Chapter 99: The Fire Skull Guild Thugs [Bonus - ]
Liam and Lydia finally left the guild headquarters.
After nearly two hours of waiting for the conference, explanations, and announcements about the Squad Selection, they both needed some fresh air.
Lydia stretched her arms as they walked through the main entrance.
"I’m really looking forward to tomorrow."
Liam smiled.
"Me too. After everything we’ve trained this month, I want to finally find out what kind of trials they’ve prepared."
Lydia took her husband’s hand.
"Do you think they’ll be difficult?"
"Definitely."
Liam glanced at the enormous building behind them.
"But I suppose that’s exactly what we’ve been preparing for."
Lydia smiled.
"So tomorrow..."
"We’ll become members of a squad."
They looked at each other and smiled.
However, before they could continue walking, a scream pierced the air.
"Let me go!"
Liam and Lydia stopped.
They both turned toward the guild entrance.
A crowd had formed around something.
"What’s happening?"
"I don’t know."
Lydia began walking toward them.
"Let’s find out."
Liam followed her.
◇◆◇
When they managed to make their way through part of the crowd, they could both see the scene.
A young man was lying on the ground.
His face was bloody, and he could barely protect himself with his arms.
Standing over him, a bald, muscular man with red tattoos covering his entire face continued beating him.
His tattoos glowed so brightly that it even looked as though smoke was coming from them.
"You damn traitor!"
The man raised one leg.
"This is what you get for trying to leave our guild after barely making it to Emerald Rank!"
The young man didn’t respond.
The bald man kicked him again.
Liam clenched his teeth.
"Lydia."
"I know."
"We can’t let him keep doing that."
But before the bald man could strike him again, something appeared between them.
A transparent wall of energy.
The kick collided with it.
BOOM!
The man staggered backward.
Then a voice sounded from behind the crowd.
"What exactly is going on here?"
Liam immediately recognized the voice.
Vice-Captain Wayne appeared among the people.
He had a cigarette between his fingers.
The bald man turned his head.
"Stay out of this!"
He gestured with his hand.
"Hold the kid down!"
Several men wearing leather jackets advanced toward the young man.
They all wore the same symbol on their backs.
A skull surrounded by flames.
But before they could get close, several energy plates appeared around the young man.
The men stopped.
Wayne calmly stepped forward.
"I hate it when people from lower-ranked guilds come causing trouble at the entrance of the As of Spades."
He took a drag from his cigarette.
"And all because of something as ridiculous as a young man wanting to climb the career ladder."
The energy walls began moving.
One pushed one of the men back.
Another blocked a second man.
A third positioned itself in front of Wayne.
The vice-captain walked between them as if he were strolling down a hallway.
Finally, he reached the young man.
"Can you stand?"
The young man nodded, surprise evident on his face.
Wayne extended a hand.
The boy took it and stood up.
"You didn’t have to do that, sir."
Wayne looked at him.
"Oh, I didn’t?"
The young man lowered his gaze.
"I had already decided to face the consequences of wanting to leave my guild."
Wayne blew smoke through his nose.
"That doesn’t mean they have the right to beat you at the entrance of my guild."
The bald man, still furious, approached and kicked one of the energy walls.
The plate didn’t even move.
Wayne raised an eyebrow.
"Are you finished?"
The man bared his teeth.
"What guild do you belong to?"
The bald man’s skin seemed to turn even redder.
Smoke began pouring more intensely from his tattoos.
"That’s none of your business."
Wayne stared at him for a few seconds.
Then he raised one finger, and a small plate appeared in front of the man.
With a simple movement of his index finger, the plate shot forward.
BAM!
The bald man fell onto his back.
Liam couldn’t help but think about it.
’Wayne definitely doesn’t have the most impressive Awakening in the world.’
He looked at the plates.
’But he sure knows how to make good use of it.’
Then he looked at Lydia.
"Lydia, I think the vice-captain could use a hand."
Lydia smiled.
"Alright."
Her body began to split.
[Split Slime]
The green gelatinous mass quickly separated.
Seven small slimes began sliding through the crowd.
The men in leather jackets barely had time to react.
One of the slimes stretched out and grabbed a leg.
Another wrapped itself around an arm.
A third transformed into a sort of rope that caught two men together.
Within seconds, all of them were immobilized.
The young man’s eyes widened.
"Is that another one of your powers?"
Wayne smiled.
"No."
He looked toward Liam in the crowd.
"This is the work of some aspiring hunters."
Liam approached.
"I thought you could use the help."
One of the slimes raised a small tentacle and made a gesture with the tip, as if giving a thumbs-up.
Liam smiled.
"I’m glad you agree."
The trapped men began struggling.
"Let us go!"
"Damn it!"
The bald man, still on the ground, slammed his fist against the ground.
"You have no idea who you’re messing with!"
Wayne let out a small laugh.
"Actually, we don’t."
He took another drag from his cigarette.
"That’s why I asked which guild you belong to."
The young man standing beside him finally spoke.
"They’re from the Fire Skull guild."
Liam looked at their jackets.
’Fire Skull..’.
He looked at the symbol.
’They really didn’t put much effort into the name.’
Wayne dropped his cigarette and crushed it beneath his shoe.
Then he looked at the bald man.
"You’d better leave the aspiring hunters alone."
The man raised his gaze.
"What?"
"I’m going to give you the opportunity to leave."
Wayne made one of the plates disappear.
"But next time, you won’t be so lucky."
The bald man looked around at the crowd, the hunters, the seven slime creatures, and Wayne’s energy plates.
He finally realized that he had no chance of winning there.
He slowly got to his feet.
"Fine."
He looked at the young man.
"We’re leaving."
Wayne crossed his arms.
"That’s it?"
The bald man clenched his teeth.
"Sorry."
Wayne smiled.
"Apology accepted."
The remaining energy plates disappeared.
"And now you can leave."
Wayne turned his head.
"Lydia Davis, you can release the men."
The slimes released the members of Fire Skull.
They immediately began running.
The seven slimes slid back toward Lydia.
Each one merged with her body.
The woman became whole again.
However, the bald man didn’t move.
He waited.
Wayne turned around.
Then the man clenched his fists and charged toward him.
"You!"
He raised his arm, ready to strike him from behind.
But before he could reach him...
Liam lunged at him.
"Not so fast!"
BAM!
They both crashed to the ground.
Liam pinned him down.
The bald man growled.
"Let me go!"
Liam clenched his teeth.
"Turns out you’re the treacherous one."
Wayne burst out laughing.
"I knew he’d do that."
Liam looked up.
"You knew?"
"Of course."
Wayne raised a hand.
Several energy plates appeared around the bald man.
Until they formed a completely enclosed cube.
The man was trapped inside.
Wayne calmly approached.
"And now..."
He took another drag from the cigarette he had just lit.
"...we can talk."
Liam stood up and brushed off his clothes.
Lydia approached him.
"Darling... are you alright?"
"Yeah, perfectly fine."
Liam looked at the bald man trapped inside the cube.
Then at the injured young man.
The excitement he had felt about the Selection just a few minutes ago had disappeared.
Now he could only think about one thing.
’What kind of guild was Fire Skull?’
And, above all...
’Why were they so desperate to stop that young man from leaving the guild?’
Liam looked at Lydia.
Something told him that what had happened here was more than just an ordinary fight in front of the As of Spades headquarters.