Rise of the Crusader

It was all eyes on Raphael in the administration office.

While the cabal and the student council had always made their intention known to him, the bratva's had never made a move publicly about him.

In fact, as they kept silent and watched as the cabal and council relentlessly pursued Raphael, it was beginning to feel as though only those two were in the one after them.

"Raphael, how are you doing?" Serena spoke with a light smile on her face.

Serena was already one of the most attractive women in the academy, and as she let out that smile, she looked even more desirable.

A smile that was able to brighten up the world.

Glenn rolled his eyes after Serena spoke and then smiled.

"Quit the act, Serena, others might be interested in you, but we both know the kid is not." Glenn blurted.

Among the five that were from the cabal, Glenn was the only one Raphael had met before. As for the rest, he had neither seen nor heard about them, but Raphael wouldn't be Raphael if he didn't find out about them.

Malcolm Juan, Arnold Harper, Nena Rivera, and Kristin Guerra.

These four, including Glenn, were part of the core members of the cabal.

Despite the five of them being third-year students, the power, as well as the influence they had in the academy,y was massive that only a handful of students could compare to them.

"You must have been told a lot of things about us, and not to be pretentious, it's all true. We are evil." Said Kristin as she stared at Raphael.

"But, unlike some people, we won't ever go behind your back, and once we have your back it's till death do us part."

For some reason, after Kristin spoke, a grim look appeared on the faces of the people from the student council.

Raphael might have been clueless about the details, but having made his own research about the cabal, student council, and even the bratvas, he was aware of a lot of them.

And Kristin's words were directed at the student council.

"Hahaha!! You might as well just call our names out directly." Serena blurted.

She then moved her gaze to Raphael, "We are not proud of some of the moves we made, but it isn't also fair to bite the hands that feed say." Said Serena.

"And as the bratvas would say, those who betray the brotherhood would pay with their lives." Sonia said, "You're lucky we didn't kill you, Kristin."

Kristin was once a member of the student council, but after some disagreement between her and the council, she left the council and joined the cabal.

The student council had tried to contain the matter, but with Kristin and the cabal stepping out to speak about the incident, it was all over the academy.

A sneer came from Kristin, "I wouldn't have never bitten the hand that fed me if the council had stood beside him and not against when my family was under attack."

"Raphael, you of all people should know that family is everything." Said Kristin.

Clearly, the cabal had made their own research on Raphael, and even though the look on his face very much remained the same, he turned towards Serena after Kristin spoke.

Serena knitted her brows, and the look on Raphael's face showed that he demanded an answer.

But, it would take more than a few minutes before she was able to give him a desirable answer.

Melanie could naturally tell that the words spurt out by Kristin reduced the likelihood of Raphael's choosing to join the council, and before all the effort would go down the drain, she spoke.

"There's more to this than meets the eyes."

"We of all people know that family is everything. If we can't protect those around us, how can we consider ourselves to be a true powerhouse." Melanie blurted.

As Raphael glanced at Devon and then Melanie, the words she had just spoken were more akin to jokes to him.

In fact, he would have burst into laughter if it had been for wanting to save the council some face.

Seeing the expression on Raphael's face, as Melanie went on about loyalty and integrity, even a blind man could tell that he wasn't impressed with all that he was hearing from them.

And if there were someone who was the most excited about the scene, then it was the people from the bratvas.

Donned in a fitted all-black suit, the three men from the bratva's stood with their hands inside their pockets, and a very pompous look on their faces.

"That's enough, Melanie, don't bore him out with your useless ranting." The man standing in the middle spoke.

His voice was cold, and while most people would look at Melanie in high regard, he didn't seem to consider her in the slightest.

Melanie bit her lower lips hard, she was about to retort to Miroslav's words, when his voice rang out.

"Hand it over to him!" Miroslav said.

Without delay, after he spoke, Ivan walked over to Raphael and handed him a paper.

A perplexed expression was soon to appear on Raphael and the rest of the people in the surrounding, as they stared at the paper in Raphael's hand.

"Blank paper? What for?!" Kristin asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

Miroslav's lips curved inwardly, "The paper is for Raphael." Miroslav's replied.

"It's quite simple Raphael. Take the paper for a blank check, now write anything you want, and as long as you join the bratvas, it would be given to you." Miroslav stated.

"Unlike this two, the bratvas don't like to beat around the bush, so feel free to write anything… And I mean anything."

There was a certain level of confidence that Miroslav had around him, that those who were in the room didn't doubt any of what he said.

Including Raphael.

And while Raphael was able to continue to remain neutral to it, Gus who was on his shoulder was very excited with what it had just heard.

Gus flapped its wings, and let out a chuckle, its eyes were then glued to the blank paper on Raphael's hand almost as though, it was the one for whom the paper was for.

"Bullshit!" Serena exclaimed.

She took a step forward and with a casual wave of her hand, the paper that was in Raphael's hand flew to her.

Before the paper would then get to her, it was suddenly set ablaze.

"What is the meaning of this?!" There was anger written all over Miroslav's face as he saw the paper burnt.

He glared at Serena soon after, with killing intent evident in his eyes.

"The audacity!"

Ivan and Antonio, who were beside Miroslav spoke simultaneously.

As both of them took a step towards Serena, Melanie, Ves and the other two from the council wasted no time and appeared in front of them.

"An agreement was in place all this while, Serena. Don't you think destroying our offer, when we have allowed you to move freely around him, is breaking that agreement?" Said Miroslav.

As Raphael was wanted by the three of them they were bound to be a conflict between them, but to prevent a clash from happening, the three of them had agreed the agreement was that there must be no interference or foul play between them when it came to Raphael.

So, Serena's action of setting the paper ablaze was breaking the agreement that the three of them made.

"Hahaha!!!! The student's council strikes once again." Kristin said.

"As it turns out, not only are the student council a bunch of backstabbing bastards, but they are also very untrustworthy. And when they make promises, you can bet that they will never fulfill them."

Kristin said.

And it wasn't even up to a second after Kristin spoke, and Glenn's voice rang out.

"Raphael, you can always testify to the student council when it comes to fulfilling the promises they make." Said Glenn.

"I believe they have promised you a lot of items and resources, but which of them have they fulfilled." Glenn paused, "Nothing!"

Very useless people."

After Glenn spoke, Raphael moved his gaze to Serena with a look that very much said it all.

He didn't say a word from his mouth, but Serena who knew him to some extent understood the message.

Serena glared at both people from the cabal and the bratvas, "There's no way Raphael will join you monsters!!!' Serena exclaimed.

"You must take him for those sissies you lure into the council with your sweet words, isn't it?? Hahaha!" Glenn spoke and then burst into laughter.

"Well, let me break it to you, Raphael isn't one of them."

The expression on the faces of members of the student council changed immediately after Glenn spoke.

It was already quite obvious the cabal and the bratvas were teaming up against them, a scenario they didn't see coming.

And despite how much they hated it, they had to admit that both of them were doing an excellent job.

"Y-" Melanie was about to speak when a voice rang out.

"That's enough for them, you can present your offer to him privately, and he would choose among the three of you."

Whether it was the cabal, the bratvas, or even the student council after that voice rang out, their stance changed very quickly.

And after bowing their head gently, they stepped out of the administration office.