The criminal underworld was in chaos. News of Viktor's death spread like wildfire, leaving a power vacuum that the world's most dangerous gangs were ready to reclaim. No one knew exactly how he died, only that his body was found in his own headquarters with an impossible-to-identify mark. A clear message: someone stronger than him is pulling the strings.
Akihiko, sitting on a rooftop in rainy Neo-Prague, watched the city lit by neon lights and shadows. He hadn't had a break since the battle with the void entity. Now, the danger was more human... but just as lethal.
"How long are you going to stay there?" Isabella asked, crossing her arms.
Akihiko didn't take his eyes off the horizon. "Viktor is dead. And we don't know who did it."
Kael, reviewing data on his device, nodded. "The hit was clean, no trace of a struggle. This wasn't a common murder. It was an execution."
"Which means someone is claiming the throne of international mafias." Isabella sat on the rooftop railing. "And I bet it's not someone with good intentions."
The Bloody Message
At Viktor's mansion, leaders of various mafia groups met for an impromptu summit. Silence reigned in the vast room, with the world's most influential bosses sitting at the same table.
A man stood up. Lorenzo Moretti, the new boss of the Italian Camorra.
"Viktor is dead. And you know what that means," he said calmly. "The criminal world has changed. And whoever killed him is sending us a message."
At that moment, the doors slammed open. Two men dragged out a body covered in a bloody sheet and dropped it onto the table.
When they pulled back the cloth, everyone was shocked. It was the corpse of another mafia leader, with a mark identical to Viktor's.
"It's not just Viktor," Moretti said, with an icy smile. "They're hunting us. One by one."
The Shadow of the Past
As Akihiko and his team tried to figure out who was behind Viktor's death, some information came their way.
A blurry video showed a fragment of the murder. Viktor was standing with his usual arrogance... until a figure emerged from the shadows behind him. A single movement, a burst of dark energy, and Viktor fell, unable to react.
The silhouette turned toward the camera for a moment before the image cut out. Its face couldn't be seen, but its presence was overwhelming.
Akihiko turned off the recording. His instinct told him this new enemy was not only stronger... but also had a connection to the Tree of Eden.
"Whoever it is," he murmured, "this has only just begun."