Master, Squeaky finally found Miss Belka and the Night Wardens, Mr. Marion said. They're in one of the poorer parts of the outer city.

Then let's go to them, I said.

Master… are you alright?

I was currently riding inside Mr. Marion, but I wasn't controlling him this time. My head wasn't even positioned in its usual place: behind Mr. Marion's mask. Instead, my entire body was curled up inside his torso, which resulted in Mr. Marion looking a bit fatter than usual. As small as my stature was, an entire person fit inside Mr. Marion's torso was bound to make him bigger.

I'm fine, Mr. Marion. Just focus on getting us to Belka.

Yes, Master, Mr. Marion replied with reluctance.

I was, in fact, not alright. My hands were still shaking from everything that happened when I Awakened. It wasn't the dozens of people I killed that bothered me. Well, it did bother me just a tiny bit. But what made me tremble in fear was how I changed from a vindictive but somewhat-decent person to a vindictive and dramatic psycho with a penchant for acting like a third-rate villain. I was aware the entire time, and although I hated myself now, I enjoyed it at the time. I didn't feel manipulated. I did all of those things because I wanted to.

I was extremely thankful for Esta's intervention when I had that psychotic episode, but I knew that despite her cheesy speech about controlling one's destiny, she wasn't the reason why I snapped out of my villain act. Heck, my villain act wasn't even caused by my urges. The reason was simple, really: I was acting like a psycho because I was Awakening, then I returned to my normal self because my Awakening finally finished.

Despite my bad memories with them, I recalled all the previous Awakenings I had. The first one was pretty short and lasted about a minute. The second one must have lasted maybe five to ten minutes and was the first time my behavior changed. The third one was triggered by Mom's death and lasted about twenty to thirty minutes, and throughout that timespan, I killed dozens of people and rampaged like a serial killer on steroids. That one was pretty bad and made me behave like a monster.

But this fourth Awakening was something different. I Awakened at about midday, and when I blew Esta across the room earlier and talked to her like she was my therapist, it was already very late in the afternoon. The sun would be setting any moment now. My fourth Awakening lasted for freaking hours, and throughout that time, I acted like a true-blue villain. If this trend continued, my next Awakening might last for days. I felt a chill run down my spine imagining a psychotic Ascendant who could control people like puppets running around the place for days, unfettered. This is bad.

As I thought of the preparations I could do for my next Awakening, Mr. Marion interrupted me. Master, Squeaky has bad news. Miss Belka is wounded, and Emily is dead.

What?!

I immediately connected myself to Squeaky. I barred all mental connections with my puppets earlier except Mr. Marion so I could tremble in peace, but this was important. Squeaky! Is Belka alright?!

Squeak! Squeak squeak squeak, squeak!

That's good, I said with relief. Belka was heavily wounded but alive. The Night Wardens were protecting her. I felt sorrow for Emily's death, but I had no time to grieve for her. Things were escalating in the city fast.

Mr. Marion arrived at a rooftop that looked over the wall that separated the inner and outer city and I gawked as I shared his sight. Ranks upon ranks of city guards huddled on this side of the wall, all of them armed to the teeth and facing the closed gates. Now and then, the gates would shake accompanied by a loud boom.

But what caught my attention was the sea of people on the other side of the walls. There must be thousands on the side of the outer city. A lot of them had pitchforks, and by how they were waving them angrily, I didn't think they intend to use them to pitch hay anytime soon.

It also just happened that Mr. Marion arrived just in time for the show to start. With one last boom, the large gates creaked and the hinges squealed with a deafening noise. A tiny gap opened, but that gap was all the rebels needed to get inside. The first one through was a woman dressed in launderer's clothes. She shouted incoherent cries as she charged the armed and armored guards with nothing but a small knife. She fell from the guards' blades within seconds.

The woman's death served to feed the fire. The mob's fervor increased and they pushed the gates with manic energy, trying to open them wider. The gates' hinges creaked and finally snapped. The heavy gates fell forward and crushed a few guards as well as the woman's corpse.

For a moment, both sides stared at each other. One side was nervous and afraid, but they covered it up with their steel armor and blades. The other side was furious, and they displayed it for all the world to see.

A rebel shouted. “DOWN WITH THE TYRANTS!”

The flood poured through the gates and into the inner city. The guards tried to hold their lines, but nothing could stop the flood. The rebels finally brome into the inner city.

We can't go to Belka through here, I said to Mr. Marion. We'll have to use the sewers again.

Mr. Marion groaned.

●●●

Master, there is poop under my foot.

I know, Mr. Marion. It's annoying me too but we'll have to clean it later. We need to reach Belka ASAP.

There's a nearby well…

Later, Mr. Marion. You've been soaking with blood for the past few hours already, a little doodie's not gonna make things worse.

Mr. Marion sulked as we made our way through the outer city, which was currently in chaos. The streets were filled with marauding rebels and the few guard patrols we encountered were either killed or in the process of being killed. The rebels were hungry for blood.

Turn right at the second juncture over there, I said to Mr. Marion. That should be the quickest route to Belka.

We passed by several groups of looters who were taking advantage of the chaos, robbing unattended stores and homes. They eyed Mr. Marion as well because of his fancy clothing, but a Force Blast was enough to discourage them from making a stupid decision.

We arrived at the location where Squeaky was a few minutes later, and the sight made me pause. Squeaky said the building right there was supposed to be an inn, but the correct term would be half an inn. An entire section was completely demolished in what seemed to be a fiery explosion judging from the charred wood and ashes. I only knew one person who could use fire-based attacks, and the person in question was currently sitting by the sidewalk with Kazimir and Samantia, with the female Night Warden patching up Belka's wounds.

The Night Wardens were wearing grim faces as Belka blankly stared at a body on the ground covered with a tarp. The familiar boots jutting out of the tarp were all I needed to see to know who it was. Fuck.

I assumed control of Mr. Marion's body once again and walked over to them. “Belka, are you alright?”

“Do I look fine, Marion?”

Belka's voice was hoarse as she answered me with a flat voice. It took me a few seconds to realize that her right arm was gone. All that was left was a charred stump on her shoulder.

“Fuck, what happened here?” I crouched beside Belka and laid my hand on her shoulder. I cast a diagnosis spell and was amazed at how Belka could still talk as if everything was fine. Almost a quarter of the bones in her body was broken and her organs were bleeding. Belka was dying. “Shit, lie down on the ground, Belka.”

“Fuck off,” Belka said as she tried to push me away with her remaining arm. “At least let me die in peace.”

“Shut up.”

I pushed Belka down on the ground gently, which she thankfully didn't resist. I cast another diagnosis spell to locate the broken bones inside her body and tried my best to put them back into position before I start casting healing spells, but there were just too many small fragments.

“Take a deep breath, Belka. This is probably going to hurt.”

I cast a Preservation spell on Mr. Marion's hand to sterilize it before transforming it into a bunch of sharp tendrils with sharp tips. Kazimir and Samantia gasped behind me.

“You sure it's alright to show the Head Hunter your power?” Kazimir asked with concern.

“It won't matter anyway,” I replied as I undid the clasps of Belka's armor and ripped her clothes open. I placed the tips of the tendrils against her skin. “The secret's out anyway. Two days from now, every nation on the continent is going a manhunt for a certain Ascendant who could control fabric.”

“They found you out?!” Kazimir exclaimed.

“Shut up for a moment so I could focus on saving Belka's life, yeah?”

The tendrils punctured Belka's skin and slowly made their way in. She groaned, but she didn't try to fight back. The situation was bad. Having tendrils of thread snaking around one's body was supposed to be excruciating, but all Belka did was grunt now and then.

Mother Betha taught me that I shouldn't start healing a patient with magic if they had broken bones that weren't positioned properly. Healing them would just result in the flesh forming around the broken shards of bone. But I had no more time. Belka was starting to lose consciousness and another diagnostic spell told me that her pulse was weakening.

“I said earlier that this is going to hurt,” I said to Belka. “I lied. This is going to hurt like a motherfucker.”

As the tendrils of thread wormed their way to the largest bone shards and placed them right where they should be, I cast Heal on Belka's other injuries even if the bone shards there weren't removed yet. It was going to be excruciating, but Belka was dying and I had to stop the internal bleeding as soon as possible. Trapping the bone shards was stupid, but I could just remove them later when she was no longer at Death's door.

The sound of cracking bones emerged from Belka's torso as I continued the procedure, and all she would say was “Ow. Fuck you, Marion.”

After five minutes, the largest bone shards were back in place and Belka's most grievous wounds were healed. Unfortunately, she currently had dozens of little pieces of bone trapped all over her body and her previous muscle mass was significantly reduced because of the accelerated healing. Belka wouldn't be moving anytime soon.

“That should be good enough for a temporary treatment,” I said as I withdrew the tendrils and healed the small holes they left. “You're not allowed to move too much from now on, Belka. There are dozens of little bone pieces still trapped all over your body and I still have to extract them, though we'll do that in the future.”

“Why not do it right now?” Samantia asked.

“Because she'll die if I continued casting healing magic on her. Healing magic doesn't make flesh out of nowhere, as I'm sure Kazimir already knows when I healed him after that encounter.”

Kazimir coughed awkwardly, probably remembering his stick-thin look.

“So what happened here?” I asked. “Last I remembered before we split up, you guys were just supposed to show Emily around and teach her your stuff.”

“What happened is that I let Emily die,” Belka whispered, her eyes blank. “This is all my fault. I knew I shouldn't have let her come.”

I remained silent. This was nobody's fault, but I don't think Belka wanted to hear that right now. I've never seen the big woman like this before. It felt wrong. She was always expressive and passionate about everything. If she was happy, she'd make jokes and tease people. If she was angry, she would make it clear with her fists. If she was disappointed in someone, she would say it right in their face.

But Belka right now looked empty. She didn't look sad or depressed. She was lifeless.

“Kazimir, what happened?” I asked.

Kazimir and Samantia glanced at each other with uncomfortable expressions. “Everything had to do with our boss…”

Kazimir proceeded to tell me everything, and the more I listened, the angrier I became. A strong feeling of guilt also bloomed inside my chest. I should have been there. My friends needed me, but I was too busy massacring criminals.

When I Awakened, Belka and Emily's safety came to my kind, but the me back then didn't think of it as a priority. I could have gone straight to my friends during the entire chaos and made sure they were safe. Instead, I prioritized Rella's death because everything she did to me was a blow to my ego, and evil me valued pride above all else.

By the time Kazimir finished telling the story, I was clenching my fists hard.

“You could have saved Emily,” I growled at Kazimir and Samantia. “Both of you should have brought her out of the place the moment the fight started. Instead, you hesitated whether to obey your captain's orders or betray him. While Belka fought for her life, both of you watched like wide-eyed children. Look at what it resulted to in the end! Emily's dead and Belka almost died without my intervention! I should have killed the both of you back then!”

Samantia tried to hold back sobs while Kazimir looked like a stupid puppy that got reprimanded. Their pathetic sight annoyed me.

Before I could continue my tirade, Belka placed her hand on Mr. Marion's arm. I looked at her and saw her staring at me with sad eyes. “It's alright, Marion. It's not their fault. They did the right thing in the end and that's what mattered.”

“Emily's life was the only thing that mattered! I thought you hated Night Wardens, Belka. Why the hell are you siding with them now?”

“They're not Night Wardens anymore,” Belka answered.

“Just like that?” I asked incredulously.

“People change, Marion. Most of the time for the worse, but sometimes they change for the better. Kazimir and Samantia went against their captain to do what was right and saved my life. I respect that,” Belka said. “If I still abhorred them for what they once were, that would make me a hypocrite. I used to be one of the gang bosses of this city, Marion. Are you going to spurn me for what I used to be?”

I sighed heavily. Belka was right and I was being an asshole. I was just trying to lay the blame on the Night Wardens to alleviate my guilt. “I'm sorry, I just… let's just go. The streets are dangerous and I don't want to stay here for a second longer.”

I summoned a few blankets from the inn to form a makeshift stretcher for Belka. Since I didn't own the ugly things, I had to expend a bit more mana, but it was a necessary expense since Belka wouldn't be able to walk with her injuries.

“Emily,” Belka said softly. “We can't leave her behind.”

“Don't worry, I got her.”

I wrapped Emily in a cocoon made of blankets and sewed Preservation magic circles onto it, just like what I did when I transported Mom. I could feel Belka's stare as I did so.

“You're going to have to tell me all about this power of yours next time,” Belka said.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I said as I finished. There was no point in hiding it from Belka when she'll find out about my secret two days from now anyway.

“By the way, do you happen to know where the corpse of your captain is?” I asked Kazimir. “I don't seem to see him anywhere.”

“He's probably still alive,” Kazimir said.

“What? I thought you said Belka hit him with a point-blank explosion?”

“He's an augmenter with an Earth-affinity,” Samantia said. “Just like Life-affinity augmenters, Earth-affinity augmenters are notoriously hard to kill. The spell that Belka hit him with was powerful, but it is not enough to kill a man like Kairon.”

“Well, where is he then? We've been talking out here in the open for the past few minutes when the enemy turned out to still be alive and his whereabouts unknown?” I asked incredulously. I scanned the area with my fabric sense and detected a few people in the nearby buildings, but nobody seemed suspicious.

“Captai— I mean, Kairon should be heavily wounded,” Kazimir said. “He's a cautious man. He wouldn't attack us when there's an unknown factor like you. He doesn't know who you are and he wouldn't risk attacking someone he has no information about while being wounded. We should be safe from him for now.”

“Then it's time for us to get back to Wildpost as soon as possible,” I said as I lifted Belka and Emily's stretchers. “Before everything went to shit, Rella told me that the Hoods intend to take over the village. The men who were building the wall are members of the Hoods in disguise. We have to stop them.”

“Don't you worry too much about that,” Belka suddenly said. “Bran isn't stupid. He and the village Heads have seen the attack coming the moment the men arrived to build the walls. Preparations have already been made.”

I let out a sigh full of relief at her words as a heavy weight lifted itself off my shoulders. I'd been worrying all this time about the fate of the villagers in Wildpost and even thought that we were already late. “That's great, but I still think we should get back as soon as possible. No harm in being careful.”

“How about Taloress?” Belka asked. “She's not here with us. Is she..?”

“She's fine,” I assured Belka. “She'll be meeting us at the South Gate. I just sent her on an… errand.”

●●●

Kane peeked around the corner to scout the narrow street where the Laughing Mink was located. The street was quiet and unmarred by the violence of the ongoing rebellion, a small blessing that Kane was thankful for. Fewer people meant fewer witnesses, and Kane did not want witnesses for what they were about to do.

“The tavern where the gathering will take place should be up ahead,” Kane whispered to the masked woman waiting behind him. “It'll be a bit difficult to get you in since nobody knows you, but I'll be able to think of something.”

“Don't worry,” Taloress said in a silky voice that Kane found enticing. Not even the occasional awkward stutters made it any less displeasing. “You will enter the building. Alone. I will find my. Own way in.”

“What?!” Kane exclaimed quietly. “I'm not going in there without backup! The people in there beat kids for sport! They'll kill me the moment they notice anything suspicious!”

“The Master has found you worthy. Of serving Him,” Taloress said with utter disdain. “I will not allow you. To die.”

“You're also not going to let them hurt me, right?” Kane asked with a strained smile.

“Go,” Taloress said coldly. “I want to go home. Already.”

Kane wanted to curse the woman but smartly held his tongue. He'd already seen Taloress in action and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of her wrath.

“Remember the signal,” Taloress reminded before they parted ways. Kane groaned in reply.

Kane walked down the narrow street, eyes darting nervously at every little thing. One of his hands was in his pocket gripping the handle of a dagger. He didn't know how to use it, but it was better than having no weapon to protect himself with. As long as he didn't accidentally cut off his fingers.

The entrance to the Laughing Mink came in sight and Kane hunched his shoulders nervously. There were two bouncers by the door, and they had similar tattoos on their necks: a dagger dripping with blood. It seems the Bloody Slashers were responsible for security.

Kane took a deep breath and channeled confidence that he didn't have. He was a high-ranking member of the Golden Merchants and he had every right to be at the gathering. There was no need to be nervous.

“Open the door,” Kane said with a commanding tone at the two bouncers.

“There's no birthday party here, kiddo. Go back home to yer mama,” one of the bouncers said with a mocking smile.

“Do you know who I am?!” Kane shouted angrily. He didn't even have to pretend to be angry. His height was a sore spot for him. “I'm a member of the Golden Merchants and close associate of Fang! I'm Kane Talvin!”

“We know who you are, Mr. Kane. We're just messing with ya',” the other bouncer snickered before showing a predatory grin. “But I don't think you can keep on showing off your name like that. The group that was supposed to take over the Hartman Headquarters had been silent. Word's on the street that Fang is dead and his group was wiped out. Nobody's going to protect you anymore if somebody inside decided to mess you up.”

Kane swallowed nervously, but he kept up his confident display. “Whoever told you that Fang is dead is an idiot.”

The bouncer smiled. “If you say so. You can go in, Mr. Kane.”

Kane harrumphed as he went through the moldy wooden door. When the bouncers closed the entrance, Kane's fake confidence shattered like glass and he started wiping the cold sweat from his face. The bouncer was right: his power and influence died off with Fang. He couldn't even use his title as Redhood since their faction's sole purpose was to remove the Hoods in the first place. Using their enemy's title was just begging for someone to stab him. Taloress, you better be watching over me, Kane thought as he moved through the empty tavern.

The Laughing Mink was a tavern in the barest sense of the word. It had a restaurant and a bar, but there were no employees or customers. The tavern was just a facade, and hidden behind the door that said ‘kitchen’ was a dark staircase that led down into a lightless abyss. Kane descended into the darkness.

The trip down was short and Kane soon arrived at a landing. There was a door lit by a single lantern and sitting on a chair beside it was a man as large as Fang. His torso was naked, showcasing the numerous tattoos that covered almost every inch of his muscle-bound body. His face was ugly, and when he smiled at Kane, the many odd piercings that adorned his lips clinked.

Kane swallowed nervously as he recognized the large man. It was Eye-Catching Buck, infamous as one of the most brutal men in Halros. He didn't get his nickname from being handsome, but rather from his habit of collecting his victims' eyes and crushing them between his fingers.

“Well, well, if it ishn't Kane,” Buck said with a grin as Kane approached, his piercing-riddled lips distorting his speech. “How'sh your friend Fang? You shtill busy kisshing hish assh?”

“I don't have anything to say to you, Buck. Open the door, I'm here for the meeting,” Kane said.

Buck chuckled as he stood up. “You shee, that'sh not what the big bosshesh told me. They shaid that Fang would be coming, not hish assh licker. You're not invited.”

“F-Fang is indisposed at the moment,” Kane said, internally cursing his stutter. “He can't come, so he sent me as his representative.”

Buck chuckled deeply as he stepped toward Kane. “I'm afraid I cannot let you in ash a guesht. But the bosshesh did tell me that they wanted to shee you, although they didn't mean it in a good way.”

Before Kane could run back up the stairs, Buck moved forward with a speed that belied his size.

“Let go of me, you ugly bastard!” Kane screamed as he struggled against Buck's grip, but his blows might as well be love taps in the face of the augmenter's body.

Buck laughed as he went to the door. “Now, now, I thought you wanted to attend the meeting? I'm here to grant your wish.”

The door glowed with magical light as Buck turned the knob, and a wall of noise greeted them when he swung it open.

On the other side of the door was a large opulent room. A round table occupied most of the space, and seated around the table were the most important people of the city: the gang bosses who ruled the streets of Halros. The kingpins were stuck in a heated debate.

“I don't care if Fang's still alive or not!” a man in an expensive suit shouted. “The plan has fallen apart! My men are dying by the dozens as they hold back Rella's people, and for what? Fang was supposed to assist us after taking the inner city, yet he's nowhere to be found!”

“Calm down, Jonn,” said a middle-aged man dressed in a merchant's garb. “In large operations like this, you can never expect a plan to unfold without any hitches. I'm sure Fang was just delayed due to circumstances. One of my informants told me that Fang brought most of his men from Vance when he came to Halros, but couldn't smuggle them into the city. The lack of manpower must be the cause of his delay.”

“That's bullshit and you know it,” the man in the suit spat. “We're talking about Rella here. She's not going down easily, especially when Fang's lacking the numbers. Mark my words, the bastard is already dead and rotting in some ditch.”

“I'm afraid I agree with Jonn,” a beautiful woman clad in expensive furs said. “I've received word from one of my prostitutes in the Red Light District of the inner city. The Hartman Headquarters is in ruins and there are plenty of corpses at the scene. Any attempt at identifying the corpses hasn't started yet and so we're not sure if Fang is among the bodies. But I'm willing to bet that he had already kicked the bucket.”

Groans and curses resounded throughout the room.

“That's why I propose that we negotiate with the Hoods,” Jonn said, eliciting gasps and outcries from the other bosses.

“Are you mad?!”

“You've already up and contacted them already, didn't you?!”

“You fuckin' traitor!”

The clamor continued for a few more moments before the man in merchant garb shouted for peace. “Everybody calm down! I know it's an outrageous thing to suggest, but Jonn is just offering a possible course of action. As much as we hate to admit it, we're stuck in quite a predicament.”

“I still say the bloke is fuckin' stupid!” a man dressed in a trench coat shouted.

“Say that to my face again and I'll gut you like a pig!” Jonn shouted back as he stood up. The room ensued into chaos once more as the gang bosses argued and fought.

The beautiful woman eventually noticed Buck, who was holding Kane by the collar of his shirt. “Everyone, shut up. Buck has brought in Kane.”

At the mention of Kane's name, the room was immediately silenced. Buck stepped forward and dumped him on a vacant seat. Kane felt like a captured rabbit as everyone in the room stared at him, their gazes predatory. The fact that Buck didn't think to frisk him for weapons somewhat comforted Kane as he subtly gripped the dagger in his pocket.

“Where the fuck is Fang?” Jonn began. “You were supposed to be with him. He's dead, isn't he?”

“Oi, who said you get to ask the questions?” the man in the trench coat protested. “You ain't our representative, Jonny boy.”

“Shut the fuck up for a moment, Ivar. We're not going to get anywhere with your stupid mouth.”

“What'd you say?!”

The room descended into chaos again as Jonn and Ivar spat at each other, but Kane tried his best to tune them out. He had two things he needed to do for the plan. The first was to make sure that every invited gang boss was present in the meeting. The number of chairs at the table was the same as the number of gang bosses, and when Kane saw no empty seat, he quickly concluded that every target was present.

The room calmed once more as Jonn fumed in his seat while glaring at Ivar. Meanwhile, the beautiful woman in expensive furs was given the task of questioning Kane.

“Where is Fang? Be specific and try not to waste our time, Mr. Kane. All of us are running out of patience,” the woman said.

“All Hail the Master,” Kane replied as cold sweat dripped down the back of his neck. That was the second thing he had to do: give the signal. Now all he had to do was wait.

“The fuck are you talking about, midget?” Ivar shouted as he brought out a large hunting knife. “We already told you not to waste our time. You're going to fucking regret it.”

Ivar stood from his seat and approached Kane. The rest of the people in the room looked on with impassive expressions.

Taloress, where are you?! Kane screamed in his mind as he readied to draw the dagger from his pocket and stab Ivar the moment he got close.

The sole magic lantern on the ceiling that illuminated the room suddenly went out, plunging everything into darkness. The room turned noisy as everybody furiously shouted to get the light back on, but the clamor was interrupted by an agonized scream. It was Ivar's voice.

“AAARRGH! WHO THE FUCK—”

Ivar's voice was cut off as the sound of ripping flesh and dripping blood resounded through the dark.

“What's happening?! Who turned off the— AAAGGHH!”

“Jonn?! What happened?! Speak to me— UUUURRRGH!”

“There's something inside here with us! Something's— UURRK!”

Kane sat frozen in his seat as his heart beat a thousand times a second. He was as blind as everybody else, but despite knowing what was in the room with them, he still felt terrified.

Someone gurgled and Kane felt a thick liquid splash across his face. The coppery smell was all he needed to know what it was. Oh god.

A bright light suddenly came into being from one of the corners of the room, washing everything in its eerie blue glow. The light came from a floating orb above the beautiful woman's hand, illuminating her terrified expression as she stared at something on the other side of the room.

A grotesque creature was standing on one side of the table. Its form looked like a twisted flower, and the mouth at its center was currently pulling Jonn into its body with numerous tendrils. When it realized that everybody could see it, it spoke with a silky voice. “In the name of the Master. I will kill all of you.”

Then dozens of tendrils emerged from its body and went for the remaining gang bosses. Everything turned chaotic as some tried to fight back while others scrambled to escape, only to find that the door was blocked from the other side.

In the middle of the mayhem, a tendril managed to wrap itself around the beautiful woman's throat and constricted, snapping her neck. The orb of light she conjured winked out, plunging the room into darkness once more.

Kane closed his eyes and covered his ears to tune out the noise of carnage happening around him. The banging on the door as the cowards tried to smash through the exit. The furious cries of the brave ones who fought back. The cries of the pitiful ones as they begged for mercy, only to turn into gurgling noises a moment later. The wet plops as organs and innards fell on the ground wet with blood.

An eternity seemed to pass before Kane realized everything was silent again, although the room was still dark. “T-Taloress?”

“It is done,” Taloress said as she turned the magic lantern back on, illuminating the bloodbath the room had become.

Kane gagged as the sight greeted him, but his nausea immediately receded when he realized a crucial detail that made his heart drop. He assumed that all the gang bosses under Fang's banner were present in the meeting based on the fact that all the seats were occupied earlier, but if he was seated on one of the chairs, to whom did it belong to?

"Goddammit."