LARS VERA WAS A MEMBER OF THE LUMBARD family mafia and one of the mafia's greatest hitmen. Two nights ago, he was captured by the Auros Famiglia when his associate and nephew, Volg Vera, decided to join his team for a reconnaissance mission.
The team was already in the buffer zone that separated the region of Mozzarea and Gorgonzonia when one of Lars's members noticed him.
“Volg? What are you doing here?!” said the woman who noticed Volg.
The other members looked back and saw Volg.
“Oh my gods, Volg!” blurted a young man with mohawk hair, obviously irritated.
“Not cool, bro! Not cool! You’re standing out like a sore thumb with that wild-colored hair of yours,” complained another young man with well-kept fringe hair.
“Volg, we talked about this! You’re not yet ready,” Lars went back towards Volg.
“I’m ready, Lars,” Volg protested. “You’ve already thought me everything I needed to know.”
“We are not here to fight, Volg. Nor to assassinate. This is a scouting mission. Now go back, before we get spotted.”
“No! I’ve come this far before you guys even noticed me. I’m sure I can be of help for this mission,” Volg insisted.
Lars thought that Volg made a good point. He indeed failed to notice that someone was tailing them. And the only reason they did was that Greta, the woman who noticed him, was excellent at detecting people due to her ability to manipulate water. She could feel the water and other kinds of liquid that has water in them, within a certain proximity. That included sweat.
“Fine. But you stick your face on my ass. And do whatever I say, you got that?”
Volg nodded.
Soon, the recon team entered the territory of the Auros Famiglia. There were many Auros Famiglia henchman that was patrolling the area and they must keep themselves from being spotted.
“Ventori, distract them,” Lars ordered the guy with the mohawk.
Ventori, with his ability to manipulate air, made strong gusts to distract the henchmen, allowing them to move unnoticed.
Soon, the group managed to enter the Auros family’s ranch without a problem, or so they thought.
“Is it just me or there ain't a single cattle in this ranch?” said the guy with the fringe hair.
“Geode’s right,” said Greta. “Lars, maybe we need to abort the mission.”
Lars clicked his tongue. They might have been lured into a trap, he thought. The Auros Familgia was probably already expecting them.
Geode, having the Karma to manipulate earth, felt a series of tremors coming their way. “We got company…”
Bulls and cows started to arrive and encircled them.
“Battle formation!” Lars commanded. “Volg! Don’t screw up!”
Greta felt the water inside one of the livestock water tanks near them. It took her a while, but she managed to take a significant amount of water from the water tank.
Ventori used his power to surround himself with raging winds and levitate. It gave him a good view of just how many cattle were surrounding them.
Geode made pieces of rocks and a lump of soil float around him and his teammates. He formed the rocks and soil into sharp, spear-like shapes, hoping it will prevent the cattle from carelessly running toward them.
Lars, having the ability to create and manipulate flame, surrounded himself with yellowish-orange flame.
Like his teacher and uncle, Volg also has a flame-based Karma. And as Lars did, he also made the fire surround himself.
“Any of those steaks could be an Auros executive. Watch out,” Lars reminded.
Soon, the cattle stopped running around and faced the recon team with their horns pointed at them.
One cattle that looked bigger than the rest stepped forward. It began to change its form, stood up, and became a cattle-human hybrid.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” said Ventori.
“Thanks for bringing that bastard here, Lars,” the cattle-human hybrid spoke.
Everyone looked at Lars.
“What is that thing talking about Lars?” asked Greta.
“How did you know that we’re coming here, Zeb?” Lars asked the hybrid.
“We already won the reconnaissance stage, Lars. We already have dozens of people inside Mozzarea! Now, be a lamb and hand over that bastard.”
“Not before I turn you into a well-done steak first!!” Lars charged toward Zeb.
Lars released a stream of flames toward Zeb, but the cattle-human hybrid easily dodged the flames. Despite Zeb's size, he was able to react quickly.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Prioritize getting out of here! I’ll handle Zeb!!” Lars ordered as he sent another stream of flame.”
Greta went inside her huge lump of water and used it to quickly and safely navigate through the cattle like a snake. Ventori released a barrage of winds that swept away the cattle from their path as he flew towards safety.
Geode created a surfboard-like object using the earth itself and surfed on the ground away from the cattle, leaving behind earthen walls to prevent the cattle from coming after them. Volg used his flame to propel himself forward as well as to scare the cattle that tried to attack them from their side.
“Do not let that bastard escape!!” Zeb shouted.
Just outside the ranch, several Auros Famiglia henchmen were already waiting for them, armed with firearms. Zeb tried to go after them as well, but Lars was blocking his path, pinning him inside the ranch.
“You’re mine!!” Lars created a huge fireball and threw it toward Zeb, but another cattle-human hybrid appeared and charged straight through the fireball.
“Go after the bastard, Zeb! I'll keep Lars busy,” shouted the other hybrid.
Zeb turned into his full-cattle form—an auroch—and charged toward the escaping members of Lars’s team. With his horns and tough head, Zeb easily ran through the earthen walls that Geode left behind.
“Someone’s coming after us!!” Geode warned as he felt the arrival of Zeb.
Ventori and Lars looked behind and used their powers to release a combination of strong wind and a blast of flame at Zeb. However, Zeb simply run through their combined attack.
Greta and Geode joined in attacking Zeb, unleashing projectiles of water and earth, respectively, aiming at Zeb’s feet to slow him down.
Meanwhile, Lars got frustrated as another Auros Familgia executive appeared. There’s no escaping from this place without losing a limb, he thought, but he has to save his team.
Instead of facing the executive, he instead used his power to propel himself toward Zeb, but the other hybrid turned into his auroch form and managed to catch up to Lars with an unbelievable speed.
The auroch overtakes Lars, made a wide U-turn, and stabs Lars with its horn.
“LAAAARS!!” Volg screamed as he saw Lars get impaled. He propelled himself back to Lars, hoping to save his uncle.
“Volg! Come back here!!” Greta shouted.
The other Auros Famiglia henchmen started to attack. Knowing that bullets would not pierce the skin of the Auros executives, the henchmen started pumping off lead indiscriminately.
Bullets were zipping from all directions, and Lars’s team members were pinned down. Geode managed to create an earth wall to shield themselves from the bullets but they were unable to move.
“We’re sitting ducks here!” Ventori shouted. “How are we supposed to get through them?!”
Volg saw the approaching auroch and used his power to shoot a stream of flame, but Zeb just ran through the flame and headbutted Volg, knocking him back and extinguishing his flames.
Volg tried to get up, but Zeb stomped him on his stomach with the latter's auroch hoofs. The headbutt was enough to make him unconscious, but he tried to stay awake. But the pressure from Zeb's hooves was making it difficult for him to breathe.
Before he blacks out, Volg felt a tremor that made Zeb move away from him.
* * * * *
Volg wook up lying on a bed. His stomach and head have been patched up. He looked around and realized that he was inside one of the rooms of the Lumbard Mansion.
“Good morning, sunshine,” voiced a woman.
Volg looked to his left and saw a woman sitting on a chair in the corner of the room.
“Wha...What happened?”
“I believe you got hit in the head real good and got stomped on your abdomen. You’ve been asleep for three days straight.”
“T-Three days!!” Volg tried to recall what happened. He remembered their failed mission. He tried to get up, but the pain in his head and stomach were too intense.
“Hey! Stay still, dumbass. You got a cracked rib and that ain't healing if you keep moving”
“Where are they? Greta? Geode? Ventori? Lars?”
“They’re at Saint Crudeo, trying to enjoy the harvest festival as ordered by Don Luca,— ”
“Thanks, gods.”
“—except for your uncle. He got caught by the Auroses.”
“W-What?! N-No…Lars would never get caught!”
“What were you thinking, Volg?!” said the furious woman as she hits Volg on his head.
“OW!! That hurts!!”
“Joining an official mission without an executive's permission? You are still just a trainee! That’s very stupid, Volg!”
“They were onto us…They knew we were coming. They already have people inside Mozzarea!”
“We’ve already dealt with their spies. There were over twenty moles, including the man who tipped you about the reconnaissance mission. They were after you.”
Volg remembered the man who told him about the mission. He should have known better than to trust someone from the pub. “M-Me? Why were they after me?”
The woman realized what she said. “I should have not said that,” she muttered. “I should have not said that,” she continued as she left Volg's room.
“W-Wait! Lira! We…” Volg winced in pain. “We need to rescue Lars,” Volg pleaded.
Lira turned around and faced him. “My team and I barely got out of that place with the four of you. One of them will need to learn how to live with just one arm for the rest of his life. And you want to go back?! Not on my watch.”
“How did…Why…”
“We were late about the spies, and you already left when we got the information. So we went after you and Lars's team, but everything has already gone south when we arrived. Now, stay put. Don Luca’s order.”
Lira left Volg shortly. She went outside where Don Luca and his son Luciano are having a conversation.
* * * * *
Don Luca, despite his old age, has a buffed body. He has strong facial features accompanied by intimidating facial hair. He sports spiky, white hair that really suits him well. Luciano, Don Luca’s son, also has spiky hair and a prominent spiky eyebrow.
“How’s Volg?” asked Don Luca.
“He’s already woken up, uncle. I already told him what happened.”
Despite his scary looks, Don Luca looked concerned. “Ugh. This would have not happened if we only tightened our security in the first place. Those damn Auros really got us this time.”
“Screw the pact, father. I say we gather our forces and put an end to what they started. All this time, we have been minding our own business. They were the ones who started this mess!”
“Mind your words, son. I understand your anger and frustration, but breaking the pact is one thing that I will never do. Feel free to do that once I’m dead.”
“Then what was that recon mission all about, father?! And why all the secrecy? None of us executives knew about it. If not for the captured moles, Lira wouldn’t be there to save Lars’s men.”
“Uncle, with all due respect, I must side with Luciano,” said Lira. “Your men are spread too thin protecting the entire region. We must focus on defending Saint Margheritte if you do not wish to attack the Auroses in their territory.”
“And put the people of other cities and towns of Mozzarea at risk? Those damn Auros will immediately swoop in if we leave any part of Mozzarea undefended.”
“We cannot protect the entire region, father. We’re just being realistic. We do not need the entire region to operate.”
“How many times do I have to tell you that this is not just about our operations, Luciano? This is your grandfather’s wish, to protect this land. And soon, you’ll not only inherit the family business but your grandfather’s will as well.”
Luciano sighed. “Understood.”
Their conversation was interrupted when a Lumbard Famiglia henchman reported.
“Don Luca, my apologies for interrupting, but we are under attack!”
“What?!” asked Luciano in shock.
Don Luca sighed.
“Those damn Auros!” Lira said angrily. “They won’t get away this time! Come on, Luci!”