Chapter 140: Oops

"Umm..." The Guild Leader thought for a long while, her eyes drifting thoughtfully over her quiet, expectant members before she gave a firm, decisive nod.

​"Well... My guild will definitely need some high-grade armor to protect us when clearing deeper dungeons."

​"If that’s what you truly need, then alright." Juanita snapped her slender fingers, and instantly, a massive spatial ripple opened above the floor. A towering pile of gleaming combat gear rained down and settled at the center of the hall, stunning everyone in place.

​"What the?!! These are all Earth-Tier and below gears!! Whoa! The Guild only owned a handful of those across our entire vault, but she just brought out hundreds of them with a single snap!!" Someone in the crowd yelled in complete shock, his eyes wide open.

​"These are the baseline equipments your members can actually utilize at their current rank. Once you all advance your cores to A-Rank and above, you will gain access to even more ridiculously powerful gear... Just like my Divine-Tier dagger here," Juanita stated casually, twirling her blade.

​"Thank you so much..." Nicole said, bowing her head in genuine gratitude.

​"No need to thank me or anything... By tomorrow morning, I will personally return to take you to meet the Master. Then, you can directly ask him for anything else you need," Juanita said. She paused, leaning back and gesturing with her chin toward the blushing receptionist over her shoulder:

​"Can I buy her from you?"

​"....?!"

"Huh?"

​Both the Guild Leader and the young clerk froze, completely stunned. With a subtle frown forming on her face, The Guild Leader turned her eyes toward the young lady, staring for a long moment at her full, voluptuous chest before lowering her gaze to her own flat, armored breastplate. She squeezed her eyes shut in silent annoyance at the blatant contrast, but still shook her head firmly:

​"I don’t sell my guild members like commodities... but you are free to arrange whatever personal meetings you wish with her." She nodded.

​"Oh, that’s even better," Juanita purred, slowly running her tongue over her upper lip as she turned back toward the clerk, who immediately averted her eyes, her entire face burning crimson.

​"Wow! Talk about amazing progress! Seems like we can stick around this guild and enjoy ourselves now that we’re under an Ancient Family!"

​Everyone turned toward the source of the loud voice. Tobias and his elite team were striding arrogantly back toward the main counter, having realized that the initial life-threatening tension had dissolved and that the SSS-Rank powerhouse wasn’t here to massacre the guild. Reassured by the sudden stroke of good fortune, their usual bravado had returned in full force.

​"What do you want now, Tobias?" The Guild Leader asked, her brows furrowing with deep irritation.

​"Why the sour expression, Guild Leader? We simply came back to exchange our dungeon pelt, but your stupid, useless exchange sales lady is—"

​Tobias froze mid-sentence as a suffocating, blood-chilling presence materialized directly behind him. He slowly, almost mechanically, turned his head around, his eyes dilating in sheer terror. The next thing he saw was a pale, silk-wrapped hand shooting forward like an iron vice and clamping hard around his throat.

​"I hate arrogant men more than anything in this world... Especially scum who dare insult my girlfriends." Juanita said, her emerald eyes glowing with a lethal, frigid light. With absolute ease, she lifted the full-grown, heavily armored man—who towered over her in height—straight into the air by his neck.

​".....?!"

​Every Awakened in the hall blinked in dumbfounded silence. An SSS-Rank was an absolute force of nature; Tobias was merely a B-Rank. Standing before Juanita, his strength was no different than a flimsy wooden stick.

​"Please... spare—"

​CRACK!

​"....?!"

​"Oops."

​Juanita casually opened her fingers, letting go of his neck. Tobias’s lifeless body crumpled heavily to the floor like a ragdoll, his eyes wide and glassy, stunning every single onlooker and plunging the entire cavernous hall into absolute, suffocating silence.

​"Um... I didn’t actually mean to break it so easily." Juanita said, a sheepish, nervous smile breaking through her lethal demeanor. She quickly turned her head toward the Guild Leader, her voice dropping into a pleading tone:

"Please... Make sure no one outside hears a single word about this, especially the Boss."

​"You!! You just murdered someone in cold blood and now you’re trying to cover it up!!" The muscular vanguard knight who had been groveling on his knees just moments prior suddenly yelled out, pointing a trembling, terrified finger at Juanita in complete shock.

​"We have to report this heinous crime to the Awakened Association immediately!! Yes!!"

​"Let’s move out right now—"

​WHOOSH!!

​"...?!"

​No one present in the hall even saw the movement—apart from Juanita.

​The remaining members blinked, staring in absolute awe as the Guild Leader smoothly slid her longsword back into its scabbard at her waist with a soft, metallic click. Simultaneously, the four remaining members of Tobias’s squad collapsed dead onto the polished floor, blood pooling beneath them.

She calmly adjusted her armor and turned her face back toward Juanita:

​"No need to trouble yourself over minor trash... Whatever happens inside a dungeon..."

​"--Stays in the dungeon." Juanita completed the old Awakened phrase, a wicked, thoroughly impressed smile spreading across her face: "Wow... I guess you really do possess some dark charm after all, Leader..."

​"It’s nothing worth mentioning." The guild leader replied, bowing her head respectfully. "As long as I can be of genuine use to you and the Boss, I will draw my blade without a moment’s hesitation."

​"My name is Juanita." She introduced herself properly, her eyes glittering. "What is yours?"

​"I am Nicole." The Guild Leader introduced herself cleanly.

​"Thanks for taking care of that cleanup... I really don’t tolerate trash insulting my women. And I’m already certain she’s going to be one of mine." Juanita noted, casting a brief glance over her shoulder at the young clerk, who blinked rapidly in utter bewilderment.

​"I will personally visit you later this evening to meet with her... For now, I have more guilds to annex." Juanita said, turning around and walking toward the exit.

​"Allow me to escort you out—"

​"-No need. Just go ahead and distribute those gear pieces to your thirty core members. Your guild’s annual operational budget will be wired directly to your account within the hour." Juanita called out over her shoulder, stepping past the shattered double doors and vanishing into the Silverspire streets.

​"Thank you, Miss Juanita." Nicole muttered softly, bowing her head. She then turned her cold, sharp gaze toward the five corpses lying on the floor, her expression dripping with absolute disgust.

​"Listen up, all of you. Engrave this official story deep into your heads: these five individuals perished during a high-risk expedition inside an A-Rank Dungeon due to their own reckless carelessness. Their deaths have absolutely nothing to do with our guild."

​"UNDERSTOOD, GUILD LEADER!!!"

​Every single member present in the hall shouted in unified agreement, their voices echoing off the walls, fully prepared to step into their new era under the Aetheldawn name.