NUMB

34 - The Final Showdown

TW - Mention of gore, violence, and devilish stuff.

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*Next Day*

*The Under Construction Building near Manhattan Beach*

This was definitely an illegal construction, Asmodeous realised as he trailed his eyes over every inch of the semi-constructed building, vandalized with several tattoos that the Night Ghosters mafia wore. There were no construction workers, no cranes or other means that spoke of the progress, yet Asmodeous had the feeling that this land was owned by Robert and made to look like an ongoing project for whatever he was about to find out. His heart was thrumming, his rage barely contained as he analysed the lower grounds, Valreen right behind him, when he heard a screech of car tires right behind him.

Both men turned around, their aims ready, but he quickly lowered his when he noticed Magnus running towards them. "Son!? What are you doing here?" He hissed, noticing that it wasn't just Magnus, but that boy Alec, along with the cops and agents Izzy, Simon, Elijah, and Emmanuel. "What are all of you doing here!?"

"You think we're just gonna sit behind, Ayah?" Magnus asked, his eyes filled with determination. "We're helping you, and you can't make us go back!" Just as he finished the sentence, Jia emerged from inside, her eyes widened with terror and fury, but she stopped short when she noticed the new arrivals.

Asmodeous sighed. "Son, you can't be here. It's Robert. We'll take care of him and this mess."

"We can help," Alec prompted, "we want to. I know you might not like us around here, but I... we want to see that monster who ruined our lives... our childhood... and, unfortunately, is my father. I want to see him take his last breath."

Asmodeous' resolve softened, but it was dangerous to be here when nobody knows what Robert is up to somewhere in the depths of this building. "Kid-"

"Let them, Cindaku," Jia spoke, but her tone was shaky. She came a few minutes before him and Valreen did, and had dismissed her people to search for whatever they could find and kill as many members of the Night Ghosters mafia, just like he did as soon as he arrived. "They need their closure." She spoke gently, and despite not liking it, he nodded. "Also, you need to see this."

She guided them inside, near the staircase area that was scattered with trash, and layers of dust settled over everything around. The air was thick with a putrid smell clinging to every inch of that building. Asmodeous and Valreen shared a heavy glance as others followed behind too, their stances alert and ready to raise their weapons at any given second.

As they reached closer, Asmodeous' jaw hit the ground, and he gritted his teeth. There were piles of skeletons scattered around, with the ground blackened around it and judging by the different sizes of bones that were way too small to be those of an adult, they were all children. Robert had burned small children here. And not just one child but hundreds of them.

"Oh, my God!" Izzy sucked in an audible breath, and others, too, were frozen on the spot. "This is... why..." she trailed off.

"Anything else, Huntress?" Asmodeous asked with a shudder. There was darkness lingering around, suffocating him with every second. He had never felt this kind of darkness before.

"My people have killed many of Robert's men, but they are still covering the lower ground." Jia said, "By far, it's only skeletons like..." She trailed off and screwed shut her eyes, and as a father, Asmodeous understood what she couldn't say. Robert was killing small, innocent children.

"A... Ayah..." Magnus stuttered, and he looked at his son, who had his eyes fixed somewhere halfway up the stairs, with a dazed look in them.

"Son?"