The Deceitful One

Wednesday, 25th August 1580.

Inside his bedroom, Bryan opened his eyes after finishing a round of meditation, however, he was still about a week away from completely carving the 30th mind rune.

He stretched out his hand and grabbed his silver pocket watch that was kept on his bedside table. The time displayed on it was 8:30 pm.

A cold glint flashed through his narrowed eyes as he thought in his heart, 'Today's the day you die, Jack!'

He got up from the bed and took out his black three-piece suit as well as another pair of black tight-fitted clothes from the wardrobe. Bryan put the suit inside his pocket watch.

He decided to wear it after finishing up the deed tonight. After all, he didn't want to get blood on it.

Bryan then took out his grayish-silver curved daggers as well as his bracers from his pocket watch and inspected them, making sure that they would work fine later on.

After carefully examining them, he wore the bracers on his forearms. Then he put on the black tight-fitted clothes and sheathed the daggers behind his waist. He took out his black balaclava mask and wore it too.

Then he stepped out of his apartment and left for Jack's manor on the outskirts of Damascus. Night had already fallen and Bryan was like a specter who ran through the streets, jumping from one shadow to another.

As the conductor of the orchestra, how could he not be the first one to arrive at the performance venue?

…

Jeffrey Gill was sitting behind the study table inside his study on the third floor of his villa. His personal butler, Wally, was standing behind him to the side with a nervous look on his face.

Across from Jeffrey, five middle-aged men wearing fine-tailored suits were standing respectfully. Although these five men appeared gentlemanly, they were in fact crime bosses who each had their own gangs.

The five of them were the core personnel that worked under Jeffrey. All the dirty work was done by them and in return, Jeffrey gave them large amounts of money along with a stable and luxurious lifestyle.

Jeffrey looked at the burly man in a gray suit who was standing in the center of the five men and asked with a gloomy expression, "Marco, is everything ready?"

The burly man, Marco, replied confidently, "Yes, Master Jeffrey! We have readied enough men, guns, and ammunition to fight against at least a couple of platoons."

"Good, I want everyone related to the hairless fucking brat of the Brown Family to die tonight. And leave Jack for me. I will kill that cocksucker myself." Jeffrey spat through gritted teeth.

…

Rows of horse-drawn carriages moved along the path leading to the back entrance of the Brown Estate. There were twelve of them and they had caused quite a bit of commotion. Enough to alert the owner of the estate of their sudden arrival.

The head butler of the Brown Estate, Carson, hurriedly went to the master bedroom on the third floor of Brown Manor and knocked on the door repeatedly.

Inside the bedroom, Jack who was on the verge of finally falling asleep snapped his eyes open upon hearing the knocks and screamed in agitation, "What the fuck is it?"

Butler Carson opened the door and walked into the room. He first bowed respectfully and then said to Jack, "Master, all the gang leaders and their respective gangs under your command have gathered at the warehouse and are waiting for your arrival."

"Waiting for my arrival? Who the hell called them here in the first place?" Jack's eyebrows furrowed. It was already close to 11 pm at night and definitely not an ideal time to hold a meeting.

Butler Carson looked at Jack and asked in confusion, "Master, the six gang leaders told me that they had come here at your behest. Did you not call for them?"

Jack got up from the bed and changed into more presentable clothes: brown cotton pants, a white tunic, and a brown overcoat. He then replied, "Of course, I didn't. Take me to them. How dare they come here unannounced?"

Carson had a sense of foreboding, however, he still led Jack to the warehouse.

Meanwhile, in the warehouse, about 60 people had gathered together, standing in the center surrounded by different sizes of crates containing wines and other raw materials as well as quite a few pieces of equipment needed in coal mining.

Cillian was surprised to see the other five gang leaders here as well. He thought he would be the only one present since the letter said that the meeting would be confidential.

At the very least, he didn't expect all the other gang leaders and everyone under them to also be present.

The other gang leaders also had equally surprised looks on their faces. Although, they had already realized this when they noticed the number of horse-drawn carriages that were coming here, on the way.

A few minutes later, Jack walked into the warehouse through the entrance with Butler Carson following behind him.

Jack's expression was very unpleasant at the moment as he asked irascibly, "How dare you come here without any prior notice? Or do you think I'm someone to be taken lightly?"

The six gang leaders looked at each other in bewilderment. Cillian stepped forward and spoke, "Master Jack, I received a letter from you stating that I should be here along with everyone under me tonight by 11 pm. And I'm guessing the others also received similar letters."

The other five gang leaders nodded, confirming what Cillian had said.

Jack finally couldn't keep his cool and screamed at the top of his lungs, "Are you fucking kidding me!? What fucking lett-"

But before he could finish his sentence, a group of about 50 people barged in through the warehouse's entrance. Leading them was none other than Jeffrey Gill.

He looked around the warehouse at the people present and then his eyes landed on Jack as he spoke through gritted teeth, "You fucking punk! How dare you steal from me!?"

Jack and the people around him were dumbfounded at the sudden intrusion of a third party but more so at the words spoken by Jeffrey Gill. Jack looked at Jeffrey, fuming with anger, "You bastard, who are you calling a thief?"

As Jeffrey and Jack continued to hurl insults at each other, the sense of foreboding in Butler Carson's heart intensified as he began to sweat profusely.

He thought in his heart, 'First, the gang leaders under master arrived here without any reason and now there's Jeffrey Gill, who barged in here accusing master of theft… s-someone's been manipulating us behind the scenes!'

Meanwhile, Bryan who was already inside the warehouse since the beginning was hiding in the shadows using Shadow Concealment.

Upon confirming that everyone had arrived, the corners of his lips curled up into an evil smirk as he took out a pistol from his pocket watch and aimed it at one of Jeffrey Gill's men.

BANG!

At once, the heated atmosphere turned silent. Jeffrey turned his gaze at the person from his side who had just been shot dead.

Thinking one of Jack's men had fired the shot, he gritted his teeth and ordered his men, "Kill everyone! Do not let a single bastard live!"

The fuse was lit by Bryan's earlier shot. It'd be mere moments before an explosion of conflict engulfed the people in the warehouse in a chaotic fury. A conflict that would later come to be known as The Damascus Massacre!