Chapter 425: Snake Hornets

50th Floor. The Guild’s Avenue.

Hundreds of buildings were neatly lined up in perfect rows on both sides. A busy street ran between the rows of buildings.

At the front of the buildings, banners of guilds flapped proudly against the wind of the incoming rainstorm.

This was one of the most famous places in all of Black Online, as every guild that had reached the 50th floor had their own branch in this area.

Every guild in the top hundred of the Global Guild Rankings was here!

A banner of a rose engraved on a vinyl record disc flapped against the wind. It was the branch of Rose Records. It had the number 35 engraved on the door.

It was their Global Guild Ranking number!

In that moment, three members of Snake Hornet’s guild appeared at the doorsteps of their guild. They were wearing black and green and had a symbol of a snake wrapped around a tree on their uniforms.

On the shoulder, they had a gold logo of the number 29. Their Global Guild Ranking number. Which they displayed proudly.

“…Rose Records. This is the place.”

Mahabunta said. Then he entered the building with the two members trailing behind him. It was quiet inside.

In that moment, a local girl walked down from upstairs with a heavy box in her hands. She was just a worker here.

The guilds hired a lot of locals to their branch building for cleaning, administration, and other tasks that needed to be done around the guild hall.

“Hey, you. Where is the guild leader of Rose Records?”

Mahabunta asked.

The local girl didn’t expect visitors today. She lowered the box with a shy smile. Then she shrugged her shoulders, like she didn’t know.

“When is she coming back then?”

Mahabunta asked.

The local girl shook her head. She didn’t know. They then noticed a cut mark on her throat, like someone had cut her windpipe.

‘She is mute…’ they all thought at the same time.

“We will wait here then.”

Mahabunta said and went to sit down on the chairs with the two other, and they crossed their arms.

The local girl then proceeded to ignore them. She went to the back and put the box there. Then came back and stood behind the receptionist desk.

“They hired a mute to be their receptionist? I can’t imagine a worse choice.”

One of them whispered mockingly.

It was obvious that he was a rude fellow and also a coward, as he didn’t want the local girl to hear what he had to say.

In that moment, someone walked down from upstairs. Heavy steps. It was an older gentleman, and he was drinking from a large bottle of water.

“I am going outside. If Rose asks where I have gone off to, just say that you don’t know.”

Rock said to the mute girl. She nodded as a response. And he was about to leave, but then the three men in black and green stood up.

“You must be Rock Rose.”

Mahabunta said.

“And who the fuck are you?”

Rock asked angrily and saw the black and green outfit of theirs and also saw the snake wrapped around a tree and, of course, the gold-embroidered number on their shoulder.

‘Great.’

Rock rolled his eyes, as he had heard about Snake Hornets, and it wasn’t anything good either.

“I am Mahabunta of Snake Hornets. We’ve come to deliver a challenge letter to your guild master. He wants to challenge Della to a fight for her hand in marriage.”

Mahabunta said with a serious look on his face, and then he retrieved a letter from his pocket and gave it to Rock.

It was sealed with venom.

Rip… without further ado, Rock just shredded the letter to tiny, tiny pieces until it looked like it had been destroyed with a shredder.

“Who does he think he is? You think that defeating my granddaughter in a battle is enough for her to marry him? Does he think we are still part of the medieval times?”

Rock asked angrily.

He was truly angry. He had heard stuff about the guild leader of Snake Hornets. Nothing good at all.

“You should rethink. My guild leader is a powerful man. This guild will be destroyed if you reject his offer.”

Mahabunta said.

“Piss off or I’ll kill you.”

Rock said coldly, but Mahabunta didn’t seem scared, and the two members of Snake Horners stood up behind him.

While Mahabunta was nothing but a messenger, those two were prominent members of Snake Hornets.

They both had green hair. Young faces, like they were in their early twenties. And they both had similar short stature.

It was hard to see their faces clearly from under the hood of the green coat, but they did look identical.

Like they were identical twins.

“You can try.”

Mahabunta said.

Rock grinned. He dropped the water bottle to the ground. And then his magic grimoire appeared next to him.

“Alright, piss boy!”

“Enough!”

A loud voice came from the front door, and everyone looked over—a beautiful girl stepped in. She heard everything.

Mahabunta and the two twins were speechless. It was no wonder why their boss was so obsessed about her. She was very beautiful and delicate, just like how their boss preferred his women.

“You must be Della Rose. I assume we don’t need to explain everything again. My boss thinks fondly of you, and I am sure the union of Snake Hornets and Rose Records will benefit both of us greatly.”

Mahabunta said with a serious look on his face.

He personally thought that the offer was excellent. It wasn’t like their boss was an ugly man either. A little rough, sure, but some women liked that.

“I am willing to have a talk with that boss of yours to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed. Let’s arrange time and place.”

Della said.

“What about tonight? At ten, over at Rooster’s Restaurant. It’s my boss’ favorite establishment. Wear your prettiest dress.”

Mahabunta said, and then he tipped his hat and walked out of the building with the two identical twins.

The twins looked at her. Their eerily long tongues flicked out of their mouths. Almost like they were snakes wearing human skin to blend in.

“You should’ve let me kill those three.”

Rock said.

“And start a guild war? It’s not time and place for that. I will just talk with that man, and I am sure I can convince him to back off.”

Della said.

“And if he won’t?”

Rock asked.

They had been receiving anonymous flower deliveries every day to their guild building for several weeks now.

Each flower delivery also included a poem. A rough poem. An ugly poem. However, it was obvious that whoever wrote those poems really loved her.

Della stayed quiet. Not answering the “And if he won’t?” question, and then she opened her chat window.

“Summon everyone over here. We need to discuss the upcoming raid. Raon should arrive any day now.”

She sent a quick message to the guild chat.

“The raid? Hmph, I think we need to start preparing for guild war at this rate.”

Rock scoffed, but Della just looked at him and saw that it looked like he had been preparing to go outside.

“Were you planning to head over to the Gambler’s Den again? You already lost half of your funds. You are bad at it. Stop going there.”

“Nonsense. I was not… going there. I was just planning to head to a stroll.”

Rock said with a smile.

“Sure you were.”

Della rolled her eyes.

…

“…A meeting today?”

Delaweed was a rough-looking man. Big, broad-shouldered, shaped like a bear. He stank of hard cider and old pipe smoke.

“Yes. I think she wasn’t opposed to taking your hand in marriage. I am sure your poems have warmed her heart.”

Mahabunta said with a soft smile.

He, of course, was just spouting some bullshit, as he wanted to kiss Delaweed’s ass to increase his position within the guild.

He wasn’t strong. Not floor 50 strong. He had been carried by the stronger members of the guild in every boss fight.

Mahabunta had been stuck as a messenger. He wasn’t happy with that. He wanted to become Vice Guild Master.

There currently wasn’t a vice guild master in Snake Hornets. It was a vacant spot. And he hoped that it was one day his!

“With the unification of Snake Hornets and Rose Records, I am sure we can break through into the top 20.”

Delaweed said with a smile, and then he walked towards a full-body mirror and looked at himself through the mirror.

“I’d like you to go get me a new suit from the tailor. Something green. It has always been my lucky color.”

He said with a smile.

“Right away, boss!”

Mahabunta bowed respectfully, and then he left the room, but once he was outside, his face turned cold.

‘I am not some servant to be ordered around. Can’t you see my worth yet? I can do much more than this!’

He clicked his tongue, tossed his head back, and stormed off down the hallway.