A few moments later…
"Agh!"
A man dressed in leather attire crawled out from a small crater within a partly forested area. Due to having just died, his level had dropped from 50 down to 47, making him ineligible to challenge his Class Advancement until he amassed a suitable amount of EXP points again.
"Damn you, Aatrox!" Despot scowled, pounding the ground with his fist.
Vielens and Soulless had tasked him with trailing the others to find out where they were heading.
Unfortunately for him, before Despot could accomplish his task, a humongous and unavoidable blood sword zoomed in his direction, claiming his life instantly.
Because of his high Infamy, the Death Penalty he faced was quite harsh. Then again, even though he seethed with rage at the loss of his levels, Despot was at a loss for words regarding his equipment.
"Is he somehow trying to insinuate that I'm unworthy of him attempting to take my belongings? He killed me without hesitation yet none of my dropped items were touched! What kind of nonsense is this?!" Despot scowled.
A few seconds later, Despot froze, shuddering as he felt several presences approaching near him.
"How useless. When this is all said and done, I'll be holding a meeting within Umbra to decide how we should handle your Shadow Cartel. Such an inept leader shouldn't exist," Soulless said coldly.
Vielens scoffed in response, shaking his head while softly snapping his fingers. Following this snap, many players rushed to his side. These were naturally the members of his Warhead Syndicate.
At the same time, Soulless crossed his arms and uttered a single word. "Appear."
In response, seven individuals appeared behind Soulless, known as the Seven Antumbra Agents.
They were a specialized part of Umbra's main strike force responsible for a ridiculous amount of seek-and-destroy missions. Though their classes varied, members of the Seven Antumbra Agents were skilled and comparable to High Rankers at the very least.
Despite his strength, Soulless seldomly traveled alone because he was directly responsible for cultivating these agents. He was also responsible for a few other hidden trump cards, but those were something he decided not to reveal for the time being.
Among the Seven Antumbra Agents, the strongest one, also known as the Deadly Antumbra, stepped forward yet remained a certain distance behind Soulless out of respect.
"Since Despot has proved himself to be incompetent and utterly useless, I'll have to rely upon you all once more. Please track down the party that traveled through here not too long ago. I'll catch up shortly," Soulless ordered.
"Consider it done," the Deadly Antumbra replied with a nod, vanishing into wisps of smoke that lingered in the air for a while. Compared to Despot's meager concealment skills, it was clear that the Deadly Antumbra was several leagues above.
"Should we assist the Antumbra Agents?" Vielens questioned, earning Soulless' brief glance.
"Considering that Advent is at the location they'll be heading to, yes. They'll require additional support against Advent's core strength, especially if Khaos decides to act personally," Soulless replied.
"Very well," Vielens responded with a nod. Soon after, he emitted a sharp whistle that made his members cackle like wild animals and scream like banshees. Once this spectacle passed, they followed in the direction of the Seven Antumbra Agents.
In the meantime, Soulless stared at Despot with an expression laden with detest and disgust.
"After all this time, playing several titles, your physical and mental skills remain sorely lacking. I am truly disappointed in you. This is what happens when you lack drive and have no grand aspirations. Return to Aeredale City and stay out of my sight—or I will kill you several times myself."
"Y-yes…" Despot's voice trembled as his body shook, trying to contain his trepidation and anger as much as possible.
If looks could kill, Soulless would have undoubtedly died thousands of times by now. With a lowered head, Despot bit his lip so hard it began to leak blood.
Soulless gave him one last scornful look before turning around, withdrawing a slender one-handed sword with several strange engravings across its blade.
A strange swirl of ghastly energy then circulated within Soulless' eyes as one symbol on the sword lit up.
"Ghost Imbuement: Volant Wynsol."
After he uttered this phrase, a light yet rapidly flowing wind enveloped Soulless' body. Once this happened, he returned his sword to its sheath and took a step forward. His movement was phantasmal but it didn't seem strange.
The attainments of his current actions were naturally related to the skill he activated, which seemed to lessen his mass while simultaneously increasing his AGI, or at the very least, his movement speed.
Watching this scene, Despot's expression darkened further, becoming incredibly unsightly. 'Damn you! He actually obtained some kind of special class while I'm stuck as a simple Assassin? How is this in the slightest bit fair?!'
…
Roughly thirty minutes later…
While traveling behind the others, Kieran narrowed his eyes as he turned his gaze toward his rear momentarily.
'It's distant, but I can feel a couple of presences from far away. From the looks of it, we're bound to have company pretty soon. However, whether or not they'll catch up to us in time remains unknown.'
Aside from Sera, everyone else's AGI was pretty high. After experiencing Kieran's guidance, even Bastion decided that strictly focusing on DEF was not ideal. To make the most of his class, he needed to become versatile.
Following in Galvan's footsteps was not the best route for him. Instead, Bastion decided that it would be best if he found ways to wield his class abilities uniquely.
"Speed up slightly," Kieran ordered. At the same time, he extended his hand to Sera.
While Kieran didn't lack confidence, fighting inside the Desert of Crumbling Sands wasn't ideal.
"No problem," Nemean voiced, nodding before suddenly accelerating with heavier steps.
Hearing Kieran's order, Bastion also sped up. As his class wasn't limited to only wearing Plate Armor, he decided to change into a set of Leather Armor, which was famous for providing the highest AGI benefits, including slight enhancements toward Control.
Meanwhile, Sera grasped Kieran's hand, abashedly yelping after feeling him pull. Then, he placed her on his back and suddenly performed an explosive jump, traversing several tens of meters in an instant.
The effects of STR weren't limited to increasing one's Attack Power. It was also responsible for increasing the explosiveness of one's muscles, which allowed for greater bursts of force. Naturally, this translated to increased instantaneous movement and increased jumping power.
"Hahaha! If that motherfucker turned green, he'd be like that one superhero… aw dammit, I forgot the name," Bastion exclaimed, followed by a disgruntled grumble.
"I think it was that guy in the Revengers or something like that," Nemean quipped, softly scratching his head.
"Focus, boys. We need to blaze ahead and be present for our meeting," Kieran shouted, constantly turning his head to confirm that no imminent threat had appeared nearby.
After thinking about it, Kieran circled around and slid toward Alice before changing the way he held Sera and Alice, tossing them both over his shoulder.
'The feeling is growing closer, which means this party must specialize in speed… or perhaps, they possess something capable of temporarily increasing their AGI,' Kieran thought.
After considering his conditions, Kieran decided that it would be best to tap into Blood Mania's strengthening properties.
'Without Argexes' Blood, using my abilities feels somewhat awkward. Thankfully, it isn't awkward enough to hinder my actions,' Kieran muttered inwardly. He suspected Hekaina's action would have some drawbacks that he'd have to deal with, but he didn't expect them to manifest like this.
Without the strong connection to Argexes' Blood, Blood Mania's Source Rune felt somewhat starved, or rather it felt like it was heading in the direction of being starved.
Nevertheless, despite carrying the load of Sera and Alice, Kieran was still much faster than Bastion and Nemean, especially Nemean who received less UAP per level up.
"He's fast as fuck, boy!" Bastion shouted, laughing hysterically. Though his speed paled in comparison to Kieran, his Stamina was similarly monstrous. With that, running like this wasn't a strenuous task.
As they sprinted at their top speed, Kieran could sense that the distance separating them and this incoming party was increasing. This continued to be the case as they passed through the Desert of Crumbling Sand's hazardous landscape.
Soon enough, Kieran came across the area that housed several large rock spurs and stepped through it. Many monsters tried to target him, but they were powerless against the frightening force of Kieran's Wrath Eruption that send the monsters hurtling away.
Furthermore, Kieran noticed that after Blood Mania had reached Lv.5, the soles of his feet adopted the same symbols that were carved into his palms, meaning he could use his feet in the same way he used his hands—as a weapon.
In the distance, Kieran saw a collection of approximately twenty people. The Mad Scientist's Hidden Laboratory wasn't a place that permitted the entry of a massive number of people. It was a Team Dungeon, so the allowed number of party members was capped at twenty.
Whoosh!
Kieran came to a gradual halt, letting Alice and Sera down from his shoulders. While Sera covered her mouth and stumbled, using Kieran's arm to brace herself, Alice could not help but let out a deep exhale.
The motion sickness they felt was worse than experiencing turbulence in the air. If they had a say in it, Alice and Sera would rather not ride the Kieran express again.
"Aatrox," Khaos greeted, presenting an amicable smile.
"Khaos," Kieran succinctly greeted in response.
After that, Kieran turned around and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I should tell you this now. We were followed, which means we have two choices. Either we can sit here and await the incoming party… or we enter immediately."
"I see," Khaos murmured with a deepening frown.
Though Kieran was a highly sought-after individual, Khaos wasn't a fool. He understood that Kieran being followed was most likely related to their current findings.
Khaos eventually released a defeated sigh, murmuring, "Knowledge of Advent's movement must have leaked. This isn't good. Information regarding our movements seems to become public knowledge at an alarming rate these days."
As he pitied Khaos' circumstances, Kieran silently examined Khaos. 'Advent's unraveling has already begun. Sadly, it's not my place to intervene nor will I do so.'
