Chapter 86: Darkest Day

The wound on Denis’s hand worsened as the color around it gradually became darker, showing the effect of the poison from Ferro’s saliva.

On the other side, Ryuken and Benn Strong continued fighting Ferro while Oscar stayed close to Denis.

“Bro, we need to go to the hospital now! That wound looks really bad,” Oscar said with his face filled with worry.

“Urghh!”

Denis was unable to speak because of the sharp, prickling pain spreading through his hand. He felt as if dozens of blades were cutting into his flesh at the same time.

His forehead was covered in sweat as he clenched his teeth, desperately trying to endure the pain.

Oscar looked at the sweating Denis before turning his gaze toward the other side, where Ryuken and Benn Strong were still fighting Ferro.

He could see Ryuken throwing punch after punch while Benn Strong blocked Ferro’s attacks with his shield. But neither of them seemed to be gaining the upper hand. Oscar’s expression became even more worried.

‘We can’t keep fighting like this…’

If Ferro was telling the truth about his poison, then Denis might not have much time left.

“Ryuken! Benn Strong! I need to go to the hospital now with Denis! You two hold him off!” Oscar quickly grabbed Denis by the armpit and dragged him toward the company van.

“Hehehe! Your friend doesn’t have much time. Are you sure you still want to fight me?” Ferro said. The black aura continued to radiate from his body.

“You bet I will! I will beat you and get the antidote from you!” Benn Strong shouted.

“Antidote? Hehehe. What are you talking about? I never made an antidote for my poison. There is no need for me to do it.” Ferro’s grin widened.

“Tch!” Ryuken clenched his teeth.

Suddenly, Ferro began walking backward slowly, causing Ryuken and Benn Strong to become alert.

“Looks like my task here is already done. Let me know when your friend dies. And one more thing…I think you better go quickly and see your office for the last time.” With those words, Ferro suddenly jumped into a nearby bush and disappeared from their sight.

“Hey! Come back here!” Benn Strong immediately tried to chase after him, but Ryuken quickly raised his hand on his shoulder.

“Wait!”

Benn Strong stopped and looked back at Ryuken.

“He wants us to chase him. Let him go. Right now, we have Denis to think about, and then… the words he said about our office. I don’t like that.”

Ryuken then made a call to the Mazeltov office phone.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

But no one answered. The reason was simple. The Mazeltov office was already no more.

—

30 minutes ago…

“Please, welcome. Have a seat,” Zane said as she stood up and welcomed the representatives of the company who had come to discuss the deal with them.

Both were middle-aged men wearing suits, with a briefcase in each of their hands.

Zane then leaned toward Aleph and whispered.

“What is taking Sarah and Vega so long? The guests are already here!” she said.

Aleph frowned before giving a signal to Quinn, who was sitting on the couch on the other side of the room, to contact both of them.

Quinn then quickly walked outside to make a call.

“Alright. Now, let’s get straight to business. I will introduce myself again. My name is Amory, and this is Mr. Raimund. Both of us are representatives from Zimmerman Company, as you know, and we are interested in investing in your company. But first, we want to see some information about your company,” Amory said.

“Yes. We have prepared all the documents. We are really grateful that Zimmerman Company is interested in doing business with us. I hope we can reach a good agreement,” Zane said with a smile before passing the documents to them.

Zane was now very excited and hopeful. If this negotiation went well, her company would have a good stepping stone to grow. And perhaps, this would increase her chance of hiring Lars, even if the chance only increased slightly. That still remained her main objective.

Quinn, on the other hand, was trying to contact Vega and Sarah, but there was no response. After several calls, Sarah finally answered.

“Hello, Sarah… what happened? Boss is waiting for you two. The investors are already here,” Quinn said. Unlike Benn Strong, Quinn had a much kinder attitude toward others.

(Quinn! Finally, my phone has a connection. There is a situation. Vega and I were just attacked. Is Miss Zane alright?)

“Huh? Attacked? By whom?”

(We don’t know either. But we need to stay alert. It seems like they are hunting our members. I need to tell the others too. Please watch Miss Zane!)

Sarah said as her voice sound urgent. Quinn’s eyes widened.

“Okay! I will tell her now!” Quinn quickly turned and rushed toward the stairs.

However, as he entered the room, he saw that the situation was already tense. Right now, a mysterious person was standing by the window of their office.

Zane and Aleph were standing in front of the representatives, protecting them. Quinn quickly moved toward the two of them.

“Who is this guy?” Quinn asked as he quickly took a defensive stance.

“An enemy, obviously,” Zane said as her eyes sharp. “Who are you? And what do you want?” she asked.

The mysterious person was wearing a robe with black and white colors. Around both of his eyes were symbols of plus and minus, while a large smile was drawn across the mouth area.

“My name is Opiter. And I was sent here to destroy your place,” the mysterious person answered directly. His voice was flat, as if he were reading from a script.

Zane’s eyes narrowed.

“Why do you want to destroy our place? What did we do to you?” Aleph suddenly asked.

“Your company members attacked our territory, and we are paying back for what you did,” Opiter answered directly.

Zane was starting to have a bad feeling about this. Somehow, she already had a rough idea of what was happening, but she needed to confirm it. Her eyes sharpened as she asked.

“Which company do you come from?”

“Black Maria,” Opiter answered without hesitation.

Finally, everything clicked inside Zane’s head. And right now, only one face came to her mind.

‘Ryuken!’ She clenched her teeth.

‘That was the reason why his knuckles were bandaged! Did he actually go to Black Maria’s territory together with those two?’

Right now, if Ryuken was here, Zane wanted to strangle him to death for disobeying orders. But that wasn’t all.

“Boss. I called Sarah just now. It seems she and Vega were just attacked. It might have been Black Maria member.” Quinn said.

Zane clenched her fist. Right now, her members were in a dangerous situation, and she needed to do something. But first of all, they needed to gather together. However, it seemed that the enemy in front of them would not allow them to do that.

“I will proceed with my task. Please don’t interfere with me. It will be much faster for me to do my job,” Opiter said.

Each of his words was completely devoid of emotion. Suddenly, he began unbuttoning his shirt. As he opened it, he revealed what was strapped across his body.

“Are you…kidding me?!” Aleph shouted in shock, along with the others.

Dozens of large explosives were strapped across Opiter’s body. The room fell into silence as everyone realized what he intended to do.

“W-We want to get out of here!” Amory said as he and Raimund began trembling in fear.

Opiter’s hand then moved toward the button on his chest. But suddenly, a gust of wind shot forward, slicing through his hands, legs, and head in an instant.

His body fell to the ground. It was a skill performed by Zane, who did not hesitate to kill her enemy.

But then, something unexpected happened. The severed hand lying on the ground suddenly began moving. It crawled across the floor by itself before reaching Opiter’s chest and pressing the button.

Zane couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Barrier!” Quinn quickly turned toward the four people behind him before activating his defensive skill.

BOOM!!

Immediately, a fiery explosion erupted, engulfing the entire room and sending flames bursting through the windows. The explosion was so powerful that it shook the entire row of nearby buildings.

Ringggggg!

The fire alarms began to sound as water sprinklers activated from the ceiling, spraying water throughout the room.

Zane slowly opened her eyes. When she looked forward, she saw Quinn standing with his arms extended, his Barrier skill still protecting everyone around him. But suddenly, the Barrier disappeared.

“Luckily… all of you… are not harmed…” Quinn said softly.

Thump!

He then collapsed forward onto the ground. Behind him, his shirt had been completely burned away, revealing severe burn injuries covering his entire back.

“Quinn!” Zane shouted as she looked at her injured member.

Aleph quickly ran toward where Opiter had been standing, but the enemy had already been reduced to ash. He then immediately made an emergency call.

The atmosphere in the room was heavy as everyone struggled to process what had just happened.

Today…was the darkest day for the Mazeltov Company.