Chương 400: Chapter 381 - Interlude 38.3

3 Stonegrave was not an impressive town. It had started as a collection of generic stone walls and squat stone buildings, with a few wooden constructions scattered between them. The streets were narrow and uneven, the buildings practical for the local industry. Any defenses it had were set up against bandits and monsters. Then the Blood Army took over, and everything changed. The wall's height had been doubled, creating a clear dividing line where the old gray stone ended and the newer, darker material began.

Just based on what Tim knew about the Blood Army and their practices, he would bet a lot of money that the stone was either soaked in blood or made entirely out of blood. Every few hundred yards, a newly constructed guard tower rose above the walls, each one staffed with Blood Army players and NPCs. Between the towers, soldiers continuously patrolled the battlements with rigid movement and apathy. Apparently, the Blood Brothers didn't pay for them to actually like it.

From his hiding place, Tim could see the bloody sigils carved into the parapets every few dozen yards. The markings radiated foul magic into the air while anchoring the defensive spells that protected the town from magical incursions. The magical protection surrounding Stonegrave was technically invisible to normal senses, but from a distance, someone looking carefully could still notice an almost imperceptible dark red haze hanging in the air around the town.

However, now that Tim was crouched near the walls, far away from any of the entrances, those same protections were impossible to ignore. His magical senses revealed the true scale of the defenses. Layers upon layers of spells overlapped around the town, creating a web of energy that extended from the walls into the surrounding area. All of it seeped into disgusting and foul blood magics, with darkness wound through it. It reminded him of demons…

It was an odd quirk of their guild that all the high-level people who worked closely with Sam possessed impressive mana-control skills. Sam either ranted or talked about mana and mana-control so often that eventually, one couldn't help but absorb enough information to improve their own abilities. Granted, Tim hadn't actually needed to listen. Sam had directly put the information into his hands with a copy of a handwritten notebook.

The original was with Lucy, as she had been the first person to receive this knowledge. Knowing how talented Sam was with mana and magic, Tim had made sure to study everything in the notebook until he could fully integrate it into his own skill set. The result was an incredible ability to sense and differentiate between different types of magic, while also allowing him to learn a few skills that made what he was about to do possible. Plus, it always came in handy when sussing out traitors and spies.

Most of the players who had attempted to spy on the guild or any of its important members usually came from a training camp where they were taught useful spells and skills for spy work, infiltration, and skullduggery. Fortunately, Tim was familiar with most of those spells, making sensing them being used child's play. Tim wondered how long it would take for their enemies to figure out how he was catching their spies…

Shaking his head, he cast his senses toward his team as they spread out around the walls, each tucked into a different hiding place as they prepared for the operation. They lay concealed among dense shrubs, behind crumbling stone outcroppings, beneath the tangled roots of ancient trees, or inside shallow depressions where tall grass and weeds broke up their silhouettes. And while their technique was the best Tim could teach them, this was all enhanced by the best skills and spells and a few artifacts.

Above them, clueless enemy players and NPCs patrolled the battlements, oblivious to the dozens of eyes watching every step they took. He took a deep breath before touching the magi-tech earpiece in his ear.

"Everyone ready?" he asked casually.

"Team One ready."

"Team Two standing by."

"Team Three is in position."

"Team Four reporting."

"Team Five, ready for anything."

"Team Six here for the fun!" Tim frowned a little.

"Team Six, a bit more professionalism."

"Yes, sir," came the immediate answer, and he could hear a hint of fear in the voice. Satisfied, he called out to the next target.

"Team Flash, do you copy?" He had to wait a few moments before Dan's calm, steady voice came through the earpiece.

"This is Team Flash. We are in position. Waiting for the signal." Tim nodded while pulling a deceptively simple dagger from the sheath on his back. Its plain steel blade reflected almost no light, almost absorbing the light, and its worn leather grip gave little indication that it was anything more than an ordinary weapon. On the contrary, it looked worse than any basic dagger you could buy from a shop.

Only someone capable of sensing mana on his – or Sam's - level would have noticed the impossibly fine strands of energy woven through the metal and the countless enchantments layered on it, waiting for their wielder's command. He did one last check for any reports that would cancel the operation, but everything appeared clear. Lucy had sent a few messages, but they could wait. Why she wanted him to investigate the journalist who had conducted the interview again, he didn't know.

Taking another deep breath, he let it out slowly and spoke in a measured tone.

"Go."

"Roger. Operation is a go," Dan replied, and the channel went silent. Almost instantly, an enormous explosion erupted in the distance. A towering column of black smoke climbed into the sky above Stonegrave, visible even from their positions with the wall hiding the town. A heartbeat later, the shockwave rolled across the landscape, rattling leaves from nearby trees and sending loose pebbles dancing across the ground beneath Tim's boots.

The first blast was soon followed by several others at varied strength, but every second a new one popped off, shaking the area and sometimes even the ground. Yells and shouts erupted along the wall as the players and NPCs realized they were under attack. Officers barked conflicting orders, people ran between guard towers, and alarm bells began ringing from somewhere deeper inside the city.

Even through the cacophony of explosions tearing the town apart, Tim thought he could hear a demented laugh echoing across the battlefield. Shaking his head, he raised the dagger in his hand, Tim calmly emerged from his hiding place and walked toward the wall. He stopped a few feet from the wall as his mana sense identified where the magical defenses began. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. This close, the magical defenses felt even fouler.

The corrupted mana pressed against his senses like rancid swamp water, carrying a metallic taste that seemed to settle on the back of his tongue despite existing only as a magical sensation in a digital game. It took a conscious effort not to gag as waves of hostile energy washed over him. Silently, he cursed the developers for the realism of the sensory replication. And then the Blood Army for coming up with something like this.

Discarding his disgust for now, he instead raised his dagger, holding it perpendicular to the invisible surface of the magical barrier, and activated one of his completed skills. Incidentally, it was also one of his highest-level skills. The plain blade didn't change. There was no brilliant magical aura or angelic choirs singing. The edge of the blade simply shifted a smidge.

It was as if it became something more, something with a weight that caused the mana saturating the air instinctively bend away from it as he gently moved it toward the magical shield. Yet, this shift was so subtle that even as the tip of the world touched the magical defenses, it didn't react. It didn't ripple when the dagger sank into it, as the unadorned metal ignored whatever foul magic the Blood Army used to empower it. The dagger only had one goal. To cut. And it cut.

[Metaphysical Cut: Level 321 (3%) (Active/Passive) You have achieved the pinnacle of cutting. You cut so much that no matter what you use to cut, it will cut anything. You have mastered the art of cutting at such a high level that you can cut beyond the physical world. Any weapon you wield is capable of cutting through magic. (…)] When he had first shown the skill to Sam, the guy had simply stared at it for a good minute before breaking into a raucous laugh.

Then he had patted Tim on the shoulder, muttered something about him being 'an absolute menace', and casually dropped a few hints about the dagger Tim was currently holding. It was sobering to know that even after achieving something so niche and unique – something that Tim doubted anybody else in the game even knew was possible – Sam would simply nod, immediately understand what it meant, and already have ideas on how to take it to the next level. Weird as hell, but he couldn't argue with the results.

[Dagger: (Dagger) A dagger that represents the pinnacle of what a dagger can be. Will be. Ever was. It is the physical representation of the concept of the dagger poured into shape. It never needs to be sharpened.] Tim slowly drew the blade upward. The magical surface in front of him slowly parted, like peeling the protective plastic off a brand-new electronic device. Instead of shattering, the barrier folded aside in two smooth sheets of magic, parting like curtains and revealing a narrow opening beyond.

The surrounding enchantments seemingly did not react, as if what was currently happening was completely normal and every day thing. There wasn't even a ripple in the magical protection.

"Ready," he stated. Still holding the dagger in place, he stepped to the side. Instantly, the teams concealed around the area rushed forward one by one. Dark figures emerged, silently slipping through the gap before disappearing into the town engulfed in explosions and chaos. As the last person stepped through, Tim glanced around, watching for anyone looking their way. The guards on the battlements remained focused on the explosions rocking the town, their attention fixed inward rather than outward.

Seeing nobody watching, he quickly ducked through the opening himself, pulling the dagger back at the last second. The parted barrier flowed together immediately behind him, becoming whole once more without leaving a trace. Sheathing his dagger, he dusted off his hands and looked at the wall in front of him.

"Let's do this…" The town was filled with chaos. Blood Army players rushed toward the important locations, surrounding them and watching for attackers. Civilians scrambled for cover, yelling, screaming, and crying as they fled through the narrow streets. The panic was punctuated by the dulcet tones of distant explosions as Dan and his team did their best to draw as much attention as possible. Thick columns of black smoke rose above the rooftops, while the occasional flash of crimson fire lit up the stone buildings.

Sometimes those flashes were darker than the darkest light, but Tim didn't complain. With Katie, you just nodded and kept your distance. Tim, meanwhile, was engulfed by the shadows, completely invisible, every step silent, even his scent erased. He skulked through alleys, crossed rooftops, and slit a few throats here and there as players and NPCs alike had the bad luck of passing by his current hiding place.

Each victim collapsed without a sound before he melted back into the darkness, leaving the chaos to conceal his handiwork. It didn't take him long to find one of the buildings his intelligence operative had fingered as an entrance to the underground ruins and fractures. The squat stone structure looked thoroughly unremarkable from the outside, with narrow windows and a weathered slate roof, but it was completely surrounded by a contingent of Blood Army Blood Knights.

Their heavy plate armor gleamed with ruby-red embellishments, and the air itself shimmered with the thick presence of blood magic enveloping the building. Tim observed them from the ordinary shadow of a nearby chimney, which, thanks to his skills, was enough to fully conceal him. He adjusted his position until he could see through one of the narrow windows, watching the interior until he spotted a shadowy corner. Smiling to himself, he once again retrieved Dagger, the dagger.

Black shadows flowed down his arms and sank into the weapon, causing its edge to gain a delicate black line. He raised the dagger, his eyes focused on the location inside the building, then, with a quick movement, slashed through the air in front of him. Reality was torn asunder as a jagged black line appeared. [World Rend: Level 87/100 (34%) (Active) You have learned to use the shadows to rend the world apart. But what is apart can be close too. Distance is merely a suggestion for those who move between the seams of the world.] He once again sheathed his dagger, reached forward with both hands, and pulled the line apart, revealing the inside of the building on the other side. The edges of the tear twitched and distorted, like reality itself was struggling to repair the wound. Sending a cheeky salute toward the menacing Blood Knights that remained completely unaware of him, he casually stepped through the scar in reality, closing it behind him.

Navigating the building, he soon found himself underground, moving through excellently lit and well-maintained corridors toward the first fracture he could find. Originally, they had planned to invade every fracture they discovered and destroy them, but that idea had quickly been deemed too difficult and time-consuming. Instead, they had decided to bury them.

Turning left, guided by the excellent maps affixed to the walls that marked every important section of the ruins, he slinked along until he reached a set of double doors. To his luck, the corridors were empty, as if people who usually populated them had something else to deal with… He paused, listening for a moment and extending his senses. He detected nobody on the other side. Nodding to himself, he pulled the door open and cautiously stuck his head inside.

The hall beyond was filled with tables and chairs, looking as though it had been abandoned only moments ago. It gave the impression that everyone inside had stood up at the exact same time and rushed out without a second thought. Most of the chairs had been knocked over, scattered far from the tables, while the tables themselves remained covered with books, papers, half-finished meals, drinks, and various games.

The walls were lined with chests, likely containing supplies and equipment for those who ventured into the fracture. The fracture itself was located at the very end of the hall, appearing as a portal swirling with metallic green energy. Tim reached into his inventory and pulled out a handful of half-spheres. The Twinkle Stars were much weaker than the Sunburst devices, but Liz had guaranteed their destructive potential.

With a few deft throws, the devices disappeared into the shadows of various nooks and crannies, positioned close to the areas where his skills told him the stone walls of the hall were weakest. Moments later, he was back in the corridor, the doors closed behind him as if nothing had happened. Ten minutes later, Tim was in the depths of the ruins. Here, he finally had to start dodging patrols and groups of Blood Knights accompanied by mages whose very presence seemed to poison the air around them.

Dark miasma clung to their armor, and sickly green fumes drifted from their bodies as they moved through the corridors. They looked ready to lash out at anything that even vaguely resembled an enemy. Which Tim tested with a simple rat. The moment the creature scurried into sight, the nearby mages reacted instantly. A flash of corrupted magic later, and nothing remained of the rat except a small, radioactive-looking crater filled with a disgusting mixture of poison and blood.

[Shadow Puppetry: Level 71/100 (42%) (Active) You evolved your shadow puppetry skills until the puppets came alive. Create basic animals and creatures out of shadows that look identical to their actual counterpart, including behavior.] A few more rats later, and he was through the blockade of enemy guards. A bit more maneuvering, and he found himself standing inside a cavern so large that he couldn't see the end.

It stretched into the darkness beyond his vision, filled from wall to wall with massive shelves stuffed to the brim with crates, boxes, and chests. One of the warehouses they were targeting today. As he perched on a wooden beam overlooking the people working below, he couldn't help but chuckle. It was amazing working with Sam and the others, dealing with spies and infiltrators both in real life and in the game, but this… This was where he felt the most alive.

Letting out a deep breath, Tim grabbed his trusty dagger and summoned his mana. Shadows converged around him, swallowing him completely. Not even a whimper was heard from the cavern.