Underneath the bed of the river, in a secret hideout, five obscure figures stood across each other with a haggard look.
One of them had a pale expression and seemed to be on the verge of dying.
"How is the situation outside?" The first figure asked who seemed to be in charge.
"Bad, very bad. The undead has been pushed back and soon the troops of Leonhart may arrive at this place and find our hidden spot."
"Damn!" The first figure clenched his fist.
"Don't worry the situation is not that worse. There are no reinforcements from the capital till now and they might have been worn out due to battling all day and at night the undead might have a chance to turn the situation around." One of them spoke.
"Fool!" The first figure snorted with a fiery expression.
"I don't give a damn whether the undead wins or not. I only fear that they might arrive here and start an investigation. If the royal family of Kinley started to snoop around and find out the plans or get a hint of our goal, everything would be destroyed.
"All the hard work of our ancestors had been laid to waste."
He was the leader of the group and was in charge of taking care of the Steele which served as a gateway around this area.
A few days ago after collecting the harvest, as he tried to step inside he was horrified to find that he wasn't able to step inside the portal and a few hours later, the gush of strong winds carrying a mass of dark energy started to pour out from it.
His body wasn't able to handle that much power and he retreated quickly but soon a disaster befell them.
It was not a matter of loss now rather they were at risk of exposure to society.
He could perceive something had happened to their pocket dimension which had caused such a scene.
He wasn't the only one who was panicking as several members of his group were in trouble as it was happening in all the gateways that lead to the pocket world located in various remote places.
Most of them try to find a secluded area in low Tier kingdoms so that they could carry out their mission easily and even if some difficulties appeared, they could take care of them easily but this time there seems to be no way out.
"What should we do now, chief?"Another man asked.
"Runaway"
"We have no choice but to escape for now. We cannot risk exposing ourselves now." He replied.
Hearing his words, the other's expression became pale as fleeing away and leaving all these things behind was quite difficult for them as years of hard work were gonna become a waste.
The first person who claimed to be chief shook his head in sorrow and muttered"If we clear up the evidence, they will only know that it was an undead outbreak due to a necromancer or it was some kind of plague. But if we are caught....."
He needn't recite everything as everyone could imagine their fate.
"I don't know who messed up the things but I swear that once I find my hands on him, I will make him suffer a fate worse than death."
"Hello! I heard you are looking for me."
The person who was speaking suddenly heard a faint whisper from behind him and flinched back in shock.
The other four were also alerted upon hearing a sudden voice.
Alex with a wide grin on his face appeared before them and rotated his gaze to and fro.
"Oh!What a surprise." Alex's eyes sparkled and he clapped his hand.
"Minister Lamar, I didn't know a scum like you was still alive and rotting out there."
"Thanks to your absence, I was able to snatch Amidon away quite easily."
"I came here to sincerely offer my gratitude."
"How did you find this place?" Lamar, who seems to be the chief, asked with cautiousness.
Alex was surprised a bit after seeing Lamar in this state. He was a creature of darkness who seemed to be wearing human hide and skin to pose as human.
Alex didn't answer his question and stared at the two men who stood in the corner.
On receiving Alex's gaze, the duo flinched and trembled in fear.
The trio were quite famous and after Amidon's fall, there was no sign of them even after there were posters of their search warrant.
"Duke Less and Count Yeon, even you two are present here and you have accepted darkness," Alex spoke with a solemn expression.
His eyes flashed with killing intent as a sudden thought came to his mind.
From the torture, the one at high posts has forked out that Lamar along with some nobles was charged with the experiment project.
Alex had simply concluded the experiment project to be something that could forcefully make humans stronger by developing some sort of drug or elixir which had many adverse effects like making someone lose their rationality but it seems there were some other motives in it.
Alex noticed Lamar's strength to be early Epic rank and he seems to be strongest out there.
Alex's image flashed and he appeared before Lamar in an instant.
Lamar's body reacted seeing Alex appearing before him and he threw a punch at him.
Alex gripped Lamar's fist and twisted his arm.
With a pained expression on his face, Lamar raised his foot to kick but Alex hit his thigh and broke the thigh bones making him kneel.
"Arghhh!"
A painful groan escaped from his lips and he screamed"Attack him, attack him."
Alex banged Lamar's head and knocked him out.
The other four snapped out of the shock and jumped towards Alex.
Alex with his free fist unsheathed his sword and swung it, blowing them away.
Alex stabbed Lamar's knee and pinned him on the ground so that he couldn't escape and turned his gaze to the other and jumped toward them.
