Nobody expected Don Saber to be defeated, and definitely not the way he had. It took the guards more than an hour to find him stuck in a chimney two wards away from the saber ward.On the other hand, Myles was nowhere to be seen.Justin and others slipped away during all the chaos taking place at the police station. Every guard was looking for Myles.Because both Don and Bjorn didn’t wake up even after a few hours of time, the neighboring ward’s warden temporarily took the authority and issued a ‘Slay on Sight’ order for Myles.Anybody that killed Myles would receive a prize money of 100 million dollars.This was an amount that could make even the top mages act. Defeating Don Saber, who was ranked in the top 1000, would mean that the opponent was no joke, so giving such a high price for Myles’ life was deemed necessary.“Relay this information to the city lord as soon as possible,” the new interim warden, a woke-mammoth, ordered. “I want continuous updates on where this guy is last si
On the same evening, Kong came to Penny’s store and told her that he quit the Mertzel’s group, so he needed his share of the money to be given to him beforehand.He would get more than 20 million dollars, so Penny told him to come back the next morning together with the other team members, or she wouldn’t pay.Kong threatened her with his glare, but she calmly said, “Keep doing that, and this Penny won’t give you a penny.”“Tsk,” Kong started walking away. “If you don’t give me money tomorrow, I’ll destroy your shop and your career. Don’t forget that.”This wasn’t the first time someone threatened Penny, so she wasn’t worried in the least. “I’ve dealt with squirrels like you all my life, red-nosed brat,” she spoke back.Even though Kong heard those provocative words, he didn’t turn back. Kong kept walking aimlessly, wondering what he should do. And then he saw the twin women eating at a restaurant. He went up to them and confidently sat in their midst.They didn’t look too surprised b
The next morning.Casey woke up early and practiced her skills in the garden. She was trying to cut the flower petals without damaging them. Having worked as a florist for years, she knew the anatomy of plants and flowers, so she could focus on specific parts with her knowledge.When she failed, she looked at the book in her hand. It was a book she rented from the local library. It covered the skills related to the hair-manipulating ability.“I can definitely feel that my hair got sturdier and can stretch for longer distances, but I’m sure I absorbed a bow, so where did that bow go?”Just then, she felt her hair moving on its own. Some of her hairs turned into a bow.“Wow,” she couldn’t see it, but she could feel it as she was holding a real bow. “This is cool, but where’s the arrow?”An arrow automatically formed with a few strands of her hair and shot at the mango tree. Nothing happened, or at least that’s what it seemed like at first sight.Casey went closer to the tree and noticed
The Hawk ward was separated from other wards by a deep ravine. At its border, the guards checked the IDs of everyone coming in or going out and recorded them on both computers as well as physical notebooks, which was part of the protocol.Ria crossed the bridge and showed her ID.“Is this your first time coming to this ward?” the tall woke-lizard guard asked.“Yes. Is that a problem?” Ria raised her brows.“That’s not the issue, but your mage score is below six,” the guard said while checking her status online. “It seems you are yet to pay a million dollar fine for causing a ruckus in a public market?”“My teammates are going to pay that today,” she softly replied.“Is that so?” the guard gave her ID back and said, “Don’t let your score fall below four, or you won’t be able to travel from one ward to another.”“Okay.”They let her pass.Ria entered the Hawk ward and observed her surroundings. Most of the species living there were woke- rats, squirrels, snakes, lizards and so on and so
Hawkins was busy teasing the women that were serving him, so he didn’t notice Ria until she flew into his view and unleashed a deadly attack that scared the living crap out of the two women that were next to Hawkins.“Thousand Terrors!” all of Ria’s feathers darted like spears and whooshed into Hawkins.He brought his wings out and immediately guarded himself. All of Ria’s feathers struck his defense and bounced off in different directions. Ria controlled the feathers and pulled them back to her, or the feathers would have struck the two maids and killed them.Ria landed in front of Hawkins and changed into her hybrid form and leaped at him. “Talon Raze!” Her talons cruelly dug through the tiny gaps in Hawkins’ wings and struck his diaphragm.“Krgh,” Hawkins spread his wings and forcibly pushed Ria away.Ria somersaulted in midair and came striking down toward his face this time.Hawkins moved his head away.Ria’s talon crushed through the chair.Hawkins rolled to the side and made di
Hawkins was watching everything from the rooftop below.Four objects came falling down freely, and they were the four woke-kites.“These useless bastards…” Hawkins wanted to just let them crash and die, but then these four guards weren’t exactly weak, so he flew and caught the four of them with his talons, and mouth and brought them down safely.All four of them were unconscious and suffered broken bones at different places.“Who could beat the four of them like this?” he hurriedly soared into the sky, but to his bafflement, neither Ria nor Myles were there. “Where did they go? I’m sure they were still here only seconds ago.” His eyes scanned for them as he hovered over the city, but he still couldn’t find them. “Tch, they must have hid themselves under a roof.”He gave up looking for them.“You can’t escape from this city, Ria. It’s only a matter of time before we see each other again, and I won't let you escape from me twice.”In the ravine right outside the Hawk ward.Myles and Ria
Don Saber had woken up and was checking the surveillance cameras at the headquarters to narrow down on the whereabouts of Myles.“He’s seen in ten different wards, sir. He’s everywhere.”“He was last seen entering the Sheep’s ward—him and his group.”“Isn’t that on the back side of the nether dungeon? It’s a dangerous zone where religious extremists live.”“They are entering through the back door,” Don gritted his teeth. “How the hell did they get into that ward? How did they find out about the secret entrance?”What most of the citizens didn’t know was that there was a second entrance into the nether dungeon, which was located in the Sheep’s ward, a land prohibited to enter by the outsiders.There was no surveillance system in the Sheep’s ward, so Don had no way to see what Myles and his group were up to.“There’s no other way,” Don’s gaze turned sharp. “I have to enter the dungeon myself and take down Myles Mertzel, but I can’t do it alone.”In the Sheep’s ward.The locals were very
Myles and others went through the muddy grounds. Casey and Biskie kept complaining that they were feeling an itchy sensation all over their body, especially their arms.Myles, Justin, and Ria didn’t feel that way.Myles checked their pulse. Something didn’t feel right, but he didn’t have the magic powers to look into their body and tell what was going on.“We’re not going to die, right?” Casey tensely asked.“Don’t worry too much,” Myles calmly replied. “No matter how much we struggle, we can’t delay our appointed deaths even by a second.”“You believe in destiny?” Biskie asked in an almost mocking tone. “Only fools would believe in things like destiny and God.”Myles smiled. “You are able to think and talk because your body is carefully built with intelligence. Your eyes, your teeth, and the blood that flows in your brains didn’t come into existence because some random wind blew and created you from dirt. That’s not how it works. If you use your God-given eyes, you’ll see that there’
Aero’s attack was deadly enough to easily kill a group of individuals without them even realizing what happened.The table where Myles and others were sitting was utterly destroyed.However, nobody was harmed because Myles had warped them a few meters away at the last moment. The only being he didn’t warp was Dusty.Dusty took the attack head on and was injured just a little. “This is…” he didn’t take more than a second to understand who it was. “Don’t say anything and just run away!” he shouted in ant language.“What nonsense are you talking about!” Aero attacked him with his spear-like limbs. “Her Majesty trusted you and sent you on a mission, but here you are, eating sugary things!”“You idiot! I didn't have any other choice!” Dusty defended himself. “I was forced to work for these humans!”“Shame on you! How can you work for humans?” Aero grew all the more aggressive. “You surely deserve to die!”“Who is that bastard?” Sercy asked angrily because part of the cafe was destroyed by
General Aero of the Battle Ants leaped toward the two old timers and used his jelly-like body to set himself on fire, causing a nasty explosion that covered almost a hundred feet in every direction.It was so hot the ground cracked and the metal melted.Aero used this opportunity to fly away fast. Some automated machine guns recognized this intruder and shot at it, but Aero was able to easily slip past the bullets and flew away into the distance, covering a mile per second.Wise Servant and Sweet Beggar stepped out of the explosion, and Wise Servant sucked in the explosion and contained it in her single hand and squashed it into nothing. The compressed flames no longer existed as a candle light would turn off.“Are you going to go after that thing, or do you want me to go instead?” she asked him.“You’re the wiser one,” Sweet Beggar picked his teeth. “So you should go, since you decided to let that little ant go.”“I thought he might lead us to the one that escaped last time,” she rep
Outside the forever S-rank dungeon where the Battle Ants were present, Wise Servant and Sweet Beggar stopped playing chess and started drinking a strong tea made out of boiling many potent green herbs.And both of them felt energized and relaxed right now as they sat laid back in their chairs.Wise Servant lost in chess once again. She had been trying to win just one game of chess against him for so long. She grew experienced enough to be easily called a grandmaster of chess, but still, she was not able to win against Sweet Beggar just one more time. All she wanted was for him to forgive her and say ‘I love you’ just once more.Both of them had long crossed 100 years of age. So, they weren’t thinking of sex or anything like that. They were purely thinking about each other’s souls.Wise Servant had already beaten him 999,999 times, but she really wanted to win another game; however, Sweet Beggar didn’t make it any easier for her. He remained ruthless all the time so that she couldn’t e
In the dungeon swarming with ants of all kinds numbered in trillions, with more of them joining the ranks as seconds passed by, this dungeon was becoming more and more of a threat to the very existence of not just the Venture city but the very existence of humanity.The queen of all ants, Queen Wiggles, was currently crunching on wafers and looked to be in bliss.“Mm… these are the best things I’ve eaten in a while,” Wiggles looked at the captain ant that brought her a single packet of wafers. “What are these things called?”“Wafter, Your Majesty,” the captain ant kept his head and antennae lowered.“Water… it’s crispy, sweet, and easily melts in your mouth,” Wiggles was drooling. “I think I can eat a mountain of these. Why did you bring only one of these?”“The guy that entered the dungeon had only one of these in his bag,” the captain ant replied.“Oh, I thought you managed to leave the dungeon and then come back inside,” Wiggles said. “But some fool entered the dungeon, huh. Did you
Sercy found an A-rank healer, but he asked for a lot of gold in order to heal Judas and Glint because it wouldn’t be an easy task.“Instead of money, I’ll give you the spoils of an A-rank dungeon we’ll clear,” Sercy told him.“That’s even better,” the healer happily agreed to it.After forming a contract, he came to the Dawn guild to heal Judas and Glint. However, when he approached Judas, Judas attacked him by grabbing his throat and lifting him up.“Who do you think you are…” Judas coldly said. “Did I give you the permission to heal me?”“Judas!” Sercy unleashed a flaming punch and struck his face, sending him flying into the wall right next to him. His head went halfway through the wall. “How drunk are you to attack a guest who came to help you!”Judas pulled his head out of the wall and spat a few pieces of bricks out. “I’m not drunk, Sercy. And I don’t want to get healed because I’m perfectly fine.”“No, you’re not fine. You are mentally disturbed,” Sercy blurted.“Hmph, you thi
In Basil District.Sercy and Ria were heading toward a certain address.“Why did we have to travel so far?” Ria expressed discomfort without hesitation. “Couldn’t you find any healer near our district?”“I could, but I doubt they can fully heal Judas and Master Glint,” Sercy replied. “Judas has been drinking a lot. I’m sure his liver and other organs are not healthy. We need a proper health potion that can improve his health significantly. And Master Glint also needs to drink a health potion because he’s not eating properly.”“His daughter died long ago, so why is he still depressed?” Ria asked.Sercy glanced at her with a bit of a surprised look. “You lack emotional depth. Were you not raised by your parents?”Ria frowned. “Do I have to be raised by my parents to know a father’s love?”“...Not really,” Sercy said. “Some lives can be explained by pen, but some… only by pain. By emotion. If we haven’t experienced the same emotions ourselves, it’ll be hard for us to put ourselves in oth
The glass cube was torn open like it was jelly, which genuinely dropped Sercy’s jaw for a second.Dusty was also not expecting that at all, but he grinned as he unsheathed his sword, ready to attack Myles. However, just when his eyes looked up and his gaze was set on Myles, he suddenly felt invisible pressure crushing him down from every direction.Myles was not even moving his eyelids, but Dusty couldn’t move. In fact, his body was trembling slightly. (What’s this feeling?) He looked very anxious. (This regal aura he’s giving… It’s as if I’m looking at Her Majesty. No, perhaps, dare I say… he’s even greater than Her Majesty Wiggles?)“Myles!” Sercy yelled. “How did you do that? I mean, how could you do that!” She quickly caught Dusty with her hand. “What if this little monster is more dangerous than we think?”“Then why are you holding it in your hand?” Ria asked.“B-Because he’s like a little doll,” Sercy said. “I feel like squeezing him to death.”“Eeek!” Dusty was terrified by her
Myles and Ria came to the canteen while Biskie and Casey were so tired and beaten they had to take rest in the basement training grounds. Myles wasn’t the one who fought them, but they fought each other to the extreme just to test them and so wounded themselves a bit too much.“Our guild has good core fighters now,” Sercy told them while they were eating crunchy leaf burgers. “We only lack a good healer. If we can get someone who can not just heal the wounds but also boost our skills, it’d be wonderful.”“Someone who can do those things will be in high demand,” Ria opined. “Do we have enough money to recruit such a person?”“Money? Screw that,” Sercy snorted. “I want someone who will willingly work with us and share our burdens and not expect too much in return. I don’t want those types that go after money and fame as they cannot fit into anything. They are only going to abandon you when a better opportunity knocks on their door.” She then looked at Myles. “You explored some districts
Dusty stealthily entered the guild building, expecting there to be tight security. However, all he found was an old man mumbling something in his sleep.“What’s this? They have the dragon king’s item, and they’re this relaxed?” Dusty frowned. “Are they that confident in their abilities, or are they just that stupid?”Nevertheless, he kept his guard on and traveled in the hall while using the objects as his cover.He saw Sercy who was loudly talking at her reception desk.“I’m telling you that I will buy those lands!” Sercy was shouting. “Sell me those infested lands, you bastards! If you do that, We’ll become ghost-venerers for you and clear three dungeons of your choice in the next year. How does that sound?”“Five dungeons for three years is okay for me.”“Three years is too long, and five dungeons is too much,” Sercy said. “Three dungeons and one year is final.”When a dungeon breaks, the nearby lands and environment get corrupted. This would cause the value of that land to drop, e