"Should I open the way, again?" Asterion asked with a growl. This big guy was also incensed by what had happened to the giants. For these people to attack their own protector, backstabbing, betraying them, the Minotaur couldn't help the flame in his heart.
Seth gave Pip and glance. Pip signaled to halt the violence fore now.
"I'm Avery Fox, executive of the Mutton Bone guild part of the Guild Council!" the man in the armor announced. "Who are you!?", he added a question, when the guards had finally taken their positions, forming a half circle, surrounding the group from Minas Mar. It was not Seth that stepped forward to speak, but Pip.
"We are Minas Mar. Excuse our rough entrance, but we are quite incensed to have found some bottom feeders and insurgents attacked our allies, the giants," she said, her young voice holding a razor sharp edge. "Since you are part of the Guild Council, you better give us a good excuse,"
"Girl, get back in line. I spoke to your leader!" Avery dismissed the druid girl, his eyes fixed on Seth, the tall man in full plate armor standing right behind her. He also glanced at the massive bull that took down the gate, as if he only perceived these two as a threat.
"I guess I was still too polite..." Pip scowled, slightly offended. " If you have any excuses, you better say them now, or you will take them to your grave," the little girl gave a cutthroat threat. Avery looked at her, more annoyed than afraid.
"I'm not afraid of some little girl," he said and spat out.
The world blinked for a moment. An instant of darkness to everyone's vision and when light returned, all guard's eyes rolled back and the crumbled to the ground. They were unconscious. Only Avery Fox was left standing.
"Answer her," someone whispered in his ear. Before he could react, a kick in his butt had him on the ground at Pip's feet.
"Sorry, but conversations with idiots take so long, when you don't establish the hacking order from the start," she said, her boot drilling into the man's back. From the corner of his eye, Avery stared at the scene before him and the cat girl he had ignored so far in disbelief.
Pip crouched down a little, looking the man in the eyes.
"Are you afraid now? Anyone standing here could wipe you and your subordinates out, even me," she spoke in her childish voice as if simply explaining a common fact. " Now, tell me what happened to the giants and the chimeras," she instructed. Since it had already come to this, there was no need to beat around the bush.
"The chimeras? You mean the Liberation Guild?" Avery suddenly asked puzzled, but then he started to chuckle and outright laugh. "Haha! Could it be, you are the people those assholes waited for? Pfft, they kept on babbling about allies that would come to bring back order to New Hope. That were you guys? To think they were waiting for a rag tag group of street performers. Hahaha-urgh! Cough!"
Mina's boot stomping him in the back quickly ended his fit of laughter. Seth was simply confused by the man's reaction. They had just blasted down the gates, struck down all the guards and had him struggling like an insect, yet he kept talking with so much confidence. Was there someone strong in New hope that he relied on, or was he just too delusional to recognize the situation he was in?
"That means you also attacked the Chimeras and the others. What did you do to them? To the Liberation Guild?" Pip asked coldly, watching the man choking. Even with a 50% Impact Absorption, the man could barely handle Mina's kick.
"We killed most of those freaks. Serves them right, trying to go up against the Guild Council," he said grimly.
"Most, so not all of them?" the girl asked for detail.
"There may be a couple left at the prison..." Avery revealed.
"Where is that?" Pip asked, not remembering Hope ever had one.
"Below the Guild Council Tower." Her confused look had Avery list more name. "Epsilon Building? Big Dave's ?" he rattled down the former names. The last one was familiar.
There were a couple sky scraper that had seen obvious renovations during Epsilon's stay, but the biggest and most modern looking was the building that used to belong to Big Dave, the crime lord Seth had fed to the Whimsical Curse.
Judging by the names, it used to be the head quarter for Epsilon in new Hope and had now become the place for the Council of Guilds to operate from. However, it was Epsilon that built the prison, according to Avery Fox.
using Theia's Vision, Seth was able to see through the lies of the man barely lv.79 and signaled to Pip when something was wrong with what he told them. This way they were ascertain whether he told them the truth, and get it out of him if he kept lying.
There were five guilds holding the power in New Hope, there were more, but these were the oney leading the Council and making the decisions. It was also these five that had blames the chimeras of the Liberation guild for the cases of missing children and pushed for their extermination.
"Missing children?" Pip asked puzzled, when he mentioned the framing. Apparently there had been children going missing ever since shortly before the Fleet of Epsilon left and it only became worse in the months since then.
"The children the chimeras kidnapped and ate, yeah," he answered like ti was common knowledge. however, nobody believed his bullshit. There was no way the chimeras would resort to eating people.
After incessant questioning, the executive finally admitted that they didn't actually know who or what did it. However, some day, the Council simply decided to to put the blame on the Liberation Guild and use it as an excuse to get rid of and especially straight laced opposition.
"I have no idea why they suddenly took such measures. Please, you have to believe me. I'm not in a position where anyone would tell me the details...." he pleaded after they asked him more forcefully.
"I see that now. That means we have to get someone higher up to get answers," Pip concluded. She was done with the man, who had finally realized his own position and begged for his life. With that, their next destination was clear.
"However, it doesn't look like they will let us go there easily," Fin said with a chuckle, seeing the amount of adventurers that had gathered while in the vicinity, while they had interviewed Avery Fox.
"I will scout ahead and see if I can find the remaining people of the Liberation Guild(?)," Mina suggested, not quite sure about the name they had given themselves.
"Please do, we will draw their attention and join you soon," Pip agreed with the shadow assassin, who promptly vanished from sight. Although Seth was suspicious of Avery's state of mind, he was not worried about Mina.
The one that would try to get in her way would have to be worried.