501 Heavy Betrayal
Later that day, Ronan delivered the artifacts Vicente had given him, fulfilling his promise to The Ruby Devils.
But after having them inspected by high-ranking members of Scott Province's largest underworld faction, he wasn't released as he had hoped.
"Boss, why am I still here? Aren't the artifacts exactly as you ordered?" Ronan asked in a nervous tone as he noticed people watching him in silence as he was surrounded in the middle of a building full of faction members.
An elderly-looking man, sitting in a large chair in the hall where he, some faction elders, and Ronan were, played with one of the weapons he had just received, finding the situation rather odd.
"Ronan, you should have given us these devices months ago. Handing them over today will save you from death. I guarantee it. But don't think you can just come and go after all this." The new leader of The Ruby Devils after Warmaster's fall commented in a somber tone.
Ronan broke into a cold sweat at the words. "What do I have to do? What more can I do to get you to release me? I suppose I made mistakes in our previous arrangement, but I'm willing to do anything to make amends."
The grey-haired man took his eyes off the weapon in his hands and looked at Ronan. "Do not pretend that you made these artifacts. Do you think I'm not aware that you cannot produce 3rd-grade items with 100% efficiency? Tell me who made those artifacts! If you don't, you will become one of my group's slaves starting today!"
Gulp!
Ronan looked from one side of the room to the other and realized there was no escape. As one of so many enemies, he would die there if he did more than he had to.
"Will I be able to leave if I give you the name of the person who made these items?" Ronan asked, thinking of using Vicente and Benson's heads to get away.
The group leader smiled and nodded his head in agreement.
"The one who developed these artifacts was Vicente Fuller, the youngest disciple of my master, Benson King. He helped me in the name of our master. So if you want to force him to do something, go directly against Benson." Ronan said without further hesitation, easily betraying his master and junior brother.
"Vicente Fuller?" One of the Mid-level Mages nearby asked, looking in the direction of the leader of this group, which now had only two High-level Mages due to Snow Claw's actions.
"Oh?" The group leader understood. 'Isn't that the name of the young man that senior asked me to investigate two days ago?'
The old man accompanying Miss Death had already asked this local group to investigate Vicente's identity. The Ruby Devils knew who this young Fuller was that morning and had already sent someone to relay the information to Miss Death's companion!
They had been waiting to find out what would happen to Vicente Fuller from now on. Still, unexpectedly, this young man had appeared on their path earlier than they had expected.
The leader of The Ruby Devils looked at one of his men, believing Ronan's words as Vicente Fuller was a talented blacksmith from Millfall.
"You have your freedom, Ronan." This person said, just before Ronan felt something strange when he thought he was free to go.
"Cough!" Ronan froze the smile on his face before coughing and feeling something enter his chest.
Looking down, he saw a sword blade piercing his chest at the level of his heart.
'That...'
Puff!
The group leader saw Ronan's body fall to the ground without resistance while a Mid-level Mage stood behind him with a sword.
"You're free... Free for your next life!" The only High-level Mage present laughed maliciously.
...
Simultaneously with Ronan's death at The Ruby Devils' headquarters, Miss Death's old groupmate had just discovered Vicente's identity.
'So this is the brother...' The old man thought as he stood with his eyes closed in front of the man who had just caught up with him.
The rest of his group was in a house while he was in an alley in a little-trafficked area of Saltstar City, having just heard the most disturbing news he'd heard in a long time.
'Who knew? After a few years, the two siblings would pass each other in this very city where it all happened.'
He was thinking about the true identity of Miss Death, who had been kidnapped years ago in this city by a close friend of his.
Miss Death was none other than Lauren Fuller, Nina and Vicente's older sister!
'What should I do now? If this girl noticed the familiarity with her brother, maybe she'll feel it even more when they have a more meaningful encounter or even if he recognizes her.' The old man clenched his fists, feeling the need to act. 'The best thing to do now is to eliminate him! Miss Death will definitely be disturbed by him!'
He made up his mind, thinking that he should act against Vicente in secret so as not to cause concern in his group and to eliminate a problem while it was still in its beginning.
"Very well. I want your group to keep an eye on this young man 24 hours a day. I'll deal with him personally as soon as I have some free time." He said before watching the emissary of The Ruby Devils leave.
Unfortunately, he was in the middle of Snow Claw's pursuit. If he left now, he might not only disrupt his group's hunt but also leave signs of what he intended to do.
Lauren didn't remember Vicente, but if she knew that man wanted to kill the young man, there was no telling what she might do. So, this man preferred to be careful!
...
The next day, Vicente spent a good night at Nova's side, not having seen his master since he left Benson after meeting with Ronan the day before.
Nina was already studying at an academy and getting advice from Newton, while Benson's problem had been solved. With Rory, Sarah, and Bart taking care of the Mazzanti family's expansion, he had practically run out of problems to solve locally.
Now, he had to wait for the results from the investigator who had promised him answers in thirty days. Finally having some free time to do other things, Vicente planned to search for the Hogan family to fulfill his responsibility to inform Kate's relatives of her death.
He had talked about it with Nova this morning after she had told him where to find them in Saltstar City.
After saying goodbye to his girlfriend and Nina at breakfast, he went to the wealthy part of Saltstar City, where the Hogan estate was located.
