Ascension of the elder

Chapter 79: Too much?

"Remind me never to get on his bad side....again."

Damn Dylan is a nice guy but he really isn't packing much above the neck was the consensus among those present. Seeing the looks he was receiving Dylan thought that maybe he should make an exit stage left, but before he could leave with what was left of his pride Ash came up to him and placed his hand on his shoulder in a fatherly manner before saying.

"Don't worry Dylan you'll always be on someone's bad side."

On seeing Dylan's crestfallen look everyone began to laugh before Ash clapped his hands to get their attention.

"Alright you heard the man I want this place fully turned over, any files, funds or anything we can use grab it. Search the bodies and strip them we don't want to make it easy to identify them."

With this everyone started tearing the place apart looking for anything useful. Kyle was making his way to the front of the warehouse caught up in his own thoughts. This was the first time he had killed anyone in any life and yet he couldn't find it within himself to mourn their passing, they were bad and vile people but they were still alive. Why didn't he feel anything if not for them at least for the action he took?

Does this make him a villain or an evil person? Kyle didn't think so as he could still empathise and cared for his own people but these guys it was as if by taking action against him he no longer saw them as people.

As Kyle was dragging the body behind him he had grabbed some rope and a pen paper and a leftover crossbow bolt he found down one of the aisles. While he was suffering from his extensional crisis he carried on working.

He was planning to make something so terrifying it would push the other gangs back so 'shadow hand' could gain a secure foothold in the slums. Reaching the entrance Kyle began his work to start with he wrote a letter and using the bolt he stabbed it into the bosses chest, tying a piece of the rope to one of his wrists he threw the other end over a bracket near the door allowing it to drape to the floor before he tied the other wrist and threw the rope over another bracket opposite the first.

Once the ropes had been draped over the brackets Kyle grabbed both ends of the rope and drew them together before hoisting the bosses body up in the air in a T pose. The man was quite heavy but as Kyle was using the brackets as leverage his lower weight wasn't an issue. Once the body had been correctly posed Kyle tied off the rope and let it go. The boss's body gave a jarring lurch as the rope raised a meter or so before the knot caught holding the body above the entrance like a horrible parody of a Christmas decoration.

Kyle returned in and saw Ash and the crew had been busy and had already gathered all the bodies and the loose parts in a big pile of horrid nakedness. They were currently rooting through a few other areas but the office and a few other suspicious places had been thoroughly turned over already. They didn't have the time or inclination to search all the boxes and as this area was still within the Powell's area of control the full search could be left to the families guards. He dropped his 'illusion' as he was looking around.

Ash walked over to Kyle and looked him over. Out of everyone Ash understood that Kyle was still a child regardless of how smart he was and he feared this may cause him some problems later.

"Hi boss just remember these men were no better than beasts. You only did what was proper given the situation."

Kyle looked to Ash before giving him a sad half smile.

"You haven't seen the end yet, you should save your consolation until you know what I believe is necessary."

Leaving a worried Ash, Kyle headed over to some of the documents which had been placed on the desk while they were getting ready. Kyle opened the folder on top and found it was a list of bills and contracts. Kyle was looking through this and it was a pretty straight forward ledger of sales and funds.

'A76 Salt 1t = 200s ongoing'

'B12 Meat 500kgs = 360s complete'

'C8 Fabric 20 reams = 2g complete'

'A40 F Toys 50 units = 500g ongoing'

'B7 A Ore 40kgs = 50g cancelled'

It appeared that the letter and number combination at the start was a client number with a description of the items and their unit of purchase and cost and finally the status of the order. Amongst the other files was probably a list of clients related to their designations and an inventory list somewhere.

Looking at the list again Kyle could see something out of place, it was the f toys what were they and why were they so expensive. There was only one thing he could think of and it made his hands begin to shake.

If these men saw their captives as nothing more than a commodity to be bought and sold as needed they would have to keep a record of their dealings and this may be it. But what made Kyle begin to shake in anger was the number 50 they had found about 20 kids here but were these the first or were they too late and the rest had already been lost.

As Kyle was standing there feeling his rage building one of the 'death watch' came into the office to place some more paperwork with the rest. He paused when he entered as he saw Kyle standing there with such a strange look on his face. To him it looked as though Kyle was halfway between crying and screaming but couldn't do either.

Thinking that he should do something he approached Kyle before clearing his throat so he didn't startle him.

*cough,cough*

"Excuse me sir are you alright?"

Kyle looked up at the man and for a moment the man held his breath. The look Kyle had directed to him made him feel terrible, it was a mix of anger and rage but beneath that was an abyssal feeling of regret.

It was a look he had only seen on some survivors of beast attacks as they felt they had let those who died down somehow, regardless of how hard or bravely they had fought. If he told Kyle this he would be able to identify it as survivor guilt but here they could only struggle alone.

"Yes I'm fine I just found out something and I hope to all the gods I'm wrong. If I'm not I will find out the culprits and make them wish I would let them die."

Kyle only spoke quietly but as he spoke his voice took on an edge which made the man feel the only thing he could do for his Lord's targets was to wish them a quick end. Kyle put away his regret and other negative thoughts at the moment as it wasn't the time to mull this over and instead they needed to move.

"Okay everyone pack it up, I want everyone out the side door and move the kids away from the front I don't want them seeing up there get moving."

With Kyle's call everyone gave up the search and instead grabbed what they had found and headed outside. While they were exiting Kyle headed back to the front, he was quickly joined by Dylan and Ash who were carrying bundles on their backs containing what they had found.

"What we doing boss?" Dylan asked innocently while Ash was again looking at Kyle with a little worry creasing his brow.

"I'm just going to make a statement." Ash replied before heading out.

Once they were outside Dylan and Ash looked around but could see nothing Dylan turned back but suddenly his eyes grew wide and he gasped. Ash seeing Dylan's reaction turned as well expecting an enemy but was instead greeted by the strung up gang leader.

Why did Kyle do this? Ash was beginning to worry but then he noticed the note attached to the body. Kyle said he was making a statement so that was probably what it was about, but why were the back here?

"Okay both of you head over to those boxes." Kyle indicated before he took a stance, once Dylan and Ash had retreated far enough away Kyle launched himself at a 45 degree angle to the gate before using his velocity to leap off; reaching the body as he was moving away Kyle slashed the gut of the body allowing the guts and innards to spill out creating a horrendous stench. As Kyle was already moving away from the body because of his jump none of the viscera managed to touch him.

Ash on seeing how Kyle moved knew why he had them move out of the splash zone. Even at this distance the smell was terrible but as Ash and Dylan were soldiers previously they were not overly affected by it. Instead they were both worried for their lord but they weren't scared of him.

"That's it let's head home."