Chapter 27: Enter the Lionman!

Lucian dropped Hornby to the ground allowing him to catch his breath.

"Alright... I'll tell you everything I know about Lord Gilbert Gorestar. But after that, I'm out of here." He said, clearing his throat.

"That's fine."

Hornby looked at Lucian and could see the fierce determination in his eyes.

"You really aren't going to let this go are you?" He said.

Lucian shook his head.

"I'll make him pay for what he has done to me and my friend."

Hornby sighed.

"Alright then." He said as he got comfy.

"The Gorestar family are the biggest criminal organization in Dragonfront. They own everything, and I mean everything. They control the slave trade, the monster trade. They have control over the drugs that come in and out, hell they even control the sex trafficking. But worst of all, they run the pits..." Hornby said, doing his best to explain everything.

"What are the pits?" Lucian asked, not really knowing what they were.

"The pits are the largest underground fights in the empire. The rich and powerful literally pit slaves, monsters and whatever the hell else they want in brutal deathmatches." Hornby said.

"trust me, it's not somewhere you want to end up." He then added.

Lucian nodded in understanding.

"If it's all illegal, then why haven't the guards done anything about it?" Lucian then said.

"What are you an idiot?" Hornby said.

"That's because the Gorestar family pay off the lords and nobles so that they turn a blind eye. I wouldn't be surprised if they were in on it anyway. It's like I said. The Gorestar family are untouchable here in Dragonfront."

Lucian had heard enough.

"Do you know where he lives?"

Hornby gave Lucian a funny look.

"Are you kidding? They live in one of the biggest mansions here in Dragonfront, filled with his own personal army of guards, like the ones who were trying to take us to the pits."

Lucian gave Hornby a hard look.

"Tell me where."

Hornby almost flinched, but soon gave in.

"Look I dont know what your planning on doing but it's your funeral. His estate is in the upper-class part of town. Trust me you can't miss it." Hornby said as he watched Lucian start walking towards the exit of the ally.

"Hold on, are you really going there!" He shouted after him.

Lucian didn't even turn to face him as he spoke.

"I am, but first I need to do something else." He said, turning onto the street.

Hornby watched as Lucian disappeared from sight and then swore to himself.

"By Ises! This guy is going to be the death of me!" He said as he ran after Lucian.

"Hey wait up!" He shouted after him as he caught up.

Lucian was walking at a pretty fast rate, pushing past anyone that got in his way.

"Look," Horby said as he jogged by his side in order to keep up with him.

"I know we didn't start on the right foot and all, but you saved my life. I can't just let you waltz in there alone." Hornby said, trying to sound brave.

Lucian didn't bother looking at him as he gave his reply.

"I dont need your help." He then said before he stopped.

Hornby looked around and realized they were at one of the monster trading shops that Lord Gilbert owned.

"Well like it or not, I can't let you do this alone!" Hornby shouted, finally getting Lucian's attention.

"Look, if you want to help that's fine. Just dont get in my way." Lucian said before he looked back to the shop and opened the door.

Hornby sighed.

"By the Gods, I really am going to die at this rate."

Lucian opened the shop door and walked in to see two men who were going about their business inside the shop.

"Hello sir, how may I help you today?" One of them asked as he approached Lucian and Hornby.

Lucian suddenly grabbed the man by the throat and lifted him into thr air with just one hand.

"Where is Gilbert?" He asked in a calm voice, holding the man above the ground as his legs kicked around.

Lucian then noticed the other man went to reach for something behind the desk.

"I dont think so!" Hornby shouted as he shot a water bullet at him, knocking him back against the wall unconscious.

"I'll ask once more. Where is your master." Lucian said, squeezing a little tighter.

"H-H-He's N-Not H-ere!" The man shouted best he could with Lucian's hand around his neck.

Lucian had run out of kindness and crushed the man's throat in his hand, dropping his lifeless body to the ground.

Even Hornby felt a little cold about it, but he decided to hold his tongue on the matter.

"So he's not here, now what?" Hornby said as he looked around.

Lucian walked over to the desk and routed around until he found the button to open the secret door that would lead them to the underground basement.

"Wait, how did you know that was there?" Hornby asked.

"Because I've been here before," Lucian replied as he walked into the passageway.

The hallway had remained the same as before, with its nice carpet and decorative wallpaper. Hornby couldn't help but whistle as he was impressed.

"Even the creepy secret hallway is nicer than most peoples houses," Hornby said, taking a good look at the carpet and wallpaper.

They soon came to the end of the hallway, being greeted by the large warehouse that lay at the end.

Lucian could see the crates that lined the walls, all filled with monsters and demi-human slaves.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Hornby said as he took in the sight.

It wasn't long before some of the guards noticed that Lucian and Hornby were stood at the top of the stairs.

"H-Hey, who the hell are you!" One of them shouted as he eyed them both.

"Well, that didn't take long," Hornby said shrugging his shoulders.

"We have intruders inside the warehouse!" Another of the guards shouted.

Lucian counted at least 12 guards that were currently inside the warehouse. He couldn't see their rankings from this distance, but judging from their basic appearance like the others, they wouldn't be much trouble.

"Get them!" One of them shouted.

Hornby looked at Lucian and then back to the guards.

"So was this your plan?"

Lucian smiled as he pulled his war hammer free from its clasp.

"I never had a plan." He said before he jumped, clearing all of the stairs, kicking the first guard hard in the chest.

The guard flew through the air and smashed hard into one of the cells. Lucian gripped the handle of his war hammer tightly and swung it with tremendous force, smashing it into another guard who had charged at him from the side.

Lucian's hammer crushed the man's iron chest plate and sent him flying across the warehouse.

"Ahhrrggg!" Lucian roared as he charged at the other guards, pulling his shield from his back and slamming it into another guard, ramming them off the ground.

"Take this!" One of them shouted as he slashed down with his sword at Lucian.

Lucian was too quick though and blocked the attack with his shield before smashing his hammer into the guards knee, crippling him in one blow.

Lucian turned to see four others charging towards him, each with a large kite shield in formation, clearly attempting to push him back and overwhelm him.

"That's not going to work!" Lucian shouted as he placed his shield back onto his back and opened the palm of his hand.

Concentrating, Lucian summoned a fireball into his hand, drawing on the magic he could feel inside of his body.

"Fireball!" He shouted as he threw it at the four guards.

The fireball hit their shields and exploded with serious force, knocking all of them back, each of them flying in a different direction.

"W-What the hell is this guy!" One of the remaining guards shouted.

"I dont know, but he's too strong for us, we need reinforcements!" Another shouted as he turned to run.

Lucian smiled as he looked at the aftermath of his attack.

"Hmm, I can't quite control my magical attacks just yet, so I apologise," Lucian said as he dropped his hammer to free both hands, letting fire ignite in both of them.

Lucian then started hurling fireballs at all of the remaining guards, burning all of them to a crisp with a wild glint in his eye.

"None of you deserve to live!" He shouted before throwing his final fireball.

Only two guards remained now, one who had managed to hide behind one of the cells after seeing Lucian rip through the first few guards and another who had dodged Lucian's fireball attack also hiding behind some large crates.

The guard behind the crates was routing through his pockets before finally pulling out a magic crystal.

"Come on you stupid thing, work damn it!" He said as he tried to get it to work.

Hornby suddenly appeared next to the guard and snatched the crystal out of his hand.

"I'll be taking that!" He said before driving a dagger into the guard's neck, one of the weak points that the armour didn't cover.

The guard started choking on his own blood before he even realised what had happened and dropped to the ground dead.

"That was a close one," Hornby said tossing the crystal into the air, catching it for effect.

Lucian nodded as he took a good look around.

"Looks like that's all of them," Lucian said.

Hornby nodded.

"So now what?" Hornby asked.

Lucian walked back over to pick his hammer up, taking a good look around. He could see all of the different kinds of monsters and demi-humans that had been locked away ready for sale.

Little did he know, one of the guards still remained, trying to stay as quiet as possible so that Lucian didn't notice him.

However, the guards breathing was getting heavier and heavier as he started to panic while he searched for his magic crystal.

"Oh crap, oh crap... If those two fine me, I'm dead." He thought, trying his best to remain hidden.

Lucian looked at all of the demi-humans, noticing that they were all afraid and cowering away in their cells. He was disgusted by it and it made him feel sick that this is what Hestia could be feeling right now.

"It's a shame right," Hornby said.

"Demi-humans are looked down upon by most humans, either fearing them or disgusting them. Most of them end up as slaves or are given to the pits." Horby explained.

Lucian clenched his teeth as he thought about Hestia.

"Hornby... Release all of the demi-humans." Lucian said, getting a rather surprised look from him.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yes," Lucian said as he broke open one of the locks to the first cell in his path.

"You are all free from this day! Get out of here and be rid of this place!" Lucian shouted.

The demi-humans didn't wait long as they all ran out of the cages and started making their way to the stairs.

Lucian and Hornby broke open as many locks as they could, freeing all of them.

Only one cell remained now, the one that the last guard had hidden behind.

"Oh shit, at this rate they will find me." He thought as he crawled behind the cell and placed his back to it trying to hide.

Suddenly a large hand with razor-sharp claws reached between the metal bars and gripped the guard by his throat.

"Brave of you to come so close..." A deep voice said from the darkness.

The guard squealed and flailed his legs around in the air as the large hand lifted him off the ground by his neck.

Lucian and Hornby heard the guards cries and ran over to see what was going on.

"Looks like we missed one," Lucian said as he watched what was happening.

Hornby stood with his mouth open as the beast inside the cage stepped into the light.

"Yeah... Well, I think that guy has him..." He said almost speechless.

"I think I have something you want." The beast said in a deep voice.

Lucian couldn't help stare at the large beast.

"Is that a lion?" He asked.

"The correct analogy would be Lionman..." Hornby then corrected.