Pa! Pa!
The front door of Vicente's estate was knocked on twice before a voice came from outside.
"Open the door! We're here to see your leaders!" A man shouted, startling the several men who had taken up positions around the estate.
Even as they watched the street in front of them, some were surprised to see the three men dressed in red and black armor.
Level 3 Acolytes like such people moved very fast!
As they rushed to this place, they surprised the several Intermediate and Senior Apprentices who were watching the surroundings.
Looking at the exit of their building, one of the level 1 Aacolytes who had not been surprised by these newcomers, ran to the main door, knowing that they were not enemies.
These men had been watching them on behalf of the Scarlet Syndicate. They were there to protect them in case high-ranking Defiant Tyranny people attacked them.
Vicente and his strongest men had already noticed these people staying in buildings near theirs. By noticing the disturbance their mana caused, Vice's Acolytes already knew where these three came from.
Opening the door, the first level 1 Acolyte asked. "Misters, what is it? Did something happen to force you to come here like this?"
"Something indeed happened! Everything has happened! Where's your damned leader? We need to talk!" One of the three men shouted, in a hurry to solve the problem that had just come to them by order of their leader.
"What happened?" The other level 1 Acolyte arrived at the entrance of this post with a strange expression on his face. "Our leaders are busy. They left us in charge of this place."
"What?" One of the level 3 men shouted. "Don't tell me that bullshit! This is urgent. Call your bosses, or we'll do it ourselves!"
The people in the entrance hall of this mansion soon became tense, their hands tightening around the weapons at their waists.
Twelve of their members were meditating at that moment, striving for breakthroughs. If they happened to get in their way, they could lose the effects of the resources their men had already absorbed or even risk their lives!
But one of the three asked. "You attacked Defiant Tyranny? Are you the ones responsible for the chaos in the city? Are you aware that the royal army is on the streets, and everyone is at risk?"
Hearing that, the men there, still unaware of what had happened in Millfall after their action, were not surprised by the Scarlet Syndicate's reaction.
The royal army could impose a curfew when problematic situations arose. During this period, which could last up to 2 days, the army could make arrests without following the usual protocol.
In other words, this was a time when those who had problems with army members could suffer greatly!
Raids, arrests, beatings, you name it. Soldiers could basically do whatever they wanted during curfew, and they wouldn't be punished as long as they didn't kill anyone.
Amidst all this, the operations of groups like the Scarlet Syndicate could be disrupted.
"This is happening? Shocking!" One of the two level 1 Acolytes said.
But he was not as good an actor as Vicente or Rory. The three men realized that this and other people there had strange things on their minds.
"You..." The leader of the three became more serious as he thought about the possibility that they had brought this trouble upon everyone.
As the other two facial expressions became even more serious and the mana around them became even more chaotic, a dozen men in the entrance hall drew their weapons.
"Misters, let's act more calmly. We are allies. There is no need to exalt ourselves." One of the two level 1 Acolytes commented, sweat dripping from his brow.
One of the three men could no longer stand the audacity of these people and jumped at the two Acolytes from Vice's group.
"You bastards! You did it!"
Meanwhile, one of the other two ran toward where he thought there were several people in the basement of this building.
Bang!
The first of a rain of shots came from the guns aimed at these three, charging mana into themselves as they moved quickly against their targets.
Just as they were about to hit their targets and bounce off in troublesome directions, all the bullets around this entrance hall suddenly stopped in midair.
At the same time, the Scarlet Syndicate men stopped moving as they felt something stop them.
One of them felt his feet sink into the floor, while the other felt handcuffs appear on his feet and pull him down.
The third frowned at the sudden change as he prepared to act in defense of his teammates.
At that moment, a mana-distorted voice came from behind that person. "Scarlet Syndicate, what are you doing in my headquarters?"
"Boss!" Vicente's men looked at him, seeing the metallic mask on his face and various sharp artifacts floating around him.
As he walked, bluish sparks shot from Vicente's body, connecting various parts of the armor on his body to his mask and the weapons floating in the air.
The level 3 Acolyte looked at Vicente and felt a shiver run down his spine, not understanding why he felt that way about this person.
But he and his companions could clearly sense Vicente's magic level from the density of his mana while noticing that the red pentagram in front of one of his hands was more prominent than before.
'This guy has advanced to the level of Senior Apprentice!' The third of those men, the group leader, looked at Vicente in silence.
One of these two men tried to take his feet from the floor and failed, while the other hit the ground face first after being thrown off balance by his jump.
"Aaagh!"
"Damn it! Let me go!" The man with the dirt-covered foot shouted.
Their leader then said to Vicente. "It seems that young Cesar has just advanced... Congratulations on becoming a Senior Apprentice. But did you do it by stealing the Defiant Tyranny posts?
Young Cesar, I have nothing against you. But this will cause problems for all of us. What will you do to repair all the damage caused by your actions? The faction leader is furious."
"Action against Defiant Tyranny? I have nothing to do with that. How could I attack such a strong group? I'm afraid they'll attack me for the previous confrontation on my property. That's why I was in seclusion." Vicente lied through his teeth.
