“I want the bastard’s wife to kneel and grovel before me,” Yume said coldly as rage consumed her. Even Lyn and the others shuddered in fear. They had never seen Yume hold such a huge grudge against an individual. “Yume, Darcy’s the chairwoman of two major corporations. I heard that your father values her talent. He wants her to embrace the Vinlands and take care of your family business in the future. Aren’t you afraid that you might tick your father off?” Juno said worriedly. Although they were friends with Yume, Hudson appeared intimidating to them. Even their fathers trembled in the presence of Hudson. “My dad’s just lying to her.” Yume scoffed and revealed the truth. “My dad wants to trick Darcy into changing her last name. Once she becomes a Vinland, she would have to hand over her assets, and we will gain control over her.” Juno and the others felt chills down their spines. Hudson was long known for his scheming, but Yume’s minions were witnessing it for the fi
Yume’s domineering tyranny came unexpectedly. She slapped the female employee in public. “W-Why did you attack me?” The female employee put her hand over her swollen cheek and glared at Yume. Smack! Yume struck again. “Who do you think you are? I’m a member of the prestigious Vinland family. So what if I hit you?” “Being in a prestigious family doesn’t give you a right to attack anybody.” The female staff member covered her face and wailed. The other employees were frightened. Word had gone around of the Vinlands’ takeover of the city. They had felt nothing before. However, Yume just went into full-on tyrant mode.“So what if you’re a Vinland? It doesn’t give you the right to hit anybody.” “That’s right. Call security. Get this crazy, assaulting woman out of here. Call the cops too. We can’t let her attack our colleague.” The few employees were furious. Startled by the commotion, Quartet Group’s security personnel rushed over. “Regardless of the reason,
“And you are?” Darcy frowned. Master Quint said, “That’s the daughter of your grandmother’s brother, Yume. She’s your distant aunt.” Darcy’s eyes burned with rage. Yume was so arrogant. When nothing went her way, Yume ordered her men to break Lucas’ rib. However, Yume belonged to the prestigious Vinland family. Darcy drew a deep breath to calm herself before speaking solemnly to her employees in the back, “Dial the emergency line now. Lucas and the others need medical care now.” Yume did not stop Darcy. Instead, she looked Darcy in the eye and said, “I need a word with you, Darcy.” “What do you want?” Darcy swallowed her anger and asked. The grimace on Darcy’s face did not sit well with Yume. Yume’s eyes grew stern. “I’m your aunt, Darcy. Watch your tone when you speak with me.” “You came to my workplace for no reason and ordered your people to break my employee’s rib. What tone are you expecting?” Darcy’s tone was strained with tension. While she had her mis
“Ah!” The security officer let out a heart-wrenching cry. “Stop, you animal!” the employees of Quartet Group shouted angrily.Yume burst out laughing. “Darcy, as the chairwoman of the company, you won’t want all your employees to get broken ribs, right?” Her gaze fell on the security officers on the ground and the other employees. Archie approached the next security guard. With tears in her eyes, Darcy shouted in rage, “Tell him to stop, and I’ll go with you.” “Now that’s a good chairwoman.” Yume clapped and said, “Take her with us.” “Ms. Quint, don’t give them anything.” The employees panicked. “Take them to the hospital for immediate treatment now.” Darcy wiped her tears off and walked out. “Come on.” Yume left with a smirk. Lyn, Juno, and the others followed in the back. Master Quint and the other former Quint family members tagged along apprehensively. The employees of Quartet Group were left to dwell in their angst. “What do we do? The woman is wic
“Darcy, Hudson said that you will take over the Vinlands’ business once you become part of the family.” Master Quint tried to convince Darcy earnestly. “Hudson is now in charge of Quintessential Group. You’re so naïve.” Darcy said committedly, “Stop trying to talk me into it. It’s pointless. I’m a Quint and will always be.” “Darcy, you…” Master Quint panicked. “Get out of the way, loser.” Yume pushed Master Quint away, pointed at Darcy, and said sternly, “You are so disrespectful, Darcy. Your grandfather asked you to change your last name, but you defied him.” She raised her voice. The commotion caught the attention of many onlookers. “Oh, that’s Darcy. She’s the chairwoman of Quartet Group and Sky Ocean Corporation.” “What happened? Is she changing her last name too?” “Didn’t you hear? Her grandfather wanted her to change her last name, but she refused.” “Fuck. That family is just a pain in the neck. They could just drop their own last name, but why did they ha
Swoosh! As the whip cracked, everybody could not bear to watch and closed their eyes.Darcy shivered, her skin going numb. She soon found it strange. She felt no pain. She opened her eyes and saw an arm, its grip clutched to the whip, stretching across her eyes. “Kaze!” Darcy cried. Her tone said it all. Her pent-up emotions opened the floodgate of her tears. “Kaze!” Yume gritted her teeth and said maliciously, “How dare you show your face.” “I didn’t think you’d keep digging your grave.” Kaze’s tone was icy. “You’re the one digging your grave. Now, let go!” Yume screamed while tugging the whip, but her strap remained tight in Kaze’s grip. Kaze gave a yank, and the whip handle tore out of Yume’s grasp. “Ah!” Squealing from the burning sensation in her palms, Yume threw the whip aside. A bloody cut ran through her soft palm. Kaze grabbed the handle of the whip and looked at the two men restraining Darcy. “Let her go.” Archie smirked in disdain. “Who
“Save me!” Yume yelled frantically while holding onto the whip around her neck, trying to break free. “Let go of Ms. Vinland, boy!”Her two other bodyguards ganged up on Kaze with an angry scream. Kaze released the whip around Yume’s neck with ease before cracking it again. The two bodyguards were each struck in the face. Their weight in the 100-pound range was thrown by the impact. It was a horrifying sight. Everybody looked at Kaze in horror. Was he even human? “Woah! Is the guy a pirate? He’s good with the whip.” In the crowd, a little boy clapped enthusiastically, but his parents quickly dragged him away. The gory scene was too hard to swallow. Still, the public felt that justice had been served, seeing how Yume and her party behaved earlier. “I warned you to stay away from my wife, Yume,” Kaze said curtly while snapping the whip at Yume. Yume’s mangled flesh peeked through the shreds of her clothes.“How dare you whip me, Kaze! My dad will get even with
“I think Kaze has been pretty tolerant with us in the past,” Rudy said, his lips quivering. Master Quint and the former Quints turned ashen without a word. They were startled by Kaze’s aggression and heartlessness. Compared to what Yume and her minions experienced, Kaze had been more than kind toward them. “Call the emergency line now. Get Ms. Vinland to the hospital. Hudson is going to blow up when he learns what happened to his daughter.” Master Quint sighed. “Kaze is a bastard. He is putting Hector and the others in danger.” Everybody was horrified. Before, the former Quints would gloat about the misfortune of Hector’s family. That was the last thing on their minds now. They felt uneasy. Only God knew whether Hudson would put the former Quints down when taking revenge on Darcy’s family. Yume and the others were admitted to the hospital. Close to ten of them were covered in blood and broken flesh. The individuals with the most severe injuries were the bodygu
“That’s amazing, Chief Hill!” The execution hall members cheered Robin on with admiration. Ignoring his crew’s praises, Robin disappeared at the moment of landing. Before everybody knew it, Robin appeared before Siberian. Siberian scowled at the menacing aura coming from Robin. He felt as though he was in the depths of hell. “Swoosh!” Siberian dodged to the side while swiping his knife multiple times. The air crackled with tension as Siberian’s attack headed toward Robin. Robin reached out his hand and snapped his fingers. Siberian’s knife that took the lives of dozens of Viper’s Den members broke.The broken blade boomeranged and shot toward Siberian’s chest. Siberian managed to shy away from a direct hit, but the broken blade took his arm off. As blood spurted, Siberian grimaced hard. In fact, Siberian had not taken Robin lightly. Siberian was a prominent killer in the South River State. He knew better than anyone that it took more than guts to be a leade
Siberian was strong. No one could stop him. Siberian was one ferocious beast. “Siberian, your sister tried to assassinate me. I was kind not to kill her then. “Take your problems up with me,” Kaze said curtly, his presence at the railing upstairs. Kaze could not ignore the killing spree happening right outside River Watcher Inn even though he did not know these Viper’s Den members. The whole thing started because of him anyway. Siberian looked up murderously at Kaze and laughed menacingly. “Don’t worry. You’ll die. They’ll die too. “Anyone linked to you must die. “I will kill your family and your friends to avenge my sister.” Siberian’s voice was brutal. He was known for his cold-bloodedness as a professional killer. Kaze narrowed his eyes dangerously. “Kill us all?” Robin, keeping an emotionless face throughout, grinned. “Aren’t you cocky, Siberian?” “Cocky?” Siberian looked at Robin in defiance and said with a smirk, “Who do you think you are? Who are
“Kaze, get your ass down here to face your death.” Not sparing another glance at the Viper’s Den members, Siberian looked up and shouted, “Weren’t you cocky when you tortured my sister? Why are you scared now?“Do you think you can hide from me?” Siberian’s angry voice filled the air. Kaze pissed the long-time killer off. Anzu was Siberian’s sister, and Anzu suffered at the hands of Kaze. Siberian wanted to tear Kaze apart, limb by limb. On the ninth floor of River Watcher Inn, Kaze narrowed his eyes dangerously and got up to head down. “Just enjoy your drink.” Robin stopped Kaze, looked at him, and said, “Don’t you want to see if I have what it takes to recruit you? Well, here’s your chance.”He poured Kaze a drink before holding his cup while looking at the situation downstairs. With Robin showing up near the railing, the young group got the message. “Kill him!” The group yelled before charging toward Siberian with the remaining dozens of Viper’s Den members.
“Whoosh.” Siberian remained detached in the face of the killings. He charged ahead with his knife. His blade tore through the air. Two members of the Viper’s Den wiped blood from their faces, only to find gaping wounds in their chests. “Swoosh!” Three deadly blades flashed, their points weaving together to block Siberian’s every route to escape. These three Viper’s Den members were on a different level from the first wave of attackers. Their coordination was seamless, and their attack was relentless. Siberian would be struck by the remaining two blades regardless of the direction he would choose to evade. Still, Siberian did not shy away from danger. He struck a blow even at the cost of injuring himself. “Clank!” As sparks flew, three blades broke. “Gash!” The tips of the broken blades stabbed into the three Viper’s Den members. The trio fell dead in disbelief. By now, Siberian had taken at least a dozen lives. The bloodshed occurred on the ground floo
The young group felt reassured. It explained why Robin did not seem bothered despite knowing that Kaze had massacred the Roads. Kaze grinned. “So the Godfather owes me one since I got rid of a problem for him.” Instead of addressing what Kaze said, Robin uttered, “You can consider what I have offered.” Kaze shook his head with a pretentious smile. “Forget about it. Like you said, power is everything.” “So you’re saying that I’m not good enough to recruit you?” Robin furrowed his brows. Kaze smiled without a word. Suddenly, he pulled a straight face and turned in a direction. Robin frowned too. “It looks like we have a visitor.” The Viper’s Den members lurking in the dark showed up on the other floors. A menacing presence loomed over River Watcher Inn.A towering individual, armed with a knife, appeared outside the building. The middle-aged man gave off raw energy. “Get your ass down here and face your death, Kaze!” His voice shook the building, and the Viper
While the young group grimaced, Collier tossed the sack onto the floor, and a bloody head rolled out. The head belonged to Boris, whose soul was clearly not at peace. The young group looked at the head before turning to Kaze in disbelief. Just half an hour ago, Robin had a lovely conversation with Boris, and now, Boris was nothing more than a decapitated body. No wonder Kaze was so confident to think he was on par with Robin. It explained Robin’s admiration for him. “You’re committed and ruthless in nature.” Robin stared at Kaze, pleased with his personality. He said indifferently, “The West State Branch needs a good shake-up, and I think the execution hall could use someone like you.“The deputy chief position is yours for the taking, should you choose to join us.” “Eek.” The young group gasped sharply. Though it was a deputy position in the execution hall within the Viper’s Den West State Branch, the rank was similar to that of a deputy chief in other branches.
To the young group’s surprise, Kaze pulled through without a hitch. That was not the only thing. Kaze retaliated against Robin and destroyed his beloved harp. The group speculated that Kaze could be stronger than Hannah. They looked at Kaze in horror. Still, it never once occurred to the group that Kaze was more powerful than Robin. Robin raised his arm. The young group got their act together and saluted Robin before taking two steps back. Robin narrowed his eyes at Kaze before uttering, “Not bad.“I didn’t think I’d meet someone of your caliber in Riverbank. “You have a stronger will than most of my men. “Despite your age, you put even the most experienced to shame with that determination of yours.” The young group felt alarmed and ashamed. The members of the execution hall were the elites in the West State Branch. They were the crème de la crème. However, they swayed under the sound wave attack. Though the group was around Kaze’s age, they did not possess h
“Get out!” Kaze gave Hannah the look. Hannah quietly turned around and stumbled her way out. Robin glanced at Kaze as his fingers danced around the harp. “I will behead the general, and once it’s over, tears will fall and fade away.” The tempest of sound took over the room by storm. Kaze felt sent back to his time during the war. He watched his comrades fall. Time lost meaning as the war came to an end. The battle cries subsided, replaced by silence. His brothers-in-arms were no more than a pile of unidentified bones. Even Kaze’s faithful steed whined its farewell. Darkness swallowed the last light over the desolate desert, and he was alone. There was nothing left in the world worth fighting for. No one would remember his death in a faraway land. It was better to die with honor than live in shame. The thought filled Kaze’s head, and emotions overcame him. He was better off dead. Life was not worth living anyway. A voice within tempted Kaze. The craz
Robin did not even look at Collier.Saying nothing, Robin extended his fingers and plucked the harp. “Clang!” A jarring, high-pitched sound wave pierced through everybody’s eardrums. The air was filled with a chilling aura of menace.The serenity on the ninth floor was shattered by the sound of the harp and replaced with malice. Collier and the young group turned pale. Only Robin, Kaze, and Hannah remained unfazed by the attack. “Amid the sweeping wind, the flute’s song echoes in the night. The desert sun descends for the crescent moon above. “To the sound of camel bells, I long for my home. I hold onto my sword, leaving letters where I lay my head.” The wind danced along the melody of General’s Order played by the harp, dropping the temperature down on the ninth floor. Robin’s clothes and hair fluttered against the wind, his face unreadable through it all. His eyes remained cold and distant. General’s Order was a piece known for its unsettling tone. Robin playe