While the storm of mischief was blowing through the bowels of the city, the stink of the northern district was ever so gleeful when it greeted the uninitiated.

Cloaks can hide so much but when the material of the cloak itself is worth more than the entire neighborhood, the aura of the unwanted visitors threatens away the usual riff-raff hanging around this unusual turf.

"What a shithole it is… what a shithole it is turning out to be!" Lance Dark wasn't pleased as usual when he walked those poor streets.

"Karanberg is the second busiest city on the continent for a reason, brother. Slums of this level are nothing." Lara replied.

"I am still wondering why no plague has come and gotten us rid of this disgusting city." He replied coldly.

"In due time, brother. Once our youngest is safe and away, I will pray to the Light and Darkness and the Four Elements all to flood, storm, dry, and scorch this foul land."

Nothing friendly came out of the mouths of the twins as they stared daggers at everything that walks. If stares could kill, those two would be the harbingers of the apocalypse already.

"You finally came." On the other side was a man and two women, also cloaked, as they stood waiting in front of a house in the old alley.

"Aunt Eleanor, I thought you would be back with the academy to secure the students' return to the city?" Lara spoke.

"There are capable teachers that can take care of that. I want to focus on finding Leon and sending him out with you two." Eleanor said.

"Is this that artist's house?" Lance asked.

"Aye! I caught one of 'em syndicate dogs who works as a mercenary. He spoke of this place and that artist." Vadim answered.

Erielle was working on the lock all that time and she removed it without any noises to alert no one. Once she was done, she glared at the others to quiet down, softly pushed the door, and walked in.

Beyond the building entrance was the door to Zal's workshop and Erielle didn't even struggle with it. The moment it was open, the strong oily smell of the place assaulted them as if it was the den of some monster.

"The smell of squids." Lara said with a disgusted face.

"No, ink slimes." Vadim replied and walked in as he tightened his fist, "The existence of a monster inside the city walls in itself is very illegal.

The others followed and the messy place was exposed proving it is even messier than whatever they could imagine.

They all looked at each other and started to spread in the first room before they all reached the door to the next at the same time. By then, Eleanor found herself fixated in front of a series of paintings that took her by surprise almost in an instant.

"By the Light!" She whispered.

Lance and Vadim were the closest so they walked to see what she saw and they weren't in any way less surprised than her.

"That's Grace, the Lady of Grace." Lance recognized it immediately.

"Such a fine painting! It is like nothing I've seen before." Vadim followed.

Eleanor sighed in her heart and shook her head.

"This Artist, he's good but that is nothing like the Original." Eleanor said, "I have had the honor to be present on the Anniversary of the Holy Age in Saint Lanus. This painting was shown in the festival to the Kings and Emperor who came to pray at the Holy of Holies."

"What does the original look like?" Lance asked.

"Gigantic compared to this." Eleanor said, "The only lifelike image of Mother Agartha that is said to have captured her holy grace."

Even the non-religious Eleanor was willing to kneel and worship in front of the image.

"Over here." Erielle then called.

The three in front of the painting woke up from their daze and followed the voice inside the workshop to the next room.

"Vadim, look at that." Erielle spoke.

"Hm? That… why is all this here?" Vadim looked at what Erielle pointed at and frowned.

"What's this?" Lance asked.

"Leon's equipment." Vadim replied.

These were many of the things Leon had including his tent and his big knapsack.

"You sure?" Eleanor asked.

"I sold them to him myself that day he came to the Hall. Heaven knows I gave him the discount of his lifetime." Vadim said.

"No one's inside." Lara came out from the inner rooms and said.

"Hmmm. Leon's equipment is here but neither he nor that artist are present. They are surely on an errand. It is still quite strange that the artist and Leon are actually related." Lance added.

"So… what's next?"

As soon as Lara asked that, the five of them heard the sound of hurried footsteps walking into the place, pushing the door away and dropping something.

Instantly, they all hid away.

"Oh! Oh no no no! My Lord will be displeased if something happens to you. Tsk tsk, poor girl." The sleazy voice of a man out of his breath sounded as he kept putting his things together, "He wants his things. My Lord wants them. Zal shall be there right away…"

Zal, who was running all over the place, suddenly froze in his boots and looked around.

Something felt wrong with his place.

He wanted to retreat back but suddenly the door he came from closed.

"The Artist Zal, isn't it?" Said the rough voice owner who turned to a redheaded dwarf standing behind the door.

"No! NO!" Zal freaked out immediately.

He almost fell backward but to his dumb luck, he ran into a tall elf which was very unusual before screaming once again and trying to run inside.

The two walked after him but he was already apprehended by Eleanor.

"You, we have something to say…" Eleanor spoke.

"NO! No! I won't talk! I am not talking…" Zal kept screaming as he tried to drag himself away but her hand was right on his shirt's collar.

"I will not betray my Lord! Go away!"

Zal tore his shirt and immediately held one of his work scalpels from the nearby table then pointed it at his throat.

"I won't… I won't speak… I'll take my own life if you…" Zal kept rambling as he was trapped by the group of five who kept staring at him ridiculously.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Your… Lord?" Eleanor asked.

"Don't trick me!" Zal pointed his scalpel at them before remembering that he's miserably weak and he can only take his own life if he was about to be captured.

Zal was loyal, a foolish man but still loyal. Once Leon told him to keep his identity a secret because he was being pursued by someone, that was all on his mind.

"Listen, Pal. We're just here to look for…" Lance spoke but it was the first time for Zal to notice him.

Once Zal saw Lance and as if he saw a unicorn or a dragon, his face didn't comprehend what he was seeing before he asked slowly.

"Lo… Lord Leo?"

"Huh?"

"Wait, what?"

"Come again?"

The five around him reacted as they looked at Lance's face but they looked at Zal once again whose face became as if he realized his mistake. That's not Leon.

"I… I won't say a thing if I am dead." Zal raised the scalpel but before he could do a thing, Lance phased out of his place and Zal could no longer see him.

The next thing was Zal not feeling the scalpel he was carrying and standing completely unarmed.

"Will you stop causing a mess? Leon is my brother." Lance spoke.

"Leon? Oh, Lord Leo… you truly do look alike but…" Zal cowardly backed away, "How do I trust you?"

"I just said I am his brother?" Lance raised his hands and shrugged his shoulders.

"You take me for a fool? I know that high and powerful folk see blood relations as threats sometimes. How do I know that you are not the one who's chasing after my Lord?"

That was hard to prove.

"Brother, we don't have time. Shall I make him speak?" Lara asked.

"""No!"""

All the people in the room glared at her except Erielle. Those two were birds of a feather in some way.

"Apologies for my sister's words but we are on an urgent mission to save our youngest. He is indeed being chased but I can't say anything he didn't tell you." Lance spoke, "By violently interrogating you, we may lose Leon's trust."

"Haha! So you are not the subject of his trust." Zal pointed his finger at Lance.

"All of us here are his relatives." Lance said in frustration but the more he spoke, an unnatural tone appeared with him, "All I can say is that my little brother has Light within him and there are those who wish to extinguish that light with their hate. I know them but it pains me… it pains my heart and my very soul from its core that I can't just go around and behead them one after another. My brother… he is precious to me. He means the world to me and I swear by the Light and Darkness that if he was not to return with us home to our mother, I will engulf this land with blood and gore that the ghosts will haunt it for decades to come."

Lance's words made everyone around him feel instant weirdness. Even his sister was covering her face. He smiled in self-mockery and shook his head.

"You probably don't believe m…" Lance wanted to say something but Zal held his hand.

"I believe you." He said, "Sir, I don't know who you are but I believe you. If you saw the Light in him, then you know it too."

"Truly?"

Two men looked at each other with tearful eyes and a strange atmosphere of comradery came to life as they held hands. The drama aura they emitted was…

"Gross!" Lara covered her face even further.

It may have left the people around petrified, but the sound of footsteps coming through the door was what broke the moment.

"Chief Vadim, urgent news." A Mercenary walked in.

"S… speak." Vadim turned away still holding his head from what he saw.

"The places you ordered to keep an eye on, one of them is caught in a fight between the Edeners and the Syndicate Dogs." The Mercenary said.

"It has begun!" Zal shouted.

"What did?" Eleanor asked.

"The fight over the Honey Saloon, my Lord has masterminded it. He intends to burn his last trail."

***

"Im… Impossible!"

That was one thing to say about a fight between two monsters. Two users of the Combat Magic were out for each other's necks and their devastating abilities were like a storm of blows going left and right.

Those who walk into their range won't get out clean.

Two kicks, one straight to the chest and the other to the face. The two were cleanly dodged by the Feline Tribe girl whose body arched backward and launched two reverse uppercut kicks with her leg as she flipped back while twisting with absolute agility.

The moment her kicks almost made contact were the same moment her hands attacked either their claws as well.

A creature hitting with its four parts at the same time.

Leon didn't even back away, he sped up through the attack before it landed and dodged it forward, switching positions with the girl called Furra and finding her blindspot.

No one knew when but Furra was on his trail as she twisted her body with him before even falling, landed on her arms, pushed herself away from his attack, and stood up in a single breath.

"Great reflexes." He said.

"You're stronger than what you're supposed to be." Furra admitted.

"To be honest, the Spider surprises me as well. I am more intrigued to invite myself over as soon as I can." Leon said.

"You treacherous bastard!" Furra couldn't control her urges anymore and she pointed at Leon, "It was you all along who caused that mess. I will serve your head on a platter for the Spider."

"Old grudges never die. I'll have to beat it out of you, sorry." Leon said as he assessed her.

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[ Furra ] < Lv.22 Feline Hunter >

(STR: 32) (END: 30) (AGI: 50) (PER: 42) (INT: 32)

- Titles: {Rabbit}

- Talent: 54%

- Proficiency: Earth

- Features: [Feline Agility]

- Skills:

——————————

- Relationship: -

- Mood: Angry, Threatened

- Likes: Master, Food, Napping

- Dislikes: Canines, Humans, Cucumber

——————————

So much information, no time to analyze it. All in all, her agility is insane and that's a racial feature.

He initiated the attack this time and he focused on trying to control Furra's agility. He went straight to the face with a punch which she can clearly dodge then instead of going through with it, he takes a step to the front and stomps on her foot.

There was no reaction there, he was nimble and cunning enough to use his hand as a distraction and with a [Stomp] skill, he had her pinned.

"ARGH! Hateful!"

She waved her arms around in a violent reaction but he knew he couldn't keep up with her speed at point-blank, thus he kept his guard together, disabled her attacks by blocking it from parts of her arm where she cannot generate much force, and then he rammed her body.

He still didn't let go of the stomp on her foot thus he struck two punches to her waist to hinder her breathing and another punch towards her face. Furra's reaction was to try and pull away but she had to keep her hands together and defend. The unlucky part for her is that her defense wasn't perfect thus when Leon found her lower head exposed, he fainted with his last jab turning it into a precise attack to the neck.

Then the punishment started.

In a desperate attempt, Furra punched with her hand but her arm got grabbed and locked. Leon went behind her and applied pressure as he twisted her arm to force her down. Furra wanted to use the force and roll her way out of the arm twist but Leon changed the twisting angle, he then dropped with his right knee on her back and held her neck with his free hand.

"Get off me! Get off me!"

Furra became enraged and tried to struggle even more but Leon mercilessly controlled her arm into submission and raised his knee before driving it into her side.

"You gotta calm the fuck down." Leon said.

It is his win now, his undisputed win.

"No, not happening!" Ruth witnessed what happened and could no longer maintain her calm.

"Your turn is coming." Leon snorted.

Immediately, Ruth broke into a desperate escape as she descended the stairs, turned around, and ran out of the backdoor.

"Stop her!" At that time, Jessica and Jordi who were witnessing it all started to run after Ruth as Jessica shouted.

"Get off me you!" Ruth struggled and seemed to have broken free.

Immediately, Jessica ran in to see Leon.

"Leo, she's getting away with a loaded wagon." Jessica said and Leon could hear the noises clearly.

"You lost." Before he stood, Leon stared at Furra mercilessly as he let go.

As she recovered and managed to get away a few steps from him, Leon looked at her with a threatening look in his eyes.

"Go! Give the Spider my regards." Leon said, "Tell her I'll come to visit this evening."

Furra the Feline hissed at him before she held her pained arm and escaped through a window.

"Her? The spider is a she?" Jessica asked.

"Indeed." Leon nodded, "I'll cut you a deal but after I finish off Ruth."

"Go." She pointed towards the way Ruth escaped from.

Leon smiled viciously and as promised, he will deliver a kill today.