Chapter 31: The Raid

"Is it confirmed?"

"Yes, although like you said it is suspicious that we found them so suddenly like that"

One day has passed since Sarah's fateful meeting with Amon. She was currently inside Victor's office discussing an accidental and worryingly convenient discovery that she made earlier today.

"Hmm…"

Victor looked to be in deep thought as he overlooked the map of the city which laid wide open on his desk.

"We are running out of time, only a couple of days are left until I will be forced to lift the blockade… Even if this is some sort of trap it's still better than letting them off"

He appeared determined and pressed his finger on a certain street in the Coln district. It started to glow with deep crimson.

***

"Listen to me men!"

Victor was about to give a speech to a line up of police officers that numbered in dozens.

They all wore dark blue cloaks on the back of which was a herb of the Republic that depicted a noble vin coin surrounded by green laurel wreaths. They were also armed with revolvers and batons that were well hidden under their clothing.

"Early this morning we apprehended one of the members of the Ouroboros and from him we learned the location of their hideout. Like we expected it is here, in the Coln district and as all of you should have already known by now we will be raiding it. Other units have already started to surround the entire street and our job will be to sweep it clean out of any rats. We will also be assisted by the Church of Purity and they will attack from the other side. Any questions?"

Victor looked from the left to the right and nodded when he saw no hands raised.

"Good. Then move!"

As soon as the order was given the policemen spread like locust. They did not bother being polite and violently entered each building one by one. Their actions indicated experience as everything was done quickly without much need for communication.

They would first knock down the door and then search for all the inhabitants. They would then drag them outside and if any form of resistance was shown they would beat them half dead not caring for the damage inflicted. All their belongings would be thrown out as well. It was not uncommon to see a chair or a table flying through the window and after them clothes, plates, forks, toys, carpets, even toilets and sometimes even the floor as they would rip it if it was wooden or if it looked like it hid something. Everything was searched and ravaged thoroughly without a care for the people.

Some arrests were made this way since from time to time they would find some illegal contraband like drugs or firearms which are not allowed to be owned by the regular citizens. It was a small percentage of people though and the brutality that followed the search was undoubtedly unjustified. The policemen during this appeared more like a bunch of raiding bandits than, well… policemen.

This continued on for about two hours before two 'raiding' parties met up somewhere in the middle of the street and… let me tell you this. If policemen who theoretically are supposed to protect the citizens of the Republic acted as they acted then imagine the utter horror the other side of the street suffered at the hands of the Church that couldn't care less. To compare the two would make the policemen seem like saints.

"Did you find anything?"

Victor however cared more about the results rather than the method used.

"No"

Sarah answered simply and looked to the right to where an alley was located. At the end of it was an old looking door and the feeling it gave off made it seem like it contained all the evil in the world and the fact that it was already dark only amplified the menacing atmosphere.

"In one of the alleys, wasn't it?"

Victor was unmoved by the scene and instead casually approached the door, behind him Sarah closely followed. He opened the door and was welcomed by the sight of a man aiming a revolver straight at him. He shot without hesitation.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

The man shot every bullet he had in the cylinder but was terrified to see Victor completely unharmed. The runes on his robe only hissed slightly and produced a translucent barrier which completely reflected every bullet.

Victor appeared bored and raised his eyebrow as if asking:

"Is that it? Really?"

He did not expect an answer however and just moved his hand slightly but that already caused the man to fly violently backwards hitting a desk and then a bookshelf which must have triggered some sort of mechanism as it suddenly moved to the side revealing a hidden room.

Victor looked happy that he finally found what he was looking for and entered it, completely ignoring the half conscious man. He looked at the giant symbol of the self devouring snake with a sense of accomplishment but maybe because he focused on it a bit too much he somehow failed to notice that there was a pool in the middle of the room.

"F*ck!"

He fell into it and looked back at Sarah, expecting some sort of ridicule but was surprised to see that she was more interested in the man laying barely conscious on the floor rather than his embarrassing mistake.

She looked at the man and her body shook slightly. Victor thought it was from disgust as the man was extremely ugly. He must have some sort of condition as his face was filled with puke inducing pimples. The truth however was slightly different as with her true vision she noticed a black mist which overtook the mind of the man.

Her shaking was more like a reaction of a drug addict rather than disgust.