Stifled Captain

Once the battles were done, it was time to start the next part of the plan.

I stepped across space and appeared before Marana and Akilah.

"Withdraw. Return to the headquarters and wait for me there." I ordered.

"Understood," Marana replied without hesitation and ordered the men of Eternity's Fang to retreat.

As someone who knows of my plan, Marana knew that the next part was the most dangerous. Now, we needed to face the retaliation of the Imperial Family and the three great families.

And the Imperial Family would be the first to move.

If we failed to overcome this part, the Red Skull Gang would become history.

Marana did not know what I was relying on for this part of the plan. She only knew I have some kind of plan.

As for Akilah, although she did not understand the situation either, she followed my orders obediently.

I stepped across space and gave the same orders to Raven's group. Then, I stepped across space again, this time appearing in front of Evelyn.

"It's time to withdraw," I said to Evelyn.

Evelyn nodded before putting on a concerned expression.

"Are you sure you don't need the support of the Institute for the next part?"

I shook my head with a smile. "No. Nobody can know the imperial institute is related to this. Otherwise, some people will suspect it's related to Dina and me."

Seeing that Evelyn was still worried, I combed her hair softly and kissed her lips.

"Don't worry, I have already everything planned. Just go back to the Institute and help me with the stuff related to the seeds."

Evelyn stared at me briefly before sighing.

"Okay, I'll trust you." Then, she ordered the teachers and students of the Imperial Institute to withdraw.

Before leaving, she shot me one last complicated gaze and mouthed two words.

'Be careful.'

I grinned. This worrywart.

As someone aware of part of my strength, she should know I'm not in danger.

Shaking my head, I watched the men of the institute withdraw. They relied on Evelyn's teleportation to disappear from the city and return to the institute.

As for Eternity's Fangs, their withdrawal was quite fast too.

Although they did not have anyone to teleport them (Ysnay and I could, but we did not want), they showed the discipline and strength of an elite team. They used the shadows of the night to blend in the darkness and return to the headquarters of the gang silently.

Moreover, they took the corpses of their enemies with them, cleaning the scene of the crime. This was something necessary to avoid future problems.

In less than half an hour, more than 250 men had returned to the gang.

Meanwhile, Ysnay and I remained in the air.

Not much after my men withdrew, the Imperial Guards appeared on the headquarters of the Blue Wings Society.

But when their captain saw the state of their headquarters, his expression turned ugly.

"Dammit!"

A crumbled building, broken debris, and signs of destruction all around.

Although the Imperial Guards were unable to find any bodies, the plentiful stains of blood were enough to know that a slaughter had happened here.

"Captain, what should we do?" An Imperial guard asked.

Captain Gustav gritted his teeth and pointed to five of his imperial guards.

"Five of you stay here and search for survivors. The rest of you, come with me!"

"Where are we going?"

"The Red Skull Gang. They need to know that there are some people they can't touch."

"""Understood."""

Immediately, more than three hundred imperial guards started to march in direction of the Red Skull Gang.

The Imperial Guards formed an intimidating sight. Their perfectly synchronized footsteps resounded in the sleeping city telling the citizens that someone was going to suffer tonight.

But when they were about to reach the Red Skull Gang's headquarters, they found a man and a woman standing in the middle of the road with their back towards them.

The man had red hair and a long black coat wrapped around his body. Moreover, his body was emitting a powerful and intimidating aura.

As for the woman, her beauty was such that it was impossible to describe.

These two people were Ysnay and me.

The captain stopped instinctively. After all, this image was strikingly similar to what happened just a few minutes ago when he met Alice.

A bad feeling instantly hit him.

"… Who are you?" Captain Gustav asked intimidatingly.

Ysnay and I turned around and smiled towards him.

"Nice to meet you, captain. You can call me Clark, and I'm the current leader of the Red Skull Gang. The woman beside me is my servant." I spoke up leisurely.

"… The Red Skull Gang, huh. It looks like you were waiting for us here." The captain said while narrowing his eyes.

"Of course." I nodded and smiled. "Nobody else would use this path in the middle of the night, right?"

"Hmph!" The captain grunted. "Just say what you want to say, filthy criminal. Stop wasting my time."

I raised an eyebrow. "Criminal? Since when am I a criminal?"

"Since the moment you ordered your men to attack the Blue Wings Society. For the deaths of these hundreds of people, I'll make you pay!"

Woah, this guy looks serious.

I could not help but let out a soft chuckle and shook my head when I heard him.

"The Imperial Army doesn't interfere with the affairs of the underground, captain. Why are you interfering now?"

"I don't need to give you explanations, young man. Now, will you resist? Or will you come with us peacefully? I promise you that if you resist, the result will not be likable."

I chuckled again. But this time, I narrowed my eyes.

"Listen, Captain. I don't think you are qualified to arrest me."

"Is it so…? I don't know your background, young man. But nobody is above the rule of the Imperial Family! Men arrest him!"

But before his voice could fade, a soft and peaceful voice came from behind him.

"You are mistaken, captain. WE ARE above the rule of the Imperial Family."

Captain Gustav was surprised. Instinctively, he turned around in direction of the new voice.

There, he saw a beautiful woman in a white habit walking towards him.

"S-Saintess!"

"Go back, captain," Safelia said indifferently. "Mr. Clark is someone related to our church, and his actions tonight have our tacit agreement. He is not someone you can touch."

"You... DO you think I'll leave just like this? I need at least an explanation!" Captain Gustav growled.

But Safelia squinted and glared at him indifferently. "No, captain. You don't need an explanation. And I'm not going to give you one either. Return with your men now and forget about this. As for tonight's situation, our church will give the emperor a satisfactory answer tomorrow."

The captain fell silent. Inwardly, though, he was furious.

He had never been treated with such disdain.

However, he knew there was nothing he could do.

He was not silly enough to go against the church of order.

Therefore, he glared at Safelia for a few seconds before unwillingly ordering his men to retreat.

Before leaving, though, he glared towards me with a chilling gaze, as though telling me this was not finished.

I just smiled gently and waved my hand in farewell.

Poor captain, he was forced to bear with two humiliations on the same night.

He must be feeling stifled.

I shook my head in amusement and looked at the beautiful saintess.

"Miss Safelia, glad to see you again. You are as beautiful as always."

"Shut up," Safelia said coldly. "I'm not here because I want it. I'm just following the will of my mother goddess."

This girl... Still so cold towards me.

And I even thought our relationship had improved.

With an amused smile, I teleported in front of her, lifting her chin and planting a kiss on her lips before she could react.

Safelia was startled. One second later, she pushed me away and glared at me in anger.

"You… What are you doing!?��

"Well, repaying you for your help."

"Damn bastard… I'm leaving! I don't want to see you for even one second more."

I shrugged with an amused smile.

For an instant, I thought of taking her here and now, but I already have plans for tonight, so I can only watch her leave.

Ysnay looked at me and grinned seductively. "Hey Willian, I was also a saintess once. If you want, I can replace her."

I rolled my eyes. Good try, witch. But I'm not going to fall in your claws so easily.

With a wry smile, I shook my head and moved across space, returning to the headquarters of the Red Skull Gang.