*Ptwei*Ptwei*Swoosh*Clang*
The adventure team was currently running while attacking a group of armored men with too much muscle who had been chasing them for the past twenty minutes.
The archer in particular, kept firing arrows at the Red Wolf guild members while on the move. She had managed to kill two of the initial ten members, reducing them to eight.
And while her team had the advantage in numbers, they were horrified with the thought of Motavu catching up to them, so they kept running while dodging axes thrown from behind.
Their guardian had already died. A swinging ax cut off his head from behind because of the slow speed caused by the heavy armor he put on. Furthermore, they couldn't even touch his corpse because they were constantly being chased by enemies, and with that, their numbers reduced to nine.
But, as Cabrera kept baiting them all, Fredrick was also doing his part.
"Ugh!"
*cough*
Behind a layer of bushes, one would see the two bloodied bodies lying on the floor, dead without a doubt.
Their bodies were covered in black clothing, leaving only their face, but the clothes were now torn and strewn.
The third and last member currently had a sword piercing his neck as he coughed up large amounts of blood. His eyes were filled with confusion and unwillingness.
'What is this?' he thought to himself.
The boss had sent them to trail someone who harmed one of their members, and they were doing fine…until a few moments ago!
A man with black hair wearing no armor and only black clothes suddenly appeared, and in less than ten seconds, his two comrades were dead.
The next moment, he found himself with a sword in his neck.
Who was this man? Why had they been killed?
He felt it to be so unfair that he was almost crying. But that was it, almost. He didn't get the chance to do so when the sword was pulled out from his neck and his body began to fall. The darkness greeted him even before his body could even touch the ground.
Like so did Tovak, an Adept-rank assassin of the Night Shade guild die without ever getting answers as to why he had been killed.
The one responsible for all this, the man with black hair and black clothing, simply swung his sword to get rid of the blood.
The man was Fredrick, who looked at the dead bodies and said…
"Next time you mind your own business"
He could never allow people who could reveal their identities to live. That would ruin the meaning of the entire plan.
At this moment, a snake slowly approached him and hissed.
Fredrick looked at it and asked…
"Cabrera has started?"
The snake shook his tail in response, prompting a smile from Fredrick's face as he said…
"He's moving faster than expected. I guess I better get started over here too"
The snake was being controlled by his slave from before.
With that, Fredrick ran through the forest while using a skill called Earth Sense, which worked by spreading mana from underneath his feet in a radius of five hundred meters to detect fluctuations and vibrations, thereby identifying objects by their reaction to the mana released.
It was formerly only two hundred meters, but it was upgraded when he achieved Master-rank.
This was why he was able to identify Motavu's party, White Iron's party, the adventure team of ten and those Night Shade members in hiding.
Naturally, another Master would've easily seen through such a skill, but nobody would ever expect a Master to be here.
There was only someone who was rumored to be close to achieving Master-rank, and that person wasn't here because he liked the place.
That person was also part of the current plan.
After moving across the forest, far from where Motavu was currently wreaking havoc, he found a place that had far more people than the other side, and easily found out why.
"Move your sorry asses or I'll move it for you! Do you expect the monsters to go easy on you?!"
There were more than twenty different parties in a 1500 meter radius, each one at a distance from each other. They were far enough not to disturb the other party or steal prey.
But the most important thing was…
'They're all decent guild parties'
Yes! They were all parties filled with members of mid-rank guilds, because…
'And they're all newbie training sessions'
Like the name implied, it was a party filled with a guild's new recruit's who came to gain hands-on experience while under the supervision of veterans of the same guild.
But all that mattered to Fredrick right now was the feasibility of the plan in such circumstances, and concerning that…
'It's perfect'
Fredrick wouldn't have had it any other way as he made his way across the forest, getting to the upper end of the forest before stopping.
He looked at his surroundings and saw a swamp filled with slizzards. They looked like the grotesque combination of a snake and a lizard. A little similar to a Komodo dragon, but these ones had skin similar to snakes with a myriad of color patterns.
The moment they saw someone in their territory, they rushed towards Fredrick. Though, at the speed they are moving, to Fredrick, a Master, they might as well be as fast as a snail.
So, without batting an eye, Fredrick brought out three dozen potions of the same type and poured them all over his body.
The liquid dried upon contact with his body and a strange fragrance began to emanate from his body.
Not even forty seconds had passed before vibrations began to be sensed. Fredrick felt small shockwaves and smiled.
"Perfect, and now for the grand act"
Fredrick started running at a moderate pace towards the direction he had come from, while not forgetting to take out the same potion he had poured on his body earlier and throwing it to the sides, specifically where territorial snakes were residing. He kept increasing his pace as he felt the vibrations grew more intense, and…
*Ssssssss…*
*Ssssssss….*
*Ssssssss….*
Snakes were hissing loudly and violently, and then…
*Bam*
The sound of a loud bang resounded. Fredrick's smile deepened as he said…
"It has begun"
The Windless Peak was a nest maintained for about half a century, and in that time, multiple tactics and strategies were devised in order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of snake hunting.
Along with them came the Exzremadicite. Simply put, snake lover potion.
It was made up of minerals loved by snakes, with the main material being snake moss, an ingredient that had an awfully similar scent to Dew Flakes, an extremely rare flower that were akin to treasures for snakes.
At first, the objective was for a potion that caused snakes to focus on one target while others attacked and easily killed it. And it sold like wildfire at first, but it was abandoned soon after even though it worked well.
The reason why the potion was forgotten and condemned…the answer would be the current scene.
*Sssss…*
*Ssssss….*
*Sssssss….*
Behind Fredrick was a wave of snakes, all in different sizes, but with one thing in common, they were all in a frenzy, biting and fighting each other. The prey didn't fear the predator, the only thing on their minds was to catch Fredrick.
This was why the potion was aptly named snake lover and subsequently abandoned.
The effects were out of proportions. Its effects caused snakes to immediately flock to you like a meal never before seen…but it won't be one!
Any team that used it found themselves attacked from all sides by snakes from different places, and were more often than not wiped.
The potions effects were too strong for hunting, and instead called forth disaster. But that was why Fredrick was able to buy so many very easily.
Fredrick didn't once look back at the cause of the thick hisses or at the sounds of trees breaking as he could see them through Earth Sense.
It was honestly terrifying to see so many snakes that it looked like a multicolored tidal wave crushing everything in its path.
Fredrick had a thought as he kept increasing his speed to distance himself from the wave of snakes, their number increasing as Fredrick went past their territory…
'It's just like he predicted'
He felt a chill in his spine as he considered it, because he recalled Ezra's words clearly.
—------------------------------
-Two weeks ago, in Cabrera's former office-
"If you're about to get caught, you can do two things. You can either cancel the mission or you make sure no one can even identify you after you've left" Ezra said.
"But how do we do that?" Fredrick asked.
"Simple, create a distraction, one big enough to take everyone's attention"
"What does 'big enough' mean?"
"You'll need to engineer something as alarming as an outburst"
"…!" both Cabrera and Fredrick were alarmed by such words, but managed to hold composure as Cabrera took over.
"And how do you suggest we do that"
"By systematically causing chaos, but on a grand scale. Enough chaos to attract the attention of the Empire"
"Are you sure you're five years old?" Cabrera asked flabbergasted, but Ezra didn't bother answering as he asked a question of his own.
"What would happen when people suddenly notice the guild growing at an absurd rate?"
"They will ask questions"
"Good, and what would happen if the surrounding guilds began investigating?"
…!
Cabrera grew alarmed at such a prospect. The guild could be wiped out.
Ezra nodded after seeing his expression.
"Now you understand. The biggest problem isn't getting the stones, no, it's what happens after. If we're not careful, you and your boys could very well be killed, or worse, tortured and enslaved"
In spite of such chilling words, Cabrera's face remained stoic. He knew the being in front of him wouldn't have said all this without having a plan already.
"So, what are we going to do?"
"Like I said, you'll create a distraction. One that will occupy their attention while you grow stronger discreetly"
"Wait a minute" Cabrera suddenly realized.
"You're not saying-"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. Once you've taken the stones, we'll spread the news. And then they will come running once they smell the blood"
"Hoo" Cabrera's was mind blown at this point, but he quickly noticed a problem.
"How are we going to spread the news without anyone knowing it's us? And even if we did that, they could lock down the information. So, if the rumors spread even then, they'll know someone's behind it"
"Hmm, that's true. Then we'll have to get rid of the person who can lock down the place"
"You must have gone crazy to say such things so easily, but I must have gone insane to think that it might actually be possible. I at least hope you know that they're always cooped up in their Missionaries. Trying to kill him in there is not going to be easy"
"That's why we'll make him come out"
"And how do you suppose we do that?"
"We destroy the Missionary of course"
"And how do we do that?!"
"By causing an outburst"
"Wow, I give up. You just keep saying absurd things one after another. And stop talking in riddles, damn it!"
"I like my subordinates to think for themselves. What we are going to do is to give the Empire a reason for war"
"So now, we're going to start a war while making sure no one knows we did it? Is that what you're saying?!"
"Calm down, it's like this…"
—---------------------—----------
Fredrick had to break out of his reverie as he tilted his body to the side, narrowly dodging the mouth of a snake with light green scales that had lunged out from a tree.
And then…
*shua*
The sound of a sword was heard, and in the next moment, the snake's head separated from its body.
But Fredrick, the culprit of the act, couldn't stay to admire his handiwork as he increased his speed once more.
The wave of snakes had already killed numerous adventurers along the way, but Fredrick was only now reaching the part richest with humans as he immediately shouted from four hundred meters away.
Of course, he didn't forget to amplify his voice with mana as he yelled…
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
What happened next, could be described in just two words.
Utter Chaos.
Comments