Gordon still remembered that person—remembered him with perfect clarity.
Even now, whenever he recalled that evil laughter, he could not help feeling wave after wave of needle-like pain stabbing his heart—
During the Promotion Ritual, the demon known by the codename "Aleister" had manipulated the Shadow Spear to pierce his body and kill him with ease.
His corpse had been dissolved by shadows in the blink of an eye. The intense pain had not completely faded even after he awoke, and part of it still lingered in his memories.
Gordon was indeed getting a little old.
The weakness caused by his failed promotion had taken several days to recover from, and even now his body would occasionally go limp or drift off. He was completely unable to work normally. Even so, he remained on duty, only taking care of odd jobs instead of requesting leave and resting at home.
After completing the Promotion Ritual and just waking up, he had relied on his already somewhat blurred memories to record everything he had seen in the dream in detail. Since he was an inspector himself, even if the records could not serve as evidence, they could still provide a reference for the team's investigation.
Gordon opened his dream journal and flipped to the most recent ritual, finding the page about Aleister.
Unusually for him, he had filled this page densely with notes.
That was because the other party had also been participating in the Promotion Ritual for the first time and knew nothing about it.
Not only had he disdained to make up a codename, but he had even revealed all the details of his background.
Old Gordon had once been a soldier. After retiring, he had become an inspector. He had gained some experience in handling cases and compiling intelligence.