038 Threats *

Warning from the author, this chapter contains some R18 material.

I have updated the warning notice from restricted to no one under the age of 17 admitted. This is because I ended up writing a steamer scene then I thought I could.

Enjoy :)

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It was practically silent in their part of the forest. There were no birds chirping, no roars of distant monsters, no celebration of their victory.

The group waited quietly for the smoke to clear while holding their breath. They knew that they had won due to the kill feed but they were amazed at the sight in front of them.

Even though their ears had a slight ringing in them due to the explosions, they didn't care. They were still able to hear the crackling of the burning trees. Ashes were floating down from the sky. The battlefield, or what was left of it, had only a few colors left. Red, blue, and white colored flames were dancing around the black scorched ground. Trees had turned into charcoal; blackened but also holding onto a glow of white and orange due to radiating heat they were producing. The plants just outside of the explosion radius didn't even survive the heat from the battle withered them bone dry; a mere gust of wind would turn them to dust.

The group was several meters away from the edge of the carnage but their faces were stinging from the heat of the fires. They would only imagine what the man in the center of the raging inferno was feeling.

A sole man was left standing after the final attack. James was standing at the epicenter of the battle field. The ground below him was scorched the most; it was where his flamethrower struck the ground. The assassin's left an outline on the ground; it looked like a scene from Pompeii.

James's red robe was a bright contrast to the white ash and black scorched ground. It was fluttering in the gentle wind. Sense he was standing motionlessly small piles of ash were forming on his shoulders and hair.

He took a deep breath and looked towards his friends. It was a chilling sight. A man who caused so much destruction was looking at them with happiness in his eyes. He slowly started walking towards the group.

When he arrived Mercury was the first to approach him. She cleaned off the ash that laid on his shoulders and attempted to clean the top of his head too, but was too short to do so. He laughed and grabbed her waist and lifted her up so she could reach. Shortly after they all celebrated for a few minutes, they achieved quite the spectacular victory over an infamous group of assassins.

"I don't mean to ruin the party, but they won't take their defeat lying down. I reckon that they will target any of us that are alone or in small groups for now on. They won't risk fighting us all at same time again." Talon was more concerned with their future than the current victory.

The whole group returned to reality. They all knew that the Harbingers of Death were experts at small scale assassinations and not larger group fights. If they were truly the smaller group of 3 that the assassins first assumed the results would be different.

Talon continued, "The real reason why we won was because Blaise was able to see their every move while they were in stealth. If not for that they would have picked us off one by one until no one was left standing."

Talon gave them all an ice cold bath with that one. Being able to know where attacks were coming from did drastically change the outcome of the fight. They all knew they would need to be careful for now on, especially if Blaise was not around.

Talon still wasn't done, "Totem, you have the most to be worried about, if you are not glued to Blaise's side I wouldn't even dare to leave down. They take their contracts seriously and wont go back on them like yourself. It is nothing against you; hired hitmen are different from a businessman after all."

Totem felt some dread wash over him. It was a good thing that he agreed not to take contracts from anyone else except for James's group anymore . At least he had a higher chance of survival if he hung around them.

"You think they are already gathering information about us?" Blaise asked.

"Most likely, but I can't say for sure." replied Talon.

"Let's not dwell on this for now, we still have some leveling up to do!" Mercury tried to break the tension.

"She is right, no need to worry about it for now. I will be able to tell if they return." James agreed with Mercury.

Everyone pushed their worry to the back of their minds. For now it was time to continue their travels.

Karma had some good news, "I did find an elite monster to the right. It was a unicorn with black fur."

Mercury jumped onto James's back as if she was getting a piggy-back and lifted her polearm into the air. She pointed it in the direction that Karma had previously gone and shouted, "Onward and Forward!"

James just let her tease him, he was getting comfortable with everything she did after all. He started walking in the direction that Mercury pointed as if it was an everyday occurrence; the others? They were still kinda creeped out seeing Mercury acting like she was.

Knowing that his sister, Totem and himself were the most creeped out he created a private chat just for the three of them.

[- Karma: Do you think she would kill us if we leaked a video of her acting this way? -]

[- Totem: I don't think a video would even be necessary, just verbally talking about it while near other people would be enough for our heads to roll. -]

[- Destiny: I'm not even letting the thought into my mind. She'd hunt us down more than the Harbingers of Death would. -]

They all felt chills run down their spines and goosebumps form on their arms with the thought of being killed by Mercury's axe.

They all started to feel sweat pouring down their backs… Mercury had turned to look at them, it was as if she could tell they were talking about her and knew what the conversation was about. She had a foreboding look in her eye and an evil smile on her face. It was as if she was threatening them without having to directly confront them.

Mercury turned back around after shooting them her death stare. The three of them felt like they could finally breathe again.

[- Destiny: Scary -]

[- Totem: A woman's intuition is nothing to scoff at. -]

[- Karma: Let's all vow to take this to our graves? -]

They all agreed and never thought about leaking information about Mercury's behavior ever again.

Mercury was pleased with herself. She nuzzled her chest deeper into James's back, who was able to feel her mounds push up against his back more. While he did enjoy the feeling he had to keep a straight face. He knew she was teasing him and didn't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing that it was working.

She giggled, "Your friends are interesting." She then looked back at them real quick. In response they all jumped slightly, as if they were kids who were just caught doing something they should be doing.

James did notice what she had done, "Don't tease them too much; they will be our teammates going forward, you know?."

Mercury felt the urge to push her luck and whispered into James's ear, "Oh? Does that mean you only want me to tease you? You know, I will be very happy to grant you that wish." she said in the most alluring voice she could muster.

James raised an eyebrow and put on a smirk. He didn't respond but instead he bounced her while she was resting on his back. He had shifted her position so that her head was right next to his with her chin resting on his shoulder. He teased her right back, "You better watch out, I may just take you up on that offer."

Her eyes grew wider and quickly jumped off of his back. She skipped to the front of James and continued walking without saying a word. Her face had a pick blush and her mind was racing.

James noticed her frantic behavior she tried hard to hide, he was happy that he was finally able to win one of their teasing matches.

** Assassin's POV **

After their deaths the Harbingers stealthily vanished as they respawned in town. They wouldn't let anyone know that they had all died.

Sneaking through the shadows they returned to the abandoned warehouse and entered the dark room.

Void walked to the chair behind the desk and flopped into it. He used his fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose due to having a headache.

"What do we do now?" Horizon wanted to know the retaliation plan.

"As of now, just prepare for an attack." Void directed them to gather supplies.

Just before they got to the door he had another idea, "Wait."

His brothers all stopped at once and turned to look at Void. "Totem is an Alchemist and we are at the center of the underworld. We should start acting as such. Buy out the Alchemy supplies on the auction house and have some of our friends put pressure on the obvious suppliers. I don't want Totem or his friends to get a hold of any Alchemy materials without having to go through us!"

He thought for a moment, "Also buy up all the Rune Crafting materials too, with these Runes that Magicks is posting on the auction house they will be a wise investment."

"Yes Sir!" All the assassins agreed at once and headed out.

"If we can't kill them directly we will kill them another way. I can't wait for my chat with Alexander as well…" Void started talking to himself. After a few minutes of sitting in the dark he logged out.

* Pusssh *

The sound of a game capsule opening quietly spread over the room. Void, who in reality was Cain, climbed out of his capsule. He had been too engrossed in the game to make any reports to Sebastian. It was time he made his first report.

Cain left the gaming room and headed for the lab. After a few minutes of searching the lab he found who he was looking for. Sebastian was with Sarah in the lab's main control room; they were watching over James's vitals.

Sebastian noticed him approaching, "It has been a while since you visited! How are you doing?"

Cain was just about to report about the game when he remembered that Sarah didn't know about Sebastian's and his meeting in the conference room that night.

Sarah smiled at Cain, "No need to hide it, Sebastian is terrible at keeping secrets from me."

Cain looked at Sebastian, who only shrugged his shoulders in response.

"It is a good thing you are not in my shadow opt team, you wouldn't last a day." Cain made fun of Sebastian. "What did she threaten? To throw you in the dog house? Make you sleep on the couch?"

"Hey! I'm tougher than that!" Sebastian was outraged.

"I threatened to take away sex; I may have also threatened to use acid to dissolve his balls but that is besides the point." Sarah wanted to know about James. She talked with Sebastian after he spilled the beans and they came to an agreement. She could hear Cain's reports and make requests of him but she would stay away from the game.

Somehow, some way, Cain knew she wasn't lying. He looked at Sebastian and saw that he still had some fear in his eyes.

Sebastian didn't even make it one day before she caught on. She tricked him into the bedroom; she said she wanted to spice things up. She took out a blindfold and handcuffs and winked at him. After they stripped each other down she pushed him onto the bed. She climbed on top of him and positioned herself just above his hips. She started to rock her hips back and forth rubbing against his shaft. She continued until he was thoroughly teased and she was fully lubricated. She could see that he wanted her. Before she started she put the blindfold over his eyes and handcuffing him to the headboard…

They joined together and she rocked her hips with zeal, she took him on a wild ride. They both got closer and closer to heaven! Just as she felt that he was close to the edge she completely stopped moving. Just as he was about to beg for it she covered his mouth with her hand and ran her other hand up his chest to the side of his face. He thought she was going to give him a passionate kiss before they finished together but instead she grabbed his face and whispered in his ear, "I know you have Cain doing a covert op in the game. Why'd you keep it from me, my love?"

She felt him start to sweat and knew she was right, she took off the blindfold and leaned down to reset on his chest. "Care to tell me the details?"

He was stunned at first and tried to put on a front. She wanted to get answers from him so she started torturing him.

At first she started to slowly grind on him; then she progressed to increase the speed until he couldn't stand it anymore. She has been with him for so long she was able to tell when he was about to go over the edge. She would stop moving for a short while before she would start the process all over again. She planned to make him go mad with tantric sex; slowly build up his pleasure until it was almost too late and take the pleasure away.

He wanted to reach heaven but she wouldn't let him. She made sure to keep prolonged eye contact because she knew it would drive him crazy. Every time she started to move again she would caress his chest, arms, and face. She was fully enjoying herself while keeping him on the edge. He made it quite awhile but she continued to bring him to the edge over and over again with her hips. He only lasted 20 minutes before he was singing like a canary and begging for sweet release!

She had a satisfied smile after she finished torturing him. "You know, if you ever try anything like that again you won't ever get this again." She then rocked her hips like never before, it was mind blowing!

After they finished cleaning up, they cuddled in bed. Just before he was about to fall asleep she started reaching down under the blanket towards his lower region. He thought she wanted to go another round. He was totally up for it; he just experienced something amazing and wanted more.

To his surprise she grabbed his unmentionables quite firmly, she literally had him by the balls. She opened the bed stand's top drawer. and took out a vial of something. She hovered it above his crotch. "If you ever keep something about James from me again I will castrate you."

He thought she was joking at first but by taking a second look at her face he knew that she wasn't. "Baby, what is in that vial?"

"Oh this? Just sulfuric acid." She said with a straight face while tilting the vial from side to side to show that the liquid was sloshing around side to side.

Sarah could tell that he didn't believe it. She popped open the vial and poured some of the liquid on his side of the bed far enough away that it wouldn't be able to reach him. He watched the liquid corrode a hole all the way to the floor.

Sebastian's eyes opened as wide as they possibly could, his eyes were practically popping out of their sockets. His jaw also would have hit the floor if he was standing up. He looked back at his wife with fear burned deep into his mind.

At this point he was sweating profusely, there was a pool of sweat that formed on the bed below him. Sarah knew that she made her point and put the vial back away. Just to be sure that he would never forget what happened tonight she dragged him to the couch and they went for a second round unforgettable sex.

Cain was looking at the two and could feel mixed emotions from Sebastian. It seemed like he had fear instilled deep into his soul but also had a feeling of ecstasy mixed in. [Just what on earth did she do to him?] He wondered.

Both Sarah and Sebastian knew that their relationship was still good after that night, in fact it was better than ever. Sebastian never lied to Sarah before so he felt she was in the right for what she did that night. She didn't physically hurt him in the slightest, in fact they were more passionate ever since that night.

Sarah couldn't wait and wanted Cain's report. "Well? How is James doing? All of his vitals are excellent and his brain activity is through the roof; it is stronger than the average person's now when it comes to the places that control movement."

Cain started to worry, he didn't have anything about James apart from his subordinate who tried to follow him after he ran away from the town square. He was sweating, this woman threatened to melt her husband's balls off. If she did that to someone she loved, what would she do to him?

Cain had to bite the bullet sooner or later so he threw caution to the wind and told them the truth. "Shortly after James logged into the game a report came to me from one of my brothers. There was a new player that appeared in the town square; he was not moving in the slightest. There was a look of desperation on his face the longer he stood in that spot. We didn't find out his name due to the fact that the game's system has a protection feature that hides player's names for 30 minutes after they first join the game. He assumed that after 30 minutes passed we would get a name to give you but that was not the case. Even after the 30 minutes were up his name was still hidden."

Cain had to pause to keep his breathing steady. He had noticed that Sarah wanted answers. "We thought we finally would have a name when he started to move, but before his name appeared he put a mask on his face. People who watched that day believe the mask was given to him so that he could remain anonymous like other players who start playing. My subordinate followed him through the city in an attempt to capture him and find out his name. When he would have got the name he was to release James and report back into me. But that players escaped and disappeared into the city."

Sebastian had to calm down Sarah, "So you didn't get his name? Do you even know where James is inside the game?!"

"N… No. No one has found out anything about his whereabouts…" Cain was ashamed, what kind of shadow opt leader was he? He can't even find the name of a young man.

Sebastian wanted to calm his wife down so he asked for any positive information, "Do you have anything that could be useful?"

"Well, John's boy is very smart. I have a guess as to what James is up to. A Rune Master appeared out of nowhere that goes by the name of Magicks. Based on reports that are circulating around the forums, you have to have a lot of brains to be a good Rune Master. Magicks might be James." Cain gave a theory that he had been working on.

Sebastian had heard of that word before, "Sarah, didn't you try to read a story about a world filled with magic to James while he was in deep depression.?"

Sarah scratched her head trying to recall, "I did actually! It was called The Males of a Magick. It was a story of a man who learned magic from reading old hieroglyphs and runes left behind by an ancient society."

"Do you have to leave the safe zones to be a Rune Master?" asked Sebastian.

"Theoretically? No. You can buy all the materials you need off of the local auction house." responded Cain.

Sarah was relieved, "Thank goodness, it is safe to assume that James is good for now. You better have more information next time you report!"

Cain hurried and left the lab and returned to the game capsule. He needed to kill something to calm down. That women can be scary.

Cain was not the only person that needed to calm down. Sarah grabbed Sebastian by his arm and dragged him to their private resting room in the laboratory, "Damn useless man, I need to relieve some stress! Strip!" She commanded Sebastian, who was very happy to comply. Faint sounds of the bed quickly squeaking could be heard from just outside the door.