Kevin, the leader of the Crimson Reapers, is a subordinate of Count Vincent. This is not known by many people as the one coordinating with them was only the count's butler.

However, he has been working for them for the past three years and their small gang prospered. They were now a gang with about three hundred members within this city that has hundreds of thousands in population…

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It may still be small compared to other underworld organizations that he heard about but they were steadily getting stronger and slowly receiving more support other than the Count…

Their business is to find people that the Count and other nobles would like to take for themselves…

As far as Kevin knows, the ladies that they are taking would become slaves of the nobles that would be kept within their territories…

Of course, if their target is a high quality one, they should be happy if they just become a slave of the nobles.

There were cases that he heard from that butler that the people they've taken were used as experimental subjects to try various dangerous Arcane Magic or some poisonous substance…

Right now, Kevin is following a group of four ladies and a scary-looking man…

They do not seem to have a specific goal and were just walking aimlessly…

They would sometimes stop and look around for a while before continuing on their way… They also notice that they would just randomly walk around without any concrete path… It was like they were lost but they aren't acting like they are one…

It is quite weird…

"Kevin… Do you think they are baiting us?"

Harlem, his most trusted aide and friend, suggested after noticing their target's actions…

"Didn't we confirm already that they are not Arcanists?"

He answered… If they are being lured, they should bring Arcanists to try and capture them… There is no way a bunch of non-Arcanists can fight against their organized group.

They have magic items and numbers with them… If it comes to fight, they could easily win and if they noticed that they are facing a strong foe or perhaps good at escaping technique, they can just consider retreating or find another opportunity.

As long as they are within this city, they would surely have a chance to take them…

"If they entered the Gambler's Alley, we'll strike… Yapzor, guard the streets and delay any patrols that come in this way… Ovin, stay here with your group… In case they have reinforcements, deal with them."

"Yes, boss…"

"Leave it to us…"

"Boss, can we have fun with those four before you give them to that old man?"

"That's right, boss… It's been a while since we had fun…"

"Tsk… I'll see to it… But we have to make sure to capture them first…"

"Woohoo!"

"Now we're excited! We can do this!"

Everyone in the Crimson Reaper became a bit excited… Only about twenty of them were tasked to take on this mission as the others would have to do other jobs to steadily run their small organization from every part of the large city.

"Let's go!"

After seeing the four enter the alley, they immediately acted… The citizens of the city saw 10 people enter the alley and felt that something was amiss…

However, they immediately saw the red scythe tattoo at the back of their hands and realized that there would be a crime here soon.

They heard about this uprising group that deals with the city's first-timers and extort them some money or something similar…

Nevertheless, they have never targeted the people living in this area and some even supported them as they heard that they would fight against any arrogant people that would cause trouble within the city…

What they know about them is that they would do some illegal activities like extortions but would also act like proud citizens of the city that would fight troublemakers from other regions or cities…

This is the reason why even though their existence is known, the people wouldn't be too inclined in reporting some of their crimes…

As soon as Kevin and the others reached the area, they blocked all the target's possible exits…

Then, they saw the five people standing with their backs on each other as they faced their group.

It appears that they are ready on facing them as well…

However, Kevin knows that these people would be in their hands after a few moments.

If they couldn't even detect or remove the trackers they've placed, there's no way they'll be capable of defending against their other magic.

"Hello, ladies… I would like to invite the four of you to my place. Would you mind if all of you come with us peacefully? I assure you that we'll treat you exceptionally… You will like our service…"

Kevin smiled as he approached the five… He completely ignored the man as he would surely be dealt with by his people if he ever dared to move.

The leader of the Crimson Reapers waited for the ladies' answer but they just ignored him and looked around the people surrounding them…

"Hey, are you ignoring me? Are you deaf? It won't do you any good if you act like that, you know?"

Kevin started threatening them as he pulled out his nailed bat…

He wanted to smash the face of the man beside them to give an example of what would happen if they ignored his words.

Bang!

He first smashed the ground to scare the ladies…

However, he noticed that they didn't react that much and only glanced at him coldly…

Kevin realized that something is amiss… However, he can't see any trouble coming their way yet…

"Fine… Let's end this."

He decided to just deal with these ladies and be done with it. He signaled to Harlem to start attacking the group…

Then, the latter nodded as he pulled out a bottle containing a spiraling blue smoke…

He threw it near the group they are targeting as it broke into pieces. The small amount of blue smoke spread around their target as they were slightly affected by its special effect.

"It seems that you guys have resistance against Paralysis… Very well… Deal with them!"

As soon as Kevin said this, his men equipped with various weapons stepped forward.

They first targeted the man beside the ladies and rushed towards him…

Haa!

Ssak—Ssak--

However, they were surprised to see that they pulled out short blades in their sleeves as they moved like a ghost and slit the throat of the people in front…

It happened so fast that the others at the back didn't notice until they were also attacked by the group.

They hastily waved their weapons to try to get some distance with them and regroup…

Clang! Clang!

Their weapons clashed as the group of five returned to their position…

"Kevin! I think they're experts!"

"Tsk… I can see that! Use all our Magic Items! Don't worry about the cost!"

Kevin gave instruction… He doesn't really like using Magic Items in these missions but since he found out that the target is quite strong, he decided to just let them use it.

Wind Hail!

Fire Strike!

Arcane Tempest!

These three Arcane Magic is what their Magic Items can cast… The Wind Hail and Fire Strike came from a mid-grade Crystal Orb while the Arcane Tempest is from their Necklace…

Of course, all of these were supplied with Count Vincent and it was said that the Arcane Magic is unique to the western region since the materials required to create this can only be found there…

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Finally, the Arcane Magic seems to be quite effective as they were unable to defend properly…

Three of the ladies kneeled on the ground as they protect the other two from harm…

The man and the other girl that is still doing fine charged towards Kevin's group as they have decided to perhaps deal with the leader…

However, the latter just smiled at this as he found against them with his subordinates…

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The battle continued but they also made sure not to kill their targets except to the one man… The scary-looking guy was always receiving deadly blows without a stop.

'Tsk! What's with these people… They're so good at fighting… They're not simple… But why aren't they wearing any emblems or clothes from an organization…'

Kevin dislikes these people that would try to hide their identity as Hunter, Arcanists, or some Knights…

It would make their job harder like this… If he would make a guess, this group is perhaps at the level of elite guards of some noble family…

However, since they have already started the battle, and on the verge of winning, they just have to see the end of it…

Ssak—

Finally! They stabbed the man on his body!

Even if they leave him on the ground, he would surely die from blood loss after a few minutes…

Now, only the four exhausted ladies were left…

"Ha! You really made it difficult for us!"

Nine members of their group died just like that while the others were also injured. If they have to kill them all, it would've been an easy job…

Kevin was a bit annoyed and wanted to slap them really hard... However, he suddenly felt a cold aura on his back...

No, he's familiar with this... It's killing intent!