Chapter 6 - Yundan

He shook his head, as the lighting curved upwards, and stepped forward, hitting him center mass with a spinning sidekick.

The figure crumbled.

He crouched, grabbing his hair and raising his head, he stared at his broken face and slightly smiled, "Goodnight."

His rings shimmered under the crystalline light.

He let go of his head, and stood up, rubbing his wrist.

"We'll be done before the Ball. Let's hurry along now. Rodrick." 

"Hello." A giant stood behind him, and crouched down, grabbing the man's unconscious body.

Argo rummaged through Rodrick's clothing, took out a blue crystal, and put it inside the mages mouth, before forcing him to swallow.

He didn't feel terrible about his fate.

He'd been a Dumbar Rebel who tried to launch a terrorist attack against him when they got word of an imperial heading out to such a rural land, and even now, assassination attempts weren't all that rare.

The Mana Crystal would supercharge him, like a ticking time bomb.

Having eaten his comrades in the hole, he was not worth showing kindness.

Stephan saw the man and shook his head, waiting by the exit tunnel, with a fur overcoat, enchanted with illusion magic, it was a pretty penny to import, but, with their connections, it was quick and worthwhile enough.

Argo slipped it on, and his look changed, a pearl white hat appearing on his head, casting a false illusion of a man his mid thirties, with a beard, and a cane. 

Dawning it, they left the tunnels.

Stephan placed his torch on the wall, near the exit into the sewers, and looked back for a moment.

'They like it when you look at them.' His skin crawled, no matter how many years passed.

Hundreds of eyes peered at them from the ancient tunnels.

//

"...ith the Spider's backing, it'll be quick. Their specialists are waiting. There's no need to be afraid. Follow me."

"Boss… With all due respect they-" 

Vivian's veins rose on her neck, "-They are nothing compared to the Spider!" 

Her subordinates were so afraid of them, that they even hesitated with the Spider's backing. 

Even Spider, couldn't reign in that dread.

Her lips curved down, an ire so deep it was like a swamp, permeated her air, the one who spoke, felt like he would be swallowed up if he kept talking.

She had sacrificed an eye to join Spider, and become their Branch Leader in the South!

With everything prepared, and everyone in place, she clutched the dagger in her dress.

There was no going back.

All it was, was burning down one goddamned building, and leaving the basement to be found.

That was all it was.

She looked out to the street.

"The swine are dancing in the estate tonight. No one is looking here. Let's go." She had a small smile curve her lips, at the thought of what was to come.

For the day that Sin would kneel before her.

They left out of the building across the street from the Old Sparrow, which was closed.

Anyone who could afford to eat there was in the Lord's Estate, so there was no point in remaining open.

Guards were at the Estate as well, to protect the nobility.

There would be no better opportunity than this, and she knew it.

Lucas came forward and picked the lock on the door.

Those with oil rushed for the stairs in the freezer, they'd already gotten the blueprints to the place days prior from Spider's specialists, whilst those with weapons headed upstairs to clear the whole building.

Vivian scanned the area.

There weren't any traps, but the floor was made of Redwood from western forests, and the ground was white marble.

She grimaced, even the pillars were extravagant, carved with tales of the South's triumphs.

The arrogance bled through the walls even with no one here, as if she could hear people boasting in her ears.

"Boss! The Oil is ready!" Lucas shouted from downstairs, his voice escaping from the kitchen.

It must have cost a literal mountain of silver, to build a place like this...

"I wish I could see the look on that bastard's face," A smirk crawled onto her face, at the idea of what kind of look, Sin's boss would have, upon hearing about this, she shouted with a tinge of regret, "Yandan! Get down here! The oil is set!" 

For now, she would have to contend with just the imagination, but soon, she would have them at her feet, groveling, she started to heat up.

Footsteps came fast from the stairs, and Yandan and his arrived on the main floor.

Lucas walked up the stairs 

"Where is the rest? Lucas?" Vivian clutched her dagger, a dangerous sharpness in her eye.

Her happiness had let her guard down for a moment, but it was instantly raised like castle walls, once she saw him alone.

It was a group of eight that had gone down with oil barrels, but only he had come back.

He didn't look right, in the dark.

His face was... wrong.

Yundan drew his sword, and pointed it forward, his face a bit pale, "Ma'am, that is not Lucas." 

She quietly stared at it.

He was right.

It stepped into the light of their torches.

A skin mask.

Someone was… wearing his face.

"A-, aa… aaaaaaaa…!" 

Yundan ran forward, his sword raised high! 

"STOP! YOU FOOL!" Vivian reached out to grab him, but Yundan was too fast, his movements were well-trained.

He had followed her since the beginning, his skills renowned in the underworld for being able to take on ten opponents at once, with his sword held close.

"RUN! VIVIAN!" Yundan's sword had a strange haze around it, he cut horizontally, in a slash that could only be described by common folk, as mesmerizing.

Yet, the masked figure didn't turn his gaze.

A fist as thick as a tree came down.

Bones crunched, and Yundan buckled, his neck turned in a weird direction and his head dented.

It came down again, and again and again.

"Y-. yun... YUN!" Vivan raised her dagger, as she screeched, the ramblings of magic coursed through the air! 

The masked man idly flicked a look down at him, his death was an easy one, he must have known what was to come next and chose this instead.

His gaze turned back to the woman in the red dress, "Was he special to you, Vivian?"

The crisp sounds of a chair being dragged out were like thunder in that pin-drop silence.

"You think you're going to get away with this? His corpse, don't touch it. Or else your end will be a hundred times worse than his." She pointed her dagger at him, the cracklings of mage lightning on its end.

Several dark figures grabbed Yundan's corpse and dragged him off, with excited grunts filling the air.

Her face was red as magma, her subordinates raised their weapons and readied themselves.

"I am the Branch Leader of Spider, Vivian Bellacross! I swear before the Gods themselves, I will carve your heart from your chest and have your body dragged through the streets of the South!"

She had worn a nice dress, for this event tonight, it was a shame, how her face twisted in such a pretty dress.

"Congratulations on the promotion," Argo reached into his fur coat, took out a bundle of dog tags, and threw them onto the ground in front of her, "They say Oath breakers souls perish, you know." 

Her pupils shrank.

The Spider had eight legs, the more legs your spider tag had, the higher you were in the organization, as well as the coloration.

Two-legged black spiders, her specialists were dead.

But she had not survived in the underworld as a woman for so many years, by relying solely on others.

She had stalled long enough.

Vivian's eyes flashed maliciously as her dagger began to blink!

Runic inscriptions on it flashed violently, causing a blinding flash as if one had a light pointed directly in their eyes! 

By the time it ran out, hundreds of men had burst through the doors charging straight forward, those inside were all blinded, except for her men had just entered, rendering an insane advantage.

She knew that their spy had gone missing, and she knew that many of them had died, and so she had come prepared.

Even the giant enforcer couldn't win against a hundred blades! 

Vivian had a vicious grin that no one could see, Mage Lightning crackled.

She screeched, pointing dead ahead, her lightning took out every last drop of her stamina from her, and it was fired directly at Argo, "Kill them!" 

"Throw it." A calm reply came, as her vision came back.

Blue light drowned out the entire floor, as a person with cracks all over their body careened through the air.

Her pupils shrank.

Her Mage Lightning curved unnaturally penetrating the person's stomach, it was a small stone, and couldn't handle her charged up shot.

It cracked, and the mans built up magical energy, boiled over. 

"MAGE LIGHTNING-!" Her scream was drowned out by the beautiful blue spider web, that engulfed the room.

She dove under a table, as the body exhaled a furious torrent of magical energy everywhere! 

For a moment, it was daytime in the Old Sparrow.

Rodrick stood in front of Argo, and the lightning was absorbed by the crystals he had under his clothes, like a weight vest, packed in for magic protection.

Mage Lightning was the most common form of magic since it was just a primal uncontrolled blast of magic, which also meant, it had the most countermeasures... for those prepared, at least. 

After the initial burst, while everyone was in disarray, shadows flooded the room through the kitchen and outside, jumping onto the unsuspecting operatives of Rouge, and dragging them violently back outside and into the sewers.

Unlike those human monsters of Sin, which fought with their bare hands, clawing and ripping, the operatives of Rouge wore breastplates, swords, axes, and spears, made of metal.

The uncontrolled burst had found a conduit, and it did exactly as electricity would, and flowed through the path of least resistance.

The entire first floor had turned into a violent melee, as creatures that seemed barely human overpowered, dragged, and disappeared the fighters that were unlucky enough to be on the wrong side.

Those who could still fight were few.

It was a one-sided massacre.

Vivian knew, in her heart, after so many years, it was impossible not to know.

She had lost.

Completely lost.

But even so.

"YOU!" She marched forward, with her exhausted form. 

She took a sword off a corpse, with her dagger in her off-hand! 

Rodrick looked down at him, his eyes showing some excitement, "Hello?" 

Argo shook his head at that look, like a father with a mischievous son, he waved it off, "You earned it." 

Rodrick had an enormous grin.

Vivian stabbed him, but the sword didn't penetrate far. 

She swung her dagger, only to hear a crisp ting, as it collided with Rodrick's heavy pelt, made from the hide of the Tyrant Bear, in Argo's office.

She looked up at the giant, whose face was blurry, and hidden in the dark where the light in the old sparrow couldn't reach.

All she could see was a smile, and the reflection of cracked blue eyes, "Hello." 

///

Stephan watched as the last of the night parade had gone back into the sewers with their catch, the Labyrinth would be full again, soon enough, with that much food and entertainment given to them.

Most would be turned into the next generation of stock, but, those that they caught, they could have.

He turned over to Argo, and Rodrick, who had Vivian on his shoulder, unconscious.

"...There shouldn't be any traces of anything by morning. Ichi and his are on standby," Stephan spoke as he took Lucas' skin off of Argo's face, and gave him a towel, "Did you need to do this?" 

Argo took the towel, and started cleaning his face, "I'm not a genius mage or a grand knight. If she had escaped somehow, I needed to inspire a fear deep enough that no one would follow her back here. Though I will admit, this may have been overboard. The sticky feeling won't go away anytime soon either. I don't know how they enjoy doing this."

It had been a spur-of-the-moment affair, to wear Lucas' face, though now that he looked back, had he worn Yundan's face, this would have been over much faster.

His Parade were all terrible people, drugged and tortured into servitude and brainwashing, though some were truly, just animals in human form, seeking out excitement, pleasure, and battle, in that order.

Those things they wanted, all as primal as the first humans, he could provide regularly.

Fearing death, they did not disobey.

Loving life, they dared not stray.

He finished cleaning his face and threw the towel aside, his hair was still a bit greasy and bloody, but it was mostly gone.

"I've been out of town for just a few weeks, and look at all of this. What a fine mess," A dark-haired man, with a sharp nose, stood looking around at the Old Sparrow, "… Mm, never mind. It'll be a hundred silvers to clean this up before daylight." 

"Done," Argo stood up, and threw over an invoice, with the stamp of Sin on it, "You know what to do."

Ichi, a friend from a not-so-prestigious household in the Center, who was always interested in architecture, had followed him down to the South, to escape his family's business, and found work here, with Argo's help, setting up a construction company.

They quickly pushed out or assimilated every other small business, creating a super industry for construction materials, a big export for Loch, aside from fish, wood, and grains.

Ichi, having specialized knowledge to make Bricks and weaker variants of concrete, quickly took over even for those villages in the territory of Loch.

Though they knew each other privately and professionally, publicly, they acted as if they had no idea of each other's existence beyond employer and employee.

"Everything is ready for that, as well," Ichi called after him, with a big smile and the invoice in his hands, "Thank you for your business!" 

Argo didn't reply, simply disappearing into the stairs leading below.

Stephan looked down at his clipboard, where words were being by magic thread, from someplace far away.

He read out the report, his face even, "Constance has been rescued by Emilia and Bishop Mel. No one has been alerted of the lights here. Due to the commotion there. A higher-up of the Spider escaped. Four legs." 

Four legs.

A specialist at four legs was someone who could be a boss over an entire region, in a few years, with the strength and knowledge to match, it was natural they wouldn't be caught so easily.

Argo noted it in the back of his head, and tried to keep his mind off the still sticky feeling on his face, he spoke with a grimace, "...I need a bath."

The night was still young.