Silent Crown

In an instant, the ‘army’ blocked both exits in the alley. Raising their weapons, their ferocity was overwhelming.

"Look who we captured? Two big fish! The sissy Sicilian rich boy, and the sneaky Professor!" The short and stocky man at the front laughed. He held a heavy flame-shaped sword, and a horned helmet covered his face. His voice was scratchy yet icy.

"‘Basset Werner?" Lorenzo finally realized who the ‘army’ was. They were not in the army, or more accurately, they were no longer in the army. They were Asgardians! Born with the genes of pirates, these thugs, who could not do anything other than kill, spread around the world after their country’s disarmament. They made a living with their swords and were infamous for being heartless, never leaving behind any survivors. A portion of them had come to Avalon under the leadership of their former commander, Werner, and had become a cancerous part of downtown.

"Yes, that’s me." Werner laughed, "The Professor was right. None of you will be able to leave today."

Lorenzo’s mind went blank. He knew that these people were crazy, but he had never thought that they were this crazy. He could not believe they had hidden so many weapons! The amount of equipment they had was enough to attack the headquarters of the Scotland Yard! What did they think Avalon was?

"Are you crazy?" Lorenzo asked, his voice barely in control, and his features twisting. "The Scotland Yard will not let you get away with this!"

"Haha, that’s okay. We’ve spent some money so now the guards will pretend they didn’t see anything." Werner caressed his heavy blade which he also used to eat with. "Don’t forget, Asgardians never go anywhere without their utensils. It’s time to eat now. Is there anything you sissy Sicilians want to say?"

Lorenzo laughed harshly. "You think that you can take us down with some steel cans?"

"My boys will tell you the answer." Werner laughed like a maniac, the veins in his eyes prominent and red. The war dog living in his body had been awaken. Thirsty for corpses and blood, he raised his sword.

"In your dreams!" His face dark with anger, Lorenzo unsheathed his cane sword. Behind him, the Sicilian thugs were ready to fight to the end.

But just as the atmosphere was growing tense, a hoarse and jeering voice sounded. It came from the Professor in the center of the commotion. He was about to be turned to pulp by people on both sides of him, but there was no fear in his voice. Instead, there was mockery as he said, "Fellows, I wouldn’t be so impatient if I were you. The friend on the rooftop hasn’t spoken yet." With that, the alley fell silent.

"Rooftop?" Both Werner and Lorenzo looked up on the high walls on either side of them. There came a hair-raising sound—the sound of bows tightening!

Everyone tensed. Even Werner, covered with layers of armor, felt a drop of cold sweat fall from his nose. "F*ck!" he could not help but mutter.

They could imagine the scene on rooftop with dozens of bows being pulled back slowly. As they watched, thin figures appeared on the rooftop one by one. They aimed their arrows at the "guests." There were sixteen well-maintained army bows, radiating with the piercing smell of curing oil. Bows and arrows that powerful and that close could pierce through even the hardest of armor. Sixteen was not much, but it was enough to turn them all into porcupines!

"Ah, we’ve been discovered?" A short figure on the rooftop hid behind a large shield and peered out cautiously. He smiled at the Professor. "Mr. Professor, I didn’t expect you to be as sensitive as a dog."

"The Pyramid Scheme?" Werner and Lorenzo finally realized who these newcomers were. They had never expected that the elites’ dogs would want a piece of this deal too!

The one who had just made his grand entrance was the leader of Avalon’s biggest smuggling group, and the obedient dog of the elites, Pyramid King: Sam Luo.

"Despicable! Completely despicable!" Lorenzo practically shook in anger. "Sam Luo, do you even have shame?"

"Ah, Young Lord, what are you talking about?" The man known as Sam Luo raised his bow in protest as if he had just been insulted. "All of you are good men who can fight, but the Pyramid Scheme is just a group of poor people who can only live on the elites’ scraps!

"It would be sure death if we fought you face to face, alright? We had no choice but to move to a higher place." He paused. Shaking the thing in his hands, his smile became brighter. "As for this, it’s only for self-defense. Please don’t mind it. Pretend that I don’t exist and please continue, continue…"

Everyone in the alley remained silent, trying to look for a way to escape. The Viper Professor, Palermo Eagle, Basset, Pyramid King...all of the big names in downtown had grouped here under such an awkward and strange atmosphere. Each group was ready to fight to the death.

--

"Mr. Luo, there’s something I must remind you of." Faced with the Pyramid King’s taunts, the Professor only shrugged. "Do you really think we’ll fight each other like fools and let you reap the rewards?"

"Ah, how could you think of me like that? I’m a pacifist. I hate fighting!" The Pyramid King looked around. "Aren’t we all here for the same reason? Would you like to listen to my suggestion?"

Exchanging glasses, Lorenzo and Werner both spat out one word, "Speak!"

"Look, we’re all here for that Eastern mutt, so there’s room for discussion. You want the thing on his body, but we’re different. Arthur’s hidden treasure is too whimsical. We only want something we can touch."

"What do you mean?" Loreno asked coldly.

"It’s simple. We want his life." The Pyramid King smirked, "The Rossi family lost an important inheritor because of him. They paid a large sum of money for us to get rid of him." He paused and looked at the Professor. "But we all have too many people and there’s not enough to go around. What if we get rid of the weakest and then discuss who the Eastern mutt belongs to?"

The weakest? As soon as he spoke, everyone’s focus turned to the Professor in the center. They knew that the Pyramid King was trying to turn them against each other, but they could not help considering his suggestion. Indeed, the Professor was sneaky and held many fearful secrets even though he did not have any real power. It truly would be a good chance to get rid of that scourge. And he was just one person. Why should he be able to take the reward from them? Avalon was too small and it would be good to get rid of someone in the way.

Lorenzo swallowed his saliva, and Werner grasped his sword, both seemed to have planned something.

"What’s wrong? Everyone’s looking at me suddenly." The Professor sighed, "It seems that I’m the weakest one?"

"Are you not?" the Pyramid King smiled eerily and raised his hand. When he lowered it, the sixteen bows would turn them all into porcupines!

"I think that everyone should think carefully before going on a mission. What if…I perform a magic trick for everyone to enjoy?" The Professor laughed lightly. He raised his hands and clapped softly. The crisp sound resounded through the alley.

As everyone watched in confusion, the air behind him wavered. Suddenly, a beast appeared out of nowhere! Yes, a beast! There was suddenly a huge figure behind the frail Professor.

Like the descendant of a giant, the menacing shadow was more than three meters tall! It could probably turn the Pyramid King into pulp with one hand! If they had not seen it with their own eyes, no one would believe that that thing was human! Yes, he was a human…

Wearing a dramatic and clownish donkey mask, the strange creature stooped behind the Professor. He held a folded bone saw like a butcher who had just gotten off work at the market. Everyone present felt raw terror in their hearts.

The giant was naked except for a dirty apron. Caked on the rough apron was dried blood. The layers upon layers of blood had dyed the dirty yellow apron deep red! The bulging muscles on his arms pulsed with his heartbeat. One could faintly see the blood vessels under his scarred skin.

The sound of everyone gulping was all that could be heard in the silence. Someone opened his mouth and murmured the name with horror, "The Bloody-Bloody Butcher!"

The Undead, Strange Creature, Butcher, Child of the Demon, Horse-face, Bloody Nightmare…Of course, the most well-known name was the Bloody Butcher.

He was infamous for his impossible height, fearful appearance, and successful record. He had no competitors and left no survivors. Rumors of the strange creature had spread through London’s streets like a nightmare. No one would have guessed that the Professor had hired the creature and hid it inside himself…

Lorenzo stumbled back, his eyes full of fear. His father had told him what would happen if the creature began his killing spree.

Werner was more direct, and quickly stepped back. All the armored thugs raised their weapons, ready and waiting, but compared to rumors about the Bloody Butcher, the seventy armored soldiers did not seem to be of any competition.

"F*ck." It was the Pyramid King’s turn to curse.

--

Now, under everyone’s fearful eyes, the aggressive creature had not yet begun his massacre. He, or it, just raised his head and breathed in the bloody air. As his heart pounded like a drum, his skin turned red. An ugly smile cracked open on the clownish donkey mask. Under its feet, countless bugs crawled out from the tiles and fled in all directions. They seemed to have sensed the horrifying creature’s presence and began to run for their lives.

He did not speak, only lifting up the bone saw, and stood up from the ground. It was instantly level with the Pyramid King, and it stared at the short man hiding behind the big shield. Bloodshot eyes peered through the mask as if looking down at an animal waiting to be butchered. It was a human but it seemed like a demon. It was a creature bred with the city’s darkness and blood—the demon summoned from the city’s ugliest side.