A Story of Evil

Chapter 134: Catching Thieves II

It was still the third day of the festival. Or rather, it was the night.

Some people slept comfortably in their beds. Meanwhile the store owners packed up their things -preparing for another busy day of business when the sun rises again. Guards roamed the streets, changing shifts with the ones assigned during daytime. Then there was Solomon's team. Moving as silently as they could. Seemingly with the shadows of the night.

"In position yet?" Sol asked, sitting just behind an old and worn down house. He and his teammates wore communication bracelets. With the spare one being brought by Sol for situations such as the one they got themselves in.

"Yup. I'm ready to strike anytime." Hendrickson said, amazed by the device which was not yet released to his own domain.

"Same here." Alice also replied.

Because of the planning and the brainstorming of the group, they were able to limit the possible location of their enemies to just two. After this, they used their whole afternoon hours in order to find out which was the real one. For this part of the mission, only Sol and Alice took part. Knowing that, the word clumsy was an understatement for how obvious Hendrickson was whenever he moved.

"Some thieves will be out in disguises and serving as lookouts. You'd also see people in the building doing their day to day activities in order to avoid raising any suspicion. But those people are also part of the league." This was the information handed down by Alice to Sol. The only criteria they took into consideration as they pinpointed their enemies.

However, both areas had people inside of the buildings. With some people busy with their daily business around the place. This would've made the job more difficult if not for Sol who noticed something unusual on his side.

There were two people holding up newspapers. Solomon knew for a fact that the prints weren't that accessible to the people of the slums. Even when the development came, people didn't buy these as they thought it was a waste of money.

There were only a few who uses this. Seeing two persons at that, with each holding one, was enough for Sol to raise doubts. He then used his binoculars to zoom in on their hands and, true enough, he got all the evidence he needed. Seeing that they were both scar filled.

"The older generation plays a game with their fingers and a blade. It's kinda like a macho thing where they want to show that they aren't scared of the knife as it is a necessary part of a thief's life. Evidently a lot of them get wounded. With some even losing fingers." These words of Alice rang on Sol's ears at that time. With the boy retreating back as their target was finally confirmed, leading to the present situation.

Sol, Alice and Hendrickson positioned themselves at different areas around the building. They couldn't bring any other person as it would raise the alarm of the thieves. But it wasn't like they were incapable of winning all on their own.

With Sol's plan, both Hendrickson and Alice knew that things would work out. Just like it always has when they were still within the Domain Expansion Division.

"Remember the plan." Sol said, already activating [Spatial Awareness] and locking on the targets outside the building.

"Yeah yeah. Take them down as quickly as possible right?" Hendrickson replied, unsheathing his claymore.

"Right." Sol confirmed.

"I got this boy genius don't worry." Alice reassured as she brought out her twin daggers.

With this the three finally began their operation. Hendrickson wasted no time and rushed towards the unsuspecting enemies. Making them take out their weapons. Yet this was all that they could do as the blunt of his claymore hit two enemies, sending them flying to the bother three. Effectively knocking out all his opponents while also making a lot of noise. Alarming those who were in the upper floors who also began making their move.

There were three pathways on the ground floor. That is why the three had to divide these locations among themselves. However, it was Hendrickson's job to clean up all the enemies on the ground floor while Sol and Alice progressed up the three story building.

"COME AND FIGHT ME!" Hendrickson taunted as the paladins breezed past the ground floor and, towards the areas assigned to them.

As expected the thieves were still active even at that time. However, none of them was ready for the attack. Making the ambush even more effective than it already was. With their opponents surprised and in a daze, Sol and Alice worked as a duo taking out the thieves on the second floor.

There were ten in total, scattered around the area. Alice used [Flicker], moving from one place to the next. Slitting the throats of the unfortunate enemies that she aimed at first. Sol was just as quick in dealing with his enemies. Using his [Void Sword] from the very start in order to assure that his target is killed.

One by one their opponents fell to their steel. However, the last one was able to release a smoke grenade. Blurring out the vision of the two, or so the thief thought.

Sol used his space magic to suck in all of the smoke. Bringing back the vision to the field as the thief saw Alice right in front of him, with the girl stabbing right through the crown of his head.

While they did this, they saw figures going past the windows. Using ropes in order to get down.

"I'll handle those, you take care of whoever is left on the top floor." Sol commanded.

"Got it." Alice said, running up the stairs while Sol continued pursuit jumping off the window.

As always, things worked just as Sol expected. None of the thieves were prepared for the ambush that came to them. They were masters of surprise and sneakiness of course but, they have never faced enemies using the same tricks as them.

This infuriated Lez who stayed at the top floor. That's why he needed to make the diversion of some of his men moving through the windows. Yet he was wrong in assuming that things would simply end there. With a single person finally reaching him.

"So the exile comes back." Lez said as he recognized the figure who came up quite well. Even in the poorly lit building, there was only a single person who had silk like hair that glowed under the moonlight. With eyes of crimson just like he and his father which he so despised.

"I knew it was a scum like you who'd be leading the fake league." Alice calmly stated. Her clothes filled by the blood of the fallen.

"There's nothing fake about this! We are the real league!" Lez said bringing out his daggers.

Around them were a bunch of other thieves. All prepared to fight just like him. Alice recognized most of this. Individuals whom she also held in high esteem during her time as a thief. This placed Alice on a state of nostalgia at the strangest moment. Also remembering the laws of the league as she made a remark.

"The real league huh? If your father was here he wouldn't allow such a cowardly tactic."

"Shut up!" Lez screamed as all he and his men attacked Alice at once.

All of them used daggers and closed in when there was a chance to strike. They were masters of the weapon. Dedicating their lives to the wielding of this blade. Hence their movements were both swift and efficient. Striking and backing away in quick repetitions.

Each slash cut through the air and, every strike was lethal. They were used to killing their targets using single strikes and, that was probably why they were so surprised that time.

Alice not only continued dodging their attacks. She even parried the lethal ones like they were child's play.

She had no openings. No matter how many strikes they made. No matter what tactic they used; Alice was able to come out on top. With this Lez decided to use a smokescreen in order to impair Alice's vision.

But this was the biggest mistake he could make.

Sparks of blade hitting blade scattered around the room as he heard the screams of his allies one by one. Thuds of bodies hitting the cold concreted floor came and, soon enough, Lez found himself under the mercy of Alice's blade. With all of the smokescreen finally thinning out.

"Why did you have to continued this? You could've lived a peaceful life." Alice remarked in a voice filled by genuine worry.

"Peaceful?" Lez repeated, slowly raising his dagger to strike.

"We were born and raised as thieves Alice. This is the only peace we have!" Lez tried making a strike but before he could move his arm for a full swing, Alice dagger already found its way through his chest. Burying it as deep as she possibly could as Lez dropped to the ground.

"I hope you find peace in your next life Lez." Alice said, walking away as his opponent's heart stopped beating.