The assistant sighed, the last trace of emotion draining from his face. His eyes, once alert, now held a cold, hollow calm.
"Surround the area," he commanded.
"No one leaves or enters without my permission."
A few officers exchanged looks. One of them, a young sergeant, stepped forward.
"Hold on—who exactly are you to give orders? You're just an assistant. We take command from Major Lazar."
Another added, "There are wounded civilians. We need to get medics in. You don't have the authority to block that."
The assistant ignored them. Instead, he took a slow step forward.
> | [Serpent's Gaze] has been activated.
A shimmer passed over his eyes, something not quite visible, not quite human. Suddenly, the air turned still. The surrounding officers froze mid-step, confusion and resistance draining from their faces.
His voice echoed again, but now it carried the undeniable weight of control.
"Surround the area. No one leaves, no one enters."
His gaze swept toward the scattered civilians nearby, those who had gathered out of curiosity, fear, or helplessness.
"Those who witnessed what happened, move into formation. Those uninvolved, return to where you were. Resume what you were doing before this mess had started."
They obeyed like puppets.
The assistant watched, silent and still, as the crowd rearranged itself according to his command. And then, with the same unnerving calm, he whispered:
"Those in formation... attack the police."
The spell on the officers was released. In an instant, they staggered, blinking in confusion, just in time to face a swarm of civilians charging at them with sticks, broken bottles, and fists.
"W-What the hell—?!"
"They're turning on us!"
The chaos was brutal. The police struggled to defend themselves, stunned by the sudden betrayal of the crowd.
Screams filled the air once more. In the end, seven officers were killed. The rest injured or forced to retreat.
And just like that, the monster incident had been buried.
The official report described it as a spontaneous act of violence, a mob uprising in a low-income neighborhood. Nothing more.
No mention of the monster.
No mention of the masked man.
The Seveleventh incident was covered up as well.
The footage was wiped from the store's system.
Witnesses, including the security guardmysteriously disappeared.
—-------------------------------------------
Elsewhere, in a reinforced compound outside Metro Manila, the same woman from the earlier encounter stood at attention.
She bowed slightly.
"Chief," she began. "That man—Verez—is dangerous. We can't let him move freely, especially since he has the 'elixir'."
The Chief sat behind a long wooden desk, his fingers laced. A man in his fifties, with deep eyes and a mind that rarely slept.
"I know," he said, tone low. "But catching Verez... is not easy."
"I'm up for it," she replied instantly. "I won't mess up this time."
A faint smile cracked across the Chief's usually stone-set face. "You're just like your mother."
She blinked at that, but said nothing.
"I'll assign you to a team," he continued. "You won't be alone in this. Now go. Prepare."
She bowed again and left, her coat billowing behind her.
Moments later, another figure entered the room—a tall, neatly dressed man, serious, sharp-eyed.
The Chief's calm demeanor vanished, replaced by steel.
"Who covered up what happened in Pasay?"
"It wasn't us," the man said.
The Chief narrowed his gaze. "Then who?"
The man paused, swallowed, and said, "It might've been... The ███████."
A long silence filled the room.
The Chief leaned back, his jaw tight.
"Already–?" he muttered.
His eyes darkened as he stared at the dim lights overhead, thoughts racing.
—------------------------------------------
(THE FOLLOWING SCENARIO IS SEXUALLY EXPLICIT, INVOLVING TWO INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE 18 AND ABOVE)
In a dimly lit room, the air was thick with anticipation as two individuals, a man and a young woman, engaged in a passionate encounter on the couch.
The man's hands roamed over the woman's body, his fingers tracing the curves of her skin as they deepened their kiss.
Moans escaped her lips as he devoured her mouth, his tongue probing the depths of her throat. The sound of their heavy breathing filled the room, a symphony of desire that seemed to reverberate through every molecule of air.
As they broke apart for a moment, the man's eyes locked onto hers, burning with an intensity that made her heart skip a beat. "Mhmm~," he muttered, his voice low and husky, sending shivers down her spine.
He reached out, his fingers closing around her wrist as he pulled her closer. "Take off your uniform~," he requested, his words dripping with eroticism, making her skin prickle with excitement.
The girl hesitated, a tremble running through her veins as she replied, "I'm scared…" Her voice barely above a whisper.
The man's responded, his words dripping with reassurance. "Your first time?" he asked, his eyes never leaving hers, his gaze piercing through to the very core of her being.
She nodded nervously, her heart racing with anticipation. The man's smile was gentle, as he reassuringly replied, "Don't worry, you'll be just fine~."
The girl's hesitation was palpable, her body tense as she struggled with her own desires and the voice of reason in her head.
"But my boyfriend—" she says, her voice trembling. The man's finger pressed gently against her lips, silencing her.
"He won't find out~"he assured her, his voice a low, confident purr. The girl's eyes fluttered closed, and she took a deep breath, steeling herself for what was to come.
The room grew even more intimate as the two began to undress, the soft rustle of fabric the only sound breaking the heavy silence.
The man's eyes never left the girl, his gaze intense and hungry. He spat into his hand, the sound obscene and raw, and spread the saliva onto his erect penis, his eyes never leaving hers.
The girl's breath hitched as he positioned himself between her legs, his body pressing against hers.
He entered her slowly, inch by inch, his eyes locked onto hers, gauging her reaction.
The girl moaned, a soft, breathy sound that filled the room. The man began to move, his hips thrusting in a slow, deliberate rhythm, his eyes never leaving hers.
The room filled with the sound of their moans, the soft slap of flesh against flesh, and the occasional gasp as they lost themselves in the moment.
Suddenly, the tranquility of the room was shattered by the shrill ring of a phone.
The man's expression darkened, annoyance flashing across his features. He gently pulled out of the girl, leaving her panting and flushed, and reached for the phone.
"Who is it?" he growled, his voice laced with irritation.
A distorted voice on the other end responded, cryptic, garbled, but urgent:
"████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████
His annoyed expression changed immediately to razor-focused.
"I'll be there shortly," he replied, ending the call.
Back in the couch, the girl had sat up.
He returned with a faint smile.
"You should head home," he said gently. "Your parents might be worried."
She nodded, still flushed, still unsure.
"Remember what we agreed on. You were at a classmate's house, okay?"
She gave a faint, guilty smile.
"Yes…"
He helped her get dressed and gather her things, walked her to the car, and drove her home without another word about what had happened.
—----------------------------------
Few moments later, the same man arrives in a reinforced compound, entering an office as he stands before the 'Chief'.
"I've been waiting," the Chief said coldly.
The man gave a small bow. "I apologize for the delay, sir."
The Chief chuckled lightly. "No need to explain, Evalyano. You're not late."
But the warmth in the Chief's face faded as quickly as it came. His eyes hardened.
"You've heard the reports," he said.
"The ██████ have already infiltrated the Philippine law enforcement."
Evalyano's half-smile vanished.
"So it's confirmed."
The Chief gave a grim nod.
"They covered up the entire Pasay incident, which while good, showcases their dangerous influence."
He continued.
"Its also possible that they have connections with other higher-ups. I mean, seven officers dead?. A tier 7 monster summoned and eliminated in the middle of a neighborhood?. All of it scrubbed clean."
Evalyano's eyes narrowed. "And the man responsible for the summon?"
"He's one of our agents that had gone rouge. Verez." the Chief said. "He took the 'elixir'."
Evalyano crossed his arms, thoughtfully asking "Is he working with them?"
The Chief stared at the desk for a long moment, then looked up. "I don't know yet. But I want you watching. If the ██████ gets their hands in the elixir, humanity is doomed."
Evalyano nodded once.
"I'll find him."
The Chief leaned back in his chair.
"You wont be going alone. I'm assigning you as a leader of a team. Come up with a name for it."
Evalyano replies
"Affirmative, sir."
The Chief leaned back in his chair.
"Good. Yourteam's mission is to recover the elixir from Verez before 'they' do. And by the way.. Please take good care of my granddaughter, she's part of your team."
--TO BE CONTINUED--