71 Murder

Min, Kemah, Haemir, and Kor walked through the streets. They were all wearing their equipment underneath their clothes. This was one of those rare moments where Min wore clothes that didn't reveal most of her skin. She couldn't wear the sluttier clothes that she liked better if she wanted to remain inconspicuous with her armor and weapons. Kemah was the same.

Dralu remained at the Moonshine Garden, to keep everything in order there. They couldn't have everyone capable of dealing with troublemakers leave at the same time.

"Where should we go first?" Haemir was the one to ask. The two old friends, Haemir and Kor, weren't as familiar with the situation as Min and Kemah.

"We should go visit that other brothel near here. They apparently belong to that Jackal gang, so I bet they know where the gang's headquarters are," Min said, her voice unusually low. Min rarely got mad, but today she was angry. Angry and worried.

"Yeah, let's go there. We will also need to get rid of that brothel, somehow. We can't afford to have them ruining our business much longer," Kemah replied. Haemir and Kor nodded, too. In recent days, the two had invested some of their savings into the brothel, to help it stay afloat. This meant that they were part owners of it, too, and had rights to part of the profits, although it was only a small percentage.

The entourage walked through the streets, heading for their enemy brothel. It wasn't a far walk since it really was close to the Moonshine Garden.

The building was smaller than Min and Kemah's brothel and didn't seem as refined. Min and Kemah had put a lot of work into making their place look pleasant and inviting. There was a lot of artwork, created by Min, and there even was an actual garden outside, albeit, a small one. This place, on the other hand, looked more utilitarian. It looked like more of a place to go for a quick fuck and not a place to hang out, like the Moonshine Garden.

Min and her friends entered the building. Despite its outside appearance, there was a bar inside, and people drinking. Most likely, they were just waiting around until a prostitute was free. With the Moonshine Garden in decline, this place probably got a lot of customers.

An elven woman of the forest descent noticed Min and the others enter and glared at them. Min simply walked over her, Kemah by her side, and Haemir and Kor behind them, looking menacing.

"You're the owners of that Moon-whatever Garden. Have you realized it's finally time to shut down and come here looking for work as common whores?" The woman said, the disdain very apparent in her voice.

"No. You're going to tell us where the Jackal gang like to hide out. Or, if you prefer, we can just torture you, forcefully pull the information out of your crying mouth, and then kill you," Min said, as she leaned over the counter. The elven woman seemed to sweat, and her eyes quickly turned to the men behind Min.

"Alright, I'll tell. They can usually be found in the old warehouse, two houses left of old Jeffery's Bakery. Just leave me alone, alright?" The woman said, after little hesitation.

"Good. Have a fine day," Min said, before flicking the woman's forehead and leaving. The woman looked at Min and the other's backs as they left, a strange look on her face. When they finally exited the building, she sighed in relief.

"I hope Jackal and his men kill them all. Or enslave the two girls," the woman said.

Back outside, Min, Kemah, Haemir, and Kor started walking the direction of the bakery. It wasn't too far away, and Min was familiar with it. She'd bought bread from them before.

It was roughly twenty minutes to walk there. Indeed, there was a warehouse a few houses next to the bakery. From its appearance, it was no surprise that it was housing to a criminal enterprise. The windows were barred, and there was a small slit in the door that could be opened at eye level.

"Maybe we should have brought Dralu, after all. He's better at kicking doors in," Min said, as she looked at the closed door into the warehouse. Dralu was the most physical of them all and had the highest Strength. His primary weapon was the sword, after all.

"I have my lockpicking set, so don't worry," Kor said, as he took out a small bag. He immediately got down on his knees and started working. In just a few seconds, the door clicked. More surprisingly, the door also opened on its own.

"Did the door just unlock?" A male voice rang out as a face appeared from beyond the door. Min didn't hesitate in the slightest, and slapped her palm on the man's chest, and pushed him inside.

"Where's Jackal? Tell me if you want to live. Or I can just kill you if you prefer that," Min said, pulling out her knife and pushing it to the man's neck. A small trickle of blood appeared as the blade cut into the man's skin, if only slightly.

"Ah, shit, you cut me! He's upstairs, just relax your damn grip! It hurts, don't you know?" The man spoke in a manner that could only be described as a hoodlum accent.

"Thank you. You're coming with us, though," Min said, as she started to push the man towards the nearby stairs.

"Alright, alright," the man said as he huddled in front of Min, clutching at his small cut.

They soon made it upstairs, where they met a group of people. The most prominent of them was a skinny man, sitting on a chair. A girl was on her knees in front of him, pleasing him with her mouth. She wasn't Rilaka, just some gang member since she had the same tattoo as everyone else.

"I had heard I might receive some visitors soon. And here you are, the two owners of the Moonshine Garden. How convenient. I was planning to kidnap your whores one at a time until no one would work for you anymore. But since you two are here now, that makes things much easier. You two will make fine slaves, too," the man, most likely named Jackal, spoke.

But Min didn't care about his words in the slightest. She could only focus on the naked body on the floor. There was no head on it, and a pool of blood had formed underneath it. Min looked to the table nearest the corpse, and there she saw it.

Rilaka's head. Her eyes were gouged out, and her tongue was severed, but Min knew for sure it was Rilaka's cold, dead, head.

"Rilaka!" Kemah cried as she jumped over to the dead catgirl. Even Min's hand was trembling as she saw it. Rilaka had been butchered! Her death had been a painful one.

"Ah, the cat girl. She was a splendid fuck. Originally, I was going to turn her into a slave whore, but she insulted me, saying that her madams would save her and that I was a pig. Naturally, I had to teach her a lesson," Jackal said, his voice low and sinister.

"You bastard!" Min screamed! She instantly shoved her dagger into the neck of the man she'd been holding hostage. At the same moment, Haemir, Kor, and even Kemah shot out, each aiming at a target. In mere seconds, they'd all pierced their daggers into their victim's heart!

The sheer speed of the three shocked Jackal! He considered himself quite fast, but he'd barely even been able to react, especially with Haemir and Kor! By the time Jackal had managed to shove the girl sucking him off to the side, and stand up, Kemah, Kor, and Haemir had killed three more people!

Not counting the man who Min had taken up with her, there had only been around twelve gang members and Jackal up there, in the first place. In just a few seconds, six of those people had died!

Min stared at Jackal, her eyes bloodshot, and tears trickling down her cheeks. She stretched out her two arms towards the worried man and started generating two different spells. It only took a moment, before three missiles shot out of her left hand, each targeting a different person.

She used the spell, Dark Missile! The missiles moved far too fast for anyone to dodge and pierced right into its targets' chests. As soon as it had burrowed into the three people, countless spikes exploded in all directions, which then dissolved into acid. All three people who had been hit by the Dark Missiles crumbled apart into a pile of dissolving meat. They were completely unrecognizable as anything that could ever have lived!

This wasn't the simple Dark Missile, which Min had used in the past, like when Kemah got all her scars. This was a version that Min had spent the past several months improving, using her understanding of Darkness as its basis. This was Dark Missile, level 3!

She could shoot three of them at a time, and it had become a much more deadly attack. The other hand generated a ball of black liquid, which shot out and hit the ground under Jackal. Faster than anyone could see, the ball formed a black pit. Chains made from a dark metal, coated in the acid liquid of the pit shot up and started wrapping around Jackal's four limbs, pulling him back into the chair.

At the same time, black arms grew out of the pit and started pulling at the girl who had been giving Jackal a blowjob.

"Aaaah!" The girl screamed as the arms pulled her into the pit. Her skin was visibly melting from her body, and despite her desperate struggles, she was slowly drawn into whatever space was beneath the black pit. In a few seconds, she was gone.

This was the spell Black Abyss Shackles, level 2! At this level, other than the arms, the spell would also generate extremely touch chains that could restrict their target.

Min continued to stare at Jackal. Now, only he remained of the Jackal Gang. Min started slowly walking towards him.

"Gagh!" He let out a low growl, barely able to bear the intense pain those chains gave him. The chains were covered in the black acid of the pit, so naturally, they'd sear the skin and flesh off him.

Min stepped into the black pit, her bare feet not even slightly bothered by it. She grabbed her second knife, the other one still lodged in that guy's neck.

Jackal looked up at Min, death in his gaze. His spit at her, but only blood landed on Min's face. Min just wiped it away with her fingers and then licked it clean.

"Your blood is repulsive," Min stated, before quickly jabbing her dagger into Jackal's side.

"Argh! Hahaha, you suck at torture! Like this I'll die in soon," Jackal taunted, before spitting out some more blood.

"You think so?" Min said. Then, a holy light generated from her palm, completely covering Jackal's newest wound. In a matter of seconds, the wound had closed.

"Oh, shit!" Jackal said, before simply closing his eyes.

"You're going to die, but it won't be a quick death," Kemah, said, as she also walked over, daggers in hand.

Half an hour passed before Jackal died. When it was all over, he was naked. His genitalia had been cut off, his eyes had been gouged, his tongue had been cut out, his nose had been severed off, his finger and toenails had been pulled off, his fingers broken, and more. In the end, Kemah had slit his throat and let him die. Min had wanted to continue the torture, but Kemah decided he'd had enough.

"I think we should have burned him alive, instead of slitting his throat," Min said, clearly dissatisfied. Kemah could only shake her head at Min's brutality. The vast majority of the horrible things done to Jackal were Min's work.

��He suffered enough. Let's get out of here. I don't want to stay another second. Kor, Haemir, can you guys get the cleaners to take care of the place," Kemah said. Her eyes were still crying, but other than the tears, she seemed rather steadfast. Min was the one who had a hard time controlling herself.

"We'll take care of it. We'll also bring Rilaka's body so she can get a proper burial," Haemir said. Kemah nodded, and brought Min out, holding her in her arm.

Kemah and Min ended up sitting on a bench for a while, holding each other. The people walking by could only wonder what the two had gone through. They had taken off their bloodied clothes, so they were only dressed in their armor. Most people would probably think they were adventurers who had lost a friend.

"That other brothel doesn't have an owner anymore. We should take it over and make it our own," Kemah suddenly said. Min looked up and wiped her tears away.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go do so right away!" Min said as she shot up from the bench, happy to have something to distract her.

"Let's go," Kemah assented and followed Min away. The two took the twenty-minute walk back to that brothel and immediately entered. The same woman they'd talked to more than an hour ago was still there. She was surprised to see Min and Kemah, well and alive, and even in new attire. Min looked at all the customers present.

"Everyone, get out. Now!" Min shouted. Despite her cute appearance, Min's look was enough to cause fright in these people, and they all left, leaving only the manager and a few prostitutes left.

"You, go get all the other girls, and chase the men out. Tell them that they can get a free token from the Moonshine Garden if they go there tomorrow," Min ordered. The prostitutes didn't dare say no and immediately went upstairs.

Min could hear a commotion upstairs, as she continued to stare at the manager woman. She was frightened and couldn't make herself say anything. There was still some blood in Min���s face, and the woman had her ideas where it could be from.

A few minutes later, all the customers had been chased out, and all the whores were gathered downstairs.

Then, swiftly and without hesitation, Min took out her dagger and stabbed the manager woman right in the heart. She let out a cry, but only a few seconds later, she fell, dead. Min sheathed her knife again and turned towards the girls.

"Listen up, girls. This place now belongs to our Moonshine Garden. You will be paid as you always have, but all the profits will go to us. You'll have to listen to one of our trusted girls, too. Don't worry, we're women just like you, prostitutes just like you, so you will get good treatment. Jackal and his people have been killed, so you don't need to worry. And we're going to close this place down for a few weeks. This place doesn't look very nice, so we'll renovate it. But we're also closing you so that we can restore the reputation of our Moonshine Garden. Are there any questions?" Min said, standing firm and confident.

One girl slowly raised her hand, shaking quite a bit.

"You don't have to be worried. We won't mistreat you. I only killed that woman because she was part of Jackal's gang, but you all just work here. So, speak up," Min said. While they had been torturing Jackal, they'd also managed to retrieve information about all the gang members that weren't present in the warehouse.

As the tattoo on the woman's shoulder confirmed, she was one of those gang members.

"Th-then, while this place is closed, will we get any money?" The girl asked, her voice still shaky. After all, she'd just seen Min murder someone in cold blood. Min was friendly with them, but the whores would still fear her in their hearts' depths, after this.

"No, not really. But we'll provide food. If you don't have a cook here, you can come to the Moonshine Garden for three meals a day. And if you help out a bit in the renovation, I might give you some pocket change. Oh, and we also have a free slot available at the Garden now. You girls can rotate to fill in until this place is up and running again," Min said. The mention of their new opening immediately turned Min's mood sour. Getting a new prostitute to replace Rilaka would not be a pleasant affair. Ever since the brothel had opened, not a single prostitute had quit. Even when things got hard, they still stayed.