“To punish someone for your own mistakes or for the consequences of your own actions, to harm another by shifting blame that is rightly yours; this is a wretched and cowardly sin.” - Richelle E. Goodrich (Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, and Grumblings for Every Day of the Year)
* * * *
If Lucie isn’t careful, she’s going to bite her nails down to her fingers, Raul thought wryly, even as he reached over and tugged Lucie’s hands away from her mouth. The girl in question looked at him with confusion momentarily before looking down at her lap, blushing when she realised what she had been doing for the past minute—most likely a nervous tick of hers if she didn’t even realise that she had been gnawing on her nails.
“You’re going to bite your fingers off if you don’t stop.” Raul pointed out with amusement shining in his eyes, even as Lucie blushed.
“Aren’t you worried?” Lucie wanted to know, gesturing towards the arena, where in a matter of moments, she knew, Sera was going to come out, along with Ebis Ivanor. The stands were already nearly packed, and from what Raul had told her, those who weren’t able to enter the Abyss would be keeping an eye and ear on the live feed that would be broadcasted to the secret channels only known to members of the underground.
It is Hayder's and even Larissa’s way of making a statement.
“Not really.” Letha was the first one to speak, leaning around Kailey and Neil to look at Lucie. “I know what Sera is capable of. Those of us who were raised in the underground know what she can do.” Laura and Raul both nodded solemnly. “Don’t take your eyes off her once the duel begins.” Letha exchanged an almost shark-like grin with Laura. “Trust me. I doubt you’ll get to see Sera get serious often. There’s a reason why there’s a flee-on-sight order for all hunters below A-rank when it comes to Sera.”
The murmurings from the people gathered in the stands got louder just then, and Aegis turned their attention back towards the arena just in time to see Sera step out.
“Is that…?”
“It is! So, the rumours are true, after all!”
“That’s Sera Kroix, isn’t it?”
“The Death Reaper herself!”
“I haven’t seen her in any of the duelling cohorts for years. It’s going to be a good show.”
“I pray to the Goddess that she’ll have mercy on her opponent. They wouldn’t be leaving in one piece.”
“Haven’t you heard that her opponent is a huntress?”
“No! Just what did I miss?”
“If her opponent is a huntress, there’ll be no way Sera Kroix will let her leave alive.”
“Duh. She wouldn’t be leaving the Abyss alive and in one piece, even if Sera decided to leave her alive. Which I doubt.”
“It’s starting.”
In the shadows of the tunnel where Sera had walked out to enter the arena, Zest, currently wearing a dark cloak over his head leaned against the wall, having a good view of the arena even from where he was.
“I doubt I’ll need to step in as your second, Sera,” he murmured. “Let’s give them a good show.”
* * * *
Alisa and Leroy found themselves seated a row above Aegis, surrounded on both sides by people who were once Blade’s staunchest allies, and probably still are, knowing them. They were also the ones that were the most furious with Blade’s demise and were all set on marching against the ESA when they mistakenly assumed that it was that organisation that was behind the attack on Blade and Zephys.
Alisa is relatively sure that she and Leroy are going to have a lot of pacifying to do to stop them from marching on the hunters. There’ll be a literal bloodbath in the streets of Eldario if the underground marched on the hunters at this point.
And they didn’t need it when it was barely a decade or so after the end of the last war, and thus, their country as a whole is still recovering.
Unlike Sera, Zest, and now Leroy, this was the first time that Alisa had been in the Abyss and seen the Pit for herself, though like everyone in the underground circle, she had heard rumours of the infamous arena.
The Pit deserves its name and is entirely reminiscent of the old gladiator trials from the Dark Ages that Alisa had read about. The terror that one must feel upon entering that arena is beyond the scope of her imagination, knowing that the only way you are going to walk out of this alive is to kill everyone else in there with you.
Part of the remnants of the old system of Eldario’s underground during a time when there were no rules.
The murmurings that had surrounded Alisa since she had entered the stands with Leroy soon raised in volume the moment that Sera had entered. Next to her, Leroy sighed.
“I hope she knows what she’s doing,” he murmured. “Granted, I know that it’s only going to be a matter of time before Eldario finds out that she’s still alive, with how active Aegis had been for the past year. Still…”
“Let’s trust her,” Alisa murmured back. “Besides, do you seriously think that either Sera or Zest would let this insult go? They’re both still pissed with what the hunters have done in Zephys.”
And if Earl, Lleucu and Jamie were indeed still alive, and if it was within their means, Alisa knew that they would be the ones in the arena in Sera’s place.
Leroy let out a long sigh. “No,” he admitted, eyes flickering towards the tunnel where Sera had walked out of, knowing without a doubt that Zest was in there. For some reason, he wanted to keep word of his survival under wraps still, which Leroy admits is probably a good idea for him.
If the hunters want Sera dead, then with Zest, they want something more.
The murmurings and mutterings amongst the stand soon died down when Hayder entered the arena, dressed in his usual Enforcer wear, and with an unsmiling face. It seems like he’ll be the overseer of this duel today when normally, one of the other Enforcers or even some of the lower-ranked grunts would be taking the place of overseer.
There were the sounds of light clinking, and Alisa, along with nearly everyone in the stands, found their eyes drawn to the other side of the arena where Ebis Ivanor, clapped in manacles and chains around her ankles that only allowed her to shuffle forward, entered, being guarded by two members of the Enforcers—identifiable by their black coats.
There was even a gag in her mouth, and the look in Ebis’ eyes was one of rage and humiliation.
“That’s her?” Letha turned around in her seat to face Leroy and Alisa, and they both nodded grimly. “I see.”
Hayder is starting to speak, and the mutterings in the stands soon come to a complete stop.
“No doubt that everyone here would know what led to this bout in the Pit this morning.” Hayder’s voice carried clearly across the stands, speaking in a megaphone that easily amplified the volume of his voice. “We are also here to explain why this huntress…this traitor, is here instead of being given a quick execution by our blades or guns. This woman… This huntress had deceived those of us in the Abyss for years, falsifying the guilt of some of our brothers and sisters when that guilt should lie at her feet. She falsified, murdered, and framed our people just to infiltrate our safe haven—the Abyss. Our current situation can be laid at her feet, with her feeding the hunters information that goes through the networks of the Abyss, and threatening the safety of our brothers and sisters who call the Abyss home.”
The low angry murmuring around the arena is starting to sound like angry wasps the more that Hayder spoke.
“And to top it off, she played a part in why the pillars of the Abyss—Whirlwind, Dragonfly, and even Blade are no more.” Alisa and Leroy exchanged looks, trying to ignore the looks on their person from those seated around them. In front of them, Raul and Letha’s backs tensed at the mention of their old gangs.
“Why is she here then?!” A shout came from somewhere to the right.
“That’s right! A huntress has no right to stand in the Pit and fight for honour!”
“She should be gutted like the snake she is!”
“Let me down there! I’ll get revenge for Klein, Yusa, and their gangs! Even for Blade!”
Despite herself, down on the arena, Ebis flinched with the venom-filled words thrown her way from the audience.
Hayder raised a hand for silence, and the angry rumblings from the crowd soon died down. “I know what every single one of you are thinking. It was mine, and even the Premier’s first reaction.” In the front row of the northern side, Larissa had a cold smile on her lips, arms crossed over her chest. “Why should this traitorous coward receive the honour of fighting in the Pit? It is, however, hard to refute Sera Kroix’s claims that it was Blade and her that is the wronged party in this case. First with what had happened to Blade in Zephys. And then again when this traitor set Sera up for a death trap in an ambush with two squads of hunters under the guise of a mission.” The angry mutterings were getting louder to the point that half the stands looked as if they were on the verge of throwing themselves into the arena to tear Ebis apart bare-handed. Even the two Enforcers with her looked as if they were contemplating the best way to charbroil her alive. “It is for this reason that the Premier had decided to allow this under the underground laws. Another part of the reason was that Sera had assured me that she intended to pay this woman no honour and would make her wish that she had faced a quick and silent execution instead. Besides, I believe I speak for everyone here that I wish to see Sera Kroix in action once more.”
Alisa had to silently agree with Hayder. Sera had earned her reputation for a reason. She had long stopped attending the regular duelling bouts held by the underground, given how there aren’t many people capable enough to match her in combat. But there are still enough people alive who still remember what she is capable of.
Sera who had been relatively silent throughout Hayder’s entire speech moved forward towards the combat area, one hand falling to her side where her weapons were visible in holsters. Her face might as well be cut from marble—as expressionless and as unsmiling as she is.
“Any restrictions you want her under, Sera?” Hayder directed this question towards Sera.
“Not in the least,” Sera replied, her eyes cold and unforgiving even as she looked at Ebis Ivanor. “I want this huntress to face me with everything she has. For too long now, the hunters have gone unchecked and unchallenged in Eldario. I think it’s high time they all learn the true folly of fucking around with the Abyss and the underground.”
There were cheers around the stands with Sera’s words.
Hayder nodded before gesturing for the two Enforcers guarding Ebis to remove her restraints and hand her a weapon.
As the two Enforcers were undoing the restraints that Ebis was under, Sera meanwhile was using the time to mentally prepare herself for what she was about to do in front of not just the entire underground, but also Aegis. Those of them who were raised in the underground like she is—like Raul, Letha and even Laura, she isn’t concerned about their reactions. They know and understand the underground’s way of life.
It is those who were thrust into the underground so suddenly within the last two years that she is concerned about. After today, they would be looking at her with different eyes, no doubt.
Finally, with a loud clattering sound, as the manacles fell from Ebis’ wrists, and the restraints around her ankles were undone, Sera turned her attention to the huntress, even as one of the Enforcers removed the gag from her mouth.
“I’m going to kill you, freak.” Ebis snarled, looking more than a little unhinged, even as one of the Enforcers handed the huntress her weapons before both retreated to the entrance of the tunnel. “You’re going to die like the vermin you are! I’ll kill every single one of you here in the Abyss!”
Sera wasn’t affected by Ebis’ venom-filled words—having heard worst from the hunters and Normals that have hunted her down throughout her life. But the audience wasn’t taking it so calmly.
“You’re the freak here, monster!”
“Murderer!”
“You killed our brothers and sisters!”
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“End her life like the pathetic worm she is, Sera!”
Sera only raised an eyebrow, looping the little finger of her left hand into the hoop embedded in the hilt of one of her daggers and drawing it out of the holster. She twirled the dagger about expertly before catching it in her hand, drawing the other dagger out at the same time.
“Let’s see what a huntress is capable of, shall we?” Sera said coolly, not looking all that affected by what was going on around her. “I’ll give you a handicap. I’ll face you in frontal physical combat. No Gifts.” A cold smile tugged at the ends of her lips, sending shivers down the spines of those who knew the reputation and skill of the Death Reaper. “I don’t need my Gifts to deal with an insignificant insect like you. You have no honour, and I won’t show you any.”
Hayder looked between the two, feeling a surge of excitement rise in him. He is eager to see what Sera would do. He let his hand fall. “To the death! Begin!”
The last syllable had barely left Hayder’s lips even as he leapt back into the stands for safety when Ebis had started moving towards Sera, pulling back the sleeve of her left arm to reveal a strange-looking device that then proceeded to launch three darts at Sera.
Not to be outdone, Sera was quick to move to dodge two of the darts, and caught the third in between two fingers, sniffing at it lightly before letting it fall to the ground, and crushing it beneath one boot.
“Poisoned darts?” Sera murmured. “So that’s how you got some of our people out of your way. Unfortunately for you, I’m immune to most poisons.” Sera didn’t bother to elaborate on the why. “You’re going to have to up your game if you want to land a hit on me.”
* * * *
Up in the stands, Kailey is alternating between hiding her face behind her hands and peeking between her fingers to see what’s going on.
“What’s Sera doing?” Kailey moaned.
“She’s toying with that huntress.” Alisa leaned forward from the row behind them to speak with Kailey. “Trying to get her angry. Not that Sera had to do a lot right now to rile her up. That huntress is desperate. And desperate people make stupid and reckless moves.”
* * * *
Ebis Ivanor had just spent the worst week of her life in the Abyss’ infamous dungeon cells.
Oh, the Enforcers still made sure to feed her and they have never laid a hand on her apart from when they were stripping her of all her weapons, and all but tearing her Enforcer coat off her when throwing her in the cell.
One of the newer Enforcers who had the responsibility to put her in the cell had all but snarled at her that she didn’t deserve to wear that coat and the badge of honour.
It’s not like Ebis wanted to be an Enforcer to begin with, anyway. She is only here to fulfil her duty to her people and to rid the world of all the vermin and freaks. Despite her false bravado throughout her entire encounter with Hayder and Larissa and even the survivors from Blade, Ebis is terrified.
Even she had grown up with the stories and the whispers of how the underground deals with their traitors and their enemies. There is a reason why the hunters are so wary of pissing off the underground. Not even they would survive if a full-scale war erupted between them.
Right now, all Ebis wants is just to live.
She had made the first move against Sera Kroix even before Hayder had begun the death match. She didn’t care so much about rules anymore. Even she had heard of the rumours surrounding Sera Kroix. There is a flee-on-sight order for all hunters when it comes to her for a reason.
Only five hunters out of the original forty sent back then to sack Zephys and take out Blade have survived.
Ebis was trained all her life since early childhood to be a hunter. To kill. But nothing had quite prepared her for the nightmare that was facing Sera Kroix.
She bit back another hiss of pain as once again; she is too slow to dodge out of the way of another one of Sera’s strikes. Her body is already littered with cuts from those deadly daggers. Not shallow. And yet, also not too deep.
It, however, didn’t stop those cuts from bleeding.
“How does it feel, huntress, to be helpless? Like the way you made so many of us feel?”
The shouts from the stands weren’t helping Ebis in the least.
“You’re about to learn why Sera Kroix gained the moniker of the Death Reaper!”
* * * *
“What on earth is Sera doing?” Neil wanted to know, looking around at his friends. “She could have ended this long ago.”
“She’s toying with that huntress,” Raul explained grimly, curling his fingers together. “This…duel is also to send a message to the hunters, no doubt. Hence why it was publicised so much amongst the underground. No way the hunters wouldn’t have heard of it. Besides…” He trailed off slowly, wincing even as Sera made another cut on Ebis’ cheek.
The huntress is nothing more than a mass of cuts by this point. None of the cuts are overly deep, and not life-threatening on their own. But make enough cuts, and it soon will be.
“Besides?”
Raul looked from face to face before turning his attention back towards the arena. “Attacks that aren’t meant to kill or maim are often the most terrifying of all,” he commented. “It’s psychological warfare at its finest. If Sera isn’t already planning to kill this woman by the end, chances are she would no longer be functional as a hunter once Sera decides to stop playing around.”
Behind Aegis, Alisa and Leroy were almost on the edge of their seats.
“Come on, Sera!” Leroy muttered several curses under his breath. “Hurry up and end it!”
* * * *
Ebis’ howls of pain caused shivers to go down the spines of everyone present even as one of Sera’s dagger strikes slashed across her left eye.
“Y-You bitch!” Ebis screamed, blood flowing freely through the gaps in between her fingers, even as she stumbled backwards, already bleeding freely from the cuts on her body.
Sera showed no sign of discomfort or any sign that she even heard Ebis. “An eye for an eye,” she responded coolly, lowering her arm. “Is that all a huntress is capable of, Ebis Ivanor? You can’t fight someone who can fight back on equal terms? Do you have to stab them in the back or use underhanded methods? Or overpower them in terms of numbers?”
Her voice carried clearly over the stands due to the amplifiers in the arena.
Aegis exchanged nervous looks. They know this voice. Sera is getting pissed.
“When it comes down to it, you hunters are all just a bunch of cowards.” Sera sneered. “You know you stand no chance against a Gifted, so you use numbers to overpower them, especially those newly awakened. And against the seasoned users, and even veteran members of the underground, you set traps for them. You hunters have no honour, and you’ll receive none from me! You didn’t show any mercy to those unable to fight back, and I’ll show you just how helpless you can be.”
Lucie clutched at Raul’s sleeve. The latter patted her hand comfortingly. It might have been several months since, but all of Aegis knew that Lucie was still recovering from what she had gone through. You don’t go through a trauma like losing a parent and get over it quickly, after all.
“We did nothing wrong!” Ebis snarled. Honestly, Sera is almost amazed she is still able to stand on her own feet. “We’re just ridding the world of vermin and the abominations like you! No human should be able to wield power like that!”
“Apart from the hunters, right?” Sera let out a long, low sigh, having heard more than one hunter over the years say something along those lines. “Then playtime is over.”
“What?”
Snap!
With a sharp snap of her fingers, Ebis froze in her tracks, not moving a muscle. And a moment later, everyone in the stands could see the reason why, even as sunlight glinted off various areas in the arena.
* * * *
Leroy narrowed his eyes from where he was, half rising from his seat to ensure that he was seeing right. “Are those…steel wires?” He wanted to know.
A look of realisation dawned upon Alisa’s face. And even Raul as well as Letha.
No one had seen Sera use this particular ‘weapon’ in years. The last time was against Zest, Alisa recalled, which is the only reason she was able to subdue him without killing him, and that was a close call.
Those steel wires are made from titanium steel—one of the strongest steel in the world. The very same steel that Sera’s daggers were made of. It seems that some blacksmith whom she knew during their Blade days has made those weapons for her as a favour. The wires are strong enough, and even powerful enough to tear through metal and bone and flesh alike.
“I see.” Tatius curled his fingers together, his quick mind putting the pieces together. “So that’s why Sera had been toying with that huntress for a good while now. She is putting this trap in place.” Seeing the confused looks around him, Tatius smiled. Some of the others like Leroy and Alisa behind him, and even Laura, Letha and even Raul looked as if they understood what was going on. “She is entrapping this steel wire around that huntress, luring her into the very middle of it. Like a fly to a spider web, you can say.”
“I see what’s going on.” Claudia nodded slowly. “Sera’s Gift is over the mind. She doesn’t need to use the battle aspect of it to fool the huntress into slipping into the very middle of that death trap.”
“It’s checkmate.” Ness proclaimed. “I hope for the sake of that huntress that she had her affairs set in order. She wouldn’t be leaving the arena alive. Or in one piece. Quite literally.”
* * * *
Ebis froze, not daring to move a single muscle, seeing the crisscrossing of the steel wires over the entire arena, with those same steel wires currently wrapped around her limbs, and with even one around her neck.
“W-When did you…?”
“For your information, I wasn’t just making acrobatic moves earlier,” Sera responded coolly, a stark contrast to Ebis’ petrified expression. “I was putting this in place.” She curled a finger around one of the steel wires now criss-crossing across the entire arena.
“T-That’s the reason why you weren’t going for the kill?”
“I told you that I’m going to make you suffer.” Sera narrowed her eyes. “I’m not going to let you die that easily.”
Ebis Ivanor might be a newly minted senior huntress, but she knew at this point that the rules had changed. No matter how much she tried to think of a way out of this, she came up with nothing.
She knew that she wouldn’t be walking out of this arena alive, let alone in one piece.
“Y-You abomination—” Ebis found her words suddenly cut off, as with a simple twitch of Sera’s fingers, the wire currently wrapped around her neck tightened, almost cutting off her air supply.
“I think it’s high time you hunters learn what it means to cross the underground.” Sera’s eyes narrowed. “You killed and hunted my friends. Murdered them all in cold blood. Even the Normals, the ones that didn’t have any abilities! What sin have they committed, hunter? What sin have they committed for you to kill them all? Just because they were my friends? Just because they were in Blade? What crime have they committed?”
Sera didn’t raise her voice. She didn’t have to.
The ones in the stands were silent, watching this scene play out in front of them. The veterans, and even those who knew the reputation of the infamous street gang and their leader exchanged grim looks. They knew what was coming.
“I-I was just following orders…” Ebis choked out, already seeing dark spots dancing across her vision. She knew that she was going to die here. Sera Kroix is a notorious name for not leaving any hunter that crossed her path, alive.
Sera only shook her head. “The only good hunter is a dead hunter,” she remarked, using her index finger and pulling one steel wire downwards slowly.
Up in the stands, Raul was quick to cover Lucie’s eyes. He had a feeling that he knew what was coming next.
“Cover your eyes,” Leroy murmured in a voice loud enough for Aegis to hear him.
It happened so quickly that for several moments, no one knew what had just happened.
The moment that Sera released her hold on that one steel wire that she had pulled down; like a stack of dominoes, the steel wires criss-crossing over the entire arena whipped across the area of the arena where Ebis Ivanor was held in place.
The steel wires easily cut across the huntress’ body; easily cutting through bone and flesh alike and splattering crimson-red blood everywhere in the arena. The shrill screams of Ebis Ivanor sent chills down the spines of the audience even as she was sliced into ribbons.
Sera didn’t even flinch as the majority of the blood splattered onto her.
In what seemed like hours, but in actuality, had only lasted a few moments, it was all over.
The steel wires were now visible to everyone in the stands, and even to the ones watching via the live feed in the underground affiliated bars; with red blood now coating the steel, dripping off it slowly.
Ebis Ivanor’s eyes were wide and opened even in death, with her head rolling across the ground before it came to a stop before Sera’s boot. The steel wires had quite easily bisected her body in a matter of moments.
With another twitch of her wrist, Sera recalled the steel wires currently crisscrossing across the entire arena—recalling it back into the wrist holster device hidden beneath her sleeve. Finally, she looked up at Hayder who looked just as shocked as everyone else.
“Hayder, call the match.”
Hayder shook his head to shock himself back to reality.
“U-Uh… The match is over!” Hayder could barely recognise his voice. Sure, he knew that Sera was ruthless. But this is a whole different meaning of that word. And he knew why Sera went to this extent.
It is to send a message to not just the hunters, but also to those within the underground who might try to pull the same thing that Ale did.
Sera walked towards the entrance of the tunnel that she had walked out of to enter the arena. Before she could, however, she suddenly heard the sounds of cheering, which surprised her some; but she ignored it and continued walking into the tunnel.
Zest is still where she’d left him; leaning against the wall, clapping slowly.
“You made your point,” he said simply. “I hope you have plans for this, moving forward. You won’t be able to hide anymore.” The words, the hunters will know you’re still alive, went unsaid.
“I know,” Sera said, refusing to meet with Zest’s eyes, and looked firmly ahead. “I’m going to need a long shower, and a change of clothes first before anything else.”
Considering that she is currently pretty much drenched in blood, Zest can agree that it is indeed a priority.
“You did what you had to do,” Zest called out after Sera’s back even as she moved away from him. “Nothing more and nothing less. I wouldn’t do any less if I was in your position. And you know that.”
* * * *
Kailey understood what she’d just watched, even as her eyes followed Sera as the latter walked back into the tunnel.
Hayder and members of the Enforcers were already calling for the Cleaners and the clean-up crew to clean up the ‘mess’ in the arena. In a matter of minutes, Kailey knew, the mess would be gone, and it would be like the ‘duel’ had never even happened at all.
The rest of the audience in the stands were dispersing slowly, all talking about the duel, and likely heading to the bars within the Abyss.
Despite knowing what she’d just watched, however, Kailey still had a hard time recognising Sera down there. The girl who had been such a good friend to not just her, but all of Aegis, and also being the same person down there who had pretty much bisected the huntress in full view of everyone.
From what she could hear of the conversations going on around her, however; while most people were shocked at how ruthless Sera could be, they were also pleased that a huntress had met their grisly end in this manner.
“That’s what I call being ruthless.” Claudia finally found her voice. “I’m starting to understand where Sera earned her moniker now. And if this doesn’t quieten down the hunters for at least a few months, I’m going to be surprised.”
As one, all of Aegis turned towards Claudia who looked grim.
“You don’t think…it’s too much?” Lucie asked carefully, lowering her hands down from where she had been covering her mouth.
“Not really.” Ness was the one to shake his head next. “You have to understand this, Lucie. Most Gifted in this country, and even the underground, knew and experienced the hunters’ cruelty. In a way, Sera went easy on that huntress down there. She made it quick. This is more than the hunters ever did for us.” Ness had a cold smile spreading across his lips, even as he rubbed at his arm unconsciously. “It’s not uncommon for the hunters to torture the Gifted that fell into their hands. Most that did didn’t die quick deaths. Their deaths were agonising.”
The expression on Ness’ face was dark and grim, as were the looks on Claudia and Tatius. Aegis knew the histories of the trio of siblings well enough to know that they most likely have witnessed the treatment and grisly ends of more than one Gifted at the hands of hunters back when they were held captive.
The Black siblings have never gone into detail about what had happened to them in the facility they were at. But with the brands seared into their flesh and the stories that went around Eldario, Aegis all had a good idea of what the siblings were put through before escaping, and before they met Sera.
Lucie only flinched. She now had a good idea of the kind of fate she had escaped when Sera and Aegis had broken her out.
“You don’t think that what Sera did is excessive?” Leroy asked from the row above them. The tone in his voice is more curious. Chances are that Blade has seen Sera be this ruthless and cruel more than once.
One doesn’t become the most infamous street gang in Eldario for being soft.
“No.” Raul was quick to shake his head. “We all know what happened that led to this duel today. Ebis Ivanor managed to get a member of the underground to betray his own and put the safety and sanctuary of the Abyss at risk. Not only that, but she planned to have squads of hunters take Sera out, knowing that they were no match for her with minimal numbers. Whatever the hunters are planning, they know they can’t achieve it if Sera is still alive. It’s the reason why they went after the pillars of the underground, I bet. And even why Yusa and Klein were taken out.” His eyes flashed. “What we all saw down there is a very personal answer, and also a warning.” He jerked his chin towards the direction of the arena. “A blatant demonstration to tell the hunters and any morons stupid enough to side with them; just what would happen if they fucked with the wrong person.”
Leroy and Alisa exchanged looks. Raul had it right in one. It’s likely also a message to the Blade survivors still hiding out there; telling them that Sera is still alive. If Lleucu, Jamie and Earl are still alive; this will draw them out from wherever they are in hiding from the hunters.
“Killing someone is a hard burden to bear,” Letha remarked, fingers curling together and looking from one to the next. “Trust me, I know that better than anyone else.” She added wryly. “But sometimes, it is the answer that we need, and what we need to do to protect those dear to us. Always, at some point in a Gifted’s life, that is what we need to do to survive. Eldario is not a safe place for the Gifted. And all of us know it.”