A week has passed since Thanatos and Lia had their first date. They declared their feelings and intentions to be together and help each other. Naturally, after that, in Neo's words, ‘They’re acting so lovey dovey it's making my head hurt just listening to them.’ The others also shared her sentiment. That’s why Neo went to collect the ingredients from the tribes.

Thanatos was peacefully ordering the documents on his desk. On the upper floor, Eric was training with a few members of the syndicate, and in the laboratory of alchemy, Adel was talking with Lui, the main producer of potions. It was still early, so Lia was still in her house. There was nothing unusual, and precisely those moments of calm are engraved in our minds and hearts before they turn into a bloodbath…

***

Lia finished eating breakfast and said goodbye to the maids for the day. She was going to her store to practice her skills. That was the story she told them until now. When she left the house, a luxurious carriage arrived just in time to stop her. From inside, a man wearing the blue uniform of the army of the Republic came out. His blonde hair and blue eyes were all too familiar.

"B-Brother Aubin. What are you doing here?" It was her older brother, Aubin. The oldest of the three sons of the Comtes Hildir family.

Aubin made it clear to his father that he wasn’t interested in being his successor as the main leader of the family. The politics and dealings of the life of a merchant didn’t interest him in the least. That’s why the position was passed down to his younger brother, Donat. He wanted to join the army to help the people against the terrible syndicates that plague the country. After over fifteen years of service, he reached the rank of captain.

The last Lia heard was that he was busy dealing with crime in the Capital. He was so busy that Lia couldn’t go to see him unannounced. Why was he here? Did he come to a town on the border of the country?

"Lia, I’m taking you back home. Get inside the carriage."

"What? I don’t understand. Why are you here, brother? And why do I need to come back to the Capital? This doesn’t make any sense-"

Aubin grabbed her by the arm and began to drag her inside. Lia tried to resist, but her attempts were like a child trying to stop a grown up. "Wait, what are you doing, brother?"

"Enough, Lia!" he raised his voice, and that was enough for Lia to see the severity of the situation. "I know about your little friend. Mom and dad, as well. It was thanks to dad position in the council that the general gave me permission to take you home instead of interrogation." He looked at her with disappointed eyes.

"What do you mean?... I can’t be…" Lia's worst fears came true, and the bearer of this disaster was her own brother.

"Lia is over. We listened to everything later in the Capital. Underworld is finished."

"No… I don’t believe it…" she refused to accept it. This was nothing more than a bad dream. It has to be...

"It has begun already. They surrounded the store. There is-" he didn’t have time to talk before he felt Lia trying to run away with all her strength.

"Ah, let me go. They need me. I have to help them!"

"LIA!" This time, his voice failed to reach her. No, he reached, but she wasn’t afraid. How? His little sister was supposed to be a crybaby. He remembered all the times that Lia cried for anything. Aubin had to be careful around her. His natural tone of voice came to scare her, and more than once made her cry.

"LIA! LISTEN TO ME LIA!" He forced her to run around to face him, but her eyes were still full of concern for those petty criminals. "What did they do to you?" he forced inside.

Lia screamed, kicked and scratched all the way inside the carriage as her brother closed the door.

"THANATOS!" Her tears fell as she anticipated what was to come...

***

BBOOOMMMM! The sound of an explosion caught everyone's attention, and the main door flew in pieces as the soldiers came running inside. Leading the charge was one of the two captains of this city, Reggie Pasten Alubarde.

"This is the army of the Republic. We have you surrounded. Give up without a fight or die!" The soldiers poured into the building following his command.

The operation to catch Hades and his direct subordinates had commenced. The forces of the army consisted of two captains, six sergeants, and several squadrons composed of dozens of soldiers and their respective leaders.

They had planned this raid for several months. Today was the day to prove their worth as soldiers and dismantle Underworld from its roots.

As the soldiers advanced into the building, the battle began in several places. The underlings were caught by surprise and were put at a disadvantage, but the first obstacle they encountered was one of the underbosses, the man known as Eric.

"Don’t let them advance. Kill those blue neck bastards!" He smashed the ribs of a solider as he entered the fray.

Eric broke the faces and arms of many soldiers. He acted as a shield and flag as he raised the morale of the other members. "We have been training for this! Show them our power!" He kicked a pitiful soldier, breaking his chest. The poor guy fell to the feet of one of the sergeants.

"Don’t let them escape. Our comrades are working to keep the line of defense. Our mission is to catch as many of them as we can. Magic squadron attack!" He gave the order, and a group of five soldiers raised their hands.

"[Fireball]" in unison, they form a ball of fire and throw it at the members of Underworld.

"Retreat!" Eric yelled at his men, but the blast of five balls of fire was too big to escape unscathed…

BBBBOOOOOOMMMM! The training room exploded from the smoke. Eric came out holding one of his subordinates.

"Boss Eric, are you ok?" The men grabbed him as they fell back.

"COF, COF... This is nothing. I've been in far worse situations!"

"B-Boss you hand!" Eric looked to his left but found nothing there. The explosion took his limb.

"Shit! I have this!" He drank a healing potion and the bleeding stopped. A potion of this level wasn’t enough to regrow a limb. The only one here that could do that was Thanatos with his magic.

"Can do anything about it. I’ll take care of the mages. You guys look for ways to support me from the back. Don’t let me down bastards!"

"YYYEEEESSS!" They were still hopeful and ready to fight.

Eric jumped to the other side. He aimed directly at the magic users. "Don’t think you can do things as you please!" The sergeant took out his sword and attacked him.

Eric dodged by twisting his body in midair. The sergeant didn’t fall behind and aimed again. He attacked from different angles, but Eric dodged all the strikes. In only a moment, he got past his defenses and went right on top of him. With a mighty punch, Eric broke his arm.

"Damn you!" If he had both hands, I would be dead. He didn’t have a choice; he had to use his secret weapon. "I wanted to save it for later in the raid, but against an opponent like you, it can't be helped. [Great slash]!"

A white slash came from his sword, cutting everything in front of him.

"[Speed]" Eric used his own ability to dodge by going down the slash of the blade. He only got a cut in the cheek. This was the chance he aimed at the sergeant's gut and...

"[Mirage]" his fist never reached the sergeant, but instead someone different appeared in front of him. Reggie only flicked his sword and cut Eric’s arm in half.

"AHHHHH!" He tried to grab his arm in pain, but he didn’t have any limbs left.

"Sergeant, please fall back; this man is above your current abilities. Don’t waste your energy we have just begun the raid. We need to be cautious of any tricks they could have in waiting for us." He wiped the blood from his sword as he was about to deliver the killing blow.

"Boss!" the men screamed as they tried to rush to his side.

"Don’t come, idiots!" The mages were already preparing for a second wave of fireballs to kill them. He could only retreat and try something later. "[Spe-" he tried to use his special ability again, but Reggie stopped him. He was already piercing Eric’s chest. He had almost reached the heart when he felt a dark presence.

"You!" He blocked the attack from the undead hand. It was a man brought to life with dark magic. His clothes looked like those of an Executioner of the Red Dragon. "The executioner that appeared a few months ago."

Only then did he notice that Eric wasn't there anymore. His eyes bounced around the room, and he saw a man holding the wounded underboss.

"Sorry... I let them take the upper hand on me…"

"[Heal]" Eric’s arms and hands grew back like nothing had happened.

"Are you sure, your mana?"

"Is fine Eric. The boss, Hades, already gave me his instructions. You must go to the secret exit and help as his bodyguard. I’ll deal with the army until everyone leaves the building"

"Understood. Men let’s go!"

"You think I’m going to let you escape." Reggie went on the offensive, but the undead Executioner stopped him. He moved fast and attacked with some kind of martial style of combat.

During that brief exchange with the undead, Thanatos vanished from Reggie's field of vision. He was behind him, about to attack his subordinates. "Sergeant Retreat!" he warned them, but Thanatos was on top of them.

Like a dark angel, he descended on top of the soldiers with eyes full of hate.

"AH! [Great slash]" he attacked with all he had to save his life, but before he could strike, his hands were cut. He could only watch as his arms fell to the ground.

"You guys like fire?" He had already passed the sergeant and was in front of the mages. "Me too. What do you guys think of this [Fireball]"

The ball of flames made an explosion twice as big as the soldiers, burning them all. Only charred corpses remain. He then launched another spell against the remaining soldiers.

"[Lightning ball]" an explosion of bolts passed through their bodies, killing them instantly.

Reggie couldn’t believe his eyes. He just killed dozens of soldiers and a sergeant with two spells. A man like that couldn’t be allowed to do as he pleased, Underworld must fall today.

"A terrible evil that took the shape of a human being. Hades, leader of Underworld. Or should I call you by your real name, Thanatos the necromancer!" He took a battle stance.

"You know already?" He turned to face Reggie with the same hate in his eyes.

"You underestimated the army of the Republic. We know that you’re the real mastermind behind the syndicate, and we know about your experiments with the undead. You really think we couldn’t find those bodies under the butcher shop only because you covered the hole?" He mocked him with a laugh.

"Hahahaha, criminals always think they can outsmart us, but your carelessness allows us to collect proof and information. You’ll pay for your blasphemous crimes, necromancer!"

"I see... Then I don’t have to hold back anymore…" He let his bloodlust ooze everywhere.

For the first time in his life, Reggie felt he was in the presence of a demon...