13 Main Street, on the top floor, inside the conference room.
The seven guild masters had gathered in a tense atmosphere. Rook and Red sat at the end of the mottled table, while the rest sat on the other side. There was also Jason, sitting next to Percy as if he were his secretary.
"Well, why have you called us?" Red spoke coldly as he tapped his finger on the table. "And who the person next to you is?"
Seven powerful gazes locked on Jason.
"He is Jason, and he is the reason why we are here." Percy said with confidence. "He is proof that we didn't lie and that there actually was False God."
Red Furyth narrowed his eyes dangerously as he looked at Jason.
Rook's cold expression hadn't changed. He looked coldly at the guild masters as if he wanted to slice them apart.
The rest looked curiously at Jason.
"Show them." Percy said as he crossed his arms. He didn't glance at Jason as he continued looking at Rook's and Red's faces, waiting for their reactions.
Jason sighed and pulled down his collar. He revealed the faded black handprint. Trails of black ink reached his neck as if someone had splashed paint on his chest.
"That is..." The Poet's expression widened in shock and surprise. The other guild masters frowned, not knowing what that mark represented.
"What is that?" Red scoffed. "Is that somehow supposed to prove that there were False God on the island? Is this a joke?"
"Yes, it does." Percy looked at the handprint and said. "This is Mark of Death."
Gasp!
North gasped in surprise while others looked taken aback. They had, of course, heard about the Mark of Death.
"Liar!" Red slammed his fist on the desk and stood up. "You painted a faded handprint on his chest and thought we would buy it? Not a chance!"
Rook's expression was complicated as he looked at the handprint. It was oozing with coldness and an aura of death. That could only come if the person had been touched by death!
North leaned closer and touched Jason's bare chest. Her soft, petite hand touched the handprint as if she were trying to compare the hand sizes. The faded handprint's size was slightly larger.
"Its cold..." North pulled her hand back and looked at Jason with soft eyes. "You poor soul. How did you... survive?"
"After I shared gazes with the False God, my heart stopped." Jason sighed. "Then everything turned dark. However, the next time I woke up, I felt a strong electric current running through my body as if I were a lightning rod. A lightning bolt must have struck me."
"You..." The Poet lifted his finger before lowering his hand. His expression looked fearful as he asked. "H-how did he look like?"
Jason looked at his trembling hands and said. "He had dead eyes, as if he didn't have a soul. White hair, pale as snow. His skin looked cold, as if he were constantly freezing. The feeling he gave me made me feel solitary and lonely, as if I were the only person left in the world."
The Poet nodded constantly, as if he agreed with every word.
"I still don't believe it!" Red roared in anger. "Y-you... must have... I don't..."
"Red, sit down." Rook held Red's shoulder and helped him sit. Red looked at his trembling hands and covered his face as he softly sobbed.
"The Poet, what happened in there." Rook asked with a heavy expression. Slowly, he began to believe their words.
The Poet sighed heavily and was about to open his mouth, but then, the whole building began to shake as an explosion rattled the windows!
!?
Percy stood up in a hurry, shock plastered across his face. From the window, he saw a building in flames a few streets away. The smoke turned black as it drifted towards the bright sky.
"That's... where my Scarlet Arrow's are!" Red screamed and ran towards the window. The smoke came from the direction of Scarlet Arrow's headquarters.
Boom!
Again, loud explosions shook the windows as the shockwave blew past their building. Another building had exploded. This time, it was Metal Paladins headquarters!
"What is the meaning of this!" Red turned in anger towards Percy and the rest.
"C-calm down, we had nothing to do with this." Percy's expression fell as cold sweat drenched his forehead. He didn't see this coming and was utterly unprepared!
"You lured us here... so you can commence an attack against us?!" Red screamed and pulled out his bow and quiver. He pulled the string and sent flame-covered arrows straight towards the five guild masters.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a metallic blur dashed across the room and punched the arrow into pieces. The metallic blur was North, wearing a beautiful metal armor that outlined her petite curves nicely. In her back, two metallic wings stuck out as they increased her speed.
"Red, please. Don't do this." North pulled out her one-handed sword and protected the other guild masters behind her.
"Rook, we should have never trusted them!" Red shouted, trying to get his friend to join his side. "You think this was just a coincidence? That Percy happened to find someone marked with Death! Those are incredibly rare, and Percy, out of all people, happened to find someone like that!?
"Also, that person apparently was also on Mach Island, and the False God happened to be Death Incarnation?! There are too many coincidences, and I don't trust Percy in the slightest!"
Rook's eyes trembled, but then he nodded firmly. "I-I agree... too many coincidences. This was a trap laid by him!"
He drew his weapon and leaped across the room towards Percy. However, then North appeared in his way and swung her one-handed sword.
Rook smashed his shield against the one-handed sword and tried to overpower her with his strength. However, the wings on North's back began to flap, increasing her speed and power. She let out a powerful cry and pushed Rook back.
Rook smashed into the wall, causing a wide crack to spread.
Whoosh, whoosh!
In her peripheral vision, two flaming arrows flew straight towards her. However, before she even moved, a pair of hammers smashed the arrows to pulp. Percy looked coldly at Red.
"Think for once! Why would I want war?! I never wanted war!" Percy screamed and tried to reason with him.
"Shut up!" Red screamed and shot an arrow towards the ceiling. The arrow pierced through the ceiling easily, and as the arrow went through the roof, it exploded!
The ceiling began to fall apart, sending flaming debris all over the conference room!
Jason smashed through the door and leaped down the stairs. He quickly ran down the stairs while the building fell apart around him.
Smash, smash, boom!
Sounds of fighting reverberated across the city as the streets turned into chaos. Members from the two guilds and others started fighting against each other. A wide-spread war had started!
In the conference room, Nicholas clicked his tongue and began to walk out of the room.
"Where are you going?" The Poet asked as he dodged the falling debris.
"The war had started. I will be going to protect my territories." Nicholas waved his hand and disappeared down the stairs. The Poet looked around the messy conference room and wryly smiled. He followed after Nicholas while thinking.
'I am only System Lord, Level 5. Others are already at peak. Even though my ability allows me to close the gap, I am not good at close-quarters combat.'
Era Dark Sideray watched as two guild masters disappeared into the hallway. He then turned to Rook, who was battling against North. He then lifted his hand, and all the nearby metal and iron furniture flew up.
He pushed his hand forth, and all the chairs, mirrors, and metal bars flew directly into Rook. Rook put his shield in the way, but the sheer intensity of the bombing pushed him into the wall. And then, the wall behind him crumbled as rusty iron bars that were between concrete tightly wrapped around him.
"Argh!" Rook screamed and saw Era Dark Sideray wave his hand. Rook's body flew towards the streets, going through the asphalt and trapping him deep in the ground. He couldn't do anything against the iron-masked man!
North glanced at Era Dark Sideray with an uncomfortable expression. The metal armor was clinging to her body, but it was slowly starting to squeeze her. Her class was War Maiden. She could summon powerful metal-winged armor that increased her stats. However, the longer she wears it, the tighter the armor becomes.
She had no other choice but to undo the summon. The wings returned to the armor, and then the metal armor disappeared. North knelt on the ground with an exhausted expression.
Red, who was fighting Percy, saw that the situation had turned bad. He screamed in anger and leaped through the window. His body suddenly started burning with flames, and like a shooting star, he flew across the sky, going straight towards his flaming headquarters.
Percy looked at the flaming man with a cold expression. His blue eyes had turned golden. The pupil had also turned vertical, as if it were the eye of a beast!
"Percy, what are we going to do now?" North panted heavily. "We can't stop this war any more."
"We have to fight back." Percy sighed as he looked at the chaos-filled streets. "Join your guilds. We will end this war as soon as it started. If this gets prolonged, the Inner Circle will be destroyed."
North and Era Dark Sideray nodded before walking out of the room.
'What the hell happened...' Percy grimaced. 'Who was responsible for the bombing? Who the hell started this war!'
...
Workers Street, inside the Golden Lion's basement.
Two heavily armored men stood guard. Behind them was a metal vault, which stored all of the Golden Lion's wealth and potion recipes. It was the most heavily guarded place in this entire building. If one wanted to get there, they would have to break through the entrance, fight through hordes of Golden Lion members, then get to the basement, where more members were awaiting.
However, at that moment, only a handful of guards were in the building. The war had started, causing Percy to summon everyone to the frontlines. The sound of battles echoed from the streets.
"There you are!" Then, an unexpected voice echoed from the end of the hallway. The guards frowned before sighing in relief.
"Mister Perseus, why are you here? Didn't Percy summon you?" They asked while hiding their tone of mockery. They had also heard how useless Percy's little brother was. His road to being guild master was basically blocked, meaning that no one respected him anymore.
"No, you know him. He won't allow me to participate in fighting." Perseus walked down the hallway with a sigh. The two guards hid their smirks. He then said. "But, Percy summoned you two and told me to stay as guard. We need every member out there."
The guards frowned.
"Percy did? No offense, but it was a rule that the guards had to be at least System Veteran. Otherwise, Percy wouldn't be confident in the security." The guards said. If someone read between the lines, their words sounded like this: 'You are too weak to guard anything.'
"Sigh..." Perseus scratched his head and placed his other hand on his waist. "Well, the truth is, I am here for another reason."
Before the guards could react, Perseus threw knives from his belt. The knives stabbed into their throats. The two guards tried to gasp for breath but couldn't as the knives blocked their airways. With a final look at a smirking Perseus, they fell to the ground unwillingly.
"Unlock." Perseus took another knife and threw it into the vault door. Shockingly, the vault door's lock clicked open. Perseus then opened the vault door and smiled as the view of gold piles and recipes entered his view.
"Hahahahaha!"