“I never thought Praeshield the Pride Shield would be defeated so easily,” a gruff voice remarked.
Master and the members of Yerkchira the Messianic Legion, along with Lucil’s guild, had left the area. After a while, the manipulated members of Praeshield had also departed. Now, a few figures emerged in the place they had occupied—members of the dark guild Heinichen—the Steel Matriarch.
“Rast was pretty tough,” a muscular man noted.
“Hehe! Good riddance to that persistent pest!” The guildmaster of Heinichen the Steel Matriarch, Luscelt, cackled. Rast, from Praeshield the Pride Shield, had been a bothersome regular guild member, constantly snooping around their activities. His obsession with justice made him a noisy nuisance for Luscelt, frequently interfering with their operations.
But now, Rast had been defeated by Yerkchira the Messianic Legion.
“It’s crazy. We struggled with Rast, but Yerkchira took him down like it was nothing,” another member said.
“You’re not scared of Yerkchira, are you?” Luscelt asked, glaring at the large man who spoke. His intense gaze was enough to silence the man. They already had one coward in the guild—Ild—and Luscelt couldn’t tolerate another.
“N-No, Master! Not at all!” the man stammered, recognizing the danger of opposing his guildmaster.
“But Master, you didn’t expect Praeshield to show up, did you?” Ild interjected with a smirk.
“Ild…” Luscelt growled, a vein throbbing on his forehead.
“You idiot! Are you seriously that stupid?” one of the men shouted at Ild.
“Why are you saying such terrible things to me?” Ild retorted, feeling unjustly accused.
The man, fearing the repercussions of Ild’s reckless suggestions, wasn’t willing to risk his own life for Ild’s foolishness. Yet, Ild, not fully grasping the gravity of his words, felt nothing but frustration at the perceived unfairness.
“Haah… Well…” the man sighed.
“Huh…?”
To everyone’s surprise, Luscelt didn’t explode in fury. He took a deep breath and managed to contain his rage. Though unexpected, Luscelt hadn’t anticipated the Pride Shield’s involvement in this matter either.
The information control within Yerkchira was formidable. Luscelt knew that if his guild wasn’t a dark guild with connections to the prince, they might have remained ignorant of Yerkchira’s existence. It was a highly secretive guild. So, who had provided Praeshield with such sensitive information?
“Well, it could only be that bastard,” Luscelt muttered, his suspicion quickly forming.
He suspected their spy had leaked the information. Was the spy now regretting their alliance with a dark guild? If so, it was too late to change sides now.
“But then again, an idiot wouldn’t understand such complexities…” Luscelt mused aloud.
“You mean Ild, right?” another member joked.
“Hey, that’s not fair—probably,” Ild protested, adding the last part uncertainly.
Luscelt ignored the noisy banter around him, focusing on the next steps. It was time to adjust their plans.
“All right, you lot. It’s time for us to move,” Luscelt commanded.
“Finally! About time!” one of the members cheered.
“Seriously?” another groaned, less enthusiastic.
When Luscelt called out, the muscular man responded with an enthusiastic fist bump, clearly ready for action. The issue lay with Ild, who remained visibly anxious.
“Didn’t you see what they did to Rast? He was screaming in agony! We couldn’t get too close without being noticed, but whatever they did, it must have been horrendous,” Ild stammered.
“Hehehe! That’s exactly what we want, isn’t it?” Luscelt laughed maniacally.
This is how a dark guild should be. Recent events showed that the Messianic Legion was more active than anticipated. They were not just a hidden force but a formidable enemy that the Steel Matriarch must confront. To become the most powerful dark guild, Luscelt needed to completely defeat Yerkchira through sheer force.
“If we don’t handle this properly, it’s over for us…” Ild muttered, still trembling.
“Shut up! If you can’t do it, you’ll die!” Luscelt snapped.
“Eek…” Ild whimpered, shaking even more under Luscelt’s intense glare. Luscelt couldn’t fathom why Ild had joined a dark guild if he was so weak-hearted. Losing interest in Ild, Luscelt turned to the muscular man and a thin man wielding a sword.
“Go kill some of Yerkchira’s members. Bring back a body part as proof. I want to show off to the others,” Luscelt ordered.
“You got it!” the muscular man replied.
“Understood,” the thin man added.
With their orders clear, the two men left the forest to carry out their mission.
“And you! Get moving!” Luscelt barked, kicking Ild in the rear.
“Yikes!” Ild yelped, sprinting off like a frightened animal prodded by a whip.
“All right… Let’s start a full-scale war, Yerkchira. Hehehehehe!” Luscelt cackled into the night, the sound echoing through the forest.