Silence.

No one could process the events before them.

First the explosion and then—

"Aaaaahhhh!"

A loud feminine shout made everyone look at the poor woman, who stood near her friend or the corpse of her friend... who had just been decapitated.

Why?

No one could understand the reason behind the sudden violence, not that they had the time to.

Spurt!

Spurt!

One by one, the men in black dashed towards the people, taking out their weapons, and continuing the slaughter that had erupted out of nowhere.

"Stop them!"

One of the guild employees shouted to the security guards, but no one arrived at the scene to fight the attackers.

And how could they?

The first victims of the explosion were none other than the security guards... as for the other guards present in the building... they were a bit late to arrive, some frozen from shock, while others trying to come to their senses.

These guards were just here to stop the customers from causing a scene.

They weren’t the most skilled veterans of combat, but—

A guild like Syma generally had skilled guards protecting its branches, but none of the guards present at the scene were capable enough of fighting against the intruders—

At least some were.

Clank!

Clank!

Blades crashed against each other, as the guards who were still alive tried their best to protect the staff and the customers, while at the same time hoping for the Authorities to quickly arrive and help them out.

Still... the chaos didn’t stop... it only kept escalating with every passing moment.

"Damn these bastards! Who are they?"

"I don’t fucking work here—"

Spurt!

No words were answered as the men continued with their motion, their swords swinging in wide arcs, killing one person after the other.

But—

It wasn’t like everyone present at the guild was a weakling.

BAAAM!

One of the men in black was lifted in the air before being brutally thrashed on the floor below.

"Cough..."

The cultivator who was at Silver 1 was about to follow up with his attack, but another man in black quickly arrived at the scene, covering for his comrade.

Similar scenes were being played out everywhere in the guild, as the higher-ranked fighters among the customers began to retaliate against the intruders.

But the only limiting factor of the retaliation was that the majority of the customers present at the guild were below the Gold Core...

That made their counterattack far weaker than the strength of the intruders.

Generally, the higher-ranked cultivators didn’t personally visit the guild branches, as their orders were delivered to their doorsteps.

The same was true for every other cultivator... so the only ones here were normal people, who had come on behalf of the cultivators, or the merchants who were here to make some business deals.

Still... there were always some high-ranked cultivators in the guild branches from time to time, but surprisingly none of them were present at the moment.

The coincidences had piled up one after the other, but no one was in a state of mind to notice the abnormalities at the guild’s branch.

And even if they were in the right state of mind... still, no one would have been able to notice anything, as it was usually normal for cultivators to not visit the branch at all.

There were many days in a month when the branch was filled with only normal people, and not those who were specialized in combat.

But—

Was the current situation a normal one or was it orchestrated by someone... none knew.

Well... no one had even thought about it, as at the moment everyone was doing their best to protect their own lives.

Even among the guild’s staff, many were brutally killed with no way of saving themselves.

Getting a job at Syma was considered a privilege by many, but today—

The same privilege had become a curse for the people that had chosen to work at Syma.

The situation could have still been brought under control had the daily customers like the adventurers or mercenaries been present at the guild, but since the charity campaign had been upgraded to providing the basic potions for free... the adventurers and mercenaries had now reduced visiting the guild, as Syma had already provided the required stock to the respective Adventurer and Mercenary guilds.

With the potions available at their own guilds, neither the adventurers nor the mercenaries had to expend extra effort to travel back and forth.

Another coincidence that pushed the situation into a complete state of chaos.

The battle had now covered the entire guild as many individuals fell to the blades of the intruders.

The fight was one-sided, as very few among the public were able to retaliate, and even their retaliation was limited to saving their own lives.

No one had the luxury to care for others...

"What the fuck do you want?! I can give you money, just let me—"

Spurt!

"No! Please, I—"

The pleas were drowned in the chaos, as the nobles and the rich among the people present at the guild tried their best to reason with the attackers, and make some deal to protect their lives, but—

The intruders worked like puppets with no emotions in them.

Their blades swung in arcs that were devoid of mercy.

Men, women, and children... none were spared, with equal treatment given to all ages and genders.

As for what the intruders wanted, no one could tell, because from the start, the only thing consistent at the scene was the sound of blades being swung, and heads being decapitated, nothing else.

Was the guild looted?

No.

Except for the slaughter, nothing else had been done by the attackers.

Though everyone regretted having come to this branch of the guild, little did they know that the same scene was being played out in every branch of Syma... be it the Syma Alchemists’ or the Syma Royal Bank.

And Syma wasn’t the only one having to deal with the chaos...

***

"Move! Be quick!"

"On it! Cover my back!"

Orders were being relayed amongst the security team who were trying their best to counter the intruders who had barged into the main headquarters of the guild out of nowhere.

Though the attackers were only in the Silver ranks, so were the members of the security team.

It wasn’t like the guild was attacked every now and then for them to employ stronger fighters... Silver Cores usually fulfilled their roles—

Well... they had already failed miserably today, as more than half of the guild’s infrastructure was damaged, along with several people who had been killed... with the count still rising.

Being outnumbered against the enemy, there was only so much that the security team could do.

And even among the security team, many had their hands full while trying to protect their own lives.

Though everyone was fighting to their best extent possible... deep inside they knew that no matter what the outcome of the battle would be, one thing was sure, and that was—the termination of their contracts.

There was no way the guild would employ them once again and that too after such a grand failure to fulfil their duties.

Well... that was a thing to consider if the guild remained in operation after this attack, as looking around—

Everything was completely ruined.

For a minor guild like this... such losses were far too large to recover from.

Even in the chaos around them, the security team and the staff of the guild just silently prayed for the continued existence of their only source of income.

***

Spurt!

"Sir, please! Just take away the money—"

Spurt!

No words were exchanged as the staff responsible for the daily operations of the bank was killed one after the other.

Clank!

Still, there were some among the guards who were fighting against the intruders with the best of their ability.

"Don’t get surrounded! Keep looking around!"

The leader of the security team relayed the orders, as the intensity of the attacks increased.

Though there were only ten intruders, the number of the guards in the security team didn’t help the situation in any way.

With only four guards, there was only so much that they could possibly achieve.

And even those guards were there just for formality... as it was very rare for a bank to be attacked in broad daylight, that too in a city where the authorities were always active.

But—

Why hadn’t the authorities arrived?

That was a question that resonated in the minds of everyone who was fighting for their lives.

It had been quite some time since the attack had begun... still there were no signs of the authorities or any other reinforcements, even from the nearby noble houses, who should have at least sent some troops as a sign of goodwill.

If only the authorities had arrived in time, then—

Spurt!

Another head flew in the air, landing on one of the counters of the bank.

Silence.

Even in such chaos, everyone couldn’t help but notice the face of the person who had just been beheaded.

"S-Sir?!"

It was the bank manager.