Chương 70: Chapter 69 - The Siege of Lazhen, part one

Could a world be too peaceful? Was there such a thing as too much peace? Or was it just an impossible dream? Something people talked about but never really realized what it meant. After all, people got bored and manufactured drama all the time. You know the one, those people that would cause a fuss, for seemingly no reason at all.

Sometimes it was minor, sometimes it would mutate out of control to the point where it broke apart families, then communities then all of a sudden it snowballed until the whole world was in chaos. … It was probably a gross simplification of what was going on here. The Witch Tyrant was definitely not someone that was causing chaos because she was bored. Still, she was manufacturing drama all the same. It would all lead to that inevitable snowball that would leave thousands if not millions dead.

A single dragonslayer snapping could vanish a city. Then? It would be impossible to stop. Not with a Witch Tyrant that could warp the narrative behind the scenes. Ryan decided to take control of the drama for himself. He was going to take the spotlight away from the blacklisted dragonslayers and put it on him. It wasn't like he enjoyed the spotlight or anything. He was just trying to give both worlds and the Witch Tyrant a distraction. Be that obnoxious self-aggrandizing idiot that everyone focused on.

Meanwhile he would pick out the next generation of dragonslayers. Cause fuck people like Ludovic Dubois. Magical barriers were stronger together. The barriers of multiple [Mages] formed a massive dome around the adventurers. More mana and more dangerous to explode, yes, but also the distance of the dome was significantly further away from the adventurers. They almost touched the guildhall itself. Ryan had made some rough calculations.

He had overloaded [Volatile Antimagic Throw] but the source of the explosion would come from the magic itself. It would be a spectacle on the building and in the video, not so much to the adventurers that were regrouping behind [Warriors] that were warily on the lookout The spear of light shattered the window as the adventurers in the Guild hall became even more frantic. The shield-bearing [Warriors] started to activate their skills as well. It was too late.

The barrier was hastily made, a fatal error against a [Volatile Antimagic Throw] that preyed on imperfect mana structures. Another example of complacency from a peaceful world. They hadn't expected an antimagic skill at all. The overloaded [Volatile Antimagic Throw] skill hit the surface of the barrier and latched onto the magic. That was where things started to go wrong. For both Ryan and the adventurers. [Volatile Antimagic Throw] normally activated the instant it touched an imperfect mana structure.

It would cause a cascading effect that often ended with a grand explosion depending on just how much mana was pumped in. That was what Ryan had expected, a great explosion at the edge. Exploding outwards and causing nothing more than a spectacle. Low casualty count at the worst. Maybe an injury here or there from badly positioned [Mages].

Instead the spear of light dragged the overlapping barrier inwards, like a shark thrashing into a fishing net, the overlapping magical barrier warped the barrier inwards, diving into the middle of the room. There was a second of delay, just enough time for the adventurers closest to the spear to go wide-eyed at the shining projectile wrapped in magic. A hit of red at the tip. Then it exploded, far closer to all the adventurers than it should've been. That shouldn't have happened.

The team that was closest to it was either dead, or grievously injured. Mistakes and regrets for later, Ryan still had a job to do. He gave the phone a winning grin, trying to mask the shock on his face." Come and get me, adventurers." Then he continued, his voice authoritative as his Epic carried his voice into the town.

"Black alert! Black alert! Evacuate the town!" He laughed maniacally as Lazhen turned on their black alert, something for emergency evacuation when all hope was lost. It was hilarious because he'd been the one to make it happen. Another mistake in complacency that should never have happened. Ryan winked at his phone then laughed.

"See you all next time. I've got a system portal to conquer." The phone was on dual mode, capturing both his laughter and the destruction of the Guild hall. A streak flew upwards from the smoking remnants of the building. Dragging the smoke with them. They were slightly opaque as the first fully geared adventurer jumped out of the wreckage like an avenging ghost. Ryan pretended to look surprised, then grinned. This one was dangerous. Likely an early classed up [Assassin].

Ryan stopped recording as he started running back up the hill, keeping an eye on the opposing adventurer as they–Whipped out two large desert eagles. Wait, that wasn't in the resear– Ryan ducked and started zigzagging up the hill. He could run at over 200 miles an hour, with reaction speed to match. I t wasn't impossible to dodge the bullets at this distance. … Just really hard. Unfortunately, the opposing [Assassin] also had reflexes to match.

[Dangersense] screamed at him from the right as he [Instant Dodged] diagonally to the side. Ryan whipped out Avale's shield and started using that to block all the bullets instead. It was a thrilling moment, realizing that standard firearms could no longer kill him if he was prepared. The classed up [Rogue] put away his guns as he fell back to the ground, no longer expecting to be able to hit the turtling Ryan.

Another team smashed their way out of the wreckage, a shield bearing [Warrior] emerged with his skill still active, covering his team as they charged forwards. Three more figures dashed out of the smoke at varying speeds. One adventurer with the broken remains of an assault rifle and a completely limp arm. They screamed with righteous fury as they charged at him. Two others sprinted forwards, no slower than Ryan was without his actives. Here came the adventurers.

They all heard the mocking laughter of Artigan as the blacklister retreated behind the hill. By the time they crested the same hill, all they saw was a black dot running into the distance. A devastating opening strike with a perfect tactical retreat. Gamielle had a disgusted look on her face as she hovered next to a grinning Ryan.

"This was your plan!?"

"What? Did you think I would go in and kill them all? They've got guns! That [Savant Mage] has emergency scrolls! Only an idiot would think about going in there and fighting them all solo." Gamielle was sputtering next to him.

"I thought you said you had a plan, I thought you were going to use another Epic or something!"

"Of course I have a plan! Haven't you seen the herds?"

"Then what was all of that for?" Ryan laughed at her.

"Presentation!" – Back at the remains of the Guild. The head receptionist of Lazhen was barking orders into his phone. It relayed his message through every single phone that was tuned in to the right frequency. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Belay the black alert, that was a false alarm by the blacklister. Lower the alarm to orange. Drones are being sent as scouts. Every other team is to return to base, we'll organize teams instead of rushing in headfirst." The [Assassin] and the [Warrior] with a broken arm ignored his orders. The receptionist gritted his teeth as drones buzzed overhead. While Lazhen wasn't important enough to be equipped with real military drones, these were still high spec and were capable of flying over 200 miles an hour.

The only issue was the range. He took a different tack with the [Assassin]. He switched his comms to the [Assassin]'s personal line.

"Kenheart, try to stop that [Warrior] from killing himself. You're free to engage as you wish, maybe you'll save us all some headache." He switched the comms to everyone else and began organizing their combat capability. Five adventurers had died. Fifteen out of twenty eight adventurers were combat capable from the guild hall. There were double that number in Lazhen as a whole, but that was already a miserable casualty count. Valee's suggestions flickered in his mind and he regretted not listening to her.

That was when the alert went to black again. Enchanted lights flashed a magical black that beamed across the ground like a flashlight would at night. The head receptionist looked up" Who put the black alert?" A Realmer came up to him, pale-faced with a tablet in hand.

"Sir! Look at this." The receptionist for Lazhen showed him a screen, it captured the image only a little beyond the hill of Lazhen.

"Oh Manager's abode. Evacuate the Realmers! adventurers get ready. Prepare for a beast tide!" – Amperdons were mostly herbivores. They wouldn't say no to an extra supplementation of meat but most of the time they preferred the abundant emerald grass. They were also considered the lowest of the totem pole in the Emerald Hills ecology. That didn't mean they weren't dangerous, their herds did not leave the slowest to die. A predator could easily find itself surrounded and ripped to shreds by an organized herd.

A herd with an intelligent alpha? Those switched the ecological order on its head. Even the most dangerous apex monsters of Sector Three tended to leave them alone. Especially if someone had taken a week to painstakingly push herds around until they had collided and merged with one another. Ryan blasted his Epic with a loud cough. The herd that had been taking an organized nap awoke in shock and sudden routine fear as they started grunting and squealing at each other. … Some at him directly.

They let the scary [Rogue] that had bested their alpha shove them around. The mass of amperdons suddenly shifted as thousands stood up like a rippling tide. One thing that wasn't talked about was their ability to camouflage. When amperdons didn't move and were lazing about, the grass on their backside made it almost impossible to spot them from far away. And when they did move? They were just amperdons. Problems for lower realm adventurers to deal with. Not something stronger adventurers would look twice at.

Not beyond a 'oh wow that's a pretty big herd'. Ryan felt a bit like a sheepdog as he kept yelling at the herd to make them move towards Lazhen. He glanced over to the dark figure just waiting for him.

"I'm surprised you waited for me to do this." Kenheart the likely [Assassin] casually shrugged.

"The bigger the mess, the greater the achievement for killing you." Ryan hummed.

"Not a pass, but not a fail… yet. I did like what you did to that [Warrior] I guess."

"You're a weird guy." Ryan just bowed to Kenheart. This one was dangerous. Ryan knew that when he was challenging Lazhen that he'd be dealing with him. Kenheart outspeeded him without his actives. He went to test the [Assassin].

"And you're an odd adventurer. You say you're [Rogue] but everyone pins you as someone that got an [Assassin] class from the first selection. You soloed your last two Trials. The fact that you're still in the third realm means you're trying to learn your skills from S grade clears. Still, I'm surprised you dropped your guns when I asked." The [Assassin] evaluated his opponent carefully, he was a middle aged human man, asian, Singaporean according to him. A man that went by Kenheart.

Nobody else knew too much more about him despite how much the internet detectives had searched.

"You said you wanted a one on one with no tricks. And it doesn't seem like you're carrying a gun either." Ryan had asked for an adventurer's duel while close to the sleeping amperdons. If the [Assassin] had started shooting, he would have weaved in and around the beasts and let the monsters rampage in chaos. The [Assassin] would never get a good angle then. Ryan grinned.

"If you win I'll tell you a huge secret that only a few dragonslayers know. I did the same with Valee." Gamielle hiss-whispered in his ear.

"You're playing a dangerous game, the more it gets exposed the more likely my mom will escalate–" Ryan picked at his ear, it surprised him when it canceled out Gamielle's voice. Kenheart shrugged again.

"Fine with me, I only shot at you because I thought you had guns too." The [Assassin] was stalling, it was probably the reason why he waited for Ryan as well. The [Ghostly Dodge] skill that Kenheart had used to avoid the explosion was one with a very high cooldown. A very powerful Rare skill. Ryan wasn't going to make it that easy for him. He stepped forwards.

"Let's have ourselves a clean fight." The [Assassin] moved, as an early upgraded class, Kenheart was faster than anyone in the third realm. The Trial System did offer better classes than the basic three if you were worthy. Ryan knew in his bones the opponent in front of him was one of those rare people. He moved at the same speed to the [Assassin]'s surprise. Kenheart kicked out from three steps away, throwing out a probing [Extended Stab]. A blade attached to the tip of his shoe.

Ryan casually deflected the skill with a flick of his sword. The [Assassin] took that moment to back off while throwing two knives. Both the knives collided in the air as Ryan did the same. The [Assassin] and [Rogue] circled each other. The [Assassin] looked annoyed.

"You did your research."

"Can you blame me? Besides, that shoe knife trick is pretty old school."

"It's harder to learn than people give it credit for."

"Maybe I'll give it a go." Ryan mimed doing a kick stab with his foot. The [Assassin] weaved just in case Ryan was hiding a knife in his shoe and had the same skill. Kenheart was cautious, he wouldn't just assume Ryan had the skills and tools the adventurer Guild suspected. The [Assassin] just shook his head in annoyance.

"You'll need someone to make you a quality shoe, I'm guessing that your backer can provide that." Ryan blinked innocently at the probing question.

"A backer? What's that? The [Assassin] didn't humor Ryan as he threw another knife. Once again it collided in the air with Ryan's own throwing knife. They circled each other, Kenheart stepping close and being the one to slowly close the gap. The amperdons were stampeding in the distance and Ryan felt his Epic build up. Kenheart seemed completely unaffected. Ryan faked a throw as he stepped forward and poked outwards with a [Double Stab] using his soulsword.

The middle aged man dodged to the side and went for a snap kick. Ryan used the knife he hadn't thrown to try to stab the knee as it rose. Then the knife–phased through. [Partial Ghostly Dodge] His opponent's whole leg went ethereal as it passed through both Ryan's knife and hand. The [Assassin] twisted mid kick, his leg rapidly becoming corporeal, the blade about to pierce Ryan's chest. [Instant Dodge] + [Aura of Self-Momentum] + [Hasten] Ryan activated his emergency combination in full.

He sped up far faster than the kick and skidded across the emerald grass. Cold sweat running down his neck. His [Dangersense] hadn't activated but he was certain he'd have died if he hadn't dodged. That was likely a function of the [Assassin] class. Whatever it was, it hadn't worked when Kenheart had been shooting at him with dual pistols. The [Assassin] had tricked Ryan into thinking his [Dangersense] was good enough. Just for this moment.

"Well shit, you've been holding back your real speed." Ryan hadn't had the passive of [Hasten] turned on until just then. They'd both been playing mind games.

"Guilty as charged."

"Makes sense, you're a pre-classer and have [Hasten] now?" the [Assassin] muttered, "shit. My fault for coming solo I guess." The likely retired spec ops soldier sheathed his daggers and raised his hands up. He started backing up. Ryan didn't trust the surrender for a second, he'd seen the outline of a gun at his back.

"Hold it, you aren't thinking of just leaving here after losing like that were you?" The [Assassin] didn't even tense or look affected by his Epic, the man just shrugged casually.

"Sorry I didn't bring my walletband and my daggers are just ordinary metal. You can have them if you want."

"Drop that gun you've got in your back belt, also the throwing knives," Ryan ordered.

"I'm taking them all. Don't pick up those desert eagles on your way back either." Kenheart shook his head.

"You want me to disarm in front of someone that's faster than I am? I'd rather fight to the death." The man gave him a look, now his [Dangersense] triggered in full. Ryan really started wondering who this Kenheart guy really was and how he'd been offered an early [Assassin] class. Still, he still had a job to do.

"Alright, you can keep your daggers. Besides, you need to pick up that [Warrior] you knocked out on the way back to Lazhen." The [Assassin] paused.

"If you're going the villain route you should commit to it. What is your backer planning?" Ryan spread his arms out wide.

"I have no backer, though I guess If I did have a plan then it would be doing what the Tyrants did and challenge the world. Then I'll see if I can win." There was a shift as the [Assassin] stopped backing up. Kenheart met Ryan's eyes and saw no hesitation there. The middle aged man took a deep breath, gone was the retired SOF playing as a casual adventurer. In came the real deal.

"You just had to say that. A fight to the death it is." Ryan just grinned. Now that was a pass. – [Dagger Arts: Spinning Grip] The [Assassin] no longer tried to talk or stall. One dagger spun at high speeds as Ryan stayed far out of melee range. He wasn't using any of his Epic's active but was using his [Aura of Self-Momentum] to its fullest. Along with [Hasten], it meant he was even faster than the early classer. But not fast enough to slip in between the spinning blades without getting cut up.

Ryan used [Double Stab] as he lunged forward. That was a mistake, the [Assassin] now only cared about going for the kill. He used his spinning hand to collide with Ryan's skill. The skill's spectral sword pierced his opponent's hand and the blade sliced into bone. The [Assassin]'s fingers kept rolling the blade. Like someone would flick a coin, the [Assassin] used his damaged fingers to flick the dagger at Ryan's face. [Partial Acceleration] on his neck barely dodged the thrown dagger.

The [Assassin] didn't stop going forward. Kenheart stabbed with his other dagger and kicked out with a bladed foot at the same time. The maneuver would have looked ridiculous on an ordinary human, but this was a [Rogue]'s duel. The [Assassin] cared not that he was out of balance, just that his blades would stab the target and they would die right now. An [Extended Stab] skill covered both limbs, he fully expected to lose one in this exchange. Ryan shifted to the side, a fencer's pose.

He used his soulsword to parry the dagger and used the shield on his back to stop the kick stab. Then the parried dagger started spinning, a telltale shine of the [Extended Stab] skill appeared - As Ryan slammed his blade right through the wrist of the hand holding the dagger. The duel ended there. Ryan let out a gasp from the tension.

"Fuck me that was close. You go for the gun now and I'll actually dismember you." The [Assassin] dropped his last dagger and raised his arms, blood sprayed out from the pierced wrist that Ryan didn't let splatter his face. The [Assassin's] foot twitched but stopped itself as Ryan dodged the blood and glared at the foot. Kenheart finally stopped trying and gave him a curious look.

"You're not going to kill me?"

"No, but you're going to have to pay the price for that."

"I didn't bring any money, it wasn't a lie." Ryan smiled maliciously at the [Assassin].

"There's more than one way to pay for a loss."