-1288- The Rebellion

Near Hagun Academy, there is a large national-scale shopping center.

This shopping center is located in the city center, attracting not only a large number of people but also many foreign tourists, making it lively at all times. Especially during holidays, even the students of Hagun Academy choose to spend their time here for leisure and entertainment.

However, in such a large national-scale shopping center, it is naturally closed and dark in the depths of the night.

Yet, at this moment, the place is not completely deserted.

"Bang————!"

With a gunshot, a security guard on the first-floor plaza of the shopping center slowly fell, staining the ground red and losing his life entirely.

Upon closer inspection, there were multiple security guards lying in pools of blood around the plaza, not just one person had lost their life.

The perpetrators of all this were a group of terrorists wearing soldier-like combat uniforms, wielding firearms, and smiling sadistically, laughing heartily as if they were immersed in some kind of play.

"What's this?"

"Is it over already?"

"How boring!"

The brutal sadists laughed and made sarcastic remarks, treating their actions as trivial, chatting wantonly.

Among these terrorists, one man sat on a bench in the plaza, witnessing everything.

He had tattoos on his face and was surrounded by gun-toting soldiers as if he were being guarded. Despite witnessing the carnage, he maintained a constant smile.

This man wore a cloak-like coat, pitch black and looking extremely ominous.

The black-clad man watched the massacre with the same smile on his face, playing leisurely with the rings on his fingers.

Before long, the terrorists approached him.

The leader, a particularly brutal man, spoke to the black-clad man.

"Lord Bishou, we're done playing, but is this really okay?"

The brutal man wore a refreshing smile but expressed concern.

"Isn't our goal to demand ransom from the government? Is it really okay to kill all the hostages like this?"

Despite his words, the brutal man showed no signs of regret, looking as if he hadn't killed enough to his satisfaction.

Most of the other terrorists seemed the same, not having had their fill, a complete desecration of life.

In response...

"This couldn't be helped, Kajin."

The man called Lord Bishou spoke casually to the brutal man.

"If we were to seek ransom, yesterday was the best time to act. During the holiday, this shopping center is the most crowded, and capturing all those people would yield the highest ransom. Unfortunately, we didn't act yesterday."

Lord Bishou explained as if kindly.

However, the brutal man, Kajin, was still puzzled.

"Then why didn't we act yesterday? We've been here for several days already."

Kajin's confusion mirrored the others' thoughts.

"Yeah, Lord Bishou."

"Why didn't we act yesterday?"

"We've been preparing for so long."

"Lord Bishou also said our plan was to take over yesterday, control all the hostages, then take all the valuable items here, wait for the government's ransom, kill all the hostages, and then retreat via the designated route, taking all the funds back, right?"

"But we waited until today to act, and now it's just the security guards on duty at night. There's no one to capture as hostages!"

"Exactly."

The terrorists spoke dangerously, enough to make any bystander faint from fear.

Bishou maintained his smile, looking at everyone.

"Are you questioning my decision?"

He said with a smile.

"...!"

Seeing this smile, every terrorist, no matter how brutal and ruthless, stiffened instantly, fear evident in their eyes.

Everyone knew that the most ruthless person here was this constantly smiling man.

He was called Bishou not because of the smile on his face but because he could maintain his smile while cruelly killing everyone in front of him.

Even if those people were his subordinates, the terrorists present, it was the same.

Thus, they had every reason to be terrified.

Immediately, everyone quickly spoke up.

"We... we would never question your decision, Lord Bishou!"

"Yeah, exactly!"

"We're just a bit curious!"

"We certainly don't doubt your decision!"

Including Kajin, all the terrorists pleaded.

"That's better."

Bishou nodded contentedly and spoke.

"That's what makes you worthy members of the Liberation Army."

—The Liberation Army.

This name might not be known to the general public.

It was a name circulated only within the organization, with members calling their group the Rebellion.

To the public, they were known by another name.

—The Rebellion.

A notorious criminal organization known worldwide, controlling the underworld alongside the Union and the League of Mage-Knight Nations. The Rebellion believed Blazers were chosen by gods and regarded ordinary people as inferior beings, aiming to destroy the current social structure and build a new world ruled by Blazers.

The people here were members of the Rebellion, and their goal was to take over the national-scale shopping center, earn ransom from hostages, and loot the valuables, a common tactic of the Rebellion to regularly generate funds. This was merely one of their many operations worldwide.

Initially, the unit led by Bishou was supposed to take over yesterday, as planned.

However, due to sudden information, Bishou changed his mind.

"The reason I didn't act yesterday was that our organization received news of an important figure, friendly to our Rebellion, appearing nearby. This figure dislikes pointless slaughter and hates seeing the weak and innocent harmed in front of him. To avoid displeasing him, I refrained from acting yesterday."

Bishou shrugged as he explained.

"An important figure?"

The surrounding terrorists looked at each other.

What kind of figure could make the ruthless Bishou so wary, enough to halt their actions?

Everyone grew curious.