Mrs Sweeny aka; old cane lady, aka; Grand Elder hatefully glared at Ruthless in utter frustration. Bulky oldie stopped two steps away from Steph and slowly stretched his hand to grab Wilson from her grip. Steph had already backed away until she was blocked by her fellow colleagues who had been bored out of their mind. Steph was really unwilling to give Wilson up. She wanted him dead but his neck was surprisingly difficult to snap and the bulky, male twin oldie's intimidating aura was making it difficult for even her to breathe or move properly.
"oh come on, young lady. I have given you my offer. Why is it so difficult for you to accept? Are you finding it hard because you have a deep sense of loyalty? Well, even though you are so loyal, have you thought about why they are willing to snatch your brother's murderer from your grip? I mean, he is almost unconscious and they choose to let him live. Doesn't that mean they care less about you than they do, the boy? If not, why would they go as far as intimidating you into giving him up? But you just take a quick second to think about my offer. I am making a sweet deal with you right now. Rebel against the ones who care nothing about your deep loyalty and I will ensure the boy stays alive and miserable till we are done and then I will leave him to you. You can do whatever you want with him then. You could choose to kill him, torture him, make him boy toy, whatever you wish. Just you agree and it is done." Ruthless gave Steph an irresistible offer for someone like her. And he said it so plainly and with a confident, dignified look on his face, as if he was sure he would be able to do what he offered in return.
Steph thought about it and just when the bulky oldie's hand touched Wilson, she came to a decision.
'Why should I fight for those who don't give a damn about me?' Steph thought to herself and without any warning, she released from her grip and hit one of her colleagues, sorry ex-colleagues now, with a right elbow straight to his face. His nose shattered and blood gushed out. He staggered to the back and so did the rest of them. A lady created two small fireballs in both of her hands and threw them at Steph's back. Of course, it would have been ridiculous if Steph had let the fireballs hit her. She somersaulted to her left and twisted and kicked at the second guy. The second guy was not going to just let the kick hit his face as well. He blocked with one hand and punched with the other before she could land on her other foot. She blocked and deflected the punch with a palm and backflipped, kicking his chest in the process. He staggered two steps backwards, regained his balance and ran towards her just as she landed on her feet and straightened up. She immediately got to a fighting posture but the bulky oldie finally made his move. He grunted and swung his fist at her. She crouched and transitioned it into three consecutive, swift back rolls. The back roll temporarily put her out of harm's way as she had just rolled away from a green magic circle that the last lady in her group had created under her feet. The green magic circle was quite big, occupying a whole meter in diameter. This meant that the bulky oldie and the male colleague that rushed at Steph were within its range. It was filled with runes around it that swirled in the clockwise direction, triangles that swirled in the anticlockwise direction and miniature circles that rapidly joined together to make interlocking rings. It was the kind that automatically activated after it had been created. Normally, in any regular situation, bulky oldie and the man would have been able to escape the circle before it activated, but this was not any regular situation. Ruthless was here with over fifty violent yet skillful humans with the worst kinds of background and history.
The swordsman had taken a small step forward just as the bulky oldie had swung his fist at Steph the other time. That was why Steph was able to avoid the punch in time. His eyes changed to a dark-white whirlpool as she swung his hand in the anti-clockwise direction. This movement further slowed the time around the bulky old male twin and the man without affecting the speed of the magic circle activation.
The green magic circle therefore, activated with the bulky old man and Steph's male ex-colleague still inside the circle. The green color changed to brown and immediately, Ruthless' swordsman dropped his left hand hat he was rotating. The magic circle was quite advanced and increased the weight of whoever was in its effective range by a multiple of ten.
*BAAAAANG* *BOOOOOOOM*
Both men that were in the circle instantly dropped to the smooth floor with a bang for the ex-colleague and the bulky old male twin dropping heavily with a booming sound. Two craters appeared below them, where they landed. The sound woke the unconscious Wilson who was lying on the ground close to them up. He opened his eyes slowly but did not make the slightest move. Even though he just woke up, his instincts told him to stay down. He could tell that the atmosphere was densely filled with bloodlust. There was so much of that aura, he was finding it hard to breathe.
He stayed down and proceeded to close his eyes. He was better off playing dead in this case and hoped that he did not get caught up in the fight that he knew was going to begin anytime soon. His did his best to heighten his senses, most especially his hearing, so he could pick up any sounds that were close to him. His plan was to make a move depending on what his ears picked up. If any dangerous sounds got too close, he was going to make a run for the door.
'Wait, who is coming?' Wilson asked himself in his mind as he heard slight thump-thump sounds approaching him. The walk was clearly unhurried as though the bloodlust in the air did not concern him. That person was Ruthless. He was calmly approaching Wilson. He intended to keep to his own side of the bargain. The grappler named Steph had shown that she was willing to do anything in order to avenge her brother and that included betraying the organization she had dedicated the most part of the life to its cause. And so, Ruthless was going to ensure Wilson remained alive till after the whole squabble was done. He really did not care much about Steph. If she survived, good for her. He would release Wilson to her as promised. And if she did not, he would take care of Wilson himself.
"Ruthless! Don't you dare!" Old cane lady, Mrs Sweeny, said in a threatening voice. She sounded like she was saying 'else I will show no mercy.' But she still hesitated.
Old man Jenkins was not going to take any chances. He ran straight towards Ruthless and the swordsman rushed to intercept him while at the same time, roared.
"KILL!!!!"
Chaos ensued! The hoodlums that came with Ruthless roared and charged and so did the comparatively few people of the revolutionaries. Just then, Instructor Jack charged in through the door along with a good number other adults with fearsome looks. The door happened to be behind the Elders and the five that were with them and so they quickly joined in the fray. A simple frontal charge. Talismans were thrown and plastered everywhere, abilities were fully utilized. Explosives flew around unrestrainedly and so did people from both sides. The building where they were soon collapsed and turned into nothing but ruins and rubbles. The students and even hospital workers joined the fight. No ne was excluded from the chaos as te chaos would reach them anyway. Just as they joinedin the fight, two more large portals opened side by side and hundreds of armed and unarmed fighters rushed out ferociously, roaring their lungs out, and attacking anyone that was an enemy around. It was kill or be killed.
Now, the battle had truly begun.