Chapter 188: Cerci
[Mira’s Apartment]
Jason materialized from the shadows a few meters away from his mother’s apartment with Riyala beside him. He was now wearing a long black cloak that wrapped around his body. It had a long collar that came up to cover his lower face and he had given Riyala another cloak that had a hood attached. The cloak Jason was wearing was the A Rank [Elemental Shield] that Jason had gotten after he completed the Spidermonkey’s Red Gate. It helped to protect against elemental attacks but it would also help him in reducing his presence.
Meanwhile, Riyala’s cloak was the [Veil of the Hollow Star], and it was an S-rank artefact that Jason had gotten from the Phantoms. It helped to negate all forms of elemental attacks and also increased stealth and agility by a hundred percent, so Jason was sure no one would pick up Riyala’s inhuman features while they travelled.
Jason had avoided most of the more populated areas while coming here. He knew there would be a mad crowd at his former house because of the stuff he had pulled with Ragnar and the fire that he caused. The media channels would be having a field day trying to figure out what Jason’s abilities were, and the internet would be filled with conspiracies about how he created the dragon. Even the Enforcers would come looking for him soon enough.
But Jason didn’t care about any of that. Jason would deal with them whenever they came for him. Instead, Jason wanted to first make sure that his mother was okay. Jason had been too focused on his revenge and making sure that the Phantoms didn’t escape that he had forgotten to make sure that nothing happened to his mother while he was gone. But thankfully, when Jason arrived, there were no police cars or Enforcers outside his mother’s apartment. Jason hadn’t been gone that long, so Jason was sure they just hadn’t gotten here yet. It wouldn’t be long before they came here to try and find him.
Jason began walking towards the building and he ordered one of the five Rook Class Phantoms to move ahead of him along with its subordinate. The Phantoms slipped out from Jason’s Alternate Dimension and easily fell into the shadow before they went ahead of Jason to enter the building. One of the Phantoms immediately went towards Jason’s mother’s apartment and slipped in through the shadow under the door while the other went around the rest of the building to make sure that there was nothing dangerous in there. Jason used the [Eye of the King] to look through the eyes of the Phantom that was in his mother’s apartment and he was surprised when he saw that there was someone sitting in the living room with his mother and sister. The three of them were talking about something serious and Jason could see the look of worry on his mother and sister’s faces.
Jason frowned before he told Riyala to pull up her hood and make sure no one could see her scales. She did as she was told before they made their way up the stairs and towards the apartment. Jason knocked once before he immediately opened the door and stepped inside.
"Mum."
Jason called out for his mother and Mira turned to the door immediately! Her face brightened once she set eyes on Jason and she jumped off the couch and ran toward him!
"Jason! Oh my god, I was so worried! I saw the news and your house was burning! They were talking about dragons and monsters! Oh, thank God you’re okay."
Mira hugged Jason tightly as tears leaked from her eyes! She had been worried sick all this time because the news was saying that they hadn’t seen Jason since the dragon vanished. Both the police and the Enforcers were looking for him, but there had been no sight of him at all! It was like that moment when Mira heard Jason had been dragged into a Gate all over again! She became terrified and she didn’t know what she would have done if Jason didn’t come back safe!
Jason held his mother softly before he looked over to see Janet standing at the side with a smile. She had also been worried about Jason and she was glad that he was okay. Jason didn’t bother to smile back at her. He simply looked away from her to smile down at his mother and he allowed her to kiss him on the cheek in happiness before his eyes trailed towards the man who was sitting on the couch.
It was an older man who looked to be somewhere in his mid-thirties. His hair was grey and he had very sharp features that made him look like a member of higher society. He had dark blue eyes and he was wearing an immaculate black suit. Jason couldn’t feel any mana from him, so he knew that he was a regular human, but there was a strange aura about him that made Jason feel wary — like the feeling a predator would get when it was facing off against another predator. Jason slowly moved his mother to the side and paid the man his full attention, and he watched as the man stood slowly and gave him a nod.
"Mr. Jason. I don’t believe we’ve met-"
"You’re Cerci, aren’t you?"
The man blinked in surprise at Jason’s words before his smile came back calmly as he spoke.
"Well, I suppose introductions are not in order after all. Yes, I am Cerci. It’s a pleasure to meet you."
Jason narrowed his eyes at Cerci and Mira looked between both of them curiously before speaking up.
"Jason, how do you know Mr. Cerci? I don’t think I’ve ever told you about him."
"Dad mentioned him."
Cerci’s eyes darkened at Jason’s words and Mira hummed as she nodded. Mira had known Cerci for a long time. The both of them went to high school together and they used to be friends back then, but after Cerci moved away to join the military, Mira lost contact with him and they never saw each other again until about fifteen years ago when they reunited. After Mira got married, she was surprised to realize that Cerci and Richard also knew each other, but she didn’t pay it much mind since she hardly knew Cerci anymore.
But Mira was surprised that Richard would tell Jason about Cerci since Mira knew that the two men just didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things! Richard and Cerci’s relationship was very strained and Mira had never seen them having a conversation that wasn’t tense before, so she always stayed away when they were both together. This was actually the first time that Mira would be seeing Cerci in almost eleven years, and the only reason he came here was because he had been looking for Jason.
"What do you want, Cerci?"
Jason spoke up in a hard tone and Mira looked at him curiously when she realized that it was the exact same tone her husband always used when talking to the man. What could have possibly happened to create so much tension between all of them!?
Cerci’s eyes were still narrowed in a hard look, but he was civil enough to point to the left calmly as he spoke.
"I had some of my associates pick up what they could salvage from the wreckage of your apartment. It isn’t much, but it’s better than nothing. And I’d like to have a word with you, about her."
Cerci turned to give Riyala a hard look and Riyala ducked her head and pulled her hood further down to hide her appearance. Cerci’s words suddenly made everyone else in the room realize that Riyala was standing there, and it also made Mira realize something even more pressing.
"Jason... where is Gina?"