A sadistic grin crept across Dmitri's face as a feverish hunger flickered in his eyes, mimicking an apex predator freed from its cage, readying itself to land a fatal blow on its prey.

Dmitri stood there, pretending to be oblivious, without moving a muscle.

He could sense the presence of a priest sneaking up behind him without needing to look, even though they were extra careful to be extremely quiet, and their footsteps were as light as a feather.

Dmitri held his breath so he wouldn't have to inhale the repulsive stench coming from them, which gave their cover away. They majorly reeked of the goddess Eupherial, which could only mean one thing.

The weapon in their hands had to be immense to give off a revolting smell like that, with massive amounts of the goddess's divine energy infused within it.

They were clearly hoping to make an easy kill at close range while minimizing the risk of sustaining any injury to themselves.

The timing had to be just right for Dmitri to have them right where he wanted them.

Sneaky piece of shit! What a big fuckin letdown! I was expecting more from you, Lucian, but it seems to me like you're nothing more than a fuckin amateur, Dmitri cursed in his mind.

The priest only stood a couple of inches from Dmitri. He drew back his arm, ready to drive a rather large spear through his back like a skewer.

"That's the coward's way out! At least if you're gonna take me on, have the guts to fuckin face me!" Dmitri yelled out.

Before the priest with auburn hair could bring down his weapon, his breath hitched in his throat as Dmitri turned around. Claws as sharp as knives were dying to pierce through his skin.

The priest attempted to leap back to dodge the oncoming attack, but his reaction time was a few seconds too slow. Dmitri was simply faster and on a completely different level.

The priest managed to create distance between them, but not unscathed. Each saw-like nail on Dmitir's hand did its part in seamlessly tearing through the fabric of his cloak as if it were nothing more than paper and dug into his flesh.

The priest let out a hiss as a sharp burning and stinging sensation crawled around his chest. It felt as though a horde of fire ants each took their turn to unleash an onslaught of attacks upon him for posing a threat to their beloved colony.

He glanced down and was met with inflamed and raised skin from the oversized claw mark stretching across his chest with blood trickling out from it.

In a state of shock, trying to process what had just happened, he placed a trembling hand on the injury Dmitri had inflicted as his vision blurred in and out of focus, only to find it soon stained in crimson.

"Well, well, well. How nice of ya to finally show up. A shame you're a little late, though. You priests really need to work on your timing," Dmitri mocked, not wasting a second to belittle one of his mortal enemies, who he despised with every ounce of that damn cold heart of his.

The priest clenched his teeth as his eyes zeroed in on the beyond-petrified boy sniffling on the ground right smack next to Dmitri.

Dmitri threw back his head, unable to contain his laughter. "You've gotta be shittin' me. Is this really all they have to show for? They have some nerve to send me some nameless fucking nobody. I don't even have any idea who the fuck you even are," Dmitri complained.

The priest closely observed Dmitri's every move, never taking his eyes off him for a second, desperately waiting for the perfect opening to strike.

"Aw man, that's fucking hilarious; it actually made my eyes water," Dmitri laughed, wiping a tear from his eye. "So this Lucian that everyone can't shut the fuck up about couldn't be here, huh? Well, that's a damn shame. I was looking forward to getting to know him better. But I'm sure he had far better things to do than to be in this dump. That tells me a lot about where you stand."

"Shut up, bloodsucker! You have no idea what I'm capable of or where I stand!" the priest shouted, his blood boiling.

"Must be a new recruit. Damn, upper-rank priests are hard to come by these days. Your numbers must be dwindling and fast, with no one replacing the ones who get taken out. But why am I fucking surprised? I got tired of wiping the floor with em. They never stood a fightin' chance. I hate to break it to them, but they're nothing to show for," Dmitri admitted point-blank.

"You bastard!" The priest spat out as anger flared in his eyes, his jaw tightening after overhearing such an insulting remark from the villain standing before him.

"I guess you'll have to do for now. Trust me, this won't take long. Ya think you're tough enough to take me down, huh? Well, show me how it's done, bigshot. What're ya waitin' for? I ain't got all day," Dmitri challenged.

In response, the priest gripped the spear tighter in his hands. "We'll see about that," he shot back. Just as the priest began to charge at Dmitri, he stopped dead in his tracks midway. Dmitri lifted up the little boy by the back of the collar of his shirt, which caused him to wail.

"I'm just fucking with ya. I don't want that damn spear anywhere near me. If you come any closer, the kid's not gonna make it. Just one little twist is all it'll take," Dmitri threatened as he put the little boy in a chokehold.

"I just can't get the brat to keep his mouth shut. Can you believe that shit? All he's been doing this entire time is whining and crying for his daddy. It's damn annoying if you ask me. I think he might be broken or somethin'. If I had to guess, I'd say he must be a little traumatized, I imagine, from having to see his mother over there as dead as a doornail," Dmitri guessed as he pointed at the strawberry-blonde-haired woman lying motionless on the ground with his free hand.

The priest struggled to speak. He stared at the gruesome scene, wide-eyed and trembling.

"What an interesting reaction," Dmitri said with amusement cocking his head to the side as he fixed his soul-crushing gaze on the priest.

A sly, sinister smirk slowly formed on his lips as he began to piece together the puzzle in his mind.

"Hmm, you appear pretty shaken up if you ask me. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the sight of rotting corpses would freak anyone the fuck out, but you seem way too sentimental for someone who doesn't supposedly know anyone lying dead here. You haven't taken your eyes off that woman for a while now. I bet she meant a lot to you, didn't she?" Dmitri proposed while leaning a bit closer.

A horrified expression washed over the priest's face, unintentionally revealing what Dmitri wanted to know without saying a word.

"Oh, I get it now; it all makes sense; why hadn't I noticed it sooner? I have something precious of yours, don't I? This is your son, isn't it?" Dmitri asked as a menacing look swept over his face as he stroked the little boy's hair.

The boy began to squirm, but he was not a match for Dmitri. He was at his mercy.

"Judging by your expression, looks like I'm damn right. Oh man, I struck it rich, that's for sure. What're the odds? Today's my lucky day. He takes after his mother; how fucking sweet. What a nice little family reunion," Dmitri declared, his lips tugging upward to flash a devilish grin.

The boy's body started to shiver uncontrollably as he whimpered. Pure fear shone through his eyes as tears burst out from them.

"You know how easy it woulda been for me to end your miserable life earlier, right? All I woulda had to do was put more force into that slash, and you would've been as good as done. But I don't need ya dying on me just yet, not until you've suffered first, that is," Dmitri was quick to point out.

"No, please, I'm begging you...don't hurt him," the priest pleaded.

"Oh, don't worry, he's fine for now, but he won't be for long," Dmitri claimed while smiling darkly.

"What do you wanna be when you grow up, huh? I bet you wanna be just like your daddy, don't you? A priest of the Order of the Cross. I don't like the sound of that one damn bit," Dmitri said in a low and threatening tone.

"I'm the one you want, not him; he's just a boy. He has nothing to do with anything. Please let him go and kill me instead," the priest begged.

"Where'd all that confidence from earlier go? Looks like I've gotcha by the balls now, huh? Now all ya gotta do is drop that weapon of yours nice and slow, and nobody has to get hurt," Dmitri warned.