V2 C6 - Battle at the Auction House

“Two hundred guards, but only forty are in the basement.”

“Layout.”

“Twenty large cells down one corridor, close to nine hundred slaves, all ages and races. All in chains.”

“Good work.” Mania snickered as more buyers took their seats. “Then, shall we get started?”

***

“Lord Kelsey? What brings you down here, my lord?”

“Is this the only way in and out of this corridor?”

“Yes, Lady Mania.”

Mania grinned. “Perfect.”

The illusion surrounding Mania collapsed and she struck.

She cleaved eight of them in two with her whip, then sliced through another six before the others could process what had happened.

Squirm for me, worms!”

The guards drew their weapons and charged.

Normally, Mania would’ve toyed with them before killing them, but they were on a tight timetable and she didn’t want to waste a single second.

A few slipped by, trying to flee, but the Raven cut them down.

Soon, there were only five guards left alive, shaking and whimpering.

They dropped to their knees and begged for mercy, but Mania cut their heads off.

“I’ll destroy the locks and open the cages. Recover your knives and make it seem like there was more of a struggle down here.”

“As you command, Lady Mania.”

They paused.

Their battle was over, but they could hear the sounds of a raging battle upstairs.

Mania clicked her tongue.

Someone else is raiding this place.

***

One minute after Mania and the Raven had started to move, the Paladins raid was about to commence.

Most of the buyers had arrived, escorted by their personal guards, and all wore masks to hide their identities. The heavily armed Paladins had surrounded the venue and were waiting in the alleyways and on the rooftops, waiting for the order from the Divine Paladin to start.

The Sons of Tartarus’s secret auction house had been discovered purely by chance as Isabella investigated the Great Disaster.

After following some members of the Sons, she had seen them enter the building and snuck in to confirm her suspicions.

Now, right before their latest auction, two hundred and thirty paladins, Christoph, Isabella and the Divine Paladin included, were about to raid it.

Half would charge in, half would maintain the perimeter.

Had the Sons of Tartarus not lost Sylvan’s intelligence network, they would have known what was coming.

Lawrence, however, didn’t know that; he simply believed that the Sons were arrogant and lax with their security.

“Execute!”

***

“Hey, we need reinforce-!”

The Raven cut down the four guards before they could call for their dead comrades. After freeing the last slaves, Mania conjured her portal before addressing the crowd.

“Ladies and gentlemen, today is the greatest day of your lives. I am Mania and I have come here today to save you all.”

The slaves cautiously listened as children wept into their parent’s arms and some slaves threw up upon seeing the shredded corpses.

“This portal will take you safely to our castle where you will be looked after and protected,” Mania continued. “Right now, this building is under attack by a rival gang and they mean to kill every last one of you.”

Well, I don’t know that for sure. They could be.

“Therefore, I offer you a choice.” She smiled reassuringly. “Either you stay here and die, or come with us and live.”

Hundreds of slaves looked anxiously at the dead guards, then at Mania; they could still hear sounds of battle above them.

One by one, the slaves stepped into Mania’s portal and found themselves in the Dread Keep’s courtyard, where Rebecca, Eva, Hilda, Jessica and her team, the servants, and the Machai were waiting for them.

Rebecca wasn’t sure how many slaves Mania would be bringing back with her, but she was pleasantly surprised.

Mania had rescued hundreds of them.

“My lady,” Eva whispered with a warm smile.

Rebecca smiled back. “I know.”

Thank you, Lord Allaric, Lady Mania.

***

The last slave stepped through Mania’s portal just as the battle started to grow quieter upstairs.

“How many did we get?”

“Eight hundred and ninety-two, Lady Mania.”

“Splendid. The Dark Lord should be quite pleased.” Then, she narrowed her eyes and scanned the desecrated room. “There were definitely no witnesses, right?”

“No, Lady Mania.”

“Good. No point in staying here any longer.”

The two stepped through the portal back to the Dread Keep.

Two minutes later, the Paladins reached the basement and were horrified at what they discovered.

***

After an intense battle, the auction house had been secured.

Most of the guards were dead or wounded, and all the buyers had been arrested.

The Holy Legion and city watch had come to reinforce them, but they had arrived far too late to help in the battle. Instead, Lawrence put them to work cleaning the site, escorting the buyers to prison, and keeping passing citizens away from the site.

He also sent out search parties to check the nearby areas, just in case anyone managed to slip through.

“How many did we lose?”

“Seven dead, fifty-one wounded. No fatal wounds though.”

“Thank Themis.”

“Yeah.” Christoph then leant towards Lawrence and whispered, “You need to see something.”

Christoph led Lawrence down into the basement; the sight left the Divine Paladin speechless.

Corpses soaked in blood were splattered everywhere, but what was more surprising was the broken chains and cells.

“I’m guessing this lot aren’t the slaves we were here to rescue.”

“Don’t seem to be, but we have no idea who did this, my lord.”

“…Christoph.”

“My lord?”

“Who took the slaves?”

***

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please? My name is Rebecca, I am one of the ladies of this castle, and you were saved from the Sons of Tartarus by Lord Allaric. I have no doubt that many of you are confused and scared, especially of the Machai you see around you.”

Mania had ordered them not to scare them, but they were large muscular demons - it was impossible to not be afraid of them.

“Whatever questions or fears you may have, I will do my best to address them all, but for now know this - Lord Allaric wants all of you to live here at his castle, treated as human beings and receive all the food, water and medical care you need. Further, my lord expects that you all work and live here in this castle for the next few months for a generous wage.”

At that, the soft murmurs in the crowd become angrier and much louder.

Just as Lord Allaric predicted, Rebecca thought. Even though he means every word, there’s no way they wouldn’t be suspicious.

“So, your master freed us only to imprison us and do his dirty work?” A muscular man asked.

“No one will be imprisoned,” Rebecca said with a soft smile. “All of you shall receive proper quarters and amenities. No one, and I mean no one, will be held in a cage or chains.”

“Then, why won’t you let us leave?” A woman asked, tears in her eyes. “We have homes, families, people who we need to see. Surely-!”

“If word got out to the Sons of Tartarus that Lord Allaric attacked their auction house and freed hundreds of slaves, what do you think they would do to us and to you?” Rebecca took on a harsher tone to emphasise her point. “Do you think that the Sons would just let any of us here walk away and not come after us? Do you really think they’d let their precious slaves go free and spare the ones who freed them?

“For your safety and ours, Lord Allaric wishes you to remain here and work, earning a wage that you can take back home with you one day. He means you no harm and I assure you that none will ever befall you.”

“How can we trust you?” A middle-aged man asked.

“You might not be able to trust my lady, but perhaps you could trust me?” Eva asked as she stepped forward, putting her hand on her chest. “I am Eva, the Head Maid of this castle and, until Lord Allaric took this castle, I was enslaved, just like all of you. However, it wasn’t just I who was enslaved here; all of the servants currently at this castle used to be in bondage.”

Eva slowly removed the top of her clothes and pulled them down just low enough to display the scar on her left breast, branding her as a slave of the Sons of Tartarus; a grotesque crest of chains wrapped around a person’s neck like a noose.

She fixed her clothing and continued. “If it was not for Lord Allaric, I wouldn’t be alive today, I assure you. I owe him my life and so does every other servant here.”

“…Does your lord really want to keep us safe?”

Eva smiled. “Yes.”

The crowd began to whisper amongst itself as Rebecca and Eva looked on anxiously.

If the slaves refused, Lord Allaric’s orders were to make sure there were no loose ends.

Obviously, neither he nor Rebecca wanted it to end that way but, should it become necessary, the Machai were to slaughter the slaves and Mania would raise them as undead to work the castle.

Rebecca had discussed the idea of a castle town just outside the walls to house the slaves there once Lord Allaric’s empire was formed. However, Lord Allaric said that he’d still have to put restrictions on their movements for fear of leaks about the inner workings of the Dread Keep.

Even with those restrictions, it was the best life Rebecca could offer these hundreds of slaves and, maybe one day, they’d be allowed to leave and return to their normal lives.

Please, take this leap of faith! Rebecca pleaded to the Goddess.

Three people stepped forward out of the crowd, two men and a woman, and they faced Rebecca’s worried gaze.

“How long would we be unable to leave?” The woman asked.

“By Lord Allaric’s estimation, no longer than three months’ time,” Rebecca replied. “You would each be paid for the number of hours you put into working at the castle, as well as receive additional income based on your performance.”

“And you promise to keep us fed and with a roof over our heads?” A man asked.

“We do.”

The two who had spoken looked to the other man who nodded firmly back at them. Then, he reached out his hand to Rebecca with a small smile and said, “Then, we would all be happy to accept Lord Allaric’s offer.”

Rebecca shook his hand, then began issuing orders to Eva, the servants and the Machai, all while Mania watched on with a bemused smile.

“Well done, little one. I think it’s safe to say that you’ve passed the point of no return and are now committed to our master’s cause.”

Strangely, I feel proud of you.

***

The Sons of Tartarus were in complete chaos.

Ever since Ryan and his men had been killed, they’d been repeatedly targeted by whoever was controlling the Great Disaster.

With each passing day, their position grew weaker.

They’d increased security for all of their businesses, but had to reduce the number of jobs they would accept to compensate.

Then, they’d tried to learn who their enemy was, only for more of their men to wind up dead on the streets.

All of that, however, wasn’t as significant of a loss as the auction house had been.

It was the worst day in their history, even more so than their near wipeout several hundred years ago.

Their biggest source of income was gone, hundreds of wealthy clients were arrested, almost a thousand slaves had been lost and the Paladins of all people were targeting them too.

At a hastily called meeting of the six heads, the air was extremely heavy and every leader had brought more than ten guards with them.

“What in the world happened, Gerald?” Yohan, the head of the smuggling division, demanded. “How did they find and raid the auction house?”

“T-that’s what I want to know!” Gerald, the head of the slavery division, yelled back. “I had more than a hundred guards on duty that day, but what in the world were they meant to do against the fucking Paladins? Herakles! You assured me those were experienced guards!”

Herakles looked lazily at Gerald and shrugged. “Experienced soldiers are only as good as the person commanding them. I gave you strong men and you wasted them.” He narrowed his eyes a little. “I hope you’re not trying to push this onto me.”

Gerald shrieked and shrunk back in his chair. “T-then! Are you saying that this is entirely my fault?”

Ewan, the head of trading, couldn’t help but chuckle a little at that statement. “If it isn’t your fault, then, pray tell, whose is it?”

“Whoever it was that sold me out to the Paladins!” Gerald slammed his palms on the table as he leapt up out of his chair. “We’d operated out of that auction house for six years without any problems and now, all of a sudden, it’s uncovered. I don’t believe that to be possible unless someone leaked its location.”

“It was only a matter of time surely? We’ve had to abandon good auction houses before.”

“We haven’t been chased out of them before like this. We’ve usually had warnings from our friend over there, the one whose agents keep popping up dead on the street. I wonder why he didn’t tell us about the attack in advance?”

Sylvan shot daggers at Gerald. “Even though you just answered your own question, it’s evident that I wouldn’t have been able to do that since my information network has all but been deconstructed by our enemy in the shadows. How, pray tell, was I meant to warn you, Gerald?”

“…Are you truly so short on men?” Carlson, the head of the Sons of Tartarus, asked.

Sylvan regretfully nodded. “I’ve barely got enough men to maintain a shaky line of communications within the Sons itself. If I tried to put any of my guys to work elsewhere, they’d probably die.”

“How unfortunate.”

“That said.” Sylvan narrowed his gaze on Gerald once more. “As I understand it, the Kelseys were in attendance at this auction, were they not?”

Gerald flinched and spoke through gritted teeth. “…They were.”

“Then, Carlson, isn’t it possible that they’re the ones who leaked our information to the Paladins?”

“Why would they betray us after we’ve given them so many slaves?” Carlson asked back.

“This is just my theory, boss, but what if the reason the Kelseys haven’t been showing their faces is because they’re the ones working against us? What if they came to the auction house to scout it out and then report back to the Divine Paladin?”

“Do you have any evidence to back that up?”

“Other than all the men I’ve sent to try and investigate Castle Kelsey ending up dead?”

“Other than that.”

“None,” Sylvan said bluntly. “It’s just the conclusion I’ve drawn based on what we know.”

“Regardless!” Yohan interjected angrily. “What in the name of Themis are we going to do now? We’ve lost one of our biggest sources of income and the Paladins are after us.”

“…Well, whatever it is, I’m not having any part in it,” Gerald grumbled.

“Gerald?” Carlson whispered.

“I’m of the same mind,” Ewan added with a thin smile. “Boss, we’ve had a good run, but the Sons are finished. It’s best if we just go back to what we originally were; separate gangs that got along well and nothing more.”

“You’d abandon the Sons after all this time?” Yohan grumbled. “Cowards.”

“Call it cowardice if you must; I call it survival.”

Sylvan shook his head and mumbled, “Fools.”

“Is that your answer then?” Carlson asked.

“It is,” Ewan said confidently.

“O-of course!” Gerald yelled.

“Shame.”

A wet cracking sound echoed followed by the sound of two bodies crumpling to the floor, their skulls caved in.

Ewan and Gerald’s guards hastily retreated against the walls, not daring to draw their weapons out of fear of meeting the same fate.

Herakles, for his part, lazily placed his bloodied club beside his chair and sighed.

“Herakles, I didn’t give you-”

Before Carlson could say anymore, Herakles spoke. “Boss, until we’ve killed whoever the fuck is messing with us in the shadows, I’m taking charge of the Sons.”

“What?!”

Despite Herakles’s shocking statement and Carlson’s outrage, Yohan and Sylvan didn’t move.

Sylvan kept his arms folded while Yohan stared down at his hands, his face as white as a sheet.

“Boss, I might respect you, might even love you like a brother, but I’m not taking no for an answer.”

Carlson sighed.. “...Do what you need to.”

“Would’ve even if you didn’t tell me to.” Herakles spoke loudly to all those gathered. “Listen up. Right now, the Sons of Tartarus are facing the greatest crisis we’ve ever seen, but that doesn’t mean we can’t turn this around and recover.

“First, forget the Paladins. I’m sure they won’t be able to mobilize anymore people to deal with us. If we play it safe, we can avoid them and maybe even kill some of the bastards along the way. Second, the Night’s Eye is gone. I’ve seen to that personally. Third, in regards to our friends who have been screwing with us for months, I have no doubt that the Hierophant is connected to them somehow.

“Therefore, all of our other operations will be scaled back to assign more men to deal with our two biggest threats. We’ll get ready to deal with both the Paladins and the scum at the Hierophant and strike when the time is right. Until then.” Herakles grinned. “Don’t get caught or try to run.”

***

“So, they’re finally making their move?” Mímir asked and Sylvan nodded. “When?”

“I’m not sure, but Herakles is rarely a patient man. He says he wants to wait for the right moment, but, for all I know, that could be tomorrow, a week from now or even in six months’ time.”

“How did the Sons of Tartarus last this long if you’re this disorganised?”

Sylvan laughed. “Lady Mania, we were doing just fine until an unbeatable enemy came into our territory and tore massive holes within the fabrics of our organisation. Still, I don’t care about the Sons anymore. Is there anything else that I can do for you, Lord Mímir, Lady Mania?”

“Not right now. I’ll send for you when we have need of you.”

Sylvan flashed them a bright smile, bowed, then promptly left, escorted by one of Mímir’s Ravens. Once Sylvan was led out of the Hierophant, Mímir finally relaxed.

“Mímir, I know we don’t see eye to eye on most things, but you can’t stand that insect either, right?”

“Fear not. I can’t stand Sylvan any more than you can. However, he still has some use. Like the Dark Lord said, he’s an expendable link for us to cut off whenever we need to. Don’t worry, I won’t let someone who would so easily abandon their comrades serve under his majesty.”

“If he manages to survive the fall of Themis, can I be the one to kill him?”

“Be my guest.”