?Vernon looked with a shocked expression at the scene in front of him.
Vernon and Nick had immediately run towards Kugelblitz's entrance when they heard what happened.
Right now, there were over 20 people standing in front of Kugelblitz.
To the side were several guards who were currently harshly interrogating a young-looking woman.
The guards were Experts, and based on her uniform, the woman was a Veteran working for the city.
Her eyes were showing deep panic and fear.
A couple more guards were standing in the middle of the area.
A couple of them were looking around, while some others were using complicated devices to inspect the body in front of them.
Everything from the toes to the bottom of the head looked normal, but the same thing couldn't be said for the top of the head.
The head ended at the top of the nose.
Everything above that lay beside the body in bloody chunks.
When Vernon saw the body, his face turned white, and he ran forward.
"Wyntor!" he shouted.
Yes, it was Wyntor's body.
The guards would have stopped anyone who was trying to get close to the body.
But this was Vernon Melfion.
Most of the present guards worked for Kugelblitz, and Vernon was one of their Senior Directors.
They didn't dare to tell Vernon what to do while he was emotionally unstable.
So, they allowed Vernon to pass.
Vernon's hands shook as he carefully kneeled beside the body.
He slowly reached forward and touched the body.
It was still warm.
When Vernon held his son's hand, he felt like he was still alive.
Sadly, that was only an illusion.
Wyntor was dead, and it was impossible to revive him.
The guards just sighed as they paused their investigation.
In the distance, Nick just looked at Wyntor's corpse with a conflicted expression.
Wyntor's fate had been decided about five weeks ago during Nick's conversation with Julian.
Naturally, if Nick hadn't told Julian to kill Wyntor, Wyntor would still be alive.
Nevertheless, Nick felt conflicted.
Yes, the person that had caused him so much pain had died.
He had finally gotten his revenge.
However, Wyntor was also the closest person to a friend Nick had.
The two of them had been working together for over five years now.
They had created Dark Dream with their own hands.
Nick thought about the time when Wyntor jumped into the sewers and how he had paid for Nick's recovery bath afterward.
But then, that scene was juxtaposed with the scene of Wyntor telling Nick that he would kill Horua if he didn't work with the Dreamer right now.
Nick thought about the time Wyntor had given Nick his weapons in exchange for a favor.
Yet, that scene was contrasted with the time Wyntor told Nick to kill Pator.
Nick thought of the time Wyntor told him that he genuinely was Nick's friend.
However, the next scene was of Wyntor telling the Dreamer to kill Horua.
Nick's opinion of Wyntor was very mixed.
He had done a lot of good things for Nick, but he had also done a lot of horrible things.
On one hand, Nick felt vindicated after seeing Wyntor's corpse, but on the other hand, he also felt regret.
Did Wyntor deserve to die?
In Nick's opinion, yes.
If he didn't, he would still be alive.
Nick didn't think that he made a mistake by telling Julian to kill Wyntor, but he regretted that he had to do it.
'You've always been so careful,' Nick thought as he looked at the corpse, which was being hugged by Vernon.
'You kept everyone at arm's length and had everyone in your control.'
'As far as I know, I'm the first person that you let close to you, and that person is the reason for your death.'
'Maybe it would have been for the better if you never told me the truth.'
'With your manipulative conduct, you took on so many emotional debts that you couldn't possibly repay them.'
'I guess the only way you could have survived was to take on more emotional debts to repay your old ones until you become strong enough that you can default on them without any major repercussions.'
'What was that proverb again? Once you suppress a Specter, you can never let it go.'
Nick just took a deep breath.
'Goodbye, Wyntor.'
'I don't know if I regret meeting you or not.'
Nick slowly walked forward and approached one of the guards as he kept staring at Vernon.
"What happened?" Nick asked. "I only heard a quick summary of what happened."
The guard looked at Nick with furrowed brows.
"This does not concern you," he said.
"It does," Nick answered. "He's my boss. I'm the Chief Zephyx Extractor of Dark Dream."
The guard looked at Nick with surprise.
"Alright," he said.
"The Veteran over there," the guard said as he gestured to the fearful woman, "arrived here around 15 minutes ago. She's working for Kugelblitz, and when she saw the two guards standing in front of Kugelblitz today, she started a conversation with them."
"She talked with them for about ten minutes, which was when Wyntor Melfion came out of his Shweeb."
"The woman looked over at Wyntor Melfion and immediately shouted that a Specter has broken out."
"She took out her sniper rifle and released a shot at Wyntor Melfion."
"According to the guards, Wyntor Melfion's Barrier broke, and he immediately died. You can see the outcome," the guard explained.
Nick looked at the corpse.
Then, he turned to look at the distant woman.
"Why?" he asked.
"We are still investigating," the guard said. "Our hypothesis is that she was manipulated by an Extractor or a Specter due to her lack of self-preservation in the way she committed the crime."
"No sane Veteran would kill one of Melfion's heirs in the middle of the day in front of several people. That is tantamount to committing suicide."
The guard noted that Nick seemed quite calm.
"Do you know anyone who could have had a reason to kill him?"