Jasper didn't waste a second to celebrate his small victory. He crossed the distance between them in long, urgent strides and seized Hiraya's left arm.
"Come with me now, if you want to live."
"Okay." Hiraya answered without hesitation.
Together, they vanished into the swelling chaos just as the ballroom erupted.
"Go after them!" Joel roared, fury and desperation tearing through his voice.
But before anyone could obey, hidden fighters emerged from balconies above and within the chaotic crowd. Their movements was strategic and their targets, precise.
More than half of the guest were slaughtered in a mercilessly bloodbath while a path was created for Jasper and Hiraya to escape, unharmed.
By the time the violence finally spent itself, the ballroom no longer resembled the proud symbol of dominance Joel had built. It had been reduced to a slaughterhouse, piled high with battered and mutilated corpses.
