The atmosphere within the dining area had completely shifted from calm and relaxing to deadly and vicious.
Everyone's gazes were focused on the four masked individuals in brown attire that that were spotted on the pillars that held up the roof. From their figures alone one could tell they were all women.
The four of them exchanged glances before giving each other nods then facing their opponents on the room below.
Aron made no abrupt moves while Jin and Jagu followed suit. He wanted to see how they'd react and what they'd do next.
Much to his surprise three of them jumped down while one rushed out through a window high up near the ceiling. Seeing this Jagu was about to pursue but Aron raised his hand and gestured him to stop.
"Don't bother, she's probably going to report these events to whoever sent them. That works in our favor." Aron turned to Jagu and explained causing him to shift his attention to one of the three masked weapon who all held out curved daggers and had battle stances ready but didn't attack first.
They were clearly cornered but still didn't attack first, Aron could take a few guesses as to why but he couldn't know for sure.
"Suppress them but don't kill... yet atleast. The rest of you block off all the entrances." Aron muttered in a low tone before starting to step forward. His words were clearly directed at Jagu and Jin who followed suit while the other members present including Claudia rushed to cover the exist.
She was largely still confused as to what was happening but Aron seemed sure of his actions so she could only follow.
"We don't wish to do battle with you." One of the masked women tightened her grip on the blade she held and announced causing Aron to raise a brow towards her. "Then will you tell me who sent you and why?" Aron replied but she gave no answer. Underneath the mask she bit her cherry lip while her heart rate began to increase. She didn't think the situation would deteriorate so far.
"No? Then I have no choice." Aron muttered in a calm tone then in the next moment his figure appeared before her and his large hand gripped her by the front of the face before slamming her to the ground with tremendous force.
The neat wooden floor under them broke from the pressure and left everyone stunned. The victim of the attack felt the air rush out of her body while she coughed out bits of blood mixed into her saliva.
Her body trembled and she felt an aching pain everywhere from the sudden shock. Her companions didn't have time to understand what just happened so they quickly tried to rush to her side.
However one found a large figure block her path, forcing her to step back.
Boom!
Once again the floor shattered but this time under Jagu's enormous weight as he had jumped from his position to that of the masked woman.
He growled at her and raised his hand while releasing his claws. Panic rose in the woman's mind but it was the same for the other one.
She didn't even try to reach her companion who suddenly got pinned down by Aron and directly faced Jin who she was worried would also surprise her with a burst of speed.
However he didn't move from his position but instead threw up a bottle into the air before kicking it in her direction. She panicked and quickly dodged but another one came flying towards her just as fast.
Her stance broke as she barely dodged it and Jin used this as a chance to close the distance between them.
She was off balance but she still tried to attack him with a stab however he quickly struck her by the wrist and she found herself unable to hold the dagger anymore. It dropped from her hands and she quickly jumped back while holding her right hand by the wrist which now felt numb.
"You're a fast one." Jin whistled and smiled towards completely relaxed. None of them had even drawn their weapons yet her and her companions were completely at a loss.
It was clear anymore fighting would be a needless struggle where one of them may be gravely injured.
'What do I do.' This thought ran across the mind of the woman facing Jin but before she could reach a conclusion she heard a clang sound from her right.
A little further away from them the woman facing Jagu had dropped her weapon and raised her hands in defeat. "We surrender."
It seemed she too shared in her companions worries and saw this was a losing battle. Jagu growled in irritation as his lust for battle had just began to rise but he still turned to Aron along with Jin to see how he'd react to this.
Aron took a deep breath and and breathed out slowly, it felt as if his aura was receding as the glow in his eyes faded before he released his hold on the woman's face and stood up. "We'll end there then."
Claudia who watched from afar felt a great weight lifted off her shoulders, in her mind she had already began to think of the worst case scenarios where they might go to war with imperial family of Findel.
'Does she not hear this commotion?' Claudia looked up to the second floor and wandered if Lady Rose was purposefully just ignoring the situation. Looking at Evanora who was still seated eating even in this situation, it seemed entirely possible.
"Thank you." One of the masked women muttered as they both rushed to aid their fallen companion near Aron. She was attacked before she could use mana to strengthen herself so the damage was all the more apparent.
Jagu growled in irritation and said no words as he just stormed out of the building. In his clan, all disputes were settled with fists. This whole idea of using words and being careful was very much irritating to the battle maniac who wished to battle and gain experience.
No one stopped Jagu from doing so and just got out of his way. Jin on the other hand walked over to Aron's side and the two faced the three women together. "Speak." Aron's shattered the momentary relief they felt but one woman closed her fists and approached Aron still to speak.
"Sister don't!" The woman tending to the fallen one pleaded but was ignored. "If I don't do this we may all lose our lives, forgive me sisters but I'll be taking responsibility today." The woman expressed in a lovely voice with a thick northern accent.
Aron didn't disturb their exchange of words nor did he show any sentiment. He simply watched and waited for her to speak.
"We aren't servants of the imperial family, we belong to the "Aramil Alsahra" and were simply hired to monitor you and report back our findings to the Fourth Imperial Prince. As to why we don-" Suddenly the woman was unable to speak any longer coughed out a large amount of blood that stained the veil she wore before she fell to the ground.... lifeless.
The woman who watched this showed a pained expression and muttered. "Find Salam dear sister."
"Aramil Alsahra?" Aron repeated the word with curiosity but this time it was Jin who answered. "A formerly famous organization of assassins that dates back ages, however during the war with Aethel Empire they were practically wiped out. I heard the remnants retreated in the north and still carried out minor operations. Didn't think they had ties to Findel Imperial family."
"They were notorious for breeding the best assassins the continent had to offer, as for her she probably broke her oath by telling you information so her runic life seal caused her death. I'm surprised they're capable of something so intricate." Jin explained what he knew to Aron before turning to the lifeless corpse.
Aron already knew of the Runic Life Seals and they came in many forms. They essentially prevented the holder from breaking certain laws placed upon them, if they did like the name suggests they'd die.
As for why Jin was surprised, it's simply because of the complexity behind Runic Life Seals. When drawing the runes, one had to precisely dictate which laws the seal fell under while carefully pouring their will into the rune as they constructed it.
Drawing runes was a daunting task on its own that required great willpower, a strong mentality, large amounts of mana and extremely steady hands. One small mistake and ones work would completely fail, such is the reason very few mages dedicated their lives to this category of mana application.
"I've heard they had ties to the old Era, perhaps their knowledge in Runic Life Seals stems from there." Claudia barged into the conversation and added before looking at the woman still alive and the one who was unconscious. "What will you do with them?" She then turned to Aron and asked.
"Use them as bait and wait. If that breeds no results then we'll kill them." Aron coldly answered causing Claudia to look at the women with slight pity.
"That won't be necessary!" A voice had rang out from behind capturing everyone's attention.
A well dressed man that looked to be in his late early twenties had burst into the room with numerous guards in toll and a hooded woman beside him. Just from his attire and jewelry that adorned his figure one could tell he was an important person.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l