"Someone's coming. Get your asses ready. Arizihana, tell the other rankers who have spread out to circle the place and not let anyone pass the perimeter. They can call for backup and fight to delay until all of us reach the scene.
Marie, check your tracker and see if it has become responsive again. We'll head towards the mark without taking detours."
Tai dished out a series of orders right after he sensed a sudden foreign presence using the artefact worn as his wristband. He would use it along with his earth-element mana and sense vibrations from miles away. He would do that by touching both his palms on the ground.
Marie and Arizihana both got to work. Marie took out a flask and drank the content stored in it. Immediately, her vision changed. Everything around her turned dark and she could only see two yellow apparitions moving at a rapid pace 2 O Clock from her location.
"There. But one member is missing. Should I look for him more thoroughly?"
Tai shook his head in denial and replied:
"No need. We'll focus on the ones we can track. Arizihana, you know what to do?"
Ari nodded and contacted other members of her team to circle the area they would be soon heading to. Meanwhile, everyone else present at the scene got ready to head out under Tai's lead.
They soon saw what they were tracking. A group of three men were heading straight at them without the care in the world. They didn't change their directions even when they sensed Tai's group coming in front of them.
"Heh! Today's youth has gotten bold it seems. It looks like I need to humble the young. Haha! It would be fun."
Tai had a rare smile on his face as he saw Ronny coming to meet him fearlessly despite his early-stage Ace rank. He was reminded of his rashed behaviour as a young ranker because of him.
'Sir Ronny, do we need to fight?'
Renar asked Ronny using his ID storage. The latter denied the suggestion and said only one word in response:
'Stall.'
Tai stopped moving when he saw Ronny and his group was only a few meters away from him. He opened his mouth to speak:
"Where do you think you are going, young…"
"Thank god you are here. We were trying to look for you all over the place. Did you bring enough force?"
Ronny said in a hurry with a voice laced in anxiety and excitement. Tai was confused by the guy's behaviour and speech.
"What are you talking about…"
Tai wanted to stall for time too. He wanted his perimeter getting secured. So he didn't mind having a conversation with the strangers that they were supposed to confront. But Ronny spoke before letting him finish again:
"We, the Beast Bloods, finally found the entrance to a separate dimension. Hahaha! We expect our achievements to be celebrated with plenty of rewards.
Oh yes. We also thank you for giving us the opportunity."
'This guy is talking rubbish. But wait…'
Tai raised his eyebrows when he processed the words: separate dimensions. He couldn't help asking:
"Brat, tell us where that separate dimension is."
Ronny nodded affirmatively with a smile on his face. He started to respond with hope laced in his voice:
"Of course, master. It is…"
"Kill that fucking man!"
This time Ronny was interrupted by another voice that sounded familiar to him. Jerry had appeared at a distance from behind Ronny. He used his movement speed to close the distance and was about to jump on Ronny and his team.
'Gotcha bitch!'
Ronny thought to himself and headed straight to Tai as if he was asking for his protection. The latter was confused at first. But then he replayed the whole scene and felt like the nerve on his forehead would pop up any second:
'That brat... Tricked me.'
Since Ronny and Renar were already ready and knew what to do, they first headed in Tai and his group's direction before quickly taking a hard turn at the left side. Jerry's group and Tai's group both were going to follow him. But then they saw each other and expected worse.
"Attack."
"Kill them all."
Jerry and Tai both gave commands to their respective subordinates. A battle was going to ensue between both groups.
The cause of that battle was now running away from the battlefield along with his two subordinates. He saw the rankers securing the perimeter heading his way and gave only one command to the two Anthropes with him.
"Let them have it."
Eren drew a new set of Katars that he had gained from the underground dungeon. The runes on the weapons lit up when he imbued them with his Ace rank mana.
Stunning Speed
Sedated Perception
Blitz Bolt
Blitz Steps
Eren activated his spell combos and immediately two heads flew high in the sky. For a guy always trying to hide behind the rankers' code, he was pretty savage in cutting two Novices' heads up.
In Eren's defence, there was no Ace ranker present within them. Not that it mattered to him.
Renar and Viper also worked their best and took care of the rankers Eren left behind for them to deal with.
'Leave one behind. Keep him half dead and pretend you hastily confirmed his death. Then leave with me.'
Renar heard Ronny's weird instruction over ID communication. But this was no time to question the guy's motives. He okayed it and kept one guy barely alive before moving to the next one.
Ronny and his team quickly left the place and headed straight without looking back. They soon disappeared from the crime scene they had just created.
"Why did you tell me to leave one guy alive?"
Renar asked while trying to match up with Ronny's speed from behind. The latter smirked before replying coldly:
"Because that guy would act as the messenger and tell the rest of the guys that we broke the perimeter. That would make the guys on perimeter duty either chase us or focus on the battle that is currently happening in the middle of the area they secured.
I bet the leader would try to prioritize the battle at hand and call the guys off on us. He'd use them as reinforcement soon."
Renar had a weird face after hearing that. He wanted to ask his next question but Ronny filled the blanks for him:
"You want to say that it doesn't affect us because that was bound to happen? That we only prevented a few rankers from chasing us?
Heh! I don't give a fuck about Novice ranker or even Ace rankers chasing us anymore. What I wanted was for them to focus on the battle with Jerry's group.
And…. create an opening for me."
Renar got tensed when he heard Eren's cold voice. He could feel the guy's aura sending a child down his spine. He asked to confirm:
"What… What do you mean? What opening?"
Ronny stopped moving abruptly when he heard Renar's question. The latter was going to clash with him from behind but he changed his stride in time and went ahead of him. Viper did the same. They both looked back to see Ronny staring at them with his murderous gaze. A gaze that was not directed at them but for someone far in the distance.
"You need to leave. Do as I said and then contact me. We'll talk after a few days."
Renar could feel what Ronny was going to do. So he massaged his temples and tried to dissuade him:
"Don't. There are two Adept rankers present there."
Ronny flashed an evil grin at Renar's suggestion. He then seemingly disappeared from his position. But his voice could still be heard by the duo.
"Those two are the reason I'm going in there. I got what they waitin' for."
AN: I told you long ago, on the road… I got what they waitin' for! ;)
