A clean slit of the throat was witnessed as the sharp blade of the combat knife did its job silently, killing a lone terrorist scouting around inside the building.
Mania Crimstar eyed the corpse, a disheartened expression evident on her attractive face.
She was not frowning because of the act. She loves killing, no discussions needed.
No, what bothers her is because of how she accomplished it.
Sometimes, to achieve the most efficient way of finishing a task, one must be prepared to perform something that might go against their principles.
The redhead beauty twitches in annoyance at the fact that from this point onward, she has to do things quietly, with the most subtle of movements or otherwise the other terrorists will be alerted by her unwelcome presence.
She may be smitten with the art of brutally ending her unfortunate victims in a bloody and gruesome manner but the situation demands the contrary.
As such, she needs to do get herself out of this mess as quietly as possible, making use of her deadly assassination skills to do the dirty work.
Loud and bloody maybe her game, but stealth and secrecy is also something that she too is very well capable of.
She and her sister are not known as one of the Top Assassins of the Underworld just for show.
With a sigh, the girl dragged the corpse at a nearby secluded area to hide the body. She then found the perfect area to hide the body as she eyed an entrance to the bathroom.
As she was about to do so, she heard voices coming from inside the Male bathroom. Taking a peek, she saw two terrorists having a leisure chat with one another.
"Damn Reginald sure is taking his time. When is he going to join us inside for the assault?"
"Chill bro. Leader is currently outside addressing the crowd. He'll join us in a short while."
'Reginald?' Mania thought with a serious look as she heard a familiar name and scrambled around her memories if she knows someone with the same name. Certainly, being a crime lord whose infamy is known deeply in the Underworld, it did not take long for the redhead Assassin to realize. 'Ah of course, Reginald Cruz. But what is the Mad Jester doing here outside of the Underworld? And in a shopping mall that holds of no significance no less. Hmm, strange.'
The terrorists continued their chattering.
"But is he really sure that the princess is here? To be honest, I find that hard to believe."
"Heh, I don't blame you for that bro. To tell you the truth, it actually sounds too good to be true if the daughter of the Queen herself is here in this 2nd rate of a shopping mall. There are a lot of malls even bigger and grander in the Full Moon District where those rich nobles always go to."
"Yeah, damn nobles. I always wanted to bash their smug faces in to show who truly is the boss."
"Second to that bro."
Both of them laughed with each other. Finding this to be the perfect moment, Mania without any warning charged inside as she brandishes her blade. The terrorists were not even given the chance to retaliate in any way as the redhead sink her blade at the vulnerable nape of one of them, immediately ending his existence as she took out the now bloodied weapon.
The other man was stunned momentarily at the brutal murder of his partner and as he was about to take out his handgun, Mania ducked and maneuvered quickly at his side, stabbing the other terrorist right on his head, blood splattering on her pretty face.
Mania, having no time to revel on her sick desires wasted no time in hiding the now three bodies that she has procured inside the cubicles of the bathroom.
The redhead shortly after rinsed the blood on her face at the sink, her thoughts now dwelling about the latest info that she has found out.
'The princess is here? Strange, and if what those men are saying is indeed true, then...'
A sinister smile formed on her beautiful face, reflecting clearly within the mirror, intentions wicked as the redhead thought-
'I wonder what the blood of royalty taste like~'
She shook her head on such evil thinking, rinsing her face once more and assumed a serious look.
'As much as I would love to taste her royal blood but getting out of this mess is my number one priority since I won't exactly gain anything from it in this messed up situation.'
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"You are a deluded fool Cruz."
Outside the shopping mall, the same scenery of police head and crime lord was seen confronting one another.
"Oh I'm not here for your validation Willie boy!!!" Reginald grinned madly. "I'm here to tell you that if you lots don't hand over the princess to me, then every hour, no... every 30 minutes of delay, I'll order my men to kill, murder, exterminate, end, well... every civilian inside a store in random order."
"You monster!!!" William gritted his teeth in rage.
The whole crowd below gasped at the wretched declaration of the Mad Jester above.
"Hahaha, we are all monsters Willie boy!!! It's just a matter of perspective after all." Reginald laughed in a deranged manner. "Tick-tock Willie boy your time starts now!! If you don't do something about it, then you too will be branded a monster as the blood of innocent civilians is also in your hands... Our hands!!!"
And just like that, Reginald turned his back with a playful wave as he left the scene and finally entered the building.
"Damn it!!!" William shoved his fist in extreme frustration on a nearby police car, causing a slight dent.
'No, I must not lose my temper in times of a demanding crisis. This is exactly what that damn Cruz would want, always toying with my head.' The head of T.P.D. calms himself down by taking deep breaths.
While William slowly regains his composure, a young police officer approached him.
"Sir are you alright?" A woman in her middle twenties approached with concern. She wears the standard field uniform of the police. The attire is almost the same as William except for her shoulder loop which only has one circle mark in it which is a full moon. She has short pale blonde hair reaching only to her shoulders and a face attractive enough to swoon any men.
"Yes, I'm fine Lt. Henders. It seems that this situation is taking a toll on us." William nodded.
"It pretty obvious that Cruz is pressuring us on handing over her highness, the princess. Is there something that we can do?" The policewoman, Henders eyed her boss with determination.
"Hmm" William stroked his chin, pondering on possible ways to get around with this conflict. Then an idea struck inside his thoughts. "This may sound risky lieutenant but are you up for it?"
"Of course sir, no price is too high for the good and safety of the kingdom!!" Henders saluted in a snappy manner, the tone on her voice sounding very enthusiastic.
"Very well and I only trust you with this because you are one of the most promising officers of the police force." William sighed. "Gather up at least four of your best men and conduct a rescue mission inside to secure the princess. You are to do this with utmost discrete and failure is not an option. Are we clear lieutenant?"
"Yes sir. I won't let you down." Henders once more saluted.
"In the meantime, I'll call the royal palace to inform them in detail of this incident and to confirm if the princess is indeed inside as what the Jester had said. And also to call a mutual friend of ours as much as I hate to rely them on this but it is of necessity."
"To rely on who sir?" Henders tilted her head in confusion.
William gulp, an uneasy emotion swirling within his system, their methods may be questionable but the success that they have produced for years can't be denied. So much secrecy, so much suspicion...
"Let's just say they are friends, no.... allies who crept on shadowy places. Animals as I might say."
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
After murdering three insignificant armed men and hiding their deceased bodies, Mania exited the bathroom, twirling her combat knife playfully as she eyed the surroundings.
'Hmm, each store has at least one or two guards on every entrance. Inside, I can safely assume to be there to be more of them, perhaps taking civilians hostage.' Mania thought and turn her analytical eyes to the patrolling group. 'The ones scouting the area outside of the stores... 3 squads, about 6 of them each. So 18 men outside patrolling in this three-story building while the rest are tending to their posts in every store.'
Mania shook her head in annoyance, thinking that this definitely is not going to be easy as she thought would be, especially with her eye-catching presence of the color red.
'I need a distraction, something to at least take their attention for a moment.' Mania thought. She widens her eyes at the realization. 'Hmm, yes it's so simple, why did I not think about this earlier?!'
With a malevolent grin, Mania proceeded to stealthily maneuver around the mall, avoiding the patrols like a true mistress of the shadows, making her way with grace and subtle efficiency until she reached her destination.
Mania nodded in satisfaction, now finding herself inside a basement. Two guards were seen patrolling the area but with quick efficiency and stealth, the redhead dispatches them easily.
After that rather clean double kill, she proceeds to enter a room inside which is labeled as the 'Electrical Room.'
"Ah finally here~" Mania cackled softly in glee as she closed the door behind her. She then eyed a box-like contraption with its case closed hanging on the wall.
Her plan was pretty simple as what her thought says; shut off the main breaker that is supplying power throughout the entire mall. Naturally, with the lights suddenly out, the terrorist will be preoccupied and distracted, shifting their focus on restoring electrical power and most likely would come down to the basement to investigate.
With no lights and only darkness as her friend, she could easily move around, clouding her presence and easily making her way out of here unharmed.
Her hands open the breaker and she was about to switch the lever in off position but something halted her...
The door opened behind her, revealing a terrorist with a handgun pointing at her.
"Hands where I can see them." The man merely said.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Rina..."
Inside Sunshine Coffee & Tea, we find Keana staring at the floor, tears falling from her depressed-looking amber eyes as she sobbed quietly with Meiko trying her best to comfort her violet-haired friend.
"I-It's" Keana stuttered. "It's my fault Meiko, I should have been the one in there but Rina, I know she purposely acts all girly and seductive just to get that bastard's attention away from me. I should have been braver, I should have been-"
"Snapped out of it Keana!" Meiko, anguish also in her eyes, raised her voice but only enough for Keana to hear. "Rina would not want you seeing like this. It's her decision to save you and I'm somewhat proud of her courage and as her friend. It also hurts me just as badly as you feel and frankly, we can only hope to pray for her, our friend to be safe and spared from the trauma."
Keana looked in utter sorrow, her redden eyes facing Meiko as she finally snapped in reality. "I, I suppose you are right. We should think positive and who knows? Perhaps Rina might find a way out of that mess. She has impressed us during her first week at school after all, defying our expectations, especially during the dodge ball incident."
Meiko nodded, finally happy that her friend has somehow recovered from her self-pitying.
Meanwhile, in the cash register, the terrorist seemed to be restless, acting all riled up as he stared behind the bar counter.
'Damn that partner of mine!!' The Terrorist no. 2 thought with a frown. 'He's taking too much of his time inside. That perverted trash seemed to be enjoying his new toy very well. I should check on them and maybe join in for the fun!!.'
The man then eyed the entire people with him inside. "No funny business. I'll be back in a while."
The people could only look in deadpan. Of course they can't escape, there's another terrorist stationed at the entrance and they also notice more of them patrolling outside of the cafe.
Entering the kitchen, the terrorist eyed his surroundings, looking for his partner. After a while, he seemed to be extremely frustrated as there were no signs of the other man and even the blue-haired girl with him.
"Damn him, where did he go!? Did he enjoyed fucking that bitch so much that he transferred to another place just to spill his cum on her?!!"
Continuing his search, the man noticed a faint but foul stench, a nasty scent of something rotten invading his sense of smell. Following the odor, it comes from inside the meat room, where pieces of animal cuts are seen everywhere, and the smell seems to be strongly coming from inside a close and secure locker.
"Huh, so they also serve meat in a cafe... wow." The terrorist nodded. "Ugh, maybe it's just some expired meat or something."
He then left the room immediately to resume his search for his partner, shutting the door to rid the smell from spreading even further.
If fate had its way and piqued the terrorist's curiosity to open the locker, then he would be in for a nasty surprise...
A brutally-maimed naked body of another man... his partner was stored inside, his swollen and mutilated face unrecognizable, a death far deserving for the scum of a human being such as him.