. Under the relentless assault, the beast finally began to fall back.

  Jacob called out, “That’s it, keep the pressure on the beast!”

  Vincent watched the scene unfold, but despite the chaos, his mind kept drifting back to the case. “How did a Hellhound suddenly appear in this house?” he wondered. His thoughts returned to the shattered basement door, broken into pieces. “The Hellhound came from the basement. Could it be…”

  Beneath the house, a red light illuminated the stairway leading up to the first flood. Vincent’s thoughts raced. “The culprit is still in the basement.”

  Before he could react further, a figure in a large red coat emerged from the chaos of the basement. His sinister face was partially obscured by a black mark, and in his outstretched hand a massive fireball, condensing rapidly into a deadly sphere, hovered ominously.

  “Don’t tell me you’re trying to run away, my monster,” the man sneered. “I’ll open a path for you to destroy them.”

  At that, Vincent’s eyes snapped to the basement door as he screamed, “At the basement door!”

  Without hesitation, the red-coated man hurled the blazing fireball. It slammed into a makeshift electric barrier, recently formed by two officers whose suitcases had transformed into an energy shield, shattering it in an explosion of sparks and debris. The impact sent the frontline officers reeling, and in the ensuing pandemonium, the mysterious man dashed out of the basement toward the lifeless body of Philip.

  Then, he command, “Breathe fire, burn this place down!” At his signal, the Hellhound reared its head and unleashed another torrent of fiery breath. The searing flames burn across the floor, blocking the police’s path and ensuring no reinforcements could quickly reach its master.

  The red-coated culprit surged toward Philip’s motionless body.

  “He’s getting away!” Vincent called out as he remove himself from Sofia’s arm,

  “Not so fast,” Jacob countered, snatching a handgun with trembling urgency. He surged forward, aiming at the fleeing man. But in a dark twist, as the man reached the corpse, he slowed down and murmured slowly,

  “Blood, flow for me.” In an instant that felt almost surreal, blood erupted from Philip’s head wound and flow through the air, forming a grotesque barrier between Jacob and the fugitive. Desperation flared, Jacob fired a beam of electricity. Striking the blood barrier but missing its intended target. The culprit sprinting up a nearby staircase while cloaking himself with the wall of blood, Jacob’s continued shots at the running man but it was all futile.

  “Damn it,” Jacob cursed, watching helplessly as the man faded from sight. He wanted to give chase, but the Hellhound’s fiery onslaught blocked every exit.

  An officer’s urgent call pierced the tumult, “Deputy, Sir, we need to get out of here, this house is burning down!” Eyes widening, Jacob finally understood, the Hellhound wasn’t indiscriminately wreaking havoc, it was carrying out every cruel order to perfection. Capturing the deranged culprit was vital, yet preserving human life now took precedence.

  The inferno roared on as the door behind them crashed open. The Sheriff entered amid a blaze of orange and red light, his gaze hard as he absorbed the scene, the raging fire consuming the house’s interior and the Hellhound standing like a harbinger of doom at its center. “By the Order, what’s going on in here?” he thundered. His words were edged with disbelief and mounting fury.

  Jacob wasted no time. “Sir, we have to move now, I’ll explain everything later.” In that split second, the Hellhound’s blazing eyes locked onto the Sheriff. The creature’s fiery breath ceased abruptly as it tensed, readying for one final, vicious assault. Sensing imminent danger, the Hellhound bolted toward the police group.

  “Shit, it’s coming this way!” a panicked officer cried out as his comrades opened fire. Jacob turned just in time to see the beast lunge directly at him. In a paralyzing moment, as a ray of electricity struck the creature, barely denting its armored hide, Jacob felt his life flash before him, from his earliest memories up to now. He had hoped to die in another way, perhaps beside the ones he loved, but that desperate wish seemed to drift further away.

  Just as the Hellhound descended upon him, a colossal hand yanked Jacob away by the collar. “Don’t just stand there, boy, you got a death wish or what?” the Sheriff speaks. His grip was ironclad as his left hand dragged Jacob to safety, while his right hand coiled into a fist that suddenly blazed with unstoppable blue electricity.

  In an electrifying display, his eyes transformed into a piercing, luminous blue. Before the Hellhound could land its attack, the Sheriff launched his furious, electrified punch. The collision exploded in a tremendous burst of energy, the force cause the Hellhound to fly back violently as it slam against the wall with a resonant, shattering impact.

  The Sheriff briefly held Jacob, then released him, his voice booming, “Go, son, get our people out of here. And don't forget about that boy and the lady!”

  Steeling himself against the shock and adrenaline, Jacob managed a trembling “Yes, Sir.” With a commanding grit, he rallied his men, “Everyone, pull back!” and then, he walked over to Vincent and Sofia firmly, he urged, “please come with me!”

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  The house was now abandoned, the last officers retreating as the fire continued its merciless advance. Only the Sheriff remained, standing alone amid the raging inferno with the beast before him. The Hellhound slowly rose, shaking its head as if to rid itself of lingering dizziness, a testament to the force of the Sheriff’s earlier strike.

  But the Sheriff wasn’t focused on the creature; his gaze drifted to the shriveled, bloodless corpse of Philip, whose lifeblood had been cruelly drained by the culprit. The Sheriff didn’t know Philip personally, but no human, dead or alive, deserved such desecration.

  “May you rest in peace, Philip,” he murmured, voice heavy with solemnity. Then, turning his attention back to the beast, his expression hardened. “Let’s get this over with.”

  With a fluid motion, he reached for his coat and shrugged it off, casting it aside. It fell slowly, landing over Philip’s remains like a final act of dignity.

  Then, he clenched his fists, bringing them together with a deafening clash of metal

  Clenk!

  The impact ignited a surge of electricity that crackled across his arms, illuminating his stance as he stepped forward into the heart of the inferno, unyielding against the flames licking at his heels.

  “By the will of Order,” his voice rang out, resolute and unwavering, “I declare your actions a crime punishable by death!” His fists tightened, charged with pulsating energy, as he lowered into a fighting stance, ready to bring judgment upon the monster before him.

  Outside, Jacob barked orders for backup and for the area to be sealed off, ensuring that everyone had a clear exit as the house continued to burn. Vincent and Sofia remained close to each other by the semi-burning building. Vincent, arms folded and lost in thought, watched the flames consume the structure.

  His mind replayed the events that had just unfolded when, unexpectedly, Sofia suddenly grab hold of him and sprang down the stairs without any command saving him in the process, an act that stirred conflicting feelings within him. Although he resented her role as one of his father's maids, Sinclair had sent her to check on him and his living conditions, he couldn’t ignore that she had saved him.

  “Hey, Sofia,” Vincent said hesitantly.

  Always standing just behind him, Sofia replied softly, “Do you need something, Young Master Vincent?”

  “Don’t call me that,” Vincent snapped, his annoyance clear. “I’m not your master, and you’re not my servant. Just call me Vincent.”

  Maintaining her calm composure, Sofia nodded. “Yes, how may I help you, Vincent?”

  “Thank you,” Vincent muttered, his eyes fixed on the burning house rather than meeting hers.

  “Pardon?” Sofia asked once more, uncertain if he was even addressing her.

  Letting out a weary sigh, Vincent finally turned to face her and said, “I said thank you for saving me. If you hadn’t pulled me away at that moment, I’d be dead by now.” He then shifted his gaze back to the smoldering ruins. “I really appreciate it.”

  For a moment, Sofia paused as if weighing his words before nodding gently. “The pleasure is mine, Vincent. As your personal maid, it’s my duty to keep you safe.”

  Vincent frowned, the familiar irritation resurfacing. In his eyes, she was nothing more than another pawn among his father’s servants, another piece in a plan he despised. “Whatever,” he replied curtly.

  Soon, Jacob approached them. “I think you two should head home. We’ll take it from here.”

  Vincent crossed his arms, his gaze still fixed on the burning house. “Do you think he’ll be fine?” he asked quietly, his tone laced with worry as he wondered what was happening inside.

  Jacob glanced at him. “Oh? You mean the Sheriff?”

  Vincent nodded. “Yes. He looks strong, but can that appearance withstand what might be coming?”

  Jacob sighed heavily “I don't know, but one thing I know for sure is, if we count everyone who is standing here right now, he is the strongest. If he loses here, the damage of a monster that could take down the Sheriff won’t be small in fact… if that thing can kill him, then we might as well be as good as dead.”

  Inside the burning house, smoke and flames consumed everything, merging seamlessly with the dark form of the Hellhound. Yet the Sheriff hardly noticed the billowing inferno. His vision transcended mere light, his piercing blue eyes could track every movement, even if the surrounding brightness were to vanish.

  With a ferocious roar, the Hellhound charged at him. The seasoned officer, already well-versed in the creature’s unpredictable tactics, waited until the beast was nearly upon him. Then, with lightning reflexes, he stepped swiftly to his left and hoisted his left leg, aiming a powerful kick directly at the creature’s face.

  But as the Sheriff launched his kick, the Hellhound leaped upward in mid-charge, dodging the blow with startling agility. "It’s faking its attack" the Sheriff thought, noticing the creature’s slightly ajar mouth, a silent prelude to its next move.

  Landing agilely on the scorched floor, the Hellhound executed a sharp pivot. Instead of its characteristic burst of flame, it opened its mouth to launch a blazing fireball toward him, a projectile that streaked through the air far faster than its usual fiery breath, though with somewhat reduced impact. Reacting instinctively, the Sheriff dropped low and rolled to the side, narrowly evading the searing attack. Yet in that brief moment, the beast pounced again, intent on striking him before he could recover.

  Still pressed to the ground, the Hellhound barreled forward without hesitation. It raised one of its front legs, its claw gleaming as sharply as forged steel, a weapon clearly designed to inflict a grievous wound. But the Sheriff was not about to yield so easily. As his roll came to an end, he landed on his side with one leg bent for stability and his hands ready to support his body.

  From that grounded position, he executed a low, precise kick, thrusting his leg toward the Hellhound’s other limb. He rotated his hips, channeling raw power and torque, sending the beast off balance and tumbling across the burning floor. Maintaining his own stability with his supporting leg and hands, the Sheriff quickly retracted his kicking leg and pivoted on the ground, effectively switching roles between his legs.

  With a crisp metallic "bing-go," a smirk of satisfaction broke through as he delivered a second, electrified roundhouse kick to the creature’s face. In a familiar display, his leg soon shimmered with the same blue electrical aura that had previously enshrouded his fist. A thunderous

  "BAM!!!"

  echoed through the inferno as the kick connected with brutal precision. The impact launched the Hellhound across the burning house, its battered form crashing against the wall as if its very bones had shattered. The Sheriff swiftly pushed himself to his feet. Even amidst the chaos, he noted the damage, the creature’s fang and skull structure appeared disastrously broken from the twin ferocious blows.

  Not wasting a single moment, the Sheriff surged forward, running toward the Hellhound’s last known position, his determination unyielding as the hellish battle raged on.

  “This is the end!” he roared, ready to deliver a fatal blow to the Hellhound. His right hand clenched into a fist once more, electricity crackling around it—this time, even more intense, reverberating with a force meant to be heard even by the beast. As if compelled by instinct, the Hellhound sprang off the wall into which it had been partially embedded, dodging the Sheriff’s sweeping attack. Jacob’s eyes widened as the electrified punch slammed into the masonry, shattering the wall and creating a gaping hole that sent debris flying.

  Outside, the sudden catastrophe sent shockwaves through the onlookers—Vincent, Jacob, and the others. The force of the impact nearly brought the house to its knees. Vincent, staring in disbelief, whispered, “I see what you mean by that, Deputy. The Sheriff really is something else.”

  Jacob managed a chuckle despite the chaos. “Yeah, he even scares me sometimes. But that’s our Sheriff alright.”

  Back inside, the battle continued. The Hellhound, realizing that a head-on confrontation was no longer its best option, shifted tactics. With a snarl of frustration, it abandoned its direct assault and bolted up the stairs toward the upper flood.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” the Sheriff muttered to himself, invoking another of his uncanny abilities as he gave chase. “The law doesn’t permit an enforcer to run,” he declared, his voice low and resolute. In that exact moment, the Hellhound halted in its tracks—as if those words themselves had struck a chord deep within its predatory mind.

  “Good… It’ll be weak enough for my next move,” the Sheriff thought, his muscles tensing as he closed the gap between them. “Oh Order, watch over me as I deliver your punishment to this transgressor.” With that solemn invocation, his right fist surged with even more intense energy—electricity arcing violently through the air—before he hurled his final, decisive punch toward the Hellhound.

  For a breathless instant, silence fell. The only sounds were the murmurs of the gathering crowd, the distant blare of police car sirens, and the endless crackle of fire devouring what was left of the house. Then, with a deafening roar:

  BOOOM!!!!!

  In that explosive moment, the electrified punch collided with the Hellhound’s body, igniting a cataclysmic burst of energy. The impact hurled the Hellhound across the burning house; its shattered body smashed against the second-flood wall before soaring out onto the street. There, it crumbled, its broken form slowly reduced to burning ash as sparks scattered like dying stars. The relentless impact destabilized the structure—both floors of the house began to crumble, unable to withstand the overwhelming force any longer.

  Standing amid the chaos, the Sheriff’s eyes widened in grim realization as the collapsing beams rained down upon him. “Oh, great,” he muttered wryly just as the house began to fall around him. Outside, the devastation was unmistakable—people gasped in horror at the sudden collapse.

  “BENSON!” Jacob screamed as he sprinted toward the mountain of rubble sprawled before him, his voice echoing the shock and urgency of the moment.

  The air was thick with heat, debris, and the bitter tang of destruction. Yet, amid the ruin and chaos, the resolve in their voices—and in their actions—spoke of a fierce determination to see this grim encounter through to its bitter end.

  “This is the end!” he roared, ready to deliver a fatal blow to the Hellhound. His right hand clenched into a fist once more, electricity crackling around it, this time, even more intense, reverberating with a force meant to be heard even by the beast. As if compelled by instinct, the Hellhound sprang off the wall into which it had been partially embedded, dodging the Sheriff’s sweeping attack. The electrified punch slammed into the masonry, shattering the wall and creating a gaping hole that sent debris flying.

  Outside, the sudden catastrophe sent shockwaves through the onlookers, Vincent, Jacob, and the others. The force of the impact nearly brought the house to its knees. Vincent, staring in disbelief, whispered, “I see what you mean by that, Deputy. The Sheriff really is something else.”

  Jacob managed a chuckle despite the chaos. “Yeah, he even scares me sometimes. But that’s our Sheriff alright.”

  Back inside, the battle continued. The Hellhound, realizing that a head-on confrontation was no longer its best option, shifted tactics. With a snarl of frustration, it abandoned its direct assault and bolted up the stairs toward the upper flood.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” the Sheriff muttered to himself, invoking another of his uncanny abilities as he gave chase. “The law doesn’t permit a transgressor to run away from law enforcers,” he declared, his voice low and resolute. In that exact moment, the Hellhound halted in its tracks, as if those words themselves had struck a chord deep within its predatory mind.

  “Good… It will power it weak enough” the Sheriff thought, his muscles tensing as he closed the gap between them. “Oh Order, please watch over me as I deliver your punishment to this transgressor.” With that solemn invocation, his right fist surged with even more intense energy, electricity arcing violently through the air, before he hurled his final, decisive punch toward the Hellhound.

  For a breathless instant, silence fell. The only sounds were the murmurs of the gathering crowd, the distant blare of police car sirens, and the endless crackle of fire devouring what was left of the house. Then, with a deafening roar:

  BOOOM!!!!!

  In that explosive moment, the electrified punch collided with the Hellhound’s body, igniting a cataclysmic burst of energy. The impact hurled the Hellhound across the burning house, its shattered body smashed against the second flood wall before soaring out onto the street. There, it crumbled, its broken form slowly reduced to burning ash as sparks scattered like dying stars. The relentless impact destabilized the structure, both floors of the house began to crumble, unable to withstand the overwhelming force any longer.

  Standing amid the chaos, the Sheriff’s eyes widened in grim realization as the collapsing beams rained down upon him.

  “Oh, great,” he muttered wryly just as the house began to fall around him.

  Outside, the devastation was unmistakable, people gasped in horror at the sudden collapse.

  “BENSON!” Jacob screamed as he sprinted toward the mountain of rubble sprawled before him, his voice echoing the shock and urgency of the moment.

  The air was thick with heat, debris, and the bitter tang of destruction. Yet, amid the ruin and chaos, the resolve in their voices, and in their actions, spoke of a fierce determination to see this grim encounter through to its bitter end.

  Vincent watched with nervous intensity as Jacob raced toward what remained of the house.

  Vincent couldn’t help but wonder, “Is this really the end for the Sheriff?” He didn’t know much about him or the brutal fight that had unfolded inside, but one thing was clear: a man strong enough to level a building with a single blow was one who could survive even the darkest moments.

  Just then, a broken piece of the rubble began to shift. Amid the shattered remains, a figure emerged, against all odds, it was the Sheriff.

  One weathered hand held aloft a jagged fragment of the destroyed wall, while the other cradled Philip’s dry, lifeless corpse carefully concealed beneath his discarded coat. With a wry chuckle, the Sheriff caught sight of Jacob sprinting toward him. “What? Don’t you see I’m busy saving my own skin here, son?” he quipped.

  Relief surged through Jacob as he reached the Sheriff’s side. “Oh God, you gave me such a scare, you old man,” he said, managing a shaky smile that mixed exhaustion with relief.

  Soon many other officers began to run over to help the Sheriff out.