Perfect Balance

"East… Territory?" Ramsey couldn't help but muttered in a shocked tone as he slightly jolted back from his place.

East Territory is located in the center of the Underworld where other territories from different overlords are established, respectively North, West, and South. This is the kingdom of each four overlords where their reputation was its highest.

And what belongs to the east, belongs to the overlord of the east. Yet that doesn't mean that the other overlord couldn't take the business that the others had that stretches on their territory.

They could as long as they are not touching the borders of each of their territory.

That's why the Underworld is called a world and not an underground city since it is just vast. It is already a world itself and there are even territories or kingdoms being ruled by four overlords existing in it.

"And, you are asking us to do your bidding?"

"Ask? That's funny, I said nothing of the sort. What I want you to do is work for it or you'll regret it."

"Regret what? That Jezta died at some place in the Underworld? Why don't I just tell the person behind the scenes everything? That's the thing you'll regret definitely."

Duke directly stared at Jezta, "Then, tell it."

"…"

'I see… this confirmed me something.' Duke mused inwardly while nodding, "You can't right? Because you realized that while making a deal with this person, you knew this was outside of your league. Let's say, above you but not on the same terms as the overlord."

Ramsey gulped nervously as he expressed distressingly, "Just who the hell am I even dealing with? You are trying to control us by using Jezta's death while also not disrupting the situation that might attract both the person behind the scenes and the overlord. A perfectly balanced and calculated plan."

If one collapses, so does the other. Hence to make everything stable, there should be one foundation that holds them all.

Who was in the middle of these matters?

'Us.' 

And who will take the downfall if these collapses?

'Still us.'

But who would maintain these matters?

'Once again us.' 

Ramsey shivered for a moment while thinking how he got caught by Duke's trap, but there was still something missing about everything.

How did they get caught in the first place?

"You must be getting the gist of how this is turning so let me remind you again, who is the person behind the scenes?"

Unable to see any loopholes in this foolproof plan, and even if it had, Ramsey realized that the person on his front had already accounted for it and didn't mind if he used it.

And if he does use it, he knows he was just digging deeper into his grave.

With a sigh, Ramsey gave information that he had on his side, "To tell you, I don't have any information regarding this guy. Obviously, this is a person. And it's also our first meeting on our first dealing. His name, originality, and background are unknown to me but he had an alias. He told this to me when he made a deal with the sign of the Overlord on his papers."

He contemplated for a moment and reluctantly spoke, "He calls himself Father. I don't know his face since he was wearing a mask at that time, but I'm sure he's a man."

…

In the end, he explained everything he had known to the person behind the scenes named Father. By the looks of it, he didn't know whether it was Holton's real father, a father like a priest, or a father of any sort.

It was just a complete alias, that's all.

Right now, he was signing half of his properties and naming them on a piece of paper while talking to his group about what to give.

I realized that giving just a stick would do me no good. Yes, half of his properties will be taken but in exchange for keeping this a secret which might produce more problems for him in the future if exposed, it's better not to take them all.

Until it was time obviously.

"Your real business is giving protection, right? And one of the best at that."

While looking at him signing the paper with a desk that one of his members grabbed, Ramsey scoffed.

"Yeah, until this happened. Different high organizations might try to attack me once they sniff the news. Just because I'm under an overlord doesn't mean he'll help me. Unless another overlord might try to take interest in my organization that is."

"Ah, is that so? Not my problem." 

Wait, you know what…

"Actually, that might be for the better."

"Pff, hahahaha!" 

On the side, Aquama looked at his boss after laughing hoarsely before joking mockingly, "It's my first time seeing you reduced to this state, Sey. And I must say, it's quite a spectacle."

"I'll beat you to a pulp later!"

Watching them both bickering as Aquama teased Ramsey, who was angrily writing down the properties he could give, another conclusion appeared in my mind.

'So Ramsey is the leader while Aquama is the vice leader, huh? And the other six are the other main members of the organization.'

Understanding the ranks and individuals on my front, I waited for Ramsey to finish his job, grabbed the piece of paper once he signed, and presented something to them.

"Do you know how I've managed to trap you?"

It's time for them the carrot, to at least lessen the anger they were feeling.

"Someone amongst your people is a traitor. Well, a low associate of yours, not a member." I paused, "And currently, he's waiting in his room for the good news." 

As they said, everything has to be perfectly balanced.

I'll hand over the insider to ease their resentment at me and… it's up to them how they want to handle it.

"Do you want to see him? Of course, after we make the contract and all." 

…

In a quiet room, the insider who was feeling nervous for a few hours after the infiltration can't help but feel eerie since there's no sound coming from the outside.

In the span of those hours, he didn't dare to go out and just waited, for either the main group to check if there were any survivors or the people that called Fallen Angels.

And finally, the time has come to see since he heard a knock coming from the door.

"it's us."

Gulping a mouthful of saliva down his throat, the insider it realized it was the same voice of the woman from the Fallen Angels.

'They actually succeeded!?'

With a crazed smile, the insider happily walked through his doorsteps, his mind full of bliss, 'Does that mean I own this organization now!? Hah, so fucking easy!'

Anticipation got over him that he forgot his usual carefulness as right after he opened the door, the thrill that plastered on his face diminished, replacing it with utter fear.

On his front was Ramsey with Aquama, alongside the other members, on his side. All except Aquama was nonchalant about the insider, but his eyes were cold and full of dread.

Even he couldn't withstand this humiliation, even though he appeared insouciant about everything.

"So, this is the guy? I don't recall who this is…" Ramsey clenched his fist while lunging forward, cutting the insider's right arm, "But it didn't matter."

"A-ah…"

Seeing his arm had fallen off, he looked at the Duke and the others and shouted while stepping back as far as he could.

"Help me!"

Duke silently lingered before stepping aside. The Weize family waved the insider a mocking wave, already thinking about the worst situation that could happen from the traitor.

Aquama waved a bunch of letters on his hands and laughed, "Taking over us? Do you even hear how insane that sounds? A mere guy, like you, really?" 

He stopped laughing and continued, "But thanks to this, we can take the other business that you made a deal with. We might've lost a lot but we're going to gain everything back eventually."

"No… no… no…!"

The insider looked at the Duke who was silently staring at him amidst the crowd and shouted with a depressed voice

"They are the Fallen Angels that are destroying the organizations in the Underworld! You have to believe me! They are toying with us! I don't have any choice! They have shreds of evidence!"

Ramsey replied, "And you do realize that if you don't make these dealings in the first place, they will not direct our attention to us. Well, our luck is not on our side since Jezta happens to be on our side. But it doesn't matter now. What happens happened."

He approached the insider in a slow manner.

"And they already said they are that organization. What makes the difference?"

What came next didn't bother the trio as they left the place they were in while the group did what they wanted to the insider.

As to what horrors the traitor will face on his own, the three had a general idea but one thing's for certain.

He's going to face an insufferable amount of torture from them.