A Story of Evil

Chapter 130: The League of Thieves II

Hendrickson stood in the midst of a den of thieves.

Just like every other visitor, Hendrickson went to the Void together with other steel users. He was actually excited bout it. Thinking of surprising both Sol and Alice whom, he was sure, would not expect his visit. However, this was cut short as Rick saw a woman getting robbed from a back alley. With a knife pointed at her throat.

As one who couldn't stand injustice, Rick immediately ran towards this. Bringing his servant Seth along the way.

He ran after the thief who turned tail as soon as he saw Rick. With the steel user making sure that the woman was safe before he continued his chase.

Unfortunately, although he was powerful in a melee fight, Rick had no skill that could be fired at long range. Nor did he have any skill that could be used to restrain. Hence he needed to continue pursuing the enemy with his normal speed. Deciding to crash through some walls as a shortcut while the thief masterfully jumped and climbed through every obstacle.

The commotion he raised was enough to get the attention of the soldiers. The very same reason why one of these said enforcer of law went to the paladins Sol and Alice.

Meanwhile Rick simply continued with his pursuit,. Finally ending in an area which was surrounded by high yet rundown buildings on every side. With steel wires spread from window to window and used to hang laundry. With broken glass shards scattered on the ground.

It was far from the main street and, far from the eyes of anyone who can enforce any law. There was an eerie silence filling up the place. As if it was detached from the Void Domain itself.

Just from this situation, Rick understood one thing. That he fell into a trap. One which he got sure of as, person after person came out of the windows like a swarm. With some staying on the buildings. Holding sniper rifles which were illegally traded from soldiers before King Jubilee started cleaning up the Void.

"Mister, you seem to have entered the wrong festival." One shady person said, standing in front of every other. With Rick's own attendant only catching up at that time.

"Yeah well, this looks like my kind of festival at least." Rick said in reply, unsheathing the large blade he had on his back. With some of the thieves actually beginning to get a bit weary.

"Your kind of festival huh. I guess you don't understand what kind of situation you are in then." The thief said, finally unsheathing his own sword and pointing it at Rick as he commanded:

"Get him."

Even before Rick could come close, projectiles were fired from the sky. His assistant, Seth, used steel needles. Hitting all of the said projectiles which exploded in mid air.

"Smoke?" Rick commented as the whole area became a big blur. With his vision getting impaired as the thieves continued in their advance.

Shadows loomed from behind Rick. He swung his gigantic sword but, all that he hit were cloaks without anything inside. He then felt a sharp sting as blades found their way to his legs. He tried attacking the assailants but they were slippery. Getting away before Rick could even react.

Meanwhile his attendant was facing the same crisis. Seth was targeted by steel balls. The attendant who wasn't used to fighting in such an environment evidently got hit. Learning from this mistake right away as he raised his steel shields which floated in mid air. Covering only his vitals.

"Is this how men fight?" Rick asked, irritated that he couldn't get a clean hit in.

"Men? Oh you must be mistaken." The same voice said from the thick cloud of smoke.

"We aren't some kind of noble fighters. We are beasts that thrive in the slums." The voice continued as sounds of something sharp cut through the air. With Rick's attendant groaning in pain all of a sudden. Making the steel user protect his ally.

"They used needles my lord. I can't feel much of my body." Seth said.

"Just use your shield to cover yourself I can handle the rest." Rick commanded, with the attendant doing just this as the voice continued speaking.

"We saw you during the Culling. We watched your moves and so, we know how to take you down. From the moment you took the lure this was already in our favor." The voice continued.

"So you already knew I was coming here?" Rick asked.

"We didn't. But we can see everyone who enters this domain. You can't expect us to disregard a nobleman's son do you?" The leader of the thieves said in a relaxed tone.

Hendrickson still had zero vision. With how the smoke spread and was still thick at that time, Rick knew that he wasn't getting vision anytime soon. In fact the enemies probably had a way to sustain the smoke for as long as it was needed.

But it wasn't like this was a problem for him. Not for a former vanguard captain at least.

"So you know about my strength level from the Culling huh." Hendrickson said, feeling everything around him. Two slashes came from his blind spots once again. But, the thieves were in for a surprise as their weapons broke.

Hendrickson then swung his giant chainsaw claymore to their direction. Clearing up some of the smoke as the assailants were blown away by the force of the swing.

"I'm far from the person you saw in the Culling so be my guest. I ain't going down easy." Rick declared, his resolve unwavering in that moment.

The fight was just about to resume. Hendrickson was waiting for his opponents to continue their strike but, nothing was coming. Not a single sound of footstep. Not a single weapon being unsheathed. Not a single gun being loaded.

This is because another thief just came up. One who delivered the news on those that were coming in at that moment. People which the leader of the thieves was not prepared to fight...yet.

"Sorry but it looks like you've been saved Prince Charming."

"What do you mean saved?" Rick asked, not wanting things to end there. However his opponents weren't going to listen to his words. In fact they were already making their way out of the area.

"We'll continue this next time boy." The bandit leader said.

"You don;t decide that!" Hendrickson leapt from the ground and swung his broad sword but, it met nothing but air, His enemies were already gone, together with the smoke which finally began thinning out.

"Dammit. I'm gonna get you next time." He said, deciding to focus on his attendant who was still on the ground at that time.

"My lord I'm sorry for..."

"I don't need any apologies Seth. Just rest up. We still have ourselves some bad guys to catch."

"Understood my lord."

With this, the fight ended even before it could actually begin. With Rick unable to deal any damage while also getting his attendant in a bad shape. These enemies were the same powerless Voids that the nine domains have always ridiculed. Yet, the fight he just got himself through proved all this bias to be wrong. Proving that, the citizens of the Void were just as potent fighters as anyone else.

At that time, Sol and Alice have just arrived. The smoke was close to being fully cleared and, they saw that it was only Hendrickson and his aide who remained. Alice immediately looked for any trace that could have been left by the league of thieves. After all, nobody would know this better than her. Meanwhile, Sol focused on Hendrickson.

"Guess we were a bit late for the party?"

"Yeah, they left a few minutes ago." Hendrickson said in reply.

Since they weren't in the Domain Expansion Division anymore, Rick was allowed to drop the honorifics. Finally talking to Solomon just like he would to any other teen. But, there was still respect in his tone. Something which he couldn't and, wouldn't take away.

"Are you both okay?"

"I got a bit of scratch on my legs and my friend is paralyzed from the waist down."

"That's not good. We're gonna take the two of you to the nearest station. You'll be healed there and we'll also need a full testimony on what happened." Sol said, going straight to business.

"How are you gonna carry us? We're not exactly the lightest type you know." Rick mentioned, concerned that the frail looking body of Solomon would break if he tried doing so.

"You know you should watch the news more." Sol said, using his gravity magic to make the two steel users levitate. He then carried both of them on his back. Their weight being as light as a feather as Sol sustained them in that state.

"King Jubilee already announced that Alice and I have powers. Mine in particular allows me to do these things."

"Wait...YOU HAVE POWERS?!? Why didn't you use this in the Culling then?"

"I did. Against blaze at least. Anyway, that's enough asking for now. We've got a long day ahead of us." Sol said as Alice finally came down from the building,.

"Any sign?"

"Nope. Not a single trace on them. But that's not an issue right?" Alice said with a smile. As if victory was already ensured.

"Yeah that's not an issue." Sol repeated as they finally left the scene.