The week had reached its end, and in the evening, Hal was once again putting on his green suit to venture outside. He looked into the mirror and sighed as he saw his now blue eyes that had refused to revert to their original colour.
He liked his previous eye colour since it matched his hair and personality, at least he thought so, but now he would have to move around looking like this.
He wore the bracelet that now contained the slaughter's gain and the moment keeper that appeared as mere silver decorations on the bracelet.
He picked up his hat and placed it on his head before setting off to meet Mr Vandinel. He set off post haste, not wanting a single moment, and soon returned to the Noble's Delicacy.
He made his way to where they sat last time, and after a few minutes, he was joined by a man wearing a long brown coat.
"Huh, scholar, you finally made it. I hope no one was following you"
"Don't worry, I made sure to be extremely careful on my way out, so I believe no one saw me"
Mr Vandinel nodded before passing Hal a weird black cloak
"This will be our disguise, so let's hurry, you'll put it on the way there"
The two got up and departed from the dinner with a single moment to waste. Hal turned to the moon that was now in its waning stage
It shone with a grey light, not appearing anything like how a blue moon would, making Hal wonder how it would appear when the selection begins in just a few weeks
He put on his cloak as they took a carriage to the common folk part of the capital before walking into a dark alley
There was a man waiting for them in the alley, wearing a strange mask and a cloak that resembled theirs. He turned to them before approaching him and Mr Vandinel, who signalled Hal to remain calm
"New brothers of the blue moon, the others await our arrival so that we may praise our king and bring about his descent on this world, so please follow me"
Vandinel bowed to the cloaked man and spoke in a humble tone
"Splendid, please, dear brother, guide us to the others so that we may praise our king"
The man provided them a mask with a grin that stretched up to his dark eyes. The mask was split into two, with the other side painted black and the other painted red"
Mr Vandinel quickly put it on as Hal followed in his lead and adorned his as well. The two of them were then covered with black sacks, frightening Hal, who tried to resist
"Relax, dear brother, you are a new member. In case of any uncertainties, we would not want you exposing us to the public now, would we?"
Hal's breathing was heavy as the anxiety of not knowing where he was rising in his teenage heart; it felt like a decade as they were guided by the weird man to who knows where, until
The black sacks were finally retrieved from their heads. Hal looked around and found himself surrounded by people wearing dark cloaks and those strange masks.
The place they were in reminded Hal of a cathedral, but instead of a cross, their cathedral had a picture of a blue moon towering over the capital.
The masked cultists all turned their gazes to the man who led them here, who walked in front of them and bowed.
"Dear priest of the blue moon, I have brought our new brothers to pay their tributes to the king and become part of the force that will bring our king into this world"
"Good job, well done, as expected by the king's retriever, you have brought us what we need"
There was a sound of footsteps as a man walked onto the platform. He wore a dark blue cloak, and his left eye on his mask was shaped like a crescent moon.
The man stood behind the altar and raised his hands, causing all the cultists to kneel in respect. Hal and Vandinel thought it wise to do the same as they knelt and bowed their legs.
"Praise the King, he who will descend to this flawed world and make it anew into a world of beauty and peace"
Each cultist then replied to the man's sentence in unison, making Hal shiver slightly.
"As the King's will has chosen all those who follow him shall sow the seeds of the new world and nature it in his image"
"Then raise and take your seats, my dear brothers"
The cultists took a seat as Hal and the detective found their own seats at the back of the gathering and sat down to listen attentively to the words of the priest.
"My brothers, as you all know, the blue moon shall soon rise, but it will not do so until we offer the moon sacrifice, not of blood but of soul. After that, the selection shall begin and the offerings shall be collected"
'A sacrifice not of blood but of soul, so does that mean that these people sacrifice the souls of others to the blue moon to bring about the blue moon's sacrifice?'
The priest pointed to the moon and spoke once more to the gathering
"We all know that the one to be offered to the moon so that it may transform into the king's image must have the purest flame, but this time the moon asks for its first victim to be not as pure as usual, and I am sure that you all know who will be our first target"
Mr Vandinel suddenly raised his hand and spoke in a loud tone
"Forgive me, but we do not know who that may be"
The entire gathering turned to them, causing Hal to shiver with fear. What was this detective doing pulling off such a stunt?
"Huh, yes, our two new brothers, do not worry if you wish to join us that early, then we shall begin the initiation ceremony, where you shall sacrifice your souls to the king"
Hal's heart dropped as the detective continued, now in a threatening tone
"And what if we do not intend to hand our souls over to you?"
The priest chuckled as his laughter echoed in the cathedral, and the other cultists joined in, causing Hal to shake with fear.
"Even when you know so little, you still know too much; hence we cannot let you leave here until you see the splendour of the world he wants to build and offer your soul to the cause"
Mr Vandinel let out a chuckle of his own and pointed at the two of them
"Please, you shall not have my soul, but I shall have all your answers"
The cultists began to stand one by one, all turning to approach them, and as they did, Hal heard the priest say
"Then, dear detective, this cathedral shall be your new home and our king you shall serve as the lowest slave"
The cultist began to bolt at them, only for the detective to pull back his hand and reveal a golden bracelet, and with a flick of his hand, a walking cane appeared in his hand
He struck the ground with it, causing a sonic wave that pushed most of the cultists back, before he grabbed Hal and bolted off with him
"Why did you do that?"
"Because they already knew why we were there, take that mask off, it's slowly hypnotising you, hurry"
Hal pulled off the mask as his face twisted into one of fear. The place was filled with weird symbols and words containing forbidden knowledge, with most of them reading.
[THE KING IS A KING OF MADNESS. HE WILL PAINT THIS WORLD IN RED]
The words glowed in bloody red colours as Hal began to feel a headache take him over. The detective threw him through a door and jumped in after him as they appeared in a patch of low grass
The detective quickly rose from the ground and took a stance ready to deliver a devastating blow to whoever came out of that door, only for an explosion to throw him away
The man who brought them exited the door that disappeared behind him as his cloak was set ablaze by a violent red flame
The man dashed towards Hal, who dodged his attack. He flicked his hand and summoned the Slaughterer's gain and activating the shared mind
He tried to mark the man but found himself unable to do so as he decided to focus on sharpening his senses and utilising his parallel thinking
The man rushed at Hal, who tried to fight back, only to be burned by the heat emanating from the man's burning cloak
The man used the flames to project his movements, as Hal used his reflexes to dodge around, but without the ability to get close, beating the man was a lost cause
A sonic wave struck the man, pushing him away slightly as he turned his attention to the detective, whose coat had been burnt, and so was most of his hand
The man attacked the detective as the two exchanged blows
Hal bolted forward and entered the man's blind spot. He felt the heat begin to scorch his body, but he still drove his hand forward and delivered a cut to the man, who turned to him only to be struck by a sonic wave by Vandinel
The detective did not give the man a chance to fight back as he attacked the man again, but after that first strike, Hal knew they were not going to win unless they found a way around the heat
Hal turned to the bracelet in his hand and saw the moment keeper. He flicked his hand and summoned the jewel. He did not understand what it did or why the voice was directed to him, but he still focused and let some soul flame flow into it as a moment played through its mind
A bird-like monster was skewered by millions of purple spikes as it let out a loud shriek
Hal turned to the man and, using his will, directed the moment to him, and without warning, the man exploded into sharp purple spikes that narrowly missed the detective, who jumped back
The man turned his eyes and tried to ignite his cloak, only for his cloak to burst into a violent explosion that was swiftly absorbed into the moment keeper, leaving only the burnt cultist who stumbled to the floor
Hal turned to the jewel as all the possibilities that this jewel could open up filled his mind, and suddenly, Hal felt weak as he saw himself stumble to the floor and black out