"You knew this was a trap, yet you fell in anyway."
From the mont he and his n spotted Caleb and Jess approaching, he knew those two were likely dead, probably tortured for what they knew – which wasn’t much.
This wasn’t a surprise as he expected as much. However, the fact that they still ca to this location, knowing it was a trap showed him how arrogant they were.
"In all my years as an underground boss, I’ve never seen such arrogance. Even powerful knights and nobles show a modicum of caution when approaching a trap. Then again, I was riding on this very fact to kill you two."
Looking at the two who were clearly faking being suppressed, the mafia boss snicked. "Cut the nonsense, we all know the suppression is barely affecting you."
"Right..." Caleb chuckled, straightening his back along with Jess as they walked closer to the edge of the forcefield. "Then you should know this barrier won’t be able to hold us."
The small grin on his face rubbed Oliver in so many frustrating ways. Personally, he would have preferred to deal with these two himself. But he knew where he stood with his strength.
He wasn’t as conceited as one would imagine a cri boss would be. He was calculated, cautious and always did his howork. This was why he simply snicked at Caleb’s words.
"Oh, I beg to differ. The suppression, yes, but for this barrier..." The man looked at the do with a satisfied grin. "...this isn’t sothing you can easily break. Maybe given ti, but not anyti soon.
"You see, this barrier doesn’t just keep you in. It blocks all forms of escape techniques; teleporting, displacent, and even stops spells and abilities shot at it. And to break this with physical force, well, you’ll have to surpass the mana pool of hundreds of people – even you wouldn’t be able to do that."
Caleb and Jess exchanged a glance, a small smile gracing their features. If only these people knew who they were dealing with. Turning back to the man, Caleb looked directly into the man’s eyes, his confident deanour remaining the sa.
"So what next?" He asked. "You don’t plan on boring us to death with talk, do you?" He looked around, observing the hardened expressions of the assailants.
"And from what I’m seeing, your guys won’t last for too long." Caleb looked back at Oliver. "You better make sure you finish us before we get our hands on you."
"Hehe..." Oliver shook his head, taking several steps back. "Ten minutes is more than enough to get rid of you two. Try not to scream."
"Wait!"
Before Oliver could give the next command, Jess called for a halt, catching his attention.
"This is about what I did to Jetro, isn’t it?" This was obvious at a glance, but Jess was fishing for sothing else. "But this seems too excessive to be normal. Your line of work always exposes you to danger, so you should know any mission could be his last.
"Soone with a grudge like myself could have done what I did." The catwoman stared directly into Oliver’s eyes. "So why? Why go through all this trouble to kill us?"
Sure, Caleb was very powerful, his deeds already spreading across the Therindor domain. But people did not actually know how strong he really was. At best, they’d believe he was slightly more powerful than Knight Commanders.
"..."
Oliver didn’t imdiately give a reply, narrowing his eyes at the catwoman. He had to admit, the catwoman was perceptive. This was indeed too excessive.
He was sacrificing more of his n to get back at losing just one. If this didn’t scream favouritism, then nothing else did. Sure, he told his n this was about their reputation, and for the most part, it was true.
His n began wondering the sa thing, but this didn’t shake their loyalty to their boss or make them doubt his priority. They agreed with him wholeheartedly.
Taking down a rising star like Caleb would shoot their reputation in the eyes of the nobles who already knew of his existence. This would add another level of competence and power to their organization.
"Jetro was more than just another subordinate, wasn’t he?" She ca to this conclusion based on the conflicted emotions she saw in Oliver’s eyes; emotions directed at her. "He was, in so way, your family."
She knew this because she too felt the exact sa way when she lost her tribesn and her party mbers. It felt like a part of her was taken away, leaving so kind of void that could only be filled with vengeance.
This was why she was still going after that damn noble. As for dealing with the Dack Knights... Well, it was their own fault for coming at her when she was in the capital.
Caleb wasn’t going to let them go when they were clearly targeting soone he cared about. This had strangely turned into a conflict where each side fought to avenge or protect their loved ones.
An unexpected turn of events.
The cri boss wasn’t too shocked by the revelation Jess made, and seeing his n’s reaction, he knew this changed nothing. Sure, they were taken aback as none of them recalled seeing the boss and the late Jetro hanging out like family.
’Even Jetro himself had no idea.’ Oliver sighed lightly. ’But none of that matters anymore; he’s dead.’ The reminder reignited the rage he felt within.
"I’m glad you figured it out," Oliver’s frown deepened. "But this changes nothing. You can take this knowledge to your graves."
The cri boss jumped backwards, his n following his actions. They created a lot of distance from the forcefield and themselves, disappearing into the tree lines.
The assailants were out of sight but were still within the domain sense of Caleb and Jess. What happened next, however, widened the eyes of Caleb.
"Shit!"
Without hesitation, Caleb grabbed Jess by the waist and jumped upwards. At the sa ti, the ground beneath them and the topmost part of the do lit up with large magic circles, glowing with an eerie golden light against the backdrop of the purple do.
The magic circles began to spin around while the light they emitted grew in intensity. A dreadful feeling crept into the heart of Jess as she realized what this spell was.
’Disintegration!’
The catwoman had heard of this military-grade spell. It was an extrely powerful spell capable of turning a small city to ashes. But this spell took ti to sync with the other spell casters to launch.
What’s more, it was a stationary spell that could be easily avoided if one was fast enough, hence the need to trap the targets.
Even with her newfound strength, surviving this would be next to impossible if she couldn’t escape in ti. Looking up at Caleb, she noticed his hardened expression, imdiately understanding their predicant.
BOOM...!!!
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