Just as Celia was piecing it together, the Reynolds Trading Company group fell into a tense silence.
They hadn’t expected that to be Ethan’s question.
Their eyes darted around, unable to et his gaze.
"Well, well... a bunch of tough guys. Let’s continue, then," Ethan said with a dark smile.
"It’s not that we don’t want to talk..." soone blurted out just as Ethan started to turn away.
"Yeah! We have contracts with the company!"
Seeing that Ethan was serious about continuing, the others began to panic.
"Your problem, not mine," Ethan shrugged. "Do it!"
"Agh! No... please, don’t!"
As soon as Ethan gave the order, Victor stepped forward and hauled one of the n to his feet. The man’s face was a mask of pure terror, struggling feebly in Victor’s grip.
"Talk," Ethan said, taking another vial of the Pain Amplification Elixir from Morzan. He held it up in front of the terrified man.
"I... I... If I talk, I’m finished! I have an eighty-year-old mother to support! A three-year-old kid! I can’t afford the breach of contract penalties!" The man was sobbing, snot and tears streaming down his face, begging Ethan for rcy.
"Oh."
Ethan’s face was an unreadable mask. That single, flat syllable was his only reply.
His hand shot out, forcing the vial into the man’s mouth.
SMACK.
He followed it with a backhanded slap across the man’s face.
"G-g-gulk...!"
The man’s eyes rolled back in his head as the lightbulb-sized vial lodged deep in his throat, gagging him.
CRUNCH.
Ethan delivered a casual, almost bored, punch to the man’s throat. A sickening crunch echoed—impossible to tell if it was the man’s windpipe or the glass vial shattering. The next second, the man’s mouth was wide open in a soundless scream.
Finished, Ethan waved a hand dismissively.
Victor tossed the man backward like a sack of garbage, where other Renegade Alliance players caught him. They weren’t about to let the ten-minute duration of the elixir go to waste. A brutal beating was inevitable.
Ethan’s gaze then swept over the remaining captives. His finger singled out another man.
"I’ll talk!" the man shrieked before Ethan could even speak. "Those two are also Experts! They disguised themselves as Advanced Engineers and Advanced Blacksmiths to join this project! We all signed NDAs! The penalty is 200 Gold!"
A slow, cold smile spread across Ethan’s face.
"Now that’s more like it. How long until the head honcho from Reynolds gets here?" The first part was a satisfied murmur; the latter question was thrown out to the air, seemingly to no one in particular.
The man who had just spoken stared blankly, his mouth agape. He thought Ethan was asking him.
But at that mont, two figures materialized at Ethan’s side. One was in Panther Form—a Druid. The other was dressed in rogue’s leathers.
The Rogue was the one who spoke. "They were a few hundred ters from our gates when we infiltrated. They should be at the doorstep by now."
Ethan gave a curt nod. As quickly as they had appeared, the Rogue and the Druid vanished, presumably lting back into Stealth.
"Cel, tell the guys outside to let them in," Ethan said smoothly.
Without explicit authorization, no one could enter a Guild Hall. The only alternative was to attack and break down the gates, but since all Guild Halls were located within the safety of a major city like Harmony City, that wasn’t a feasible option.
Outside the Renegade Alliance gates, five n arrived, their deanor aggressive and their leader’s face thunderous. But before any of them could even step forward to demand entry, the shimring barrier over the guild gates suddenly dissipated.
The five n paused, startled. The leader’s brow furrowed deeply. It was clear their arrival had been expected. Without further hesitation, they strode inside.
The scene that greeted them was not a pleasant one. Their employees were sitting on the ground in a dejected heap, while a few others were writhing and screaming, their conditions horrifying. The leader’s face darkened further, looking like it was about to drip with rage.
His eyes locked onto Tears of the Fallen—Celia, the woman with whom he had signed the original contract. She, however, seed completely oblivious to his arrival, chatting animatedly with a Priest player beside her.
The sight fueled the jealousy burning in his gut. He had been coveting the Renegade Alliance’s Honorary Leader for a long ti. He’d asked her out to dinner several tis, only to be politely rejected every ti. Seeing her now, being so familiar with another man and utterly ignoring him, stirred a uniquely bitter fury.
This man was the Regional Director of Reynolds Trading Company in Harmony City, holding a Vice President title within the corporation. He was a well-known figure in the city. He had rushed over in a rage after receiving a ssage that the Honorary Leader had ordered a work stoppage, followed imdiately by news that his n were being assaulted. To find the woman he desired acting this way... it was the final insult.
He stord forward, marching straight toward the Council Hall, intending to cut directly through the hundreds of Renegade Alliance players standing between him and his goal. The Reynolds group had grown accustod to deference; for weeks, every mber of the Renegade Alliance had been polite and accommodating. They’d started to believe the so-called "top guild in Harmony City" was all talk.
Today, they were in for a shock.
As the Director walked straight into the path of the first Renegade Alliance mber, expecting the man to step aside, he was t with defiance.
THUMP.
"Get the hell out of the way, dickweed! Can’t you see where you’re going? You got eyes in your ass?"
The Vice President of Reynolds Trading Company, the mighty Regional Director of Harmony City, who a second before had been strutting with unearned confidence, was suddenly launched backward three or four ters by a powerful kick to the gut. The kick ca from a rank-and-file mber of the guild.
Seeing this, a faint, approving smirk touched the corner of Ethan’s lips. For a mont, he’d worried his people had gotten soft.
"You...!" The four n behind the Director instantly drew their weapons. These were his personal bodyguards.
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