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“Yes, and the cargo?” another man asked, this time – he had but a hoodie on. Both had their entourage covered by bodyguards. Each with a menacing aura and guns in hands – waiting ever so patiently for trouble to emerge. Stood on the edge of Rotherham, inside a factory owned by a private company – the deal took place. Away from prying eyes and away from the public, none knew what was to happen. For a town ruled by the underworld, these sorts of deals were a regular occurrence. From a few silvers to a thousand golds, each had a different purpose and scale. For days now, Cake had been analyzing data from every source at her disposal. The strategist needed information. It was a few days prior that someone, an unknown individual contacted one of the dark-guilds lowly members. A tip-off about the UO planning an attack. Under normal circumstances, in no way would this deal happen for large amounts of money and arms ready to take on a platoon left to the open, was foolish

“So far so good,” said the man in black-suit in a whisper. The dealer was in direct contact with Cake. It was both an arms deal and a bait tactic. One reckless at best, losing here would mean a massive blow.

“Continue with the deal, don’t lose focus – the money coming from this trade will help later on,” she said in a stern tone. Enclosed inside what appeared to be a hangar, the men waited. The high yet slated ceiling made each noise echo throughout. With only a wooden box separating both factions; after negotiations were finalized, the deal was complete. All that was left was to give a handshake – both took steps forward with the ever so vigilant eyes of their guards placed on the opposition. The tension was at an all-time high.

“GET DOWN,” cried one of the guards from the dark guild. In a blink of an eye, two RFS broke through the barrier and into the hangar. Explosions, gunfire, and smoke – it was as Cake had predicted. “GO,” screamed another, the dealer and client were escorted to a secure room whilst the guards on each side joined forces. Usually peaceful, the outskirts of the town turned into a battlefield.

“Cake, this is bad,” gunshots went past his ears and into the wall behind. The attackers were shooting through the walls. “I know,” she fired back whilst biting her nails, “-pin them down, try to fight back,” to which the gunfire increased. With the two RFS parked in a V-shape, they had made cover, a good point of access to have. Smoke grenades were utilized in tandem with poison gas.

“It’s no good,” voices came from the now blocked off hangar, the gunfire stopped.

.....

“There’s neither guns nor money,” the voices seemed erratic and on edge.

“We’ve been had,” a loud voice yelled, “-kill anyone in sight, else the Syndicate will kill us,” from silent, the chaos ensued.

“A message,” Staxius called with eyes on the road. To help, Adete took out the phone and read, “-the battle is already underway.”

“I see,” more mana injected, the car went into overdrive. “Can’t this go any faster,” Adete asked, her face changed – it now had the gaze of someone ready to kill at any time.

Back in the hangar, “-it’s all gone to shit, CAKE, THE CLIENT IS DEAD,” the dealer lashed out. A quick peek towards the middle later, it revealed the beheaded corpse of the client. Blood flowed continually; gunfire raged.

“Oh, calm down,” her tone uninterested, “-Shadow is on his way,” the transmission went on hold. ‘I hope this works,’ sat behind a screen with data on the location, she waited.

“Hold fire,” the same deep voice yelled. He felt it, an immense presence. “All eyes up front,” he ordered, from shooting at their primary targets, the attackers now faced the opening. Crouched and eyesight lined up, they waited.

“What do we do? The gunfire has died down, this is the perfect time to escape,” one of the surviving guards offered.

“Don’t move or do anything,” he said whilst peering through a hole made by bullets, “-Shadow is coming to provide backup,” he gulped, the guards could but shudder. A name thought to be a myth had come to reality.

*Clop, clop,* the smoke cleared, a figure approached. ‘This feeling, the smell of blood; one that reeks of death – it’s nostalgic.’

“Fire,” the leader ordered, sights now set on he who had come, bullets raged forth. *Death Element: Absolute Barrier,* a snap sufficed – all the projectiles stopped. Magazines got emptied by the second, in no way where they going to be frightened by that trick.

“What are you waiting for, just kill them,” Adete stood atop his head, the bullets which stopped created a wall. “It’s no fun,” he shook his head, “-killing them will be a waste of time,” a sigh later, the constant sound of gunfire grew to be annoying. Another snap later, the bullets fell, the man was nowhere to be found. “SEARCH FOR HIM,” the leader yelled.

“Too late,” a voice came from behind, a faint glimmer of red-light later, the attackers fell. *Blood-Arts: Bloody Mary,* the blood wove itself into a thread. It turned into an orb that Adete held. “The blood of humans is more delicious than the blood of monsters,” the fight ended.

Faced away from corpses that turned pale – ‘I should probably get a limiter. That wasn’t even a sliver of what I can do, just a normal quick draw technique with nothing magic related. Even the speed used was half of the usual. Getting cocky now isn’t going to accomplish much – when the time comes where it’s needed for I to go full-out, then it’s probably the day I’ll be defeated,’ sheathed and hidden by a concealment spell, he turned and headed to where the dealer hid. The corpses behind were turned to dust, Adete went overboard when using Bloody Mary, as opposed to only the blood, she consumed the bodies entirely.

“Come out already,” stood near the entrance, Staxius ordered.

“Thanks for the help,” the dealer stepped out, “-Cake wants to talk with you,” he handed over the headpiece.

“I did what was told, now what?”

“Nothing much, thanks for the help,” she relished for this fight had other motives. A quick scan of the area later, the empty wooden box, what appeared to be the client’s bloodied mess on the floor, and the same weapon was given to each guard; it seemed fishy.

“Hey, Cake,” he asked in a whisper, “-Is this truly the place the deal is happening, or is it...”

“Stop right there,” she interjected, “-that’s the place where the deal was to occur,” simultaneously, he got a text, one blank. *All-Seeing eye,* ‘that’s her location,’ *Ancient Magic: Teleportation.*

“Anyways it’s a job well done, thanks for the assistance,” the transmission ended. “Shadow sure is an expert when it comes to killing people,” she voiced in the comfort of her room.

“I appreciate the compliment,” a voice came from behind, “-who stands there,” she reached for her gun then shot instantly towards the noise.

“Come on,” he caught the bullet, “-is that a way to greet a friend?”

“...boss,” her eyes opened, “-what are you doing here?” it fazed her a little but paid no heed in the end.

“The blank text,” he showed the phone, “-wasn’t it the deal that if ever I received a blank text – I’d come immediately?”

“You meant it literally,” slouched on her chair with numerous screens in front, the head shook from left to right. The room was typical, a lot of books, posters, and a small bed. Not to mention empty drink cans on the floor.

“Well, let’s get right to the matter,” she turned, “-from what you were about to say earlier, that place was a decoy. The dealer and client were both members of the dark-guild. The UO really thought that we’d undergo such a process with the sun out and about. To be fair, that operation wasn’t to draw out the enemy from the outside, but one from the inside,” her gaze sharpened.

“A spy?”

“Precisely,” she tried averting Staxius’s gaze.

“I get it,” the posture relaxed, “-what better way to draw out an enemy with good bait. However, the deal wasn’t the bait – It was me, wasn’t it? The God’s ale, that was what you wanted the spy to catch on.”

“As I figured, you realized the whole scheme. I do apologize for keeping you in the dark. Tis was the only way, apart from you, no one else suspects that we have a traitor in our midst.”

“Did you get any useful information?”

“Time only will tell, there are much more that must be set in place,” the sharpened gaze turned into one relieved, “-whoever is behind will grow to fear Shadow. Best bet that the UO will think twice before trying to attack.”

“I see, a display of power – scare off any unwanted attention and create a haven for the DG to continue their trade. Cake, I must say, you sure are very shrewd.”

“Awh, thanks for the compliment boss,” she gave a smile.

“Praises must be given to those who are worthy. You ought to be more careful next time – I do admire the reckless tactics,” he paused, “-try and keep it to a minimum,” thus, the return back to Void.

“Did you know you were being used as bait?” Adete asked with a crimson orb in hand.

“I had my doubts but that’s just how I usually am. Cake did impress, a scheme within a scheme – leaving the strategy to her is best,” the drive home began.

“How does the human blood taste?” he asked out of interest.

“It’s a feast,” she replied with her lips covered with the now congealed liquid, “-wanna try some?”

“Why not,” a bite later, the eyesight sharpened, “-what is this?” he asked, a warmth came from within. “That’s Bloody Mary, turning blood into pure-strength. Drinking from a human would accomplish nothing in the great scheme, that is why I said killing is the way to be stronger,”

“I see – guess I’ll ask Jason for some jobs that involve killing later,” the drive carried on.

Far, far away, hidden in a place not known to many. “I’m afraid the deal was a bait,” an informant relayed.

“I see,” sat in a dark room, “-relay that information to the Syndicate. The DG will fall soon enough, the man known as Shadow is our immediate threat.” Images from the fight were shown, “-should be easy to deal with,” the voice sounded slow and fatigued. “Elsa,” he called, “-take Aiden and bring me the head of Shadow. If anyone gets in your way, kill them.”

“As you wish, Lord Desmond,” knelt with long black hair, the girl left.

“Is it time to go have some fun?” chained in a dungeon, Aiden mumbled frantically. Light brown hair with a scar in the shape of an X on his forehead – the man sang in a jingle.

“Yes, it’s time,” the lock opened with a loud clang, “-Lord Desmond has asked for us to eliminate someone that goes by the name of Shadow.”

“Yes,” his eyes opened, “-I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him,” he repeated the same words till, “I’ll KILL YOU,” he lashed out and tried to kill his rescuer.

“Calm down,” a press of a button later, he fell to the floor, “-you’ll forever be bound by Desmond, vile dragon spawn, nothing you do will ever cause harm,” mercilessly, she stepped onto his face, “-try to kill me ever again, and I swear I’ll end you without batting an eye. A chained guard dog is what you are,” the crushing step changed into kicks, “-KNOW YOU’RE PLACE,” she spat, the constant kicks broke his jaws and a few bones.

“Stop,” as if possessed, he grabbed onto her foot, “-I care not why humans despise us,” he healed, “-but hurting my host isn’t something advisable. Best keep that hatred bundled inside, little Elsa. You don’t want another repeat of the past, now do you?” the voice shady as if mocking her.

“Whatever,” she stepped out, “-meet me outside when ready, we’re leaving later tonight.” Another press of a button later, the physical shackles were released.

“Bitch...” he wiped his mouth and spat blood with a few broken teeth.