"They couldn't resist making their move despite being cautious."
Marco and Jude approached the twin brothers, both of whom were still alive—Marco wouldn't let them die so easily.
"But relying solely on these two, it's unlikely we can implicate Duke Savalu, right?" Jude wore a serious expression.
He doubted Duke Savalu would leave such obvious evidence.
Could these two Dark Mages truly lead directly back to the Duke?
Moreover, even if these Dark Mages accused Duke Savalu, how credible would their testimony be?
"Who said we need them to accuse Duke Savalu?" Marco gave Jude a puzzled look.
"If Duke Savalu isn't a fool, he wouldn't personally visit a Dark Guild to submit a request. These two have probably never even seen him. They might not even know who ordered the hit. Dark Guilds don't operate with strict protocols—there's no need for them to meet the client."
Marco understood this well.
Dark Mages in these guilds rarely ever met their employers, who usually communicated directly with the guild.
"Then what's the point of capturing them?" Jude looked skeptical.
If they couldn't tie this to Duke Savalu, wasn't it meaningless?
Without dealing with the Duke, they'd never truly secure the southern territory of the kingdom of fiore.
"First, we make an example of them."
Marco explained that while these two couldn't implicate Duke Savalu, they could expose the Dark Guild behind them.
The next step would be to obliterate this Dark Guild with thunderous force.
"Make an example of them..." Jude considered it.
Destroying a few Dark Guilds supported by Duke Savalu and thwarting his plans would demonstrate their strength—but would it intimidate the Duke?
"There's more. Once we eliminate this Dark Guild, implicating Duke Savalu will become much easier. And by then, what gets exposed won't be up to him." Marco narrowed his eyes.
If Duke Savalu knew what was good for him, they could coexist peacefully.
But if he remained stubborn...
Then Marco wouldn't hold back.
He'd pin the label of colluding with and harboring Dark Guilds on the Duke first.
It wouldn't even be a false accusation—Duke Savalu truly had transactional ties with these Dark Guilds, a stain he couldn't wash away.
The man had genuinely hired assassins, and it likely wasn't his first time.
Once exposed, both the Magic Council and the Fiore Kingdom's government would demand answers, leaving Duke Savalu scrambling and his reputation in ruins.
Neither the Magic Council nor the Fiore Kingdom would tolerate such actions.
Some things, once weighed, carry an unbearable burden!
If Duke Savalu had done it, traces would remain.
He couldn't possibly replace his intermediaries after every contact with the Dark Guilds and then silence them—his inner circle would turnover far too quickly.
If such matters weren't handled by trusted confidants, then Duke Savalu must be incredibly reckless.
After all, if word got out, he would inevitably face investigation and severe punishment from the Magic Council.
"Do these Dark Guilds always keep evidence of their dealings with Duke Savalu?" Jude still had some doubts.
He was relatively law-abiding citizens and had never interacted with Dark Guilds or sought their help to harm others, so his knowledge in this area was limited.
"Jude, do you think the mages in Dark Guilds follow the rules? Would they honestly refrain from investigating their clients' identities?"
Marco's response left Jude momentarily speechless, as the answer was obvious.
If Dark Guild mages followed the rules, would they even join a Dark Guild in the first place?
"So... essentially, anyone who hires a Dark Guild will leave a record? And if that Dark Guild gets wiped out, those records will fall into the hands of the Magic Council?"
Jude's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Not necessarily the Magic Council—more likely into the hands of the guild that eliminated the Dark Guild. Though most guilds would turn them over, since dealing with those clients is the Magic Council's job. But there are exceptions..."
Marco explained, realizing how shady these matters sounded when laid out plainly.
"Exceptions where some guilds might privately contact those people themselves..."
Jude immediately understood—the list of clients obtained after destroying a Dark Guild could also be a source of extra income.
"Most guilds have principles and standards, especially the legitimate ones strong enough to take down Dark Guilds. They usually wouldn't stoop to that."
Seeing Jude's expression of newfound disillusionment with the mage world, Marco chuckled.
He might have exaggerated a bit—such cases were rare among proper guilds, as most lacked the time or interest to extort people from a list.
Jude remained stunned, wearing a look that said, 'I don't quite understand you battle-oriented guilds'.
He had once joined a guild himself—he and his wife Layla had met in one—but theirs had been a commercial guild.
"Jude, you don't need to worry about the rest. Just focus on your work and wait for my updates."
Marco had a few ravens carry the two brothers while he boarded the glider.
Matters of the magical world were best left to mages—Jude didn't need to be involved further.
This Dark Guild had some nerve, but if they dared take this job, they must have been prepared for destruction.
Against ordinary people, mages were bound by rules, but against fellow mages in Dark Guilds, they could fight without restraint.
Marco certainly wouldn't hold back.
Soon, guided by the twin brothers, Marco located their Dark Guild.
The brothers were surprisingly cooperative, showing no intention of resistance—especially the elder brother, who had already experienced the terror of being engulfed by black feathers. Updates are released by nοvelfire.net
The hardships his younger brother never endured, the elder brother bore them all.
The physical pain was nothing compared to the suffocating, sinking sensation in the darkness that truly shattered one's will.
Led by this pair of "guide" brothers, Marco found the Dark Guild within Duke Savalu's territory.
"Swamp Neck, built right in the middle of a swamp. How do you all live here normally? This place doesn't seem self-sufficient—it hardly looks habitable."
Staring at the dilapidated, oddly shaped guild hall before him, Marco asked with a strange expression.
"The guild has people dedicated to transporting supplies. The local villages prepare everything for us—we never have to worry about that," replied the elder of the twin brothers, whose body was covered in black feathers, leaving only his head exposed.
This explanation sounded peculiar, almost as if they were being funded by the locals.
But they were a Dark Guild!
"Who's actually behind this?... its not that hard to guess it!"
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