A day before the festival, in the evening in front of the tavern, Tivaara was giving Solin the last word of instructions about his mission during the festival. While they were conversing, a figure approaching from the narrow alley drew Solin attention. He turned and saw Morem walking toward them and stopping a few meters in front of him. Seeing her again after they broke up months ago spun his thoughts in turmoil. Tiv noticed Solin looking at the young woman absentmindedly and leaned closer, then whispered in his ear: “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend Solin?

Solin snapped out of it and without a second thought blurted: “What are you doing here Morem?” She jolted back hearing the accusatory tone in his question and closed her eyes, standing in the street looking dejected. She slid her hand in her pocket and pulled out a letter.

“This letter was addressed to me, for you. It’s from a friend…your friend.” She said while walking closer until she was standing right in front of him. She extended her hand holding the letter and Solin reached out and grabbed it. Before she let go, she asked him a question of her own.

"What is this about, Solin? Who is that?" She asked, referring to Tivaara.

Solin’s heart began racing. Morem wasn’t supposed to see him again. He was to leave the kingdom after the festival, most likely to never return. Tiv watched in amusement but reminded Solin they were in a hurry. Solin didn’t answer Morem. He didn’t want to lie but he would if it meant keeping her out of his and Hound’s business. He snatched the letter out her hand and opened it.

The letter was lengthy and Solin's frown deepened as he was reading it. Tiv leaned over his shoulder and skimmed through the letter before Solin briskly turned away, blocking sight of the letter's content.

Tiv chuckled. "And? What does your "friend" have to say?" She teasingly asked. In a brief moment Tiv skimmed through the page, she absorbed the content almost immediately. She knew Bones was the one who wrote the letter and from the content written, it was a warning. Solin glanced her way, but didn’t comment and proceeded reading while he paced around.

You don't seem to truly realize what kind of person Silva is. At least I hope you don't because if you do, then you're not the person I thought you were. - - >

Solin turned the page and continued reading the other side of the letter. Bones further warned that the guildies, referring to agents of an Adventurer Guild, knew of the imminent attack planned by the Hounds and the location of their hideout, both in western district and the one in the Underground City. The trap was set and Solin had a narrow window to slip out and not get caught.

Solin's eyes widened and he jerked his head in Tiv's direction. She frowned seeing his expression and Morem finally uttered a word, after patiently waiting for Solin to finish.

"Solin? What is goi-"

"It's a trap." Solin interrupted and said in a cool and restrained manner, not to draw attention. Tiv glanced at the letter in his hands and smirked, connecting the dots.

"The Old man has balls to do us like that." Tiv commented and continued to smirk.

"We have to warn them!" Solin raised his voice, losing composure and was about to start running when Tiv's hand stopped him.

"What are you doing?" He asked, all worked up.

"It's already too late. They're closing in on us." Tiv said, sensing figures approaching.

"Solin, what's going on? Who is that? Is she YOUR woman?" Morem asked again, losing her patience and feeling small compared to Tivaara's pointed out attributes.

"SOLIN!" Tiv suddenly shouted, drawing the attention of the onlookers.

"YOU TWO TIMING SON OF A B*TCH!"

*SLAP*

Both Solin and Morem looked on in shock. Solin quickly gathered his wits and muttered. "Tiv what are you-"

"Why don't you escort Miss Morem to a safe place and meet us later in the safehouse north of the city." Tiv whispered.

Solin hesitated, then asked what about her? She gave him a smile and said she has a cleaning job to do, tilting her head in the direction of the tavern.

Solin briefly glanced at Morem, then back at Tiv. He nodded at her then grabbed the still dazed Morem by the hand and left before the guildies appeared.

Tivaara watched as Solin turned a corner and disappeared from her sight, then turned toward the tavern and entered. Now then, shall we play cat and mouse? *snickers*

The team closing in on the tavern was made of silver rankers with a gold ranker leading them. They coordinated an ambush on the hideout with another group led by Rayne coming from below, from the Underground City and heading toward the second hideout.

The leader of the first team, Marc, directed his men to spread out and surround the tavern, then gave a signal to start the operation. One of the men approached the entrance and partially opened the door, then flinged an object inside and closed the door. A muffled explosion was heard, then a brief sound of a projectile flying through the air, smoothly penetrating the door and boring a hole through the man that just threw the explosive device.

Marc yelled for all men to charge in while he jumped up and grabbed hold of the balcony rails, then pulled himself over and entered through the balcony of the room above the entrance to the tavern.

Chaos ensued as the rabble inside started rushing the exit. The guildies became easy targets of the thugs that blended with the crowd, but the thugs were around bronze rank and guildies were silver rankers. One by one, thugs were picked and taken out from the crowd and the crowd that rushed out of the tavern was apprehended by the city guards waiting outside. Captain Duneth of the city guard, came right after the operation started and already blocked the streets and exits. Their plan of the operation was rightly thought out and every step thoroughly planned! Unless something unexpected came up…

Marc cleared the upper floors and started descending to the ground floor where the commotion was taking place. He found no traces of his targets. The rooms were cleaned up and he only encountered civilians which he rendered unconscious with sheer mana pressure overstimulating them and knocking them down. He reached the base of the stairs and swept the bar with his eyes. He counted numerous unconscious people laying down no doubt incapacitated by the rushing crowd, and his men with holes throught their torso. He frowned and grimaced, then turned in the direction his gold rank hearing was picking up sounds.

He rushed through the doorway next to the bar and looked down the corridor where the faint sounds were coming from behind the wall at the end. He snapped into a blur and crashed through the wall just to see one of his men flying across the hall and crashing into one of the many flipped tables. Marc could tell with a glance the hall was a casino just minutes ago.

"Heya there, took you long enough!"

He turned and saw a woman sitting atop of one of his men, giving him a mischievous grin. Around her were three bodies he recognized. Fortunately, there was only one casualty.

"Beautiful, dark skin and a mischievous grin. You must be Tivaara." Marc said, matching the description given to him by Rayne.

"Oh my…how accurate!" Tiv commented and added. "I'll take my leave now. You can come after me or tend to your men, while they're still breathing."

Marc smirked, then cracked his neck from side to side.

"Guess we're playing!" Tiv said and swiped the dagger across the neck of a man beneath her. Enraged, Marc charged and met her dagger with a drawn sword. Sparks flew in the wake of their clash. More guildies entered the tavern and secured the area but made no attempt to join the fight.

While Marc and the rest of his team were finishing on their part, Rayne was discreetly closing in on the bar in the Underground City. Bones' directions were rather vague and three buildings matched the descriptions he gave Rayne.

"Rayne, we found the right building this time."

Rayne nodded and ordered four agents to block the streets, two to come with him and the rest to stand guard at the entrance.

"Sir, is it alright for us to block the street? This is Underground and we don-"

"It's fine. The Guild Leader gave this operation the green light." Rayne replied, reassuring his men. The Underground City was a gray area and his team wouldn't be able to carry out the operation without consulting with a gold ranker Domino left in charge. The situation however, called for an immediate response. Dealing with Domino' lackey would come after.

Rayne entered the bar and the music abruptly stopped. He looked around. The bar was half-empty, the only people there were routine clientele, but every person with ties to The Hounds. All eyes were on Rayne and before the commotion took place, he unleashed his aura and froze everyone in their seats.

"You are all under arrest for conspiring against the kingdom with a criminal organization known as The Defiant Hounds. You'd be wise to stay seated and not attempt anything foolish."

No one moved a muscle. No one dared to defy a gold ranker. Rayne turned to the two behind him and ordered them to check around while he left the bar, frowning. His senses didn't detect anyone else in the building apart from people in the bar. What's going on…it couldn't be just a coincidence that there's not a single person above bronze rank in the whole hideout. Where are the others? Where is Silva?

Rayne's eyes widened for a moment and he ordered the rest of his men standing by to enter and apprehend everyone inside.

A few minutes later. The men he ordered to check around returned and reported they haven't found anyone else in the hideout but they did find something in the basement that could be of importance.

Rayne nodded and followed the men into the basement. He stopped for a moment at the entrance to the room dyed red in blood. “Sir, over here!” One of the agents called out to him.

Rayne approached the man and saw the room was a workshop full of garbage. Broken glass, tubes and instruments Rayne couldn't identify littered the floor. There were signs of recent use but it was impossible to deduct what was being worked on. Rayne had a gut feeling it was really bad. They probably worked on the mana bombs here. They did something to them.

He gave one more pass around the workshop, ordered his men to bag everything and turned to leave. On his way out, an agent came rushing down the stairs, all flustered.

"What now?" Rayne asked, expecting bad news.

"Sir, it's Marc…"

Rayne bolted out of the building and ran down the street, looking for the alley leading to the manavator directly connected to the tavern. He didn't know where it was, only a vague direction Bones told him about. He spotted one of the agents from the second group in a distance and closed the gap between them in seconds.

"Marc?"

"Over there sir. At the end." The agent said, pointing at the end of the alley. Rayne nodded to the man and disappeared, appearing in front of the badly injured gold ranker sitting by the manavator.

"You look like shit Marc." Rayne blurted out but a sense of relief washed over him. Marc was injured, full of holes, but nothing a healing treatment wouldn't fix in a week or two.

"I wish I could say, "you should see the other guy", but there was no other guy. It was a beauty that got my ass handed to me!"

*cough cough spits*

"Rayne, the danger is very real." Marc added, his voice haggard, then continued after clearing his throat. "We apprehended a lot of people but they seemed clueless. They're willing to talk, only now realizing they've been duped."

Rayne nodded and said it's the same thing with people here. "What happened up there? Found anything? Anything that could tell us where The Hounds are or what their plan is?"

Marc took a couple of deep breaths before answering. "Tivaara happened. What the hell is up with that woman? She is a bloody silver ranker but I bet she could take you on as well!

*cough cough*

Rayne asked him if he had taken the health potion, then handed him one after Marc said he already used the one he brought with him.

After the health potion had taken effect and his injuries slightly receded, Marc carried on the conversation. "I haven't found out where they've gone to, but she told me a single piece of information."

"She did? Why? What did she say?" Rayne asked, doubtful. There was no reason for her to tell them anything.

"She said the bombs were already set in places and using the device to detect them would be of no use from up above."

"What? That's all she said?" Rayne asked and gave it some thought after Marc confirmed.

"That's nothing new. We already tried detecting the bombs and it didn't work…wait! Did she say it won't work from up above?"

Marc nodded and slowly started getting up. Rayne grabbed his arm and placed it over his shoulder as he helped him enter the manavator. Before he pressed the button to take them up to the tavern, Rayne turned to the agent that entered the alley with him and ordered him to go and find Belle in the guild and tell her to bring him the blueprints of the city's sewers. The only thing between the upper city and the city below are the sewers. We've been searching in the wrong place!