Albert vs. Milverton

Part 10 - Infiltration

The moment they came nearer to the manor, everyone went their separate ways. Since the house is literally perched at the edge of the cliff, there is only one way to enter and those are the double doors. The windows can only be opened from the inside and the distance between the wall and the ceiling are too high.

Everyone crouched low while they were getting to the door, hoping not to be spotted through the windows. Fred is the first one since he's the stealthiest among them. He managed to open the door quietly and came in. The rest followed him.

The foyer is dim but everyone can at least make out what they're seeing. The room is quite small for a foyer though. The walls are covered with burgundy-colored wallpaper and a couple of picture frames hanging. There is also a desk drawer with delicate chinawares sitting on top of it. The stairs are positioned in the middle of the room, and there's a hallway going to the right.

Fred checked if there were anything suspicious at the end of the hallway before going up the stairs, but he found nothing. He signaled the team that it is now safe to go up.

Albert was the first to come up followed by William then Louis. Moran was about to join them, but suddenly...a shocking gunshot came from down the hallway! The bullet scraped the wooden framing of the stairs, closely missing Moran by the head.

The Moriarty brothers didn't stop to look back the moment they heard the gunshot because their topmost priority is to save Ella and everyone else has the ability to fend off for themselves.

Moran held back and retreated from the stairs. 2 more gunshots followed. Then another one.

"Fred, Go! I'll deal with this.", Moran said as he began to shoot back, covering Fred as he goes up the stairs.

At the other end of the hallway, it is Ruskin who began all this. Both men not hesitating in pulling the trigger - creating holes on the wall and shattering potteries, but neither of them are scathed.

On the second floor, William separated himself from the team. Neither of the brothers asked where he is going, but neither of them noticed his disappearance at all when suddenly Harry attacked out of nowhere! 

He is about to aim at Albert's chest but Louis is quicker to defend him.

"Nii-san watch out!", Louis shouted, pulling Albert away by the collar. The blade of his knife clashed with Harry's in full force; thus, sending him back.

"Louis!"

But that's not all. Suddenly, a heavy grunt sounded from behind. Another one of Milverton's brute henchmen

came carrying some kind of heavy furniture that is about to be thrown toward the Moriarty members. They scattered the moment he threw it and it clashed on the ground.

"Arubato-sama...", Fred said.

Albert already took the hint that Fred and Louis will hold off Milverton's gang. He felt frustratingly annoyed about the situation right now, and he must be quick to find Ella.

"If you want to find her, the boss is waiting for you in his office. Ya better hurry though...'cause I'm not sure how long she would last. And our job is simply to eliminate you all down.", Harry said. And because of that, Louis lunged at him, beginning the epic battle between two highly skilled swordfighters.

Albert darted off from the commotion. Now he's infuriated but at least he now knows where to look instead of wasting his time scouring through every door in this manor.

The moment Albert reached Milverton's office, he prepared his gun and stuck it in his back. He entered the room in a composed manner and saw the man standing in front of the window with his back towards him.

"Ah, you finally came, Mr. Albert James Moriarty! Or should I say...the Lord of Crime."