Chapter 21: Taking Over

The rest of the situation was completed with ease. The group of women took the lives of the bandits they saw, without hesitation.

Sneaking into the rooms and silently killing those that were sleeping. The group split into two. One going to make sure they dealt with all the men in the stronghold, the other looking for treasure in the areas dug out under the houses.

The group searching for treasure followed a stair case down, which led to the dungeon, the mocking noises and women's screams didn't phase the group, it was already expected that there would be victims that had been kidnapped by the bandits.

When the women came down, they saw a small number of bandits. A few were sitting at a table drinking and laughing. Watching their companions raping the women in the cage.

Their were many more women huddled up in the corners of the cage. Not daring to face the unlucky ones that had been chosen by the men.

The smell invaded the nostrils of the small group, making them frown with disgust. They quickly chose their targets and attacked, taking their lives with great precision.

The few men in the cage hadn't even been able to understand the situation before a dagger had ended them.

Their bodies fell down, naked from the waist down. The women that were currently being forced by them, looked back at their corpses not even thinking of screaming. Instead their eyes were filled with hatred and joy.

The small group didn't bother talking with the captured women, instead seeing as there wasn't anything of value in the dungeon, they left back up the stairs, preparing to check the next house.

Eina followed the first group with Elena, searching for any surviving bandits. The group slowly made their way through the stronghold, reaping lives wherever they went.

The unnatural silence made the leader of the bandits feel oppressed. He knew something was wrong, so he quickly gathered up the men around him and went outside.

A breeze rushed through the night, causing the men to shiver, their eyes searching in the darkness. Hoping to see a figure hiding there.

Eina could tell that the leader was a martial artist, but she didn't take him seriously. Seeing as they hadn't moved from their position, Eina appeared in front of the leader and swung her dagger towards him.

The leader had sharp instincts and quickly dodged back, swinging his axe towards this unknown assassin.

The men around heard the commotion and turned towards the masked figure attacking their leader, they intended to attack together, but more people appeared behind them as soon as they turned around, harvesting their lives with ease.

Eina saw that the women had dealt with the rabble, so she no longer wanted to play around with a man this weak. Watching the axe swing down, she casually dodged forward, closing the gap between the two, the with a swing of her arm, so quick that no one else could follow; the head of the leader fell from his neck.

Without the support of his brain, the leaders body fell to the ground limply. Contorting in a way that made the experienced killers want to retch.

After a while, the two groups reunited. The second group mentioned that the bandits had a treasure house, so the group went to see.

The treasure house of the bandits was actually quite large. With connections to the gentry and the officials of the city, they were wanton in their attacks on merchant caravans.

Boxes of gold and silver were piled carelessly throughout the room. Artwork, such as paintings and calligraphy were strewn about, as well as piles of iron and salt.

One of the maids came into the room, saying that there were many carts nearby, but Elena had another idea.

She knew that even if she disagreed, Eina was going to leave. Regardless of the dark thoughts that were slowly growing in her heart, she knew that she didn't have the ability to keep her. But Eina was definitely going to deal with the brothel. Without the brothel, Elena needed a place she could call her own. A place for her own force to stay while she went back to the capital. If she took too many people with her, she'd undoubtedly arouse the suspicion of her mother.

So looking at this treasure house, as well as the well crafted stronghold, she decided that this place would be hers from now on.

She told her decision to the maids. After Eina dealt with the brothel, she'd bring over the rest of her maids that were keeping up appearances in the brothel. With twenty of her own personal killers, she'd take two back to the capital with her, and leave the rest here to do things she needed.

The sound of messy footsteps alerted the group inside, the first group drew their daggers, before one of the killers from the second group spoke, "That's probably the women we found in the dungeon".

The truth was exactly that, a group of dishevelled women huddled together, slowly walking through the stronghold, seeing the various corpses that were laid out on the ground, the women's faces were filled with ugly smiles.

Smiles that were clearly on the verge of crying. Biting their lips so as not to let out any noise, just in case they brought attention to the group of killers that were dealing with the bandits.

It wasn't until they saw the head of the leader, that a rush of ecstasy went through them. To the captured women, it was the leader of the bandits that was the most powerful in their eyes. Now seeing his head laying next to his body, a look of astonishment forever fixed on his face, the women let out hoarse, self deprecating laughter.

The group of captured women saw the lights flickering from a certain house, noticing the gazes of many masked killers inside, they walked over fearlessly. When they reached a few metres away from the entrance to the house, the women regardless of how little clothing they had, got onto their knees, and bowed their heads until it rested on the ground.

Elena saw these women, perhaps it was her sympathy for her sex, she said softly "It's cold outside, come in and warm up".

The women heard the voice of one of their saviours, they all quickly stood up and walked inside. They kept whispering "thank you" to all the killers they passed. Huddling together in the room, the warmth brought by the flickering torches, as well as the twelve fully clothed killers made them feel safe.

The addition of the thirty women, made the space in the room much smaller, but no one complained.