Chapter 223: Chapter 222: Pedro the Avenger Part VI
NCR Guildâs headquartersâŚ
âHeâs not in Guadalupe, either?â
âNo, sir. He hasnât been there nor has he contacted them.â
âHmmâŚâ Jose stroked his beard. Jose had received the report that his son, Cantana, had disappeared late in the morning. The entire guild was still reeling from the festivities the night before. Cantana had been seen turning in late the night before but now, there wasnât a single trace of him anywhere. He simply vanished into thin air. Cantana was the heir to the NCR Guild. The entire guild knew who he was, and he was always well-guarded. The only way he could have disappeared like this was if he used a Warp Scroll, but there was nowhere he would go while he was that drunk.
Still, if there was anywhere he would go, it would be Guadalupe, Chiapas, the one place Cantana was allowed to do whatever he wanted. But the guild members there had not seen Cantana ever since the war against Pedro started. This did not sit well with Jose. Sure, Cantana was a fully grown man capable of taking care of himself, but Jose could not help but feel that something was horribly wrong.
âI assume youâve tried his Comm Link as well?â
âYes sir. Weâve been calling him every thirty minutes for the past ten hours, but he hasnât picked up.â
âVery well. You may go.â
âYes sir.â The officer left, leaving Jose alone in his office.
After thinking to himself for a while, Jose looked down at his right hand. âWas it the handshake?â Jose muttered to himself, but after that, he fell into a deep silence.
The feast continued, however, as if nothing was wrong.
8 PM, back at the basement beneath the Abu Dhabi embassy in SeoulâŚ
I looked over at Cantana Alejandro, who was now chained to one side of the basement room. Imprisoning a deva sounded easy, but was extremely difficult to pull off, especially because devas no longer feared death. That was why I had five hundred soldiers prepared even though I was only going to imprison two devas, Cantana and Jose. There was a lot to be done.
First, I needed a team that was combat ready 24/7 in case our victims tried to use a Warp Scroll to get away. We could not let that happen.
Second, I needed another team that was combat ready 24/7 in case our victims tried to use a Comm Link to contact their friends. We could not let that happen, either.
Third, normal steel shackles or cuffs only worked on mortals. Our victims were devas who might have immense strength or could use skills or spells to easily break out of those shackles. We also needed to make sure their HP, MP, and Fatigue didnât restore completely while not killing them all the way. Killing them would mean letting them go, letting them resurrect wherever their Respawn Point was. We had to make them beg us to kill them.
You could see the dilemma we were now faced with. We couldnât give them too much room, which would allow them to use a Warp Scroll or their Comm Links, but we couldnât stay too close to them, which would prompt them to force us to hurt them too much. Itâd be easier if they were devas who didnât have access to Warp Scrolls or Comm Links, but our victims were the highest ranking officers of a large guild. We had no choice but to go to this extent just to torture them.
âYouâre here again, Mr. Lee,â Khamil came up as I stared at Cantana.
âYes. I might as well bring the other one here now.â I walked over to the same place I had Called Cantana to the night before.
âCall: Jose Alejandro.â Like the night before, I Called him at 8 PM. It was 5 in the morning in Mexico right now, so Jose should have been asleep, but he wasnât. He actually looked like he knew he was going to be Summoned, but I wasnât fazed by that. âDo you always get up this early or did you not sleep at all?â
âDidnât you hear that sleep is the best medicine? The same goes for devas. You really ought to sleep when you can.â
Jose ignored what I said, however, and raised his right hand instead. âWas it the handshake?â
âHandshake? We donât need to shake hands again. Weâre going to be spending a lot of time together, you and I,â I said, shaking my head. I did know what he was talking about, though. I had made sure to shake hands for a minute long with both Jose and Cantana. To them, it was just an awkwardly long handshake but it had turned out to be a great chance for me to get them here.
Jose heaved a heavy sigh before speaking up. âFuck this world. If you thought you knew everything, youâre always surprised by something worse.â
âIsnât that just how life works?â I gripped my spear and raised it, poised to attack. We had plenty of time to talk.
âIs it because of Pedro? But heâs permanently dead. Thereâs no reason for you to become our enemy just because of Pedro. I doubt someone like you would do something this shady yourself.â Was it his age or experience in these matters? Jose didnât even flinch when I raised my spear. âYouâre the type of man who only acts in his favor and not in honor or glory, are you not, Lee Jiwon? I will give you what you want.â
I smiled when he said that, as if I liked what he was getting at.
âDo you want a monthly stipend of golden rings? Or a yearly offering of worthy items? How about someone to do your dirty work? I can make any of that possible. Having a shadowy guild on your side is never a bad thing, Lee Jiwon.â
I cackled. Jose was trying his best to appease me, but I saw what he was really doing. âItâs so obvious youâre just trying to buy time.â He did seem pretty sincere about it, as if maybe one of his suggestions could catch my eye. âDo you have Change?â
Jose gasped in surprise and paled. I wasnât sure if he had it, but no matter how strong he was compared to other guild leaders, there was no way he could remain so calm about this. He was in an unfamiliar and hostile environment with about four hundred soldiers surrounding him. And his opponent was me.
âGah!â My spear easily pierced his chest and I stabbed him twice more, keeping him alive by a thread. Cantana at least struggled and fought back while cursing me, but Jose just let it happen.
Jose was on the floor, laughing but the laughter came out as sharp, pained breaths.
âWhy arenât you struggling? Your son at least shot off a few spells.â
âIs there a reason to?â Jose said as he struggled to sit up. âSo why are you going to this extent? Is it really in Pedroâs name? Youâre not the man to do that, though.â
âWell, Iâve been thinking that itâs time I made the world a little safer to live in. You know the saying; with great power comes great responsibility.â
âFuck off,â Jose spat out.
It would seem that Jose knew a little too much about me. I turned around and nodded to Khamil. I have one last look to the panting and bloody Jose and left the basement. Now that I had removed the head of the snake, it was time to skin its body.
I had sent in an official declaration of war to the NCR Guild because last night, someone from their guild had raided my home, while leaving insults and a clear reason why they did that. Of course, no such intruders existed. I just needed a good enough reason to attack the NCR Guild, that way I wouldnât receive any fallout.
I used the rumor the NCR Guild had spread, calling me a coward, and made it seem as if the so-called intruders didnât like the fact that I had received my payment when I had barely done anything to Pedro. And frankly, that was enough.
The NCR Guildâs headquartersâŚ
âWhere is the guild master?â
âWhere has he disappeared off to?â
âHeâs right. Lee Jiwon is obviously making this up. Why would anyone from our guild do such a thing? We need the guild master to properly address this situation!â
Lee Jiwonâs declaration had come out of nowhere. It was obviously built on false pretenses, but if the guild master wasnât here to deny those claims, Lee Jiwon would soon come to make good on his threats. What resulted was complete chaos among the guildâs officers.
Hugo, on the other hand, laughed to himself when he read through the declaration in Joseâs stead. He knew there was no recovering from this. Hugo got up from his seat and quietly left the board room. Those fools hadnât realized by now that this was all going according to Lee Jiwonâs plan. The end of the NCR Guild had come, and Hugo wanted to be long gone by then. And so, with Hugoâs departure, the NCR Guild soon began to implode from the top.
âI guess itâs about time to go now.â Iâd let things marinate for long enough now. I could have gone earlier and made sure not a single one NCR Guild member escaped, but I decided to just let them destroy their own guild first. That way, the name, Nuevas Chivas Rio, would completely disappear off the face of the earth.
Behind me were six thousand soldiers. Each of my allied factions had sent over a thousand of their best soldiers. I hadnât even asked for help, either. They were the first to offer their help and I gladly accepted. Together, we were going to burn the NCR Guild to the ground.
âWell, Iâll be relying on all of you,â I said to the captains of each guild.
âHaha! Weâll make them regret ever crossing Lee Jiwon!â
âIf they wanted to die that badly, then weâll gladly grant them that wish!â
âHey, you know what this reminds me of? A school field trip.â
âHa! I like the way you think! Itâs nice working together like this. We should do it more often.â
âThatâs not a bad idea!â
Everyone was in high morale. They were about to destroy one of the worldâs worst guilds that had already just about imploded. This was going to be an easy battle.
For the first time in this new world, six large guilds had come together as allies in battle against a single foe, all under one manâs name; Lee Jiwon. The alliance had in short become a true force to be reckoned with, and it was no surprise that the NCR Guild was completely and utterly destroyed in an instant. The rest of the world had to react quickly. They knew that this alliance had existed, but it had never acted together until this day when it showed its power. Soon, no one guild or organization would ever be able to stand up to this alliance.
Back at my home in SeoulâŚ
âHmmâŚwhy did it stop at 99 points?â
==[The Chest Containing Pedroâs Unfulfilled Desire for Revenge currently has +99 points.]==
Destroying the NCR Guild should have been enough to get the Chest up to +100 points, but it was stuck +99. There was only a week left until the Chest was going to open on its own.
âIs it because of him?â I left my house and headed back to the basement beneath the Abu Dhabi embassy. Jose and Cantana were still imprisoned here. I walked up to Jose first. His eyes were bloodshot and out of focus. He knew what had happened while he was here; I had placed a TV for the both of them to watch as I razed their guild. I even allowed them to use their Comm Links because there was nothing they could do about it now.
I dragged a chair over nearby and sat down in front of Jose.
âHow much longer are you going to keep me here?â
âYou know, Iâm not so sure myself. Iâm still thinking on it.â It wouldnât matter if I let Jose go now and he tried to tell the world what had really happened. No one was going to care what he had to say. History was written by the victor, and I won.
I was starting to worry for the Abu Dhabi Guild. These five hundred guards were some of the best of their guild and keeping them from their normal duties couldnât be good for the Abu Dhabi Guild. I wanted to let Jose and Cantana out soon. I had no reason to worry about Jose and Cantana trying to get revenge, since I was only going to get stronger. I might just keep them registered in Call for the time being, to kill them once every so often.
âIâll let you go today.â
Jose blinked when he heard that. He didnât even try to blackmail me into giving him golden rings or anything. He probably felt too⌠humiliated to try that.
âTry and live a good life from now on, okay?â I said as I stabbed him.
âGah!â There was no way I was going to send him off nicely. Soon, Jose disappeared from his spot in a cloud of smoke. As soon as the smoke dispersed, I checked the Chest, and saw that it was still at +99.
âYup. Itâs got to be you.â I walked over to Cantana.
âFuck you, Lee Jiwon! I swear to God, once I get out of here Iâm going to kill you over and over! Iâll sell my soul if I have to! Iâll make you pay!â His eyes were still full of hatred and anger. Keeping him imprisoned just wasnât going to work, so I might as well set him free.
âFine, you win. Iâll let you go.â I stabbed Cantana right in the face as his eyes went wide with shock, killing him in an instant.
âCall: Cantana Alejandro.â
âHuh?â This time, Cantana wasnât naked, but was covered in blood stains. They obviously werenât from hunting, which meant they were from Butchering more mortals.
âDid you seriously kill more mortals again?â
âHowâŚwhy did youâŚ?â Cantana was looked like he was about to cry from the shock.
âI brought you here again because I was bored, but to think in that short of time, you went back to your old ways.â I slammed my spear into him repeatedly. Cantana tried to fight back, but it was all in vain. He was going to die again.
âFuck fuck fuck fuck! WhyâŚwhyâŚ?â Cantana was bawling now.
âWhy are you crying? I just wanted to see you again, so lighten up. I wonât kill you right away, okay? Here, I have some tasty snacks for you too. Come here, have a cup of tea before you go.â
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Even Cantana could see by now that he wasnât going to get away from me, ever. He realized I could kill him every day, or whenever I wanted to.
âYou donât want to die today? Then do you want to spend the next week in my jail? Iâll do whatever you ask, just say the word.â When I said that, I heard a weird sound come from Cantana. It sounded like glass breaking and soon, a red smoke oozed out of Cantana and vanished into the air. A message appeared before me at the same time.
==[The Chest Containing Pedroâs Unfulfilled Desire for Revenge currently has +100 points.]==
I could tell from that message that the red smoke from Cantanaâs body was his Mad Butcher skill. He had finally lost it.
âPleaseâŚpleaseâŚspare meâŚâ I finally heard the despair I was waiting for in Cantanaâs voice. It took him long enough.