Chapter 295: Damian Strikes Back
Damian did not move immediately after the last news report ended.
He stood before the floor to ceiling window overlooking the frozen waters of Lake Michigan while snow continued falling beyond the glass. The city looked peaceful. Clean. Untouched. It was almost amusing considering how much filth was moving beneath the surface.
Behind him, Loth remained seated while Rin occupied the armrest of the couch. Neither interrupted his thoughts.
The witness withdrawals bothered him less than the reason behind them. Victor Hale had not convinced those people to stay silent.
Most likely, Richard Hale was involved directly. Only someone with enough influence could make multiple witnesses abandon a high profile case on the same night.
Damian turned toward Rin and Loth, giving them a youthful grin they had not seen since his earliest days as the Prince of Hell.
"Let’s go fuck them up," he chuckled, his eyes igniting with violet light.
Damian slowly exhaled purple smoke before shutting his eyes.
[Divine Perception Activated]
Buzz!
The world disappeared.
The mansion vanished.
Chicago vanished.
For a brief moment, Damian felt as though he had become something larger than the city itself.
Countless lights appeared within his consciousness. Every living thing not hidden by magic was exposed before his eyes.
The entire city became visible beneath his senses.
Damian ignored almost all of it.
Instead, he focused on a single thought.
Victor Hale.
The lights shifted as connections began appearing like a circuit. Invisible threads spread throughout Chicago.
The web surrounding three people appeared clearly before Damian.
His eyes slowly narrowed.
"There you are."
Several lights immediately stood out.
But Damian did not stop there.
Knowing these people had most likely been approached the previous night, he focused his attention not on their presence but on the residual traces surrounding them.
This required significantly more concentration and patience to pull off.
Thankfully, Damian was feeling patient today.
After nearly a minute, Damian pinpointed the energy signatures that had approached the witnesses and traced them back to their sources.
One belonged to a private investigator.
Another belonged to a retired police captain.
The third belonged to a woman working for a consulting company connected to one of Victor’s donors.
All three had visited witnesses within the last twenty four hours.
None of them had any legitimate reason to do so.
Damian’s smile widened.
He had found the middlemen.
That was far more useful.
Approaching people like Richard Hale was pointless.
These were the people he needed to break if he wanted to dismantle the entire operation.
A low chuckle escaped Damian’s lips.
"They really thought this was clever."
Loth watched him from the couch.
"My Lord?"
Damian opened his eyes and the room returned instantly. The cigar was still burning between his fingers.
He glanced at the wall clock and realized only a few minutes had passed.
"They used intermediaries."
Rin immediately sat upright.
"You found them?"
Damian nodded.
"Three of them."
His violet eyes gleamed dangerously as his mind explored several possibilities for dealing with them.
Seconds later, excitement flashed across his face as he finally settled on an approach.
"They made a mistake," he said.
"What mistake?" Loth asked.
Damian smiled.
"They approached every witness physically."
That was the problem with large operations.
The more people involved, the harder it became to remain hidden.
If one witness changed their testimony, it could be dismissed as coincidence.
If every witness suddenly withdrew on the same night after meeting members of the same network, coincidence stopped being a believable explanation.
Damian walked back toward his desk and placed the cigar inside the crystal tray.
Then he picked up his phone.
"Who are you calling?" Rin asked.
"Twenty."
The call connected almost immediately.
"My Lord."
"I need your people."
Twenty laughed.
"Someone needs to disappear?"
"No."
The answer genuinely surprised him.
Killing had always been Damian’s favorite method.
"I need evidence."
The laughter stopped.
Several seconds passed before Twenty’s voice became serious.
"What kind?"
Damian leaned back in his chair.
"The legal kind."
That made Loth roll her eyes.
Even now, he refused to take shortcuts despite possessing all that power.
She expected him to fly out personally and either kill or threaten the people manipulating the system.
Instead, he wanted to fight them like a human with a few godly advantages.
Damian continued calmly.
"I want surveillance footage covering the last forty eight hours around their homes. I want their financial records and every meeting involving these three people over the last month."
As he spoke, he typed out their names on his messenger application and sent them over.
Twenty remained silent while listening.
Then he asked,
"When do you need it?"
"Tomorrow."
Twenty laughed loudly.
"Understood."
The call ended shortly afterward.
Damian immediately placed another call.
This time to Assistant State Attorney Michael Carver.
Michael answered almost instantly.
"You found something."
Damian smiled.
"I have a theory."
Michael groaned.
Every time Damian said those words, somebody’s life became significantly worse.
"What theory?"
"I think your witnesses were intimidated."
Silence reigned briefly.
Then came a sigh.
"We already suspected that," Michael said.
"I can prove it," Damian replied.
Buzz!
When Michael finally spoke again, genuine excitement filled his voice.
"How?"
Damian glanced toward the falling snow.
"Give me forty eight hours."
The call ended.
Damian fell back into his chair and casually crossed his bunny slippers on top of the desk.
His pupils multiplied into three and began orbiting rapidly within his eyes.
There was murder in his mind, and it was taking considerable self control to keep his bloodlust restrained.
For several moments nobody spoke.
Then Rin jumped onto the desk.
"There are a thousand ways you can end this fast."
"I could," Damian agreed with a nod.
"Then why aren’t you?" Rin stared at him.
"Because I want them arrested."
Damian picked up another file.
Rin blinked.
Damian’s smile widened.
"What they don’t expect is for me to beat them using their own laws."
Loth suddenly understood.
The witnesses were no longer the target.
The people who silenced them were.
If Damian exposed witness intimidation, the ethics complaint would collapse.
The recusal motion would weaken.
The media narrative would be crippled.
The Hale family would instantly move from defending Victor Hale to defending themselves.
One victory would solve several problems simultaneously.
"That’s vicious."
Loth’s lips twitched.
Damian looked genuinely pleased by the compliment.
It felt satisfying to see Loth beginning to understand his mindset and thought process.
"Thank you."
