"Don't even try to escape," Zeke said. His voice sounded so sinister that most people froze.
There were more than three hundred people in the hall, but they were no more than ants to the priest.
Chelsea quickly picked up her cell phone and tried to call the police station. "Hello, hello, I request immediate police support."
But there was no response. It seemed that suddenly her phone had no signal.
Rufus calmed his thumping heart and looked around him. All the exits were blocked leaving him with only one option. He had to fight, and he decided that he would fight to the death. The thought calmed him, but he was also overwhelmed with a sense of sadness.
"Form a front line of attack." Rufus glared at the men and roared at his family, "The fourth generation of the Clifton family will be in the front line. The third generation go behind them, and the older and the weaker at the back."
He tried to stay calm so that he could organize his family to deal with the four warrior priests.
"Alex, please get here quickly," he pleaded under his breath. He knew that without his help, his family would lose this battle and pay a heavy price.
To give people courage, he told them, "Alex will be back any minute. We just have to hold out a little longer. Let's keep up our spirits and fight back with all our strength until he gets here."
The four priests laughed when they heard Rufus's lie. Then they quickly launched a fierce attack on the front row of the Clifton family. They were the younger family members and most of them were fit and energetic. Many were trained in the martial arts as was traditional for the Clifton family. However, they were no match for the warrior priests who beat them to the ground one after another.
In a short time, more than one hundred people were lying on the ground and the floor was covered in bodies lying prone and unconscious. Rufus was breathless at how quickly his family members had been dispatched.
"I'll fight you," Rufus yelled and was about to rush forward to attack the assailants but he was held back by two of his cousins. They each had tears in their eyes as one of them said, "Rufus, you mustn't fight them. Your father isn't here, so you have to be in charge. You must stay safe."
"In charge?" Rufus thought in a panic. The situation was a disaster. For the whole Clifton family to be beaten at once was unimaginable. The family would be ridiculed by everyone in the city.
He tried to take control. "All fighters to attack immediately," he yelled. When the family heard Rufus's new plan, they all grabbed any weapons they could lay their hands on and charged at the four priests. However, most of the remaining family members were older or weaker than the front line, and their opponents were too strong. With little effort, the intruders beat them all to the ground.
"Right men, let's finish this," Zeke shouted to the others and they intensified their attacks on the remaining family members.
Their attacks were ferocious, and they used anything they could as weapons. One of them picked up the dining table and used its top to knock out three men at once. The scene was chaos.
"Rufus, they've knocked out my son," one of Rufus's brothers wailed. "I'm going to kill them," he shouted wildly. Then five of his cousins rushed past to help him.
The priests had started to relax, knowing that they had almost won, when the brother charged at Zeke holding out a knife in his hand. Taking advantage of his lack of concentration, he managed to inflict a huge cut-down on Zeke's body. He yelled out a cry of triumph as he saw what he had achieved.
Zeke's eyes almost exploded with anger, but the younger brother wasn't afraid. He ran at him again with the knife held in front of him, but Zeke managed to hit him over the head with a chair leg and knocked him to the ground before he could hurt him again.
Rufus yelled, "No!" Tears were running down his cheeks when he saw what had happened to his brother. Among his family, that brother was the strongest, but now he was struggling on the floor, still trying to lunge the knife toward the priest.
Horrified, Rufus watched as Zeke grabbed his brother's arm and broke it with a loud snap. He finally dropped the knife.
The victim's face twisted in agony, but he continued to try to kick his opponent. Zeke laughed as he stamped on his leg and snapped the man's shin bone.
"Do you still want to fight?" he laughed at the man writhing on the ground.
His victim spat in the face of the priest, who smeared the bloody saliva across his cheeks, making his whole face look cruel and menacing. He brought his heel down on his victim's face, finally knocking him unconscious.
Rufus watched on in horror. He thought, My brother, you fought as long as you could. You are a true hero of the Clifton family, and we shall honour you.
As he looked at the bodies that continued to pile up, Rufus realized that his only hope was to find the alarm. He focused on searching for it throughout the entire hall.The cult members continued to attack and quickly beat members of the family, tossing them to the ground like discarded trash bags. By that time, there were only around fifty people left fighting out of the three hundred who had initially stepped forward. Those remaining were starting to despair when they suddenly heard a jingling sound.It was Jessop who had finally received the alarm and was trying to contact Rufus."Father," Rufus shouted. "It's father."He stared at the device with tears streaming down his face. No one else could speak. All they could do was glare with hatred at the four priests.
"What's that noise?" Zeke asked Rufus. "Did you call the police? That's impossible. I blocked all the signals within range of this hall."
Before Rufus was able to respond, Zeke flew at him and grabbed the alarm.
He threw it to the ground and stamped on it. The device went silent.
"No one can escape their punishment," Neo said in a sinister voice. Then he reached out to grab Rufus, but the younger man was very agile. He rolled on the spot and then dodged out of reach.
"How dare you dodge away from me. You're the one in charge here, but where is Jessop?" Neo asked.
Rufus was silent. He wasn't sure what he should do. Was it right to summon his father? But he knew they needed Alex to have any chance of beating these four warriors. If they couldn't beat them, they might all die
"I'll fight you," Rufus yelled as he rushed forward. He had to fight with everything he had.