As Dark Suffice rushed to meet up with the guild leader of Hollow Tempo, he thought about how unusual things had become lately. It seemed that during this event many unforeseen incidents that should have never happened took place.
"First, Cross Haven and Blue Oasis are going at it. Now, Sage Falls wishes to fight against my Hollow Tempo?" Dark Suffice said to himself as he frowned. There was no benefit to Sage Falls picking a fight with Hollow Tempo. In fact, it would just end in a loss for both sides.
Although overall power wise Sage Falls had the upper hand, Hollow Tempo was still a top guild with many tricks up its sleeves.
A few moments later, Dark Suffice arrived at the coordinates that the main forces of Hollow Tempo were stationed. As he approached, he could see the chaos on the battlefield as the members of Hollow Tempo was locked in a fierce battle against the members of Sage Falls.
The casual players who were within the vicinity at that time attempted to make an escape. However, some of the casual players were caught in the crossfire between the two top guilds and met with an unfortunate end to the Protectors of Amaharpe event.
When Dark Suffice saw the sight before him, he was both furious and in complete disbelief. Sage Falls had always been aggressive, there was no mistaking that. But, there was always something they wanted in the end.
Dark Suffice scanned the battlefield in search of his guild leader. Soon enough, Dark Suffice found his guild leader personally fighting against a familiar face. When he saw who the person was, he had an extremely ugly look on his face.
That person wore a torn up pure black cloak with a hood and some kind of slick metal plating was encased around their arms and hands. One could not make out any features when it came to Reaper.
Within Reaper's hand was a dark purple dagger that was curved multiple times in certain places. There was a faint aura around the weapon that was the trademark of all rare weapons. But, there was also some other strange unknown energy mixed in with it.
"What is Reaper doing here?!" Dark Suffice said as he was in complete shock.
The name Reaper was not yet well known at the moment. Outside of the top guilds, some big guilds, and a few individuals who heard rumors, not many knew of the player with the name Reaper. However, those who did would not want to cross their path.
To many of the casual players, Reaper was simply a myth. The reason they believed that to be the case due to the rumors that surrounded them. They were so ridiculous that it had to be a story made up by some bored players who wanted to create a fake legend. There was another reason why players suspected Reaper was just a myth.
Before RML, no one had ever heard of the player Reaper. But, they appeared out of seemingly nowhere and quickly made a name for themselves amongst the top guilds by challenging top level players to fights. Their win percentage? 100%!
Unfortunately, before any other guild was able to get their hands on Reaper, they had already joined Sage Falls. But, it was unknown why he chose to join Sage Falls out of all the top guilds.
Dark Suffice charged over to join the battle as he tossed his long curved blade directly towards Reaper. However, his blade simply phased through Reaper as if there was no one there. Dark Suffice was startled as he pulled the chain attached to the bottom of his long curved blade and returned the blade to his own hands.
"What kind of skill is that?" Dark Suffice muttered to himself.
"Dark Suffice, it's useless! No one but me can fight against him!" A familiar voice sounded in Dark Suffice's ears. It belonged to the guild leader of Hollow Tempo, Seeking Fangs.
No one but him? That did not make any sense! Why would his guild leader choose to fight such a risky one on one battle with Reaper? That was not the guild leader Dark Suffice knew who would take advantage of whatever came his way. There must have been something else going on that he did not know about.
"Boss, it's too risky to fight Reaper alone!" Dark Suffice warned.
Seeking Fangs was suddenly knocked back by Reaper's dagger. There was so much power behind the strike that Seeking Fangs felt as if he was being struck with a greatsword, not a mere dagger. The attacks were also lightning fast and hard to follow.
Seeking Fangs wanted to strangle Dark Suffice when he heard the words that came out of his mouth. "You fool! Do you truly believe that I would disregard my well-being to fight some stranger?! This guy has some weird skill that isn't letting anyone else attacks hit him. I'm the only one who's able to attack him!" Seeking Fangs said in a frustrated tone of voice.
So that's why the other guild members had not already surrounded and overrun Reaper from all sides to protect their guild leader. It wasn't that they were ordered not to or didn't want to, but rather due to some skill Reaper was using.
But now another question came across Dark Suffice's mind. What kind of frightening skill had such a ridiculous effect? With that skill, one person could charge into a thousand players and just defeat them one at a time! But, of course, Dark Suffice believed that there had to be some sort of limit or cooldown on the skill.
"There has to be a weakness to it! I'll keep trying until I find it!" Dark Suffice said as he continued on with his attacks.
The fight between Sage Falls and Hollow Tempo raged on even after the sixth wave had ended. It did not take long for the guild leader of Hollow Tempo, Seeking Fangs, to meet his demise at the hands of Reaper. This enraged the members of Hollow Tempo, but before they could even respond, the members of Sage Falls retreated immediately.
At that point, all the members of Hollow Tempo had a deep hatred for Sage Falls. They had not only killed their guild leader, but also hundreds of their friends. This was a colossal humiliation! They wanted blood!
"Sage Falls! From today onward, you shall be the sworn enemy of my Hollow Tempo!" Dark Suffice, who had been helpless to prevent his guild leader's death who was right before him, yelled at the top of his lungs as Sage Falls retreated.
As Sage Falls retreated, a small smirk found its way onto Reaper's face. Everything had gone according to plan.
…
"It is done." Menerva said as she stood before Vault.
"Oh? The end results?" Vault asked impatiently. Ever since everything began to set in motion, he had been eager to reach the end. If things turned out well, he would be one step closer to achieving that end goal.
"Sage Falls has finished their task with Hypers Symphony. As for Hollow Tempo…" Menerva went on to explain the details of the events that took place.
"Ahahaha! Great! Truly great! Fatal Touch has not let me down today." Vault said as he could not help but laugh with a feeling of satisfaction.
"Slayer is but a simple-minded fool. When one willingly walks towards their own downfall, what else can they be but a fool?" Vault said with a large grin on his face.
"He actually believed that my Headhunter Syndicate would take on the burden of such a huge risk? Heh, he has failed to realize that he has not only made an enemy of one top guild but four top guilds. By the end of everything, not only will two of the top ten guilds be weakened, but all of the blame shall be shifted to Sage Falls and Slayer." Vault said.
He then continued, "My Headhunter Syndicate will have our hands clean as we take this chance to increase our power and pull ahead to become a top power within RML. Then, we will see who dares to offend my Headhunter Syndicate."
Menerva stayed silent as she listened to Vault's words. She secretly clenched her fist tightly to control her anger and frustration, but a part of her was relieved that it would all be over soon.
There was also another part of her that saw a clear opening for Vault and the Headhunter Syndicate to not get everything they wanted in the end. This was due to Vault's hasty decision to use Fatal Touch even though Menerva disagreed with the approach.
It was only a small opening, but that person would definitely be able to find it eventually. By that time, the event would be over and Menerva would no longer be assisting Vault. He will have to face the consequences on his own. However, it was still inevitable that a new guild was about to rise to the ranks of the top ten.
"Slayer is not the only fool." Was the only thought that crossed Menerva's mind at that moment.
…
"Your luck is amazing as always, brother Izroth." Guan Yu said after he found out that this was, in fact, the second skill book Izroth had come across after defeating a boss monster.
"Indeed, I have never met anyone who has so much luck when it comes to loot." Zi Yi followed up as she let out a sigh.
"Just a little luck is all." Izroth said in a carefree manner. However, he was being quite serious. The +1 luck that he received thanks to receiving the passive skill Blessing of Helilatiaa had come in handy.
He could tell that his fortune had been good before he obtained the passive, but afterward, he felt as if his fortune had reached another level entirely. It may have just been blind luck, but Izroth figured that the luck stat definitely had something to do with it.
"I believe we were discussing something else of importance." Luna reminded them.
"Oh yeah… So, we just have to defeat monsters in order to fill up that stone vessel whatever?" Halls asked.
"It's called the Vessel of The Endless One, and yes, that's the simplest way of putting it." Zi Yi responded.
"Still, if a rare even boss only granted us five points, I wonder how much a normal monster will send our way. I'm still unable to decipher anything about this magic item. Every single sequence that runs throughout its core is unknown and complex." Valentine said with excitement apparent in his voice.
"We will just have to take things one step at a time. For now, it does not seem that we are leaving this place any time soon. This should be our final step in completing the first trial, however, I do not believe that we will be the only ones doing so." Izroth said.
"You think someone else will find the Endless Pandemonium Tower and be transported here as well?" Halls asked.
"I'm sure of it. The only question that we need to be answered is if there is more than one Vessel of The Endless One." Izroth said.
"What if there is more than one?" Luna asked curiously.
"Then, we may be facing something that can casually toss out S-ranked magic items as if it's nothing." Izroth replied.
Everyone realized that Izroth made a good point. The Source of Despair, that mysterious Chaos Egg, and now the Vessel of The Endless One. While the origins of the Chaos Egg were unknown, if it was a magic item then it was definitely at least S-ranked. They had run into so many S-ranked magic items in such a short period of time that they had nearly become immune to them.
However, it never crossed their mind as to what or who was behind the distribution or creation of these magic items. What terrifying existence was capable of such a thing? If this were any other game, then it could just be considered as things naturally being that way.
But, everyone present understood by now that the events that took place within RML were never completely random.
"I see you're doing well, Izroth." A voice sounded out from behind Izroth.
"It seems our paths have crossed once again as you've predicted, 7th captain of the guild Blue Oasis, Niflheim." Izroth said with a carefree expression as he turned to face Niflheim.
"Indeed, though I wish fate would have allowed our paths to cross at a more peaceful time." Niflheim said.
