Out of the three Silver Eagle Guards, the one in the lead was known as Woni Tamazia. His subordinates would usually refer to him as “Service Zia the All-seeing”. As for the other two men who looked a lot alike, they were Officer Kaguzi and Officer Kuo. Despite their physical similarities, they were neither twins nor even blood-related brothers. However, they were brothers in arms who had joined the Silver Guard at the same time and had been partnered up for five years now.

Further, Kaguzi and Kuo were silver guards who had earned a badge with more than three stars. They were only a few stars away from attaining the rank of a ‘Service’ like their team leader.

When Service Zia stepped over the shack’s door, he was all the more reminded of the inequality in this world, ‘Could this even be considered a house.’ However, the scene inside the house cut his thoughts short. 

The other two silver guards and the local authorities at the scene followed behind him and entered the house with muddy footsteps. Outside, the rain started to intensify but the crowd did not leave.

After entering the house, the first thing Service Zia noticed was the strong smell of blood; so strong that it almost made him cover his nose, As someone who once fought on the most dangerous battlefield in Toro – Dragonspike, he found this to be extremely strange and unnatural. Even the rivers of blood on a battlefield could not compare.

Some of Milele town’s law enforcement officers were already in the house studying the scene of the crime and the bodies of the victims. These men were clearly of higher status than the ones outside who had the tasks of shooing civilians away. They were members of the Investigation, Research, and Scientific Division (IRS) who mostly dealt with crimes that stumped local law enforcement.

However, when these men saw Service Zia, they did not dare to waste time and respectfully greeted him. It was not just his Silver Guard uniform that wowed them; Service Zia was reputable among other investigators for his godly deduction skills and incredible crime clearance rate.

Service Zia’s amazing reputation rested chiefly on his inspiring investigative career.

“Can I get an overview of everything?”

Even before he finished his sentence, some of the men were already scrambling to be the ones to speak to Zia. By this time, Zia and the other two silver guards had already reached the main crime scene, the place where the mother and daughter slept. Even before focusing on the bodies of the victims, the most noticeable thing in the room was the large mural drawn on the wall using fresh blood. While none of the IRS officers understood what it meant, the three silver guards felt a headache incoming.

“Kuo, send a message to headquarters.”

“Yes sir.” Officer Kuo instantly took out a wooden azure brush and wrote directly on the air in front of him. Everyone at the scene was mesmerized to see the air used as paper. When Kuo finished writing the letter, the words suspended in midair suddenly burst into flames, then the flames turned into a trail of light that left the house flying into the sky. The crowd gathered outside was shocked by this sight. The trail of light cut through the rain and pierced the clouds above Milele town before zooming into the distance like a shooting star.

“What a mesmerizing sight, is that the Silver Guards Flowing Light Letter?” Mwana could not help but comment.

“Flowing Light Letter?” Kia who had lived most of her life in Easter Jin naturally did not know much about Toro let alone the Silver Guard.

“It is the Silver Guard’s fastest means of communication. It is said that at its fastest, it can even deliver messages at the speed of light!”

“Speed of light!”

Mwana understood Kia’s shock. Most other methods of communication in the Zika world utilized magic, natural energy, animals, or unique frequency signals. Either way, they were nowhere as fast as the Flowing Light Letter which utilized the even rarer spiritual energy.

In Toro, the majority of the population living in villages and non-urban settlements could only use animals such as messenger birds for long distance communication. This usually took weeks or months to pass messages. A few people in the specializing in the field of magic or those living in slightly advanced settlements had access to communication means that utilized magic signals. While one could find magic communication technology in a major town like Milele, most people lived in rural villages that did not even have a single magic circle let alone a complete Magic Relay and Communication System.

“Only a few people can use the Flowing Light Letter even in the Silver Guard. You need to be an expert in light and spirit manipulation to use it. They are firing it now so that means it’s a big deal! What happened here is no small matter at all!”

Just as Mwana had guessed, this was a complex case that made even Service Zia contact his superiors.

Inside the small house, the scene was extremely horrid. The two victim’s bodies were unrecognizable; they were extremely mangled. Both corpses had their stomachs torn open and their entrails were spread everywhere from the bed to the floor. Seeing this scene, one of the rookie local officers who had followed after the three silver guards could not help but rush outside to vomit.

Even the veteran officers felt unwell from witnessing the brutality of the scene. As people who mostly lived and worked in and around the peaceful Milele town, they mostly dealt with ordinary crimes. Most had never even seen a murdered child let alone one whose life was taken in such an inhumane manner.

Crack, crack.

It was the cracking of knuckles. Service Zia’s fists were tightly clenched as he suppressed the rage within him. For others, the scene made them sick and fearful but for him, it only made him extremely angry.

“Team Leader, we will definitely catch this bastard!” The one to speak was Officer Kaguzi. From the tone of his words, it was clear to everyone else that the three silver guards had some knowledge about the culprit.

“Are their livers missing?” After calming his anger, Service Zia made sure to confirm his suspicions.

“Yes, yes, both their livers are gone.”

Hearing this, the three silver guards did not seem too shocked. They already expected this after seeing the blood mural on the wall.

The local officer who had answered the question continued to describe all the information they had collected including the witness testimonies.

“Earlier when we questioned the civilians who were first to respond, they told us something truly shocking.”

Indeed all morning the local authorities had interviewed the victims’ neighbors to understand what had happened. The beheaded man outside was also connected to the happenings of the previous night.

The woman’s scream when she came face to face with ‘the terror’ had been so loud that none of the neighbors could ignore it. Many left their homes amidst the cold and rain and rushed over to the wooden shack. However, after banging on the door for a while, there was no response. Instead, a great demonic terror burst out of the house’s back window. Unfortunately, some of the men had circled around the house to check on the windows after the woman failed to respond. They were met with the escaping terror and with a swipe it carried off the third victim’s head before tossing it aside like a harvested watermelon. The man did not even know how he died. Blood spurted out of the victim’s neck like a fountain as the terrifying creature flew off into the night.

The night was once again populated by howling and wailing. Screams of fear and pain rang through this particular district of the town for hours.

It had been absolute terror!

Words and Terms

Service – as a rank in the Silver Guard, it is used to humble whoever attains this rank and remind them of their purpose to the nation and the people. Most people who can attain such a position have already started to break away from the normal due to their extremely high strength. As a result it is important for them to have a constant reminder of their humanity and oath of service.

Officers – The Star Ranking system applies to Officers within the Silver Eagle Corps and Silver Wolf Corps. The Ranking depends on the number of stars and the type of stars.

Woni – Vision, thinking and planning for the future by applying wisdom and creative imagination

Tamazia – look into something

Kuo – get carried

Kaguzi – Investigative

I.R.S – A unit within law enforcement that takes a scientific and research-driven approach to crime solving

Magic Relay and Communication System: – a system to transmit messages over long distances by utilizing spatial magic. More advanced forms can even be used as teleportation portals and pathways between different places.