“Pardon?” The young man scowled, so did the tall middle aged man and the young girl, Ley.

“You heard it right.” Adrian abled to the closest crouch to him and sat down, crossing his legs. “From now on, I am in charge of your group.”

Irene followed and sat on the sofa beside him. It was his job to do all these things. All she needed to do was watch, learn, and protect him.

The middle aged man stepped forward. “Who are you to decide that? Do you have anything from ‘the one above’ that proves that you were sent here to lead us?”

“Nope, I have nothing.” Adrian shook his head, but his face as calm as calm could be,

“Then, don’t step out of your bounds.” The scar faced man’s voice grew cold as he warned with his eyes. “The only orders we received were to take care of you here during your stay, and nothing else.”

“Of course.” Adrian declared with a smiling nod. “It’s customary for the followers to take care of their leader.”

“…”

The young man, Asmond, could not take it anymore. “You!” He cried out, pointing his finger at him. “Just because ‘the one above’ ordered us to babysit you, don’t think that you can say whatever rubbish you want.”

“Yes, I can.” Adrian turned to his companion and gave her a nod.

Irene nonchalantly snapped her fingers.

The humid and warm temperature of the room suddenly began to fall, and drop fast. In a matter of second, the whole room turned into what looked like a cave of ice.

The three hosts were caught off guards, not expecting their ‘guests’ to make an aggressive move at all. They subconsciously began to churn their magical energy to the fullest. But to their dismay, they could feel the energy inside them slowing down. It was as if their magical energy was freezing inside, just like their bodies.

Layers of ice had already covered the entire room.

*Crack. Crack*

Some of the furnitures showed signs of ruptures, not being able to withstand the cold that was contracting their bodies to unimaginable levels.

Sheets of ice began to blanket the breathing warm bodies of the trio as well. Their eyes betrayed dread as they began to use their source energy out of their magic cores to resist the cold, to thaw their eyes.

But alas, their resistance were futile.

Seeing no way out, they decided to use their last resort- burning their life force.

But just before they could-

*Snap*

They heard another snap. They again felt the sensation they had been longing for- warmth.

The temperature of the room began to rise up once again. The room turned back to normal faster than it took the time to freeze.

Soon, everything back to normal. Even the moisture in the room that had added to the iciness before, turned to humidity once again.

The only evidences that remained of what transpired just now were the subtle cracks on the furniture, and of course- the lingering fear on the trios’ face, along with the memories that would haunt them till the end of their lives.

Sweats were pouring down from their body, despite just returning from their icy graves. They looked at the two sitting calmly before their eyes with absolute terror.

Adrian was not affected by Irene’s sudden spell at all, courtesy- her expert control over her energy. A smile crept up on his face.

“Now.” He arched his back forward, clasping his hands together as he scanned through their aghast eyes. “Any objections?”

All three of them gulped together. They did not even have to turn their head to take each other’s nod. All of them fell on the wooden floor with one of their knees.

The smile on his face got wider as he turned to the nonchalant lady sitting beside. “Here’s the lesson- fear always works; if you know how to use it that is.”

Irene nodded with a blank face. She had already seen the results with her own eyes.

He turned back to the three on the ground, whose eyes were still on the ground- betraying fear.

“Send words to everyone in the syndicate, including the one who’s in charge of you right now.” He ordered. “If they can’t reach here by midday, they will have to stay have to stay in this city forever…” He smirked, sending chills down their spines.

“Or should I say- under it.”

The lower red light district. It was not far away from the slums and the market place. This was a place where most of the commoners and lower nobles would come to dump their load out and throw out some extra money.

Inside one of the small brothels.

Scent of flowers permeated through the air, barely masking the pungent smell of semens, sweat and cum.

*Ding. Ding*

A middle aged man entered with a scarred face. But none of the waiting girls showed any signs of fear or disgust. He was a regular customer, one served by the madam herself. He walked straight into the madam’s room, just as everyone expected.

A middle aged woman sat on the bed, wearing a slitted dress that revealed her long and smooth legs- ones that would make men pay just to touch them. Her breasts and ass- both were voluptuous, barely being held by the silky purple dress.

Her face was beautiful- bewitching to be precise. Her hair was tied to bun, with a golden pin piercing through it. But her most standout character would be the mature aura, and charm she was emitting.

“Well well, Halseed.” The woman spoke with a seductive tone. “It’s quite early for you to be here, don’t you think?”

“I really wished that was the case.” The man forced a smile on his face as he sat on the crouch.

“Oh.” She raised her brows. The ever-confident man she knew somewhat felt different today. “What happened?” She asked.

“It’s changing.” He sighed.

“We have a new Kingpin.”