Twenty-fifth day of Sat’xahr, 4043 AOT

Arbhur City

The Shilan group are starting to feel the brunt of Azalea’s retaliation.

It has been a few weeks since their plantations got attacked bursting in flames. Even the stock kept hidden in the warehouses were not spared. They are going to have shortage in supplies of fairy dust soon.

Still, the Shilan brothers cannot be stopped from enjoying a night of partying in one of their mansions located in one of the most expensive high end subdivisions of the city. Loud music is playing in the background while groups of people crowds in varying choices of entertainment. Some are playing billiards while smoking and drinking. A large group is dancing in the hall while mingling drunkenly with each other. Another group is throwing darts, meanwhile the others are simply sitting down exchanging conversations. There are several people swimming in the pool while looking at the night sky. Laughter and gossiping noises are heard across the mansion.

Bart just finished a call, he received a report from their subordinates regarding some uproars in the lawless land outside the city.

“What’s up?” Brandon asks while sitting comfortably on a luxury couch.

Bart grips his phone tighter. “Someone hunted the demon in the Elteb Canyon?”

The other guys playing billiards closest to them suddenly paused playing turning towards Bart. One of them comes closer.

“Seriously?” He walks tipsily then he sets aside his glass. He is frowning while resting the cue stick on his shoulders. “I was eyeing that one. Tsk! It wasn’t even that big of a threat yet!”

“Which group of bastards did it?”

“It wasn’t a group.” Bart answers. “Just one pain in the ass demon hunter.”

“No fucking way!” Another guy skip walks excitedly to hear more.

Brandon suddenly got up from his comfortable position. “Is it that bitch again?!”

“Hey, hey, what is this about?”

Several more people are coming closer trying to get a piece of the gossip.

Someone laughs sickeningly. His eyes are a little red. “Is this related to your warehouses and plantations catching fire?”

“So Brandon messed around with some chick and now this chick is getting revenge?”

“Bro shut up!” Brandon raises his voice as he can hear some chuckling in the background. “As if… I haven’t even got my hands on the bitch.”

“Huh? So did you get rejected?”

“That’s hilarious!”

Bart shakes his head in dismay.

“Wait until I get my hands on that bitch!” Brandon picks up a glass and fills with it alcohol. He drinks it in one go. “I swear she’d be begging me day and night.”

“Who is it? Who is it? Share some info with us!”

“Ah! Are you hunting her? Want my men to help out?”

“Hey, how does this bitch look? Is she pretty?”

“Hah! You want a piece of my prey?” He then throws his tablet on the coffee table with the wanted poster displayed.

“Damn! My man good taste!”

Another guy picks up the tablet to get a closer look. “Purple eyes… Hey, this is rare. If you’re done with her, can I have her eyes?”

“Whatever.”

“Come on, man. I’ll lend you a hand. Our faction has good connections with the news companies. Let’s corner this bitch.”

The sinister sound of their laughter echoes in the dimly lit room.. Meanwhile, Bart sighs and stands up.

“You’re going already?”

“I have some urgent meeting tomorrow.” He looks at his brother who is filling another glass. “It seems I’ll be busy dealing with this mess. I’ll leave that damn witch for you to take care of. We did take some serious blows losing a number of our plantations.”

“Come on, it’s not like we’re out of the business.” Brandon replies in a nonchalant tone.

“We’re not dealing with commoners and street junkies here. You know how bad the withdrawal of fairy dust is… Fortunately, we still have enough supply to cover this month. But we won’t be able to fill the next bulk of orders. We’ll have to cut corners to supply them, and I have to fix this mess before they get a word of it.”

“I know some people that can help your supply, but it’ll cost you.” One guy offers.

“See, problem solved.” Brandon sets the bottle aside and gestures for another one to be delivered. “We have large network of underground connection. And we could decrease the amount sold for legal medical use and increase the price.”

Bart sighs. “It’s only a matter of time before the underworld hears about this blunder. We’d lose some credibility, our rivals may take this opportunity. Furthermore, that mine…”

“What about the mine?”

“While we’re trying to recover… Are they planning to-?!... Tsk! We might gradually lose our footing in Zone-0.”

Another guy wraps his arm around Bart. “Okay, so after that meeting of yours, contact me. We must acquire that mine by all means. I mean, we can join hands. But. BUT. My group will take the mine.”

“We’ll see how things go tomorrow. I’ll inform my old man.”

∞×∞

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Twenty-fifth day of Sat’xahr, 4043 AOT

- - - - - - -

A man sits alone in a wide couch while watching a recorded footage of news three years ago. His black hair with streaks of gray is messy, his long bangs is almost fully covering his eyes behind a rectangular glasses. His black and white polo is unevenly buttoned. There are dark stains on his dark gray pants. In front of him is a small coffee table with a bottle of red wine and a glass on top of it. Beside him, on the couch, is an open bag of potato chips. The only light in the room is coming from the huge television mounted on the wall. He is leisurely eating his chips when a knock on the door is heard.

“Come in... You may turn on the light.”

The man in full military suit turns on the light. The windowless room now became vibrant. In the middle is a black couch and black coffee table with a half empty wine bottle and wine glass. The four walls are painted white, without any decorations hanging. There is a medium sized drawer in one of the corner. There is no documents or materials that is misplaced outside the drawer. On the opposite side, there is another door that seems to be leading to a different room.

The news continued to play with the anchor describing the rescue efforts being carried out. It is about Naraka’s attack in Calpplaesyo three years ago and the devastation it left. Thousands of people died and hundreds are still missing.

“Lord Hawkweed.” A man’s voice calls out while handing out a file folder. “Our agents in Surus sent us some intel about a person who might be the one the Emperor is looking for.”

He takes the folder from the man who is wearing a full military gear, complete with a closed helmet. He skims through the content.

“Arbhur City, huh.” He mumbles while his golden eyes looks through the document. His lips started to curve into a smirk. “Hmm… Interesting indeed… Blakewood… A demon hunter?..” He raises his hand. “Vaset.”

“Yes, my lord.”

The sound of the news about Naraka continues to play in the background.

“Call Yhor. I need to discuss this matter with him immediately.”

“Understood.”

“Ah, right. Inform Diana about this as well.”

Vaset politely nodded. “Yes, sir. Our agents in Aesbyl are still gathering information. A more updated report will be available before the day ends.”

“I see. Then inform Yhor to contact me once that report is ready.” He then gestured for the man to leave which he politely followed.

Hawkweed then sets the folder down and then looks back at the recorded news. A footage of the devastated city that had fallen into rumbles is being shown. He finishes the wine in his glass before standing up.

“We’ve been looking for her high and low for the past three years.” He says as he turns the television off. “It was like she just disappeared after that incident. It was difficult for our men to gather info with all the chaos that time too… It was so hard to find clues, she might as well be dead.” He brushes his messy hair back with his hand and scoffed. “It actually took this long to once again find traces of Xavier Blakewood’s legacy.”

He casually walks to the drawer, pulls out the top drawer and then takes out a remote control. He turns of the television before leaving the room thorough the other door.

It has been five years since they put Yhor’s team on the task of tracking the Blakewoods after the previous two team mysteriously disappeared. One day, their organization just lost contact to the first team hence another team was put in-charge however the same thing happened again after a few years. They received no reports, and even when they tried to look for them, nothing came up. They can only conclude that those teams have been silently eliminated by another group. However, even when they launched an investigation as to who might this enemy be, they were unable to find any clues. Their investigation ended up with nothing. Only that whoever this enemy is, they are skilled enough to pose a real threat to their organization.

Yhor’s team was able to keep track of Azalea Blakewood as she was moved from one orphanage to another. It’s as if every time they come close to her, someone discreetly moves her away. But still, Yhor did not disappoint in finding her again and again. Just when they thought the mission would go smoothly from there on, Naraka appeared throwing a wrench into their plans. If that demon did not show up, then they could have find a way to legally adopt her. Nevertheless, this turn of events was not entirely a disadvantage to them. They just have to find her in the middle of that harrowed city and nab her.

Once again, they could not find her.

The unexpected tragedy, took the life of some of their men and it also made their line of communication unstable. The command chain was in disorder and the flow of information was a mess. They lost their target and from that point on, they were unable to trace her whereabouts.

Evening came. Hawkweed sits in what looks like a conference room. A huge rectangular finely furnished wooden table surrounded by elegant wooden chair is in the middle of the room. Hawkweed occupied one of the chairs while the others remains empty. This time, his black and gray hair is neatly brushed. He is wearing a white polo inside a black suit paired with black pants. He is holding a tablet, reading through a new report that was organized by Vaset this afternoon. He reviews it along with other files while waiting for Yhor and Diana to contact him.

“Vaset, it’s time.” Hawkweed says while adjusting his glasses.

Vaset heard him, he then places something like a computer screen across Hawkweed’s seat. It is turned on with two icons that suddenly lit up after a while.

“Ah-. Hello, good evening.” A man’s voice greets them.

Vaset positions himself behind Hawkweed who is not lifting his eyes away from the report.

“Hello, Yhor.” Hawkweek greets him casually. “Have you looked through the documents that Vaset sent you?”

“Yes. This is an unexpected turn of events.”

“And Diana?”

“Hm? Well, I skimmed through it.” A woman’s voice answers. “I guess… this means I should prepare to go there right?”

“Yes.” Hawkweed answers. “But don’t jump into action right away. Let’s discuss the plan first.”

“Sure.”

“We must first observe the situation before making any move with irreversible results.” Hawkweed displays the wanted posters of Azalea. “This is our target. Diana and her team will be the one to approach and make contact to the target. Yhor, I want your team to stealthily watch from afar.”

“Very cautious, as always.” Diana comments with a laidback tone.

“I’ll assemble my team right away.” Yhor responds. “It might take me two or three days to get to Aesbyl, particularly in that lawless area.”

“That’s understandable. But I need Diana to get there as soon as possible.”

“I can leave right now, my team just have to follow me later. Is there already an excuse for me to approach them?”

“Don’t worry, I have it already arranged. We’ll contact them, as a company that is willing to invest in their pranite mine. You’ll act as a representative who is on a business trip to personally see how things are going. Travel to Aesbyl right away, Vaset will meet you at the station, he will act as your bodyguard while you are waiting for your own team.”

“I see. I should prepare the script.” She chuckles. “After all… it will be hard for me to track her with those pictures you got. Could our agents really not have anything else? This wanted posters and her profile in the Hunter’s Council only have her face. A full body photo would help more, even a stolen photo from far away would do.”

“Our agents was not expecting that person to suddenly turn up right there.” Vaset explains. “This discovery is more of a coincidence due to the issues in the area. The wanted poster is something they recently saw, so they investigated and sent the information to us.”

“Well, if she wasn’t such a menace then she would have stayed hidden from us.” Hawkweed adds while wiping his glasses. “Anyway… Our goal for now is to observe her… and see if we can entice her to come to our side.” He puts his glasses back on. “It would be better if she willingly joins us… Else, we’ll have to use force.”

“So, that’s where I come in?” Yhor asks.

He ponders for a while. “Yes, but not too fast. We barely know anything about her abilities. If we make a move and fail, we’ll just tip her about us instead.”

“I see. Then my team will keep an eye on her and deter anyone who might be a threat to our objective.”

“I don’t have to follow her anymore once I get a good image of her, right? After meeting her once, I should be able to track her general location.” Diana cuts in.

“Yes, I’ll also leave the task of convincing her to you.” He responds. “Our next step will depend on her answer and your report. I will have to find some ways to subdue her without killing her.”

“She hunted a demon alone.” Yhor states with a serious tone. “It seems that she had learned a lot, and has become a very skilled mage.”

“Mhm. It would have been better if we got her three years ago. She would have adapted to our organization easily. She could have learned from us instead.”

“Let’s hope it’s not yet too late…” Diana says menacingly. “It would have been easier to instill our ideals if she was younger. Now… maybe she… must have made up her own.”

He fixes his glasses that has slipped a little. He takes a deep breath while staring at the wanted poster. “It would be quite unfortunate if that’s the case.”