[14] COUNTERPLAN

There was a sudden twitch of excitement running through Python's whole body, just thinking about hunting his prey was widening his grin even more.

It had been a while since he hunted someone powerful, Mamba wouldn't let him go too far from his reach. But now it was his time to fully enjoy himself, for his prey was none other than a Buster Seeker.

"Are the twins here yet?" Python asked one of the Onyx Bane gangsters joining him on this hunt—going alone to hunt a Seeker of the strongest guild would be nothing short of foolishness. "I can't wait anymore."

"No, sir," the man said. "Not yet."

"Jiban," Python said, gesturing to the man standing farthest from his seat, even behind the gangsters—who all sat chairs in front of him, wearing the standard Desperado uniform: Black suit and black tie over a white shirt.

"They are almost here, sir," Jiban—the assistant—said. "Not two minutes left for their arrival."

"Why do they have to be like this?" Python said, rubbing his hand across his chest. "If I get anymore exited I might start by killing all of you first."

Silence.

Who would've thought bloodthirsty animals like the twenty men in front of him would still fear for their lives after taking away so many themselves?

"You guys are no fun," Python said, rubbing his lip. "I just wish this Rillon isn't like you all."

One of the men gulped, raising his head toward Python but not meeting his eyes. "May I ask where we're hitting, sir?"

"You must be foolish, love," Python said, shaking his head. "Where do you think a Buster Seeker will hide if not in the only Buster stronghold of Esbara?"

"You're right, sir," the man said, lowering his head.

"Gecko just informed that Ironbringer and Starcrasher are not in Esbara," Mamba said from the doorway. "You'd be foolish to think that our guy will just be waiting in his stronghold for a visit."

"And here I thought you left him for me to enjoy," Python said, frowning. "Guess you love me too much to leave me alone, huh?"

"I want to show them who they messed with," Mamba said, turning. "And I won't let you mess things up even more."

Python grinned. "Things will get messy, alright…" he thought, gazing at Mamba's back with a sinister smile. "You just don't know who's in the deepest mess here."

One of the men cleared his throat. "Did boss mean we should not hit the Buster hideout?"

"I would think he meant we should not hit 'just' the Buster hideout," Python said. "That means we'll be hitting two places."

"Two?"

"Your visit stays the same, my loves. The twins and I, however… We'll be having our own fun."

"Right…"

"Did I hear you mention the twins?" one of the two men entering the room said.

"He sure did, brotha!" the other one said.

Python smiled as the two large men, walking side-to-side, approached him. The twins had arrived. The only other odd thing about them, aside from their abnormally huge bodies, was the iron gloves they always equipped on serious missions to amplify their Alchos.

"Ah, the twins!" Python said, rising and putting out his arms. "Welcome, Eber! Welcome, Bebin!" He walked toward them with a smile on his face.

"Are we accompanying you, sir Python?" Eber said.

"We sure are, brotha!" Bebin said.

"Where were you two?" Python asked, folding his hands behind his back.

"The driver wanted money from us," Eber said. "Said 'cars are luxurious since only few of them exist'. So we had to dig his grave."

Bebin laughed. "We sure had to, brotha—"

Python sat atop their shoulders—a shoulder of each brother underneath him—after disappearing from their sight, wrapping a knife around their neck.

Eber gulped. "We took care of the body, sir."

"We sure did, brotha…" Bebin said nervously.

"I don't care about that, sweethearts," Python said, poking lightly at their necks with his knives. "You two made me wait, a tragedy for sure. How can I ever forgive you?"

"W-We…" Eber said. "But we're here, sir, we can help you in this hunt."

"We sure can, brotha…" Bebin said, gulping.

"Help who, my love? Me?" Python said, his expression souring. "Your explanation may be your last words, so speak carefully."

Eber gasped. "I meant…we could take care of distractions, sir. We could deal with the ones who may be interrupting your hunt."

"We sure could, brotha…" Bebin said.

Python appeared on his seat, hiding away his knives. "Very well, then."

The twins sighed, relaxing.

"You two are going with me," Python said. "We'll be heading toward the Buster stronghold and catch my prey before he can leave."

"What about these guys?" Eber asked.

"What about them, brotha?" Bebin said.

"They'll be hitting the Raven stronghold."

The twins scratched their heads.

The gangsters glanced at each other in confusion.

"He could be hiding under the strongest guild already," Python said. "But if that's true, you are to capture him alive and bring him to me. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Perfect!" Python said, rising with a grin. "Let's the hunt begin!"

***

Rillon gulped as he realized who was really standing on the doorway, the man's dark clothing was iconic, after all.

"Master Ragnaul!" Dyso said. "What're you doing here?"

"Watch your mouth, you idiot," Rillon said, smacking him on the back of his head.

Ragnaul entered the hall, the five behind him—probably just Raven Seekers—waiting outside.

"We're here to escort you to the safe-house outside of Esbara," Ragnaul said in his one-ton voice, "In Valisha's absence, Buster is open for Desperado visits, now that even the paper is openly advertising Rillon as the 'ender of the underworld'." He tossed a rolled newspaper to Rillon.

Rillon unrolled the newspaper as his comrades surrounded him. "The domino effect is really coming to get me."

"Rillon Shonav," Dyso read. "The protector of Esba—" He burst out laughing. "You took out like three Black-Roses and you become the 'protector'? Tell me it's a joke, man!"

"Shut up!" Rillon said loudly as he flushed.

"It does not matter what the media says," Ragnaul said. "Among the top three criminal organizations, we all know which one hires lower gangs."

The room went quiet, including Dyso. Some things just could not be joked about. The top three groups, or Cerberus as they were collectively called, was one of those.

Rillon gulped. "I realized it yesterday after I had already killed them, Master. I immediately knew what would come if this news somehow reached to the Onyx Ten. I even instructed mister Dayuki to deal with the bodies. But I knew that the media would be the first one to advertise this…as if I did something heroic." Ragnaul placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Worry not, Rillon," Ragnaul said, "for the Ravens are here. You'll be escorted by my first-in-command. She's the most competent Seeker for this job."

"You can't be serious!" Rillon thought, stepping slowly to the side, trying to look past Ragnaul. "Don't tell me she's here… She'll kill me!"

"I'm confused," Dyso said. "Why did 'you' have to come?"

Rillon smacked him again. "Where's your respect, Dyso, you moron?"

"Rillon," Ragnaul said. "Didn't you tell them about the old lady?"

"I did—"

"Alright," Dyso said. "I get it. It's 'cause of the 'Waxman'."

"Correct," Ragnaul said. "I figured the best way to convince you all to trust us in a time like this, would be to just show up myself. That way, there'd be no chance of any imposters to interfere."

"Why aren't we just going to the Raven stronghold?" Rillon asked. "That would be much more efficient."

"That would be like inviting death to own doors."

"Huh?"

"One of the two witnesses under the council's protection is kept there," Ragnaul said. "Having two targets of the Desperado under a single roof would just ensure continuous visits of assassins and nothing more."

Dyso nodded. "Makes sense."

Pretending to cough to the side, Rillon tried to look on the other side of the door. "Is she really here?"

"I'll be taking my leave, then," Raganaul said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I also have someone to protect."

"Right," Rillon said. "Thank you for your help, Master."

Ragnaul waved as he turned. "Try not to die on the way there."

"Why did he have to put it that way, man?" Rillon said, frowning.

"You meet up with our escorts, alright?" Dyso said; patting Rillon's back. "I'll go pack up our stuff." With that, Dyso waved at the other nine Seekers, sending them to pack their stuff.

"Right…" Rillon said with a gulp, heart racing.

He rubbed his hands as he walked closer to the main gate, trying to collect his confidence. "You can do it, Rillon. Just…calm down, okay—?"

There she stood, just as Rillon had always remembered her…cute as ever. Kylix Dewstar. Forget about being the 'youngest first-in-command', in Rillon's opinion, she should've been called the 'cutest Seeker alive'!

"My heart," Rillon thought, looking at Kylix's cheery face. "I can't take it… If I get any closer, I might die!"

Kylix was talking with her fellow Raven, filled with life as always, her messy, pink, chin-length hair bobbing as she shook her hair while talking. Her beautiful blue eyes were enhanced even more by the red makeup she'd always put around them. Then she did it…something she shouldn't have done. She rubbed her red-tipped nose, her hand under the over-sized white sweater she wore, which covered her ripped shorts as well.

"No, Kylix…" Rillon thought, gripping his shirt. "Don't do me like this."

Kylix turned toward him, shining an adorable smile on her face. "Oh, Rillon," she said, raising an arm then waving. "What's up?"

"Her voice," Rillon thought as he slowly walked toward here. "Too much… I'm dying."

"You look sick," Kylix said. "But no need to worry…"

Rillon stood next to her. "I'm way too close to her right now…"

Kylix gestured at Rillon with her fingers, telling him to get down. Rillon leaned toward the short girl, gulping.

"She smells so nice… Her lips are so…"

Kylix patted his head. "…I will protect you!"

Rillon felt as if his heart would jump out any moment. "I can't… Why are you so precious, Kylix? How can someone like you exist in this cruel world?"

"Your hair feels funny to run through," Kylix said, rubbing Rillon buzz-cut hair. "It's tingly."

Rillon stood upright. "Thank you, Kylix!"

Kylix laughed. "Welcome, dummy."

"No…don't laugh…" Rillon thought. "I really wanna see you laugh but when you laugh…I can't see you… You're too cute!"

"Look out!" a Raven yelled!

Kylix pushed Rillon to the side, jumping the other way.

Rillon rolled onto his feet. "What the hell!" If it weren't for Kylix, he would've been impaled by a sharp spike growing out of the ground.

"What's going on?" Dyso shouted as all of the Buster Seekers came running outside.

"A Granius is nearby," Rillon said. "A Granius who wants to kill me—"

"Oh, no, no," a big man, appearing from behind one of the columns in front of the main gate, said. "Kill you? We can't do that."

"Bastard!" Rillon yelled. "Then what the hell was that for, huh—?"

An exactly bigger man appeared next to him as the boundaries of the stronghold were broken by twenty or so men dressed in all black.

"Desperado!" Kylix said.

Rillon saw both of the big men raising their hands to equip iron-spiked gloves. "Not just any, Kylix, they're definitely all Onyx Bane gangsters."

The Seekers stood against the wave of gangsters led by the two giant men in front.

Rillon smirked. "It's time to impress Kylix!"

***

Sliff awoke in the same room after the blanket of warmth around him thinned to the point of disappearance.

"Ow," he said, touching his cheek. "Wait… This bandage wasn't on me in Valhalla…neither was this soft pain."

Sliff looked out of the window as he got down from his bed. "Looks pretty same… It's definitely still morning." He turned around, walking toward the door. "I just have to wait for the night… I'm excited! I will become stronger."

Sliff pulled on the doorknob. The door didn't budge.

"Even this door is stronger than me."

Had the Raven Seekers all sent on quests and missions? What else could explain the silence?

Sliff knocked the door, remembering it was him who asked to lock it in the first place. "Hey! Lokius? Anyone? Please open the door!"

He heard footsteps approaching the door, so he stepped back.

"Thank you," Sliff said as a man in dark clothing opened the door—

Sliff's eyes widened as the man in the black suit pointed a knife at his neck. "What the—" He looked down at the hand and noticed a tattoo.

A skull-in-snake tattoo marked by the number '6'.

"What're you doing here kid?" the man said with a creepy grin.

Sliff froze, knowing even a slight movement would mean death. "Is this it…? I couldn't even start to work toward my dream… The Desperado already got me—?"

The man yanked Sliff out of the room, sending him left of the corridor.

Sliff fell to a roll on the stairwell, stopping as he hit the wall where the Raven banner hung. "Ow!" he thought. "But... Huh? Was he not after me—?"

"Run…Sliff…"

Sliff shivered as he heard the beat-up voice. He slowly turned his head…

"Lo-Lokius…?" he said as he glanced at the brutally beaten boy beside him. "Wh-What happened?"

"Just…run…please…"

Sliff nodded awkwardly as he crawled onto his feet, going around Lokius' limp body. He climbed down the stairs, going away from the trail of blood Lokius left—

Sliff fell onto his knees as he looked at the tens of corpses all around the blood-painted main hall. "What…happened?"