Investigation

"What's the case we're dealing with this time?" Anton asked as he began to check the ammunition in his pistol magazines.

Rafael, with all the calm in the world, looked at a large screen on the side of the driver's seat and said, "This case will be a bit complicated for the police. The Light Association's intelligence is still investigating it, but it's very likely to be related to something unusual. I've just been informed that this case will be led by a female superintendent. From what we know about these series of murders, there are twelve missing persons and over ten confirmed victims."

Anton looked at the images of the murdered ones and nodded, but still, with some doubt, he asked, "How have they determined that this case is suitable for us Exorcist priests?"As far as I know, it could be any mentally disturbed person responsible for these murders."

"It's not that simple..." Rafael, who had been briefed on the entire case, recalled everything he knew and said, "The brutality of the murders is what has determined that we need to take responsibility."

Anton nodded and said, "Give me the details about the cases, and I'll determine that for myself."

As everyone knew, in most cases, these murders had nothing to do with the supernatural; many times, it was deranged humans causing chaos. That's why, as long as they were normal humans, Anton didn't want to waste time on this case when there were many others that needed his attention.

The police exist to handle humans and detectives to solve these kinds of cases, and the police's rapid response forces are there to eliminate these cases. It's true that they were sent not only to solve this case but also to identify it correctly. In this aspect of the job, many times Novice Purifiers couldn't identify if a case was related to an exorcist or a detective from the police department. This time it was such a case, so Anton, who was nearby, was responsible for conducting an investigation to determine whether or not they should pay attention to cases like this.

Regarding the female superintendent, things could get complicated with her because they were often rebellious and didn't obey all the orders of the superiors, who understood what an exorcist priest did.

"Do you have any potential suspects?" Anton asked with a furrowed brow.

News of an abnormal murder coinciding with serial killings is not good news at all. This would cause panic among people, and most of the time, if it's an incarnate demon, it would become more powerful. Many superintendents work differently, so they had to be careful to control at least the first week after the murder case.

"All right, you can start..." Anton tried to ignore all his thoughts and go straight to the main question.

"On the morning of December 11, 2018, a few hundred meters from the Juvisius Duplen restaurant, a female body was found near the road. The victim was around 24 years old, had an attractive body, and had a pleasant face for most average men."

"As far as we could observe, the deceased's clothing was damaged and torn; she had marks all over her body that the police suspect are from edged weapons, but our investigators think they are claws." Rafael then showed images on a portable tablet he was handling.

Anton nodded in silence, and from what he could see, those cut marks were indeed from claws. He didn't know if it was from a specific animal, but they weren't common.

"The preliminary report prepared by the coroner identified the main cause of death as instant decapitation. The woman, according to research sources from the detectives in charge, could only be seen on cameras minutes before she was killed."

"Later, we found the woman's head about 600 meters from a park in the middle of nowhere. The decapitated head didn't contain her brain; according to the investigation, it was torn out by a beast."

After saying this, Rafael took a deep breath and said, "The mobile phone couldn't be turned on after it broke, so we speculate that the girl was in a fight defending herself from her attacker."

"The phone was taken to the Technology Crimes Investigation Team. After repair, messages sent by the deceased to her boyfriend in the last moments she remained alive were found."

"The first message was: [Darling, it seems there's something hiding in the bushes.]. I'm scared!]"

"The second message said: [I just approached, and it seems it's just an abandoned dog.]"

The detectives visited the deceased's boyfriend, who confirmed not knowing anything about what happened. Shortly afterward, he also disappeared. Currently, the police are trying to find the boyfriend as the main suspect in the murder.

"Later, the disappearances of a young university student named Lucy Lokerman were reported very close to where the first murder originated. The police speculate that there were at least a dozen, and docks and springs are seriously injured due to the blood found in the last place each victim was."

After Rafael explained this, he parked his car on a lonely road and said, "Now we're at the crime scene of the beheaded girl. This is the first place we'll investigate, sir."

Anton got out of the car and left his rifle in the truck, but he had a pistol concealed under his clothes, so there was no problem if he needed it unexpectedly.

In his first impressions of this series of murders and disappearances, immediately labeled as kidnappings, they seemed very normal to him. There was nothing to tell them at the moment that they were facing something supernatural, so he had to at least investigate for the rest of the day before identifying whether he should take charge or not.

No mission had appeared on his property or attributes panel; therefore, there was no threat to eliminate, and all this seemed unrelated to his job.

"What do you think, Rafael?" Anton looked at the perimeter left by the police, so after passing it, he put on gloves and began to look at every tiny detail.

Rafael, upon hearing this question, frowned, thought about it for a moment, and replied, "I think this job is not related to something supernatural, but neither is it something normal police can solve."

Murder cases were very violent, so much so that they seemed to be done by a beast rather than a human. But as reality surpasses fiction, Anton didn't want to get too distracted by it.

"Try to look for any detail; we might find something the police couldn't." Anton said as he checked the surroundings, but at that moment, a sound from the bushes was heard.

Crack!

Anton immediately drew his pistol and aimed it at the bushes. Looking at Rafael, who had also drawn his weapon, they advanced slowly. At an appropriate distance, he said, "If you can understand me, you must come out of that place, or we'll fill you with bullets in the next three seconds."