Second World

”Everyone, please calm down!” An authoritative voice was heard just as the Death Associates members were about to lunge forward.

”What now?” Bigarm was incensed because they had been interrupted twice.

They turned and saw five people coming towards them. An old man wearing glasses, two women, a teenager, and in the middle leading the group was a handsome man that looked around the late twenties of age.

”Who the hell do you think you are?! Do you think…” Bigarm yelled in anger, but he was stopped by Scarface who was beside him. Scarface gave him a light shake before turning to the newcomer. His face showed an expression of respect.

”If I know brother Silverwing will be coming to visit, I would have prepared a proper welcome.”

”Who is that guy?” Fox who stood beside his leader, Boulder, asked. ”That Death Associate people seemed to put them in high concern.”

”They ought to be,” Boulder replied. ”That is Silverwing, co-leader of the White Scarfs.”

”Oh? Arenʼt the White Scarfs the guild that is occupying the City Hall building?”

Boulder nodded.

Jack was able to hear their talk. He was not so familiar with Silverwing name, but he had heard about the White Scarfs guild. They were the largest gaming guild based in this city. It was expected for them to be the one that occupied the City Hall, as mostly the ones gathering here were citizens of this city, they could easily find their members amongst the crowd compared to Death Associates which was more international based.

Unless multiple groups in this park combined together, no group should be able to beat White Scarfs in terms of member size in this city. This was troublesome, trouble came one after another, but Jack couldnʼt think of what they had done that drew the ire of this guild.

Scarface was obviously not comfortable with the presence of another powerhouse here, but he kept his face cordial and said, ”if brother Silverwing has some matters to discuss, please excuse me for a bit. As you see, we are in the middle of an affair. Donʼt worry, I wonʼt let brother Silverwing wait for long. This will be over in a moment.”

Silverwing gave an enigmatic smile and said, ”that was courteous of you, brother Scarface. But unfortunately, I wasnʼt here for you.”

Scarface made a frown, ”What do you mean?”

”I was here to invite this brother here,” he gestured to Jack. ”You would not be rude and make trouble for my guests, would you?”

Scarfaceʼs expression turned dark upon hearing it.

Bowler, who was surprised by the turn of events, whispered to Jack, ”bro, do you know that person?”

”No,” said Jack, who was as surprised as him.

”This is ridiculous,” an angry womanʼs voice was heard. They turned and saw Fox of Weary Wolf yelled out. ”Why are we afraid of them? There are only five of them. We have almost thirty people here. They might have strong background but there is no reason for us to back off just because of a few words from him. I say letʼs just teach him a lesson also as to what happens if he underestimates us.”

Fox was clearly still holding a grudge. She couldnʼt wait to pounce on Fierce Flame who had humiliated her. The appearance of Silverwing had put a halt in her revenge process, so she was very angry with this interruption.

The teenager beside Silverwing, definitely unhappy when he heard Foxʼs threat, said, ”Boss, letʼs just kill that stupid bitch.”

Silverwing however, just laughed it off. ”She was right though, there are just the five of us, we have no bargaining power. Then let us increase our number, shall we?”

He lifted up his left hand. Not long after, there was rustling on the trees, and a number of people walked out from the shadows of the surrounding trees. As more and more people came out and stood behind Silverwing, the members of Death Associates and Weary Wolf were disconcerted.

They counted more than sixty people who stood behind Silverwingʼs group. Those people outnumber them more than twice. Now the whole plot was filled up with people. Some people who saw this from the distance were wondering whether something had happened? Why did so many crowds gather there?

”Damn, who the heck is that guy?” Bowler couldnʼt help but be astonished.

Silverwing looked at Fox, his smile was unchanged. ”How is it? Is this number enough of a reason for you to back off?”

Fox couldnʼt find a word to retaliate, her face was completely dark.

Boulder, who was afraid that Fox might be blinded by her anger and made a reckless remark, immediately said first, ”Since they are Sir Silverwingʼs friends. Our gang Weary Wolf will give face and overlook their transgression… Letʼs go.” He waved to his members and started retreating. Fox who was still seething with anger stood her ground for a while, but reasons finally prevailed as she followed the rest of her groups to walk away.

Scarface, who had been silent with a frown all this time spoke up, ”Why are you helping them? Are they your acquaintances?”

”No, never met them before,” Silverwing replied.

”Then why? These people had attacked and humiliated one of our people. If we donʼt teach them a lesson, where will we put our face? Protecting them now means making an enemy out of us. Do you think it is worth it to offend Death Associates for a few people that you barely know?”

Silverwing smiled indifferently. ”You want to teach a lesson to someone, that is your matter. I want to invite my guests, that is my matter. If you want to blame, then blame the unfortunate coincidence that our two matters happen to occur at the same time and on the same subjects. You cannot expect me to wait for you to finish dealing with them and then only invite them, right?”

Bigarm who was fuming by the side finally let it out, ”all this useless talk, so you intend to make enemy with Death Associates? Do you think your White Scarfs is great? It is only great in this city. If we gather everyone in our guild, we can easily crush yours!”

The teenager at Silverwingʼs side wasnʼt about to be left out. He straight away retorted back, ”if you think you are so great, what about we give it a go now! Your people were humiliated? That was most likely because they are weak!”

Bigarm was about to fire back with a few words of his own, but Scarface stopped him. He looked grimly at Silverwing and said, ”Let me ask you one more time, brother Silverwing. Do you really intend to cross Death Associates?”

Silverwing continued to smile, ”I would never intend for our two guilds to become enemies, but if you think you can use your guildʼs name to threaten me, you are sorely mistaken. First, since the start, we have never feared your guild. Second, look around you. See what the world has become? How many people were actually brought here? Maybe all the ones in this park are all that are left of us. Thatʼs mean that all that is left of your precious Death Associates are only you lots. If so, how do you think you can compete with us?”

Scarface was silent, he couldnʼt deny Silverwingʼs words, as this had also crossed his mind. He didnʼt have any means to contact his old guild members. What if all the people he had gathered now were all that was left? The once glorious guild was reduced to such paltry numbers. The thought troubled him immensely.

Silverwing saw the hesitation in Scarfaceʼs expression, he added, ”the fact that I spend time to talk and persuade you can already be considered as me giving your guild a face. I hope brother Scarface can accept this goodwill and not make this difficult.”

Scarface was fuming. It was clear that they were bullying with bigger numbers and yet the guy was still shameless enough to say it as goodwill. Nevertheless, his group was at a disadvantage. Trying to force the issue will just bring them harm. Hence, he clenched his teeth and gave his members the sign to retreat.

”Weʼre leaving,” he exclaimed. He gave a glance at Silverwing before turned to look hard at Jackʼs group and said, ”this is not over. Watch your back!”

As Silverwing saw Scarface departing with his people, he said to him, ”thank you, brother Scarface, for giving me a face. I will remember this favor and make it up to you someday.”

Scarface replied with a spat, and walk away.

Bowler who saw those people leaving, finally exhaled a relieved sigh. He fell down on his ass and said, ”man, that was intense! I almost shit myself.”

Jack, however, turned to Silverwing. He didnʼt think that their problem had gone just yet.

😉