In the blink of an eye, Vicente and his men, along with Jasmine, left the scene of the confrontation in their carriage and headed for Millfall.
Leaving Mark and the gray-haired woman, Layla, behind, Mark howled with rage as he shouted in frustration, hating their situation.
Vicente ruined all his plans!
Without 'his' precious resources, with Jasmine kidnapped and Layla still alive, everything had gone wrong for Mark this morning!
"A thousand devils! How could that bastard be so strong? How did he survive a bloody yellow pentagram only at the 2nd stage?" He shouted as he fell to his knees, pounding the ground.
Layla sighed as she removed Vicente's spear from his abdomen, feeling a lot of pain but not afraid of dying since she had a great recovery potion in her spatial ring.
"We were surprised by him. But if he's really willing to go through with that deal..."
"Do you think he'll go through with the deal? Wake up, Layla! Cesar has Jasmine under control! Do you think he'll let us leave with some of his stuff like nothing happened?" He looked at her without his mask, showing a look that basically said how stupid she was to think of following such a deal.
She also had her mask off and looked at him thoughtfully. "If he does what you suggest, the Mazzanti family will be wiped out. There's no reason for him to deceive us. We are free to tell the world what he has done against House Irwin.
Does he have Jasmine? We hold his family's future in our hands. He has no choice but to make that deal. This is his only chance!"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Tsk! You really are stupid!" He said as he took his healing potion.
"If you think he won't do what he promised, then what will we do?" She ignored his comment.
"Our only option! We'll get allies to deal with the bastard in Millfall!"
"You're crazy! That will kill Jasmine!" She brandished, fearing for the life of her best friend.
"If you disagree, Layla, go your own way. I will save Jasmine, no matter what it takes!" He glared at her with hatred as he started to walk towards Ironcrest.
"I hope you don't get us all killed. Don't forget what he said." She stood up, determined to go to Millfall to fulfill the deal Vice had proposed. "He'll kill Jasmine if you draw his attention or cause any strange movements."
"Don't worry. I'm as concerned about her well-being as you are. I won't contact the organization. Just a few contacts who will keep what we do a secret."
The two went their separate ways, Layla heading for Millfall while Mark returned to Ironcrest.
...
Meanwhile, Vicente was in his carriage with Jasmine, having already placed several restrictive items on her body capable of blocking one's mana and special abilities.
After doing so and searching the woman's spatial ring, he gave her a recovery potion so she wouldn't die or suffer complications from her previous injuries.
Vicente wanted to kill Jasmine and the rest of her cronies, but he couldn't risk the woman's well-being just yet.
If Jasmine's two companions betrayed her and sought help from the Congregation of Revelations, her life would be the only thing he could use to protect his party.
'They won't make it easy for me... I must develop my skills and weapons as much as possible during this journey, or I'll be finished.' Vicente thought to himself as the blonde woman looked at him.
As he thought about it, he remembered Shelby's suggestion that he should go on the 3rd-stage basilisk's hunt. 'I have to go to The Rocky Gorge and join the hunt. If I succeed, I'll get items and resources for my men.'
As he thought about the problem, his only answer was to become stronger, to increase the strength of his men and the number of people in the Mazzanti family.
How would he do that? By taking advantage of the opportunities he knew.
One was the 3rd-stage basilisk's hunt. Another was the auction Lukas had told him about weeks ago.
'I will participate in that auction and the competition for the main resource to be auctioned.' He considered. 'I also have to bring into my family the two friends of Lukas that Rory has already probed. With my current resources, I can easily meet their and Casey's demands.
While Vice planned, Jasmine looked at him, wondering what such a person would do to her. Not fully trusting Mark and Layla to save her life, she was sure that she would have to act on her own or die at the hands of this man.
"Cesar, what do you want?" She asked, staring at the holes in his mask. "What do you expect from kidnapping a member of the Congregation of Revelations?"
Vicente pushed his thoughts aside as he looked at the pink-haired woman before him. "I hope your companions value your life. If that happens, once my companion has erased your memories of me, we can continue our lives without any problems for either side."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Impossible. You won't let us leave with your gold." She said, confident that he wouldn't make such an easy move. "Cesar, if you kill us, you'll bring trouble upon yourself, even if you erase the traces of what you did against us. You must be wondering how we discovered you without you leaving any trace of your theft, right?"
"How did you do it?" He asked.
"That was my skill." She smiled at him, narrowing her eyes and forming a menacing smile. "I'm not the only one with such abilities. If I die, or if my whole group dies, someone will find out what happened to us sooner or later. By then, you'll be hunted down by the strongest organization in Polaris Realm!"
"It's not wise to threaten the one who has the power to kill you, miss." Vicente quickly put a blade to Jasmine's neck and looked into her eyes.
"If you want to kill me, go ahead. You'll be dead in less than a year." She said with some confidence. "But if you want to live, give up any foolish plans. We can make a deal that's beneficial to both of us."
"Is that so?" Vice removed his blade from her neck.
"Cesar, we're not that different. As much as you're a criminal, and I'm someone who works on a non-profit basis, we're two magicians willing to do anything for our own sake." She said as she ran her hands over where Vice had pressed her throat. "We don't trust each other, but we love our lives and are determined to become stronger. That makes us equal and could be the way out of this problem.
If you make a deal with me, you could get an important ally for your family within the Congregation of Revelations!"
"I will think about it," Vicente said, aware there would be positives and negatives to any deal he made with her.
Killing her and the other two would be the simplest. But he would still have to think hard about how to solve the problem.
...
In the blink of an eye, 10 days would pass while Vicente traveled with Jasmine.
Meanwhile, Rory and his group finally spotted Millfall on the horizon, just a few hours away from their town!