Extra's Revenge: Reincarnated As A Slave-Chapter 124: Extermination Begins (Part 1)

The Fanged Serpent’s eastern branch hideout occupied a converted warehouse in District Nine—one of seven such facilities scattered throughout Elkrim and the Deep Market.

It wasn’t their headquarters, but it served as an important operational node for their expansion efforts.

Inside, a dozen members gathered around a makeshift table, their expressions ranging from worried to openly fearful.

"The support is drying up," said Marrick, a scarred veteran who’d been with the organization since its formation. "Blue Lotus hasn’t sent the promised funding for this month. Yellow Lily stopped responding to our requests for political leverage."

A younger member named Tessra leaned forward anxiously. "What about our operations against the Red House? We’ve committed resources, made enemies. If the Houses pull their backing now—"

"We’re exposed," finished Dravin, the branch leader.

"Overextended and vulnerable. I’ve sent messages to headquarters asking for guidance, but the responses are... evasive."

"What’s happening?" another member asked. "Why would both Houses withdraw support simultaneously? That doesn’t make sense unless—"

"Unless something bigger is happening that we’re not being told about," Marrick said grimly. "Headquarters knows something they’re not sharing with branch operations."

Tessra stood, pacing nervously.

"I’ve heard rumors. Guards asking questions in the Deep Market, not the usual Category C types we pay off. Higher-ranked investigators, people who can’t be bribed or intimidated."

"Category B?" Dravin asked.

"Maybe higher. The people I’ve talked to are scared, really scared. They won’t even say what they’ve heard, just that something’s happening that’s making the Houses pull back from aggressive operations."

The group fell into troubled silence.

They’d joined the Fanged Serpent because the path to House status had seemed clear—Red House weakening, powerful sponsors backing their rise, inside information from corrupted advisors. It had been a calculated risk with substantial rewards.

But now those calculations were changing in ways they didn’t understand.

"What do we do?" Tessra asked quietly. "If the Houses have abandoned us—"

A knock echoed through the warehouse.

Every member froze.

No one knocked at a Fanged Serpent hideout.

Messages came through communication Artifacts, visitors were scheduled and verified through mystical authentication.

Random knocking was...

"That’s not protocol," Dravin said slowly, rising from his seat.

Marrick and two others moved toward the door, weapons drawn. They approached cautiously, enhanced perception scanning for threats or traps.

Nothing.

No mystical signatures, no hostile presence.

Just empty street visible through the security wards.

Marrick opened the door carefully.

A package sat on the doorstep.

It was a simple wooden box, about the size of a small chest, with no markings or identifying features. No mystical aura, no obvious enchantments.

It had nothing that suggested danger.

"What is that?" one of the members asked.

"Could be a delivery?" Tessra suggested uncertainly. "Maybe from headquarters?"

"Without warning or authentication?" Dravin shook his head. "That’s not procedure."

But curiosity warred with caution.

The package appeared harmless, and they needed any information or resources headquarters might be sending.

"Bring it inside," Dravin ordered. "Use security protocols. Full mystical scanning, trap detection, the works." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

They carried the box into the warehouse, setting it on a cleared space.

Over the next ten minutes, they subjected it to every security measure they possessed—Artifacts that detected explosive materials, Techniques that revealed hidden enchantments, even mundane physical inspection for obvious dangers.

Nothing registered as threatening.

"It’s clean," Marrick finally declared. "Whatever it is, it’s not armed with anything we can detect."

Dravin studied the box carefully. "Open it slowly. Everyone maintain defensive positions."

Marrick reached for the lid, lifting it with deliberate caution.

The box opened smoothly, revealing—

BOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Reality twisted.

The explosion that consumed the eastern branch hideout wasn’t fire or force in any conventional sense.

Instead, Chaos Art energy erupted from concealed Artifacts that had been layered beneath mystical shielding too sophisticated for the Fanged Serpent’s detection methods to penetrate.

Space itself warped and collapsed inward, creating an implosion that dragged everything within fifty meters into compressed annihilation before reversing into an explosive expansion that scattered what remained across the surrounding area.

The warehouse ceased to exist.

The dozen members inside never had time to scream.

********

Three blocks away, standing on a rooftop with enhanced perception monitoring the results, Rey allowed himself a cold smile.

"Next," he murmured.

He’d prepared seven packages, one for each Fanged Serpent branch.

Each one carefully crafted to appear harmless to standard security measures while concealing devastating payloads beneath layers of Null Art masking and Chaos Art compression.

The timing was crucial.

He needed to strike all seven branches within a short window—too much time between attacks and the later targets would be warned and evacuate.

Too rushed and he risked making mistakes that could expose his involvement.

’The Special Investigators are busy pursuing leads on the White Tulip House, most likely...’ Rey thought, reviewing his intelligence on their current activities. ’They won’t realize what’s happening in the Fanged Serpent until it’s too late to stop me. But I need to finish this tonight, before their investigation is redirected.’

He moved through Elkrim’s nighttime streets with practiced stealth, his appearance altered by Artifacts and his movements concealed by carefully deployed Techniques.

He was practically teleporting thanks to the Spatial Artifact he had with him.

Having marked all these locations beforehand, it was easier to move through the city.

The next target was the western branch—another warehouse, different district, similar operational profile.

The same package waited at their door.

Rey watched from a distance as they discovered it, brought it inside, subjected it to their security protocols. He watched as they opened it with the same cautious confidence that had doomed the eastern branch.

The explosion was equally devastating.

Chaos Art implosion followed by violent expansion, erasing the facility and everyone inside.

"Next."

The southern branch. Another package, another explosion.

The northern branch. Same methodology, same results.

Rey moved with relentless efficiency, each attack executed with professional precision.

No witnesses, no survivors, no evidence linking the explosions to any particular perpetrator.

By the fourth branch, he was confident the pattern would continue.

Success was within reach!