Chapter 322- A planned ambush

Within the vaulted hall of the villa, a silence so thick as to feel the moans of the sprawled beastmaster ensued.

Seated from the height of the dais, the usually quick spinning cogs in the mind of Lord Arash momentarily stalled.

As the gears creaked, a slew of unrelated thoughts painted a puzzled look on his face.

By implementing a well-executed plan, he held the Behemoth Gang in his palms, ready to be gobbled and swallowed.

Check.

Those four old coots dwelling in the past had no reason to intervene. Society's way would solve the issues and disagreements; force and blood. With Jink and Dermal, a swift strike on the unsuspecting Doug tonight would leave the slum district open and ripe for the taking.

Check.

A vein throbbed at the side of his hairless head.

It was here that his thoughts jumbled.

First Doug joined this meeting as agreed.

A question popped up here.

Even if stupid, the young fella would have known that he and the others planned to initiate a turf war tonight.

Yet the fellow arrived, and with three girls in tow to boot. What the heck was this guy smoking? Surely he wasn't coming to barter, right?

Right?

Nevertheless, everything was on track. The hidden guards secured the lone exit behind the newcomers, and as choreographed, a servant led them to stand plumb in the middle between the three leaders.

An ambush set and ready.

As rehearsed,

From this point, his speech would blabber about the rules of the Bloodnight Society and the usual turf battles that settled any grievances.

The elite members would dispatch Doug and his entourage and then under the cover of night and secrecy, divvy up their territory in the coming weeks. Only those treading in the underworld would know of this upheaval and change in power.

From the information gathered he knew that Doug and a few of his top members possessed excellent fighting skills, especially when teamed together.

With about fifteen to twenty men present, and a similar number guarding outside, only a swift death awaited. This guaranteed outcome never included the use of his trump cards.

The prepared speech was at the tip of his tongue when the underdeveloped girl opened her stupid mouth.

What was that phrase again; about newborn sheep and Jagas?

Fine. No problem. 

Lord Arash bantered most of his time among the nobles and leaders of the underworld. Adjusting his speech was a mere flick of the tongue. He opened his mouth with an excellent retort only for Jink to butt in and steal his thunder.

Undoubtedly, the fatty seized the opportunity to display a show of superiority and unleash terror onto the hearts of these gullible victims.

From here, things fell apart.

Literally.

The stupid Jaga decided to throw a tantrum. Muscling its way through the occupants on Jink's half of the hall, it left a wake of tumbled men and a broken trainer.

The fatty completely lost face.

Maybe the cat ate too much rock salt in the diet?

Meanwhile, Boss Dermal and his party clustered into little groups because of the chaos. With their bodies tense and eyes filled with emotions ranging from surprise to fear, they displayed a sorry sight.

Even Harky had stepped forward with his hand resting atop his sword. He also heard the footsteps of the stocky grey-haired man hidden in the shadows behind him.

The united front of overwhelming superiority had been ruined.

For the first time, Lord Arash scrutinized these visitors. The redhead partially hidden all this time, had found a seat. The two girls stood on both sides of the chair, with Doug and Singh behind them.

The arrangement spoke volumes, especially when he recalled the empty chair Doug always left vacant in the cellar hideout of the Bloodnight Society. The earlier monologue of the girl validated his thoughts.

"Who are you?"

Lord Arash asked while gazing down from above.

The girl continued focusing intently on the bottom step as if oblivious to her surroundings. Somewhere in the hall, came the faint sound of a sword being unsheathed.

"She is the leader of the Behemoth Gang."

Doug answered.

"Hmph, so what? Even if you find someone to pose as your leader, you should have done better than a brat. Let me tell you. The event at the pleasure house is clear. Your man broke a taboo and you have to pay the consequences."

Jink barked. The fatty regained some semblance of authority on being circled by his men.

Boss Dermal coughed from the opposite end,

"Leader or not. The compensations received are insufficient. If no agreement is found, it is within the majority's right to declare a bloodletting between the members."

"So there is no room for negotiation?"

"There never was."

Lord Arash answered Doug's question.

Doug stood behind the chair of the seated girl with his hands to his sides. Instead of becoming tense on hearing the open threat, he felt as if a weight lifted from his shoulders.

He turned to have a long look at Boss Jink, Boss Dermal, and then back to Lord Arash. With a long exhaling sigh, the resentment and bottled anger over the past months were blown away.

"Then according to the rules of the Bloodnight Society, the three of you have decided to begin feuding with us over territory?"

Lord Arash laughed in response. Like the flu, it spread among the men down below.

The laughing ceased as abruptly as it originated.

Lord Arash relaxed on the throne-like chair.

"Not 'to begin' young master Doug. It has already started the moment you entered this hall. There will be no escaping Frost City for your staunch members."

The wonton sliding of iron on wood sounded.

The rustling of leather straps.

Swords, daggers, and hatchets tinkered and gleamed out in the open.

A broad-shouldered man lifting an axe walked out to stand on the left of Lord Arash. Clean-cut Harky stood on his right, his arm resting on his sword.

Below, a grizzled bear of a man, resembling Boss Dermal clutched two broad hatchets in thick hairy arms.

A forty-ish man stood near Boss Jink while smiling. Each hand held a twirling dagger.

An aura of bloodlust and superiority seeped from among them.

"Old Russ had probably gone senile when he recommended your group to the Society. Since its founding, the Bloodnight Society has floated alone atop the currents of the underworld."

Lord Arash waved his hand horizontally towards the men down below before continuing.

"What is needed to stand on the summit of Frost City?"

"Sersen!"

Came the resounding reply.

Lord Arash cast Doug a look of pity.

"You never had what it takes to join us. BOY."

In the calm before the storm, the voice interrupted,

"We agree."

The redhead raised her face slowly toward Lord Arash.

The pair of green eyes bored into his. All this time, she had been sitting straight with her hands on the armrest.

The unfazed queen of the underworld.

"Do you really want to war with this one?"

Lord Arash felt the hair stand on his bald head.

In all his years of maneuvering among the dark societies, Lord Arash could count the times the hair on his pores rose.

On his arms, never on his smooth head.

His eyes scanned the might of the Sersens and lackeys gathered in support. He turned to the girl.

With danger bells resounding in his head from this small pickney, he forced an affirmative reply,

"Yes..."

"Then blood it shall be."

The green-eyed girl locked eyes with the bald man on the dais while gradually raising a hand.

A thumb and index finger slipped below on each side of her pink tongue.

With a blow, a shrill whistle fractured the silence.

From the moment he saw the hand move, a feeling of dread washed across the gang leader. The bells in Lord Arash's mind lifted to a banging crescendo.

Something was definitely wrong here. But within his vision, he counted two slightly skilled young men and three girls.

A wave of discomfort swept over the hall.

Only the four Sersens within the hall seemed composed if not slightly surprised.

Until the thick wooden doors at the entrance exploded.

Amidst the chaos as even the Sersens assumed defensive stances, groans and wails resounded from the guards blocking the exit. Within the dust and falling splinters, the outlines of two lads walked.

With each step, a thump followed a whoosh. Slowly, the wails and groans ceased. The teenagers halted among the dead while reloading their previously strumming crossbows.

What caught everyone's attention was not the Jaga streaking across the hall leaving a trail of yellow liquid, but the instigator causing that action.

It materialized in the front and middle of the two death reapers.

A large reddish form stepped out from the dust. A wolf, the size of a bear emerged with hackles bristling. Red crackles of lightning sparked across its raised snowy fur. A low growl exposed and bared its blood-stained, pointed fangs.

"Demonic Beast! Heaven help us, it's at least a high-level intermediate!"

The grey-haired Sersen on the dais shouted.

"Who are you calling demonic beast?"

Unsure when in the erupting chaos, the green-eyed girl stood before him.

Her position already breaching his defenses, a crackling palm smashed into his chest. With an explosive thud, the muscled Sersen flew backward and slid on the stage.

The leather armor on his chest lay in tatters, exposing a blackened chest plate. Coughing up a mouthful of blood, the Sersen forced his neck to turn towards the girl. A mixture of shock and terror clouded his eyes.

The impact from the unknown attack shattered his organs. Squelching in a rasping breath, his eyes turned lifeless.

Countless eyes switched from the emerging demonic beast to the ax-wielding Sersen. They blinked in tandem on witnessing the preposterous.

"Lucy, the fanny man with the dagger!"

"Singh, my crossbow!"

"Doug, keep your eye on the hatchet mule, he's mine!"

Miki rattled out commands in quick succession while receiving her modified crossbow.

Within seconds, three bolts left the weapon, flying towards the rafters. Screams followed immediately, with a body falling to the ground. Up above, another pair of would-be assassins hung dead from the overhead beams.

In the blink of an eye, she zipped two flying daggers towards the mule man. Sensing danger, the tall, muscular man tore his eyes away from the dreaded wolf. With a deep roar, he raised the hatchets in a flash, barely deflecting the daggers.

Thump,

Thump,

Confused, the horse-faced man stared at the raven-haired girl, then slowly dropped the hatchets from his hands. Raising an arm, his fingers felt the hilt of the kunai buried in his throat. Blood splurted from the wound of another kunai lodged in the neck.

Powered by a sudden assault backed by nine speed-type lifestones, the strength-type Sersen never stood a chance.

Boss Dermal watched his brother slump to the floor, before retreating towards the wall in horror.

He heard his brother roar, and by the time he watched, the battle ended with the man dead. The legs of the brawny stable boss trembled like jelly.

"Horse Gang! Defend me!"

He screamed while making his way toward the side door beside the dais. Before he covered three paces, however, a servant bolted out from beyond the doors while bawling.

"Another one in the kitchen! And another out in the lawn!"

The revelation ignited the scramble within the hall as all forms of cooperation ceased.

In the face of high-level intermediate demonic beasts, a squadron from the Military would not suffice.

Coupled with the swift, terrifying deaths of the dependable Sersens, the linchpin in their minds broke.

Lucy parried the vertical sword with a dagger and then sliced her other one into the neck of the attacker.

Smashing the hilt down accurately on the blade of an incoming horizontal thrust, she knocked the tip towards the floor. Closing the distance to this new foe, she stabbed into his heart.

Her dagger pierced the leather armor like a hot knife through butter.

With no additional breastplate for protection, the man joined his bleeding companion on the ground. She walked to one of the two men clashing swords with Singh.

In the melee, she clearly heard the question.

"How was it?"

At some point during the start of the fighting, Chu appeared beside her. Together they razed across pockets of resistance, picking out the guards systematically.

The two knew each other well enough to know their thoughts.

"Fanny man didn't react when I attacked. By the time I slit his neck, he probably never thought I was a Sersen."

"Heh! Complacent. These guys seem reluctant to activate their powers."

Chu replied while firing another cross bolt. The bolt punctured into the side of the head of a guard fighting with Doug. With a quick stab to the heart to ensure death, Doug switched to another target.

Amarok tore its way into the middle of a defensive team of six guards. The arrival of this steel-muscled bulk blasted the formation apart.

Swiping a front paw in an action akin to a bear rather than a wolf, it swatted away the paralyzed men like flies.

Ming followed behind, assisting in mopping up the injured. 

On the dais, the redhead locked her green eyes onto Clean-cut Harky.

With the chaos occurring, Lord Arash and Harky never contemplated escaping. Both stood beside the throne-like chair, eyeing this girl with pensive looks. The smell of burnt flesh from the corpse at the rear served as a deterrent.

A guard screamed while flying over them to hit the adjacent stone wall with a sickening crack.

From the time this devil raised her delicate, dire fingers, to the bloody decimation in the hall, a drunkard couldn't chug a jug of ale.

The little demon raised a foot and stepped towards them. With her finally deciding to move, the fear on their faces turned palpable.

"Who are you?"

Lord Arash stammered.

"This one is the leader of the Behemoth Gang."