Creatures Lurking in the Dark

Somewhere in the slum area of Lutenburg

 

"How is the situation?" (Man 1)

 

"Aside from the increase in their security, there's nothing new. But it's strange." (Man 2)

 

"How so?" (Man 1)

 

"Hey, come over, explain to him what you've got from interrogating them." (Man 1)

 

"Yeah? Oh, about that. So, you see, when the scout arrived to check the area, they found some of Oris's men lying unconscious in the alley. After waking them up and interrogating them, we've learned something strange. While they were on patrol, they heard a loud noise coming from the same alley we found them. They found a man and a woman. As to what they were doing in there, none of them had any ideas. But when they were trying to mug the two, they got the table turned against them and were knocked down by those two. They also said one of their men was missing. So either the two identified people took him away, or he ran back to call for help. We should assume that Oris had known about this by this time and prepare for a frontal assault." The man explained.

 

"Then a frontal assault it is. Rally the men. We will attack as soon as they are in position." (???)

 

A fourth man walked over to them and said.

 

"""Boss???""" The three exclaimed in surprise.

 

"It's dangerous here, boss. Please stay back." (Man 1)

 

"How can I sit in the comfort of my room when my men are risking their lives for me? Enough talking. Tonight, we will end Oris's gang and control the slum." (Bruno)

 

"Yes, sir. It's reassuring knowing our boss is leading tonight's fight." 

(Man 2)

 

"Everyone is actually ready. They only wait for the signal to start the attack." (Man 3)

 

"Good, lead me to them." (Bruno)

 

"""Yes, sir!"""

 

Bruno's gang was one of the two largest syndicates that controlled the slum area. However, unlike Oris's gang, which blatantly showed atrocity behaviors, his gang only operated businesses that borderline crime.

 

An example of their business was brothels. In Lutenburg, prostitution was not forbidden. In fact, they saw growth after the war against the corrupted creatures. It was said that due to the stress that the people had to suffer during the war, they needed some form of entertainment to keep their minds off. 

 

Seizing the opportunity, Bruno expanded into opening and running various brothels. It was also their main source of income to run their organization.

 

To become a prostitute, one must obtain a license by passing various background and health checks. Of course, a high fee must be paid to run all those checks. Not only that, they must swear the oath not to leak any private information about themselves and their customers since there were people of the upper class using their service. Moreover, they must always use contraception every time they engage in the act.

 

And the reason his business borderline broke the laws was because of the prostitutes they used. 

 

First of all, most poor women could not afford to pay the fee for background and health checks. This was where Bruno came in. He would offer to pay in their stead. Not only that, he would also promise and guarantee them to pass their checks. This he did by bribing the examiner whom he had a deal with. In exchange, the would-be prostitutes must sign a contract to work in one of his facilities for a set period of time. After that, a small portion of their earnings would be paid to Bruno as a 'reference fee.' This was illegal because Lutenburg law forbade taking any of the prostitutes' earnings. Customers were the only ones who would pay for the service and the use of the facility. 

 

However, they could not go against Bruno due to a hidden clause in the contract they had signed. But so far, no one had pressed any charge against him because the fee was just a small amount. In their perspective, as long as they paid that small fee, they could work freely in his facilities and even be protected by his men. From Bruno's perspective, he had hundreds of prostitutes, from servicing low-class customers to high-class customers. The fee it accumulated was a tremendous amount for him to fill his pocket by doing literally nothing.

 

Secondly, for people who owed him money but could no longer pay, he would cleverly suggest they work as prostitutes under him. Coexing someone into a prostitute went against Lutenburg's laws, but Bruno made them sign a contract that clearly stated they chose to become prostitutes of their own free will. So there was no evidence that pointed at him.

 

Because of how clever and cautious Bruno ran his organization, along with how well he treated those under him, many people chose to follow him. They knew that as long as they followed his set of rules, they would be guaranteed meals on their table and a roof over their heads. He even rewards those who distinguished themselves, unlike Oris, who governed with blood and an iron fist.

 

That was why all the men gathered before him were ready to fight to the death for him.

 

The men led Bruno to the area where his men were gathered. Including them, there were a little more than thirty members of his gang, all armed with weapons readied to move any second.

 

"My brave men! By now, you must have known the reason I call for you all here today at this time. But I will confirm it with you all. Tonight, we will march into the Oris gang's territory and route them from this slum. Despite the non-interfere pact between the two gangs, they blatantly showed their aggressive behaviors against our men. I am sure some of you or someone you know fell victim to them. I know the grudge you bear against them is immeasurable, and you are just waiting for the opportunity to pay them back. But I must ask all of you two things. Firstly, we are a team, a big family. Watch each other back, and support each other. Secondly, there should be captive people in their hideouts. I must ask you not to bring them any harm and not drag them into the fight. They also had families, people who were waiting for their return. With that being said, I want you all to treasure your lives. Don't be stupid, don't try to be a hero. This is my order; those who walked into the fight with me must come out alive. Let's go!" (Bruno)

 

"""Oooooohh!!!""" All the men shouted and rushed toward Oris's hideouts.

 

Their battle cries caused a commotion in the area. Curious on-lookers saw the weapons glinting in the men's hands and ran away as far as they could. Those who looked through the windows closed the door shut and prayed that they wouldn't be dragged into this gang's scuffle. Infants who went to sleep early were woken up due to their shouts and started crying as their parents tried to calm them down.

 

Luckily, the destination they were headed to was a desert mansion in the distance.

 

Bruno was the one spearheading the charge. He could see the building getting closer in front of him. There were several guards running around the perimeter of the building. With the size of his group, it was no doubt that the enemy had spotted them and prepared to intercept.

 

Their numbers slowly increased. At first, there were only five of them. But more kept pouring out from the mansion. He could count more than twenty men outside with their weapons ready. It was their hideouts, so that number was as he expected.

 

"Fear not! We will mow them down. Advance!" (Bruno)

 

Bruno rousted his men's fighting spirit up. At the same time, he raised his halberd and smashed the brittle iron gate. The rusty gate easily fell inward, raising a cloud of dust as his men rushed into the courtyard.

 

Within seconds, shouts, cries, and metal clashes rang as sparks flew around from where their weapons met.

 

The beginning of the fight between the two largest gangs in the slum area had officially started.

 

––––––––

 

Inside Jenna's room

 

"Hey, I'm really curious. Just now, you wrote a letter and sent it to the old man Ford, right? And back then, you said something about dealing with that group of gangsters too. So what was that about?" Bano, who was sitting at the edge of Jenna's bed, asked curiously.

 

*Rustle* *Rustle*

 

"Hihi, nothing much. You see, those gangsters were actually Oris's men. You must have heard about him, right?" Jenna, who was in front of Bano, changed her clothes as if it was the most natural thing to do in front of him. "Uuugh... You made a mess out of my panties..."

 

"Sorry, I kinda lost myself banging you. So Oris... If I remember correctly, he was the top dop who ran the slum area. And?" (Bano)

 

"He's not 'top dog." It's more accurate to say he is ' one of the two top dogs' running the slum area. He has a rival named Bruno, with whom he is butting heads. I've been asked to deal with Oris's gang before, but I couldn't get any evidence to issue a warrant against them. All the victims of his conduct were too scared to go against him. Most likely, they were threatened or something. But thanks to their misdeed today, I could finally have the proof I needed, albeit a weak one. But that was why I sent the letter. It was to stir things up a little between the two gangs and have them mutually destroy each other without dirtying my hands." (Jenna)

 

"Uwaah... What a scary woman." Bano covered his gaping mouth and looked at Jenna fearfully.

 

"If you know I'm a scary woman. Then get out. I want to go to sleep, A-L-O-N-E. I'm tired." Jenna glared at Bano.

 

"Why? What's wrong with sleeping with my woman? And it's not like I haven't slept with you before. Also, I like scary women, hehehe. Come over here." Bano took Jenna's hand and pulled her to the bed.

 

"*Sigh* Do I have a choice to say no? Suit yourself. But stop fooling around." (Jenna)

 

"Yes, ma'am. *Kiss*" Bano kissed her lips and pulled her into his arms.

 

They stayed like that until both of them slowly drifted off to their dreamlands.

 

Not knowing or caring about the chaos ensuing in the slum area.

 

––––––––

 

Inside Oris's office

 

"That's a good show you girls put up there. Alright, next, let's compare the shape of your cunt. Stand up and lean on that table." (Oris)

 

The two stood up, walked over to the table behind them, and bent forward. Oris didn't stand up; he still sat on the chair as he ordered them to take off their bottom clothes.

 

They took off the piece of clothes that wrapped around their waist and dropped it down on the floor. 

 

Yuri didn't wear any panties; she wasn't allowed to, so she laid bare her private parts. 

 

As for Rika, she still wore her panties, but Oris also ordered her to take them off. Ultimately, she was made to expose her woman's parts, just like Yuri.

 

"Good, now use your fingers and spread open your cunt for me." (Oris)

 

The two girls bit their lips to endure the humiliation and did as they were told. They spread their vaginas to the sides to show their most secret parts to the scum they both hate.

 

"Heh~ I don't see your hymen. So you're not a virgin, Rina." (Oris)

 

"I-I had a fiance. But due to our poor family, he had called it off..." (Rika)

 

"Is that so? Too bad I can't rip your hymen off with my dick. It can't be helped; at least your cunt looked tight. Yuri's cunt is also in good shape, hehe. As expected of my favorite girl. Now let's have a taste of your pussies." Oris finally stood up and walked over to the table.

 

"Hhyangh!" Rika yelped.

 

Rika couldn't see behind her, but suddenly, something wet brushed at her vagina. She looked behind and saw Oris's head at her crotch, licking her vagina. She also saw Yuri looking at her worriedly. So she reassured the poor girl by holding her hand and pointing at the pen on the other side of the table near the girl.

 

Yuri looked at where the cat girl pointed and saw the pen. It was not very sharp, but Rika could use it as a weapon somehow. She slowly reached out to the pen.

 

"Yuri." (Oris)

 

"Y-Yes!" Yuri yelped. She felt like her heart just jumped out of her ribcage. She thought she was busted.

 

"It's your turn. Let's compare your taste with Rina's." Oris moved to Yuri's crotch and started licking her vagina.

 

She breathed out in relief and handed the pen to Rika.

 

Rika took the pen and hid it under her palm. She gave a subtle nod at Yuri.

 

Now everything was ready. She only needed to wait for the right moment to strike.

 

Yuri endured the creepy feeling of his tongue digging into her pussy. Not only that, but he also licked her anus from time to time. It was such a dirty and shameful place. She couldn't understand why these men would enjoy putting their cocks into such a hole meant for excretion. Contradict how they talked about how tight and good her butthole felt, the pain was the only thing she could feel.

 

"*Slurp* Delicious." Oris stood up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

 

He gave each of the girl's buttcheek a good grope.

 

"Let's see... Rina's ass is firm; it looks like you work out a lot, hehe. As for Yuri, she has a meaty ass; my fingers keep on digging into her ass whenever I grab it. Now let's check the inside with my cock, hehe." Oris gripped his cock and rubbed the tip against Rika's vaginal opening.

 

(This is it, nyah! Die, bastard!)

 

Rika held the pen tightly in her palm and swung it powerfully at Oris's neck.

 

*Stab*

 

"Gyaargh...!" Oris's eyes turned wide open.

 

He saw in Rika's hand a pen with a broken tip covered in some red fluid. He also felt something hot and sticky dripping from his neck. In reflex, he held his neck with his hand and felt sticky fluid also covering his hand. He looked down and saw his palm was full of that same bright red fluid.

 

Finally, he realized that he had been stabbed. But it was too late. The wound was a fatal one. Rika had severed his artery with the pen. The moment he felt pain was the moment he was drowned in his own blood. With his neck's artery severed, blood spurted uncontrollably out from the wound, from his mouth, and flooded his own lungs.

 

Oris collapsed with a loud thud, knocking over the table. He wried on the floor, but no matter how hard he pressed against the wound, blood continued to flow and stained the expensive carpet.

 

As the life force slowly but surely escaped his body, his life flashed before his eyes.

 

Pillaging, swindling, kidnapping, raping, killing, etc. He had committed countless crimes, ripping apart countless happiness. And now, this was his karma. A befitting death for a villain like him. But he didn't want to die. There were far too many things he hadn't done yet.

 

'You reaped what you sowed. Treat those under you good, and they'll stay loyal to you.' the word of the person who used to be his best friend and now his rival echoed in his mind. 

 

Was it the way he mistreated Yuri that made her turn against him?

 

Was it because he killed her husband and tricked her into slavery that made her turn against him?

 

"Arggahh...!"

 

With his bloody hand, he weakly reached out to Yuri shakingly. It didn't reach out very far, as it dropped to the floor and onto the puddle of his own blood, which had exceeded the amount the carpet could absorb.

 

Oris died with his eyes open.

 

A fate befitting a villain like him. 

 

Had he followed another path, he could have lived longer. 

 

But fate was such that even the goddess couldn't control it.

 

And so, Oris's death marked the end of the notorious group that parasites this peaceful country.

 

"It's finally over, huh..." Yuri looked down at his corpse and muttered.

 

"Not yet, nyah. We still have to rescue the captive girls and bring them with you to a safe place. Let's go before someone spots us." Rika threw the pen and wiped off the blood on her hand.

 

"Yes. Please follow me. It's a little far from here." (Yuri)

 

Before the two could reach the door, it was slammed open from the other side. One of Oris's men rushed into the room.

 

"Boss! It's an emergency! Bruno's gang is atta– Guuorrgh!"

 

With her quick thinking and reflex, Rika grabbed his clothes and pulled him, causing him to fall forward. At the same time, she jumped up and kneeed the man's neck, breaking his windpipe instantly.

 

"Gorguhh...!" He fell to the floor, suffocating. The man slowly died without knowing what was going on.

 

"This man... He was one of those who often sexually assaulted me..."  Yuri glared at the man hatefully.

"I'm sorry to hear that. But don't worry. He got what he deserved, nyah. *Peh*"  Rika looked down at the man and spat.

"Phew~ But that was close, nyah." Rika wiped her forehead and rummaged around the man's clothes. She took out a small dagger and a short sword.

 

"Please use this for self-defense." She handed Yuri the short sword and stood up.

 

"Kuuh! My ankle..." Rika flinched and fell to her knees on the floor again.

 

Just now, she landed on her bad foot after that attack.

 

"Are you okay, Miss Rika!?" Yuri rushed over to support Rika.

 

"Nah... I landed on my bad foot..." Rika rubbed her ankle.

 

"Please wait a bit. Lemme bandage your wound." Yuri ripped a piece of cloth from her ragged clothes on the bottom half and wrapped it around Rika's ankle to support the swollen area.

 

"I'm sorry that I can only help with this much if only I had some herbs..." (Yuri)

 

"Don't worry. This is plenty. Thank you. Let's not waste more time." Rika stood up and opened the door. She made sure the corridor was empty before signaling Yuri to follow her.

 

The whole floor was deadly silent, but the two could hear a commotion coming from outside.

 

Something serious was happening. They could hear shouts, metal clashing, and objects being broken coming from outside. And to make it worse, the sounds were getting louder and louder.

 

"What is going on outside, nyah?" Curious, Rika looked out the window.

 

She gasped at the scene before her eyes.

 

Dozens of men were fighting against each other. There were injured people and even casualties lying on the ground.

 

"What's wrong, Miss Rika?" (Yuri)

 

"L-Look." Rika stepped to the side and showed the scenery to Yuri.

 

"*Gasp* What's going on !?" Yuri covered her gasp with her hands.

 

"I'm not sure. But just now, didn't the man say something about Bruno's gang? If that's the case, we might have a bigger problem. Let's make haste!" (Rika)

 

"Y-Yes!" (Yuri)

 

Despite the injured foot, Rika could catch up to Yuri when she told the latter to run as fast as possible.

 

"*Huff* *Huff* We can see it! It's that door right ahead." (Yuri)

 

Rika and Yuri finally arrived at the room. It was locked, but Rika could pick the lock in no time before opening the room. Luckily, probably due to the commotion outside, there was no guard.

 

"Everyone! Help is here! We can finally escape from this place!" Yuri shouted out to the captive girls.

 

They all shared the same expression, just like Yuri. They shed tears of happiness as they hugged each other, trying to confirm the reality.

 

Rika worked on the lock of the cell that was holding the girls. The moment she slid the door open was the moment the captive girls realized this was truly the reality.

 

"Miss Rika, there was one more cell deeper in there. Please help them too." Yuri pointed at the inner section of the room.

 

"Of course." (Rika)

 

All the girls, including Yuri, totaled up to 22 people. With such a large group, it would be hard to move without attracting attention. Rika furrowed her eyebrows as she thought up a good plan to lead all these girls to safety. They were ten minutes away from the nearest guard post. The main entrance was a no-go. There was literally an all-out gang war outside. Rika looked around, and then her eyes caught something.

 

However, before she could say anything, the girls screamed at the door direction.

 

"""Kkyaah!!!"""

 

……

 

…

 

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