26 Chapter 25: New Identity (2)

[Third Person's Point of View]

Nestled along the shores of Lake Michigan, Winnetka was a peaceful oasis boasting lush green spaces, tree-lined streets, and breathtaking views of the lake. The town's architecture blended seamlessly with its natural surroundings, featuring a mix of historic homes and modern residences.

The community's values and rich history were on full display in the well-preserved and often grandiose historical buildings scattered throughout the area.

One particular English Manor on Maple Street caught the eye of every passerby, meticulously renovated to showcase a perfect blend of classic and contemporary design. Designed by a renowned architect for the Blackwood family, founders of a national supermarket chain, the estate stood as a testament to their refined taste.

As the morning sun shone through the windows, it woke up all the inhabitants of the Blackwood Mansion. The tantalizing aroma of a Full-English breakfast filled the air, courtesy of Elaina Blackwood, matriarch of the household.

"Joyce, could you please call him down for breakfast?" Elaina sighed, turning to her trusted housemaid who was helping in the kitchen. "He gets so caught up in his routine sometimes."

Joyce smiled and nodded before setting down her spatula. She made her way up to the second floor where the young master's room was located. She knocked on his door and heard a male voice respond from within.

"Come in," The voice said. Joyce's eyes widened as she took in the sight of the shirtless man as soon as she walked inside. His fair skin was smooth and glistening with sweat, his defined muscles flexing as he effortlessly completed his crunches. Damp dark hair clung to his forehead, highlighting his sharp jawline.

"Excuse me," she cleared her throat, avoiding looking directly at his toned body. "Madam has asked you to come down for breakfast."

Joyce couldn't help but glance into the pair of captivating violet eyes, causing a faint blush to rise to her cheeks.

"Breakfast? Of course." August paused his workout and stood up, towering over the raven-haired maid with his 6'1 frame. "Let me change first though."

Joyce's cheeks flushed a deeper shade of pink as she stood close to August. "I-I'll inform madam" she stammered before quickly leaving the room and leaning against the wall outside.

"What's wrong with me?" she whispered, placing her hands on her burning cheeks. "Young master seems to be getting more attractive every day."

Meanwhile, August chuckled to himself as he watched his maid's reaction through the door.

'How cute'

The Blackwoods had left their home in Great Britain and settled in the US during the early 1910s, right before World War One. Twenty years ago, Martin Blackwood and Elaina tied the knot and have been living happily together ever since. But despite appearances, not everything in their marriage was perfect.

Despite their best efforts, they were unable to have children, and after fifteen long years of trying, they finally accepted that they would never be parents.

For Augustus, this was the ideal family. A wealthy and influential British-American family with a reserved social life.

"Good morning, Mum," he greeted Elaine as he made his way down the stairs wearing a loose tank top and joggers. She smiled at him and gestured towards a seat at the dining table.

"Why don't you sit down? We're almost finished," she said.

Joyce brought over the remaining dishes from the kitchen counter and quickly left to retrieve a jar of orange juice without looking in his direction.

August hummed as he sat down and looked at the delicious spread before him. "Smells great," he commented. Elaine's face lit up at his words as she playfully ruffled his hair before going back to setting up the rest of the breakfast.

"August" Martin Blackwood called out to his son as he emerged in a three-piece suit, prepared for an important meeting later, despite it being a Sunday.

He pulled up the chair beside his son and sat down, engaged in light conversation, punctuated by moments of shared laughter. To any outside observer, they would appear to be the epitome of a loving family. However, beneath the surface, their reality was much more complex and troubled.

About a month ago, Augustus performed a memory modification on the Blackwood couple. In their minds, he became their 19-year-old son, August Blackwood. He didn't have any malicious intentions behind this; he simply saw the couple as a useful disguise for his future plans.

He was even willing to play the role of a loving son to these two strangers if that's what it took. He didn't really have any objections.

But, over time, he had grown fond of the couple, even though they could be strict at times. But their affection for him seemed genuine, or at least that's how their altered memories made it seem.

In the end, if everything went according to his plans, he decided to restore the couple's memory and sincerely apologize to them.

'Damn, I am really seeing ghosts' As he observed the heartwarming scene in front of him, Augustus couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. The couple in front of him reminded too much of his own parents.

'Didn't expect to have these human morals anymore.'

"Son" Martin called out to him while he was sipping orange juice from his glass. "Didn't you say that your university email was supposed to come by today?"

"Yes. They said to expect it by noon"

Elaina's face fell when she heard the response. "Why do you have to travel so far for your studies? We have some of the top universities right here."

August let out a weary sigh as he once again had to explain to his 'mother' why studying in Japan was so important to him.

"We've had this conversation before. Remember when you promised to let me attend the university of my choice if I ranked within the top ten in our school?"

Elaina huffed at the reply and went back to eating.

Gaining admission to Tokyo University, also known as the esteemed Todai, was crucial for smoothly assimilating into the Jujutsu community.

It also helped that August would be in the heart of the Jujutsu world, with its headquarters located in Tokyo and had the chance of getting a upper hand in the upcoming DXD plot.

*

The blue light of the monitor screen reflected in bright purple eyes, as August surfed his laptop while keeping an eye on the inbox of his mail. He was engrossed in the latest news from the supernatural world. 

It has been more than a month since he adopted this new persona, and except for the first few days, he was not idle.

After a quick stroll through the cities with major magical communities in the U.S. gathered from Underwood's memory and liberal use of memory magic later, he came across the not-so-secret part of the net - The supernatural internet.

Similar to its mundane counterpart, it was almost universally used by all supernatural ranging from human magicians to real Greek gods.

Except for the Underworld which had its own Devi-net.

That's why he specifically bought a laptop modified to be nearly untraceable, on top of which he added a slew of his own spells and enchantments.

A hint of amusement crossed his features as he perused an article detailing the recent spike in devilish activity on Earth. "Looks like the Underworld has yet to calm down" he mused with a raised eyebrow.

[A Month On: Devil Activities Escalate in Wake of High-Profile Murder]

One month has passed since the shocking murder of a prominent devil heir and his peerage, and the repercussions are still being felt across the globe. The devil community has been in turmoil since the heir to the branch house of the Balam Clan was killed by an individual known as the 'Tarot Killer'. Despite the passing of weeks, the devil's activities on Earth show no signs of abating.

The Tarot Killer, whose signature is leaving a tarot card behind after each crime, has managed to evade capture by both human and devil authorities. This failure has only fueled the determination of the Devil government, forcing them to investigate the matter seriously and apprehend the Tarot Killer.

Since the incident, Devil activity on Earth has increased markedly. The Devil government has been cracking down on any suspicious activities and monitoring the actions of their kind on Earth more closely. The Devils of the 72 Pillars have been especially active, seeking revenge for their fallen comrade.

As the situation intensifies, it remains to be seen whether the Tarot Killer will be brought to justice or if this surge of Devil activity will continue. The situation is being closely monitored by the International Congress of Magic, and they have assured Earth's inhabitants that they are doing everything in their power to protect them from any harm caused by devil-kind.

In the meantime, people are advised to exercise caution and report any suspicious activity they may witness to the authorities. The Devil community is under close scrutiny, and any act of violence or wrongdoing will be dealt with severely.

The first time he saw a similar article three weeks ago was enough to push his sequence progress to a whopping 87%

When he ascended to Sequence-8, he was already at 35%; the reason for which he deduced that his actions in his last sequence were already considered 'cold-blooded' by the system, resulting in him getting a nice starting boost to his progress.

Recently, he discovered that an increase in the percentage of sequence progression also increases the effectiveness of a skill.

Normally he would have noticed such a huge change in his first sequence itself, but the increase in power in the starting sequence was so negligible that it went under his radar. So he tried to test out his newly increased power in the last month.

Tried because there was no place currently to safely test out his full powers without drawing the attention of the supernatural authorities. Barriers weren't all-powerful after all, and he wanted to avoid teleporting to the underworld as much as possible.

But increasing his sequence progression came with its new share of problems. The most effective way to embody a 'cold-blooded' was to murder someone in cold blood.

Not that he was a total saint during his time at Ameing either, and Earth was a lot smaller and densely populated than the underworld, so enacting out his sequence wouldn't be too difficult for August, but doing all these things trace-free was getting quite irritating sometimes.

But this time, he had to take human lives instead of just devils. The part of him that used to be human initially wavered, but then he reminded himself that he had killed many members of his current species without hesitation. It would be hypocritical of him to think any differently now.

Still, August avoided killing innocent people if he could; that was the last line he was unwilling to cross if the situation was lenient enough. So in the last month, numerous gangs fell victim to a mysterious killer who eradicated them by the bunch, with each member killed by a single blade to their heart.

He scrolled through articles about his nightly activities, chuckling at the cliche nickname given to him by the media - "The Heart Hunter". As he scrolled through the feed, a notification sounded from the computer in front of him.

The response from Todai has finally arrived.

August's eyes darted back and forth as he quickly absorbed the contents of the mail, a slight grin forming on his lips.

"It's time. Canon, here I come!"

 ******************************

[Note- While Augustus is parading around in his new persona, I'll write him as August instead of Augustus]

Author-san here!!!

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