Colonel Thamas gasped as he felt cold, hard steel pierce his skin. Turning around he could only see the unfeeling, distant face of Professor Warren. Hot, red blood filling his mouth, he choked out a word, no a curse.

“Traitor”

Falling forwards he fell head first onto the hardwood floor of his study. With the knife still deep in his flesh Warren easily stepped over his now failing body. In one moment he heard glass shatter, the next maniacal laughter. Dread now filled his heart, the treasure his family had protected for generations was now taken away without a damn fight. An Ancient's key gone just like that.

“The other families will not allow this! What will you do when they find out?” Thamas banged his hand on the floor. “You can’t honestly expect to come away from this alive!”

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“On the contrary my dear old friend”, Warren spoke as his grin grew wider “,The Helzaine Corporation has already approved of this little endeavor.”

Warren’s grin grew into laughter as Thamas felt his face go pale. With pained groans he tried to crawl away, to escape. To tell the others before it was too late. To warn of Helzaine's betrayal. He had to, if not. If not it'll be th-

“Trying to leave now my Dear Thamas?” Warren taunted “Well we can’t have that happening, can we now?”

With a stomp on his head, His brain was splattered and his skull was crushed. Blood poured out of his open head, fragments of bone embedding themselves in him. He coughed out one last breath only wishing that he could have seen his daughter’s wedding. His hand reached forward before falling limp. Professor Warren Plum’s grinning face was the last thing he ever saw.

“Well goodbye old bastard I have a meeting to catch,” Warren laughed as he left the room leaving Thamas’s cold corpse to rot alone.