Gwyndolin withheld a sigh as David guided him on the proper usage of a portable communication device he referred to as a "Bluetooth."
More evidence of the mortal deficiency in choosing proper names—it was neither blue nor shaped like a tooth.
David had seemed downcast about not having an opportunity to assist Gwyndolin in his attack, so they had settled on this compromise. He usually wouldn't be so indulgent, but Gwyndolin was finding himself increasingly fond of the boy, and this seemed harmless enough.
After Gwyndolin verified that the Bluetooth was properly connected to the phone he had stolen from a criminal, David returned to the corner of the room he had dubbed his "Chirp Nest."
The child sat down with a police scanner, his laptop, and the other phone Gwyndolin had stolen just for this occasion. The phone had previously belonged to a moderately high-ranking member of the Escabedo Cartel, and David would be using it to monitor their activity for the night.
It had taken some effort for Gwyndolin to convince the criminal to show him how to bypass the phone's security, but he had managed to do so. He had then pumped the man full of paralytic venom and hid him away to make certain he couldn't warn his allies.
Now David would be able to assist him by easily informing Gwyndolin when the authorities or the Escabedo Cartel became aware of his attack.
Gwyndolin had initially assumed that David wouldn't be able to understand the primary language of the foreign organization. This apparently wasn't an issue as a company referred to as Wayne Industries had developed some kind of technology that allowed for quick translation of written words.
He had been astounded by this world's technology so many times that at this point hewas starting to grow numb.
Gwyndolin felt like all of this was unnecessary. He didn't believe he had yet done enough damage to either the Escabedo or the Medusa to redirect resources capable of threatening him. That would change after tonight, but for now, Gwyndolin didn't expect to come across anything that could slow him down, let alone stop him.
However, as unnecessary as all this was, it made David happy. That was reason enough to go along with it.
"Chirp here, 1, 2, 1, 2. Can you hear me, Slither? Over," said David.
Gwyndolin looked at the boy, baffled. "Yes, David. I can hear thee. Thou art still very near."
"No! Can you hear me through the Bluetooth?"
"I see," said Gwyndolin, understanding the child's meaning. "Yes, thine device functions properly."
"Good. And can you call me Chirp while we're doing this? Please?"
Gwyndolin huffed and looked at David with an indulgent expression. "Very well, Chirp. I thank thee for thine assistance."
"No problem!" said David, smiling at him widely. "I'm ready to go whenever you are."
"I see no reason for delay."
"Okay, good luck, Slither!"
Gwyndolin withheld a wince at the name and merely nodded at the child before summoning his Catalyst. A moment later he appeared outside of the bar frequented by members of the Medusa Syndicate; he immediately cast an illusion over the building to hide his assault from onlookers.
With a flex of his magic, Gwyndolin very quickly tore apart the wards protecting the bar and cast Hidden Body on himself to disguise his approach.
He had chosen to attack the Medusa Syndicate first because, unlike the Escabedo Cartel, he only knew a single location associated with their organization.
His goal was to abduct the person who he believed to be the highest ranking member who frequented this bar and interrogate them for information on their sorcerer and organization.
Afterward, he would move on to attacking the Escabedo Cartel.
"Mine attack begins now, Chirp," said Gwyndolin.
"Got it. I'll let you know if the cops start heading your way."
Only a single guard stood near the entrance to the bar. Gwyndolin didn't even bother slowing down as he slammed the man against a wall and buried his serpents fang's into the man's flesh.
The door was locked and Gwyndolin did not wish to risk killing somebody on the other side by blowing it apart with his magic, so he'd simply use his natural strength.
A moment after forming his magical defenses, Gwyndolin punched his fist through the door, ripped it off its hinges, and carelessly threw it behind him into the parking lot.
Drawing his bow and placing away his Catalyst, he moved forward.
Entering the building, he was greeted by the sight of a room full of criminals staring at him with slack jaws.
"Thine reckoning arrives, evildoers. Surrender if thou wisheth to avoid harm to thy person"
The moment Gwyndolin finished speaking, everyone in the room instantly began reaching for their weapons.
Six serpents swiftly moved in different directions, sunk their fangs into six different men, lifted them off of their feet, and threw them across the room.
At the same time, an arrow buried itself into the knee of the barkeeper as he attempted to escape through the back door.
Gwyndolin moved deliberately into the center of the room as bullets bounced off his shield and his serpents flailed in a tornado of violence. There was no threat to him in this room, so Gwyndolin continued to steadily disable every person in the bar with arrows, fangs, and flying furniture.
He was nearly finished incapacitating all of the mortals when he spotted the high-ranking member he had been targetting. The man was leaping over the moaning body of his fallen ally as he tried to escape through the back.
It was a shame that he required lengthy preparations in order to bend the space of a building with his magic. A few minutes of chasing the mortal through an endless hall would have done well to loosen his tongue.
As it was, Gwyndolin simply teleported in front of the man, knocked him onto the ground with a slap across the face, and teleported away with the man.
The moment he found himself somewhere quieter, he was immediately confronted by David's worried voice. "Slither! Are you okay?"
Gwyndolin felt something warm in his chest. He had met people before who had genuinely cared about his welfare, but such people were rare enough that Gwnydolin treasured each of them.
After casting an illusion to prevent the criminal from hearing anything, Gwyndolin spoke to David.
"I am well and mine work is complete, Chirp. Thou may contact the authorities."
Hopefully, many of the criminals would possess warrants for their capture.
Gwyndolin turned his attention to the mortal who was currently spitting teeth out of his bleeding mouth. He had transported them to the roof of one of the mortal's tall structures, a perfect place for privacy.
Seeing that his captive was not in a state to escape, Gwyndolin teleported back to the bar and quickly began collecting the phones of the criminals. He had learned that the devices may store information that would further his goals. Gwyndolin did not know of an expert capable of bypassing a phone's security and gathering said information, but he intended to find one soon.
Entwining the mortal in his coils, Gwyndolin hid the two of them away with magic and held him over the edge of the building.
"Thou shalt answer mine questions."
"You think I'm scared of you, Bitch? You hero types ain't got the balls to kill. You don't look like you've got balls at all!"
Gwyndolin said nothing. The only language people like this man understood was violence.
Slowly, so that he could more easily control his strength, Gwyndolin began to squeeze the man hard enough for the criminal to begin suffocating. He lifted himself up to his full height and pulled the man close enough for Gwyndolin to see his mask in the man's eyes. It was only when the criminal's eyes began to fill with terror that he loosened his grip and threw the man back onto the roof.
Saying nothing, Gwyndolin loomed over the man and surrounded him with hissing serpents as he gasped for breath.
"Fuckin' fine, you crazy bitch," said the criminal as soon as he gathered his breath.
"Share any knowledge thou possesseth regarding thine organization or the sorcerer responsible for thine bar's magical protections."
"Listen, I don't know that muc—"
The man flinched as Gwnydolin's serpents began to hiss louder.
"Wait! All I know is that we get our equipment out of somewhere in Europe. Most of the boys in Miami are just mercenaries, but the folks that call the shots over in Europe are some kinda cultists or some shit."
Gwyndolin was not happy as he absorbed that information. It implied that he had no easy way to destroy the Medusa Syndicate from Miami and that they possessed significant resources outside of their magic.
The fact that they were a cult was also cause for concern; cults were always trouble.
"And thy sorcerer?"
"He's some asian dude that reports directly to the boss. Real scary ass motherfucker. Goes by the name Maro Ito. He hasn't been back in the city since he did his magic shit."
Gwyndolin hummed in consideration. The information was not much, but it was enough for now.
Perhaps David's grandfather, as a member of this world's magical community, would recognize the name.
Gwyndolin spent the next few minutes interrogating the man before paralyzing him and returning him to the bar after getting all he could. He noted that the Miami police had still not arrived.
With the assault on the bar concluded, Gwyndolin decided to immediately teleport into the first Escabedo safehouse he intended to attack.
"What the fu—"
The undisciplined members of the Escabedo Cartel offered even less of a challenge than the warriors in the bar.
Surprised and outmatched, it was trivial for Gwyndolin to shatter bones and destroy everything in his path as he searched the house for valuables. Unfortunately for him, the only valuables in this base were drugs and weapons, things he had no interest in.
Finding nothing of interest, Gwyndolin destroyed all of the guns he could find and teleported the drugs away for later disposal. He didn't trust the authorities to properly destroy such things, so he would need to burn it all later.
Gwyndolin directed David to contact the authorities and send them to the safehouse he had just cleared.
Unfortunately, destroying the building directly with his magic risked causing damage to the nearby structures that the people of this world would frown upon. The building would likely fall back into Cartel hands, but at least it was now useless as a safe house.
Knowing that he had limited time before the Cartel began moving their goods, Gwyndolin moved on to his next target.
His next target went much like the first, except this time the location had a few computers as well as drugs and weapons. Gwyndolin placed them in the same place he had stored the phones from the bar.
It wasn't until Gwyndolin was assaulting his third target that he actually managed to find their money. He didn't know much, but Gwyndolin managed to acquire several stacks of hundred-dollar bills that the Cartel had likely not yet laundered.
It then—when Gwyndolin was gleefully collecting criminal money in a room full of incapacitated men—that David contacted him.
"Hey, Slither. The bad guys noticed you. They sent a message to this dude to let him know that they're setting up a trap. They've got something called Venom that they think can deal with you."
"Understood," said Gwyndolin, continuing to collect the money. "Where dost these evildoers intend mine ambush?"
"Over at the building they've got near Coral Gables."
"Thou hast mine gratitude, Chirp."
"No problem!"
After transferring the money back to his abandoned building, much to David's excitement, Gwyndolin teleported outside the Escabedo building in Coral Gables. He had decided against teleporting directly inside the building like he had been doing previously.
He wasn't particularly worried about whatever the Escabedo had planned, but Gwyndolin had been punished for his arrogance often enough to exercise caution regardless.
This caution was rewarded when Gwyndolin broke down the door to the building and was greeted by the sight of five of the largest mortals he had ever seen in this world. Strewn across the floor were vials containing a glowing green liquid Gwyndolin assumed was Venom.
"You're fuckin dead, snake bitch! We've got something special from Santa Prisca to deal with freaks like you."
The moment the Escabedo thug was done speaking, all five of the unnaturally large mortals charged Gwyndolin, cracking the concrete floor with their steps. Gwyndolin drew his bow and granted them his undivided attention, readying himself a fight with enemies of unknown strength.