A man clad completely from head to toe in black rang a small whistle.
A squadron of assassins dressed like him crept like a legion of shadows near a heavily guarded building.
One of the assassins took out a savage core and turned into a savage. He looked like a green koala. He let out a growl and the whole army of assassins turned invisible.
Two guards patrolled the gates.
"Ehhh, it is so dark outside today. Even with all these lights in the area, it's difficult to see properly in the dark."
"Shut up. I am already tired. I don't want to hear your ramblings as well."
A black-tipped dart hit one of the guards' necks. He fell before he could raise an alarm due to the poison on the dart.
The other guard's mouth was suddenly muffled by a rough hand and before he could do anything he was stabbed in the neck.
"Clear the perimeter for other guards. The EMP bomb will last only for 15 more minutes before we will be caught by the surveillance."
They broke into the building by cutting a hole. The guards inside were quickly taken out.
Finally, a guard was able to pull the alarm. To his surprise, the alarm did not activate.
One of the assassins laughed and cut off his neck. They made their way to the top floor in 5 minutes.
An old man sat there in a blue robe. He was old and weak-looking.
"Ohh, what do we have here? Assassins sent after a weak man waiting to embrace death."
He laughed slightly.
The leader of the assassins said, "Mr. Faulkner, we are not here to kill you. We just want the location of Warmonger and her access code and you will be left alone."
The leader raised a dagger while saying so.
"Just to know that you killed all those guards. You have no regard for human lives. Who am I kidding? I do not have any regard for human life either."
The old man laughed viciously as he held a savage core in his hand. He used the core and transformed into a savage.
His skin turned yellow as fur started to envelop his body and he grew to a towering 10 feet in height. Fangs protruded from his mouth and his eyes turned golden.
The yellow fur was not fur. In fact, those were yellow flames covering his body. His face turned ape-like.
Fear enveloped all the assassins as the old man had used a greater tier-3 savage's core.
They all charged at him knowing that they would not be able to defeat him alone. Everyone used the cores they had, turning into savages.
"Parlor tricks won't work on me." He roared in a booming rough voice.
He destroyed the nearest assassin completely by crushing his skull.
He roared again and let out a fiery breath covering the entire room in flames.
The assassins screamed as they were all just tier-1 minor savages.
The leader alone was a tier-1 greater savage. He threw darts of poison as he had turned into a purple porcupine-like savage.
The darts had no effect on the old man as punched the leader sending him flying. One of his arms dangled at an impossible angle as he groaned in pain.
"You wanted to know about Warmonger. Well, the answer is that she no longer serves the Faulkner household. She is gone."
The leader's eyes widened in shock.
'No wonder Warmonger had not made any public appearances for 3 months. I must report this to the chairman.'
The leader did not feel any pain due to the numbing agent he had used. He emitted a special blinding poison fog to escape.
"Hah, you bastard. You think you can escape from me using this fog."
The old man clapped his hands with such speed and power that the fog dispersed. The leader of the assassins had already disappeared by then.
Only the corpses of the rest of the assassins lay in the burning room. The old man laughed again.
"Looks like things are starting to get fun now."
Edoran and Harold finished loading the anteater and got into the ORV.
"Let's go to the market. I will also come along with you."
Harold nodded. They traveled in the ORV again with the anteater corpse in the back.
They soon reached a lavish district. Harold parked the ORV in front of a large building with a sign written as, 'THE MARKET'.
"Edoran, bring the anteater. I have to show my credentials first before we can enter this place."
As both of them were verified of their identities and as they stepped inside, Edoran gasped with surprise.
The Market being impressively modern and large was an understatement. It was as big as a city on the inside even though it only looked like a building on the outside.
"Welcome. What would you like to do today?"
A middle-aged man, obviously a homunculus with neat hair and in a grey suit bowed low to them. A black tattoo surrounded his neck similar to the one Edoran had.
"I would like to sell a lesser savage at Gilmond Barter House."
"Ah, yes, the Gilmond Barter House, right this way, sir."
He led them to a warehouse-like place with corpses of savages being transported into and out of it.
"Hey, if it is not Master Harold?" A man with red hair in a bun called out to Harold.
"Desmond, how is your father? I heard he got ill last week."
"He is strong as usual. I see you have a blood anteater corpse, eh? Not bad for the first savage you hunted. Is that your reverberator beside you? The one just like Warmonger."
"Oh yes. This is Edoran. His core output really is 100%. Let's talk business now. I want 90% of the market value for this anteater. It is quite fresh and its tongue is completely intact."
"Ehh. 90%! Are you serious? I would not take a blood anteater for more than 60% for normal customers even when it has not been hurt at all. It's not that strong or useful. Its tongue acid can be easily outmaneuvered by many better savages."
"How about 80%?"
"No way, I would still get massively ripped off."
"70% along with one bottle of the tongue acid."
Desmond thought hesitantly. Then he sighed and agreed.
"My father will gut me for this. You better owe me one."
Harold laughed and said, "Sure thing, buddy."
The transfer of money was made and Edoran saw Desmond call in three homunculi to dissect the anteater completely.
The tongue burned one of the homunculi but he could only wince in pain and continue working. Edoran felt uneasy watching the scene.
Desmond handed Harold money and a bottle of the red tongue acid in a material that could counter its reaction.
"You better treat me to a meal after getting some more savages for ripping me off like this."
Harold waved him goodbye and they left the warehouse.
"I already created a savings account for you. 10% of what I earned now will go to your account by this evening."
"How much is that exactly?"
"Around 4000 credits."
Edoran was baffled.
'That sounds like a lot of money.'
"I know you are thinking that you earned a lot but that much money is barely enough for groceries and rent in a small inn for around 2 months."
'That is less money for you! Entitled kid.'
Edoran smiled while thinking about that. He saw a man stagger in an alley on the side. His body was covered in black clothes and he had only one arm.
The man saw Harold and went into a fury. He was the leader of the assassins.
'It is the spawn of that damn monster. My body is half destroyed because of him. Let's see how he would like to see his spawn writhing in pain.'
His mind had broken apart due to the numbing agent wearing off. He was panting and groaning in misery.
He charged towards Harold with a dagger. With a quick chop to the neck from Edoran he fell unconscious.
"Whoa. Who is this dude?"
"I have no idea. It is the first time I am seeing him."
Suddenly, boils started developing all over the man's body. They grew in size pulsating and emitting a nasty smell.
"RUN!" Harold screamed as Edoran transformed into a grasshopper-like savage which he had killed and scooped Harold up.
He dashed away from the man. But time was already up, the man exploded into a shockwave throwing both of them.
They barely escaped the main explosion and were only affected by the aftershock. Edoran's back was bleeding a bit otherwise he was okay.
'Damn. Who is this dude? He just exploded out of nowhere.'
"Edoran, you alright?"
"Huh, oh yeah, yes."
Edoran's ears were ringing from the explosion as he looked at the remains of the man's corpse.
"Bloody hell."