Floating Marketplace, Blackshore.
Inside a two-story rcantile hall that belonged to one of the current mbers of the lose council, Alfred nny, there was a large crowd gathered in the main room.
The owner of the building, the Rank 2 Magus, Alfred nny, looked at the group of people standing across from him and his n with a deep frown on his face.
"Dean, what is the aning of this?" He said, his tone laced with hostility. "You dare bring all your guards into my domain! Is this a declaration of war?"
Dean Black, another famous and influential rchant in the city—also, soone aiming for the position of a seat at the lose council—displayed a professional smile.
"My friend, Alfred," he began. "I am not here to declare war or anything of that sort."
"Then what the hell are you doing with all your n here?!" Alfred growled.
Dean turned to his son, Colbert, and nodded. The youth stepped forward and displayed the sa polite smile as his father.
"Lord nny," he began. "As you might have already noticed since the past couple of weeks, there is going to be massive unrest in the following days."
Alfred nny's expression turned dark. Of course, he knew what the youth was talking about. He was a rchant, after all, and had developed a skill to read the flow of the market—and even society.
"Due to… external factors, there will be many political scuffles between the Magi currently sitting on the loose council of Blackshore, and the Magi who are aiming to beco concilors," he continued.
"And that is why you're here with all these n, is it?" Alfred nny spat coldly.
"Lord nny," Colbert smiled. "We are rchants, not ruffians. We indulge in benefits, not blood."
Alfred's eyes narrowed. "What are you getting at?"
Dean Black stepped forward. "Instead of going against each other, why not work together and ensure that both of us can maintain a strong foothold in the dark days to co? There's a lot of benefits to be had if we allied with one another."
"Dark days… to co?" Alfred frowned. "What do you an?"
"You may not know this, but we have it on good authority, and by that I an soone very influential from the loose council, that the power balance of Blackshore is going to shift drastically," said Dean.
"As such, why don't we rchants form a coalition? There is strength in numbers… and wealth, after all."
Alfred thought for a few monts before asking, his eyes laced with suspicion. "And who is this influential person from the council you're talking about?"
Dean's lips curled up into a confident smirk, "Silver Vess."
Alfred was stunned. "The infamous slaver! That's where you got your intel from?"
Although the loose council was made of several Rank 2 Magi, there was still a great difference in their strength and influence.
Silver Vess was soone who was in the upper echelons of the council!
"Indeed, my friend." Dean Black nodded, his expression smug.
He was quite grateful that his son had managed to strike up a friendly relationship with Silver Vess' bodyguards, which in turn, allowed him to capitalize on the information they provided.
Suddenly, one of the Rank 1 Magi standing behind Dean and Colbert Black, listening intently to their conversation, felt sothing amiss.
His eyes gradually glazed over and he lost control over his body. Then, he slowly and covertly unsheathed the dagger strapped to the side of his waist, walked behind Colbert Black… and stabbed him!
"Rest assured, this partnership—" Colbert's words got caught in his throat and his pupils constricted.
He felt a sudden sensation of pain radiating from his lower back. The injury wasn't life-threatening but it completely caught him off guard.
The youth turned around and saw that one of his n, a Rank 1 Magus, had stabbed a dagger straight into his waist. "You…" He was overco by rage.
Right at that mont, the Rank 1 Magus, pulled out the bloodied dagger and scread, "Lord Alfred, I have done as you said!!"
When Dean Black witnessed the scene of one of his own n stabbing his son in the back, he was enraged. The first thing he did was gather mana in his hand and strike the man down, killing him in one swift motion.
Then, he glared at Alfred Penny, his eyes spewing madness and fury. "You bastard! I ca here to form an alliance, yet you bare your fangs at nonetheless! How dare you?!"
He grabbed his son's shoulder and pulled him back behind him. Then under the dumbfounded gaze of Alfred nny and his n, Dean ordered his people, "n, finish these bastards!"
"Dean, wait!" Alfred tried to diffuse the situation. "I don't even know that man—"
However, his words fell on deaf ears as a brutal lee had already begun between his and Dean's n.
anwhile, Colbert Black tended to his injuries after he'd retreated a few steps. Seeing his father and his n fight Alfred nny and his n, he couldn't help but curse out loud.
"Damn it! This was supposed to be an alliance. How did it turn out this way?!"
Suddenly, he recalled the words of Adam, or rather, the man whom he knew as Mada.
He had ntioned to him that on this night there would be small skirmishes happening between the Magi currently sitting on council and the Magi fighting for their seats.
Mada had told him that these skirmishes would be escalated to full-blown civil wars that would plunge the city into fire.
Looking at what was transpiring in front of him, Colbert's back was drenched in a cold sweat. It was only now that he realized that he had too had been manipulated.
But by the ti he realized this, it was already too late.
Two shadowy figures—one burly, and the other petite—appeared behind Colbert Black like ghosts. One grabbed his mouth and slit his throat, the other repeatedly stabbed his stomach.
Before Colbert's body limply fell to the ground, a loud voice echoed in the rcantile hall, "Young Master Colbert has been murdered! Alfred nny's n killed him!"
Colbert's father, Dean Black, turned around, his gaze landing on the lifeless and bloodied body of the son.
"NO!!!" He roared in anguish, his eyes burning with the desire for revenge. He turned back around and launched himself at Alfred nny in a suicidal charge.
"DIE!!!"
While a deadly lee was taking place inside the two-story building, Kael and Liriel—still in their disguises—silently escaped the hall, heading towards their next destination.
Every step they took, caused the embers of civil war to spark to life in the lawless city of Blackshore.
The fire had been sparked and soon the entire city would turn into a blazing inferno.
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