As Vicente and his men fled, the Defiant Tyranny headquarters was buzzing with frightened messages from three of the group's four outposts and from men following some of the enemy tracks.
"Reinforcements! Send reinforcements! The Third Battalion is in tatters! Our armory has been destroyed. All our defenses are down!" A worried voice came over one of the communicators in a room in the building that housed the group's brothel.
But other communicators sounded at the same time.
"Senior Lane is badly injured! Send medics to the Second Battalion immediately! We're practically on our own here, damn it!"
"This is Fraser! Send more men to my group. We're chasing a dozen enemies, but there are only three of us!"
"This is the First Battalion. We've been stolen! I repeat, we have been stolen! Our post vault is open, and Senior Spencer is missing!!!"
"This is a trap! Send men to Fourth Battalion immediately. We could be the next!"
The Defiant Tyranny men in the command center of this group turned red with rage as they listened to these messages, hearing worried, frightened, gasping voices, some even hearing the sound of flames and gunfire.
Everything seemed to be going well for this group earlier, but suddenly, they were being attacked from all sides!
"Fuck it! Who is acting against us? Scarlet Syndicate?" A level 4 Acolyte who heard these announcements shouted while turning red like a tomato.
Everyone broke into a cold sweat, not knowing what to do or where to send their men.
Several of their men were already moving to the two posts under attack. But less than 2 minutes after the first call for help, all four posts were now sending out distress signals!
They did not know what to do in this situation nor how to respond to the enemy who had provoked them that night!
In such a situation, this man had only one alternative...
"Call the leaders. We need them to intervene immediately!"
With this order, someone in the communication room pressed a button-like device, and an alarm sounded throughout their headquarters.
...
As Defiant Tyranny began to reveal its most important cards, the other groups that dominated Millfall were already aware of the attacks against this local criminal organization.
They were all shocked that someone would dare to act against this group, for who else but them would have the power to act against Defiant Tyranny?
Surely, weak people or groups could revolt and cause trouble for the strong powers. But who in this situation would have the courage to challenge a powerful tyrant who would surely seek revenge? Much of the reality of this society stemmed from the masses' fear of magicians or powerful groups.
Most people valued their lives and would not risk the significant dangers of not only losing their lives but even being enslaved.
Amid these attacks that night, even the Viscount's group was closely monitoring the local situation, trying to understand the cause of it all.
The Scarlet Syndicate, in particular, was already raising their defenses at their posts, aware of the risk they were taking at the moment with a possible Defiant Tyranny attack against them or even another local power taking advantage of the chaos to start something bigger.
As the largest local criminal group, they would definitely be considered suspicious!
...
At the headquarters of the Scarlet Syndicate...
The leader of this group, a level 5 Acolyte, was almost as angry as the leader of Defiant Tyranny.
As wonderful as it was to see their enemies in despair, what this group wanted most right now was peace to absorb some of their recent accomplishments.
Escalating local tensions was not in this group's plans, and when they discovered the moves of their greatest rival to try to stabilize themselves on this night of attacks, the core of this other party was terrified.
"Who could be behind this?"
"I don't know. Anyone. Even the Viscount could be behind this attack."
"Impossible! The Viscount is a Mage and controls Millfall. Even we pay him. If he were to act against Defiant Tyranny, he would cause trouble and loss for himself!" One of the level 4 men there said, sensing this was not the case.
The Viscount was the leading noble of Millfall. His position not only gave him rights to bigger and better lands, but it also allowed him to have more men at his disposal without breaking the royal rule of not raising armies.
He was one of the strongest in the city and had one of the largest groups of high-ranking Acolytes.
But he could not use all of his power to gain wealth. As a noble, he could not collect taxes from the citizens of such cities. Only royalty had that right.
But taxes were, if not the best, one of the best ways to make coins in this world!
If he could not collect royal taxes, he could collect taxes from criminal groups that maintained a certain level of local insecurity to force merchants and residents to pay security fees to these groups.
The Viscount earned a lot of coins by being an 'associate,' or rather, a conniver, of these two groups, so it really didn't make sense for him to go against one of them.
"Maybe this is a thing of the new group." One of the younger ones in that group of Scarlet Syndicate leaders said something ridiculous, but which no one there could deny.
The leader of this group made an ugly face and said. "Send someone to those people right away. I want to know if it was them!"
...
At the royal army post in Millfall...
The Commander of this post looked out of his window and saw places in his city engulfed in flames.
Having just heard what had happened to the group he had recently done his last favor for, he stood with his eyes closed while his man waited for his position.
"Commander, what do we do? Defiant Tyranny has been attacked, and many groups are afraid of a widespread confrontation spreading throughout the city." A level 5 Acolyte, the Commander's most trusted man, asked worriedly.
The Mage then ordered. "Put our men on the streets. Call everyone back from their rest. I want them to investigate this incident and make their presence felt in the city's most important places. We cannot leave the population vulnerable at this time!"
"Should we help the Defiant Tyranny?" This man asked.
"Stay neutral for now."
...
While Millfall was alerted of Defiant Tyranny's movements, Vicente finally arrived at his estate.
Not only had he managed to throw off any possible opponents by following his tracks, but several others of his group, like Rory and the Acolytes, had done the same, arriving there almost simultaneously.
"So?" Rory asked, breaking into a cold sweat.
He was still full of adrenaline, and his heart was pounding in his chest, making him feel nervous. But since they had already done everything they had planned, all that remained was for him to know the results.
When Vicente heard this and finished killing the man he had kidnapped, he turned to see Rory and his men arriving at the main hall of their headquarters.
After making sure the level 3 Acolyte was dead, he said with a smile. "I think we have pulled off the heist of the year! My friends, I have collected the equivalent of over 100 gold coins in coins alone!"
Hearing this, the men, sweating coldly, their black clothes soiled with dirt and burnt here and there, laughed with satisfaction. It was always very gratifying to hear the results of a successful robbery!
Yes, successful. They didn't know what would happen in the next few hours, but for now, they had attacked, robbed, and escaped from their enemies and had the stolen resources in hand!
Rory sighed and asked. "What about that person? What exactly happened?"
Vicente looked at the body and said. "He saw me, so I had to kidnap him. Luckily, I was able to surprise him with the maximum potential of one of my new weapons."
This man was very vulnerable after being severely wounded by the bullet and the dagger that pierced his throat.
A magician was not an all-powerful being. They had a lot of power, depending on their level, but it depended greatly on how they used their mana in their skills, spells, and bodies.
If you did not use your mana for anything, your body would naturally become vulnerable!
Of course, this was proportional to the level of the magician. Even so, that level 3 Acolyte had been severely injured earlier. When Vicente arrived at this place, he had only struggled a little to pierce that man's heart with a sword.
With this death and his group having escaped their pursuers, no one could bring them to the Martial Court for a theft that could not be linked to them!
But that was not the end of their troubles!
Vicente knew this, and seeing his group less tense from their success, he distributed some of the items he had collected.
Among these items were 3 magic stones, essential support items for magicians!
