"Traitor?"
Nicholas became fearless when Rufus started getting surrounded by the elves. He stepped forward and placed his hands on his face. He felt the contours of his face with his fingers before removing the Elven mask effortlessly.
Nicholas' look didn't change much except for his ears. However, the same could not be said about his mana signatures and his aura. He had changed into his original elf form.
"I was never with you guys, to begin with. Calling me a traitor doesn't even make sense. Hahaha."
Nicholas felt liberated when he removed the mask after such a long time. He felt like a huge boulder had been taken off his shoulders. He was also glad for the fact that he didn't have to go to LA and watch the young rankers' struggles on repeat.
Everyone inside the debuff array's range was affected and turned into Novice rankers including Rufus and the enemies he was surrounded by. However, the rankers involved in the ambush were all high-ranking entities. As a result, they could exert more pressure and power from their spells using their spells even if they were restricted to the Novice rank.
A fight ensued between Rufus and Lako's forces when Rufus tried to run away from the fight. When he was forced to accept that he couldn't escape, the sole ranker from Edinburgh fought valiantly.
Rufus' spells and his attacks were precise and powerful. Nobody would be able to tell that he was restricted to fighting like a Novice ranker with the kind of fight he fought.
Yet, Rufus' enemies were many. In addition, they could do what he could. Lako was Rufus' biggest enemy and his downfall. That was because Lako was also a Grandmaster. Lako's intent-based magic blurred the limits placed on him and allowed him to fight at a much higher level. As a result, Rufus was fatally injured.
Rufus Rodriguez was brought to his knees as a wolfpack of enemy rankers surrounded him. He clenched his fists and looked at them hatefully before screaming to his heart's content.
"YOU FUCKING PIGS… FIGHT ME LIKE A…"
Swoosh. Zoom. Pierce.
Lako's spear pierced Rufus's throat before he could complete what he was saying. The elf pulled his weapon out of its lodged place right away, forcing Rufus to fall flat on his face. Lako then slashed empty air with his spear to get the blood out of the blade before commenting.
"Hmph. Don't blame us. Blame that rat Isen Osan for your misfortune. He was the one who told us about what you are hiding in here after all."
Lako's spear disappeared from his hands once he confirmed that Rufus could not fight him. He gestured at a comrade of his and told him to start operating on Rufus before his death.
The elf who had stepped forward was the genius array master who had created this sub-array specific to the Sansara World which had landed Rufus in trouble. He bent down and observed Rufus' near-death condition before taking out an array disk.
The array master had made the array disk using Sansara World's items. He placed it on the ground near Rufus's head before activating it. All of a sudden, a spectral bubble encased Rufus and the array master from the rest of the rankers.
Rufus' near-death condition was stabilized even though he could not regain consciousness. The array master placed his right hand over Rufus' head and closed his eyes.
It took a while before the array master found what he was looking for. The Sasara tattoo on the back of Rufus's right hand started shining.
In the next moment, something happened outside the debuff zone's range. A peculiar mana pulse was released as a spatial tunnel opened up. The array master opened his eyes with a smile on his face. He lifted his hand off Rufus' head and turned around before commenting excitedly.
"Haha. Sir Lako, I managed to gain access to… hmm?"
The array master stopped his sentence midway because he saw Lako's shocked face while looking at the spatial tunnel. At first, the array master was unaware of what had happened. But then he looked at Lako carefully and realized that the warrior elf had his heart pierced by a dagger with a matte finish.
"What the…"
The array master quickly got up on his feet when he realized that something was wrong. He looked around to see that streaks of purple and red lightning were surrounding half of his fellow elves. It was as if someone had just finished casting their lightning spells on the elves involved in the ambush.
"Aaaaaargh!"
"Bastard…. Who is it?"
"Fuck… reinforcement for Rufus?"
"No…. It can't be. His Highness Payir?"
"Aaaaaaargh! Kill this brat… I don't care if he's royalty or not."
Multiple screams were heard as the surviving elves understood what had happened. Just when they were feeling psyched about opening access to the Sansara World's special place, someone had used that moment as an opportunity to kill and fatally injure the elves involved in the ambush.
Even Lako was not spared from almost having the same misfortune he had dished out to Rufus. This was an ambush within an ambush. A kill was so precisely timed and precise that not even a Grandmaster could save himself from it.
Lako understood one thing with his dying breath at this point. This was not the work of a royal brat no matter how talented he was. This kind of killing had to be handled by someone much more experienced.
Lako knew he was almost dead. He looked in the array master's direction and narrowed his eyes. Taking a gulp, he sent the blood that was trying to escape his mouth back to where it came from before answering.
"Who are you?"
The array master was too stunned to speak. But he found out that Lako was not looking at him when he posed that question. Lako was looking behind the array master as if a person was standing there.
"Who am I indeed?
That's a profound question, isn't it? Well… I am what I need to be."
The array master heard a casual voice very close to his ears. He realized too late that someone was standing behind him.
