Gunshots echoed from outside the building.
The exact moment the first gunshot rang out was unclear. By the time I caught the sound, instead of diminishing, the gunfire only intensified.
It was as if someone was assaulting the building.
Immediately, the gazes of those in various spots on the fourth floor shifted towards me, and they began to approach.
Wolf Trainees, Gollymen, and even Veronica’s subordinates. Those of Solomon’s crew who hadn’t followed Mangano to guide him were also moving into action.
But we made a critical mistake because we were too focused on the gunfire outside.
The gunshots had erupted right after Mangano and his crew arrived. They couldn’t be unrelated.
The sound oscillated between a muffled pop and a thud.
It was a disturbing noise, as if someone was beating on a thick blanket with a bat. When I quickly turned my head, what I saw was…
Mangano and his subordinates, with silenced pistols in hand.
Though they were using silencers, there was no way the sound of gunfire wouldn’t reach us from this distance.
“What the hell?!”
By the time one of Solomon’s subordinates shouted, it was already too late.
They targeted the members of Solomon’s crew, excluding the Golems. It wouldn’t be easy to take down Golems swiftly, unlike those pesky Hamster and Elf folks.
“You bastards!”
Solomon, who was late to grasp the situation, shouted in anger.
Things had already turned into chaos. The Golems, leading the charge behind Solomon, rushed in to confront Mangano and his crew.
“Lower your heads!”
“…!”
Solomon, who was grappling with Mangano, kicked him away as soon as he heard my shout, using the momentum to leap high.
Despite the bizarre sight, my group and I began firing at the enemies.
To be honest, it was a pathetic scene.
It seemed that the bullets fired by the Gollymen and the subordinates of Veronica and Solomon hit more of Solomon’s Golems than Mangano’s crew.
What started suddenly ended just as abruptly.
Just moments ago, a plant pot with a Mandrake near Veronica’s office was left unattended.
Solomon was in the process of taking Mangano and his crew to Veronica’s office, and the Mandrake, based on what I mentioned earlier, labeled them as ‘suspicious folks.’
“…Uwaaaah—!!!!!!”
Although the Mandrake had only been left exposed to the dirt for a short while, it was extremely powerful.
“Huh…!”
Solomon, who had jumped high, narrowly avoided the Mandrake’s scream.
However, Mangano, his crew, and Solomon’s Golems, who were facing them, weren’t spared from the Mandrake’s wails.
“Stop! That’s enough!”
When I shouted desperately, the Mandrake shut its mouth like a child who had stopped crying.
A few seconds. Just a few seconds.
In the wake of the Mandrake’s screams lay nothing but a bunch of unconscious beings.
They all looked grotesque, with their limbs limp and tongues hanging out as they collapsed.
“Hey, take care of all those guys.”
“Yes, yes!”
For now, I assigned the simplest cleanup tasks to Veronica’s subordinates.
After moving aside the Solomon’s subordinates who had been killed or injured by Mangano’s ambush, I ordered to kill everyone except Mangano.
“Gollymen! You take care of the elevator and stairs.”
“Yes, Brother!”
“Don’t let them down below. Keep holding them.”
Coincidentally, the elevator hadn’t moved to another floor yet. After Mangano and his crew got off on the 4th floor, no one had bothered to use the elevator.
Thanks to that, we were able to control the elevator.
The Gollymen followed my orders to open the elevator, propping the door open with some furniture to prevent it from closing.
Now, the only way for those trying to get to us was to use the stairs.
“Solomon!”
“Godfather!”
By this time, Solomon was checking on his subordinates when he heard his name called and quickly hopped over with his short legs.
“You take care of that staircase!”
“Got it! Wait a moment!”
The casino building had stairs going up and down to the east and west.
I decided to assign the west staircase to Solomon while I would take the east staircase.
“Godfather, we…”
Just then, the Wolf Trainees approached me and asked.
Veronica’s subordinates had split into three directions to clean up, with half heading toward the stairs and the other half dealing with various tasks.
I had the Gollymen, made up of Crocodile and Shark folks on my side, while Solomon had Hamster people, Golems, and Elves under him.
“You guys protect Veronica!”
I had no idea what was about to happen.
It was strange that those inside the office were completely unresponsive when this chaos had erupted.
“Hey! Orcs, come with me. We’re heading to the east staircase.”
“….”
The guys that McBratney and Iktomi brought also joined me.
They didn’t hesitate to move, given the situation. They were definitely more mobile than the Carmen Family’s org members.
But just as I was about to move towards the east staircase…
Suddenly, a heavy and dull gunshot rang out. A moment later, I heard the sound of a window shattering from the direction of the office.
Once.
Twice.
Before it could be three times, I swung open the door to the office.
Ikhtomi, with his head blown through, was trembling on the desk. McBratney, who was on the phone, and Veronica, who was near the window, were also there.
It was already too late, but Veronica had activated the protective shield near the window. Probably for bulletproof purposes.
Once the bulletproof shield was up, the sniper’s audacious attack ceased.
True to his spider-human nature, Ikhtomi was still shaking even with severe injuries.
“…Damn it!”
McBratney suddenly threw down the phone and shouted.
“What the hell?!”
“It was cut off!”
The call was indeed disconnected. Clearly, the attackers had cut the casino’s lines.
“Godfather, Boss. Anyway, my subordinates should have sensed the situation and will come to support us. If we can just hold on until then…”
“They’re here!”
Just when McBratney was making his optimistic claim, someone outside the office shouted.
Of course, it was unlikely that it was the reinforcements McBratney referred to. Since the elevator hadn’t moved, it only made sense that they were coming up through the stairs.
“Those reinforcements are definitely coming, right?”
*
“Yes.”
Although McBratney said the phone had been cut off, he indicated that the fact that we were under attack had been communicated.
“Alright, Patrick. You and the Wolves take Veronica to another room.”
The two seemed to have something to say to me.
“Go on!”
But at my command, Veronica and McBratney left the office.
Just as the door closed behind them, leaving only Ikhtomi’s ice-cold corpse, the door to the west staircase swung open.
“Veronica! Run!”
The one responsible for the west staircase was Solomon.
He had set up his crew around the west staircase, barricading with furniture and decor, but that didn’t mean the attackers had no chances.
They immediately fired at me and Veronica from a distance.
Fortunately, neither Veronica nor I got hit.
Bam!
But, the plant pot I had left near the office was shattered by a bullet, sending the Mandrake and dirt flying out of the pot.
“Aaaah!”
As its entire body, not just its head, was exposed to the outside, the Mandrake writhed in panic, but I didn’t have the luxury to help it.
“Patrick, get into that room!”
“Got it!”
McBratney took Veronica into another room adjacent to the office, and the Wolf Trainees followed behind her.
“….”
I turned to look at the west staircase.
In that brief moment, Solomon and his crew took care of the attackers.
“Bring my ball-fur-bear!”
Ball what?!
Just as Solomon shouted loudly, one of his subordinates handed over a Tommy gun-like submachine gun.
I could understand what he meant.
It wasn’t intended, but considering the small stature of the guy, the gun fired would be like others…
In any case, I decided to take the opportunity and rushed to help the flailing Mandrake.
I covered it with the remaining dirt around and hurried to the east staircase.
“Thank you!”
Though covered clumsily with dirt, the little guy expressed its gratitude.
“Godfather! There’s no sign of anyone coming this way yet!”
“Still, don’t let your guard down. Other guys better hurry up and grab something to block with!”
“Yes!”
While the Gollymen brought things here and there, the others remained vigilant.
“They’re coming again!”
A voice came from the direction of the west staircase.
Seeing that they were stubbornly coming only from there, it seemed the attackers’ numbers were fewer than expected.
“You guys head toward Veronica and McBratney.”
“…Yes.”
It could have been a reckless decision, but I joined McBratney’s subordinates with the Wolves. So far, there hadn’t been any follow-up attacks from the relentless sniper.
Meanwhile, on the west staircase, Solomon was attempting a direct assault.
“Alright, this heavy feeling! Bring my hat too!”
It wasn’t the machine gun he had yearned for, but Solomon was happy with the feel of his favorite submachine gun.
“Boss, here it is.”
One of his subordinates conveniently handed him a fedora that had been nearby.
Even in the indoors, Solomon pressed it down and instructed his armed subordinates to follow him.
Adding a bit more reason to this life-and-death attempt, it was also a revenge for those who had just died.
“We’ve reached the floor below.”
In response to his subordinate’s words, Solomon sent the Hamster folk like himself up the upper stairs. He aimed to wipe out the guys coming up from below using the height advantage and rapid-fire capability of the submachine gun.
“….”
The tension was unrelenting.
From just below the stairs, grotesque figures wearing metal masks started filling the stairs, climbing up.
“Die! You bastards!”
In that moment, Solomon’s ball-fur-bear spit out its first round of fire.
With the violent recoil of the submachine gun, every sinew in Solomon’s body jerked. The fedora atop his head joyfully flew off.
Thus began the splendid welcoming ceremony personally hosted by the Boss of the Five Families.
