"ATTACK!!"
The four protectors, along with Dane, moved as they surrounded Adrian. The protectors were all 3-stars, with Dane on the verge of advancing to 4-star. They could easily suppress a normal 4-star if they fought head-on.
But Adrian was no ordinary aura knight. Although he was also a 3-star right now, looking at his mana hole alone, usually done to measure the level of an aura knight. But Adrian didn't even use much aura from his mana hole, as he used the External mana circulation technique, so he couldn't be assessed with common standards.
"Attack him quickly before he can gather aura and defend!" Dane shouted.
They all attacked Adrian simultaneously with their swords enveloped in aura. Adrian reacted quickly by only enveloping the part of the bident he used to defend. As the weapons came in contact, the attackers were all pushed back as their aura was overpowered by Adrian's aura.
Without losing this golden chance, as their formation had fallen apart, Adrian covered the tip of the bident with aura as he attacked the nearest protector aiming at his neck. The protector, although caught off guard, seemed to have noticed Adrian's intentions as he brought the sword in front of his neck to protect it.
But alas, Adrian changed his target at the last moment as he launched his bident to pierce his gut. The protector cried out in agony as he subconsciously left the sword to remove the bident and get away.
Adrian smirked at his foolish actions as he took back the bident, which had pierced his opponent's gut, and attacked his neck, removing it from his body.
"NO!!!" Another protector, who saw the death of his friend in such a short time, cried out in grief as he moved his hand in the direction of the headless body of his friend.
Adrian knew he had to strike now before this foolish guy turned his grief into anger to take revenge. So, Adrian pierced the hand pointed toward him with his bident, and without wasting a second, he kicked him in the stomach. The bident came out of his hand as a result of the force produced by Adrian's kick.
The grief-stricken poor guy was made into a headless corpse by the bident as it pierced his neck. The remaining three attackers couldn't believe their eyes, even though they had witnessed it. Everything happened too fast and without any extra movement, as though Adrian had practiced this scenario countless times. It looked like second nature to him.
"Boss, What's up with this guy? How can he move so fast and kill those two like that?" one of the remaining two protectors said to Dane with a shocked voice.
"Yeah, I can see he is not any normal chump like the previous guys who came to take down our business," Dane muttered. "I think I should try to get it over with without fighting with him. Didn't he say he wanted to earn money; that's why he came here?" Dane thought, and a smile appeared on his face.
"Wait! I have something to say!!" Dane shouted when he saw Adrian was about to attack them.
"Speak," Adrian allowed him after stopping in his tracks.
"You said you wanted money, right? I will give you twice, no thrice, the money of what you will get after taking this business down and killing us," Dane said as he rubbed his hands with a smile on his face.
"Alright, give it to me now, and I will leave," Adrian answered plainly.
"Oh, thank you, great sir. You made the correct decision. Wait here; I will get it now from the locker." Dane said as he took a step but was stopped by Adrian's cold voice, "I will come with you. What if you escaped without giving me the money you promised?"
"Um… uh, Sir, that will be not possible as the locker's location should be kept a secret," Dane spoke with a humble voice, hoping that Adrian would understand his problem.
"See man, either you take me with you or I will kill you all and look for the location myself before emptying the entire thing, understood." Said Adrian with a deep threatening voice and giving a glare that sent shivers down the spine of Dane.
"Alright Sir, follow me!" Dane spoke after coming to terms with his situation.
Dane took them to another room, which looked empty and small. Dane stood on a chair to reach the center of the ceiling. Then, he pressed the point, which was located at the center. It looked the same as the rest of the ceiling, but after he pressed it, it moved inward like a button.
Next, the right wall rotated 180 degrees, and the back of the wall appeared on which a massive locker was attached.
Dane opened the lock after typing in a long code. Shortly after, he went in to get the money.
The protectors were looking at the locker for the first time, as for safety, only their boss knew the location of it. They were in awe of the mechanism as it would not be easy to find it. As they were admiring the locker, a bident pierced the head of one of them, and a dark shadow touched another's head as it snapped the head, killing both in less than 3 seconds without any sound.
"Now it will be much easier to take care of their boss and the money," Adrian said with a satisfied expression as he nodded his head while he waited for Dane to come out.
After a short while, Dane came with a bag full of gold. He had a smile on his face which turned to an expression of horror as he saw the blood on the floor of the room.
"Wha – what happened here?" He was horrified at the scene of the corpses fallen on the floor.
Swoosh—
Bam—
A fist hit him in the face from his right. Then he was grabbed by his hair, and before he could open his eyes, one more fist hit him right in the face.
Bam—
After a series of punches, he fell unconscious.
"Uh…, what happened to me?" When he opened his eyes after gaining consciousness, he found himself being dragged by his leg in the center of Antinia, which was the most crowded part of the city. Everybody present was looking towards him or, to be exact, both him and the person dragging him.
His blurred vision cleared up after he was not being dragged anymore. Next, he saw the person who was dragging him. He was the same person who had invaded his base and killed everyone in it – Adrian.
"Citizens of Antinia, this person here is the boss of the Red Loan Sharks who had been running an illegal business and committing many crimes – Dane Lucaris.
Maybe, you, the people who have suffered due to him, know about the crimes his organization has committed more than me, so, today I will execute him in front of you and bestow the justice that you had been hoping for. From today onwards, there will be no Red Loan Sharks in the city of Antinia!!"
Adrian announced as he wielded the bident in his right hand ready to strike. Dane looked at him with horror-filled eyes as he shouted, "Why? You said you would leave us after taking the money. Please let me go! I am ready to be your servant."
Adrian shook his head when he heard his pleas as he slowly enveloped his bident with mana. Dane saw Adrian's intention of executing him; he started shouting more loudly with his agony-filled voice –
"Please spare me! I will be your slave! Even being a Dog is fine!! PLEASE AAH!!!" But his pleas fell on deaf ears as Adrian struck at his neck, executing him in front of the thousands of citizens of Antinia.