"Shit! Boss, that woman is from the Congregation of Revelation! She's one of the overseers of Millfall's Awakening Temple!" One of Vicente's men shouted to his Don when he realized the identity of that badly wounded but still-breathing woman.
With a green talent, an unusual magical form, and a level 5, there was no way that woman would die easily for Vicente, even considering all of her unusual qualities.
Seeing her beautiful, delicate face, now a bit pale with blood dripping from her nose and lips, Vicente narrowed his eyes when he heard the voice of one of his men.
"Congregation of Revelations, huh? I didn't expect the members of that powerful organization to be mere thieves now. I think maybe you're going downhill..."
"You bastard! Don't you dare speak ill of our holy faith!" Mark shouted, trying to ignore the pain in his body.
"What right have you to say that, Cesar Mazzanti?" Jasmine managed to look at him as she found herself surrounded by moving blades. She was fragile but still conscious.
"I have every right to say that. I'm a criminal. I don't act like a protector of good, nor do I try to control the lives of magicians worldwide by pretending to act for the greater good." He said in a sharp tone.
"Tsk!"
"Then what are you going to do? Now that you know who we are, you know that if you kill one of us, you'll be in a terrible condition. You don't have the strength to kill all of us. If you exhaust yourself, one of my companions will run away and turn the whole organization against you." Jasmine said although she was very weak and almost losing consciousness.
Vicente's men made fearful expressions, for that was indeed a fact. They were practically out of ammunition. At the same time, even if their leader could recover with a potion, the time he would need to do so would be enough for one of those three to do the same and escape.
He wouldn't be able to take care of all three if they decided to flee simultaneously!
Even if they were injured, one or two of them could escape from Vicente's group with relative ease!
If that happened, they would be screwed!
Vicente realized the problem and looked seriously into the pink-haired woman's eyes. 'I really won't be able to kill all three of them. In that case, I can't kill any of them, or I'll be in trouble. Their organization will come after me, and I'll be finished.'
He gritted his teeth, once again in that terrible position where one mistake would wipe out everything he had built.
"What am I going to do?" He said as he looked at Jasmine. "Since that's the case, I'm afraid I will have to take one of you for protection. I think it will be you."
"What?" Mark shouted, almost forgetting the many wounds on his body. "No! I won't allow it! If you touch a single strand of hair..."
"Quiet!" Vicente moved a hand, and a piece of metal covered Mark's mouth.
"You want what I have, right? Do you want my gold? I'll give you a chance to make a deal that benefits both sides. I have someone capable of erasing your memories who can help us. If you don't take this matter to your superiors, we'll meet in Millfall in a month. Then, we'll make a deal, and I'll pay you a sum that's good for both our groups, and I'll release your companion.
But if you've done anything like alerting your superiors or even the authorities about your suspicions of what I've done, forget about getting anything from me. I'll destroy everything I stole and kill your companion.
You will gain nothing in this situation, so carefully think before you betray me." Vicente said, thinking of a way to buy time with these people.
'I will kill them as soon as I reach level 3.' His eyes narrowed under his mask.
Meanwhile, Mark had his own thoughts. 'Do you think I'm going to make this stupid deal? I know plenty of others who are ready to act against you when they find out how much wealth you have, Cesar.'
But then he said. "All right. We can make the deal!"
One of Mark's greatest desires, aside from power, was to "possess" the woman under Vicente's threat. All he wanted was growth opportunities, resources, and that woman.
He was willing to risk everything for these two goals!
The other severely injured woman was Jasmine's best friend and agreed to do whatever she could to help her friend.
"I agree too. As long as you don't hurt Jasmine, I will go through with it." She said aloud.
'I hope he's not planning something else...'
Meanwhile, Jasmine stared at Vicente in silence.
'What is he planning? Is he really willing to go through with such a deal? Or is he trying to trick us?' She looked at Mark and sighed.
'I doubt Mark will leave it at that. I have to get ready! Even if Cesar is willing to do what he says, I have to assume that this exchange won't go well!' She sighed, aware her teammate wouldn't accept things like Cesar had said.
'I need Mages! If I can get some Mages, I can eliminate this bastard!' Mark thought, remembering how close he was to Ironcrest, a city with 3 Mages in the local Awakening Temple.
'Levi, Killian and Kohen... Killian is honest, so planning anything with him would be a problem. But Kohen and Levi... It could be... No. Not Levi. That bastard will undoubtedly try to take whatever Cesar has for himself.'
The downside of dealing with people who were much stronger than you was that the more powerful party could decide to betray the weaker ones!
This was a problem for Mark. Any Mage he brought to his side could betray him and give him none of what he would get from Cesar!
In the worst case, he could even be murdered!
'Shit! How can I do this without making the situation even more problematic?' He thought to himself.
Meanwhile, Vicente was fully aware of how difficult it would be for these people to get support without alerting their entire organization.
Vicente was a bandit. He wasn't a fool to think that these people would follow his plans. Surely, one of the two who would escape would try to involve more people in this exchange he planned.
However, it would not be easy to do so without alerting the organization. If they tried to attract stronger magicians, it might go against their interests and make their situation worse. If they didn't go after the Mages, then they would need numbers that might alert Vice, which might cause him to kill Jasmine or even increase the chances of their plans going wrong.
The greater the number of people in a group, the greater the chances of problems arising, leading to disunity, imbalance, and the eventual demise of the group.
Teamwork only worked when there was someone in a position of leadership, and that person was recognized as such by the majority.
That obviously wasn't the case with these people, who had come up with a new problem for Vicente.
"Very well. I hope to see you in Millfall in 30 days." Vicente brought Jasmine's body closer to his as he floated her in the air with several blades aimed at her vital points.
"Remember, if you betray me by talking to your superiors or the official forces of the kingdom, I will kill your companion!"
With that, they stood still, unable to do anything, as they watched Vicente leave with his group and Jasmine!
