Samon pressed himself into the plush sofa with two beautiful women pressed against his sides. His men were below engaged in lively gambling. Of course there was the occasional fight that ended in drunken reconciliation. A content smile came to his lips. Decker may be king of the city, but right now, he ruled this little kingdom.

The door to the den burst from its hinges and landed in the middle of the room. Samon growled as the Amu’Ryjin swordsman slowly walked into the room. Why can’t they just disappear? The Amu'Ryjin swordsman smirked and looked up at Samon.

“I have a message for you Blackhammer,” the swordsman said, “Your kingdom’s coming to an end.”

“Alone?” Samon laughed, “That’s funny windman, but I don’t quite like your joke. Get him out of here boys.”

The men rushed with their weapons raised towards the swordsman. The Amu’Ryjin sidestepped each attack, and he parried the attacks so that they hit a different person. The swordsman tripped one man and struck another in the neck. Samon stood and gripped the wooden rail tightly as he watched his men get beat. Ten men with swords rushed at the swordsman at once, and he jumped high in the air. Then jumped again in midair so that he landed safely on the second floor.

“I’m a little disappointed,” the swordsman said with a deep sigh, “I’ve seen children more skilled with branches,” he grasped his sword and stepped onto the railing, “Time to show you real skill.”

The swordsman drew and slashed into the air. A powerful blast of wind tore through the first floor, flipping tables, knocking over men, and broke the support pillars on the other side of the den causing that portion of the second floor to fall. The swordsman jumped from his perch and slashed the air again destroying the section of the den he once stood on. The swordsman landed softly and stared up at Samon, then destroyed the supports of the second floor Samon stood on.

The balcony broke apart and leaned forward. Samon yelled and grabbed his hammer from behind the sofa and jumped down to the first floor. The screams of the two prostitutes were drowned out by the crash of breaking wood.

“No more fucking around,” Samon said. His vision focusing on the swordsman, “I’m going to make you pay for this, and I’ll start with that Amu’Ryjin woman.”

The swordsman’s smirk vanished, “Thank you for reminding me,” he said taking his sword in both hands, “You still have to pay for what you did to my sister.”

Samon ran forward and swung his war hammer, but the swordsman sidestepped and slashed at Samon’s hip. The blade cut the fabric of his tunic, but it stopped before hitting flesh. Samon swung at him again, but he dodged it. The sheen of metal could be seen from the cut cloth.

“Brigandine armor,” Samon said with smirk, “Much more effective than that wooden armor you primitive islanders use.”

The swordsman scowled as he sheathed his sword, then drew his sword and released a slash of air. Samon thrusted his hammer’s head into the attack and broke it. Samon rushed forward and swung his it wide. The swordsman jumped back, then jumped to the side mid-air, and jumped behind Samon. Samon swung to the side, trying to intercept him, but the swordsman jumped over the attack. Samon groaned as the blade cut deep into his shoulder. The swordsman jumped off Samon’s back and shoved him into a pile of debris.

“Can’t do that in metal armor, can you?” the swordsman said, “But then again, you mainlanders can’t perform eru’mure.”

Samon’s men freed themselves from underneath the broken wood. Slowly, they picked up wooden boards.

“I think it’s time I leave,” the swordsman said.

The swordsman sent several air slashes towards the ceiling that cut through the rafters and roof. Wooden beams fell, and the roof groaned under its weight. The swordsman ran out the front door. Samon ran after him, but the ceiling fell blocking the door. Samon dove under a table and covered his head as the building collapsed.

Darkness surrounded Samon. The groans from the building quieted down. He pushed at the broken wood above him and freed himself from the debris. Samon stared at the broken den. Five of his men surfaced from the rubble. Five out of forty. Samon screamed into the night as he slammed in hammer onto the ground.

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Kogna leaned against the building trying to get his breathing under control. He took deep breaths through his nose and slowly breathed out through his mouth. This is what I get for neglecting eru’mure training. Kogna pushed himself off the wall. I don’t have a Kubonshiri to guide me. A clash of thunder caught his attention, but the sky was completely clear.

“Better get back,” Kogna said under his breath.

Kogna made his way back to the tavern. He could see smoke rising in the distance. Guards rushed past with their hands on their weapons as they headed towards it. As he turned down the street the tavern was on, he ran into Oria and her gang.

“Everything go well on your end?” Oria flashed him a bright smile.

“Yes. You?”

“No problems on my end,” Oria said, “But it left me a bit tense. Mind helping me relieve some stress?”

“No,”

“Asshole,”

Kogna chucked as he steppe inside, “Who are they?”

“New recruits,” Oria said with a yawn. She stretched her arms which revealed her nearly naked body, “We could use some more people.”

“You can tell that to him in person,”

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Reviled stared at the group assembled before it. It was a long night, and they were clearly tired, but they needed to know how everything went. The only one not there was Nimble.

“Skivret, report,” Reviled said.

“The raid on Samon’s warehouse was a success,” Skivret said, “Inside we found weapons, armor, and treasure in vast quantities. My forces will be more effective to you now that we can supply them with proper equipment,” Skivret’s ears slumped, “Nimble had some problems though. Apparently, the warehouse she raided was a trap, and was manned by strong warriors. She was able to turn the trap against them, but she’ll need time to recover from the fight.”

“Understood,” Reviled said, “We were aware of the trap, but we’re glad that nothing happened to Nimble. Oria, how did things go for you?”

“Things went well on my end,” Oria said sipping her whisky, “Rylie and I were able to take out the gang thanks to Cappy’s mushrooms. We even took out one of Samon’s top lieutenants when he was visiting.”

“We weren’t expecting that,”

“Neither was I, but it worked to our advantage,” Oria smiled, “I recommend we utilize more of Cappy’s mushrooms in the future. We could make a lot of money selling it as a drug and poison.”

“We’ll take that into consideration. Anything else,”

“I brought some new recruits,” Oria said, “They can help with the tavern, and since two of them are prostitutes, we can whore them out.”

“This is a tavern, not a brothel!” Meridith said.

“Piss off Red,” Oria sighed heavily, “Prostitution is a part of slums. Hundreds, if not thousands, of women are engaged in it. And Decker’s is a key player,” Oria crawled into the box and wrapped her arms around Reviled, “You understand, right boss. We take in the independents. Get them clean, pretty them up, and we can make a killing off them. And if we can find a proper madam, we’ll be one step closer to taking over the city from Decker.”

“We can do that without-”

“Enough Meridith,” Reviled said, “She’s right,” it stared into Oria’s eyes, “So, any ideas where we can find a madam?”

“A few, but nothing for certain,”

“Then we’ll leave that to you, until we recruit one,” Reviled turned to Kogna, “How did Samon take out message?”

“Not well,” Kogna said setting down his cup, “Firstly, he thinks I’m in charge.”

“I heard the same thing from thugs in the warehouse,” Skivret snickered.

Reviled’s chuckle echoed through the room, “It seems Blackhammer is a bigger fool than we thought,” it said, “Sounds like he isn’t communicating with the other nobles.”

“He also had his goons attack me,” Kogna continued with a vicious grin, “So I collapsed his castle on top of him.”

“You what!” Mina ran to her brother, “How could you do something so reckless?”

“He was responsible for kidnapping you,” Kogna said, “Killing a few of his men wasn’t enough for me.”

“But still…”

“Excellent decision,” Reviled said.

Mina turned in shock, “Master!”

“Mina, we aren’t going to forgive those who wrong us,” Reviled approached her and patted her head, “It’s important that everyone not to cross us.” Mina sighed and nodded. “Excellent work, all of you,” it said looking at everyone, “But we can’t rest now. Samon’s hold on the slums is broken, and we need to keep pushing forward. Oria, we’ll need you to take over recruiting more members. Kogna, you’ll support Oria by training our new members. Eventually, we’ll need you to take charge.”

“Yes sir,” Oria and Kogna said.

“Skivret, we’re going to start using the sewers. See to it that your people are ready to work with humans.”

“That’ll be easier after tonight,”

“Meridith, you’ll be overseeing everyone. Start by having the prostitutes be cleansed at the temple, then by supplying Oria’s men with proper gear.”

“As you wish master.”

“What about me?” Mina said.

“We want you to support Meridith for now.”

Mina lowered her head, “I…understand,”

“Master,” Meridith said drawing everyone’s attention, “I have some news you’ll like to hear. Your parts should be finished by tomorrow.”

“Finally!” Reviled said, “Skivret, see to it that Rench is ready. We want our repairs to begin as soon as those parts arrive.”

“Yes master,”

“You should all be proud of what you’ve done today,” Reviled said taking them in, “We’ve broken the foundation on which Decker built his kingdom. It’s only a matter of time before it crumbles all together.”