At the Scarlet Syndicate headquarters...
At the moment, Rory's group was recovering from the confrontation earlier.
Of those who hadn't died in the fight, only a few had actually been injured. Except for Rory and Bart, most men were exhausted when they arrived at this place hours ago.
Only those two and a few other men had suffered physical wounds in the previous battle and would need more time to recover.
But even though most of the Mazzanti family who had survived the previous confrontation, about 70% of the men Vice had left in the city, were still meditating together in the Scarlet Syndicate's training room.
While this was happening, the men of the Scarlet Syndicate were somewhat unsure of their current situation.
Some were doing what they were supposed to be doing. They were at the Mazzanti family's disposal to help out or carry out orders. But some of the men didn't know if that was what they were supposed to be doing.
Their contracts said they were supposed to do this, but if Cesar was dead, then their contracts were invalid.
There was no way for a person with a contract with another person to know if that person was alive, just from the contract. Therefore, some of the men in the leadership of the Scarlet Syndicate were in doubt as to whether or not they would be punished if they acted a little differently than they should.
At that moment, a group of level 4 Acolytes from that faction were meeting and discussing it!
"Why isn't Cesar here? Why did the Mazzanti family go through all this in his absence?" One of the three strongest men in the Scarlet Syndicate asked his two companions in a low voice, looking them in the eye as they stood in a beautiful living area.
One of the three, a bald man, replied. "I don't know. He must have other problems to solve. The guy's a monster."
But then the second individual, a young blond-looking man, laughed and said. "They risked dying in Cesar's absence because they weren't sure their leader would return. He's probably taking a risk with something troublesome that has a high chance of killing him.
To take advantage of their leader's influence, these men accepted the risks to strengthen themselves a little more while no one knew that Cesar might not return.
If they had waited any longer, the local powers would have started asking questions and looking at them more dangerously. The same goes for us." He said, looking sharply at them.
"That's what I thought." The first to bring up the subject smiled, agreeing wholeheartedly with his old faction partner's analysis. "The risk they took was too great. It would only be worth doing this in Cesar's absence if there were really a very high chance that he wouldn't return."
"Even if that's true, what do we do with it?" The man in the middle asked.
Looking at the bald man, the middle-aged-looking man with brown hair suggested. "We should pressure the Mazzanti family while the 3rd-stage basilisk is still injured. Once it recovers, we'll be in the hands of the Mazzanti family, even if Cesar doesn't return."
"But what if Cesar is alive?" The bald man asked, feeling his head sweat as they talked about something delicate. "I don't want to be punished for getting involved in something like this."
"So what do you want, Colt? Are you going to stay here and wait for them to recover and miss your only chance to be free again?" That man asked in a harsher tone.
"What difference does it make? Even without Cesar, the representative of the Mazzanti family can easily defeat us. It's better to risk being led by them indefinitely than to risk rebelling to be punished for our agreement with Cesar." The bald man stood up, not liking the great risks of his two old faction mates' plans.
"Tsk! You're a coward. That's why Chief Brody never allowed you to lead us." The older man commented in a harsh tone as he stood up next to the young blonde.
"Good luck with your plans, Jaxon and Paul. But I'd rather not risk it." Colt said as he waved a hand at them without looking back.
"What are we going to do?" Paul asked.
"We'll deal with this damned coward later. Right now, we should..." Jaxon was about to speak when he suddenly heard a strange noise coming from the side of the window.
Looking in the same direction as Jaxon, Paul saw a masked person hovering outside the building through the large glass window on that floor.
That was the third floor, so seeing someone outside the building without any cables supporting him was strange and a strong indication of this person's identity.
Gulp!
"Boss!" They both shouted simultaneously, dropping to their knees as they felt shivers run down their spines.
Vicente climbed in through the window and looked at them, happy to be a suspicious person.
Vicente had learned on Earth to remain silent when he arrived in any place. It was always good to try to observe people's behavior when they didn't know they were being watched.
He had escaped trouble several times on Earth because he had heard things that made him understand how problematic some people were.
When he first observed what was going on in this place, before going in to see the outcome of that day's incident, he overheard a conversation about traitors.
Magic Arrangements didn't take away people's free will. They merely imposed severe punishments on those who broke the rules of their agreements. But people were completely free to think about breaking their contracts and even to do so.
After hearing what these men had just talked about, Vicente now had two problems to solve.
"Your previous conversation was fascinating. Please continue." He said as he slowly approached the two men. "Go ahead, continue your conversation. Don't bother with me. I won't disturb you."
Gulp!
"Boss, I don't know what you..." The old man was about to say when he suddenly felt a weight on his being and noticed that his body was shaking even though he could barely feel it.
'Level 4? Has he already reached that level? How?' The young blonde also felt something change in his being, something awful, but he also noticed Vicente's new level.
"You don't know, do you?" Vicente stopped before them, no longer using his powers to suppress them. "It doesn't matter if you take back the words you said earlier. Your treacherous intention is enough for me. But I won't kill you. I will show the entire faction and family how vermin are treated here. Today, you will help me set an example."
Vicente then made them float in the air with the metal objects they were carrying before he went to where most of the men from the Mazzanti family and the Scarlet Syndicate were.
